Music has always been something I've enjoyed... from the embarrassing roots of cheesy boy band pop to metal where the lyrics are unintelligible and every fifth word is some kind of variation of the word fuck I've always loved listening to music. It inspires.so much and - even if done badly - invokes some kind of emotion (even if that is "what the hell is this shit?)
Lately I've been using music more and more for inspiration because when music is done very well it can take your mind to some beautiful dizzying heights. I don't think I've come across a band that does this better than 65daysofstatic (65dos.)
I Freaking adore this band. Seriously - the music is powerful and beautiful and more than once I've described them as being the soundtrack to the apocalypse because a lot of their tracks have this kind of melancholy, post apoc feel to them. But it's hard to describe that in a positive light, their music isn't dismal or depressing it just evokes the kind of emotions that give you images of Fallout-esque wasteland.
There are numerous tracks that have done this best - most notably Radio Protector (which is quite possiby my favourite song ever) - and so many of their tracks have given me these beautiful scenes in my head either of high octane motorbike chase scenes or fast paced action fight scenes. There are songs that inspire hope and slower ones that evoke a sense of calm and peace - finding a break in the harsh wasteland that is reality.
One of the things that I love but also seems to frustrate me most is the lack of lyrics. The lack of ability to sing along and strain my voice to evoke the same emotion that their music creates in me. I can hum along sure, but that never seem to sound to other people the same as it sounds to me.
---
So while I was at work I was given a couple of different sources to use as inspiration which ai'll probably check out tonight including the Lost soundtrack and - I think - the Twin Peaks soundtrack too... And that got me thinking that osts are a very good sources of this emotion because that's what they are written and designed to convey, they're used to increase tension or heighten the pace of a scene and if you haven't seen the film or played the game you can draw your own scenes and scenarios from that. You can listen to the music away from its intended setting but I find you always associate the music with events that played out in its source. Not that that is always a bad thing but sometimes the connections influence the things you’re using it to write – “Those Who Fight” for example from the Final Fantasy VII soundtrack will always be some kind of battle to me, because I’ve spent many an hour on the Playstation with that music building up to its crescendo again and again while I've had Cloud and company kill everything from giant rats to terrifying dragons of some description. Not that that's a bad thing - I could use it to write my own battle/fight scenes or similar... but if you take something like "Ressurection" from the Terranigma OST that is always going to conjure images of a spinning globe and fairly msytical powers being summoned while a continent is being reborn (Terranigma is awesome and everyone should play it!) which is a very specific setting/event and isn't going to suit any/all of my writing - if I gave that track to someone else though they might get something completely different from that, because they haven't explored the towers or overcome each of the guardians. (If you want to give it a listen, the link will be in the comments at the bottom of the blogpost - let me know what you think of it and what kind of images it conjours.)
So - what's the point of this post? This one has been a lot more "I'm using my blog to invoke discussion" I guesss - but it's on a topic that I think about a surprising amount. Music is a powerful and wonderful tool as I've already said and it makes me sad when people use it in such horrible and degrading ways (yea... no one cares that you want to "fuck bitches and get rich"... and your stutter at saying the word "baby" does not make for a good lyrical piece) when it can be used for so much more or when it can be so much greater (I'll wave my hand in general at classical music here...)
So - discussion point - do you - my fairly small readership - use music to inspire your words? And if so what kind of things have they conjured inside your mind?
Youtube links:
Resurrection
Those Who Fight
65daysofstatic - Radio Protector
No comments:
Post a Comment