The soundtrack to your writing...

[BT Jones]

Here are three ditties to help with your writing

K2

Doesn't quite fit with the backdrop of my stories but I get the idea... : )

 

[BT Jones]

Writing generally isn't any different to when I listen to music for any other reason - I'll have anything I like on.

There are exceptions e.g. if I'm up late writing and it should be wind-down time, or I'm for some reason finding almost anything distracting. My go-to then is usually Aural Method (it was years before I realised the song titles on this album make up a poem):

When I Drifted I Heard A Faint Melody, by Aural Method

14 track album

auralmethod.bandcamp.com

That's ambient post-rock I guess. I love that album so much. His second album and Slow Meadow material is very good too.

I may also turn to Hammock:

Chasing After Shadows...Living with the Ghosts, by Hammock

21 track album

shop.hammockmusic.com

And for something more atmospheric and louder (a band that would make an epic dystopian and/or sci-fi soundtrack), Collapse Under The Empire:

Those three are all instrumental, though I don't find singing especially distracting in most music.

I have a Spotify melodic ambient playlist (not public as I need to whittle it down) and a dreamiest shoegaze playlist too. I'd love to check out a couple of your playlists. I do prefer music with melody, hence my "melodic ambient" rather than any ambient playlist. I don't tend to listen to ambient that goes on for ages without doing anything (Hammock do have a couple of albums like that).

Another exception is like @Joshua Jones - I may listen to music I feel is suited to my characters or the story itself. I actually wrote a story that heavily featured ABBA's music, so of course I had to listen to ABBA. I'd always appreciated they had some great pop songs, but found a greater appreciate through the process of my story. I've also written a story based on a mix CD, so listened to those songs when writing the scenes they were relevant to. Given I write a fair few dystopias, Collapse Under The Empire (mentioned above) feature often in my listening.

Interesting. And I love Hammock. I have almost all their albums, and especially love the ambient ones you referenced!

 

[MikeAnderson]

I find myself listening to a lot of hip-hop when I write. It seems to help me come up with lines when I hear somebody spitting hot ones.

Notorious B.I.G. is my personal go-to. The guy could tell a book's worth of stories in a few bars.

 

[Steve Harrison]

I go a little deaf when I write, which gets me in a lot of trouble with my wife.

However, I do like to have music in the background to suit what I'm writing. For example, for action sequences my go-to music is anything by Two Steps from Hell. It gets both my blood pumping and my ears hearing!

 

[BT Jones]

I go a little deaf when I write, which gets me in a lot of trouble with my wife.

However, I do like to have music in the background to suit what I'm writing. For example, for action sequences my go-to music is anything by Two Steps from Hell. It gets both my blood pumping and my ears hearing!

Yes,that was a good one, used often in film trailers. That kind of mood is the one I seem to have the most music to suit. The trouble is when I'm trying for pensive / thoughtful / boisterous I seem to come up short.

 

[Steve Harrison]

Yes,that was a good one, used often in film trailers. That kind of mood is the one I seem to have the most music to suit. The trouble is when I'm trying for pensive / thoughtful / boisterous I seem to come up short.

I find the band, Cigarettes After Sex, excellent for pensive, thoughtful mood writing at the moment.

(I had to rewrite that several times...)

 

[Stephen Palmer]

I can't concentrate without music. I quite like The Hu at the moment

Tried very hard to like them, but just too metal.

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

Here we go, get writing

Almost perfect. It only lacks the visual, the old ladies with their pots of tea, the business man picking his nose, the gossiping teenagers with all their mannerisms that fuel my characters' mannerisms, but it genuinely is very good to write to. I never suspected such a sound track could possible exist, so thank you!

Couldn't agree more, which is why I have my music so fussily categorised. Sometimes if what's playing doesn't suit my mood or the scene, I switch it off. But when it clicks... it clicks. And, yeah, I hardly ever have music with lyrics, or anything with prominence.

If you are interested, I could send you some links to some longform pieces that might suit various different moods / genres.

I'm interested, although I think it'll be hard to beat @M. Robert Gibson's coffee shop soundtrack!

 

[M. Robert Gibson]

If you look at the video on YouTube, some of the suggestions include 2, 4 and even 8 hour tracks of coffee shop sounds

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

I've been working to those today, and found it very soothing.

