Creative music

[Rho]

Does anyone have an album or a particular artist tucked away in their music collection that seems to go hand in hand with reading or writing?
For me it is Clannad and Ben Howard.

I first heard Clannad back in the mid 80s, they did the sound track for my favourite TV programme at the time 'Robin The Hooded Man' That Celtic sound and the Gaelic just go hand in hand with Fantasy so well, when I hear certain songs it can create memories of some of the books I read while I was listening to it. (Mainly David Eddings' Belgariad or Mallorian books.

Ben Howard is fairly new to me but the sheer talent and raw emotion of his work seems to infect me and helps get my creative juices flowing. Man that man is nothing short of incredible.

The way I see it, all art forms including writing, painting (art) or music all seem to be somehow connected, maybe you use the same creative muscle?

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

A lot of the scribes here use music in this way.

Myself, I need quiet. Darkness helps too. Silence & darkness...they help my mind focus & wander at the same time.

 

[Ireth]

It really varies from story to story. Sometimes I need lighter, Celtic-esque stuff like Loreena McKennitt, David Arkenstone, Adrian von Ziegler or Enya. Other times I veer toward dark and Gothic instrumentals, like Nox Arcana, or other songs with lyrics that just seem to suit specific characters and scenes perfectly. Those can be anything from Josh Groban to Florence + the Machine to Evanescence to Within Temptation.

 

[CupofJoe]

Like Ireth it varies from story to story.
I try to find music that fits the period or tone I am trying to create. This can lead to some seemingly strange choices. I was writing a battle scene [that was extremely unheroic] so I ended up listening to Bauhaus' "Bela Lugosi's Dead" because I needed the metronomic flatness of it. I struggle sometimes for weeks to find the right piece.

 

[Subcreator]

Depending on what I'm writing, my music can vary from the Christian artists Casting Crowns or Michael Card to bands like Demon Hunter, Nightwish, and Epica, with a little Flogging Molly, the Pogues, and the Chieftains along the way.