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Music to Inspire

  • Thread starter Thread starter Alistair Roberts
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Interesting. I can't listen to music when I'm writing. I have a hard enough time trying to come up with words that more words just get everything jumbled in my head. Instrumentals, since I grew up playing the flute in band, I tend to listen to more analytically, so my mind focuses more on the song than the paper.

Now, I am able to listen while I'm editing. My band of choice is Icon For Hire. I've listened to them for a few years now so their songs act as white noise, but they're rock so the beat keeps me pumped for my action scenes (which, in a thriller, are everywhere lol).
 
Alistair Roberts said:
Just one example of what I play when I'm writing and I have many more from the same source. Of-course it depends on what you are writing too, but for me and 16th century medieval setting, it suits.

https://soundcloud.com/andytheflutemaker/grace-of-the-willow

;)
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That's really intriguing. :) I have a playlist that I change up every now and then, and it acts as background noise to drown out my co-workers (HA!!), Hubby, my daughter, the cats, the neighbors and their dogs, etc., etc., etc. :)
 
I can't listen to music when I write but I like daydreaming to certain songs and... I don't know, rehearsing scenes in my head I guess. I've been stuck on a song for an hour before just imagining a particular thing happening. I think that's one reason I can't listen to music when I write, it changes my mood too easily! Would go from love scene to death scene to happy scene with every switch of the playlist! But the sound of rain? Oh yeah, now we're talking.
 
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Well for me it started, to drown out the infuriating tinitus, but with the right music, puts me in the scene and mood, and helps with the writing. Everyone is different, and just as well ;)
 
1408 said:
I can't listen to music when I write but I like daydreaming to certain songs and... I don't know, rehearsing scenes in my head I guess. I've been stuck on a song for an hour before just imagining a particular thing happening. I think that's one reason I can't listen to music when I write, it changes my mood to easily! Would go from love scene to death scene to happy scene with every switch of the playlist! But the sound of rain? Oh yeah, now we're talking.
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Dude, I can't do anything to the sound of rain. I fall asleep almost right away. Can't tell you how many awful days were spent at work listening to the rain and trying desperately not to fall asleep. :confused:
 
Alistair Roberts said:
Just one example of what I play when I'm writing and I have many more from the same source. Of-course it depends on what you are writing too, but for me and 16th century medieval setting, it suits.

https://soundcloud.com/andytheflutemaker/grace-of-the-willow

;)
Click to expand...
Worked a call center for about a year — listening to the customer on the phone, while entering information on the computer, and tuning out the other reps sitting around me and my boss shouting at someone or other, I can write through an artillery barrage. I love to have music on pretty much constantly, with words or none.

One thing that I do is make albums with songs renamed to represent scenes from my book, making a "soundtrack" to the story as if it were a movie. Listening to it makes me feel accomplished, and helps monitor the emotional arc of the story.

Like so:
6 - Wandering Gremlin - 1:34 - from Captured and Tortured (≤1:30) - HP & TDH
7 - Feast of Livestock - 1:40 - The Exodus - HP & TDH
8 - Through the Window - 0:40 - from The Story Begins (0:50-1:28) - HP & THBP
9 - Return to the Funeral Pyre - 1:09 - from Paradox (≤1:07) - Inception
10 - Late Lord Adam Hill - 2:15 - from Fire (≤2:13) - Angels and Demons
 
I listen to music non-stop while writing. This is because I live in a very noisy location, a flat above a petrol station on a busy road, with a car repair workshop twenty yards from where I sit. To add to the noise, the descent flight path to Newquay airport runs parallel to the site, about 500 yards away. If I had the funds, I'd move, but in the meantime I drown out the racket of revving engines, hammering mechanics, car horns, reversing beepers from lorries, screaming exhausts and turbo-prop passenger planes by piping loud music into my brain through earbuds.
I find that I can work if I know what sound is happening next, whereas random bangs, crashes and honks startle me. I listen to a wide range of music, including jazz, world, rock, film soundtracks, folk and heavy metal. I thought that I was perverse for being able to do this, but then found while reading Stephen King's On Writing that he does exactly the same thing!
I'd love to live somewhere peaceful, but I wonder if the quietness would be more disturbing to me than listening to Metallica.
 
One trick that I have used a few times, is to pluck words or phrases from the songs that I'm listening to. Sometimes there is a happy synchronicity in what I'm writing and something that a singer wails into my ear. Song lyrics have to be concise to get their message across, so can be quite inspirational.
 
