Who else Listens to Music when Writing?

O. Faulkner

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Am I the only one here that absolutely HAS to have something to listen to when I work on my writing projects?

For me, because of my ADD, instrumentals are an absolute must. So no lyrics at all in order to keep me focused. I tend to lean towards soundtracks of films or videogames that match the tone of whatever it is I'm trying to create. So for my current writing project, being a story set place in the ocean, I listen to the soundtracks of Blue Planet 2, Abzu, and Song of the Deep. Ink is another film soundtrack I also go back to very frequently.

I'm also working on a short science fiction story as a side project, the preferred playlist for those sessions is the soundtrack to Fantastic Planet!

Who else has this little need whenever they sit down for a writing session? Do you have any favorites? Feel free to share them here! :)
 

RhysBC

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I do exactly the same in having purely instrumental music on (and often as a theme linked to project)
Completely agree, lyrics are off putting.
I find myself singing along, either in my head or out loud if not witnessed. This can really throw me off a thought process and ruin what I imagine could have been the best piece of writing šŸ˜‚
I have favourites that I often return to. The last one I used was
Soundtrack to How to train your dragon (great for fantasy)
 

starrystorm

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I do, but not all the time. I have this suspicion that when I write with music I write with the message of the song. Point: I once wrote a scene revealing a traitor when listening to Livin' la Vida Loca. I shuddered re-reading it. I made the traitor so weird!
 

Ambrosia

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I listen to music more often with my poetry than I do my prose, to set a mood I am going for. It doesn't matter to me if it is lyric free or not. I am attempting more classical than I have in the past to see if it can calm my brain into a writing space. It is rather a grand experiment at the moment.
 

The Second Moon

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I need to listen to music while I write, too. But I need lyrics. I use the music as a way not to get bored and stay pumped. I also use music to take "accidental" breaks, for example, if I need to change the channel or push the replay button then that gives me a little break from writing.
 

mrsmig

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I have a writing "mix" I listen to when I'm working. Mostly instrumental, mostly acoustic. It's about 30 minutes worth of music, and I think it signals my brain that it's time to settle in and write. Once the mix is finished I generally write in silence.
 

rgroberts

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I also listen to music, generally scores but sometimes classical/score type stuff that isn't from a movie or show I like. I can write in silence, but I've really got to be in the mood. Otherwise, the music helps my mind focus. I definitely can't listen to anything with words, either--I type fast enough that sometimes I end up tying the words to the song instead! Granted, I haven't done that in years, but it has happened before. So no words for me. :)
 

Albedo

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I listen before I write, to get me in the mood, and some characters even have their own theme songs. But not during writing. I'm liable to enter a trance and listen to 6 hours of new music on YouTube without writing anything.
 

Jason

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I play classical music when reading/writing. Helps get me zoned in.

Same - if there's lyrics, I end up singing along (though horribly out of key)...

Although, half the time with classical, I end up playing the air piano or conducting when someone walks in says "what the heck are you doing?" because I had headphones on! :)
 

Robots

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I wish I could listen to music while writing, but unfortunately I easily get distracted, so it often isn't an option. In general, songs i have heard a million times already distract me less than new music and can under certain circumstances float nicely into the background - sometimes I give it a try.
I do listen to music during writing tasks that require less active thinking, like spellchecking.
 

RobertLCollins

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I listen to music when I write as well. Either film soundtracks (or the Movieola channel on Calm Radio) or classical music.
 

Myrealana

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I have to listen to music while I'm writing. Ambient noise is the enemy of concentration for me.

I tried classical, but it doesn't tend to work for me. I don't know why, but classical is more distracting to me than songs with words.

I just play my rather extensive iTunes collection on shuffle. I do the same thing at work when I need to focus on a database or dashboard.
 

