First qualifier for writing music is that it can't have lyrics, or at least distinctive lyrics. Lyrics distract me, I'll be listening to the music instead of writing. So I'll often just put on HP movie soundtracks, something like Blue by Eiffel 65 (fuck you, I like it) where lyrics repeat a lot and become good background noise. I've been on a Daft Punk kick lately (Veridis Quo is the perfect kind of writing music for me). I'm wont to just search "gothic/fantasy music" on YT and put on a 2hr compilation. Or 2hrs of rain. Or not play music at all. I do fine with just silence.

 

To be honest, I highly doubt that you'd like my taste in music. It's not really something that people tend to listen to when writing. For me though, I find that it becomes good background sound once it gets me in the right frame of mind for writing. Here goes:

Every song from The Marshall Mathers LP [Eminem].
Every song from The Marshall Mathers LP 2 [Eminem].
Every song from The Eminem Show [Eminem].
Every song from Recovery [Eminem].
Every song from When It's Dark Out [G-Eazy].
Every song from 4 Your Eyez Only [J. Cole].
Every song from Hybrid Theory [Linkin Park].

These are really my go-to albums when writing. So as you can see, I'm a huge Eminem fan. I like Linkin Park, J. Cole and G-Eazy too. You might think rap isn't really good background sound for writing but it certainly works for me.

 

If I'm looking for inspiration, I'll play some folky witchy music.

Delain - Sleepwalker's Dream
Blackmore's Night - Locked Within the Crystal Ball
Blackmore's Night - Fires at Midnight
Omnia - Witches Brew
Korpiklaani - God of Wind

If I'm looking for something supernatural, I'll listen to something heavier like these:

Powerwolf - Army of the Night
Revamp - the Trial of Monsters

If I'm writing a battle, I'll listen to something like these:

Tyr - By the Sword in my Hand
Sabaton - Attero Dominatus

If I'm writing sexy times, well, all I can say is that I have written an actual story using the title of this song.

 

Metal most of the time, though I find it helps to listen to game/movie/tvshow soundtracks if you're writing a fanfic for that game.

 

I'll come back when I have time to provide links but when I'm writing OF I listen to a lot of Florence and the Machine and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

FF though is a different story. I'll often hear music that inspires me to write but it never really lasts.

 

Assuming they're well designed.

 

If its not wet and is burning you, it's probably steam.

 

I listen to dark ambient while writing. There are a few YT channels (namely jonnie13black and Cryo Chamber) that I follow and usually just listen to the first track that feels right. Occasionally I choose classical music but it's harder for me to find something not distracting out of that.

 

I mostly stick Archer on as background noise, but sometimes when I'm writing action scenes I stick on a few bits of music.

He's A Pirate (Pirates of the Caribbean main theme).
I am the Doctor (Doctor Who, Eleventh Doctor/Matt Smith theme).
Duel of the Fates (Star Wars The Phantom Menace, Darth Maul vs Qui-Con and Obi-Wan)
Mind Heist (Inception)
Heart of Courage (Two Steps From Hell, various trailers).
Halo theme.

 

For quite a long time it was Florence and the Machine on end and end and end for me. I have a quirk where I can listen to the same song or Album for weeks, sometimes even months.

There's something special to hearing that woman's voice - sometimes soothing, sometimes powerful - while I sit down to create carnage.

Not everyone here has read my T7A stories, but for those who know of it, it might come as a surprise that the most harrowing passages of Ike (and some of the earlier torture parts as well) exist in my mind to the lovely backdrop of Spectrum.

I find that it changes my rhythm though. Without music I hear myself more clearly, while with a song in the background I feel more emotionally attached to the scene, if that makes sense.

Then there's of course music without lyrics. I had quite some fun searching for arabic-themed music when I sat down to write scenes in the desert - which were rather a lot I suspect.

 

My playlists closely mirror Jon's. Those video game soundtracks, particularly the ones I grew up with (and I was a big Final Fantasy fan), swing my writing into the fast lane.

I primarily use the FFX one - To Zanarkand just gets me in the mood.

 

Are you mixing 'on end' with 'on and on'?

 

Usually it tends to be whatever playlist I started for the day, but judging by frequency of plays, I listen to a lot of Cash when I'm writing. Especially some of the later, more solemn stuff.

I've got two separate playlists of choral music (gregorian chant, lord of the rings soundtrack bits of elvish singing, some stuff by Thomas Tallis) and instrumental pieces. All of them are pretty relaxing and meditative. They tend to flow in the background.

If I've got a particular scene in mind, I'll pull a Quentin Tarantino and look for a song that fits it before I write.

 

I am, yes.

 

These days I just listen to Human Music. Good for the soul.