Soundtracks for Trek Lit??

[Nerys Ghemor]

Am I the only one who chooses music to listen to while reading Trek books, to suit the mood?

Example: For some reason, The Wounded Sky goes very well (in my view) with this gorgeous symphonic version of "Stairway to Heaven." Seriously, if that book were made into a movie, I'd make sure to get this into the score somewhere!

Here it is, for your listening pleasure-- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2wRfFPYRxM

(Don't worry--though it starts slow, it picks up. )

 

[Dayton Ward]

Not while reading, but I do employ a variety of music when I'm writing. I have a large library of film and TV scores, as well as some favorite classical selections and other interesting instrumental works.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

Not while reading, but I do employ a variety of music when I'm writing. I have a large library of film and TV scores, as well as some favorite classical selections and other interesting instrumental works.

That's definitely something I do in my own writing as well, both with my fanfic and my original work. Though some of the songs I listen to while writing have lyrics--that is, if the lyrics happen to line up enough with the feel or themes of what I'm writing.

 

[JD]

I don't usually listen to music while I'm reading, but one of the few times I did coincidentally fit perfectly, almost beat by beat. It was during the Shedia's attack on the science outpost in Summon the Thunder, and the music was from the battle at Moria in The Fellowship of the Ring. To this day, it still amazes me how well those two lined up.

 

[Cicero]

I find that The Beatles's more tragic songs (Suddenly, Eleanor Rigby) go well with the Vanguard series.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I told Heather Jarman that I happened to be playing the then recently-released "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" movie soundtrack while reading "Andor: Paradigm" (in "Worlds of DS, Book 1", and the hauntingly beautiful "Into the West" song by Annie Lennox happened to coincide with the funeral scene in the book - and I ended up a blubbering mess.

Then Heather told me that, while writing "Andor: Paradigm", she was playing the then-recently released "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" for background inspiration. Amazing!

We both owed a lot to Howard Shore.

By the way, as a young elementary school teacher, I used to mark kids' dictations to the battle music from ST II. A highlight of my Sunday mornings in the 80s.

 

[Lonemagpie]

I tend to read Trek lit to Trek soundtracks, Dr Who novels to DW soundtracks, etc etc...

I tend to write them to other things - like Dayton Ward said above, I also have a large library of TV and film scores, so, for the most recent example, Light Of Heaven has been written to the Pirates Of The Caribbean trilogy music, Conan The Barbarian, Murray Gold's Dr Who scores, and David Arnold's score from Casino Royale

I'm just picking the music for Reservoir Ferengi now...

 

[James Swallow]

Not while reading, but I do employ a variety of music when I'm writing. I have a large library of film and TV scores, as well as some favorite classical selections and other interesting instrumental works.

I do this too, although sometimes I need peace and quiet in order to concentrate. My recent rotation has included OSTs from Gladiator, Equilibrium, The Chronicles of Riddick, King Arthur, Gears of War...

 

[David Mack]

I, too, often choreograph my scenes and stories to original film scores. I have a large collection of them, and I often credit which ones were of particular inspiration for each story when I write my acknowledgments.

 

[JeremyW]

When I read several 'Trek novels, there is music that I choose to listen to. For example, the scene at the end of A Time To Heal when Zife's issued his ultimatum I have played "Logan's Downfall" from the 24: Season 4&5 soundtrack. In Warpath, I've played several other Sean Callery inspired tracks (from 24) to suit where I'm reading, and cranking them up ten fold when I get to Grennokar Prison. I've also listened to King Arthur, Pirates of the Carribbean and other great instrumental scores when reading. I think we're all huge fans of Howard Shore, Hans Zimmer, Callery and others....they seem to fit the Trek mold nicely.

 

[JD]

This might sound like heresy to some, but I've listened to some of the Star Wars soundtracks a few times when I listened to music while reading Trek, and it fit pretty well too.
*RUNS AWAY BEFORE HE IS STONED TO DEATH*

 

[William Leisner]

Not while reading, but I do employ a variety of music when I'm writing. I have a large library of film and TV scores, as well as some favorite classical selections and other interesting instrumental works.

