For those of you who don’t know, my formal education is in music. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Composition and Theory that I’m not using. But music has been a very prominent force in my life since I was a preteen, if not sooner. It’s around age 10-11 that I really remember just how hugely important it became, but I have older memories of it permeating my life as well.
Anyway, I mostly listen to instrumental music while writing. Songs with lyrics impede my ability to create words of my own. I can’t help singing. But I do very much prefer some sort of background sound while making words.
While I do have a strong love for classical music (I’m a huge fan of a lot of Russian and Slavic composers, such as Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, and Shostakovich (Dvorak is my favorite)), I don’t often turn to classical for my writing music. Not anymore, anyway. Back in college and right after, I regularly turned to modern concert music, particularly the works of Robert W. Smith and David Holsinger. Then again, I performed a lot of their music in high school and college.
No, what’s always been a fallback for me is video game music. Some movie soundtracks hit that itch, like the soundtrack from The Last of the Mohicans. But video game music (VGM) ties together two of my great loves: music and video games. I mean… seriously.
What’s great about it is that VGM is made to invoke atmosphere and feeling. It’s supportive in nature, contributing to the ambiance of the situation. It can be catchy, emotional, tense, relaxing, cheery, ominous, all sorts of things. And there is a massive library, going back decades. It’s frequently remixed, covered, medleyed, and mashed up. Some pieces tell stories, like boss music or some from cutscenes.
I’ve been building a couple playlists for a while now, but they’re not specifically for writing, nor do I tend to make playlists specifically for any projects. Same playlists for everything. But I have two main ones: one that is shorter instrumentals and one for extended versions.
Sometimes I want to active mental trigger of mood changes, especially since I put my short instrumental playlist on shuffle. I believe the longest piece on that playlist is around 8 minutes (yeah, that’s a boss fight theme.) So the songs are familiar, but the order is not. It keeps the mind active and the creative juices flowing and reactive.
The extended versions playlist has fewer pieces on it, but they’re longer. The shortest one on that list is a 16-minute version of background ambiance that just loops. Many of the pieces there are. I have an hour-long repeated loop of a Legend of Zelda piece that I just sink into. That playlist does have longer songs that are say, an album of instrumental pieces from one video game, but a lot of it is just extended repeat loops. That playlist is great for sinking into and letting the mind flow. It’s honestly good for things like blog posts or exercises where I can stream-of-consciousness write. Much better for longer writing sessions.
Both of my playlists are on YouTube, but I keep them private mostly to keep them from being displayed in my actual content.
So that’s about it. Mostly video game music, and it’s the same for all my writing. Call it one of the particulars of my writing practice. I’m not the tortured artist who needs certain locations or a routine to get the words flowing. I don’t even really need the music. It’s just a bonus that makes me happy, activating a different part of the brain.
Find what works for you!
Anyway, I mostly listen to instrumental music while writing. Songs with lyrics impede my ability to create words of my own. I can’t help singing. But I do very much prefer some sort of background sound while making words.
While I do have a strong love for classical music (I’m a huge fan of a lot of Russian and Slavic composers, such as Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, and Shostakovich (Dvorak is my favorite)), I don’t often turn to classical for my writing music. Not anymore, anyway. Back in college and right after, I regularly turned to modern concert music, particularly the works of Robert W. Smith and David Holsinger. Then again, I performed a lot of their music in high school and college.
No, what’s always been a fallback for me is video game music. Some movie soundtracks hit that itch, like the soundtrack from The Last of the Mohicans. But video game music (VGM) ties together two of my great loves: music and video games. I mean… seriously.
What’s great about it is that VGM is made to invoke atmosphere and feeling. It’s supportive in nature, contributing to the ambiance of the situation. It can be catchy, emotional, tense, relaxing, cheery, ominous, all sorts of things. And there is a massive library, going back decades. It’s frequently remixed, covered, medleyed, and mashed up. Some pieces tell stories, like boss music or some from cutscenes.
I’ve been building a couple playlists for a while now, but they’re not specifically for writing, nor do I tend to make playlists specifically for any projects. Same playlists for everything. But I have two main ones: one that is shorter instrumentals and one for extended versions.
Sometimes I want to active mental trigger of mood changes, especially since I put my short instrumental playlist on shuffle. I believe the longest piece on that playlist is around 8 minutes (yeah, that’s a boss fight theme.) So the songs are familiar, but the order is not. It keeps the mind active and the creative juices flowing and reactive.
The extended versions playlist has fewer pieces on it, but they’re longer. The shortest one on that list is a 16-minute version of background ambiance that just loops. Many of the pieces there are. I have an hour-long repeated loop of a Legend of Zelda piece that I just sink into. That playlist does have longer songs that are say, an album of instrumental pieces from one video game, but a lot of it is just extended repeat loops. That playlist is great for sinking into and letting the mind flow. It’s honestly good for things like blog posts or exercises where I can stream-of-consciousness write. Much better for longer writing sessions.
Both of my playlists are on YouTube, but I keep them private mostly to keep them from being displayed in my actual content.
So that’s about it. Mostly video game music, and it’s the same for all my writing. Call it one of the particulars of my writing practice. I’m not the tortured artist who needs certain locations or a routine to get the words flowing. I don’t even really need the music. It’s just a bonus that makes me happy, activating a different part of the brain.
Find what works for you!
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