Photo by Richard Y. Chang (Creative Commons) – adapted by Writers Caravan
Unless you have just landed here (if you have then by all means, welcome!), you know how important music is to me. In a previous post, I have compared writing to a life buoy and music to the air that fills it. Pretty much every post I have written has been accompanied by a soundtrack – sometimes, it has sprung from my personal memories, others, I have judged it to be fitting for the topic explored.
Today, I have decided to take this further by sharing with you the music I write to. I have created 9 playlists from different composers for you and all together, 9 musical moments I hope will inspire you to write or escape from reality for an hour… or an entire day. Come back whenever you need some musical inspiration…
If you don’t have Spotify… simply click here to sign up for free to access my playlists – you might have to refresh this page.)
There is a multitude of talented composers out there. I tend to listen to film scores and I know I am not the only one who prefers lyric-less pieces. I have a musical crush for Hans Zimmer – tough choice but I am going with Gladiator (Inception, The Dark Knight Rises and King Arthur are not far behind) :
Howard Shore and the unmissable Lord Of The Rings :
Armand Amar – a compilation of Home, Planet Ocean and others :
But the list is endless. There is the wonderful Yann Tiersen (whom I’ve seen live) and his famous Amelie de Montmartre (although be sure to check out his other work, equally fabulous.)
The hauntingly beautiful doudouk player Levon Minassian and his Songs From A World Apart (His soundtrack to Bab Aziz is just as wonderful…)
The legedanry Mike Olfields and his Tubular Bells for a slightly more upbeat feeling.
The canadian singer Coeur De Pirate who composed the soundtrack for Child Of Light (a video game) :
And then there is timeless classical music (here is a playlist I created) :
And finally, a personal mix of everything above (again, a playlist of mine) :
And if none of the playlists above will do (I’d be amazed but…) have a look at those 12 Spotify Playlists For Writers, some are worth a listen.
Happy listening and happy writing!
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Thanks for reading.
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I also need to listen to lyric-less music–don’t know why I never thought of movie soundtracks. Thanks for the great tip!
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You’re welcome! I hope it works for you :)
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I can’t listen it seems without signing up for Spotify, and I think there is a fee. Am I mistaken? I am anxious to play these lists. Maybe they are the inspiration I need :)
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Oh, I suspected this could happen. Click here to sign up: https://www.spotify.com/uk/signup/
It is free – don’t go for premium. You should be able to listen then (might have to refresh the page).
Let me know! :)
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I had the same problem even after signing up. I was hoping to listen to the playlists while I was working this morning. Don’t know what I could have done wrong. Keeps asking me to sign up.
Oh well :) I love the idea of you sharing these lists. It is a very personal thing to do given how much music means to you.
I’ll try again when I get home.
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:( that’s a shame, I really want you to listen to them, I think they’d inspire you. Maybe you need to download the player onto your PC? I get the feeling this might help…?
There are YouTube equivalents of some film scores. If you don’t succeed, I’ll send you some links to start with :)
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I’ll try tonight from the house and let you know. It seems I am the only one having difficulty :)
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That’s because you’re the only one who doesn’t have spotify! Tut tut… :D
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I have never heard of it. I see from their website that they do not have an office in Canada but everywhere else it seems. I listen to sonza.com a lot :) I keep learning from you :)
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Really? That is peculiar. I’ll have to check out sonza.com :)
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This is really great! For some reason, music is fantastic inspiration for me, but because it fills me with such emotions I can’t listen and write at the same time. I’m jealous!
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Oh really? That’s an interesting one. Maybe you can use it to your advantage and select your music according to the emotions and the scene you are writing? Sounds like there could be some potential there…
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It’s definitely something I’ve thought about. Listening to what you like, I would recommend the soundtrack to Princess Mononoke. It follows very much in line with the music you posted while having the diversity of emotions for different scenes.
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Oh fantastic! Thanks for the recommendation, I will check it out.
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Try Lindsey Stirling.
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You might want to try a Disney film soundtrack, without the songs. Only the score. Might be a nice option as well. Since you love Hans Zimmer (I am assuming so because you included him in your list), try the underscore of The Lion King.
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You know, I have been thinking about Disney options. I’ll have to try that.
And I love The Lion King! Basically if Hans Zimmer does anything, I will probably like it! :D Thank you for the suggestions.
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