Drunkard's Walk Forums

Pretty much what it says on the tin.
I recently came across this magnificent bit done for an animated short.  It is absolutely gorgeous, evoking desolate Celtic landscapes, and a sense of curiosity and wonder.http://jamesmarkmusic.bandcamp.com/trac ... inal-score
Another one I love - just wish it were a few minutes longer.  This is perfect for that one pivotol moment where everything suddenly changes and the world is seen in a whole other light.
Here's a favorite of mine.  This is excellent stuff for when you're writing that climax made of epic awesome.  It's like the visuals of a Saturn 5 lift-off transcribed into a piano and string quartet.
Generally, I don't like my mood music to have a lot of vocals.  The only exceptions that get a pass are when i am going for something very specific, and in that case I would need a very specific song.

Depends on what I'm doing. If I'm working on plotting something out I'll put together a soundtrack mix to help visualize what I want to go on. I've got ~20,000 tracks in my iTunes library (I might be a bit obsessive) ranging everywhere from Bach to Eminem, so I'll throw together a mix on a song-per-scene basis. That works for plotting and imagining. When I'm getting down to the actual business of writing I prefer something high-energy and long-running, so I'll end up throwing whatever that week's Eminence United podcast is on and letting the trance drive my keyboard.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

I've written to just about everything -- from classical to electronic (Jean-Michel Jarre) to rock and metal. I do tend to prefer instrumentals when I'm working on dialogue-heavy bits, or when the words aren't fitting together easily.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

Quote:M Fnord wrote:

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Depends on what I'm doing. If I'm working on plotting something out I'll put together a soundtrack mix to help visualize what I want to go on. I've got ~20,000 tracks in my iTunes library (I might be a bit obsessive) ranging everywhere from Bach to Eminem, so I'll throw together a mix on a song-per-scene basis.

Jeez, I have just under 1000 and I thought I had a lot of tunes.
Not that I've written anything serious in a long time, but I put on my Modern folder (rock music 1950s - 1990s) and just let it create background noise. Of course, the question is: are you aware of what you're listening to? Many times, I'll finish a paragraph only to realize I had forgotten that I had music on and I have no idea what the last several songs were.

I take Milt Kahl's response to Richard Williams when asked the same question to mind:

For those wondering:
Milt Kahl: Disney Animator, best known for the Ice scene with Bambi, Tigger, Shere Kahn, Little John, etc.Richard Williams: Director of "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?"
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll

This is my current writing playlist...

Baby Blue (CD bonus track)    Badfinger    Straight Up  (remastered)    1972
Cells    The Servant    The Servant    2004
Cold War    Janelle Monáe    The ArchAndroid    2010
Dance Commander    Electric Six    Fire    2003
Danger! High Voltage    Electric Six    Fire    2003
Demolition Man    Grace Jones        
(Don't Fear) The Reaper    Blue Öyster Cult    Agents of Fortune    1976
Endicott    Kid Creole & The Coconuts        
Far From Any Road    The Handsome Family    Singing Bones    2003
Frontier Psychiatrist    The Avalanches    Since I Left You    
Go Go Gadget Gospel    Gnarls Barkley    St. Elsewhere    2006
Hanna's theme (vocal version)    The Chemical Brothers    Hanna OST    2011
Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger    Daft Punk    Discovery    
The Hellbenders    The Hellbenders     Today We Kill... Tomorrow We Die    2004
Here Is The News    Electric Light  Orchestra    Light Years - The Very Best Of (CD 2)    1997
Immigrant Song    Dread Zeppelin    De-Jah-Voodoo    2000
The Innsmouth Look    The Darkest of The Hillside Thickets    Spaceship Zero    2000
Jenny Says    Cowboy Mouth    Are You With Me?    1996
Jerusalem    Emerson, Lake, & Palmer    Brain Salad Surgery    1973
Killer Klowns    The Dickies    Killer Klowns from Outer Space    1988
London Calling    The Clash    London Calling    1979
Many Moons    Janelle Monáe    Metropolis: The Chase Suite (EP)    2008
Money (That's What I Want)    The Flying Lizards    Just Can't Get Enough: NEW WAVE HITS of the 80's, Vol. 1    1979
Mongoloid    Devo    Q - Are we not men? A - We Are Devo.    1978
Monkeying Around    Doghouse Riley    Shock the Monkey  Remix    
My Friend Dario    Vitalic    ok cowboy    
New America    Bad Religion    New America [Germany Bonus Tracks]    
No Rest for the Wicked    Cage the Elephant    Cage the Elephant    2009
Pepper    Butthole Surfers    Electriclarryland    1996
Praan (feat. Palbasha Siddique)    Garry Schyman    Where's Matt This Time? -- Matt Dancing 2008    2008
Pygmalism    Kahimi Karie    Tilt    2000
Reach the Rock    Havana 3 A.M.    Havana 3 A.M.    1991
Red Tape    Agent Provocateur    Agent Dan    1997
Runaway    Bon Jovi        
Runaway    Del Shannon    The Defintive Collection Disc 1    1998
Season of the Witch    Donovan    Sunshine Superman    1997
Serpents    Sharon Van Etten    Tramp    2012
Seven Nation Army (White Stripes Remix)    The Glitch Mob        2011
Short Change Hero    The Heavy        2012
Short Skirt Long Jacket    Cake    Comfort Eagle    
Shut Up And Explode    Boom Boom Satellites    EXPOSED    2007
Speed Racer    Ali Dee and the DeeKompressors    Speed Racer the Movie OST    
The Stand    The Alarm    Declaration    
Stylo    Gorillaz    Plastic Beach    2010
Surrender    Cheap Trick    Authorized Greatest Hits    2000
TVC15    David Bowie    Greatest Hits    
Grimly Fiendish    The Damned    Phantasmagoria    1985
68 Guns    The Alarm        
--------------------------------
Je ne suis pas une Intelligence Artificielle Turing. Je suis Charlie.

Quote:Shut Up And Explode Boom Boom Satellites EXPOSED 2007

I couldn't resist checking this one out based on the title, but apparently the CD started skipping on "run away" when it was being ripped for youtube and it was hurting my ears.

I don't want to post a huge playlist myself, but I've been listening to a lot of Sabaton, Clockwork Dolls, The Cog is Dead, Van Canto, Machinae Supremacy, and Diablo Swing Orchestra while beta reading What Rains You Bring and poking away at my Mekton:IT Dungeon Crawl SI. DSO has their album The Butcher's Ballroom up for legal free download on... dammit, I can't remember where now. Jamendo maybe? Yes.

http://www.jamendo.com/en/list/a49216/ ... s-ballroom

It's mostly metal-ish instrumentals with operatic ballad vocals, though there's a wide range of styles just on the one album.

I'm also going to make special mention of Sabaton. If you need to get your fight scene mojo rising, it's hard to beat Primo Victoria, 40-1, Swedish Pagans, or The Price of a Mile, even if you aren't writing about fighting Nazis.

--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows