Does anyone else use music while writing? Do you change musical styles according to what you are writing? On a previous project, I used Bach just because the intricacies of the music seemed to keep my inner editor distracted. I've also used Miles Davis and John Coltrane because of the creativity and improvisation in their work. Not sure what this novel's musical style is yet--altho I'm pondering employing dance/techno/trance because it seems to keep me moving and maybe that will translate to my fingers. Anyway, played enough on the forums now. Back to the word count for the day...
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88,888 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 07 14
Drum and bass, because the music employs highly energetic beats clocking in at 160 to 190 BPM. Once you get into the groove and your fingers start typing to the beat, things get done in a hurry.
Check out the Hospital Records podcast (I have a huge Hospital sticker on my netbook). They are free and offers cutting edge drum and bass mixes and awesome British accents.
----------To victory!
12,744 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 09 30
Bad Religion, Tool, and A Perfect Circle for me. Thought lately I've been listening to string-quartet covers of the last two (try Judith - String Tribute to A Perfect Circle).
----------"What are you doing here? I thought I killed you yesterday!" grumbled Albi quite racistly.
"No, Albi. You didn't kill me with your dragon flames. I crawled to safety, but you did leave me very badly disfigured," laughed the boy.
-Flight of the Conchords
12,451 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 10 53
Music has a backfire effect on me. In school alone, I played violin for nine straight years, clarinet for roughly seven and a half, marching horn for four semesters, and french horn for three semesters. (The two horns have completely different fingerings, which qualifies as a different instrument for me.) During most of that, I could listen to music just fine and concentrate even better.
Then I took music theory in junior year of highschool. Biggest mistake.
Now I'm discecting music, trying to break apart the different parts, knowing when the song goes from major keys to minor keys, and occationally a diminished or augmented key, so to speak. If it starts playing the main theme in secret, like as a harmony or in the bass part, I will know it. And it will grab my attention.
That said though, music does wonders for me in meditation. ^_^ Particuarly "Wild ARMs Music the Best: Feeling Wind" which an entire CD filled with beautiful piano arrangements from various songs from the first four Wild ARMs video games. Just search on youtube for "Wild ARMs Feeling Wind" and you'll find several of them. You'll be amazed, even if you have no idea what Wild ARMs is (which would be all of you, pretty much. v_v)
38,267 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 13 47
This year I'm listening to very black metal & jazz (yay, Coltrane!). It's an intentionally odd mix. Hey, Duo, do you listen to dubstep? It's quirkier than Drum&Bass and keeps me awake when it's latelatelate!
~ Z
88,888 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 14 59
Oh, Wild ARMs, such a flawed yet beautiful series.
If you like that, I do have a bunch of piano arrangements and OSTs of the Final Fantasy series. The operatic version of Aria Di Mezzo Carrattere is simply fantastic (the opera theme from FFVI).
I also have a bunch of anime music and doujin music. Those mostly fall into the JPop/SpeedCore genres, though I do have Tokyo Philharmonic's Suzumiya Haruhi no Gensou as well.
Yes, I'm a full blown nerd.
----------To victory!
88,888 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 15 09
Triple post ahoy. I also listen to house/French house like Deadmau5, Justice, and Daft Punk.
----------To victory!
88,888 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 15 12
I blame it on the website crashing on me after I hit the "post" button. :(
I also listen to a healthy amount of Nine Inch Nails for angst.
----------To victory!
32,004 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 16 08
I have a youtube playlist for the songs I"m addicted to and I just play that. I just started it today and I bnames it "NaNoWriMo Songs" {I think}
----------NaNoWriMo 09: Grasps Of Reality
NaNoWriMo 10: The Child Inside {GoR Prequel}
Important Characters: 8
Character Deaths: 1 planned
Dares used: 6
Dream sequences: 3 or 4
Species Used: 5
Beverage Of Choice: Coffee <3
12,451 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 18 27
If you like that, I do have a bunch of piano arrangements and OSTs of the Final Fantasy series. The operatic version of Aria Di Mezzo Carrattere is simply fantastic (the opera theme from FFVI).
A several years ago I might have been slightly insulted by calling Wild ARMs flawed. Now though, I rejoice when theres another person who actually knows the series, be it by love or hate. Regardless, Michiko Naruke (the composer) was my first love, and it's one reason why I keep coming back to Wild ARMs. Either way, I need to stop listening to the Rocking Heart version of "Battle vs. Lord Blazer"...it makes me want to write an epic, complete with iambic pentameter. It pains me oh so much, I cannot tell. (GAH! I'm doing it already!)
