#instrumental music recs

[she-who-fights-and-writes]

MASTER LIST OF INSTRUMENTAL PLAYLISTS FOR WRITING (OR FOR STUDYING, MAKING ART, ETC.)

I find that the perfect writing playlist can GREATLY enhance the writing experience. Even if it doesn't make your writing "better" (which it can, since it helps writers with visualization, tone, and mood), it can definitely make your writing flow easier!

Personally, words distract me when I'm writing, either by breaking my train of thought or by getting me too into the music so that I'm jamming out to my favorite tunes instead of writing.

Therefore, I've amassed a vast knowledge of instrumental music across a variety of media over a course of many years. Now here I am, deciding to share all of them with you!

Maddy’s Favorite Instrumental Songs

Just like the title says. All of the best pieces of instrumental music I've ever heard, compiled together with no regard for genre. It can be a bit of a whiplash playlist, but some amazing recs in there that I just like listening to in my free time, not just for writing.

Maddy’s Ultimate Instrumental Playlist

A mega compilation of 550+ fantastic instrumental music from a variety of media and genres. Kind of a whiplash playlist if you put it on shuffle, but is a great start for anyone looking to find what kind of instrumental music they like! Playlist Groupings in Order: Independent instrumental songs, live action movies, animated movies, animated tv shows, live action tv shows, video games.

Maddy's Instrumental for Sleep

Some more chill vibe instrumental for people who either A) want to sleep or B) want a relaxed playlist that won't distract you with loud volume and sudden changes in tempo or melody.

MISC PLAYLISTS:

you're a haggard adventurer discovering worlds beyond your wildest dreams

Music to inspire wonder and wanderlust, the kind of feeling you get when you finally reach the end of a mountain hike and see the world stretching out before you.

you're a hero who's just lost everything

Basically the most sad instrumental music I could find. A playlist for grief and revenge.

more beneath the cut :)

you're a cowboy in the great American West

Cowboy instrumental for all of your ambient and writing needs. Or if you just really want to feel like a cowboy.

you're a divine witness

Epic choir music (no English). Most religious, some not, but all kind of have that eerie sacred vibe. I listen to this while writing my book about angels and demons.

you’re a scholar uncovering the secrets of the universe

Great chill study playlist! Has the kind of same exploratory/discovery type feel as the haggard adventurer playlist, but more dark academia.

you’re a villain plotting to take over the world

Villain-coded instrumental! Sinister, dark, and/or unsettling.

you're an academic weapon

HIGH BPM STUDY PLAYLIST! Keeps me focused, hyped, and helps me work faster!

you're an ancient god

Playlist that gives an ancient/eerie vibe. But some ancient gods are merciful- so there are some upbeat songs for wonder and awe!

you're falling in love

Music that encapsulates what I think falling in love feels like. Very beautiful, tender, and uplifting instrumental.

you're fighting the final battle

Intense and epic battle music for all of your fight-scene-writing needs! Good for getting shit done, but isn't necessarily restricted to high BPM like the academic weapon playlist.

you're having a tea party

Refined instrumental for a tea party, including classical, big band, and some miscellaneous goodies.

you're in a chase scene

Music for writing chase scenes. Pretty good hype music, too. Includes soundtracks from classic chase scenes in popular media!

you're in the medieval times

Medieval-sounding music for all of your ambient and/or writing needs.

you’re in your childhood room. the door is open a crack. people talk softly downstairs.

A playlist dedicated to nostalgia, to the feeling of lying in bed with your nightlight on after being too tired to stay awake at your family get-together. Could either make your day or break your heart lmao

you're the happiest you've ever been

Lighthearted instrumental meant to lift your spirits! A playlist dedicated to the joys of the little things.

#writing #writers #writeblr #booklr #creative writing #studying #writing playlist #roleplay #writing tips #writing advice #writing help #writing inspo #writing inspiration #inspo #music #music rec #instrumental music

[garaks-padded-bra]

Guys pls pls pls rec me your catchiest instrumental music - can be of any genre. Id prefer if it wasnt beautiful and slow though i have a lot of those god bless !!!!! (I AM VERY OPEN MINDED PENIS MUSIC WELCOME) (GET WEIRD IF U WANT)

#music recs #i want to broaden my horizons #i love instrumentals!!!!!!!!!!! #music #SOCIETY IF DS9 HAD GOOD SOUNDTRACK

[naomistares]

Do you have any music recommendations :)? After you mentioned Girls Rituals in one post I became curious about your music taste (affectionate)