I tend to write them to other things - like Dayton Ward said above, I also have a large library of TV and film scores, [...]

I do this too, although sometimes I need peace and quiet in order to concentrate. My recent rotation has included OSTs from Gladiator, Equilibrium, The Chronicles of Riddick, King Arthur, Gears of War...

I, too, often choreograph my scenes and stories to original film scores. I have a large collection of them, and I often credit which ones were of particular inspiration for each story when I write my acknowledgments.

I am regularly fascinated by this, because music really just tends to distract me more than anything else while I'm writing. And I wouldn't even know how to go about deciding what music in what scene in what movie best compliments the prose piece I'm working on.

 

[KRAD]

I have a writing soundtrack on iTunes and my iPod that is primarily Jethro Tull and Tom Waits, simply because I write better to those guys for reasons I have yet to figure out.

The exception is when I wrote my two Supernatural novels, which was a playlist of songs that the show has used (which is a fantastic playlist, just by the way...).

But I need to have music playing when I write....

 

[Ferd Burfel]

I listen to the Star Trek soundtracks for First Contact, Insurrection and Nemesis. First Contact has worked well lately with the Borg stories. I find Insurrection (with the lighter Ba'Ku theming) works well for Titan and it's exploring. Nemesis is good for space battles and sadness, but it's a little much during the light parts of the book.

The soundtrack for Attack of the Clones is good too because it was a "love" story, so a lot of the music is easy to listen to.

 

[Rush Limborg]

I've been known to put on the Pirates Of The Caribbean soundtracks when reading Captain's Daughter and Forged in Fire.

BTW, that novel I've been harpin' on about? I'm using for inspiration, not only the POTC soundtracks, but also music from The Dark Knight.

Lord of the Rings also serves as a musical inspiration--but I don't have the soundtracks...yet.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

Interesting--so nobody chooses anything besides classical/film scores? (Which I have a healthy amount of, but I've got lots of other stuff, too.)

 

[TGTheodore]

Not while reading, but I do employ a variety of music when I'm writing. I have a large library of film and TV scores, as well as some favorite classical selections and other interesting instrumental works.

I listen to my Tony Robbins tapes while writing. It's been 30 years and no Pulitzer yet ... Maybe I'll try some Herman's Hermits from now on ...

--Ted

 

[James Swallow]

Interesting--so nobody chooses anything besides classical/film scores? (Which I have a healthy amount of, but I've got lots of other stuff, too.)

Anything with people singing (or at least, people singing in a language I can understand) is too distracting, so it has to be instrumental. But it can be classical, ambient, electronica, soundtracks... Probably not polkas, though.

 

[Lonemagpie]

I am regularly fascinated by this, because music really just tends to distract me more than anything else while I'm writing. And I wouldn't even know how to go about deciding what music in what scene in what movie best compliments the prose piece I'm working on.

It's more just to put me into a certain tone or frame of mind. It has to be music without words because I don't want to end up subconsciously quoting the lyrics all over the place, and movie/TV scores are the largest part of my classical (that's what they are really, just as a lot of what we call classical is the score for operas etc) collection but I'll occassionally get other classical or electronic (Tangerine Dream usually) in there too

 

[David Mack]

Interesting--so nobody chooses anything besides classical/film scores? (Which I have a healthy amount of, but I've got lots of other stuff, too.)

As others have noted, I often find music with lyrics too distracting while I work. When I'm trying to make words move out of my imagination onto the paper, it helps to not have words going in. (The exception is words in a language I don't understand; for instance, the first track on the Black Hawk Down soundtrack, or the Fremen lyrics in the Children of Dune soundtrack.)

One notable exception: the song "Working Them Angels" on the latest Rush album, Snakes & Arrows, served as a kind of touchstone for my upcoming original novel, The Calling, and I even quoted its chorus as the book's epigraph.