In Steve's article Cultivating Burning Desire (http://www.dexterity.com/articles/cultivating-burning-desire.htm), he suggested using music as a way to motivate yourself, even as a way to get yourself feeling empowered after you wake up. Are any other indie's using this technique? Which songs do you find motivating and/or inspiring?

I went through my CD collection to find songs that I found inspiring, I was amazed at how few songs seemed suitable... but these were the songs I found (links are to the songs on iTunes).

Nitro (Youth Energy) - Offspring (http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playlistId=2821026&selectedItemId=2820871)
Beautiful Day - U2 (http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playlistId=122726&selectedItemId=122701)
Morning Glory - Oasis
Dressed For Success - Roxette (http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playlistId=2421182&selectedItemId=2421170)
The First Step - John Farnham
Roll With It - Oasis
Free - VAST (http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playlistId=149597&selectedItemId=149553)
I Can Do Anything - John Farnham
Problems - Sex Pistols
Refuse / Resist - Sepultura
Satisfied - Richard Marx
Freedom - Robert Miles
Smash - Offspring (http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playlistId=2821026&selectedItemId=2821006)
You're The Voice - John Farnham
The Hunt - Sepultura
Pride (In The Name Of Love) - U2 (http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playlistId=342597&selectedItemId=342577)
Walk On - U2 (http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playlistId=122726&selectedItemId=122710)

The John Farnham songs are particularly good, especially The First Step. Also - these tracks aren't exactly bright and happy, but I find them empowering and inspiring, and they really do get me out of bed in the mornings. I really didn't like Marilyn Manson until I heard these songs (mOBSCENE is the one that wakes me up best):

mOBSCENE (http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playlistId=1304455&selectedItemId=1304429)
The Bright Young Things (http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playlistId=1304455&selectedItemId=1304447)
Better Of Two Evils (http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playlistId=1304455&selectedItemId=1304449)
Use Your Fist And Not Your Mouth (http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playlistId=1304455&selectedItemId=1304433)

Does anybody have any other favorite songs that drive and inspire them? I remember someone mentioned Of Wolf And Man by Metallica on these forums a while ago...

Everyone has different tastes in music no doubt, but here are some of my favorites:

Superman Theme by John Williams
Life by Haddaway
Get Ready For This by 2 Unlimited
Halo & Nothing to Fear by Depeche Mode
Wild Boys & View to a Kill by Duran Duran
The Animal Song by Savage Garden
Chariots of Fire Theme by ?
Blue Monday by New Order
What a Feeling by Irene Cara
Land Down Under by Men at Work
The Lion Sleeps Tonight by Robert Jordan
All Star by Smash Mouth
Eye of the Tiger by Survivor

Also, if you like trance & techno, which I usually listen to while I work, you can play some nice streams from http://www.digitallyimported.com/

Digitally Imported is awesome. I would not make it through my days at my day job without that site.

At netscape.com radio, they have a square-enix broadcast of music from the final fantasy games. It's great music for anyone who has played most of the ff games. I personally like it during work.

I listen to Joe Satriani a lot when working. Music with words, inspiring or not, just kills my concentration. A lot of classical is pretty good too.

Interesting idea. I'm going to put together some play lists of positive songs and see if that has any effect.



- Dexterity -
Chariots of Fire Theme by ?

Vangelis

I don't listen to music with vocals during work unless I'm just doing something physical, since it's too distracting. Also, I don't listen to fast-paced music when I'm doing highly mental work like designing a new game; in those cases I either listen to slow classical, new age like Kitaro, or no music at all. The stuff with vocals is good for helping to induce a state change, but after listening to a song or two, I switch to non-vocal music.

Some random tunes from my working playlist, they get me in a good mood:

Amon Tobin - Get Your Snack On
Prefuse 73 - One Word Extinguisher
Buffalo Daughter- Discotheque Du Paradis
Elastica - Never Here
Elliott Smith - Coming Up Roses
The Shins - St. Simon
Mirah - Cold Cold Water
Rasputina - State Fair
Aesop Rock - Labor
Atmosphere - Summer Song
Skip James - Hard Time Killing Floor Blues
DJ Shadow - Midnight in a perfect world.
Sleater Kinney - Light Rail Coyote
Neil Hannon - Life On Mars (covering bowie)

Like steve I tend to change setting depending on what I'm doing. Writing or designing type tasks become hard if I play rap, so I don't for example.