HII... thank u so much for asking me this, music is my 2nd passion... !!!

my top artist for 2 years straight has been a band called lemuria, i just really enjoy them! some songs i'd recommend from them: 1- It's not a lie, it's a secret 2- the origamists ii 3- bugbear 4-pleaser

i love all their songs.... so if it were up to me i'd add ten more

i'm also really into slow pulp! really love the song "trade it" by them

also really obsessed with rosie tucker, i've been playing their new single "all my exes live in vortexes" on repeat the past few days, also really love "fault lines" and "ford pinto: for sale" by them too !

also loveee the band pinback! i'd recommend: 1-byzantine 2- crutch 3-tripoli

i could keep going ... but i'll stop! thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk.

#i love music #i love to make music #albeit crappy ones #i love to play instruments too #i am a dog that knows many tricks for no reason #i lovr art #love #extra artist recs #forth wanderers #great granpa #um #gonna have to check my liked songs to remember

[felixcosm]

If you're looking for new music to write or imagine scenerios to: STOP. This is for you.

A time traveler's lament Favorite part: I have been to the future, and I don't wanna scare you. But not only were you not there, they never even knew you.

Just. Don't. Die. (Or kill, don't be killed)

Friends to Enemies Confrontation Favorite part: Incipient, I stung myself. An insect unaware it’s being crushed but hoping it could save itself.

You don't want to die after all.

Both a revenge and a victory song Favorite part: And I am missing you, are so much worse. A cenotaph, a bar fight in a church, a relief to remedy. But hey, it's never as bad as it seems, the ocean will abate eventually, they cast their nets out graciously. (Come here.)

Running away to your best friend's house. They didn't know they were dead and you saved them. But you know and you'll never forget. Favorite part: If you're gonna plead, then plead with me. I'm the one who knows the story.

Lost in the wilderness (not taking care of yourself and you're not taking messages) Favorite Part: I have built a machine that built a machine and pulls the callouses straight from your hands. And if they were there from digging for some bitter truth, well ain't that too bad?

You love someone but you are terrified of hurting them. You hold them close and they start to bleed. Favorite part: I'll donate my warmth and my hands will keep you safe, the cold will wither while we wait, but surely some must die.

A moody, heavy song (which you can sulk to when you are trapped in a torture compound) Favorite part: Falling up the stairs. Heaven's heavy-handed. Today, it's theirs.

You're a rugged cowboy who escaped certain death and had to leave your former life behind, but at least the stage and the crowd love you. (Alternate versions are in the album) Favorite part: We could clean it up, starry-eye my desperation. It looks better as romance.

If you like the music or you like the scenerios listed for the songs, all of these things happen in WOE.BEGONE and you should check out the podcast!

#music recs #writing playlist #character songs #writing songs #scenerios #cool music #soundtrack #instrumental #friends to enemies #woe.begone #podcast music #bandcamp #bandcamp friday #Bandcamp #oc playlist

[tangledinink]

Okay okay look I was watching youtube and Shatter Me by Lindsey Stirling (ft. Lzzy Hale) came on and I just....... It's so Swannatello AU

OOOOHHHHHH IT'S GOOD... IT WORKS...

#REALLY GOOD #the fucking #edm/dubstep elements for dee #the ballerina and mechanical imagry and lyrics #OOHHH ITS GOOD #saw a whole ass AMV in my head #im finally taking the time to look through all these song recs i have in my box lmao #THIS IS GREAT #slowly but surely building a swanatello playlist #ugh i have SUCH a clear image of what an animatic for this would look like #same with the Malinda Music Box song #but this one would be SOOO much work coz the? bpm is so high lmao #and i am not particularly versed in animation or animatics #BUT I SURE DO SEE IT #with all the like? the bits where theyre really GOING HARD on the violin? #no words just instrumentals #just imagine flashing scenes of swanatello being a total badass doing his whole ninja/ballet/waterbending shit #and we're hitting each beat #goddammit i wish i was an animation studio #not “i wish i could animate” #i wish i WAS A STUDIO lmao coz itd be a huge project for a person #anyway #asks #anon #swanatello asks

[planttunes]

#fugazi #i'm so tired #im so tired #instrument soundtrack #music #music recommendations #music discovery #music blog #audio #audio blog #music rec #music recs #music recommendation #good music #song #songs

[sun-marie]

this whole discussion around rap is a reminder for me how silly the concept of loving/hating and ENTIRE GENRE of music is to me.

