I posted on my other blog about this website before, but I've been glued long enough to using it for my writing that it clearly deserves another post. Ambient Mixer is a website where you can listen to atmospheres tracks people have generated from their accounts. You can also upload your own audio files to attach to an atmosphere should you create a username and password (which is free by the way).
Although it's started out this way, this post is not just to praise the website's existence and easy to use interface. It's also to focus on how this lovely little website has also helped in terms of getting me in the mood for working on my writing.
Since I created my own login on this website, I've generated countless atmospheres ranging from ones I use specifically for the sake of productivity, to soundtracks of actual scenes in my books.
There are literally thousands of atmospheres to listen to on this website, some of my personal favorites to listen to when I'm bored of my own are listed here:
Writing on a Regency Farm, Sherlock's Apartment, and The Bookshop. There are dozens more I'll listen to while writing, but here are a few to tempt you to get as hooked as I am.
I absolutely adore generating soundtracks for my characters creeping their way through a monster-infested forest, or have the sounds of the dusty old West come to life from the other end of my headphones. What's more, listening to the sounds of birds in the air or eagles screeching over head inspires the description of my scenes. It's honestly why I've stuck with this tool as long as I have.
Being able to live in the actual moment through sound really enhances the experience of fathoming the atmosphere of your world. As far as I've seen in critique groups, my descriptions has seemingly improved with the added bonus of listening to the environments I create. I love this writing tool and fully intend to keep to the new practice of listening to my character's journey, one landscape at a time.