Epic/Trailer/Movie Soundtracks

Pikabuddy · Mar 12, 2012

I'm curious: does anyone listen to lyric-less music while writing, or brainstorming? I'm talking like epic, instrumental movie tracks you hear in like Avatar or Star Wars. I don't know why, but whenever I hear these pieces of art, I simply want to jump on the computer and write. If I'm not able to write, then I simply brainstorm scenes right then and there.

If so, what are you favorite artists?

Mine:

Two Steps From Hell
TrailerHead
Epic Score
Audiomachine

blacbird · Mar 12, 2012

John Williams is great, but predictable: Vast, full-sound orchestration. You can always tell a John Williams score, just by the sound.

More interesting to me is Elmer Bernstein, who wrote lots of movies scores, and scored an unarguable Oscar for the music of To Kill a Mockingbird,, quiet, haunting, moody, and perfect.

caw

darkelf · Mar 12, 2012

I don't listen to soundtracks very much. I do have a series of instrumentals, mostly harp and flute I picked up at a renfair somewhere.

What I mostly listen to when writing is foreign language rock. I prefer Japanese; come to think of it, some of the songs in my current playlist are from the Bleach soundtrack. I also have some German, and stuff I don't know where it's from that my sister gave me (sounds kinda like Russian).

I like them better than plain instrumentals, and I'm not distracted by the words since I can't understand them.

Pikabuddy · Mar 12, 2012

darkelf said:
I don't listen to soundtracks very much. I do have a series of instrumentals, mostly harp and flute I picked up at a renfair somewhere.

What I mostly listen to when writing is foreign language rock. I prefer Japanese; come to think of it, some of the songs in my current playlist are from the Bleach soundtrack. I also have some German, and stuff I don't know where it's from that my sister gave me (sounds kinda like Russian).

I like them better than plain instrumentals, and I'm not distracted by the words since I can't understand them.

I appreciate Japanese music as well, especially some instrumental pieces. I even have a few tracks like you're talking about with Bleach. It's from an anime series called Tears to Tiara.

darkelf · Mar 12, 2012

Oooh, Tears to Tiara is on Netflix. I'll check it out, thanks for the recommendation

Drachen Jager · Mar 12, 2012

Some of Ennio Moricone's (sp?) later work is fantastic. Try The Mission, it has a great feel to it. I like the Gladiator soundtrack too, vocals on there but no words on most songs. Some of The Planets are good for epicness, Wagner of course, GoTan Project is cool for some funky tango beats.

Pikabuddy · Mar 12, 2012

darkelf said:
Oooh, Tears to Tiara is on Netflix. I'll check it out, thanks for the recommendation

If you can, do English subs. The dubbed version is terrible, IMO.

Richard White · Mar 12, 2012

Japanese Anime soundtracks are a big favorite of mine. Singing without the distracting words. *grin*

Depending on what I'm writing, I have three folders in my iTunes that I use for writing sessions - One is stuff like Medieval Babes, Mannheim Steamroller, Rick Wakeman's "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and "Tales of King Arthur".

Another is my blues/jazz folder - Keiko Matsui, Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Glen Miller, Herbie Hancock, George Thorogood and Stevie Ray Vaughn.

Lastly is my straight soundtrack folder - Ladyhawke, The Three Musketeers, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Braveheart, Iron Man, Batman (Danny Elfman), Lord of the Rings (all three), Coraline, Crouching Tiger, First Knight, How to Train Your Dragon, Henry V, and last but not least, The Princess Bride.

*Yeah, I have a fairly eclectic taste in music.*

CrastersBabies · Mar 12, 2012

Pikabuddy said:
I'm curious: does anyone listen to lyric-less music while writing, or brainstorming? I'm talking like epic, instrumental movie tracks you hear in like Avatar or Star Wars. I don't know why, but whenever I hear these pieces of art, I simply want to jump on the computer and write. If I'm not able to write, then I simply brainstorm scenes right then and there.

If so, what are you favorite artists?

Mine:

Two Steps From Hell
TrailerHead
Epic Score
Audiomachine

I absolutely do. Songs w/lyrics always distract me too much, take me somewhere "too literal." Soundtrack music (and film trailer music) really lets me get a clear vision.

Love Two Steps from Hell (Black Blade is my favorite)
And AudioMachine's Guardians at the Gate is another favorite. I'll have to check out the other two you mentioned. I'm not familiar with those.

