Writers! Readers! Let's discuss the power of music and how it could inspire some brilliant literary pieces. I always look for inspirations or things that I could loosely base my concepts around from newspaper articles about possessed nuns in Budapest to real life stories of cochinos and their gypsy whores being slayed. I also spend most of my days holed up drinking sangria and pretending I'm Joseph Merrick in that scene with the paintbrush. Lately I've been listening to a lot of The Mars Volta. There's so much to consume if you just lay there for a while after drinking a copa or smoking some marijuana. Other musicians that sort of inspire my work are Gipsy Kings, Pain of Salvation, Mana, Opeth and Tool. What kind of music best suites your writing style/moods/subjects?
I'm a reasonable metalhead myself, but I don't find it particularly useful for writing. I seem to listen to metal more as workout music, as it tends to make you go harder with the adrenaline rush. For writing, I usually prefer a long trance track which often gets quite intense. I'm one of those terrible people that marathons a song for 6 hours until I'm absolutely sick of it, so one or two songs can last an entire writing session if they're good enough. I do always write with music these days, I find it much more relaxing, and writing without it is now quite difficult for me. The right track can kick off my inspiration, and I love the feeling when the music and my brain click and ideas start flowing. I've never tried writing with drink or anything, but I can't imagine it would work for me personally.
I hear you with Tool. Sometimes when writing dialogue I can almost hear Maynard and his various voices/tones. Also Zack De la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine. I wrote an entire character in his voice once. He didn't speak so much as he, well, raged! Overall, I find rappers to be a more useful influence in fiction writing. Namely the way they use words, syllables and cadences to tell a story. Biggie and Tribe Called Qwest are my big ones there. Biggie is a brilliant story teller. He's probably the only gangster rapper the doesn't sound like he's playacting when he rhymes about doing gangster shit. I totally believe him because he hits the same imagery and monologue-ish notes that writers use to make fiction effective. Most of the others just plow straight forward with little consideration of the narrative process. Even Jay-Z, whom I really like, sounds a little puppet show to me.
What fits the tone of the scene, and usually a variety of songs to keep it moving. Metal and Industrial are great for intense action, and the like. Electronica, Hybrid Orchestral, or other mellower genres for the deeper moments. You know with a broader range of appropriate ambience to enhance the lighter side and the sadder things. And sometimes somewhere in the middle of all the stuff for normal parts, but that is not an often occurrence since something is usually happening.
And I'm with you also on Tool, they're my favourite metal band, listening to them is almost a transcendental experience. I'm into almost every genre of music, but my favourite artists or bands are ones that are psychedelic influenced, or just generally chill or abstract, whether its rock, electronic or jazz. I'm sure you'll all agree, one of the best things is going for a walk, listening to music and letting the inspiration flow into you.
Am I the only one not listening to metal around here? I don't normally like it, but it would be way too noisy if I was writing. I tend to go for British indie rock/pop. Or old things like Bowie and The Velvet Underground. I like things that are easy on the ear. I have tried instrumental (to not get distracted) but I haven't found anything good that doesn't make me sad. So, I tend to listen to things I know the lyric to well. Makes it easier to "ignore" in my opinion. Being inspired lyric wise I go for cleaver or witty lyrics like The Fratellis or The Mr. T Experience. Especially the the former since they're good at telling stories through their songs.
There's one album that I suggest you listen to while you write your piece. It's called BE by Pain of Salvation. Your welcome!
I looked it up. Just started listening. It got a weird medieval-vibe to it. Like a half psychedelic troubadour. Are you by any chance a larper? Imago was the song I was referring to, but skipping songs and it seems to be changing genre, so I guess my first instinct was wrong. Still, I'm note sure what in my list made you think of this
I usually listen to music inbetween writing. Usually it's meant to inspire and set me in the mood, or the music is tied in some other way to what I want to write. I rarely listen to music while writing. I find it distracting, unfortunately because I don't like the silence very much. When I do listen to something it's usually some mellow instrumental jazz or calm classical music.
I've never actually been inspired by a song or anything specific in music. I have been inspired while writing battle scenes though, and I'll have a general rock and roll song going in my head sometimes. I'll write to the beat kinda, the movements of my characters at least as it all plays out in my mind. I've often wanted more fantasy movies and stuff to have rock and roll and heavy metal powerhouse songs playing during fight scenes, maybe it's just me, but I think it works...either that or I'm a bit of a dork...probably both.
I listen to music a lot, and writing without music is possible but usually not happening. I almost always have headphones with me when there's the possibility of snatching even five minutes worth of writing time. I wouldn't say 'inspire' to what music does for me; it's more a question of loosening up the brain. Music is good at that. It releases tension and fixation (if that doesn't read too weird), and makes my brain more adaptable. I'm more the dog-with-one-bone type, so for new ideas to happen I need to allow for brain relaxation before. Come to think of it, maybe that's the secret in what type of music I listen to while writing: As @Cave Troll (who has an awesome playlist btw!) I listen to a lot of diverse music, fitting the mood of the scene I'm currently writing or thinking about. As for lyrics: I can't stand songs whose lyrics don't fit while writing. My brain listens and I can't 'unhear' words once they are spoken. They destroy the mood, because my brain automatically conjures up images based on the song-lyrics—and when the lyrics don't fit it my brain makes connections in the wrong way. Example: The song 'I will rule the universe'. I absolutely love the theme, the instruments, the beat. The one thing I can't stand is the mention of the name 'Napoleon'. Every time I hear this name (which only happens two times during the song), I reflectively have the image of the guy before me. And this jerkes me out of the mood. End of story. So I don't listen to this song much. That means also that my playlist is not limited to one or two artists, because I find lyrics that fit more often than not across the whole range. I first listen for the beat/if the introduction encourages a certain mood within me, and then to the lyrics. Every single song on my playlist (and it's a long one) fits my story at one point or another.
Oh, imago is a good one. The music changes genres to ensure that you have a good amount of everything from gospel, blues, funk, classical and even folk. It's not everyone's cup of tea however... Well, in my case... And no, I'm not a larper but a seeker.
Oh no not at all, as I say, I like all music genres and am a massive Bowie, Velvet Underground and Lou Reed fan, myself. I was in tears when Bowie died. Though I've gotta say, haven't listened to The Fratellis since I was a teenager.
Music has inspired scenes, even an entire manuscript (a cover of one tune from Super Metroid). Abruptum and Peste Noire provoked several scenes to a medieval fantasy hack'n slash. Music is super important for the writing process, although it has to be in some other language than Finnish. For whatever reason it distracts my brain.
