Music to Paint Miniatures By

A whimsical post of sorts today, having caught up on all my Deepstrike Radio podcasts (good show but listener discretion is advised) and admittedly having had my fill of Chase, sorry mate but 'Really!?' when it comes to 40k background you're 'Like a Boss' but 'I swear to God', more than one of your rants in a sitting and 'I am disappoint.' ;o)

I fired up iTunes* to listen to some tracks whilst I got a few hours paint time in the Forge and I got to thinking how important music is to my creative drive.

Quite often I'll use the time at the painting table to catch up on pod casts or listen to audio books (which I hold a love/hate relationship to be expanded upon at some point in my Books in Brief series) but my best painting and modeling is without doubt achieved when immersed in the right mood setting music.

Now before you start picturing Kenny G and candles, don't be so daft...candles are a terrible light source for NMM!

I tend towards soundtracks from films and TV shows; usually the original scores as a catchy song risks an out burst of singing into the paintbrush, not good for man or miniature.

Current favourites are the scores from Game of Thrones and Spartacus Blood and Sand, along with old stalwarts like Gladiator and Blackhawk Down; Lord of the Rings has fallen somewhat out of favour having been on loop everytime I've been to Warhammer World and is now suffering from a bad case of 'Every thing I do' syndrome.

There are also some great Game soundtracks, my standout all time favourite being the Halo series; which never fails to gear me up for painting Space Marines.

I just find that having this kind of music playing in the background not only helps concentration and motivation, but also brings real moments of inspiration. How about the rest of you? Do you listen to music whilst indulging in your painting and modeling projects? If so what are the tunes that fill your 'Hobby Cribs'? Or if not, what do you do instead?

*(other equally powerful, soul hungry, Global Empires media players are available and demand your fealty)