Music and art: oil and water or bread an butter?

[themegagod]

I've heard a lot of different takes on the idea, but what music does everyone listen to while working?

I've heard it's best to work in silence, I've heard it's best to work with classical music, and I've seen many work with all types of different music. So I'm assuming its a bit of a personal preference kind of thing. I've created to all genres of music and silence as well. I noticed It sometimes changes my line quality, and the over all feel of the work. anyone else experience this?
I often prefer to work to classical music, but right now I'm going through a punk phase.

I have pandora playing the "rise against" station right now.

what are you listening to?

\m/

[Anthonycarey]

It depends on what I'm doing, when I'm drawing/painting something aggressive or violent I listen to rap or metal, when I'm doing a serene landscape I'll listen to classical, when it's a very illustrated cartoony thing I'll listen to gorillaz or flaming lips..

[Mudpuppy]

Same here, depends on what I'm drawing. If I have to work out a problem I'l turn it off, like if my proportions are wonkier than usual. I prefer electronic/world/classical etc. without lyrics.

[QueenGwenevere]

Personally I like working with music that has a beat and either minimal lyrics or lyrics in languages I don't understand. Music is not distracting to me - quite the contrary, it helps keep me from being distracted - but words can be kinda distracting. WHAT the music is depends on my mood. Right now it's a Pandora mish-mosh of trance and electronica and Weird Stuff (Birdy Nam nam, Beats Antique, Eat Static, other oddments...) Lately I've been mostly switching between that mix and another mix consisting mostly of Indian, middle eastern and African stuff; a bit heavy on Tinariwen, Salif Keita and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan at the moment, which isn't a bad combo (Pandora needs a better selection of Rachid Taha, though.)

I still haven't managed to get Pandora to mix a good dark/industrial station yet - if I can get that to work, I'll have everything I need. Pandora needs to learn that when I input Einsterzende Neuebauten this does NOT mean I want piles of whiny emo dreck. Also they need to get Massiv in Mensch, damn it.

(And for the record, there is no "best" way and no "best" music, it's all down to the individual, what music they like, how they work, and their working conditions...)

[Elwell]

Pandora needs to learn that when I input Einsterzende Neuebauten this does NOT mean I want piles of whiny emo dreck.

No, you want recipes!

[QueenGwenevere]

Black recipes, of course...

[Star Eater]

I love working with music. Vangelis, Tangerine Dream and Enigma are some of my creative favorites.

[keeptime]

I do everything in my life with music (including sleep). I finally trained Grooveshark well enough that it's able to play a decent "recommended" station for me, which is mostly a mish-mash of new and old punk music with some hip-hop or pop anomalies. I also like mash-up albums. They tend to be fun/upbeat enough to keep me going, and it's essentially an hour-long song so I never have to worry about switching tracks or getting jarred out of my concentration. I go to Girl Talk and Abrahammer for upbeat party music, Pretty Lights and Grammatik for more ambient stuff. Kleptones ride the fence. He has an album called Uptime/Downtime which sounds like the title suggests (thankfully split into two halves so you're not getting mood whiplash).

[Brain]

I took on advice from Android and started playing lyric-less music, and am only now starting to get some minimal lyrics back in to music while creating. I've found myself being a lot looser and discovering rather than starting out with a set idea, though it helps there too.

The bulk of my Ambient playlist is game soundtracks. I've been leaping on Humble Bundles and the like, and have been discovering some amazing stuff. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll ever play some games I've wanted to play (Bastion being the stand-out OMGMUSTPLAY!!) as I don't want to associate elements or scenes to the music. I love the Warcraft soundtracks, but I very clearly picture the game when listening to them. Sigh.

[nofu]

Personally I like working with music that has a beat and either minimal lyrics or lyrics in languages I don't understand.

Yes, this. But most often I am at my most productive in silence. I put the music on when I feel things just start getting slow or I start getting distracted too much. But then at some point I start getting distracted by the music itself so I switch it off or turn really low. So I kind of fluctuate. I also tend to play movies or series in the background for noise, stuff I've seen - creates a homey feel and does not make my knee shake, oh woe is me.

[Maidith]

Sometimes classical music.
Sometimes lyrics I can understand clearly, and sing along to (when I do routine painting work that doesn't require thinking for the image)
Sometimes absolute silence. For this I simply take my hearing aids off. And then I can't even hear myself speak. Not even an earthquake can distract me then. It's awesome

[dpaint]

In the studio I listen to a lot of different stuff, Old and new Prog Rock, Classical, Electronic, jazz, Swing Music from the 30's and forties, Blue Grass. Just depends on my mood that day. Sometimes I listen to talk radio or NPR and sometimes nothing at all. Never liked head phones so I don't listen to music on location when I paint, I prefer immersion in my surroundings.

[-Tragedy-]

I listen to a lot of this kinda stuff... So mainly prog/drone music.
SunnO))), Earth, Om, Opeth, Tool, Cog, Jakob ect... Gotta love the 15min+ songs

Most of it is proggy instrumental music, just to chill and zone out and just pay attention to the work at hand.

