Do you listen to music while writing?

[Adamin]

I do. I always listen when I write, but never songs with speech, for that usually distracts me. I listen to classical, mostly piano music, guitar or guitar with orchestra. If anybody knows the Divertimenti by Mozart, I love them, too. I also have an extensive library of film music that I just shuffle together on a playlist. It's very dramatic and emotion-evocative (lol weird word...) and helps me, sometimes, to picture scenes in my head better before I write them down.
Some examples....
Pearl Harbor Soundtrack
King Arthur Soundtrack
Gladiator Soundtrack
Pirates of the Caribbean Soundtrack ( very dramatic... not always so good lol)
Black Hawk Down Soundtrack
The Chronicles of Narnia 1+2
Kingdom of Heaven etc..

[Laramie]

hmmm.....I don't really have a standard. I did once start re-arranging my songs into fast ones, slow ones and ones good for writing, but I got bored. Sometimes I have music on, sometimes not. Don't really plan it.

[EvaBourne]

That's frightening! I do exactly the same thing...with the same music!!. I have the entire King Arthur soundtrack on my ipod. Who knows how many times I've listened to the very end of "Hold the Ice"? Hans Zimmer is my go-to man for dramatic scenes, it would seem.

And Mozart...wonderful Mozart. I am a violinist and I played a Mozart divertimento in my quartet this past year: k136, first movement (typical, but enjoyable). They're so fun to play, and so fast-paced.

[Adamin]

Oh my god! Lol! Hold the Ice! Yes! Or Woad to Ruin! I've got them all on my Ipod, too, haha...Yes, Hans Zimmer is THE MAN I love him! I'm actually playing Mozart's Flute Enchantée on guitar --> a link if you want to know what it sounds like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTdtZyFfqzA

[kiaga89]

AH!!! this is amazing!!! i have all that music! i thought i was the only one geeky enough to have an music library fillied with a bunch of this kind of music! in fact, i have hold the ice by hans zimmer on the mp3 player...for some reason, the beginning part of the song, to about 2:14 or so i can imagine Maerad in the ice palace for some reason, and no longer can think of King Arthur...especially starting at 40 seconds..i want to describe how i envision this, but ill prlly put it on another thread so its not off topic

[Adamin]

AH!!! this is amazing!!! i have all that music! i thought i was the only one geeky enough to have an music library fillied with a bunch of this kind of music! in fact, i have hold the ice by hans zimmer on the mp3 player...for some reason, the beginning part of the song, to about 2:14 or so i can imagine Maerad in the ice palace for some reason, and no longer can think of King Arthur...especially starting at 40 seconds..i want to describe how i envision this, but ill prlly put it on another thread so its not off topic

well do you put the music on while writing?

[Jennistar]

Yep, I do the film music thing too (Hans Zimmer is a GOD!). I love Pirates of the Caribbean, Gladiator is always good as well...Oh, and the new Batman2 soundtrack ROCKS! I'm not such a classical music fan though, it tends to bore me for some reason...I guess I like my music to be more dramatic and moody. (Although I love Holst's The Planets).
But then I also listen to musical music, such as Jesus Christ Superstar and Phantom of the Opera, and metal music - not heavy metal but bands like Evanescene, Nightwish, Kamelot...they're called either death metal or symphonic metal - basically they have an orchestra as well as guitars and theres no screaming down the microphone .
If I'm writing a particular scene, I sometimes stick to only one song that fits the scene until the scene is written. Sometimes my song doesn't fit the scene at all though! Example - I once wrote a death scene whilst listening to STEPS!!!!! Insane...it turned out all right though

[Mistress Maerad]

I might have to look up all this music you're mentioning....

I basically have my Mp3 connected to my ears all day. I love listening to music, and it really helps me. However, I listen to songs that aren't meant for writing, like rock and other pop stuff. Mostly, I listen to my Christian CDs, because they give me a positive messages, and sometimes underlying that are messages that can be turned into writings....

[Sirkana]

I don't normally listen to music while writing because it ruins my rhythm...but I do sometimes.

[Adamin]

So does anybody of you film music lovers have any good suggestions? Which are your favorites, apart from the ones mentioned? Maybe you got something I don't!

[Coliathe]

I listen to music. Mostly becaue my little sisters shout and run around the house all day. Plus, music helps me get into my zone. I listen to music before i go to bed everynight while i think about what I'm going to write the next day. without music my writing sucks

oh, and i always listen to music with lyrics, that way, if i need a break i can just sing along.

[EvaBourne]

Oh man, I have tons of movie music.

Try:

Stardust--Andy Brown and Ilan Eshkeri
(Especially 'Shooting Star' and 'Septimus')

Children of Dune--Brian Tyler
(especially "Summon the Worms")

The Fountain--Clint Mansell
(especially "Death is the Road to Awe)"

Requiem for a Tower--Corner Stone Cues

The Time has Come (Theme to Planet Earth)--Gabriel Shadid & Tobias Marberger

Moon--George Winston
(also see the songs "February Sea" and "Rain")

The Da Vinci Code--Hans Zimmer
(especially 'Dies Mercurii I Martius' and 'Chevaliers de Sangreal')

Pan's Labyrinth--Javier Navarrete

The Tempest--Jennifer Thomas

Letters from Iwo Jima--Kyle Eastwood & Michael Stevens
(especially 'Main Titles')

Music from Final Fantasy--Nobuo Uematsu
(especially the piano verson of "Terra")

The Piano--Michael Nyman

Finding Beauty--Craig Armstrong

The Village--James Newton Howard
(especially "The Gravel Road")

The Lake House--Rachel Portman

Becoming Jane--Adrian Johnston
(especially "A Game of Cricket")

Music from Doctor Who--Murray Gold
(especially "The Doctor's Theme")

Zoosters Breakout (From Madagascar)--Hans Zimmer

The Tudors--Trevor Morris
(especially 'A Historic Love')

Wanted--Danny Elfman
(especially 'Fraternity Suite')

Wow, sorry. That's a lot of songs

[kiaga89]

well do you put the music on while writing?

yes i do..it inspires me, and depending on what im writing about, is the music i use..for example, if its just writing in general, the music doesn't really matter as much, and if i write about love or something, i gotta have a good track.

lets see...

i had to write a paper for a trip im going on to study in Europe and i listened to "start wearing purple" by Gogol Bordello; and i have to admit, it cracks me up and its stuck in my head a lot now. http://youtube.com/watch?v=p_81l4DXlwM
no i dont usually listen to this kind of music..just had to share that lol reminds me of Borat


This is some of the music i have that helps me write really emotional scenes:

- The "cast away" soundtrack-
-LOTR: especially "journey to the grey havens," "passing of the elves," " the passing of Theoden," and "The passing of Boromir," to name a few
-Tristan and Isolde soundtrack: always reminds me of Cadders and Mazda
"my face in thine eye, and two loves be one"
-"Armageddon" soundtrack, especially the two piano themes and "leaving"
-Titanic: most of those tracks work: in fact, "irish party in third class" gave me an idea to write a pellinor fanfic based on it
-"300" -pretty intense soundtrack
-"Cold mountain"-great music as well

ill put up some links as soon as i get my newbie question answered lol

[Adamin]

Thank you! I haven't got some of them. Gotta download! Muaha!
I will post some you may not have later on when I have more time!

[Bree]

I think it depends on my mood, whether or not I listen to music. And then if I am in the mood to listen, I might want to listen to a particular genre. i love debussy's clair de lune it's so peaceful. and eric clapton's version of danny boy is wonderful.
and i love movie soundtracks. 300 was great.