Soundtracks in general I turn to:

1492 (I know it's Vangelis, but it rocks)
Glory
Steve Jablonsky's "My Name is Lincoln" is good (from The Island) and I actually like some of the music from Transformers as well.
Bear McCreary always rocks. His work on the BSG series was wonderful and I love the pieces I hear on SG: Universe though that soundtrack isn't available for SGU and probably never will be (sniff). Have to hear it in the show itself.

Children of Dune is also a great soundtrack--some very moving pieces along with some great battle "marches" and such. Brian Tyler, I think?

Ned Kelley is a good soundtrack.

Surely you've listened to X-Ray Dog as well? Another good trailer "group." They did the trailer music for the first Chronicles of Narnia and a lot of other sci-fi/fantasy films.

I second Drachen on The Mission. I remember thinking, "this movie just isn't for me, but dammit if I don't love this soundtrack."

Also, Last of the Mohicans. Can't go wrong there.

blacbird · Mar 12, 2012

Drachen Jager said:
Some of Ennio Moricone's (sp?) later work is fantastic. Try The Mission, it has a great feel to it.

Ah, yes Morricone. And not just his later work, although I agree completely on The Mission. But earlier, his stuff in Eastwood's spaghetti westerns and the epic Once Upon a Time in the West is fabulous stuff.

And for really well done "period" feel, the music from Chinatown is brilliant.

caw

CrastersBabies · Mar 12, 2012

Richard White said:
Lastly is my straight soundtrack folder - Ladyhawke, The Three Musketeers, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Braveheart, Iron Man, Batman (Danny Elfman), Lord of the Rings (all three), Coraline, Crouching Tiger, First Knight, How to Train Your Dragon, Henry V, and last but not least, The Princess Bride.

LOTR, yes! I also give nods to the Three Muskateers. Not a bad little soundtrack at all. Underappreciated! Braveheart, yes. Crouching Tiger, absolutely. How to Train your Dragon! Ahh! Henry V.

Definitely got me on most of those - - - except for Ladyhawke. Tangerine Dream needs to go away. If they actually redid the music score for that movie, it might have "aged" a lot better. The movie was, imho, utterly flawless, except for the music. Oh God, why? I felt like I was dropped into an Electric Light Orchestra concert.

You know what's super nerdy and I can't believe I'm going to admit this, but Paul Wylie skated to music from Henry V at the, oh, geesh . . . 1990's something olympics. And that's how I learned of the soundtrack and the movie. I know. Shameful. And even though Wylie was ROBBED of the gold, he led me to the wonderful world of Patrick Doyle.

Much Ado About Nothing came after. Fun soundtrack there, too.

gothicangel · Mar 13, 2012

Drachen Jager said:
I like the Gladiator soundtrack too, vocals on there but no words on most songs.

I was watching that recently, and wondered where Jonny Depp was, when I heard Pirates of the Caribbean.
Damn you Hans Zimmer.

I preferred the soundtrack to The Eagle. They dug out ancient Persian/Scottish instruments, found Gaelic singers and muscians through myspace and facebook. Even recorded some tracks in historical Scottish churches [one being Grey Friars in Edinburgh.]
No synths in sight.

quicklime · Mar 13, 2012

honestly I like it quiet, but sometimes my brain does its own thing while NPR is on, or the soundtrack from Last of the Mohicans, or whatever else.

King does a lot of his work to Metallica, although more as a high-noise filter than because he's actually listening to the words and rhythms of For Whom the Bell Tolls or any particular song.

Pikabuddy · Mar 13, 2012

CrastersBabies said:
I absolutely do. Songs w/lyrics always distract me too much, take me somewhere "too literal." Soundtrack music (and film trailer music) really lets me get a clear vision.

Love Two Steps from Hell (Black Blade is my favorite)
And AudioMachine's Guardians at the Gate is another favorite. I'll have to check out the other two you mentioned. I'm not familiar with those.

Soundtracks in general I turn to:

1492 (I know it's Vangelis, but it rocks)
Glory
Steve Jablonsky's "My Name is Lincoln" is good (from The Island) and I actually like some of the music from Transformers as well.
Bear McCreary always rocks. His work on the BSG series was wonderful and I love the pieces I hear on SG: Universe though that soundtrack isn't available for SGU and probably never will be (sniff). Have to hear it in the show itself.

Children of Dune is also a great soundtrack--some very moving pieces along with some great battle "marches" and such. Brian Tyler, I think?

Ned Kelley is a good soundtrack.

Surely you've listened to X-Ray Dog as well? Another good trailer "group." They did the trailer music for the first Chronicles of Narnia and a lot of other sci-fi/fantasy films.

