Soundtrack to your novel

snowpea

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ZachJPayne

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The kids in my story are musical theatre brats, which means that music is tied pretty seriously.

In the first story, the MC and the love interest sing this as a duet, long before the romantic attention becomes apparent:

FREEDOM - Sarah Hyland and Melissa Benoist.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNKpuVxVxng

SONGBIRD - Christine Perfect McVie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7kmw31nRDU

NOT A LOVE STORY - Lisa Brescia (The entire series is named after this song)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnKc5s6ZN8g

FIVE AND A HALF MINUTES - Katie Thompson (the first book gets its title from a lyric of this song)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8MtNj1ac_A

PRINCESS - from A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE (this is the spring musical for the characters in my novel, and my MC gets cast in this role. The song is particularly reminiscent of her character arc)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n05QansQEU

That's just a few off the top of my head.
 

RevanWright

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I wrote several scenes while listening to certain songs on repeat, because it seemed to give me a good vibe for the mood. The bigger ones were:

Michael Ortega - Inception
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2NVY0OgwTU

Jonathan Keevil - Babyfin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Asc4xLZEibg

Yoko Shimomura - Dearly Beloved
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG1pRNQAByI

Ooshima Michiru - Wakare no Kyoku
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFSG33Ao2Ug

and lastly, though I hate to admit it,
Alexandre Desplat - Dreamcatcher
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ847zCGBjw

I need things like this when writing emotional or quiet/thoughtful scenes.
EDIT: I'm far more into scores than songs. If my book were adapted for a movie, the only thing I would adamantly demand is a world-class composer to do the soundtrack. Desplat, Zimmer, Howard Shore, etc.
 
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Stiger05

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My WIP is the first ms I've developed a soundtrack for. It's a fairly dark story, and can be hard to get in the zone to write. These songs can snap me in the mood pretty quick:

The XX- Intro
A Perfect Circle- Passive
A Perfect Circle- Weak and Powerless
Jay Brannan- Drowning
(This song could've been written by my MC, it's so close to how he feels)
Jose Gonzalez- Heartbeats
Alice in Chains- Down in a Hole
Mad Season- River of Deceit
Placebo- The Bitter End
Placebo- Every Me and Every You
Staind- Fade
Staind- Outside
 
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khosszu

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I wrote several scenes while listening to certain songs on repeat, because it seemed to give me a good vibe for the mood. The bigger ones were:

Michael Ortega - Inception
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2NVY0OgwTU

Jonathan Keevil - Babyfin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Asc4xLZEibg

Yoko Shimomura - Dearly Beloved
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG1pRNQAByI

Ooshima Michiru - Wakare no Kyoku
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFSG33Ao2Ug

and lastly, though I hate to admit it,
Alexandre Desplat - Dreamcatcher
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ847zCGBjw

I need things like this when writing emotional or quiet/thoughtful scenes.
EDIT: I'm far more into scores than songs. If my book were adapted for a movie, the only thing I would adamantly demand is a world-class composer to do the soundtrack. Desplat, Zimmer, Howard Shore, etc.
Me thinks we have a similar writing process, and a similar taste in music. LOVED all these, especially Babyfin and Dreamcatcher. <hops on iTunes to download QUICK>

My writing process involves constructing soundtracks, where specific songs correspond to specific scenes. So for my current project, here are a few:
Alexandre Desplat - Edward Leaves (this song inspired the entire story)

Neon Trees - Animal

Jason Mraz - So Unusual

Andra - Fall Too Slow

Love this thread!!! Keep them coming :)
 

RevanWright

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Me thinks we have a similar writing process, and a similar taste in music. LOVED all these, especially Babyfin and Dreamcatcher. <hops on iTunes to download QUICK>

Great taste!
I love Desplat. I'm not a fan of Twilight, but the entire New Moon score soundtrack was AMAZING. I also listen to a lot of Deathly Hallows' score, which he also did. Obliviate, Lily's Theme, Statues, and Severus and Lily are all incredible.
 

Becca C.

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The MS with my agent right now only has a few songs really closely tied to it, like "En hauteur" by Viviane Audet and a lot of the Midnight in Paris soundtrack, like "Si tu vois ma mère" by Sydney Bechet (French music, of course).

My little novella thing that I have sort of in the works, on the other hand, is VERY heavily influenced by music. The Black Beauty score by Danny Elfman is like, the heart and soul of the book, and this song from the Brave soundtrack. Jeez, you can tell it's a tearjerker of a story by those songs :/
 

Imbroglio

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Great taste!
I love Desplat. I'm not a fan of Twilight, but the entire New Moon score soundtrack was AMAZING. I also listen to a lot of Deathly Hallows' score, which he also did. Obliviate, Lily's Theme, Statues, and Severus and Lily are all incredible.

Totally agree! Desplat is great.

As far as scores are concerned, I listen to a TON of Thomas Newman while writing. Particular soundtracks that I love are A Series of Unfortunate Events, Finding Nemo, and American Beauty. But, honestly, I love them all.

As for a soundtrack for my novel, I really only have two songs that are definite inspirations and have scenes associated with them in my mind.

Both of them are at climactic moments, one being a victory for the enemy (the first) and one being the final victory for the heroes (the second). It's a very bittersweet ending.

Florence & the Machine - Seven Devils

Utada Hikaru - Sakura Nagashi

ETA: Another fantastic composer that I draw a lot of inspiration from is Michael Giacchino. He did the score for Lost, Up, Star Trek, Ratatouille, etc. Some very powerful and emotional pieces in his repertoire.
 
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Hapax Legomenon

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I would post mine but it's very long...

