I used to read with the TV on, but now I find it way to distracting. I don't listen to rock or top 20 music while reading, but I found that I love listening to some smooth classical music, nothing too fast, or my favorite is to listen to a recording of waves on beach, or a rainstorm.
Last edited by Donteb84; May 21st, 2010 at 06:59 PM.
I do. When reading it is mostly soundtracks and classical. I've found the New World Symphony can go with pretty much anything. And it also drowns out my husband's screams as the Mets lose. (No screaming yet tonight so far...but they're playing the Evil Empire Yankees so any cries will be of great anguish)
And I also listen to music while writing, depending on the scene or characters. I turn to a lot of folk and world music, especially Balkans, Sephardic, Galician, some Turkish, and a lot of classic Irish stuff - Chieftains, Bothy Band, Christy Moore, Sean-nos singers who post videos on YouTube. I like some of the medieval chants too.
Bal-sagoth're my fantasy fight music and in a siege with a possibly cataclysmic outcome I had the main characters taking a Bal-sagoth line, Into The Fray We Ride, literally. I find that bands like Bal-sagoth;re good music to listen to when writing fantasy fiction, especially fight sequences and I can also reccomened EXHUMED or NILE but in torture sequences, i put Stuck In The Middle With You (Resevoir Dogs soft torture sequence. i've read of a lot worse) on but when you've got cannibal, gore, viscera obsessed demonic entities (Scaleback and you DON'T want to know about him) it's usuaully Iron Maiden's Powerslave, Number of the Beast or EXHUMED (Noty a fantasy based band but good for horror fiction). Bal-sagoth're a real band AND influenced by Howard and Lovecraft and well worth seeking out. Let me know how you go in your quest for Bal-sagoth and when you've got two assault wyverns (Think Wings of The Apache but donme by two wyverns) you need Bal-sagoth's Draconis Albionesis (Yes, the two wyverns;re British AND upper class from Cambridge).
No music here. I prefer to have it be quiet, or maybe a fan can be turned on in the room, but no TV and no music at all. I like to concentrate and get as much as I can from the read. I usually read in bed before falling asleep so this isn't a big deal.
gonna vote 'no'. I like quiet. Sometimes my wife watches videos online while i'm reading. If it's in her native langauge, Manderin, i can tune it out. If it's English, I can't; my mind will reserve a small amount of attention to what it hears and understands, and i have to leave the room to read.
I've tried low-volume classical before and other genres of music... just can't do it.
I'm with Aktunka... have to have quiet so I can concentrate and really get as much as I can out of the book.
Usually, no. Too distracting. But lately I've been listening to Beethoven while reading GRRM, and it's working.
It's a half and half deal for me. If I'm excited or something like that, I'll put on some good "excitable" music. If I'm concentrating on what I'm reading then no. Silence is necessary.
Nope. If something is on when I'm reading, I just tend to tune it out.
I put winamp on shuffle and hit play. I mostly tend to tune it out though. Cant watch tv and read though, too distracting.
yep, i usually play a lot of prog and trance. sometimes orchestral stuff. but it's all very laid back, it has to feel like it's in the background, i don't want to be distracted.
Not always.
But when I do, the perfect music is dark ambient.
The creepy atmosphere, the distant drones, the noises and whispers from the darkness, the occasional monk chant - it's just amazing how well it works.
As it rarely uses any beat, it doesn't distract from reading and provides an amazing background soundtrack.
Personal favorites - anything by the following artists:
Desiderii Marginis - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EBNDe1ePRk
Atrium Carceri - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkcQpGhv5Os
Raison d'Etre - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFk7gK59hP0
Inade - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEJXjxl-Yug
Sephiroth - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OagjQhtgaws
Ulf Soderberg - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTuOHzsWIoE
Lustmord - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdAg_bNoBGQ
whew! I watched a few of those.. those would be freaky to have as background music! Might have to try while reading some dark fantasy book..Originally Posted by Stromkern
I'll listen to anything from metal to classical to even talk radio. Many times I'll even half listen to an interview on Q (A show on CBC) while reading, and I won't miss a beat. Background noise when I'm reading doesn't bother me in the slightest. Heck, I used to read when I was a young coatcheck girl at a dance club. I used to write my university papers in bars.
My mother's a private music teacher, and she teaches from home. I learned at a young age to concentrate through anything. . . Especially when my brother and sister each decided to take up the sax and the violin respectively.
Last edited by NickeeCoco; May 22nd, 2010 at 09:08 AM.
When traveling, yes. I put on the headphones and listen to classical instrumental. When at home, sometimes yes and sometimes no. If there's annoying noise from outside, and it's breaking my concentration, then I put on music. If it's quiet, then usually not.
It's hardest to keep reading without music when there's interfering noise, when I'm upset about something and when a book is not that good.
When reading and marking complicated copy edits, I listen to music in headphones continuously, because it kept me from flying off the handle. It's often the same music to which I wrote the book, as this "sets" me in the scene and makes changes slide in better. I rarely listen to anything but classical music.
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