Music & Writing

**dessa14** · 02-01-2004, 02:42

what do you guys listen to when you write, i listen to many bands like pumpkins, muse, placebo, QOTSA, melvins, the tea party, dreamtheatre, pearl jam etc
post what music you listen to when you write here.
thanks dessa
(just seeing if there is a link between style and enviroment)

**frogbeastegg** · 02-01-2004, 12:23

Depends what I am writing, Eleanor I write to Across the Stars, Luke and Leia theme, and Princess Leia's Theme from Star Wars, also Suteki da ne? from Final Fantasy X (can't understand a word of it because it's Japanese therefore it is just a pleasant sound with no concentration required). Sometimes I could swear that those tracks manage to pick up and go quiet in perfect harmony with the scenes I am writing Creepy. The unit guide I wrote to the Star Wars battle themes like duel of the fates and Imperial March. I also throw in the sound tracks from Final Fantasy's VII, VIII, and IX for variety. Oh and I also play the battle music folder of both MTW and STW occasionally.

Froggy is a musical dunce - can never understand a single word anyone says if it is sung so anything with words in a language I understand even partially demands a lot of concentration...with one exception and that would be the stupid song from Disney's Hercules that Meg sings, whats it called? Won't say I'm in love or something. It's catchy enough but not exactly what I would choose for the only song I can understand.

Now if I hadn't watched that film I would still have an empty list of understandable songs.

**The Wizard** · 02-01-2004, 12:40

To the whispers of imagination that drift around in my head.

~Wiz

**Voigtkampf** · 02-01-2004, 20:11

Nice choices, Lady frogbeastegg; John Williams is next to Vangelis, Hans Zimmer and Jerry Goldsmith one of my favorite movie music composers, though he didn't exactly make himself famous with his latest work for the Episodes I and II. Actually, I have almost all soundtracks Williams ever produced, but there are only one or two things that I like on the new Star Wars tracks, aside of the brilliant Dual of the Fates.

I have listened everything through my time, from the choices that resemble Monk's favorites, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Dream Theater, Tesla, Guns 'n' Roses (boy, did I loved them) over to stuff like Sting, Dire Straits, Vangelis and then to classics and some good jazz music, including Keith Jarret, Dave Brubeck, Miles Davis and, finally, the unforgettable Yoko Kanno and The Seatbelts… Though I cannot listen to Sepultura and Anthrax anymore, I still like to hear some Linkin Park or Evanescence while I'm writing, but it all depends on what I am writing; if I write angry stuff I listen to angry music, if it's calm I'll go with some calm stuff and so on…

**frogbeastegg** · 02-01-2004, 20:23

The music for EP1 alternated between really good and really forgettable, about a 40/60 split. EP2 only has one good piece in it and that is across the stars. I found his work on Harry Potter to be equally disappointing, outside of the main theme there is nothing special there. Now if only I could get a good Indiana Jones soundtrack...

Has anyone else got the LotR soundtracks? If so do you have problems with them? The music sounded so good in the film but so not on CD, keeps shifting between barely audible and way too loud. Gah

Ah well, that's enough time to test all that fancy italic coding flashbacky stuff, back to work polishing it...then maybe I write the next bit of the middle of the story instead of working on the end like I am now

**Voigtkampf** · 02-01-2004, 20:39

Funny thing you mention it, I just got myself Indiana Jones the trilogy on DVD; the soundtrack is just perfect And as for John Williams, with all due respect for the great maestro, he seems to be losing it. It looks like he is on a 9-5 schedule and that he doesn't involves nearly as much of himself as he used to do in earlier days. Or perhaps he is just simply getting old. Harry Potter is not worth mentioning.

**Gregoshi** · 02-01-2004, 20:45

froggy,
I've not noticed anything about the LotR soundtracks that is not a problem with most other soundtracks too. Regarding loud/soft, I only have problems with soundtracks when I listen to them in the car - the wind and tire/road noise makes finding a good volume impossible.

As to the topic at hand, I don't write stories like you do here, but I do a form of creative writing when I work on my D&D campaign. I usually put on soundtracks when I'm doing this and during actual game play to enhance the mood. Usually vocal music (rock/heavy metal, etc) doesn't seem right to me unless its subject matter is related to the writing piece. I can't draw inspiration for a medieval or fantasy battle while ACDC screams out Back in Black - as good as a song as it is. But I appear to be in the minority on this as I've heard and read of many, many people who find much of the music mentioned here suiting their style.

**Gregoshi** · 02-01-2004, 20:55

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (voigtkampf @ Feb. 01 2004,13:39)]And as for John Williams, with all due respect for the great maestro, he seems to be losing it.

Sadly, I tend to agree with this. If you listen to his early stuff, most of the tracks were very musical and could stand on their own without the movie. The original Star Wars was nearly perfect from beginning to end. His later works have only a couple of tracks that are good listening. The rest is a traffic jam of notes and instruments, clashing in annoying crescendos. If there is music in there, it is beyond my ability to find it.

