Music to get me in the mood...

[Ashwin Pande]

For Writing!

Ok cause I got some good answers the last time I asked this... I'm asking again.

I'm looking to write a Samurai story but a balls crazy Zatoichi meets Dragonball Z kind of thing and I wanted to know if you guys could recommend me some music I could check out. Anything will do... Video game soundtracks to Anime theme songs or japanese pop or even classical Japanese songs or even heavy metal. Whatever you think could help make those kind of images whole would be great.

[Jay Wesson]

Explosions in the sky, Russian Circles, Pelican, Wagner...

Anything without vocals.

[The Cheap-Arse Film Critic]

I try to tailor what I listen to to what I'm writing. For instance, for my working-class assassin short film script I recently finished, I was listening to alot of Elvis Costello.

[Thommy Melanson]

Ha!

Check out LOUDNESS and E.Z.O. for ridiculous Japanese '80s metal.

Something tells me the KILL BILL soundtracks would be good to listen too as well.

[Ashwin Pande]

Ha!

Check out LOUDNESS and E.Z.O. for ridiculous Japanese '80s metal.

Something tells me the KILL BILL soundtracks would be good to listen too as well.

Oohh.. Kill Bill reminds me... My boss has the soundtrack album to Afro Samurai by RZA.. I think that would work well too..

[Ashwin Pande]

Explosions in the sky, Russian Circles, Pelican, Wagner...

Anything without vocals.

Most of the time I don't get distracted by vocals in the music I listen to while writing but when I'm having trouble with the scene I'm writing or the vocals are distracting me then I just turn the music off and finish what I'm writing without the music. I just try and make sure the music and what I'm writing kind of gel together so it helps with my flow.

[Jerome Gibbons]

In The Mood by Glenn Miller.

[Ashwin Pande]

In The Mood by Glenn Miller.

http://www.proppersource.com/images/inventory/applause-sign1.jpg

[Patton]

The Go Team

[Jerome Gibbons]

http://www.proppersource.com/images/inventory/applause-sign1.jpg

http://www.smg.photobucket.com/albums/v24/tyrant2/take_a_bow.jpg

[smallchange]

Perfect background music for the type of theme you are working on. . .

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/61DFJ44M52L._SS500_.jpg

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51J57CPDASL._SS500_.jpg

[Georgie]

For some crazy Japanese type stuff, I fucking LOVE Rip Slyme.

For metal, though...You can't really go bad listening to AniMetal. A group of 80's style metal heads covering classic anime theme songs. It's about the best thing ever.

Devilman (Live) (http://youtube.com/watch?v=pejErEQdmGg)

Dragonball (http://youtube.com/watch?v=72x9QQg7QFw)

Mazinger Z (http://youtube.com/watch?v=vjavoHXqNd4)

[Ashwin Pande]

After doing some searching on the interweb I've found a Japanese instrument sound that I think would be perfect for what I'm looking for.

It's a percussion instrument called the Taiko. Apparently there's a guitar hero-esque game based around it too.

Does anyone know of any bands or performers who use the Taiko that I could look up on?

[Garra]

Im not a writer, but I do alot of work at home or in a hotel room. For me its hard for me to concentrate when music I like alot is playing, so I tend to go to one of those music channels that most cable or satellite providers give you on your tv. Something alittle relaxing with some feeling to it that I can have going in the background that keeps me in a good mood, tapping my foot a bit, but not to where I want to bang my head or do the worm across the floor. Jazz, Blues, and Bluegrass music all fits this bill for me.

However I still normaly end up occasionally doing the worm at least once.

[Georgie]

Just search for Taiko Drum Ensamble

[NeverWanderer]

Not sure about the Taiko, but here are a few suggestions from my own collection:

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children soundtrack (2 disk set. The first disk is mostly mellow background instrumental, including some fun reworks of old school FFVII tunes. The second disk is pure balls-to-the-wall action music.)

The Prodigy - Fat of the Land (also try to find the Prodigy song from the Smokin' Aces soundtrack, "First Warning." S'one of those songs that builds and builds and then explodes into action. Good face-off music.)

The Animatrix soundtrack (good mix of atmospheric, character, and action pieces. The music covers pretty much every aspect of any good story.)

KMFDM - Nihil (I once saw a Manga Entertainment ad that put clips from Ninja Scroll to the first track off this album, "Ultra". Plus the same song was used in the Street Fighter 2 animated movie for the Vega vs. Chun Li fight. So, whenever I think of samurai swords and martial arts, I think of this album.)

Juno Reactor - Labyrinth (plenty of fast paced, melodic tribal-techno tracks mixed in with some slower, more atmospheric stuff. Includes two tracks used in the Matrix movies. Also, a good cd to listen to in the car when you want to get a speeding ticket.)

Blade Trinity soundtrack (the only Blade soundtrack worth a damn. Amidst a few decent rap tracks and a few crappy rap tracks, there's a whole lot of good techno/rock fight music.)

And, for the dramatic parts of any story, I also recommend...

Heat soundtrack (there's something on this disk for every story. Whenever I can't find the tone for any story I'm writing, I'll pop this in and it just focuses me. It's like a tuning fork for my creativity.)

[Blake Sims]

Lightning Bolt!