Writing Music: Baba Yetu

18:15

Video game music is almost as good as movie soundtracks at evoking a sense of scene for me. They’re always filled with emotion and pictures, which makes them very easy to match to scenes while writing. Today’s piece of music is one of my favourite writing songs. While it does contain lyrics, they are surprisingly non-distracting. This week’s writing music is an amazing arrangement of the song Baba Yetu, the theme of the game Civilization IV, performed by one of my favourite musicians, acappella singer Peter Hollens.

To me, this song is all about beginnings and discovery. The start of the piece especially feels like we’re sweeping into a scene from afar, zooming in. It would suit a scene where a character is discovering an exciting new place for the first time or a scene where the character is having a new experience. It could also fit a scene where the characters are setting out on a quest, all positive and full of excitement about the road ahead.



What sort of scene do you think this piece suits? What writing music are you listening to this week?

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Imogen is a fantasy loving wordaholic with a passion for reading, writing, and consuming large amounts of tea. When she's not blogging, she can be found somewhere in Australia beside a massive pile of books.

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10 comments

  1. Ashana Lian31 January 2015 at 01:56

    I've never heard of Civilization IV but I loved this arrangement. I love hearing the voices blend together even if it's not particularly my style of music. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Unknown31 January 2015 at 17:52

      I don't know the game either actually, but I do love this theme. I think I know more music from games than I actually do games to tell the truth. Acappella music definitely isn't to everyone's taste, but I'm glad you enjoyed the arrangement anyway.

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  2. Heather31 January 2015 at 16:58

    Ooh, this is a pretty style; the rhythm is awesome! Thanks for sharing! :D

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    1. Unknown31 January 2015 at 17:54

      Thanks for stopping to listen Heather. I'm always pleased to be able to share some of my favourite music with my blogging friends.

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  3. Unknown1 February 2015 at 13:34

    Busy at the moment. Can you remind me to subscribe tomorrow?

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    1. Unknown3 February 2015 at 08:50

      Thanks for your interest in my blog Kate.

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  4. dfdhdh2 February 2015 at 05:51

    This is really cool! I like your ideas of what the piece fits. I do that a lot with music, imagining music videos/movie scenes. My current obsession is 'Prince Charlie's March,' a Celtic piece. It sounds like steampunk western a bit.

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    1. Unknown3 February 2015 at 08:53

      Music is also really good at setting the tone for a scene, isn't it? I've actually been using music a lot while writing poems to help me get the right feel for each one. Ooh, that sounds like a cool piece. I'll definitely have to look that one up. Thanks Micah!

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  5. Rachel M2 February 2015 at 12:19

    OMG I KNOWW THIS SONG!!! Our church did it once for our annual Christmas Festival. It was actually suggested by a pair of brothers from the church who were playing civilization and heard this (its actually the Lord's Prayer in Swahili). Since my dad's in the choir, I learned it along with him. XD I only remember a bit of it, tho (up to 0:37). It was SO AWESOME to see this, it seemed like such an obscure thing, I thought no one else would know about it!!! XD <3 love.

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    1. Unknown3 February 2015 at 08:57

      You learned it? That's so cool! I'd never heard of it before, but Peter Hollens is one of my favourite musicians, so I listened to it because of him and now it's one of my very favourite pieces. It's really fun to think that it's the Lord's Prayer, and it came from a computer game. Not what I was expecting, but very cool.

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