And Oh how too common it is that when people talk about video game OSTs, Final Fantasy appears very quickly. A great series, with wonderful music too, but the hype bugs me too much. I'm predicting the next video game series to come up will be either Halo or Earthbound. Although now I suppose a segway to Super Smash Brother's Brawl's completely epic OST would be predictable as well.
Oh dear me, I seem to have created a bit of a mini-rant yet again. Need to stop doing that.
88,888 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 19 46
Mentioning Final Fantasy was a safety move. It's the gateway to nerd-dom, if you will.
If I mentioned Persona 3, Katamari Damacy, Guilty Gear, or Touhou, people may not know what I'm talking about.
Plus, Halo? Earthbound? Please. Next up on the pecking order is Yasunori Mitsuda. You know, Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, Xenogears, Xenosaga, etc. The ones you mentioned are bush league. :D
----------To victory!
32,004 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 20 58
If I mentioned Persona 3, Katamari Damacy, Guilty Gear, or Touhou, people may not know what I'm talking about.
Plus, Halo? Earthbound? Please. Next up on the pecking order is Yasunori Mitsuda. You know, Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, Xenogears, Xenosaga, etc. The ones you mentioned are bush league. :D
I know what Persona 3 is... Yet I've never watched the FF movie{even though I own it, by some cruel twist of fate, I DO own it} and I've never played any of the Final Fantasy games{mostly because I have this NEED to play them in order and I can't find a copy of the first one for GameBoy}.
----------NaNoWriMo 09: Grasps Of Reality
NaNoWriMo 10: The Child Inside {GoR Prequel}
Important Characters: 8
Character Deaths: 1 planned
Dares used: 6
Dream sequences: 3 or 4
Species Used: 5
Beverage Of Choice: Coffee <3
50,037 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 22 45
Davis, Coltrane, Beethoven, Sigur Ros
45,135 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 12 55
My default inspiration music is the large batch of Celtic music I've stored up over the years; it always gives me a fantasy sort of feel to write by. But if I know I need a certain feel for a certain scene, I'll dig up something else, because I'm writing for lots of different characters in lots of different circumstances. For example, I put the newest Pride and Prejudice movie soundtrack on repeat when I was writing the buildup to a wedding and the wedding itself, because Pride and Prejudice is the best romance ever.
----------All writing begins life as a first draft, and first drafts are never any good. They're not supposed to be.
- Patricia T. O'Conner
22,775 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 16 58
Judging from iTunes it's...
Gary Numan, Johnny Cash, The Lonely Island, Husker Du, The Cure, The Rolling Stones, Vampire Weekend, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Mitch Hedberg, Nine inch Nails, Man or Astroman?, Pete Yorn, Esquivel, The Wonder Stuff, Pearl Jam, KMFDM, Ladytron, one of the Simpsons albums, Sharpe+Numan, Schwein, the Flaming Lips, Ray Charles, Black Flag, Minor Threat, the Misfits, Janelle Monae, Jay-Z, Bad Religion, Radiohead, Paul F. Tompkins, and Bare Jr.
That's just from the last two days. I bore easily, I guess.
38,267 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 12 57
ChuckJayWalkin' Dude,
I've gotta admit, quite an eclectic mix! Country & Punk & Metal & Alternative & Rap & Singer/Songwriter & Electronica & Country & Grunge music, not to mention whatever the heck category Esquivel and the Simpsons fall into. Speaking as someone who likes as wide a musical selection as possible, kudos to you ~ hopefully it informs your writing in a good way. I'd go into detail about my playlist, but I'd be typing posts all day instead of working on the novel.
Zen
37,764 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 15 34
Eclectic is always fun!
I have been listening to a Last.fm radio station based on my profile there. The music a lot less disjointed than Shuffle/DJ in iTunes. (iTunes tends to put some really weird stuff back to back and after doing radio DJing for a few years it just rubs me the wrong way.)
A few things I have been listening to lately: Sotaisei Riron, Shugo Tokumaru, Boris, M.I.A., Shina Ringo, Camille, Carla Bruni, The Black Atlantic, The Smiths, TV on the Radio, Broadcast, The Magnetic Fields, Four Tet, etc ... Last.fm just finished playing some Nat King Cole, though.
In past years I've made long playlists that worked well with certain scenes/themes in my novel. This year my characters don't really share my current music tastes.
Is anyone making playlists based on their novel/characters? What's on them & what do they sound like?
32,004 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 22 21
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO3gg2cVfxg
I'm addicted to this song so much now. I made a playlist on youtube that's just this song over and over 15 times{for now}. SoI don't spend all my time pressing Repeat! XD
Actually, I wrote 1,200 words of my character in a dreamy-trancey like state and I think it's because of this song. x.x"
----------NaNoWriMo 09: Grasps Of Reality
NaNoWriMo 10: The Child Inside {GoR Prequel}
Important Characters: 8
Character Deaths: 1 planned
Dares used: 6
Dream sequences: 3 or 4
Species Used: 5
Beverage Of Choice: Coffee <3
37,764 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 12 06
Fireflies, eh?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvSY4NYkySM
29,586 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 12 16
Hooray for The Magnetic Fields!
