The soundtrack to your writing...

[BT Jones]

030 – Sinopia – Cynical, bitter

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035 – Umber – Cynical pensive, gripey.

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[BT Jones]

040 – Indigo – Pensive

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045 – Cordovan – Motivated. The running before the protest scuffle, and my absolute favourite playlist (in ambient form) for writing boisterous, animated progression.

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[BT Jones]

050 – Maroon – Defiant.

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055 – Carmine – Simmering

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[BT Jones]

060 – Red – Combat

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065 – Scarlet – Escape

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[Trollheart]

Had to get the old Porcs in, didn't ya?

 

[DLCroix]

The OSTs for The Giver, Blade Runner, Inception, Dune, and The thin Red Line are great for dramatic moments in the narrative. They even allow you to imagine them playing with the scene you are writing, they give you an idea of how these would behave on screen or just reading. In fact nowadays I usually use them more in a revision stage than as inspiration engines. And, well, in the case of listening to them while I write, I usually choose a specific track and reproduce it endlessly precisely with the idea that they do not interrupt the writing process.

 

[Steve Harrison]

Thanks for reminding me about Inception, @DLCroix

It's the best James Bond soundtrack for a non-Bond film ever!

 

[DLCroix]

Hi! Yes, especially the last track, Time, is perfect for a very dramatic crescendo.

 

[BT Jones]

Had to get the old Porcs in, didn't ya?

I had to push myself really hard NOT to list them under almost every mood!!

 

[BT Jones]

I’ll post some more tomorrow, AEST. I know enthusiasm wanes but I think is worth posting all the moods (they go up to 260 in 5/10 increments). If anyone of you finds a particular mood color that they really want for their writing, I can post images of my ITunes playlist or post as many YouTube links for any one mood as there are available. I certainly would have loved for someone to hand me 1 hours worth of music for a given mood several years ago!!

 

[DLCroix]

Or, if you're describing a battle, The Thin Red Line's Journey to the Line track is the most dramatic thing I've come across so far. That crescendo is simply devastating. In emotional terms it is the strongest thing I have found so far.

 

[XibalbaComics]

As a graphic novel writer, I don't so much write to soundtracks as I do draw to them. I do the script work and plot draft in silence, usually, since I like to read over it and "say" it in my mind as if the characters are speaking till I'm satisfied with the result. But the note-writing, world building and drawing I always do to music for inspiration. Typically music without lyrics, and something that reflects the subject matter.

Currently I'm working on futuristic sci-fi so I'm listening to a lot of electronica, "synthwave" etc. I'm also working on another project in the planning stage set in ancient Japan, so I'll listen to various Japanese music, shakuhachi, taiko, game or movie soundtracks and so on. Helps get in the mood.

 

[BT Jones]

Or, if you're describing a battle, The Thin Red Line's Journey to the Line track is the most dramatic thing I've come across so far. That crescendo is simply devastating. In emotional terms it is the strongest thing I have found so far.

I think there are lots of examples of "prominent" music, such as powerful film soundtracks, but they can be too loud and intense to accompany writing that requires detailed thought for me, which is why I have searched so hard to find minimalist and ambient versions of those same moods. I find I can write to them far easier without the music dragging my writing away with it. I recently came to rewrite something written to a prominent, uplifting, defiant piece of music and it was just laughably bad.

 

[BT Jones]

Okay, here are the next wave. And bear with me. One of these sub-categories might just be what you need for your writing. Don't forget, I have several hours of music for each group. If there was enough interest, I could potentially compile a youtube playlist for each one, which could give you an extended stretch of music to write / draw a particularly genre of scene to.

...and beware. It get's a little bit dark and scary for these next few.

070 – Burgundy – Peril. You've escaped the battle, but are it's becoming a war.

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075 – Purple – Ominous - the war has caught you up.

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[BT Jones]

080 – Byzantium – Horror. Aliens have taken over the planet.

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090 – Onyx – The darkest hell. The planet is being consumed beneath you.

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[BT Jones]

100 – Black – Regular Dark... Maybe the planet being consumed was just a dream and you're just spooked. This is probably what I have the most ambient music for.

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105 – Charcoal – Dark mystery. It starts getting lighter from here.

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I'll do some more later on this afternoon. Hopefully there is something here for some of you. At the very least, you might find an artist / musician / band that you've never heard of and want to investigate further.

 

[DLCroix]

As a graphic novel writer, I don't so much write to soundtracks as I do draw to them.

God, and I wrote my own OST! But it has helped me to visualize the scenes since I don't have to look for other music.

I do the script work and plot draft in silence, usually, since I like to read over it and "say" it in my mind as if the characters are speaking till I'm satisfied with the result.

Well, I sometimes draw comics. Something I learned is to contemplate in the initial script is the possible appearance of pages in between. Because I know that later other things will occur to me or I will want to add sub-scenes. This allows two versions of the same work: one more summarized, and the other with the added scenes or pages.

But the note-writing, world building and drawing I always do to music for inspiration. Typically music without lyrics, and something that reflects the subject matter.

Yes, music with lyrics usually distracts you.

I'm also working on another project in the planning stage set in ancient Japan, so I'll listen to various Japanese music, shakuhachi, taiko, game or movie soundtracks and so on.

I personally loved the Steins; Gate OST. Well, strictly speaking it is not an OST. But you understand me! Just like my favorite anime OST of all time is Robotech's.

 

[DLCroix]

I'll do some more later on this afternoon. Hopefully there is something here for some of you. At the very least, you might find an artist / musician / band that you've never heard of and want to investigate further.

It is an impressive list, BT! Excellent work, BTW. I think it will take a while to review it, but it is very likely that, as you say, I'll find pretty useful material.

 

[BT Jones]

It is an impressive list, BT! Excellent work, BTW. I think it will take a while to review it, but it is very likely that, as you say, I'll find pretty useful material.

Thanks @DLCroix. As you say, it's a lot to take in, but I figure I will just put it all on there while the thread is relatively fresh and people can get whatever they want from it.

 

[BT Jones]

110 – Grey – Beautiful mystery

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115 – Cobalt – Iced mystery / remote

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