Like. Do y'all have any idea how much music there is in the world. I can Guarantee you every genre has AT LEAST ONE song that clicks with you, you just gotta find it

#funnily enough it was actually country music that made me have this realization #i used to say i hated country but that was just bc i hadn't found the good side of country yet #and it's outstanding cousin bluegrass my beloved #anyway if anyone wants some recs for (specifically nonwhite) rap artists i personally enjoy that you might wanna check out #obvs kendrick lamar is having a moment rn but his song “Alright” is legit one of my favorite songs ever #meghan thee stallion's “Circles” is also great and I particulalry like its hook #if you can stomach her Problematic actions outside her music Doja Cat has really fun songs like “Boss Bitch” and “Say So” #(the latter of which also has a lot of really pretty singing) #Rico Nasty's “OHFR?” is really great when you're in a mood #Lil Nas X has “Industry Baby” which has these sick horns in the instrumental #and there are plenty of others that i can't think of rn

[booklovingturtle]

Any desi instrumental recommendations? 

#I want to make a playlist #desi tumblr #desi aesthetic #desi music #desi culture #instrumentals #classical music #classical #desi #desi academia #instrumental music #desi core #desi composer #desi community #music composer #music recs #playlist request #music #sorry if I’m incorrectly tagging anyone I did some research and these are the culture I saw referred to as desi most often #please lmk if I need to correct the tags to accurately reflect desi culture #south asian #South Asia #india #indian #Pakistan #pakistani #bangladesh #Bangladeshis #bengali

[stuffydollband]

Happy 4 year anniversary to my album “Beat The Virus! 2: Infectious Flugaloo”

I always feel some kinda way about my old work but I really loved some of the compositions on this one, and it was the first that was actually mostly written and recorded in quarantine (BTV1 was mostly stuff I’d been sitting on prior to that and didn’t know what to do with). Also this incredible album art is still one of my favorites and it was by @ghostcashewart

#lgbtq musicians #music recs #indie music #stuffy doll #instrumental music #lo fi music #lo fi beats #lo fi #lo fi hip hop #composer #quarantinecore #glitch hop #anniversary #queer musician #queer music

[faithfromanewperspective]

okay but wtf is bandcamp there is like nothing on it except like 1/5 of anyones discography and 100000 unhinged covers of the randomest songs

#anti spotify #music recs #song recs #OKAY BUT INSTRUMENTAL BABYLON SLAPS #made by Fruity Loops Studio #like ??? what is this site?? #is this like ao3 for songs? #I’m gonna call it that now

[aneptuniana]

THE PASSENGER [spotify] - 1h 42min

"I knew I was alone in a way that no earthling has ever been before" - michael collins

"apollo 8 excerpt 4" - nasa // "synthesist" - harald grasskopf // "marzipan" - cluster // "silver cloud" - la düsseldorf // "ballgeflüster" - thomas dinger // "wanderer" - günter schickert // "back to where we come from" - dzyan // "to another universe" - brainticket // "fata morgana" - conrad schnitzler // "osmose ii" - annexus quam // "planet earth" - xhol caravan // "südwind" - thirsty moon // "atlantis" - deuter // "träume" - emtidi // "in the silence of the morning sunrise" - agitation free // "77 slightly delayed" - ashra // "foreign affairs" - brian eno, moebius, roedelius // "sumpfige wasser" - cosmic couriers // "bicentennial presentation" - peter baumann // "you're aware of a deeper existence..." - david bowie

[gapless playback on - crossfade 10s]

#music #playlist #mixtape #spotify #music recommendation #music recs #my playlist #now playing #1970s #1980s #1970s music #1980s music #krautrock #electronic #experimental #synthesizer #industrial music #darkwave #instrumental #ambient #technomusic #synthwave #moog #underground #synthesizers #david bowie #brian eno #space age #nasa #mine: playlist

[cryptidfagswag]

can i have some bassoon in heavy metal examples please? that sounds amazing and i’ll like to hear it but i’m admittedly too lazy to look for it myself

YES

I’m sorry it took me so long to get to this lmao, I saw it and then promptly forgot about it

(Really hope these links work and take you to the right song- so sorry if they don’t, let me know and I’ll fix it)

ANYTHING by ORBI, my personal favorites are Orion (a Metallica cover), Cthulhu (a F. M. Maier cover, listen to his stuff, it’s SO GOOD), Fight Fire With Fire (also Metallica), Octavarium (a Dream Theater cover- listen to them, they’re prog rock, SO good), and Uprising (Muse, not technically metal but. It’s good)

Rock E Bassoon has some amazing covers, they have amazing covers of Black Dog/Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin, and Enter Sandman by Metallica. Black Dog isn’t quite metal but it’s rock, so. They also have a bunch of more poppy covers, Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars, Toxic by Britney Spears, that sorta stuff.

