The Playlist Series (April Edition!)

Hey Y’all!

So Camp NaNoWriMo has officially started!!

*blows little party horn and dumps confetti everywhere*

Because of all the writing that is happening currently, I thought it might be a good idea to do a TPS on movie soundtracks!!!!!!

*melts because loves soundtracks beyond any reasonable realm of obsession*

Now heads up, this is about instrumental movie soundtracks. Don’t get me wrong, I love ones with words (i.e. Broadway, The Greatest Showman, Disney, etc.). But because my little writer brain requires instrumental music in the background for writing, we shall be focusing on that today!

Let’s begin!

Writing-fueling Instrumental Pieces From Movies! (I know it’s a long title. 😀 )

So over the past month or so, I have been collecting a bunch of songs for this one. I am planning on just giving a little snippet on why I like each one, not because I have nothing to say on each, just because I have a lot 🙂 . (these aren’t in order of favorites. Because there is no such thing as favorites with soundtracks. They are all my favorites so what can I say? 😀 )

1. The Bioluminescence Of The Night – Avatar 

 I like this one because it has a chill sort of fantasy feel. Really calm and pretty. And as an added touch, it has some foreign-y sounding instruments and twinkly stuff in addition to your typical choir and orchestra.

2. Gathering All The Na’vi For Battle – Avatar 

This one is also really nice. It starts with a quiet, powerful, emotional part and then goes full native Na’vi. It’s really cool. I tend to use this one when I start to write a battle scene.

3. This Is Berk – How To Train Your Dragon

For me, this one will always be a classic. This soundtrack was one of the first ones I ever got super into. It starts out with the main theme and then explodes into the Vikingness that carries the entire soundtrack. Gotta love you some HTTYD.

4. Where’s Hiccup? – How To Train Your Dragon

This one always makes me cry for some reason. Be it because I have seen HTTYD and I know what happens, or it’s just an emotional piece, I am always touched by the quiet piano part which I have learned. It starts out happy, and then goes through this EXTREMELY touching part, and then begins to pick back up. Use this if you need a death scene. 😀

5. Coming Back Around – How To Train Your Dragon

I love this one. It’s so happy. And what’s even better is, it goes from happier to happiest. It starts with a peppy opening and you know “Oh yay happy Vikings” AND THEN THE CONDUCTOR SNEEZES OR SOMETHING BECAUSE THERE IS A WHOLE BUNCH MORE OF DRUMS THAT COME FROM NOWHERE. I don’t know what happens but it’s amazing.

6. Flying With Mother – How To Train Your Dragon 2

This is the part in the movie where Hiccup flies with his mom (WOW REALLY?) and the music is really cute and what I like to call “chill Viking”.  The choir on the entire soundtrack is amazing so I really can’t complain. (btw after this spot in the soundtrack the feels hit hard…)

7. Lord Of The Rings – the entire soundtrack. Sorry not sorry

Okay if you like soundtracks, this is one of the undisputed staples. LoTR is one of my favorite series (both movie and book) and Howard Shore did a BRILLIANT job on this one. He perfectly captured the feel of Middle Earth. Concerning Hobbits will always make me sentimental/tear up.

8. My Name Is Barbossa – Pirates Of The Caribbean, Dead Men Tell No Tales

Just to be clear, the entire series of PoTC is amazing for soundtracks, so I’m not just saying this one is best. I just couldn’t add 75 extra songs onto this list. I think you’d get bored. 😉 But this song, in particular, is my favorite for two reasons: number one, it is very tender and emotional. It has never ceased to give me chills. I love the instrumentalization. Number two, it brings out a lot of the recurring melodies from the series. It is so well orchestrated. I’m gonna go listen now 😀

9. Treasure – National Treasure

Not gonna lie, this is one of my favorite movies. (Riley is my fave 😉 ) Anyway, I like this song because it’s from the part in the movie where Ben finally finds what he has been searching for. It marks the peak of Ben’s search and is VERY well represented by this piece of the score.

