Music to write Fantasy to

[Plucky Novice]

Same here - Two Steps from Hell and Immediate Music are my go-to artists for this - they usually do film trailer music.

Just tried Two steps from hell, it's great. Thanks for the tip.

 

[awesomesauce]

My choices are either silence (the better to hear the voices in my head), or chill electronic music with no voice preferred. I'll accept a sample loop, but when there are lyrics, I start hearing those instead of the narration and dialogue.

Same. I can't focus when there are voices. I have a pair of noise cancelling headphones and a white noise app I use to tune out ambient conversations. Sometimes I'll put on something classical or a movie soundtrack. Anything with lyrics or chatter gets saved for when I'm doing something brainless, like dishes or laundry.

 

[Cathbad]

I don't often listen to music when I write, but my TV is always on.

 

[CTRandall]

Hank Williams.

And if I'm tired of Hank Williams, Hank Williams Jr.

And if I'm writing an action scene, Woody Guthrie (especially if I'm killing zombie fascists from the future).

 

[Christopher Lee]

I made a playlist on youtube that I use. Mostly dramatic orchestral scores, because I like the noise but vocals distract my already paper-thin attentiveness.

 

[HareBrain]

My favourite is the soundtrack to the original Fullmetal Alchemist anime.

 

[Alan Aspie]

... I'd still like to know what you folks listen to when writing/LARPing/ involving yourself in fantasy settings.

I don't.

But if I did...

Rah3 is so complex that it gives room for imagination what ever that imagination tries to do.

I like Lang Langs Rah2 also.

CelloElgar by Jaqueline du Pre is also good if it fits the mood.

But... My favorite "headphones" while writing or thinking are Peltor Optime III.

 

[sknox]

I enjoy listening to the voices in my head.

 

[Vaz]

Some artists I really dig on my instrumental playlists:

Amon Tobin.
Archangel
Thomas Bergesen
Ulrich Schnauss
Zoe Keting (****ing awesome Cello music)
Lotr soundtrack
The Last of Us Soundtrack
Nine Inch Nails (Ghosts album)
Mono
Mono X World's End Girlfriend.
Brian Eno - An Ending Ascent
Morrowind Soundtrack.

Enjoy

V

 

[paranoid marvin]

For anyone who hasn't tried it, I'd recommend Clannad, especially the tracks related to the tv series 'Robin of Sherwood'. But to be honest, music when writing is a distraction to me; in fact comllete silence is best.

 

[Toby Frost]

I'm beginning to wonder if it should be music for thinking and silence for writing, at least for me.

 

[The Big Peat]

I'm beginning to wonder if it should be music for thinking and silence for writing, at least for me.

There's something to that.

Maybe try with something akin to white noise for writing? You can't always guarantee silence, but a noise you're tuned into ignoring is easier to take around with you.

 

[CTRandall]

I'm beginning to wonder if it should be music for thinking and silence for writing, at least for me.

That's a perfect description for me. At times, I find myself thinking of music when pacing scenes. It has to do with the amount of time it takes music to really delve into an emotion. There are places where the writing needs to slow down and dwell on a moment to really drive it home.

 

[The Bluestocking]

Right now, I'm in a really weird situation with regards to music for writing:

My little kitsune and her water elemental sidekick are on a road trip to Lucifer's Hell. They are literally on the Highway to Hell and they have been singing earworms in my ear for DAYS as they sit in what seems like an eternal traffic jam!

I've had to put together a Spotify playlist - which I titled "Michiko and Drip's Road Trip to Hell" if anyone's curious - to empty my head of their road trip soundtrack including:

• Highway to Hell
• (I gonna be) 500 Miles
• Immigrant Song
• Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car
• Sympathy For The Devil
• Jump
• Route 66

GAH!!!

 

[thaddeus6th]

Important moral question:

is that Jump by Van Halen, or Jump by Girls Aloud?

 

[The Bluestocking]

Important moral question:

is that Jump by Van Halen, or Jump by Girls Aloud?

"Jump" by Van Halen, of course!

 

[thaddeus6th]

*cackles*

On-topic: I like Wonderful Life, by Black. It's a rare song that I like whether in good or bad moods.

 

[CTRandall]

@The Bluestocking It's very random but try Henryk Gorecki's "Kleines Requiem für eine Polka" (Little Requiem for a Polka) A very different style of music from what you've listed but it might be psychotic enough to get you a few more miles down the road.

 

[The Bluestocking]

@The Bluestocking It's very random but try Henryk Gorecki's "Kleines Requiem für eine Polka" (Little Requiem for a Polka) A very different style of music from what you've listed but it might be psychotic enough to get you a few more miles down the road.

Unfortunately for me, I'm listing down what my two characters are/have been singing on top of their voices in the car they hijacked from the little kitsune's elder brother... rather than me telling them what to sing.

#DrivingMeBananas

 

[mistri]

I listen to all sorts, but I find that when I listen to my usual music with lyrics in, I end up tuning it out. It can be more effective for me to listen to classical. I like the modern minimalist composers like Philip Glass and Ludovico Einaudi.