The best music to write to is a question I get a lot from others. I always give a simple answer such as " it is really up to you to decide, it is a matter of personal taste.
Many parts of my day are full of noise so a lot of the times I actually write in silence after I meditate for the day. I like silence. Well, at least now I do. Once upon a time I had so much mind chatter, Things about what will I do next in my life to how I felt insulted by another Author who I didn't know of and how much of a busy body she was, making what appeared to be a nasty insinuation based off her generic knowledge of me. There are other days when I remember being extremely happy with my achievements. I look at my children and wonder how soon will the world see their greatness. On and on my mind used to go. I would think about my illness, will I ever get better to the point where I can function most of a day. How many naps or just sleep hours will I go through today. Anyway, the point of the article is to look at what type of music is best for writing. In the past and continue to do so today use music to create a mood shift, a way to mentally focus and sometimes just for the ambiance. Up first is a list of websites that give you nature sounds, white noise, brown noise, coffee shop sounds, piano bar etc. I am more familiar with Noisli and Simply Noise however as you can see new sites are always being developed. Another way to find ambient noise is to do a search on YouTube where I am sure some artist have uploaded their music. Ambient Sound Websites I am familiar with: 1. Noisli https://www.noisli.com/ - has a chrome extention as well. 2. Simply Noise https://simplynoise.com/ 3. myNoise https://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/ 4. Ambient-Mixer.com http://www.ambient-mixer.com/ As a general rule though my choice for music to write to has to fit the following 4 criteria: must be classical in nature (or instrumental versions of popular songs, meditative (or at least loop-able with out disturbing my mind space), ambient or with little to no words. However, to get myself interested in writing in the first place I tend to turn to my favorite songs or genre that I like most that help me change my mood when it needs altering Light Rock artists such as: Anita Baker, Tony Braxton, Luther Van Dross, Barry White, Dianna Ross, Smoky Robinson, Phil Collins, AHA,Tears for Fears, Hall and Oats, Barry Manilow, Lou Rawls etc I use these when I am preparing to get getting started. Songs with words make it hard for me to concentrate since I love singing in general (I am good at by the way, did 1 public appearance in the 90's) and singing along to these goodies although makes me feel better will just send me on a spiral of avoiding writing. Usually I listen to these songs when I brew my cup of coffee, and set up my snacks for writing. Usually it is hard for me to get started. I set in place rituals to make the process a bit easier. When I do get going I can keep a steady pace. The other genres of music I listen to while I am writing down ideas or working on open projects (in no particular order) fall within the following 5 categories 1. Video game soundtracks My daughter and son actually introduced this concept to me about a decade ago. I had a no secular music listening policy because it seemed that all the music at the time was quite sexualized, and profane. Both children were younger then and I felt that the years for exploration come when you reach adulthood, and there are quite a number of years for that. Moreover I felt that the younger years are the years a child uses to develop their character and slowly get to know and form ideas about themselves. Outside world influence will inevitably happen but with a solid grasp on what one wants you can navigate the supposed pitfalls and attract friends associates and interactions that are in line to your deepest desires. Both children sought out the music files within their favorite games loaded them into a playlist and I have been listening alongside them or on my own since then. -MOTHER 3: some classical music samples are featured within the songs from Shostakovitch, Satie, Batman theme, Cannon in D etc. Songs as Magypsy Party for example is a remix of Cannon in D -Sonic: even the ones with lyrics on low I focus on the melodies and or positive thought of the songs especially when I feel I am accomplishing things way too slowly. -Fallout 4: good blend of 40's and folksy jingles created for the game. Isn't ironic that such a sad time, war even in real life created some interesting styles of music? - Katamari D'Amacy: songs like the "The Moon and the Prince" other light -hearted pieces 2. Jazz and Fusion Funk: Songs such as "Hatsu koi" by Toshiki Kadomatsu, artists like Herbie Hancock, Dave Brubeck (Take 5),The Heavy ("How Do You Like Me Now") Miles Davis, etc 3. New Age and Celtic: Artists like Yanni, Enya 4. Time Period Music: 50's-80's 5. Swing (Electro Swing) Big Band: Performers such as Benny Goodman, Cab Calloway, Glen Miller, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton (technically Jazz Musician) While I am actually writing the category that I use the most is Classical and Alternative Classical including Opera: Edvard Grieg, Mozart, Chopin, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Bizet, John Williams (Star Wars) Night Wish ("10th Man Down") etc. Performers such as Andrea Bocelli, I prefer French written Operas because the music seems a lot more light hearted in music. To roll out a smile on your face remember this oldie but goodie? Enjoy! So do you have your MUST listen to music for writing? Would you like to share? Please do in the comments below
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AuthorMalka Maxwell is an Author and Publisher. Archives
November 2018
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