Thread: Requesting reccomendations for music that fosters scientific writing

Hello,
Can anyone tell me if there is a particular type of music that enhances writing productivity, more specifically scientific writing? Whenever I try to write, my ADD and OCD overwhelm my head with all the things that I am trying to say, resulting in an unorganized mess. I would love to find some type of music that would silence all the little voices and enable me to achieve a state of flow where I can produce structured scientific writing. I have found a few albums that are somewhat helpful, but am yet to find a magic bullet. I would greatly appreciate reccomendations from those more seasoned than I, so that I could sidestep the trial and error process of finding the right type of music. I have heard that this area has been subject to scientific research, but have had no success at finding any such article. If anyone has any music, ambient sound or citations to offer, they would be greatly appreciated, but please - no Justin Bieber. Thanks in advance.

Discombobulate and Chevaliers de Sangreal by Hans Zimmer, among other Hans Zimmer pieces.

I usually refer to these two, apart from others, when I want to think of some steampunk-cyberpunk/sci-fi writing.

Without personal experience of ADD and OCD it is difficult to guess what would help, my immediate reaction is that listing topics then putting them in order so that you can concentrate on particular areas one at a time might be a good approach, as for music I would go for something structured in the classical line, not fiddly baroque variations like Bach's Brandenburgs but something of a more flowing type, with an overall structure , like the Mozart horn concerto., or possibly Holst's planets.

To start, pop in Scherazade by Rimsky Korsikoff. This is a very relaxing piece of music. Immediately follow it up with Ravel's Bolero. If you get tired of these two, there is always Bach and Tschaikovsky.

Lights Off by Mike Fantastic - it's quite dynamic. Dubstep/indie

Hello all,

I just wanted to thank everybody for the awesome suggestions. I have downloaded several and they actually seem to be helping. Another useful suggestion came from a friend who loaned me "Powerhouse" by Raymond Scott. I would reccomend this albumn to others with the same problem, as it contains the faster-paced music played during quick-paced Buggs Bunny scenes, such as when he encounters a fast-paced manufacturing facility or when a series of mechanical hands assemble some complex contraption- good stuff. Thanks again for all of your suggestions.

A short ride in a fast machine by John Adams goes at a considerable pace.

I find Rainymood.com good to have in the background while writing. It's not music, though (but I swear at one point in the audio loop there's a violin or some other stringed instrument, very faint).

You can also try out an album by a guy I know, Andrew Bryson, called Station B-12. It's all sci-fi inspired electric guitar based stuff, and it's really good, and it always puts me in a "spacey" mood . Andrew is one of the best players I know:

Station B-12 by Andrew J Bryson MP3 Rock Music @ RhythmMusicStore.com

To quote Olly, 'Without personal experience of ADD and OCD it is difficult to guess what would help.' But with your suggesion of "Powerhouse" which to me is very jazzy. Why not try america's greatest composer, Frank Zappa?
Hot Rats, the whole album, you'll have to skip the first two minutes of Willy the Pimp, the only song with lyrics, but the rest of the album is just pure jazz, astonishing! Wonder why the American's don't ever promote him!
Or his inspiration Edgar Varese
If you need something a little more chilled try Tangerine Dream, either Rubycon or Phaedra.
Or just sci-fi, anything by Kraftwerk.
Hope these help!

Grieg's Peer Gynt has always been a great inspirational work for me.

Gonna go a little off topic here and suggest taking multivitamins and fish oil for a more natural solution to ADD than anything else you could try if you want to give it a shot. I started taking fish oil two months ago and it really helps.

Also, there is some research that suggests that thirty minutes of cardiovascular exercise can do for you what a pill of Aderall will do!

As for music, I back the dude who talked about Hans Zimmer.