Some people need silence to
write. I could go either way. Silence works. But sometimes, so does
music. Certain songs just put me in a creative mood. Here are a few
songs/albums that I sometimes work to:
Songs from
Ally McBeal. Yes, the show aired about twenty years ago, but the
music is still peppy and/or soulful. Either way, it gets my fingers
flying. Thank you, Vonda Shepherd and all the other artists on the
album.
My favorite songs on the album are "Searchin' My
Soul," "Walk Away Renee," and "Maryland." But I can't listen to any of
these songs individually if I want to use them for creative purposes. My
brain knows the order they appear on the album, and if I don't hear
them in that order, I get pulled out of what I'm doing.
Cracked Rear View by Hootie & the Blowfish. I played this album over and
over in the mid-90s as I filled out my law school applications. It kept
me in the zone. And it does the same today. I listen to it while writing and while editing.
Funny thing is I can't name a
single song on this album off the top of my head. It works that well as
background music--it blurs into my subconscious, keeping me from getting distracted.
The soundtrack from the movie
Somewhere in Time is one of my go-to albums
in the winter. You may think that's odd because the movie wasn't set in
the winter, but there's something about this music that feeds my creativity on
cold gray winter days.
One nice thing about this album
is it's all instrumental, and the songs are somewhat similar to each
other, so they blend from one to the next easily, and I don't even
notice them really, yet they help keep me focused.
I also have individual songs that I play on repeat. "Under Pressure" by
Queen is one of them. It won't work when I'm editing, but for writing,
oh, baby, this song does it for me. I set it on repeat and type, type,
type away.
So those are some of my go-to music choices. The key to all these songs is that they make me feel energetic but
they're not distracting. What I notice is when the music ends.
How about you? Do you need silence to write? Can music help you? What works for you?
I like the Renée song, but when I think of Ally McBeal, I think of Barry White. Some girls get all jelly-like at the sound of his voice.
ReplyDeleteSometimes only silence works, other times music, either baroque/chamber or fusion/progressive/ambient/head rock, say Tangerine Dream, Hyperborea, or Vangelis.
You're right that soundtracks can unexpectedly work such as Cloud Atlas or selected works by Danny Elfman. I can't recall details beyond Virginia Woolf about the plot of The Hours, but Philip Glass, besides being a classically-trained artist and composer, is noted for his soundtracks.
I used to like writing to music, Barb. And sometimes I still do. Different kinds of music for different kinds of pieces. But if I want a sort of general background music I like baroque. That said, these days most of the time I write in silence. I don't know why that changed and maybe it will change back. But that's where I'm at today.
ReplyDeleteSilence is golden as far as I am concerned.
ReplyDeleteI write mostly in silence. Sometimes I listen to medieval music, Gregorian chant, various Native American, Southeast Asian, etc. - the key is it has to be instrumental. I can't listen to anything with lyrics.
ReplyDeleteI usually have an assortment of my favorites running but when I really need to concentrate I find that movie soundtracks work well. The various Star Treks and Batman albums, especially.
ReplyDeleteI usually have an assortment of my favorites running but when I really need to concentrate I find that movie soundtracks work well. The various Star Treks and Batman albums, especially.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand people who need absolute quiet when they work.I am great with good oldies playing, (60's mostly) some pop,(give me Italian male singers and I'm good), upbeat classical (Chopin, for instance), or even Irish music, (bring on the revolution!)
ReplyDeleteBritish Invasion is great, though, as a contradiction to the Irish.I can sing away with early Beatles and Stones and still listen to my characters dictate to me.
ReplyDeleteOn first drafts, I used to play baroque, or at least instrumental because the words to vocals got in the way. I had a few favorites: Bach, Vivaldi, Haydn's concerti grossi, and a CD of Bernard Hermann's scores, mostly for Hitchcock. Sometimes I would play period music (jazz, rock, blues) to set a mood. Obviously, I still use many rock and blues allusions.
For editing, on the other hand, I avoid music. A few years ago, I discovered that I couldn't listen to the iPod my daughter gave me while on cardio machines at the health club. That's where I do a lot of my thinking about various projects, and it interfered with the voices in my head.
Now, I can produce a somewhat coherent first draft with anything or nothing in the background. It seems to go more quickly as I get older, too. I often write the first draft of a blog here in an hour or less. And when I'm playing with a short story, 2500 words in a couple of hours isn't unusual. But editing still needs nothing beyond the ambient noise outside my window.
I suspect that the editing is more LEFT-brain (sequential) than the creating, which is RIGHT brain, and more patterns than logic. But that's just a guess.
Thanks, everyone, for sharing your inspirations. Rob, I especially liked yours. :)
ReplyDeleteHey Barb. Sorry I'm late to the party. I particularly love the Somewhere in Time soundtrack, and almost anything else by composer John Barry.
ReplyDeleteInteresting post!