brettworks

Since I’m doing a lot of writing lately, I thought I’d share some of my favorite types of writing musics. Writing doesn’t, of course, need a soundtrack, but I find that the right music occupies whatever part of my brain I don’t need while thinking in words. With this in mind, here are some of my go-tos:

• J.S. Bach. What makes Bach good writing music is its relentless sense of curious, forward-moving, contrapuntal, and logical energy that mirrors the best kind of writing. But two warnings: first, it has to be instrumental music, because vocal music distracts; and second, long stretches with Bach can start feeling frantic, so be mindful of your dose. I’ve been enjoying Bach’s Concertos for 2 Harpsichords, Strings & Continuo:

• Rhythm & Sound. This is a side project of Basic Channel, the mysterious production duo of Moritz von Oswald and Mark Ernestus. Rhythm & Sound is a slowed-down, dub-inflected, almost-techno adjacent thing that has aged well. In contrast to Bach, R&S is steady-state music that changes almost imperceptibly. Like good writing, it brings you inward, cyclically, through its rhythms. Take the 2001 track “Slow Partial”:

• Ocean Sounds. Nature sounds, especially ocean sounds, are a great musical reset that remind you of all of the things music isn’t doing to sound alive at many levels at once. The website mynoise.net is a great source of nature sounds. You can even tweak the components of your chosen soundscape.