More on Music

For as long as I can remember, I've loved listening to music. As a child, instead of napping, I would turn on my parents clock radio to the lowest setting and listen to Captain & Tennille, the Bee Gees and anyone else that aired on the Tucson AM radio station, KTKT. I was about five years old when my Dad gave me an old record player along with a couple of Buddah Records LPs, the maroon label with the fat guy on it. When the songs Leader of the Pack or [Sittin' on] the Dock of the Bay played, I would turn up the volume full blast, but then had to cover my ears because it was so loud. My Dad would walk in and turn down the volume, all the while wagging his head at me. I was lucky he didn't take back his gift!

It was in junior high when I discovered that I didn't have to listen to the country and western music that my parents played. (I like some C&W music, just not all the time.) Most of my friends listened to the popular radio station, KRQQ FM, who played, and still play, the same songs over and over. So, just to be contrary, I chose to listen to the only rock station in Tucson at the time, KLPX. That's how I discovered Van Halen and Alice Cooper. This just proved to be my gateway station to other rock ... Motley Crue, Queensryche, Scorpions, Metallica and even some Pantera.

For much of high school, I thought I would become a professional trumpet player, join a symphony somewhere as principal trumpet. Then I thought about the lifestyle I wanted, and well, being a trumpet player wasn't going to pay those type of bills. So, instead, I chose to study Materials Science and Engineering, where the salaries and benefits were more aligned with how I wanted to live.

But I never gave up on enjoying music, be it as a listening experience, sometimes at ear-splitting volumes - but only when the kids aren't around, practicing my trumpet from time to time, or playing the piano. And as I mentioned before, I listen to music while I write to get into the mood of my stories. Sometimes I already own the music that will help, but like for my first story, mostly set in 1600's Scotland, I didn't have anything. Not even the "Last of the Mohicans" soundtrack.

I thank my lucky stars for the internet where I discovered the folk/rock band the Peatbog Faeries  and Martyn Bennett, traditional Scottish music set to a dance beat. (Did you know there is a bagpipe rock band called the Red Hot Chili Pipers?  I bet you can guess the type of music they play.)

So, by pursuing writingt, I've found another way to feed my love of music. (Which makes the internet services Pandora and Spotify perfect for me. Pandora for the ability to discover new music, and Spotify for the ability to listen to the new music over and over at will. At high volume, if necessary. And Amazon and iTunes make it entirely too easy to grow our music library.

All that as intro to my Scottish story playlist. Maybe you'll discover something interesting in the list.

What are your favorite music discoveries? That feed your Muse?

Angie's Playlist

Lots of authors listen to music while they work. Some writers listen to anything, while others carefully pick each song, sometimes down to those with words or not.

Me, I do something in between. Sometimes I play one of my stations on Pandora, other times I pick an artist like E.S. Posthumus. If I really need to get in a groove, Placebo's Running Up That Hill plays non-stop. Though usually, I listen to a shuffle mix of albums I've picked that give me a general feeling for the story I'm working on.

My laptop has limited memory so I don't have a large music selection on it. Right as I start a story, I look in our large music library on the home computer and copy the ones that stand out to me as fitting the story over to my laptop.

So, this week I thought I'd share which albums I currently have in my playlist for my modern story dealing with tech and modern characters, the main character is named Angie (hence the name of the playlist). I created this list a few years ago, and now that I look it over, I think I need to add more Techno, like Oakenfold and Tiesto, and those E.S. Posthumus albums I mentioned.

What do you listen to?

PS If interested in sharing playlists, I just started using Spotify (user: AZAnne).

All the Way from Scotland

I listen to a Scottish podcast from Footstompin. The host, Simon, features artists like the Red Hot Chili Pipers, Peatbog Faeries, Martyn Bennett and other Scottish music artists. As my first novel is set mostly in a version of Scotland, I've created a playlist to put me in a Scottish frame of mind. Most of the music I found through the podcast.

Now, I'm happy to say that I've found another album to add to my playlist. But I didn't come by it by listening to the Scottish music podcast. In my never ending fascination with all things Scotland, I follow a few Scottish blogs. One of them, Scotland for the Senses, recently held a giveaway for a folk music CD. And lucky me, I won! Canaich, by Dunan Chisolm, arrived last night, all the way from Scotland.

PurestGreen, author of the blog Scotland for the Senses, loves the music. In my first few listens, I can see why. I look forward to spending more time, particularly with it playing in the background while I'm writing, or on those lazy Sunday mornings where all you want to do is lounge about and read a book.

I can already see how several of the songs fit in nicely with certain scenes, almost like they were made for my story. "Caoineadh Johnny Sheain Jeaic" is perfect for when Akeva mourns all she's lost. As I'm about to write the harvest ceilidh scene, the quick and upbeat tempo of "The Exile Reels" helps me to imagine the energy of the celebration. And "Camhanaich Air Machair" seems like a perfect theme song for Akeva and Brian as they become acquainted each other - playful, wistful, then the change of melody signals something more complicated.

Some writers talk about how they come up with a soundtrack to help them get in the mood. I've done that to an extent with my playlists - just to get a feel of the environment. Akeva's story playlist is all Scottish or Scottish inspired music. With Chisolm's Canaich, I can imagine an actual soundtrack to play while reading Akeva's story, with lots of the songs coming from Canaich.

I've already put the music on the main computer, my writing computer, and my iPhone. So, thanks PurestGreen for the contest and picking my name!

A short aside ... One of my minor characters is a Chisolm. Coincidence or Fate?