So I was wondering how many people listen to music while writing to help them concentrate? And what types of music if they do. I have a hard time concentrating on writing with all the noise that goes on around me. So i try to drown it out some with calm soundtrack music. Like the soundtracks for Searching for Bobby Fischer, Glory, Batman Begin's and Braveheart.
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- Thread starter Talihashi
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Like you, I need music to drown out the noise around me. My playlist is a mad mix of genres, but I favour classic rock and other genres from the fifties through to the seventies. Ms Joplin owns my soul at the moment.
I almost always listen to music while I'm writing. Sometimes it's classical, sometimes rock, sometimes country, etc. I find that it really does a lot for me and gets the creative juices flowing.
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I don't listen to music when I write--I actually find music very distracting. TV is easier to tune out. The neighbors had some kind of party last week, with the volume turned up. Couldn't write at all. Too hard to concentrate at all.
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Isn't this topic a sticky somewhere, because it comes up like every other week?
But besides using music to drown out exterior noise, I use it to drown out interior noise. There's a highly distractible part of my brain and I need to keep it occupied with good music or it'll drag me away from writing to do something else.
But besides using music to drown out exterior noise, I use it to drown out interior noise. There's a highly distractible part of my brain and I need to keep it occupied with good music or it'll drag me away from writing to do something else.
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And a holy, hallelujah-amen to that.
The type of music, though, depends on whether I'm actually writing or brainstorming or whatnaught. For actual pen and paper writing, I almost always need music without singing, something calming and inspirational (Vivaldi is great; or any acoustic Phil Keaggy); but if I'm brainstorming, mapping, reviewing, etc, I need something heavy and engaging (Dimestore Prophets or Breaking Benjamin, usually).
I not only listen to music,I create soundtracks for each series.
Music really gets me going and my genres range from Tupac to Mozart to Bauhaus.
Music really gets me going and my genres range from Tupac to Mozart to Bauhaus.
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This is me. I get too wrapped up in the music. I can sort of ignore all the other random background noises, because I'm used to it.
Love me some Breaking Benjamin! By the way, I love the Wordsworth quote on your signature.
I sometimes listen to instrumentals, ranging from classical to new age, but I greatly prefer listening to Old Time Radio programs when writing. I love the old radio dramas, comedies, horror, suspense, and SF programs, though the mysteries are usually my favorite.
I most often lister to Crime Time here: http://www.otrnow.com/otrnow/
I most often lister to Crime Time here: http://www.otrnow.com/otrnow/
I have a really hard time concentrating with any background noise other then whats natural. So a lot of the time when I want to write I get stopped because people are watching movies, tv shows or playing video games with the volume blasting. Calm music without lyrics does help me get through this at times but its still distracting. Any ideas on how to get past this?
In my office upstairs, I’m listening to opera. In my office, downstairs, yea, I have two, I’m listening to Beatles, well, maybe some Led Zeppelin. In the living room there’s always some piano concerts: Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, List, Tchaikovsky, you get the idea, In the library, the only smocking room besides my garaje affice, there’s always jazz, the good old stuff. In my children’s rooms there’s noise, lots of it, they call it music but don’t ask me what kind. And in my bedroom there’s my wife, when she gets started she overpowers everything else in the house… so I go for a drive and play ‘60’s and ‘70‘s rock.
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AAAAAAH! You're awesome.
Thanks! And I love your avatar and user name! I'm rereading Pride & Prejudice right now.
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Woo! Bauhaus!
I mostly listen to Cradle Of Filth at the moment, though at some point I want to get the Lord of the Rings soundtrack...
I've made up a macro for this EXACT question!
Here it is:
Would someone, for the love of all that is holy, please make this topic a sticky!!!!
Here it is:
Would someone, for the love of all that is holy, please make this topic a sticky!!!!
Depends on what I'm writing. Like PP stated above, I sometimes create a 'soundtrack' and the music inspires me as I write. Other times it's distracting.
I find myself distracted by music, especially if it has words. If it's an instrumental piece I know well, I listen for every last detail. If it's a piece I don't know well, I listen for every last detail.
But I do sometimes listen to music before writing, to put me in the mood. I've put down about twenty pages of a story that has a contemporary plotline with flashbacks across the last one hundred years, so I'll probably put together some period music to help with the tone.
But I do sometimes listen to music before writing, to put me in the mood. I've put down about twenty pages of a story that has a contemporary plotline with flashbacks across the last one hundred years, so I'll probably put together some period music to help with the tone.
I need as close to silence as possible when I write, but I listen to old time radio while driving. You can learn a lot about dialogue from OTR. Not necessarily the words, but the cadence and rhythm of dialogue.
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I listen to whatever I like at the moment. Right now it's these guys:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_pS46YRMIQ
http://www.dieantwoord.com/
It's on repeat. Spank Rock rules!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_pS46YRMIQ
http://www.dieantwoord.com/
It's on repeat. Spank Rock rules!
RosemaryWells
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I usually listen to music while I write. With my current WIP, I'm listening to a huge amount of Pearl Jam. I have 'Immortality', 'Nothing as It Seems', 'Indifference', 'Elderly Woman behind the Counter in a Small Town' and 'Dissident' on continuous loop. lol.
Music really helps me slip into the right frame of mind.
Music really helps me slip into the right frame of mind.
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Yes, that's one of the things I love about it. I don't need silence when I'm writing, though sometimes I do love having everything quiet, which is why I often grab a backpack and head off to the woods to write.
But I think I can listen to old time radion and still concentrate on what I'm writing because of the cadence and rhythm of the dialogue.
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