What is so special about the LotR soundtracks is that Howard Shore's score is very reminiscent of early John Williams. You can listen to them and enjoy almost all the tracks simply for the music itself.

**frogbeastegg** · 02-01-2004, 21:04

So it's not a general problem with LotR? Good, gives me something to work with. I'll have to try copying the entire disc onto my pc, that seems to affect the playback volume slightly as I couldn't hear any of the first half of across the stars until I copied off the disc. And there was me trying to keep an uncluttered hard drive

I am hoping Williams manages to pull himself out of whatever rut caused this drop in quality for EP3, the film is probably going to be struck down with bad acting, bad scripting, overly packed run time with too much happening at once, all it needs is a bad soundtrack and one of the film highlights of this decade will be an utter letdown.

**Voigtkampf** · 02-02-2004, 18:55

Yes, Mr. John Williams has left the building, whether he will return with EP3 is doubtful, my tip is a sad, yet most probable NO, because he is currently stuck wherever Mr. George Lucas is.

You know what the best choice of music is to write to? The one you don't notice while you are writing. I listen massively to Vangelis, he's may weak spot, I also have some TW music that I've burnt on a CD and which I play on my stereo, and I listen to - get a load of this - to Fallout soundtrack which I have also burnt to a CD and listen all of the time while I am contemplating something. It's great atmospheric music, low on the regular rhythm, whether from drums or anything else, and is therefore easy to listen without messing with you and drawing attention away from what you are writing.

**Beirut** · 02-05-2004, 17:00

Pink Floyd.

Dessa14,

The Tea Party eh? I know the lead singer. Brought him his firewood a few winters back. He's a decent enough guy, came out on a super nasty January day and helped load it up.

**dessa14** · 02-06-2004, 07:33

check out their website, www.teaparty.com or an unofficial website www.teaparty.net i think.
really good
listen to some of their music too, its really good.
thanks dessa

**Crimson Castle** · 02-06-2004, 13:58

Usually I like something reflective - so I listen to Medieval music (Robert White - stuff by Tallis Scholars) or classical music (Bach, Mozart, Corelli).

However when I go running I listen to Linkin Park and movie soundtracks. Linkin Park A Place for My head and ironically Faint make great running anthems.

**Togakure** · 02-07-2004, 08:13

If it's an early (Mo-Tu) weekday morning, prolly techno/new wave throwbacks from the 80's - 90's: Ultravox, The Fixx, Missing Persons, Berlin, Erasure, Depeche Mode, Scritti Politti, ABC, Thompson Twins, Thomas Dolby, etc. Need to get peppy and mentally focused, and stay that way. Posts are prolly gonna be a bit tweaked--two cups of strong tea or coffee + new wave = hyperactive.

If it's an early weekday evening, prolly a throwback from the late 70's: Led Zeppelin, Old Queen, Pink Floyd, Aerosmith (the good ol' stuff, not the new crap), Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, ELP, Kansas, etc. Harder stuff, good therapy for a long day--remembering the good ol' days. If I'm feelin' mellow then perhaps some old Elton, Billy Joel, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, Police, etc. Posts are gonna sound a bit like I'm your rockin' daddy.

Midweek (We-Th) morning, prolly something weird or New Age: Patrick O'Hearn, Enya, Isao Tomita, Jean Michel Jarre, Vangelis, Suzanne Ciani, Riuichi Sakamoto/Yellow Magic Orchestra, etc. I'm usually getting a bit dreamy and scattered at this point. A good time to respond to those weird philosophical posts that pop up in the Tavern from time to time.

Midweek evening: Ok now I'm needing a fix: Nine Inch Nails, Prodigy, Hard Floor, Ministry, Alice in Chains, Rammstein, etc. Now to respond to all those posts that ANNOY me ...

.

Friday Night? Well, if I'm online then I guess plans didn't work out--depends on my private partyin mood: Earth, Wind, and Fire/Tower of Power/James Brown/Ohio Players, and a whole collection of Motown greats, or Van Halen, Scorpions, AC/DC, Billy Idol, etc., or sometimes a nice glass or three of Rioja and some Gypsy Kings, Inti Illimani, Al Dimeola, et. al. Posts might be a bit whack--if I drink it's usually Friday nights (drains snifter of Chaumucos Anejo Tequila and takes a break to get some more).

.

Saturdays: Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, The Marsalis brothers (Wynton and Branford), David Sanborn, Yellow Jackets, David Benoit, Izumi Watanabe, John Scofield, Ella Fitzgerald, Billy Holiday--luv my eclectic Saturday jazz. Posts are likely to have a cool and collected, suave, and debonnaire tone.

