Writing music?

[Otter]

Does anyone listen to music as they write? Does anyone REQUIRE music to write? I'm curious to see who thinks it hinders or helps the process.

When I first started to work on this "project" it started with a song called coyote by mako and then youtube led me down a norse/germanic/slavic rabbit hole. Warduna, Skald, Heilung. No clue what they're saying but it does take me somewhere magical.

 

[WooHooMan]

I can’t focus on two things at once.

I use to listen to music when I would write or paint or whatever. Once I stopped, my work got way better. I’ve heard similar stories from other artists/creators but then you always get people who insists they need to be listening to music to work.

I do, however, have playlists for my characters to help get a feel for their personalities. And when you put a bunch of personalities together, you get a story. And really, you put a bunch of stories together and you get a world.

 

[Maker of Things Not Kings]

I sometimes wish I could but I need near-silence. I write, or work on other story related creations, every morning from 5am-ish to 8am-ish. When I try to write later in the day, once the rest of the world gets going outside the windows, it doesn't work.

 

[CupofJoe]

I like some noise in the background to take up the slack in my head. It can't be too engaging but it has to be pleasant. so I usually tune in to BBC Radio 3. The music is often amazing and frequently unknown to me. There are no adverts and the presenters/host/djs aren't trying to grab my attention. And there is always the chance that I will hear something new and amazing.

 

[Penpilot]

I like silence. Background noise is OK, but nothing that affects my mood one way or the other.

Personally, I like to be focusing on the moment so to speak and let the words tell me how I should be feeling.

 

[Otter]

I am new to writing so I will have to try some silence. I like the idea of writing in the small hours of the morning like Maker of Things mentioned while it's still dark even. I feel like some unobtrusive classical wouldn't be so bad. I'm not familiar with BBC Radio 3 but it sounds great

 

[Svrtnsse]

I can write in silence, but I almost always get more done when listening to music and wearing headphones. There's something about shutting the rest of the world out that really helps me get into the swing of it.

I sometimes create mixsets to use as background music when writing. It's electronic, and mostly without vocals, but with a steady beat and a hint of melodies - enough that it doesn't get monotonous, but not so much that it gets distracting.
Here is a set that I put together for a website that curates music for studying: The Essay

 

[Demesnedenoir]

In my world there is no such thing as silence, ringing ears and all, LOL. That said, I can write with or without music, but Enigma’s Le Roi est mort, Vive Le Roi is my creative white sound, I swear I have my brain trained to that music.

 

[Heliotrope]

I prefer music. It depends on what I'm working on. Each piece has its own soundtrack. I prefer classical, but I also was really inspired by the Minecraft Pirates soundtrack or the Minecraft Norse Mythology soundtrack (I know!!! It sounds crazy but my kid plays a ton of Minecraft and it always makes me want to write and I figured it was the music and I tried it and it helped!)

I think what music does is it distracts my logic brain so my creative brain can do its job. When I don't have music I am too judgemental of my shitty drafts. I have trouble getting words on the page. When I have music that part of my brain is tuned into that, so I can write more freely.

 

[Adela]

Music is a must have. I can't write without it. Lyrics or no lyrics. It doesn't matter. I have playlists for each work and will add to them at times. I'm incredibly slowwww. I wish I could have complete silence, but that's much too distracting.

 

[skip.knox]

I used to work in silence, but in the past two or three years I've been having ambient music playing--chill electronic, specifically. No words except the occasional stray sample. This screens out the noise of my household (which is fairly quiet). That's really all it is--white noise (pink, brown, blue).

There's a *huge* collection of free music over at archive.org. Hundreds of hours of chill, downbeat. Ear honey.

 

[Malik]

Definitely require it. I cultivate Spotify playlists for different feels, and I tend to run specific songs on loop for hours while crafting a scene. This, plus chronic and compulsive pen-clicking, probably played heavily into my wife's acquiescence to build me my own office behind the garage.

 

[Otter]

Minecraft Pirates soundtrack or the Minecraft Norse Mythology soundtrack

Oh gosh I hadn't even considered minecraft music. C418 is one of my very favourite artists and outside of the minecraft OST's he has some truly brilliant music. I think next time I sit down to write I will have to give it a go.

There's a *huge* collection of free music over at archive.org. Hundreds of hours of chill, downbeat. Ear honey.

Checking this out now. I had no idea the way back machine archived media like this!! Definitely warrants some exploration -- Thanks!

I've been having ambient music playing--chill electronic, specifically.

You might like C418 as well

Here is a set that I put together for a website that curates music for studying: The Essay

Dang this is fantastic. Thank you so much for sharing I'm really diggin it

 

[skip.knox]

archive.org is probably the greatest web-based service in existence. They archive not only the entire Internet (the Wayback Machine) but also collect vast amounts of material in other media formats, as you will see once you start looking around. Not only is it a great resource, it's absolutely brilliant computer architecture. Not bad for what started as a grad student project!

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Soundtrack to Game of Thrones Season 6 wil sometimes kick my brain out of neutral as well.

 

[The StoryWeaver]

Most days I require music - it keeps the flashbacks and inner noise down so that I can concentrate. There are rare days when silence is better but more often than not I'm plugged into some kind of music. And it varies. I was on a psy-trance kick recently to complete and editing job. When writing poetry I often find old-school metal to work well for me. Other times I just loop in to my playlist which has a bit of everything on it.