I can't recommend the Journey soundtrack by Austin Wintory enough. Journey was a PlayStation 3 game and it was like playing someone else dream. Inspiring art. The soundtrack is beautiful haunting music, with a range of emotions and expression in it. The composer was nominated for a Grammy for it.

Search for him on bandcamp. Listen for free. Guarantee you wont be disappointed.
 
MichaelBlackbourn said:
I can't recommend the Journey soundtrack by Austin Wintory enough. Journey was a PlayStation 3 game and it was like playing someone else dream. Inspiring art. The soundtrack is beautiful haunting music, with a range of emotions and expression in it. The composer was nominated for a Grammy for it.

Search for him on bandcamp. Listen for free. Guarantee you wont be disappointed.
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Thank you! Sound is adding another dimension already to my approach to writing but this soundtrack is divine heroism.
 
Emurelda said:
Thank you! Sound is adding another dimension already to my approach to writing but this soundtrack is divine heroism.
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Glad you like it. The track: I was born for this is stunning. The vocals are in many different languages and the lyrics take a line of epic hero's journey poetry from each country. Look up the lyrics translation. Haunting and beautiful.
 
MichaelBlackbourn said:
I can't recommend the Journey soundtrack by Austin Wintory enough. Journey was a PlayStation 3 game and it was like playing someone else dream. Inspiring art. The soundtrack is beautiful haunting music, with a range of emotions and expression in it. The composer was nominated for a Grammy for it.

Search for him on bandcamp. Listen for free. Guarantee you wont be disappointed.
Click to expand...
Emurelda said:
Really is haunting...I was on that exact track now.
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This really is beautiful. I like to have things like this on, regardless of what I'm doing.

Another great game soundtrack is The Elder Scrolls III: Morrwind. By Jeremy Soule, as I recall.
 
I used to need total silence when writing.

Then when I worked in that open-floor office, I had to start using an iPod as white noise because everyone was always making people noises, and I couldn't think. Darn people noises!

Now I can listen to music while writing, but it has to be either instrumental or the soft, indie kind of stuff, like Feist or St Vincent.
 
At the moment it's Lindsay Stirling and Gavin Mikhail (He followed me on Twitter... Squee)

Love love love love love Lindsay Stirling!


Gavin did covers for a long time, he is bringing out his own stuff now. I like this one. Technically it is a difficult song to sing and he does it so well :) Suits the texture of his voice so it does.

But listening to these two poses a problem because it's 2nd series listening! AGGGGGGG! I still have 2 books to go! I need to stop and listen to my series 1 character playlists... but I can't :/

I do like to make things hard for myself *sigh*
 
Karen Gray said:
At the moment it's Lindsay Stirling and Gavin Mikhail (He followed me on Twitter... Squee)

Love love love love love Lindsay Stirling!


Gavin did covers for a long time, he is bringing out his own stuff now. I like this one. Technically it is a difficult song to sing and he does it so well :) Suits the texture of his voice so it does.

But listening to these two poses a problem because it's 2nd series listening! AGGGGGGG! I still have 2 books to go! I need to stop and listen to my series 1 character playlists... but I can't :/

I do like to make things hard for myself *sigh*
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Lindsey Sterling with Lzzy Hale from Halestorm singing "Shatter Me" was my first exposure to Lindsey and it blew me away. So incredible that she can make a violin kill it with hard rock music.
 
I love the idea of writing with music playing... it just doesn't work for me. I need quiet and a clear writing space - no clutter.

I used to work in the music biz, for one of the major record companies - I still needed to turn the music off when I had to focus!
 
Nicole Wilson said:
Lindsey Sterling with Lzzy Hale from Halestorm singing "Shatter Me" was my first exposure to Lindsey and it blew me away. So incredible that she can make a violin kill it with hard rock music.
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I know right. lol One of my |MC's in the 2nd series is really really like her so you can imagine my happies when I found an almost real version of my character on youtube :)
 
I don't use music to inspire me, but I do often use it to block out the noise of a busy house or office. It's always the blandest, least offensive noise possible with very little in it to distract me. The musical equivalent of white bread with the crusts cut off.
Spotify is handy for this, because it offers plenty of ambient playlists. My most-listened being "Beats to think to", which blocks out the outside world but never gets in the way of a good daydream.
 
My prefered music (as I'm sure @Nicole Wilson will approve) to have in the background is Lindsay Stirling. The girl's a legend. Could listen to her for hours on end :)


EDIT! "Taxi for Karen!"
I already said this... oops:oops:
 
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