I'm talking about music again

I discovered a new (to me at least) group over the weekend. It's Audiomachine. I love their music. It's instrumental with some vocals. Not a lot of lyrics, mainly just voices providing counterpoints to the actual instruments. But I think it's gorgeous music. I find it easy to write to but will stop to listen when something intrigues me. Here's one of their albums. It's the latest one, actually from this year. They have two that came out last year and three that came out in 2012. That's all I can see on Spotify. Their first public album Chronicles came out in 2012.

I've talked so many times about my love affair with music, but we're going to discuss it again. I'm getting to the point I'm bored with the same old groups I've listened to for a while now. I use Spotify and I've found some new and interesting things using their “Discover” feature. It's an algorithm that takes what you normally listen to and offers suggestions based on your listening habits. Now, Spotify has some peculiar ideas of what I'd like to listen to, but I'll at least give the sample a chance. If I like what I hear I'll go to an album and listen to a few songs. If I decide I don't like them, I go back to the “Discover” list and listen to some more.

That's how I got Audiomachine. They put it as similar to another group I found on Spotify called Nox Arcana. Himself introduced me to them, and I must say I do like most of their music. Some of it is a little creepy, but it's good. Their Legion of Shadows album is my favorite. You can find some of the music from it on YouTube.

I tend to listen to a lot of gothic/symphonic rock. A lot. It's my favorite music genre these days. Bands like Nightwish, Sonata Arcticia, Leaves Eyes, and Within Temptation are among those I listen to on a regular basis. There are others like Krypteria, Epica, and Lacuna Coil which I've only recently begun to listen to as well.

I think music is a big part of my day. When Himself is out of the house, I put on Spotify and one of my various playlists and turn it up. I work with that playing. When Himself is home, I'll either turn it off in favor of what he's watching/listening to, or more often than not, I'll plug in my earbuds and continue listening to my music at a comfortable volume.

There are days where all I want is the quiet. The sound of the box fan is enough noise for me to work by. But there are others where I need something more. Sometimes lyrical, sometimes loud, and sometimes somewhere in between. But I need that extra bit of sound to help kickstart my brain into working on things. Like now, I'm listening to Audiomachine as I write this.

I could give you the list of the bands I listen to, but that's going to be rather boring. I've shared an album of Audiomachine with you, and I've listed a few of my favorites. So how about you tell me who your favorites are? You can find all of mine on YouTube. Share with me some of yours and I'll see if I can find them there too. Who knows? We might just help each other find some new music to love.

I Have A Right

I love music, especially the symphonic metal bands Nightwish, Within Temptation, Amaranthine, Krypteria...there are more, but I'm not going to list all of them here. Just say that I love this genre of music.

Recently, I came across a song by Sonata Arctica that got me thinking. This song is “I Have A Right”. 

If you listen and pay attention to the lyrics, which you can find here, you can see what it's about. The thing that struck me the most about this song is that it talks about the rights of children, to be taught to love everyone no matter who they are.

This is a powerful message that I wish parents would teach their children now. But in order to teach their children this, they need to open their minds more as well. In order to bring their children into the modern world, where love and understanding is key, they must shed the fears and teachings of their own parents to do it.

How often do we say “I'm not my mom/dad”? I know I say it a lot. But I've found myself saying things that could only have come out of my parents' mouths. I've come a long way and have found my own path, but still I feel the lingering effects of the way I was raised.

I believe we need to step up and let go of the negative things taught to us. We need to be more open to things like marriage equality, other races, other people's religious practices. There needs to be more openness.

What do you think? Do you think a parent's attitude influences a child all the way into adulthood? Or do you think a child can get away from their parents' influence and form their own opinions?

Music and my writing

Music. I love music. Music is what helps me concentrate on writing. It depends on my mood and partly on what story I'm working on that dictates what I'll be listening to. From epic fantasy to urban fantasy, from sci fi to romance. Music sets the mood.

For example, I listen to groups like Two Steps From Hell, E.S. Posthumus, and other instrumental music when I'm writing epic fantasy or more gentle scenes. I listen to harder music like Marilyn Monroe, Seether, and Godsmack for the grittier scenes in urban fantasy. I listen to Within Temptation, Nightwish, Xandria, and Lacuna Coil for the in between times in all of my stories. Sci fi gets some techno as well as my harder list. As time goes on, I add songs and groups to my lists when I find something I like.

Music lets me escape into the world that I'm writing about. I can see the characters, I hear their voices. I can see their actions and feel their emotions. Some of them even sing along with the music, or dance, and I can watch them having fun. Others rush into battle during some music and I can see the fighting and the death.

Sometimes I listen to it through the speakers on Himself's computer since mine don't work well anymore. Other times I plug in my earbuds and listen to it on my laptop I need to do something intense. Or when Himself is here and he wants to watch/listen to his own thing while I want to listen to mine.

My writing flows better when I'm listening to something because it helps me detach from my life and enter the lives of the characters. It gives me a breath from their world and makes things more interesting.

What about you? What do you listen to when you're reading or writing? Or whenever you want to listen to music? Who are your favorite groups? What is your favorite genre of music?