OldHat63

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I use music to help "flesh out" the person when I'm writing up character profiles/descriptions. For example, one character who's old and tired, even though she looks young came alive in my mind to Bonnie Raitt's "Angel from Montgomery".
For another, Eric Clapton and J.J. Cale doing "After Midnight" filled in the blanks.
And yet another required Joan Jett singing "Have you ever seen the rain".
Others have needed anything from bagpipe music to American Indian flute for me to really be able to "see" them.

Oh, and I have about 600 songs in a playlist to choose from. They range from AC/DC to Zack Hemse and everything in between.
 
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Kjbartolotta

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I finally got my GF to tolerate me listening to video game OSTs while writing, so I'm back onto writing with music. It's been, as I've noted in the past, an ongoing argument.

I've tried a lot of different ambient/post-rock/shoegaze stuff. There are a lot of good channels, but some of the stuff starts to sound the same while being very uneven in quality.
 

talktidy

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I will sometimes write with classical music, or something like chamber jazz, on in the background. Bach usually works a treat. I can't work if the music is too exuberant.
 

Erinell

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I'm a music-in-the-ears person, too, but no vocals because I wind up paying attention to it. Found a whole bunch of albums of movie position and trailer music and made playlists from that. (This is the uncredited music you often hear in movies and teleplays that runs under the action or serves as a bridge). So I have scary music, chase music, high action music, happy music, romantic music, form which to build playlists. When editing or revising though, absolute silence is a must.
 

recoveringandroid

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I need to have music going almost all of the time when I'm writing. Mostly instrumental, though sometimes I just need background noise of whatever variety I can get. My most frequent genre for writing is chillhop, because it's so low-key and unintrusive. If I am settling in to work on a project I'll make playlists to help get me in the mood. Write now I'm writing a detective story with kind of a noirish vibe, so I've been listening to a lot of genre soundtracks from film and videogames.
 

Ink-Pen-Paper

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The noises vary from modern pop to classical to country to Japanese or French, in short it depends on what I find interesting in the background. When I start writing, fiction or program coding, I know I am in it when I surface to realize there are sounds outside of my head and me speaking the characters lines.
 

JDGood

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I also listen to music while writing. I need purely instrumental if I don't know where I'm going with it, but if I have some grand scene planned out, I like to listen to my favorite songs to pump me up.
 

Errant_Fragments

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I've got tinnitus from back when I was working in nightclubs and didn't really realise that lifelong damage to the ear canal would be a thing because hey I was young and indestructible (see also, smoking) so I can't bear to be in a silent room. I don't mind vocals but what I can't stand actually is monotony so my music collection is one giant 100 day playlist with everything from OSTs, to pop princesses, the hardest dance music, Gregorian chanting, britpop, deep south country, theatre musicals, everything... if I have too many tracks on in a row that all sound the same *that* is what snaps me out of my concentration, or sometimes something comes on that's just not in the right grove, but I just the skip button and we're off again on to something else completely random.

It is however, not necessarily the best playlist for parties as any group of people grooving along to Reba Mcentire, and the B52s is not necessarily going to enjoy a skip to Rammstein or Annie Mac.... but frankly that's their loss for not being able to appreciate a wide range of talent and art, right?
 

Primus

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I love my Spotify. I'm constantly listening to it whether I'm writing or taking a shower. Whatever I feel like listening to, with lyrics, without lyrics, modern hip-hop or 80s pop, that's what I'll tune in to if I need some tunes to help carry me into the demanding flow of my writing. Music is ambrosia for the ears.
 

Jennie

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I generally listen to music, but I prefer vocals in a language I don't understand - Otherwise my minds wanders away and I focus on the words I'm hearing and not those I'm writing :) So I mostly listen to instrumental music - such as Gotan Project, Irish music, movie scores (2046, Gladiator, In the Mood for Love...), Tangerine Dream. If I listen to vocals, I will choose World music from various African countries (Ahmadou et Mariam, Ali Farka TourƩ, Rokia Traore, Fatoumata Diawara...).