 

[Trollheart]

There's nothing I specifically listen to when writing, but I love music and can't live without it, so whether I'm writing, reading or posting here, or even doing the dishes, I'll have music on. I can listen to just about anything in my collection while writing, with the possible exception of death metal (this is not because it distracts me, as such; I'm just not over fond of death metal. Maybe some Kreator or Carcass, maybe At the Gates) - classical, metal, prog rock, country, ambient, you name it. The only time I may pause or not use music is if I'm stuck, trying to really concentrate on some sentence or paragraph or plot line, or trying to figure out where I go next. Then I need silence. Other than that, I can listen to Funeris followed by Chris Rea or Judie Tzuke, then Ozzy and Lemmy, then Josh Groban, then Explosions in the Sky, and so on. If music be the food of love, write on!

 

[Astro Pen]

Ah @Trollheart Judy Tzuke. The era when stars could sing. Just been over to 'now playing' to post "Stay with me till Dawn"

 

[BT Jones]

I find the band, Cigarettes After Sex, excellent for pensive, thoughtful mood writing at the moment.

(I had to rewrite that several times...)

I'll look them up Steve, thanks.

 

[BT Jones]

Almost perfect. It only lacks the visual, the old ladies with their pots of tea, the business man picking his nose, the gossiping teenagers with all their mannerisms that fuel my characters' mannerisms, but it genuinely is very good to write to. I never suspected such a sound track could possible exist, so thank you!


I'm interested, although I think it'll be hard to beat @M. Robert Gibson's coffee shop soundtrack!

You're digging very deep here, Kerry. First of all, I would have to give you the rundown on all my mood colours. I will have to prepare something for you.

 

[BT Jones]

There's nothing I specifically listen to when writing, but I love music and can't live without it, so whether I'm writing, reading or posting here, or even doing the dishes, I'll have music on. I can listen to just about anything in my collection while writing, with the possible exception of death metal (this is not because it distracts me, as such; I'm just not over fond of death metal. Maybe some Kreator or Carcass, maybe At the Gates) - classical, metal, prog rock, country, ambient, you name it. The only time I may pause or not use music is if I'm stuck, trying to really concentrate on some sentence or paragraph or plot line, or trying to figure out where I go next. Then I need silence. Other than that, I can listen to Funeris followed by Chris Rea or Judie Tzuke, then Ozzy and Lemmy, then Josh Groban, then Explosions in the Sky, and so on. If music be the food of love, write on!

I wrote this post before you and I bonded over Floyd, Trollheart. I will prepare a mood colour schedule with some links and you can see if anything there might help. I will have to start work on it.

 

[Astro Pen]

@BT Jones You can do multiquotes (+ Quote) rather that individual replies and save yourself some bandwidth

 

[BT Jones]

@BT Jones You can do multiquotes (+ Quote) rather that individual replies and save yourself some bandwidth

I will give that a shot!!

 

[BT Jones]

Okay, here goes. I will do this in stages and groups of 4 mood colours. They follow an approximate progression. Each one is divided into three (prominent / minimalist / ambient) with a youtube link to a notable track. I've got several hundred songs / tracks in each mood colour; the majority being in prominent, but still some substantial quantities in the ambient too. I am constantly adjusting / refining / recategorising. Some tracks fall between two stools. See what you all think. I will post more throughout the day as I get the opportunity.
Apologies if I get the youbtube linking wrong.

000 – Translucent – Inert. Floaty nothingy music.

Prominent – N/A

Minimalist -

Ambient -

010 – Gunmetal – Cold, machine-sexy

Prominent -

Minimalist -

Ambient -

015 – Platinum – Human sexy, carnal.

Prominent -

Minimalist – Dissolved Girl - Massive Attack

Ambient - Andy Stott - See In Me

020 – Bronze – Sexy cool

Prominent - Doves - Compulsion

Minimalist – No-Man - Pretty Genius

Ambient - Something Disposable

 

[MikeAnderson]

Total silence.
I do occasionally edit to ambient music.

I'm weird like that; I NEED background noise to concentrate. Things get too quiet, I get distracted. Start feeling uncomfortable.

 

[Trollheart]

Ah @Trollheart Judy Tzuke. The era when stars could sing. Just been over to 'now playing' to post "Stay with me till Dawn"

I met and interviewed her when I was much younger. She's lovely; a lot shorter than I had expected but you know what they say about good things.
If I had to choose an album as my favourite it would probably come down to a choice between Welcome to the Cruise and maybe Turning Stones. and my least favourite is Ritmo (too much disco/dancy stuff on that for me). Oh, I forgot The Cat is Out (better let him in I guess!)