I wrote a dream sequence inspired by this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHyYhyp0kTc&feature=PlayList&p=127CF0C398...
My soundtrack this year is mostly Tom Waits.
1,075 / 50,000
Nov 9, 2009 - 05 31
Gotta have my three days grace. the new album is more inspiring for my stories than flyleaf ever was.
----------"Life Starts Now
You've done all thengs that could kill you somehow
And you're so far down
But you will survive it somehow
Because life starts now."
36,308 / 50,000
Nov 9, 2009 - 06 03
simplymad_xx, good choice on Owl City. Thanks for the link. Anyone else using Pandora to generate playlists? Seems to work well and keeps me from getting up to change CDs (amazing how you can get lost on the way to and from the stereo when you're trying to write;). I can't do the ipod shuffle thing either--with the range of music (Bombay Dreams to Nanci Griffith to Miles Davis to Seven Seconds of Love to Bach to XTC, Talking Heads and other 80s classics) and books on tape on that thing a person could get whiplash...
http://www.pandora.com
7,410 / 50,000
Nov 9, 2009 - 11 59
While I usually just go to pandora and let it magically pick my music for me, sometimes I'll play my iPod or go listen to stuff on youtube. My favorites are Coldplay, U2, The Fray, The Script, Secondhand Serenade, and OneRepublic. I can't get enough of them, and most of the time I write, it's about something sad cause I'm weird like that and all of those bands, usually, write slower songs and it seems to help me... But, yah.(: That's how I roll:P
----------"No one ever tells you that facing the things that you could never get quite right and learning that you'll never be able to change the outcome you've created for yourself... that that's facing with forever." ~Rachel.
45,135 / 50,000
Nov 9, 2009 - 13 15
I was needing to write something of a shouting match, so I went rooting through my music thinking, "I need some angsty music!" Then I saw Breaking Benjamin's album Phobia, and I was like, "lolol, I asked for it!" Seriously, every time I hear "Diary of Jane" and "Breath", I just fall in love with them all over again. Lovely angsty music.
----------All writing begins life as a first draft, and first drafts are never any good. They're not supposed to be.
- Patricia T. O'Conner
15,600 / 50,000
Nov 13, 2009 - 13 16
If I do in fact end up listening to real music, it's Bowie. Can't beat him.
Otherwise, I just put on the TV in the background. You'd be surprised how great that can work... also it can be very distracting. Kind of hit or miss.
32,004 / 50,000
Nov 13, 2009 - 13 23
http://www.pandora.com
Yeah I love their music, or what I've heard of it. But I'm particularly attached to Fireflies and Hello Seattle. <3
----------NaNoWriMo 09: Grasps Of Reality
NaNoWriMo 10: The Child Inside {GoR Prequel}
Important Characters: 8
Character Deaths: 1 planned
Dares used: 6
Dream sequences: 3 or 4
Species Used: 5
Beverage Of Choice: Coffee <3
34,869 / 50,000
Nov 13, 2009 - 16 33
I so agree :D
----------http://madelinebemel.livejournal.com
36,308 / 50,000
Nov 13, 2009 - 20 26
Yay for Bowie--and if you have most of his work then you still have lots o' variety....anyone heard him do "Knock on Wood"? Great live stuff.
34,253 / 50,000
Nov 14, 2009 - 03 41
Maybe it's because I'm a drummer and have a tendency to hit things (I'm dangerous around delicate computer keyboards), but I generally play music AFTER I've been writing. For some reason, It's not as helpful while I'm writing and I have found music at write-in's (particularly in coffee houses) incredibly distracting.
And yes, when I need a break, I put on the Bowie, if not Bowie's darker sibling, Bauhaus. It helps me recharge if nothing else.
45,135 / 50,000
Nov 14, 2009 - 06 51
I recently discovered that Linkin Park is quite good for a few of my more angsty characters. Yay emo!
----------All writing begins life as a first draft, and first drafts are never any good. They're not supposed to be.
- Patricia T. O'Conner
88,888 / 50,000
Nov 14, 2009 - 07 54
Whenever someone mentions Linkin Park it reminds me of the conversation we had about Linkin Park last year during NaNoWriMo, which involved William Shatner doing Linkin Park covers.
I tried. SO hard. And gotsofar.
----------BUT in. the end. itdoesn'tEVENmatter.
To victory!