Music is a powerful tool for writing. It's so helpful in setting the mood, getting your brain juices flowing, and drowning out any distracting background noise. It especially helps me tap into emotions I need for a scene. In my years of writing, I've found certain types of music to be more inspiring than others. For example, music with lyrics is more distracting than helpful. The best stuff I've found is film scores, but only scores that aren't too iconic or closely associated with a film. For example, I could never write to the Star Wars or the Lord of the Rings soundtracks; I'd just see scenes from the movie in my head the whole time. Others I've tried but had to pass on were the Batman scores and Pirates of the Caribbean.
My top 5 writing soundtracks are from films I'm less familiar with, or have only seen maybe once. I have to be able to disassociate the music with the story it's from, so I can adapt it to my own work. Sometimes, when I go back and read stuff I wrote, I can hear the music I listened to playing in my head--pretty awesome! Makes me feel like I'm reading a movie script. =)
1. Edward Scissorhands (quirky and whimsical)
2. Pearl Harbor (this is my favorite; I wrote my entire first novel to this one--so emotional and versatile!)
3. Requiem for a Dream (creepy and intense)
4. Forrest Gump (a little slower, very atmospheric)
5. Braveheart (epic and energetic)
Other than these, almost everything by Howard Shore, Hans Zimmer, or Danny Elfman is great writing music. I really like John Williams, but most of his scores are too iconic. But c'mon--you can't beat the Jurassic Park theme song! Ah, I can hear it now...
PS. The best way I've found to listen to music is through Pandora; I just put in these composers or films, and voila! An entire station of both that music and songs similar to it. This helps break up the monotony of listening to one score over and over again, and also helps me discover new great writing music.
I'm always on the prowl for new writing music. In the comments, let me know if you write to music, and if so, what your favorites are!
And here I was thinking itunes would be getting a pretty penny from me. Why did I not think of Pandora??? Well you just saved my bank account. Thanks!!
ReplyDeletehaha! Don't tell iTunes I said so...
DeleteI do write to music! And a lot of the time it can be songs with lyrics or just movie soundtracks too. I like to match the soundtrack to what I'm writing. Like if it's a crazy, high-paced scene, then I like high-paced music... But I do like listening to just instrumental bands (not scores) like Port Blue and Windsor Airlift. Their music kind of sounds magical to me. :)
ReplyDeleteI write to music, definitely. I just discovered this Icelandic band called OF MONSTERS AND MEN. They have a Mumford and Sons feel to them but I really really dig it. :-) I have an entire playlist on Spotify for my novel - there is a lot of emo music bc that is why the love interest listens to ;o) I also love Pandora but they tend to play a bunch of songs I don't like and I can't move past them as I get click too many times lol!!! I also love the Stardust soundtrack, great composers there too.
ReplyDeleteThe Stardust track! I bet that's awesome--I'll have to check it out! I know what you mean about the Pandora problem of skipping too many songs; I usually just unlike the ones that aren't working for me, and that helps b/c they never come back and the station resets to my original song choice. If you don't keep an eye on them, Pandora stations can go off on wild tangents.
DeleteLudovico Einaudi - I'm obsessed with him when I write. I also love Sufjan Stevens, but I generally can't write while listening to music with lyrics otherwise I just sing along. So it depends what I'm working on for which mood I need my music to be, but Ludovico Einaudi is the top of my list followed by classics like Vivaldi's Four Seasons and Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.
ReplyDeleteI listen to a lot of classical or film music when I write...Wagner is good, as is Richard Strauss. Berlioz and Rachmaninov are OK, but I love both so much that I can end up actively listening instead of actively writing! For film music, I could go on all day, but iconic or no, John Williams is The Man! And I have to plug Jerry Goldsmith, who wrote so much great music inhis long career. Total Recall, The Wind and the Lion, any of his Star Trek scores...check out Goldsmith!
ReplyDeleteOh, I love classical too! YoYo Ma is my favorite. His cello suites are just delicious!
DeleteThese are great; I'll have to check them out. I listen to so many soundtracks/scores, and I really love the following (parentheses are favorite songs): Spirit: Stallion of the Cimmaron ("Run Free"), The Little Mermaid ("Happy Ending"), Pocahontas ("Skirmish," "Run Free"), Labyrinth ("As the World Falls Down"), The Lion King ("...To Die For"), E.S. Posthumus' "Unstoppable"...Really, the list goes on forever! But these are some of my faves. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI've heard of some of these but not all--I'll have to check them out! Thanks for the tips! =)
DeleteI also listen to music...but not soundtracks, too much. I usually do a genre search on my iPod and roll from there.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't thought of soundtracks before! The lyrics thing was always a problem, I'd associate the words too closely with the scene I was writing, which would limit the range of emotion I could write, especially because it would put me in one character's head and not the others'.
ReplyDeleteTotally with you on Requiem for a Dream. It's creepy, but perfect when crafting a tense scene. (As is Batman, but you already tried that one). Phillip Glass is good too, but can be a bit repetitive.
ReplyDeleteI've also found Dario Marianelli very versatile. His is compositions work for me just about no matter what type of scene I'm writing. He wrote the scores for the newest Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, and Atonement. Easy to make a Pandora Station with him, too. :-)
Oooh, ditto on Edward Scissorhands and Requiem for a Dream.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you don't get much more epic than Two Steps From Hell or Globus, and you don't have the problem of the music being too iconic. Try Preliator or Diem Ex Dei by Globus and Skyworld and Winterspell by TSFH.
And if that's not enough, there's:
The Deus Ex: Human Revolution video game soundtrack for a gritty Middle Eastern/Asian-ish futuristic vibe.
The Tron: Legacy soundtrack if you need an electronic/computers/sci-fi feel.
And last but not least, the Bastion video game soundtrack for a colorful assortment of tracks with a kind of Old West feel.
(An oft-neglected upside of video game music - the tracks are meant to loop. So if you need to get into a particular emotional zone, pick your poison and set it on repeat.)
Cheers!
-Kathy
(TL;DR = OMG WRITING MUSIC IS THE BEST LET ME SHOVE MY FAVORITES AT YOU NOW. 8D)