[OmenSpirits]

I found a french internet station that plays NOTHING but Michael Jackson!

I am a happy man.

[Wretched]

The only time i'm not listening to music while drawing/painting is when i've become so completely enthralled in my work I didn't notice my playlist/album had ended. Definitely Vangelis, Portishead, Kenji Kawai, Angelo Badalamenti, ambient stuff helps focus me, but lots of metal too (90% foreign). Heavy fast-paced stuff can channel energy and ambition, even confidence. Music has a tremendous impact on my work and often shapes my art according to its whim. My art has been known to change dramatically even within the same piece according to what i'm listening to. Its a sensory thing, my whole ideation process is synonymous with mood.. and music is that vehicle.

[eru]

I listen to all sorts of music to be creative but I think silence is the best for me sometimes when im fully concentrating on a piece of work. Love songs usually dont work makes me dipress lol. That soft ambient sound or hardcore metal violence song can determine my thinking and attitude to my drawing. Sometimes rushings music like progress rock or metal or alternative can make me draw faster, but it makes me not think of what im doing at all sometimes. I get into that mind state where its uncontrolled.

[jamsession]

lounge, chillout, downtempo, the like. i think i'm growing old :S

[Black Spot]

I like to sing along to tracks out of key, which annoys my family. This has the added bonus of them leaving me alone.

[Trase]

I prefer to have music on, usually something brilliant and attention grabbing like Cardiacs. I don't want to focus fully on the drawing because then I often get lost in thought and forget some details.

[erysium]

I listen to whatever best suits the work! I concentrate much better with something on, lyrics or not doesn't matter as long as the song's not clashing with the feel of whatever I'm making.

[Thoolhoo]

I listen to something without lyrics, like film sound tracks or industrial. Mainly because if I know a song I will sing along to it and forget what I was doing. But if I listen to something like the Lord of the Rings soundtrack, I start to feel EPIC and then my art becomes EPIC. Not technically, but idea-lly.

[matcha]

I tune into this room whenever I'm working -> http://turntable.fm/ambient_chillout_trip_hop2

If I start listening to something upbeat I can't help but start moving my body then I get too excited and can't control my work lol.

[Thistlegorm]

I find words distract me, but if I don't have background music, my mind will start drifting and I'll lose focus; for that reason, I only listen to ambient music or music that's being sung in Japanese (I can't understand it, so the words can never distract me)

I suppose it's a matter of preference, but for the most part I'd say 'music and art == bread and butter' *hands two cents*

[Exhno]

If anything (which is almost always), I listen to chillstep or dream/indie pop when I'm feeling relaxed and motivated; a silent determination of sorts. When I'm incredibly "hyper" I'll switch on some dubstep/drum and bass. I used to listen to rock, but I tend to gravitate toward bands like OneRepublic, A Perfect Circle, and Tool -- maybe some Otep here and there.

I can't stand country unless it's Chely Wright, but other than that, I'm pretty eclectic. It all depends on what I'm drawing and if I stumble across something nice, I'll listen to that.

[RustyPulley]

If I'm stressed out or need maximum concentration I would turn off the music. Normally when I'm painting I'll just pick my current favourite track and play it on loop---forever. Kinda sink into it and let it become background noise. I find it too distracting if I'm actively going through new music and whole playlists. Of course the bad part is I'll get sick of a song after a few painting sessions on it. Then its on to the next one....

[Syle]

I am a musician and I also do a lot of music mixing/mastering, so I find listening to music while trying to learn another trade to be really distracting. I only recently became aware of this. After working on a drawing for any length of time, I find my attention waning towards the music. I'll find myself subconsciously focusing on the clarity of the mix, the choices the musicians made in composition, the arrangements of the instruments, etc etc etc....and before I know it, the drawing or painting I was just working on has now taken a back seat in my mind's eye to the music! Not good! So, silence is what I prefer, and I am finding that I actually enjoy the tranquility quite a bit.

If I feel the need to listen to something at all, I will load up an episode from http://www.sidebarnation.com/ on my phone, and listen to interviews of some of the best artists in the industry.

[blueknightfox]

Here is my current playlist that I can't work without:
Cherri Bomb
Dead Sara
Halestorm
In this moment
Muse
Outkast
The Dirty Youth
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Foo Fighters.

[enkithrice]

I find that I produce worse studies while listening to music. However, if I'm just pouring out random ideas on to paper, or doing something abstract, more about the flow and feeling, then I find music to be beneficial.

When I listen to music, I tend towards jazz, and whatever the weirdest music I can find at the time happens to be.

[enkithrice]

I find that I produce worse studies while listening to music. However, if I'm just pouring out random ideas on to paper, or doing something abstract, more about the flow and feeling, then I find music to be beneficial.

When I listen to music, I tend towards jazz, and whatever the weirdest music I can find at the time happens to be.