Creativity Soundtrack

[honeybee]

Moving this over from Aquarius's inspiration thread, I thought it would be fun to talk about what kind of music/songs you listen to when writing characters/scenes. There's no right or wrong, just what works for you:

Trip:

When I'm writing from Trip's POV, I listen to a lot of country-inspired folk - The Little Willies, Ray LaMontayne, James Dunn, Ryan Adams and people like that. Also, some classic rock like Big Star. Unless, it's a more emotional scene - then I jump to Radiohead's The Bends album. The song Black Star is my TnT aren't communicating song.

T'Pol:

I've got a pandora jazz station - and it's filled with the late Bebop people like Miles Davis and Coltrane. That's for rebellious T'Pol. If she's more "Vulcan" - I'll use Celtic folk - stuff like Kate Rusby - more traditional than new agey.

[enterprikayak]

RHEOSTATICS!


Currently (slowly) working on a TnT vid for this Rheo song:

(it's wickedly perfect in many ways )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OytcvbuW0Yw

Lyrics:
They came down 1988
Thousand spacecraft, like petals on the earth
And they had big eyes and they watched like spies
‘Til they found someone who no one would believe

There you were in your underwear,
All alone, drawing comics for your church
And we took you up, and we put you under
Placed you on a table for observation

Give me a deep kiss, I am longing for distraction
Let me touch your tits, and keep you occupied
If this comes as some surprise, I am an alien
To observe you I must keep you stoned

There you lie with your doped-up eyes
Staring past the one who could love you like a Christ
You see, that's just the way that it is up here
But I cannot meddle, I will not interfere

Meet me in the park some time after the night comes
You will see a star that shines like silver, smells like gold
Follow it through fields and hills and to the landing pad
You will give birth to an alien, like me

They came down 1988
Thousand spacecraft, like petals on the earth
And they had big eyes and they watched like spies
‘Til they found someone who no one would believe

[WarpGirl]

It's weird I have entire playlists for SW's fic, not one for ENT. I just listen to whatever gets the heart pumping that day, whether YO-YO Ma or Blackeyed Peas.

[Aquarius]

I won't post my whole TnT soundtrack. For one thing, I'm sure much of it is meaningful only to me, I'm sure.

If I'm trying to channel Trip, I use a lot of Southern rock, like Skynyrd, Gregg Allman...or California bands that kind of cross over into that Southern Rock sound like the Eagles, or the songs by the Doobie Brothers that were written and sung by Pat Simmons (vs. the more R&B "blue-eyed soul" sound of Michael McDonald's songs). Some country, too. And beach party type music--Jimmy Buffet, etc.

T'Pol's a little trickier. It depends on "which" T'Pol I'm trying to find. "Sober" and "Please Don't Leave Me" by Pink are on the list, for Troubled T'Pol. "Strong Enough" by Sheryl Crow for I-want-Trip-but-I'm-scared T'Pol.

Then there are a couple of tongue-in-cheek selections, like "Rehab" by Amy Winehouse.

[aadarshinah]

My moods vary. For a week or so I'll listen to nothing but Betoveen, and then it'll be alt rock, and sometimes just one artist or cd over and over... it's all very random and slightly worrisome. My current obession is a song my brother downloaded by The Weakerthans called "Plea from a cat named Virtue." It's great, and hillarious.

[EntAllat]

Music works for me a little differently. It doesn't help me to channel a character's voice and in fact, it tends to get in the way for me, especially if there are lyrics. My brain just stops working and I can't get other words out. (The TV and stereo have to be OFF for this reason when I'm engaged in the Twitterfic or it'll take me about four times longer to compose a single tweet than if there's nothing else going on.)

Instead, it helps me see a scene. For example, there's one Doughtry song that always has me envisioning a scene of sabatoge and escaping the building before the building blows up. The characters involved sometimes change and the dialog some times changes too, but generally the major events (what happens) and the pacing of the scene are inspired by the pace of the music. "O Saya" from "Slumdog Millionaire" is the sole inspiration for one as-yet-unfinished piece that involves a chase, a firefight in helicopter-like vehicles and a crash.

It's also usually one piece of music per story (with one exception - two songs that inspired a crossover fic that's going to take me EONS to finish, "Saving Me" by Nickelback and "Comatose" by Skillet). Still, they usually inspire one scene, complete with pacing and visuals, and the rest comes in around that.

[Misplaced]

Music works for me a little differently. It doesn't help me to channel a character's voice and in fact, it tends to get in the way for me, especially if there are lyrics. My brain just stops working and I can't get other words out. (The TV and stereo have to be OFF for this reason when I'm engaged in the Twitterfic or it'll take me about four times longer to compose a single tweet than if there's nothing else going on.)

Instead, it helps me see a scene. For example, there's one Doughtry song that always has me envisioning a scene of sabatoge and escaping the building before the building blows up. The characters involved sometimes change and the dialog some times changes too, but generally the major events (what happens) and the pacing of the scene are inspired by the pace of the music. "O Saya" from "Slumdog Millionaire" is the sole inspiration for one as-yet-unfinished piece that involves a chase, a firefight in helicopter-like vehicles and a crash.