Henry Cow, again not metal, an avant-prog band from the 70’s. All of their stuff is pretty fun, but their albums from 74-78 have their bassoonist (Lindsay Cooper). My favorite album is probably Unrest (1974), favorite songs from Unrest are Half Asleep: Half Awake and Linguaphonie. In Praise of Learning (1975) is also really good, Beginning: the Long March is my favorite song from there, but Living in the Heart of the Beast is arguably one of their best songs, in terms of experimentation and solidifying Rock in Opposition (RIO) (a festival that later became the name for this genre of music)

Bram van Sambeek, he’s a bassoonist that does a lot of this kind of stuff, he has the usual classical repertoire that most bassoonists do, but he was the bassoonist in ORBI, and he played in Rope Dance, which I’ll go into a LOT of detail about, but he’s a fantastic performer and I feel like he deserves some recognition here

Rope Dance! I fucking love Rope Dance. It’s not metal, but I feel like it wouldn’t be out of place on a metal album. It’s technically avant-jazz, and I guess you could say that but it’s definitely more along the lines of Henry Cow, or RIO. There are a lot of instruments on this album, Joris Roelofs plays clarinet (he also wrote most of the music, if you’re at all interested in clarinet music, he’s probably my top suggestion), Bram van Sambeek is on bassoon (I really like this guy), Bram de Looze on piano (ridiculously talented, though I can’t say I know much about him), Martijn Vink on percussion (an incredible musician. If you like just listening to drums, please please find some of his stuff, it’s incredible), and Clemens van der Feen on double bass, again not someone I know much about but is incredibly talented.

Ok it’s music time lmao! My favorites from Rope Dance are definitely The Master Can’t Dance, Are Your Feet Light Enough, The Three Metamorphoses, If You Gaze Long Into an Abyss, and The Abyss Will Gaze Back Into You

I could talk about Rope dance for so long, the music and the ideas and everything about it, it’s genuinely unlike anything I’ve ever heard of

That’s all I can think of right now, I’ll add more if I think of/find more!

And this is absolutely not metal but please have this bassoon cover of Party Rock Anthem, the little reed crows make my day every time

#bassoon #bassoon music #band #band kid #music recs #cool music #metal music #there’s a bit #classical music #but cooler #double reeds #instrumental #instrumental music

[quevadilla]

listening to the rabbids go home soundtrack and just vibing

#i dont understand how people wouldnt like this #its so fun and bouncy #the mastery displayed of their instruments is 🤌🤌🤌🤌 #queva music recs #technically #if you didnt play this game obsessively as a kid like i did go give the soundtrack a listen

[donocapo]

#new music #Spotify #music recs #cover song #hip hop #instrumental #music producer #spotify #independent music #trip hop #new album #rap beats #dark ambient #world music #rap #r&b music #drill music

[not-poignant]

“against the kitchen floor” by will wood is giving me huge “a stain that wont dissolve” alex feelings

Hi anon!

It's not really my kind of music, but the lyrics are really good if anyone else wants to check it out!

#personal #apologies anon one of the reasons i don't really take music recs etc. #is because i'm really particular about the music i listen to #and my neurodivergence makes me pretty unfriendly with auditory recs sdafklajs #but also as soon as i heard that slide instrument start i was like oh no sdlkfjsdasa #but yeah the lyrics are great

[opens-up-4-nobody]

...

#ugh. i have such specific desires its impossible #like how am i supposed to find movies that r kinda pretentious and fucked up and sad with like layer upon layer of symbolism? like what is #that. just like best pretentious films??? #or like i want music thats like. ugh how do i describe. like mostly instrumental but with people talking #so it sounds like youre listening to old home videos. its sad and nostalgic #or i dont even kno how to describe it #just listen to zammuto. my dog's eyes or it can feel so good #songs that make me wanna weep bc theyre like so. so like grounding? like there r good things in the world. value the simple things #these r the children who havent yet lost their sense of wonder. makes me so sad and happy #ugh. i should just rewatch sunshine #i just want media thats so gut wrenchingly tragic and so full to the brim of beauty #is that so much to ask? is it #idk. i feel ill. probably lack of sleep #if u have movie recs id love to hear them #unrelated