So, to keep my mind thoroughly off the release (those butterflies won’t settle down), I thought I’d talk about something I don’t mention much. When writing, the biggest and most important thing for me is what I’m listening to. Some people can’t write if they aren’t in a room that’s dead silent. I’m the opposite. Give me silence, and I won’t get anything done, nine times out of ten. I don’t recall what I was listening to when writing Ancient Ruins, but I do for Spells of Old.
Thunderstorm & Rain Sounds – 3 hours of rain and thunder. I live in Utah, and we get about 1 or 2 good thunderstorms per year. This was most of what I listened to, because it helped me relax and think properly.
Now, on to my favorite music for writing/brainstorming. I’ll generally link my favorite song from a given artist.
The Mummer’s Dance by Loreena McKennitt – I love all her work, but this one is hands down my favorite.
The Sound of Silence by Disturbed – I like some of their stuff, but for me it’s hit or miss. I listened to the album Immortalized a lot.
Children of the Sun by Thomas Bergensen – I love tons of Thomas’ work, and it is wonderful for me in particular to listen to. It’s just so thematic.
The Nexus by Amaranthe – I like most of Amaranthe’s work. Not all of it, but I’ll commonly put an album on repeat while writing.
Poison Remix by Groove Coverage – My favorite of the covers by Groove Coverage, I like the beat that they add to their songs. Runner up is the Last Unicorn.
All the Things She Said by t.A.T.u – I like pretty much all of their songs. Funny thing? I loved them before I had a clue about the artists themselves.
Carnival of Rust by Poets of the Fall – This is less common in that it’s the only song I really like by the artist, but I do enjoy it.
She is my Sin by Nightwish – First song I heard by Nightwish, and the album got me interested in buying music for the first time. Honestly, I’m glad I did. I adore pretty much everything by them.
Sisters of the Light by Xandria – This inspired the title of Sisters of Radiance, and I love the song. It isn’t terribly accurate or applicable to the story I’ve written at all, but I still adore it.
Bring Me to Life by Evanescence – I love the original album by Evanescence. With The Open Door I felt they changed their roots too much… but I also have some unreleased tracks from before they released Fallen, some of which are quite good. I don’t know where the friend who shared the disc with me got them, but I jealously guard them, since I only have a single copy of the files, and no names for them.
In Control by Nemesea – I enjoy this particular song. The other songs on the album are fairly good, but this is the one that stands out to me.
Other artists who I like but don’t stand out to that degree… Enya, Apocalyptica, The Azoic, Within Temptation, Blackmore’s Night (Airship Pirates!), ATC, Delain, E Nomine, Leaves’ Eyes, Linkin Park, and Kelly Clarkson.
…Come to think of it, that’s a lot of artists, but yeah. I like a variety.
Ancient Dreams 
Ever listened to the artist formerly known as Heather Alexander?
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Yes, as a matter of fact. I’ve listened a bit to the March of Cambreadth in particular. Another artist that just popped into my head is Mercedes Lackey, in particular… *goes to look up the songs* Arafel’s Lament and Last Battle.
I don’t like the voices of the singers as much, is why I don’t mention them in particular (plus, these are just the highlights of what I listen to).
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Understandable, March of Cambreadth is pretty good for when you need battle music for a combat scenario. Also, the Mercedes Lackey stuff is interesting, you may like Heather Dale. She’s a pretty good singer of similar music.
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*pulls up a track on Youtube* Hmm… good melody thus far to Hero. Good voice. I’m slightly picky about such things since I was in an orchestra. I played the Cello, and I’m a bit finicky.
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Completely understandable, those with more musical talent than myself are always interesting when it comes to what they like to listen to.
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Eh, I wasn’t /good/ at playing the cello, I just cringe because having been in a really good orchestra, I could hear every time someone does a wrong note on a stringed instrument. My school had 3 string orchestras, and I was decidedly one of the poorer players.
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Still better than me since I’m just about tone-deaf to be perfectly honest. I tried to play a number of instruments in school and was horrific at all of them in all honesty. Even being able to actually play a cello is pretty impressive to me. Not sure if you’ve ever heard of the group 2Cellos.
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I have heard of them! And to be honest? I learned the cello because my parents insisted that all of their children learn an instrument. I was in 4th grade, and in elementary school, the only one who got to sit down of the stringed instruments (Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass) were the cellists, so guess which I picked?
…you know, if I do reasonably well, I might pick up an inexpensive cello, simply because it /is/ nice to just play some fairly bad music from time to time…
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Understandable, my dad was a drummer in a drum and majorette corps when he was younger, instead I managed to get the talent of reading incredibly fast from somewhere and then ending up going military.
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Also, that would be cool for you to have the opportunity to do, I’m sure that even being able to play at all would probably manage to be somewhat relaxing for you after long book work.
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It’s that or going for a walk. I like pacing when I’m thinking, so when I have a part I have trouble with, I tend to go out for a walk. I’ve got a nice 2-mile circuit that I usually take. Probably not as healthy as it could be, since the grocery store is at the halfway point, but still better than sitting on my arse.
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That works well enough I’m sure. I tend to read or game when I’m wanting to decompress.
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Hmm, we have a lot of similar music tastes. You may enjoy the Sleepthief collaborations, as I listen to them quite often.
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I’ll take a look at them. ^_^
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