It's also usually one piece of music per story (with one exception - two songs that inspired a crossover fic that's going to take me EONS to finish, "Saving Me" by Nickelback and "Comatose" by Skillet). Still, they usually inspire one scene, complete with pacing and visuals, and the rest comes in around that.

This is much the same for me. Although, being a mom of 6, I have the excellent ability to filter out "ambient noise" LOL But yes, music helps me set a scene rather than a character. It's like what I'm writing is a show or a film and my playlist is the soundtrack for that.

Depending on how large the fic is, I can have mulitiple songs or just one or two. "Don't Want to Let Go" has a theme song for me ("Hear You Me" by Jimmy Eat World) but I also listened to entire "melancholly" playlist to get in the right feel when I was working on it.

Some fics I don't listen to music at all and they aren't inspired by music. But they tend to fics that don't have as deep character development. I know that sounds funny since I don't use music to inspire the character writing. LOL I guess what I mean is that the stories that have soundtracks are the ones that I want to tell the most, deep down in my soul. "Unexpect This!", "Goh Veh," and "Unexpected Too" do not have music backgrounds. My current (other) projects like "Dark Echoes" and "Uncommon Serenity" (a huge Soval fic I'm working on) do have extensive playlists.

[Kotik]

I usually don't write with music. Our house is very quite and I like it that way, but I sometimes I get an inspiration when listening to music or watching something on TV. Here are some things that inspire me from time to time :

• Malcolm: I often find some inspiring british wit by watching TopGear. Clarkson and May are a formidable fountain of snippy british phrases.
• T'Pol: My rendition of T'Pol is often inspired by the fictional character of nurse Larissa Chekochikina in the russian series Солдаты ("Soldiers")
• Soval: My Soval is usually somewhat more humorious than the on-screen Soval, not that he's a Vulcan equivalent of a standup-comedian, but he is partially inspired by one: Mikhail Zadornov.
• Music: I sometimes get ideas for characters, just by listening to certain types of Music. Listening to Bi-2 or Sektor Gaza usually bring up some ideas for Soval or other Vulcans. Listening to Refleks or Blestyashchie is to blame for some ideas for T'Pol.

[Alelou]

Music may be on or not, but frankly if I'm writing I completely tune it out. I have songs I associate with certain fan videos and enjoy (like Superman for Trip), but I would never put it on to write about Trip. It would be pointless -- I don't hear it. I think when writing the music is primarily useful to drown out the TV in the next room.

I associate music with moments from my real life, or maybe stuff I was reading at the time, but not with anything I'm writing.

[crystalswolf]

For me, the music isn't there to consciously hear it. Actually I have it somewhat low as background noise. I think it kind of sets a mood subconsciously for me because writing (at least for me) is all about the mood I'm in. And some of the songs inspire me not by the lyrics but the beat of the music, something in the vocals, or even as simple as something in the chorus.

Examples that I can remember right now:
Harbinger T'Pol - You Set Me Free (Michelle Branch), I Never Told You (Colbie Caillat)
Harbinger Trip - You Make Me Completely Miserable (Lit), All My Life (K-C & Jo Jo)
The Understanding T'Pol - How do I Live (LeAnne Rimes)
The Understanding Trip - I'll Be (Edwin McCain), Keep Holding On (Avril Lavigne), Please Forgive Me (Bryan Adams)
The Understanding Koss - Look After You (The Fray)

[Silverbullet]

No music, no noise. Inspiration by the Actors and the characters. Mostly characters. I rarely see the characters in my mind as the Actors who played the parts in the series. T'Pol is not JB or Trip CT. They are different. Characters that Icreate in my mind.

Music? Mozart. Man never wrote a bad piece of music and I can listen to his Music all day if I allowed myself the plesure.

But other than that the music of my youth is so different from today that I don't find the characters in it.

[WarpGirl]

Okay to give some idea as to how differently music comes into play for me in this fandom I'll admit this... If I'm working on a horribly sad scene, (dealing with Baby Elizabeth) I listen to stuff like "Party In The USA" or Katy Perry. If I'm writing something happy, (TnT cuddling) I'll hit the mournful love sounds of Micheal Buble's "I'm Your Man" or "You Don't Know Me." I would necer do such a thing working on my KOTOR fic. Never.

[Aquarius]

"Moments in Love" by the Art of Noise (any version will do) and "Give It Away" by Zero 7 are great for writing sex scenes!

[honeybee]

I love, love, love Zero 7.

I also like to listen to Etta James's "Time after Time" album for writing sex scenes.

[Silverbullet]

Doesn't it depend on what kind of Sex scene? Romantic or horney type.

Not sure I need music for Sex scenes. Just let my imagination run wild.

Music to write by? Well, I love Schubert Lied(er) German Bass (thalimide baby) who is a great interpretr of Shcubert Lied as was Dieter Fischer diskau. Also love Greorian Chants. so if I wrote to that music it would be dark.

Of course fo rsheer beauty of Music melody you cannot beat Schubert for that and could write very Romantic stories of Love forever.