Sunday Mornings: JS Bach (love my Bach for Breakfast CD--a great collection), Vivaldi, Scarlatti, Handel--Baroque music for the most part.
Afternoons: Mozart (symphonic pieces), Beethoven (piano sonatas), Chopin (piano etudes, ballades, impromptus, scherzos, concertos with symphony), Liszt (Hungarian Rhapsodies ROCK--those damn 16th-note octaves are a MO BITCH to play ...), Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev.
Evenings: Chopin (preludes, nocturnes), Debussy (Children's Suite, La Mer, Claire de Lune, etc.), Ravel, Rachmaninoff. Until recently I played STW online on Sundays a lot, and the classical music worked well to help me focus and concentrate.

Wow, got a little carried away there, didn't I ...

(chugs more tequila) I do love most kinds of music, and this little routine has worked for me for a while now--I cover most of the things I like (I like a lot of different things). Never had a reason to tell anyone about it until now.

Right now it's Friday night here, I'm home

, and it's the soundtrack from The Dead Presidents, Volume One--a great motown collection, playing in the background. Cheers (chug).

**Ludens** · 02-07-2004, 13:19

Since I did most of my writing around midnight, I couldn't really play music since it would awake my sister in the room next to mine. When I did write during day and I had no problem concentrating on it, I found that music usually distracted me. Paradoxically, when I am easily distracted I find that music actually helps me focus on the task at hand.
I don't listen to music with singers, since I cannot ignore the voice. It is like someone is talking to you. Therefor, my past stories have been written either in silence, or when listening to the STW soundtrack and 'East meets East' by Nigel Kennedy and the Kroke Band, with an occasional interlude by Ravel's 'Bolero' or Saint-Saens' 'Dance Macabre'.
My next story, should it ever be written, will probably be accompanied by the MTW soundtrack and 'Take Five' by the Dave Brubeck Quartet.

**Anselm** · 02-11-2004, 19:36

May I suggest the Angus Dei of adagio for stings by mozart, performed by the Vienna Boys choir. Makes me feel more medieval than anything else.

Anselm

**Magic Window** · 03-03-2004, 22:59

Since I have sound/crash issues with Shogun and it saves not to have any sound in Multiplayer, I need *something* going on in the background whilst I attempt to conquer the world. Mostly, these days:

Autechre
Aphex Twin
My Bloody Valentine
Radiohead
Pink Floyd

Those lot go on heavy rotation, but it depends on my mood. If anyone is remotely interested, here's a list of all my stuff. Rockin.

**Axeknight** · 03-30-2004, 16:40

Hey, Voigt, another GN'R fan? Cool

I listen to the Chilis, Guns n' Roses, Hendrix, Queen, some Def Leppard, Metallica, REM, Black Sabbath, and some strange ones I'm not mentioning. Although Electric Six - Gay Bar is one...

**Voigtkampf** · 03-30-2004, 19:19

Yessir, heard them and played them, Slash is dirty guitar player if I ever heard one But in time I drifted off from those groups and began listening more and more jazz music; odd, but true. The years, the old age… Oh, dear.

**Axeknight** · 03-30-2004, 19:23

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (voigtkampf @ Mar. 30 2004,19:19)]Yessir,

Have you heard that Manx word? 'Yessir'? It means 'You, sir' or 'Yes, sir' and is only spoken by Manxmen or those who've been here.

And there's nought wrong with jazz, like the saxophone meself. But rock music was so much better before it got all nu-metal...

*EDIT* hi, I'm axe, and I'm a typoeholic...

**Obex** · 03-30-2004, 19:41

Froggy - If you are having problems with the alternating high/low volume with the LOTR soundtrack, i suggest a little ap called mp3gain. it will go through and normalize your mp3 to a standard volume gain. a consequence of this is the elimination of the intended volume differences among tracks on an album, but it might be worth it to be able to hear everything at the right level.

personally, i dont have a fixed musical influence for my org posting. my playlist varies according to my current mood. usually its something mellow, like bob marley.

on the topic of soundtracks, in addition of those mentioned (SW, LOTR, FF), let me include my love for the last of the mohicans soundtrack. other notable gaming oriented soundtracks that i enjoy include interview with a vampire, conan the barbarian, and surprisingly, music from total annihilation. balder's gate 1 & 2 have good scores too.

**Tricky Lady** · 04-01-2004, 22:03

Most often I put some chilly background music in my cd player, such as zero7, lamb, massive attack, boozoo bajou, a reminiscent drive. Some days however, I'm more into rock and then I listen to the white stripes, soledad brothers, eighties matchbox b-line disaster, electric six and stuff.
However, my all-time favorites are Blur and Tricky.

**SwordsMaster** · 04-02-2004, 15:22

Depends on the occasion.
If i need concentration and i seriously mean concentration, then Marilyn Manson, Slayer, Ill nino and mosltly thrash metal.There is a psychologial reason for that.
1.It is so noisy that at some point you stop listening to it, but it also separates you from the outer world so you dont get distracted by other sounds.
2.You are unlikely to fall asleep.

When the work i have to do is rather creative, then i listen to Clapton, BB king, Santana, Classic guitar music and the kind.

And, well, you also have all that bulls**t they play on the radio...But better turn it off