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Very, very rarely do I work in complete silence. Usually I'm listening to Pandora or any one of my many playlists I've compiled on YouTube. Occasionally if I can't find the right music to fit the mood of the project I'm working on I'll pop on a documentary or a TED Talk to keep my mind stimulated.

Every once in a while I run into an artist or an art professor who either prefers themselves to work in silence, or who even believes that working in silence is somehow more beneficial to the creative process. While I can agree that having too many distractions while working can be detrimental (I never actually paint or finish a project while watching a movie I don't have memorized) I also feel that "setting the mood" can greatly bolster one's creativity. I've watched art students move from tight, uncomfortable, and over-controlling in their art to loose, free, and open to change with the mere addition of a soundtrack to work by.

So what are some of my favorite "soundtracks" to listen to while I work on Thay Taruu?

Pierre Esteve, Atlantis: The Lost Tales OST
Stephane Picq, Dune: The Spice Opera OST, and Lost Eden OST

Those are the three albums I listen to the most. They're all ancient and hard to find, especially since they're soundtracks to videogames that time has all but forgotten. However, the music in those three albums - coming from a time when videogames had to rely on more than just shiny graphics to move a plot - helps steer my mood and emotions while I'm working on Thay Taruu.

I also listen to the musicians/artists Emancipator, Beats Antique, Thievery Corporation, Shanghai Restoration Project, and a few others. If you're ever looking for the music that gets *me* pumped to do art, I highly recommend looking into all of the artists I have listed! Emancipator, especially, does very well setting a tone without becoming too distracting.