10. Pirates vs Natives vs Heroes vs Chickens – Pan

Okay, I love this one. (John Powell always has amazing and unique drums incorporated. I love John Powell stuff.) Also how cool is the name???? But seriously, the Pan soundtrack has always been a staple of my novel writing music since forever.

11. Tramp Stamp – Pan

What did I say about drum rhythms?! Seriously it’s amazing. The drums on this one make me feel like I’m some sort of warrior. I listen to this one a lot. I swear I have a soundtrack addiction. 😉

12. Run Free – Unleashed, Two Steps From Hell

Okay before I scare you off with the name, lemme tell you a bit about TSFH. They do soundtrack music for nothing in particular. Most of the time, they are used in trailers. How cool is that? But I use their stuff a lot because sometimes when I use music that is actually from movies, I will start to think about the movie and what scene is happening during this song, etc., etc.

13. Westward – Unleashed, Two Steps From Hell

This one is so cool because it kinda has this American Western feel. Or like you’re in line for Soarin’ at Disneyland. It gives me chills. 🙂

14. Enchantress – Vanquish, Two Steps From Hell

Eight minutes long, people!!! Eight minutes of pure genius. Once you get past the name, Two Steps From Hell is amazing and beautiful. The string section on this one killed it. The usage of the choir at the beginning and then bringing it back throughout is crazy good. You will get happy ears from listening to this one. 😉

15. Soarin’ – Jerry Goldsmith, Walt Disney World Official Album

This song is my childhood. I have ridden Soarin’ so many times. It provides me with a little touch of reality to my imagination because I can see all the things happening on the ride. I’ll forever have this one the playlist. 🙂

16. Fate and Destiny – Brave

I’m a huge Celtic fan, so this soundtrack is on a lot of my playlists. I use this frequently because I write fantasy and I will always make my characters have Irish/Scottish/Welsh names. For some reason, my brain always pictures my fantasy world in settings like the previously mentioned places. I love having a bit of Celtic in my music mix.

17. A Noble Maiden Fair (A Mhaighdean Bhan Uasal) – Brave

This song always makes me want to cry. I own the movie so I know about the little flashback that happens in this song. But all of that aside, IT’S ALL IN GAELIC. I love listening to them sing in this language. The melody is beautiful. Very writerly sounding. (and yes that is a word 😉 )

18. A Thunder Battle – The Hobbit, An Unexpected Journey

I would recommend using this pre-battle or exiting a battle. This is good fighting music. (*chanting starts* fight fight fiGHT FIGHT FIGHT!!) And I love LOTR/Hobbit so this is one of my favorites already. 🙂

19. Over Hill – The Hobbit, An Unexpected Journey

Absolutely one of my favorites. It has the Hobbit theme throughout, and I don’t know about you, but when I hear that theme, I feel like I can go do anything. This one, to be perfectly honest, I feel is an anthem for the writer themselves. 😉 YOU CAN DO ALL THE THINGS, YOU BEAUTIFUL HUMAN YOU! Go get em!

20. I Am (Creation) – Music Inspired By The Story

First off, this is an amazing album if you don’t already know what it is. Seriously go check it out. THIS SONG REVERBERATES THROUGH YOUR SOUL. It’s super chill but also extremely powerful. I love to listen to this song like pretty much any time. The feel conforms to the scene you are writing which is nice.

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So there you have it, folks!! My top 20 writing songs! Hopefully, by the time you listen to all of these you have a good, solid soundtrack foundation for things. I understand that different projects have different feelings and vibes, but who knows! Maybe you can use some of these in your WIP!!

Ooh and another announcement on the WIP note: I finished the first draft of my little novelette The Wolf Of Talfryn yesterday!!! I’m very pleased with how it turned out, but there will be some definite editing. Maybe I will do a post on this one soon!

Now go forth, mis amigos and amigas, and smile. Your day is just beginning. Make the best of it. Don’t procrastinate. Work hard. Make me proud. 🙂

Love you all,

Madeleine

(And hey, just so we are clear, I am not promoting the messages you may find in these movies. Some of them I haven’t seen, so I don’t fully know what they contain. I just use the soundtracks for writing inspiration 🙂 )

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 Tell me about some of the songs you like to use when you are writing in the comments!!