Anyone here ever use 8tracks?
 

ash.y

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Me thinks we have a similar writing process, and a similar taste in music. LOVED all these, especially Babyfin and Dreamcatcher. <hops on iTunes to download QUICK>

My writing process involves constructing soundtracks, where specific songs correspond to specific scenes. So for my current project, here are a few:
Alexandre Desplat - Edward Leaves (this song inspired the entire story)

Neon Trees - Animal

Jason Mraz - So Unusual

Andra - Fall Too Slow

Love this thread!!! Keep them coming :)

Yes! I love these!

Has anyone created a playlist that followed their manuscript chapter by chapter? I did this for my previous manuscript and it was a lot of fun. There were three alternating viewpoints, which made for this really interesting mix with certain musical types/artists representing each character.

For my WIP, nothing so complex yet. Just a few songs that remind me of characters.

2CELLOS - Thunderstruck
Johnny Flynn & Laura Marling - The Water
Laura Marling - Master Hunter
 

CoffeeBeans

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I'm usually more in the artist/vein of music, but the SNI seems to have very specific tastes ;)

Lots of the Fratellis, The Airborne Toxic Event, Kate Earl, and the like, but the book seems to really like much more electric sounds (because, the future)

A whole lot of Ratatat, particularly "Loud Pipes" (Which got me into Nightmares on Wax)

Big Data's "Dangerous" -- which I'd say was the most accurate song for the book - the video however is sort of extra insane (many head-exploding headbutts. If that's not your thing... click warning? :Shrug:)

and because I have a strange sense of humor, Jeremy Fisher's "Scar that Never Heals"

ETA: forgot the very first song attached to the SNI. That's just sad. Chvrches "The Mother We Share"
 
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AlexHale

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I would post mine but it's very long...

Anyone here ever use 8tracks?

Yes!! I LOVE 8tracks. I frequently listen to epic instrumentals while writing, and I love Two Steps from Hell in particular. They have some great playlists on there. I'm planning on writing my next book using a mix of epic instrumentals and some EDM playlists from 8tracks, so that should be interesting :)

I have some songs that I associate with particular chapters, and some with specific characters that help me when I'm getting ready for a particular scene.
 

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For my previous novel I had a Spotify list I listened to over and over again, and a couple of songs are mentioned in the novel - bands I like personally.

For my current project, I've done something different - I have characters who listen to music I honestly don't think sounds like music at all.... haha. I have a couple of characters who listen to Satyricon, which is black metal. I'm trying to listen to a few of their albums to get a feel of it, but I just can't get into it - at all. It's interesting to have characters enjoy music I don't...!

I do have three songs that are perfect for a couple of scenes in the current wip, and that are not black metal (thank God):

The New Pornographers: Brill Bruisers

Daughter: Youth

Highasakite: Since Last Wednesday
 

Stiger05

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snowpea

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Yes!! I LOVE 8tracks. I frequently listen to epic instrumentals while writing, and I love Two Steps from Hell in particular. They have some great playlists on there. I'm planning on writing my next book using a mix of epic instrumentals and some EDM playlists from 8tracks, so that should be interesting :)

I have some songs that I associate with particular chapters, and some with specific characters that help me when I'm getting ready for a particular scene.

Yes 8tracks has helped me discover several musicians!
 

kej115

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Yes 8tracks has helped me discover several musicians!

I'm with y'all, too! For instance, I first heard Bastille on 8tracks, and now I'm a raving mad fan of them.

Bastille also always gets me in the mood to write-- Dan Smith's voice is just so beautiful. I can't even listen to a song without really feeling something.
 

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For Freak, I have two:
Creep by Radiohead, which actually is what gave me the whole idea for the book
and
Beautiful Freak by Eels

For the one I'm writing now which still has no title, I don't have any specific songs yet. I've been listening to a lot of 90s music, especially country, because that's what my character would listen to. One of my adult characters in the book is going to talk about the Eagles, so I'm pretty sure one of their songs will be his song.
 

khosszu

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Awesome songs!!!!

You guys all listen to awesome music! More, please!!! And I had to google what an 8 track was. Does that make me ignorant? But hey, I learned something!!

Has anyone created a playlist that followed their manuscript chapter by chapter? I did this for my previous manuscript and it was a lot of fun.
YESSSSS! I do it for all the writing I do. The soundtrack becomes complete as the manuscript does, and the music (in my mind) is totally fused with the words and the mood. :Sun:
As for a soundtrack for my novel [...]Florence & the Machine - Seven Devils
This is an awesome Florence & the Machine song and I haven't heard it in a while. <goes and inserts into Book 2's soundtrack>

A whole lot of Ratatat, particularly "Loud Pipes" (Which got me into Nightmares on Wax) [...] and because I have a strange sense of humor, Jeremy Fisher's "Scar that Never Heals"
OK, LOVE Loud Pipes, and never heard that Jeremy Fisher song before, but now I can't get it out of my head. :hooray:

For the one I'm working on now, Death Cab For Cutie's "I Will Follow You Into The Dark":
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfNVfiqKBeM
I love DCFC. The MS I'm working on is planned as a trilogy, and I already have DCFC - What Sara Said on the third installment's soundtrack.

I've just started my novel, so I only have two songs really so far. Amnesia by 5sos and Hospital For Souls by Bring Me The Horizon
Huh, the 5sos guys are dreamy ;)

Here are a couple more from my "soundtrack" (for book 1):
U2 - If you wear that velvet dress

Nick Cave - O'children

Marylin Manson - Personal Jesus
 

KTC

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While writing my upcoming release, BURN BABY, I listened non-stop to Medicine for the People. I don't know if it fits the story, but the two will always be married in my mind.(PS: I write my novels in one 72hr sitting, so it was some pretty intense listening) God, I'm just apeshit for that band!