Also, can I say that duran durans view to a kill rocks :)

Here's what I find inspiring:

Various Star Wars music (and other music like Indiana Jones theme) by John Williams, including Binary Sunset, Imperial March, The Throne room (end credits). Also The Terminator (first one) theme, Irene Cara's Fame song (from the movie Fame). :) Some of Queen's stuff is good for that too (such as We are the Champions). One of the coolest motivational things I've seen though, is the Matrix Mortal Combat remix video which you should be able to get on Kazaa. Nothing like seeing the good guys beating the crap out of the bad guys to some inspirational techno music. ;) Just something you can watch to get youreslf in a good mood.

As far as motivation goes though, I like to watch/listen to/read interviews with famous people (actors, businessmen, whatever). They're usually quite ordinary folks who fought their way to the top by being persistent and not giving up. Jim Carey is a good example of that, for instance.

I totally agree about listening to music with no words, its too distracting.

www.bassdrive.com has an awesome d&b stream.

old school electro-music always puts me into over drive, but I listen to trance music and time flips by.

edit - WOW this http://www.digitallyimported.com/ site is fantastic!

*Music* drives me. The specifics aren't so important. Vocals vs instrumentals. Modern vs classic. Acoustic vs electric. I listen to it all, and in no particular order. I have a playlist of [a lot] of songs and I just have WinAmp shuffle through them while I work. If something jarring queues up (and I notice), I'll just hit the "Next" button and keep going.

Besides providing inspiration, the music also provides *insulation*. I work at home, and it's easier to block out the world (and the noises made by the family in the other rooms) if the music is going. :)

That being said...

When I'm writing, I sometimes play entire albums instead of shuffling. The Indie Game Development Survival Guide (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1584502142/davidrmsoftwa-20) was written almost entirely to Rammstein (the lyrics being in a language I don't understand helped, I think).

When paying bills and updating the company and family finances, I've lately been listening to the London cast version of "Les Miserables". Something about the downtrodden rising up and casting off the yoke of tyranny appeals to me at those times... ;)

-David

I like to listen to film scores. For example: Gladiator, Braveheart, Titanic, The Last of the Mohicans (awesome!), Fight Club, and American Beauty.

Trance music is also great.

I alternate between the several types of metal and electronica, but I avoid anything with an overally negative theme. I'm very big on creating an overall theme to my environment and really getting into it. When I need to do some thinking or it's late in the day I'll listen to electronica. Paul Oakenfold, Sasha, John Digweed, all good chill stuff that creates nice pacing for thinking and working. For metal I listen to a lot of of German, such as Tanzwut, Letzte Instanz, Subway to Sally, and Megaherz. Used to listen to Rammstein but it's been a while since they've had new stuff. Iron Maiden, Iced Earth, KMFDM, Nevermore, Cold (only their 2nd album), Megadeth are all examples of other metal/stuff I listed to. Occassionally it's good to turn music off completely but that's rarely the case :D

I would list specific inspirational songs, but I think in terms of albums/bands and not individual tracks.

I like eurobeat for anything fast - besides being perfect for racing(like in the anime Initial D), it goes well for anything under the category of "labor."

Don't have much of a preference otherwise, though.

I've been listening to Goa/Psytrance for years; helps me stay up working late when I set foolish deadlines (just try getting tired when it's blaring in your headphones). As always, genre definitions are incredibly elastic, but Infected Mushroom, GMS, Etnica, Talamasca, Hallucinogen fall into the category, to give an idea of the style.

For a few Shoutcast streams, try: http://www.shoutcast.com/directory/?s=goa&numresult=25

I listen to classical music (in addition to non-classical music). For the purpose of relaxation + thought I recommend the music of J.S. Bach or other composers of the baroque era. Such music is relatively complex, and the focus tends not to be so much on catchy melodies, but rather the harmony. There are often many independent melodies at once, forming together to make what we now call chord harmonies.

If you don't mind midis, www.prs.net has lots of classical midis, though you can only download a certain number per day.

The classical music label Naxos has most of their collection online and ready to be heard at www.naxos.com . Their cds are cheap, too.

The music of Mozart and Haydn is also pretty good for this purpose, IMHO.

Originally posted by RTF
I like eurobeat for anything fast - besides being perfect for racing(like in the anime Initial D)

Initial D is AWESOME;) nothing gets me pumped up like the music they play during the races in that. Certian races in that show give me goosebumps!