Music To Write By

I've found that I write best with music playing, not the television rumbling, or the chit-chat of radio. Just music. And while Rock or Country can work, depending on what I'm writing, for Historical Fiction, which is what "Harry's War" is and what "Benning's War" was, Classical music is best. It sets the mood, I suppose. But it also lets my mind open to the imagination.

The Classical Archives does precisely that. Free members - yes, that's what I am - can download up to 5 MIDI files each day. The site resets at midnight, and you can download again, if you like. For $25/year you can:

*Access up to 1,000 media files per month, but limited to 100/day
(5 files/day for non-subscribers)
*Access HiFi MP3 files, Zipped MIDI-Collections, and One-Click Concerts*
*Remembered Login-state
*Send 25 (vs 5) music files/day with our SEND IT feature
*20% discount on early renewal of your subscription ($20 instead of $25)
*20% discount on Gift Memberships ($20 instead of $25 for non-subscribers)
*Increase the queuing capability of our multi-format player to infinity*
*All members of your family can use the subscription and its privileges

All in all, not bad. Plus, Classical Archives has its own Internet Radio, which allows you to click and listen. I use the Windows Media Player, but there are other players that the radio will accommodate. I also grabbed the "skin" for the media player. Why not? The original skin is dull.

I found this site when I began building my first web-page, "Benning's Bistro". I wanted some nice music to go with the graphics and text. I began with Beatles MIDI files found all over the web. But eventually I was creating pages with java applets and beautiful art images from Parrish, Waterhouse, and others. So the Beatles would not quite do. But the files I found at Classical Archives worked quite well.

If you are looking for some music to play, while you work on your computer, and are bored or disgusted with radio, tired of fumbling through your CD collection, why not take a look? Try the radio. It's a good place to start!