I second Drachen on The Mission. I remember thinking, "this movie just isn't for me, but dammit if I don't love this soundtrack."

Also, Last of the Mohicans. Can't go wrong there.

I'll have to check out those you mentioned. And yes, X-Ray Dog is awesome as well.

Phaeal · Mar 13, 2012

Howard Shore's scores for The Lord of the Rings movies inspire me greatly: perfect capture of both the heroic and the elegiac themes in Tolkien. I listen to them in the car, to the point where I even know the words to the Elvish songs. Ai Aniron Undomiel...

My favorite WRITING music, however, is the Amadeus soundtrack: mostly instrumental, lyrics in Latin or German or Italian, all Mozart! (Well, except for a bit of Pergolesi and a tad of gypsy music.) Also, for some reason, Steely Dan and Bob Marley and Trombone Shorty.

muravyets · Mar 13, 2012

I've got my tailored playlists for each WIP, and I like to mix songs and instrumentals -- anything that will carry the moods I need.

For my occult horror WIP, instrumentals include many selections from Slavic composers - Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Smetana, Janacek, Dvorak -- parts of George Fentman's score for "The Company of Wolves," James Bond movie themes, Henry Mancini's score for "Peter Gunn," the Yoshida Brothers (Japanese shamisen artists), Tuvan throat-singing, klezmer music, Deadly Avenger's "We Took Pelham," and more.

My nautical fantasy adventure project uses Klaus Badelt's score for "Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl," a lot of bossanova from Sergio Mendes and others, but I rely more on songs for that one, especially Irish traditionals and sea shanties.

Midian · Mar 13, 2012

It's the only thing I can listen to while writing. Lyrics make me stop writing because I start singing along until I'm eventually dancing on the table. Doesn't make for much writing.

I love listening to the regulars like Hans Zimmer and they do inspire but I also like driving beats to keep my fingers moving on the typewriter.

Run Lola Run is excellent for that.

I also like to listen to techno - especially hardcore and dubstep. If you knew me personally you would find that absolutely hilarious.

bearilou · Mar 13, 2012

Immediate Music
Thomas Bergersen (From Two Steps from Hell)
Harry Gregson-Williams
Jesper Kyd (Assassin's Creed, Hitman video games)
Age of Conan OST
The Witcher/The Witcher 2 OST
THe Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim OST
Mass Effect OSTs

Richard White · Mar 13, 2012

Oh, the Dragon Age soundtracks are good when I need that dark moody music.

And, while I may be in the minority, I LOVE the soundtrack to Ladyhawke. :tongue

Jess Haines · Mar 14, 2012

I love a lot of the artists already mentioned (Vangelis, Hans Zimmer, Danny Elfman, John Williams, etc). I also love listening to the instrumental music from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV show (Christopher Beck).

I used to listen to music while writing, but I haven't done that for a while.

fredXgeorge · Mar 14, 2012

The Lord of the Rings soundtracks are IMO the most epic ever. That's what I listen to when I want music to write by.

maxmordon · Mar 14, 2012

Elliot Goldenthal (Titus)
Hans Zimmer (Inception)
Phillip Glass (Mishima)

Pikabuddy · Mar 14, 2012

fredXgeorge said:
The Lord of the Rings soundtracks are IMO the most epic ever. That's what I listen to when I want music to write by.

Agreed. They couldn't have done a better job with merging the music with the movies.

BethS · Mar 14, 2012

Pikabuddy said:
I'm curious: does anyone listen to lyric-less music while writing, or brainstorming?

Oh yes. I listen to movie and TV soundtracks. Particularly love anything haunting, moody, martial, and/or written in a minor key.

And I think this kind of music helps unlock creativity because it's emotional. The two are closely tied together.

Anyway, I have a bunch I like:

Battlestar Galactica
The Tudors
Pirates of the Carribbean
Gladiator
Last of the Mohicans
Robin Hood
Game of Thrones
The Pacific
Band of Brothers
Tristan and Isolde
Chocolat
Lord of the Rings*
The Eagle
The Virgin Queen
House of Flying Daggers
How to Tame Your Dragon
Kingdom of Heaven

and many more.

(*Though these evoke the films so strongly that I find I can't listen to them much while writing.)

mistri · Mar 19, 2012

I like John Williams. Philip Glass is great - try the Mishima soundtrack, for example. Another fan of the BSG soundtrack too.

Epic/Trailer/Movie Soundtracks

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