Music To Brainstorm To

What do you listen to when you need some fresh ideas? This is a thread for sharing your personal favorites, music that you find inspiring and conducive to the writing process.

I personally listen to quite a bit of Infected Mushroom when I need to think (links when I can)

I'm a big fan of listening to kalafina while writing. Since the lyrics are Japanese, it's easier to not get stuck and distracted listening to the music. That goes for a lot of foreign language music, really, but kalafina in particular works wonders for me.

Tarantino movie soundtracks. Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction, in particular.

edited 22nd Aug '11 7:31:03 AM by Merlo

Bombastic orchestral music.

This is also the reason why I utterly fail to write romance. You can't think of anything remotely cute/romantic when your brain is filled with the music alluding to the iron hooves of a thousand Latinkon trampling all over the Anatolian peninsula.

Heavyweight

Saeed

Cities Of The Future

Just a few.

Depends what I'm writing, but Pink Floyd is one of my common choices.

Though I have been listening to Sufjan Stevens a lot lately.

Depends on who I'm writing. For characters associated with the Sol III foundation, I use the Portal soundtracks. My main characters get the La Mulana soundtrack. Power Metal works for Western Amalgamated's bombastic nature, and writing my resident Eldritch Abomination and his lackeys demands Death Metal of the sort that would make your ears bleed. (I do not advise clicking that last link if you aren't a devoted metalhead.)

Warned ya.

edited 23rd Aug '11 7:43:04 AM by KillerClowns

I like when what I listen to reflects the tone of what I am writing at the time. Which explains, I guess, why my work gets substantially darker after I go on an album binge: Aside from my recent rediscovery of late-'90s Sonic Youth, most of what I've been listening to has been noise (Prurient, Merzbow, Wolf Eyes), really dark post-punk (This Heat, The Pop Group), equally bleak post-punk revivalists (HEALTH, Have A Nice Life) and utterly demented lo-fi art-pop with questionable lyrics and creepy production (Legendary Pink Dots, Bugskull).

In other words, my emo hipster music makes me write horror stories. But not.

edited 23rd Aug '11 1:35:19 AM by JHM

It does depend on what I'm writing, very much so.

DJ Shadow and Joe Satriani have both proved reliable for this purpose, though, as has Space Shanty by Leftfield, Groove or Die by Andy Timmons, and Sburban Jungle by Michael Guy Bowman.

Sweet jesus Nile makes my ears bleed. THE METAL IS JUST TOO HARD!

I usually don't use music to brainstorm because it's distracting, but sometimes I watch/listen to the trailer for Inception.

The city folding part gives me the kick of inspration.

Music can be distracting while writing, but it usually helps me for brainstorming. Depending on what I'm writing, the music I listen to can vary from Hannah Montana to Nine Inch Nails.

Not sure if intentional or just unintentionally funny.

*smiles and nods*

Mostly Shoji Meguro (my favourite composer), but I can and will listen to a very wide variety of music for inspiration. Gorillaz, For Today, Dr. Acula, Hadouken!, The Pillows. Almost anything.

Touhou remixes. And lots of them. Especially Demetori's and MORRIGAN's. TAMUSIC is quite excellent, as is a lot of East New Sound's newer stuff.

edited 23rd Aug '11 7:48:56 AM by RiotousRascal

Certain scenes have been directly inspired by specific tracks.

Aquanox OST - Like This was one that did that. (Incidentally, Aquanox was an awesome game, and it's cheap off Steam.)

For the most part in general inspirational terms I end up coming back to instrumentals, because they're simply more evocative; emotion without description. This results in a preponderance of movie, series, and game soundtrack stuff, with notable showings from Rob Dougan's ability to evoke quiet desperation and cold rage, Randy Edelman's soundtrack to Gettysburg, and movie trailer music group Two Steps From Hell.

edited 23rd Aug '11 11:06:30 AM by Night

I listen to popular pop music that you frequently hear on the radio.

:|

Why the :|?

Nothing wrong with that, if it works. I do that sometimes.

Because I get mocked for it relentlessly by certain people.

—coughcakmancough—

Depends. I often listen to video game and anime soundtracks. >.>

The problem now is that I've been stuck on one song, "Exile Vilify", and haven't really been using many others.

recently ive been focusing on "She"'s albums, "Colours", and "Orion"

edited 23rd Aug '11 6:33:52 PM by Tarsen

Typically, Rise Against will get me thinking, but any kind of rock or alternative is sufficient, usually. I use a lot of music in my brainstorming and worldbuilding, so I have a shitton of iTunes playlists...

Most stories get brainstorming from the music I normally listen to (the bulk of which is soundtrack music), but Project 154 is special in that it is brainstormed mostly to Depeche Mode.

edited 23rd Aug '11 7:07:08 PM by annebeeche

I'm always listening to music; a sonic backdrop for creation is to me an essential part of the process. It's all over the map as to what inspires me, but for my current projects...

• The Sisters Of Mercy
• Abney Park
• Queensryche (especially Operation Mindcrime)
• Bad Company
• Jethro Tull
• Dream Theater
• Golden Earring
• Concrete Blonde
• Black Sabbath
• Metallica
• Loreena Mckennit

There are others, but their influence is more minor. I always get my best ideas while driving at night with the music cranked up, a cigarette burning between my fingers. Consequently, I've worn out more than one iPod.