What music do you use when writing?

hmmm....mostly I don't listen to music when I write...but during my last WIP, I listened to The National a lot...

Asian music! That is, I listen to asian language music--Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese...Especially Jay Chou (at least lately), Yoko Kanno, Yuki Kajiura, See-Saw, Maaya Sakamoto, Vanness Wu, Jang Nara, F4, Jerry Yan, Yui, Hikaru Utada.

Honestly anything that isn't English language based. Its too easy for me to get lost in writing and end up typing out the lyrics in my story (I'll be thinking "She ran fast!" and instead The Killers "Somebody told me, you had a boyfriend that looked like a girlfriend" will have been typed...). Even though I can read and even understand some Japanese/Korean, I can't translate it fast enough before my brain catches up to what my hands are trying to do.

Lexie

I have different playlists for different genres and settings. There's actually a 'Writing' folder full of these playlists in my iTunes library!

No music. Old Time Radio dramas and comedies, yes, but very seldom any music.

Ditto JAR. No music. If I like the music, I find myself easily distracted by it. If I hate the music, I find myself even more easily distracted by it.

Silence is golden. We have come to value silence far too little in our society replete with constant ubiquitous noise.

I make a playlist for each book. It's so dorky.

AlexPiper said:

I have different playlists for different genres and settings. There's actually a 'Writing' folder full of these playlists in my iTunes library!

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That's a great idea!

I mostly use noise and ambient music when I'm writing. If I'm plotting and I want to come up with a scene, I'll pick whatever song has lyrics that relate to the mood. It can be anything from Jazz and classical, to industrial and world.

Silence - I like silence...

Heh, I don't know why you didn't find a music for writing thread. It's one of the perennial questions on these forums. Why it's a perennial is an interesting question in itself -- do we suppose that music will indeed summon the muse?

What works best for me are CDs I've heard hundreds of times, mostly WHILE writing. I've made a psychological link between this music and work, and I know the songs or pieces so well they don't distract me. Some favorites: Steely Dan (A Decade of), Amadeus (movie soundtrack), Bob Marley (Legend) and anything by local Celtic group, Pendragon. What won't work at all are my favorite musicals -- I have to sing along with those. NPR, which is on all day and night when I'm not writing, is way too interesting to write to -- it must go off.

Silence is good, but very hard to come by -- my hearing is of a cat-like acuity. When I'm in my lairs (home or office), my territorial hypervigilance catches every last sound. Interesting -- in public spaces, like coffeeshops, I can ignore quite a racket.

For writing, I use the music of "Burning Sky", a Native American flute/guitar instrumental combo. Very soothing. I also like Adam Hurst, a Portland, Ore. cellist.

For graphic design and layout artsy stuff, I like artsy music: The Cure, Bauhaus, Depeche Mode, Oingo Boingo, Concrete Blonde, Love and Rockets.

Shady Lane said:

I make a playlist for each book. It's so dorky.

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I do the same thing, lol.

Although I find it more useful to listen to it when I'm sitting and trying to think up stuff, rather than having it on when I'm actually trying to write.

I need silence, which is near impossible for me since the boyfriend constantly has the TV on, whether watching shows or playing his video games--loudly. Right now he's playing Call Of Duty: Black Ops with the sound up loud, and it's driving me nuts. I wish he could go back to work so I can have those few hours of golden silence between when I'm home from work alone until he gets home from his work. Plus, I'd like to murder my cat sometimes, he can be as annoying as a child always wanting attention and doing naughty things to get it.

I'm delighted you brought this up!

For my action scenes... "Holding Out For A Hero" by Bonnie Tyler
For my love scenes... "Cherish" by Cool and the Gang followed with "Touch Me Now" by Samantha Fox
When He Meets Her the first time... "She's Got The Look" by Roxette
And for plot conclusion... "Final Countdown" by Europe

Sorry I'm so 80's there. Can't help it. Good stuff.

Royksopp, Explosions in the Sky, Interpol, Shins. Or anything that may pop up on one of those pandora stations. lol

I can't listen to any music with lyrics I can understand. I end up losing concentration and singing along. Most of my stuff is orchestral in nature. Movie soundtracks. A lot of soundtracks.

I write in silence, but I use music (sometimes) as inspiration for working out plot points, mostly movie soundtracks. I'm a former dancer, so instrumental music is important when I'm choreographing action scenes.

I need silence, too. Nothing against music in its own right. But I wouldn’t be able to fully appreciate music while writing. Or fully concentrate on my writing, so that the reader can appreciate that later on.

Tepelus said:

I need silence, which is near impossible for me since the boyfriend constantly has the TV on, whether watching shows or playing his video games--loudly. Right now he's playing Call Of Duty: Black Ops with the sound up loud, and it's driving me nuts. I wish he could go back to work so I can have those few hours of golden silence between when I'm home from work alone until he gets home from his work. Plus, I'd like to murder my cat sometimes, he can be as annoying as a child always wanting attention and doing naughty things to get it.

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I have two kids, so I sympathize. To save your cat from a death sentence, check out some noise and/or space music. Robert Rich, Steve Roach, Lustmord and Bass Communion are my favorites. I also use them for meditation. This droning type music keeps me locked in when there's a lot of noise in the house. You can also use a white noise machine, however I prefer the droning music wearing headphones because I get a strong sensation of isolation.

I've said this before and I will say it again, Pandora. The best place to go for background music.

Tepelus said:

I need silence, which is near impossible for me since the boyfriend constantly has the TV on, whether watching shows or playing his video games--loudly. Right now he's playing Call Of Duty: Black Ops with the sound up loud, and it's driving me nuts. I wish he could go back to work so I can have those few hours of golden silence between when I'm home from work alone until he gets home from his work. Plus, I'd like to murder my cat sometimes, he can be as annoying as a child always wanting attention and doing naughty things to get it.

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And God said: Let there be headphones, and let inconsiderate boyfriends who do not wear them be condemned unto the lowest hells. Amen.

As for cats. Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer are correct: There's nothing at all to be done about that.

Silence when I'm actually writing the first draft. Classical or native american drumming when I'm editing. It keeps me motivated!

erin_michelle said:

I write in silence, but I use music (sometimes) as inspiration for working out plot points, mostly movie soundtracks. I'm a former dancer, so instrumental music is important when I'm choreographing action scenes.

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This is pretty much what I was trying to say, apart from the instrumental part. (I don't think I even own that much instrumental music, apart from the odd 10-minute long Nine Inch Nails track.)