I sometimes use the LOTR soundtrack, but also the music of Naill Colfer, Eoin Colfer's younger brother is in my mind perfect to write to. I wonder if Eoin writes to it... Also Brazilian pop music, because it's so hot and chill at the same time.
Arcade Fire is quite the muse for me recently. Also I love other bands like the Black Keys and Phoenix, as well as the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Dylan, etc.
I prefer silence when actually writing. However, I have a whole soundtrack mix for when I want to daydream about my plot/characters.
If I do listen to anything whilst writing it's generally prog but normally the more chilled out bands like Porcupine Tree, Blackfield, Eels, King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Yes, Lunatic Soul, OSI. Sometimes I listen to some trip-hop stuff like Red Snapper. Generally I write without music- lyrics tend to distort the mood I'm trying to convey in something or even work their way into my own writing. Music is a big love of mine and I find I prefer to give it my undivided attention, thus will listen to it without doing anything else usually.
^ I think chilled-out stuff is the best to write to -- it inspires me and yet doesn't distract me from the task at hand.
I love music, but I basically need silence when I write - I usually like to sit outside on the back patio and just listen to the little fountain that we have and the birds chirping in the background, that's it LOL /\ Totally agree! I'll be sitting in my car listening to the radio (or my extensive mp3 collection), and I'll think of which songs remind me of my characters/story. Do it all the time LOL
Final Fantasy XIII soundtracks, Anime Soundtracks, Kingdom hearts soundtracks, random Japanese songs. xD Just now I was listening to I'm Not A girl, Not Yet A Woman by Britney Spears. Yes, I can write to those kind of songs xD
Depends what mood I'm in and what I'm working on. I enjoy listening to Muse and Radiohead as well as some Elfman or Zimmer soundtracks when writing fantasy/sci fi. Lots of things work.
I listen to everything. Primarily I listen to country, but there really isn't anything I don't listen to. What I listen to while writing depends largely on what I'm writing and the mood I need to be in while I'm writing it. For instance for one of the novels I'm currently working on some of the songs on the playlist are Love The Way You Lie (Eminem & Rihanna), Jar Of Hearts (Christina Perri), Rolling In The Deep (Adele), S&M (Rihanna), In The End (Linkin Park), and Forty Six & 2 (Tool). (Definitely not country, lol) I also listen to classical, opera, bluegrass (think O Brother, Where Art Thou, heh), anything. Just depends on my mood.
Themetunes, often, namely Inception, Gladiator, Escape to Victory and Black Hawk Down. Although sometimes I'll listen to Flamingo, the album by Brandon Flowers.
Basically. I listen to the music of the symphonic band Bal Sagoth, to help inspire me to write short stories based around my own fictional universe, wherein the events of these stories take place and are based on, and also, the music helps to establish a certain mindframe in which I can call upon these inspiring energies with which I can use to fuel my motivation to write, and create mythical and magickal tales of bloody honor and enchanting mysticism.
I find I can't write if there are noisey distractions, like music, tv or a chatty husband for example . I need to zone out and be able to concentrate in order to write more then a few lines. The only contradiction to that is I sometimes like to play some new age music, mainly nature sounds like rain, thunder storms or just a crackling fire. The main plot of my story involves a young women lost in the wilderness, trying to survive in the elements. Listening to those sounds lets me imagine being in her shoes and helps me to describe the environment she's in a lot better.
None! I need peace and quiet. I can manage the sound of the TV in the background, but I lose all concentration if I'm enjoying my music.
Right now the soundtrack from the movie Rio is inspiring me. I love the movie and the music is great.
I'm usually the same way. Oddly enough, if I am working on a nonfiction project I like music in the background, anything from Pavarotti to Opeth. For fiction I like quiet.
Most of my scenes are created in my car or while jogging. For that the right kind of music can be a major catalyst, but when I need to convert those scenes into words nothing but silence will do.
I think music expands my mind and really helps me write more for certain stories, but for others I need complete silence.
The music needs to suit the mood of what I'm writing. Which is why, unless what I require is party music (in which case I listen to party music) I mostly listen to classical and instrumental.
I listen to whatever I'm into at the time, I just put the iPod on shuffle or a playlist. I can write in silence or blasting tunes, either way it helps me lose myself in my writing. What I've been getting into lately would be Foals, Animal Collective (real melodic so it's good for getting into a groove), and Skrillex (pump up tunes!).
LOL, I'm sorry, but it's funny that your name is barnz and you listen to bands called Foals and Animal Collective Did you plan that?
It varies, but usually I do not have music or anything else on when i write. I don't need 100% silence, but music can be a distraction, as I get into it quite a bit. There are exceptions, however. Most notably, if I am working on a critical, emotional scene, I will sometimes find it more rewarding to have a "soundtrack" to the scene playing in my mind. Almost like a movie. When that happens, what I listen to depends on what I am writing.
