Anyone read along to a Star Trek soundtrack?

[ZappaDanMan]

Just the thought came across me yesterday while reading 'Avatar' book 1. So I hit up a Trek playlist on spotify and it was fine. It was nice to listen to something in the background (and I really hadn't listen to trek's score by itself; I really enjoyed it)...

... Then after the 3 ships attack DS9 in it's worst attack ever up until that point (270 injuries, 90 deaths I think (I sort of know there is more pain in store for DS9 in my near future)), and Ezri and Julian are having a love scene in their quarters. "the inner light" music pops up in the playlist and it married up so well with what I was reading with in the text (Romantic etude). I started laughing out loud as I kept reading along. Though it did only last a minute or two as the couple started to fight and the romantic music continued. I was hoping to instruct to the conductor to change to a more somber tone in a minor key (but spotify doesn't make those requests).

Enjoy your reading all

 

[Greg Cox]

I don't read to music, but I definitely write to music. And I usually write Trek to Trek music. To be more specific, my go-to soundtrack albums when writing Trek are: The Wrath of Khan, First Contact, Star Trek (2009), and "Amok Time" and "The Doomsday Machine." In addition, I find that the "Insurrection" soundtrack is good background music if I'm trying to write softer, gentler scenes . . . as opposed to, say, a rousing space battle.

 

[JD]

I used to read to music, and I did have the Caretaker and Emissary soundtracks in my rotation. Now I usually just have the TV on a show I'm not concerned with watching for background noise.

 

[Greg Cox]

I can't listen to anything with words (song lyrics, a TV in the background) when I'm trying to write or read. Drives me nuts.

 

[Starfleet Engineer]

Michael Nesmith, former Monkee, did something like this. He created a trilogy of books with soundtracks. You're suppose to read the book while listening to the music. Part 1, The Prison, is really good, but the other 2 parts are just OK. Of course, people's reading speeds vary, so I imagine it's as hit or miss with Trek novels and listening to Trek music.

 

[CaffeineAddict]

I have a playlist of a variety of soundtracks I use to focus on reading. I can't do anything with words while I'm reading, as I find that too distracting but instrumental stuff works great.

I vary the playlist periodically, but at the moment it looks like:

Star Trek: First Contact - Jerry Goldsmith
Star Trek: Insurrection - Jerry Goldsmith
Star Trek: Nemesis - Jerry Goldsmith
Borgen - Halfdan E
The Killing - Frans Bak
Revenge - iZLER
Poirot, Music from the TV series - Christopher Gunning, Stephen McKeon and Christian Henson
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo / The Millennium Trilogy - Jacob Groth
Fracture - Michael Danna & Jeff Danna
Continuum - Jeff Danna

Helps me block out distractions and focus on what I'm reading. The soundtrack for Poirot actually works really well as atmospheric music for a lot of books.

 

[Stevil2001]

Right this very moment I am writing my dissertation and listening to my Battlestar Galactica soundtracks. It makes nineteenth-century scientists very exciting.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I was playing the then-newly-released soundtrack of "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" while reading the last few chapters of "Andor: Paradigm" (in "Worlds of Deep Space Nine, Book 1") - and the hauntingly beautiful Annie Lennox song, "Into the West", started up just as the traditional Andorian funeral for Thriss got going. (I was a sobbing mess.)

Weeks later, after posting my review here, and mentioning the music anecdote, author Heather Jarman told us that she'd played the earlier LotR albums for inspiration while writing "Paradigm".

 

[Greg Cox]

I'm listening to THE LIBRARIANS soundtrack album right now. Take a wild guess what I'm working on.

 

[Iamnotspock]

Yes, I've done this a few times. I set up a playlist for the Destiny trilogy and the early DS9 re-launch novels, mostly comprising appropriate Goldsmith and McCarthy tracks. The First Contact theme and Borg music works very well for Destiny, while the DS9 theme and some of the later scores by Dennis McCarthy and Jay Chattaway are apt for the continuing DS9 saga.

 

[RandyS]

No. While I don't need absolute silence to read (street and regular neighborhood noise, no problem), reading with the TV or stereo on would be a distraction.

 

[Starbreaker]

I've tried it before, but I often lose focus. I normally read in silence, but sometimes I find it agreeable to have on some new age music without a melody on in the background.

 

[Lonemagpie]

I both write and read to appropriate scores.

 

[bfollowell]

No... too much of a distraction.