Writers--and readers--seem to have a fondness for soundtracks: film scores from movies. Many writers like them playing in the background as they work. Unfortunately, that's one pleasure that's lost to me--I get too caught up in the music and it can easily derail me from the book. I'm one who needs quiet and no distractions when I'm writing. However, I do a lot of writing away from the laptop, and that's when I'm almost always playing film scores. Actually, unless I'm writing, there's almost always music playing somewhere in my house.
I have dozens of favorite scores--some from movies I've never seen but were recommended to me. It gets expensive, though, to purchase or download many of these, and at some point I called a halt to buying entire scores, other than a very few "nust-haves."
Thanks to Pandora, the internet music service, I've found a solution. Simply type in the name of one of your favorite scores, followed by the words "film score"--"Braveheart" is one of mine--click to make it a "station," and you'll have access to lots of excerpts from some of your favorites. At the same time you'll probably discover some you might not have thought of. For example, even though I'd seen the movie, Forrest Gump, I'd forgotten what a beautiful score it had. Came across it the other day on Pandora and was surprised to realize how much I enjoyed it.
So even though I can't listen to them when I'm actually working at the laptop, I can enjoy them throughout the day when I'm "thinking" a scene. (They also help take the monotony out of cleaning!)
Writers--and probably readers, to0--often exchange ideas for favorite soundtracks. It's one way we build our "library." Some of mine include "Gettysburg," "Band of Brothers," "Dances with Wolves," "The Mission," "Braveheart," "Gladiator," "Glory," "Mr. Holland's Opus," "The Last of the Mohicans," "Master and Commander," "Chariots of Fire," "First Knight," "Far and Away," "Air Force One," "We Were Soldiers," "The Secret of Roan Innish," "Lawrence of Arabia," "Gone with the Wind," "Dr. Zhivago," "Pirates of the Caribbean--Curse of the Black Pearl," "Titanic," "Pearl Harbor," "The Godfather," "Schindler's List," "Rudy," and "Dragonheart." Also, you can almost always count on any score from Jerry Goldsmith, Hans Zimmer, James Horner, and John Williams.
BJ
