Kurt R.A. Giambastiani

My second week of NaNoWriMo went better than my first, and there’s a reason for that (apart from my getting back into the flow of writing, that is).

Like many writers, I’ve often used a soundtrack to set an audio foundation for my writing time. A soundtrack can do two things. First, it can set a consistent mood that underpins the prose as I write, and second, it can help block out the sounds of the real world and allow me to concentrate more fully on the world I’m trying to get out of my head. (On the downside, it can also ruin a particular album/artist, as eventually, due to repetition and earworms, I grow sick of what I’m listening to.)

Many authors build writing soundtracks, and everyone has what works for them. Heavy metal, cool jazz, happy upbeat pop. For me, it’s usually been non-vocal music—the words in the lyrics disrupt my inner dialogue—though I have used vocals in languages I don’t understand. Scandinavian symphonic metal works well, as does what I call “trailer” music, i.e., modern orchestral music composed for movie trailers. Both styles are intense, driving, and have lush chords and full instrumentation.

This time, though, with this novel, that ain’t working. “Intense” and “driving” aren’t adjectives that put me in the right mental place for a character-driven story. I simply can’t hear the characters’ thoughts over the music. I’ve tried quieter genres—baroque, ancient, instrumental folk—but they don’t fit the style of the book.

But lucky me. By happy accident, I came across something that does work: soundscapes from myNoise.net.

myNoise.net is run by Stéphane Pigeon, Ph.D., a Belgian-born sound- and SIGINT-researcher/engineer. Pigeon has not only collected thousands (and I mean thousands) of individual sounds; he has also created web- and mobile-ready applications with which to play them. The apps present you with a bewildering array of collected soundscapes in a broad spectrum of styles. Atmospheric, natural, industrial, musical, technological, etc., etc. Fire one of these up, and you’re presented with ten sound sliders that you can use to customize the playback.

For example, right now I’m listening to a “Medieval Village” soundscape. It has sliders for a watermill, birdsong, two types of bells, farm animals, a blacksmith, a crowded market, a trotting horse, passing carriages, and a musical fanfare. I can set these to my desires, including dropping some out entirely. But that’s not the best part.

The apps also have an “animate” function, where the app adjusts the sliders randomly. Sounds you’ve dropped down to zero stay there, but all others will move up and down according to the amplitude and frequency you select. This allows the soundscape to remain dynamic, alive, and avoids becoming just a static background noise. Through the use of cookies, the web-app allows you to save your preferred settings for each soundscape.

It’s bloody brilliant, in my opinion, and with such an amazing array of sounds, there must be something that works for you. Access to a large number of these soundscapes is free on the web-app (fewer in the mobile apps, but still some). A small donation ($5) will open up all of them for you on the website ($10 on the mobile app).

You can also find predefined soundscapes on Spotify and iTunes. These tracks are only about nine minutes in length, however. You could loop them, but they won’t have the dynamic nature of the animate function.

With myNoise and a pair of earbuds, my concentration during writing time has increased, which only helps me get words on paper. I can plunk myself into a monastery or a boreal forest or the cockpit of a B-17 or the shingled shore of the Irish coast. From there I can send the real world away and delve into my world of words yet unwritten.

Check it out. Thank me later.

Onward.

k