What kind of music do you listen to when writing?

Falcon720

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I've listened to all kinds of music when writing, but the most intruiging song I've ever heard is Crystal Forest by Steve Lowther. If I listen to it when reading the right scenes I get REALLY freaked out. Most of the time, though, the three artists I listen to most are Muse, Dragonforce, and Linkin Park.
 

Kathl33n

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My favorite right now is SkrilleX, "First of the Year." It also has a paranormal video that I like. Check it out on youtube. :)

Most often, though, I like to listen to instrumental music on movie soundtracks. Indecent Proposal has a collection of all the instrumental pieces put together, and it lasts about 20 minutes. Put it on repeat and I'm good to go for a while.

Anything that doesn't have vocals, or anything that is soft, like Sade.
 

Persei

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Coldplay, OneRepublic, Owl City...

Take on me, by Aha and Whenever, wherever by Shakira. Ahem.
 

Kerosene

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Agh...

Mostly, I like energetic music to keep me going. The Killers, MUTEMATH.

Sometimes, I want some heavy mood music, like Sigur Ros.


I need to know the songs, so I don't concentrate on them as much as I would if they were new to me.
 

Caitlin Black

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I listen to the same music when writing as I do when just buggering about on the computer...

Various forms of metal. (Female singers in metal preferred, though I do have some male metal singers in my collection.)

Select gothic music. (Oldies, plus Emilie Autumn, and some cross-over with the metal stuff.)

Female-fronted pop/rock groups. These I listen to less than the others, but they still get a turn on the music-go-round every so often.
 

Six Alaric

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A lot of classical (preferably slow, sad and piano-based) and a few film/videogame soundtracks. Anything with lyrics is too distracting... maybe with the exception of some shoegaze music.
 

KellyAssauer

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Who said I listen to music when I write?

:Shrug:

I need silence to hear the song of my own words.
 

J.W. Alden

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Music is a huge part of my writing routine (and life, being a failed musician). I listen to a couple of high-energy songs as the coffee's brewing and I'm getting my gears turning right before my writing session. While I'm doing the actual writing, I need stuff without lyrics or I'll get distracted, so I listen to orchestral, ambient, instrumental, etc. Then I usually cap my sessions off with another high-energy song to (hopefully) celebrate a productive session.

I went into this whole musical routine of mine in depth on my blog last month, complete with sample playlist via youtube videos:

The Rhythm of Writing: 12 Songs That Inspire & Motivate

Warning, warning! Profanity within! ;)
 

Caitlin Black

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I used to write in silence. Somewhere along the way I started playing music while writing.

Ever since then, it's been non-stop. *shrug*

Chances are I made the switch when there was a lot of talking in the house.
 

fusdal

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I honestly find it distracting, which is strange considering music is my favorite thing in the world.
 

Ken

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_ _ _ half the time I listen to music; half the time I don't. Usually it's Jazz, the real stuff from the 40s & 50s put out by Gillespie, Monk, or Parker.
 

wilde is on my side

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Usually, to "get me in the mood" for writing i usually listen to Bob Dylan because of the way he uses words and because the rambling, vague wit of his lyrics is similar to the way I write write.
 

Paperback Writer

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It's like I went back in a time machine to the 60'
I'm on my second year of a www.pandora.com subscription, and by now it knows me so well that it always gives me music I like. Pandora has an algorithm that plays music to your taste. Thanks to it and to two musician friends I have expanded my musical taste immensely, I listen to anything from Trance, Experimental, Minimalist, Post-minimalist, African, Mexican folk, Celtic, 30's blues, Jazz, Ambient, Classic rock, indie, etc.
 

Gitanjali

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Depends on the scene/mood of the story. Typically Mumford and Sons turned low. For energy/intensity I might put Tiesto on repeat.
 

Vito

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Back in the 1990s, I wrote most of my M.A. thesis -- 300 freekin' pages -- while listening to the Black Crowes.

Lately it's been a really unusual mix of the Bill Evans Trio, Creedence Clearwater Revival, the MC5, and, get this: The Monkees. :Shrug:
 

itsaplane

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Depends on the scene I'm writing. I usually hit up Pandora though and hit an author and they usually give me some pretty neat stuff, and if it fails to get my writing juices going, I'll resort to youtube or my itunes... I like the Black Keys, As Tall as Lions (probably one of the best, not well known bands to ever exist, seriously...), Young the Giant, and the POTC soundtrack is pretty neat too. This one time, for like, epic battle scenes, I just youtubed "epic music" and had this awesome, 2+ hour playlist of this really, epic instrumental music... Instrumentals are always really good to write to.
 

Lunabird

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Like others have said, for me it relies on the feeling I want the scene to have - something that will keep me in the right mindset. I do tend to listen to a lot of symphonic metal though, as well as film BGM. Especially Yuki Kajiura. That lady is a genius.
 

Sam Argent

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Like others have said, for me it relies on the feeling I want the scene to have - something that will keep me in the right mindset. I do tend to listen to a lot of symphonic metal though, as well as film BGM. Especially Yuki Kajiura. That lady is a genius.

I love listening to her and Yoko Kanno because their music works for multiple genres.