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Which is why I love Corvus Corax. They use traditional instruments and everything they sing is in latin.
No good. That's my native language.
I've rarely found music to be distracting, just like the soundtrack to a movie isn't distracting. Mousfer has the right of it, though... lyrics are bad, pop music is bad, Star Wars is bad (unless its a Star Wars game) and too loud is bad, because all of those can and likely will distract. Otherwise, you're usually pretty good.
I tend to use a lot of music, and I don't try to tie music to combat, or anything like that; it all adds to the ambience well enough. I'm a big fan of movie scores and have used... oh, I'm sure I'm going to miss a lot of them, but off the top of my head. Keep in mind that many of these movies I can't recommend as movies per se, but the soundtracks are great.
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Lord of the Rings (all three)
Pirates of the Caribbean (all three)
Indiana Jones (all four)
Mummy (all three)
Van Helsing
Sleepy Hollow
Men in Black
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Last of the Mohicans
Last Samurai
Minority Report
Gladiator
Troy
10,000 BC
Aliens vs. Predator
Signs
Patriot Games
End of Days (still the spookiest track in my collection, actually)
Day After Tomorrow
Batman Begins
Edward Scissorhands
Braveheart
Lately I've also been using a lot of Midnight Syndicate and Nox Arcana. While they're not as good as actual movie soundtracks, there's still some good stuff there, and if anything it fades even more into the background than movie soundtracks do. Arguably, that's what it's best at; I actually struggle to just listen to it straight through without falling asleep, but it's good background stuff while gaming or reading.
Uh, I'm not sure how latin can be somebody's "native" language Although, if you're heavily into science, law, the Roman Classics, edicts and papal bulls issued by the Catholic Church, or your parents just decided that your first language should be latin for some unusual reason, I guess I can see it becoming an issue...
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Uh, I'm not sure how latin can be somebody's "native" language Although, if you're heavily into science, law, the Roman Classics, edicts and papal bulls issued by the Catholic Church, or your parents just decided that your first language should be latin for some unusual reason, I guess I can see it becoming an issue...
You missed the obvious one... I'm just really, really, really old.
You missed the obvious one... I'm just really, really, really old.
Ha! Yes, I did miss that one
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"There are those days, those moments in life, when for no particular reason the senses are heightened and the common place becomes sublime." - Christopher Moore, Coyote Blue
You may find the program RPG-Deck handy - it allows multiple tracks, so you can interrupt the background music with gunshots, explosions, etc. (A trick that I am fond of - nothing focuses the players like hearing gunshots or screams. Roll secretly for Listen checks if you feel like it, playing the sound if the PCs make the check. I run Spycraft on a frequent basis, either modern for Delta Green or 1800s for Steampunk.)
Another thing that sometimes helps focus the group is having a 'theme song' a tune that is playing, somewhat louder than the background music, while the players are arriving, getting their dice out, etc.... For the kids game I run when the theme song ends the game begins - those at the table describing the story so far. It seems to help. For my Steampunk game I start with a song that may have something t do with the theme of that night's game.)
Anonymous 4 does some very nice Latin pieces, and Holst is never a bad choice in the background. Gregorian chants are also good, and sometimes so are recordings of Greek Orthodox masses.
The Auld Grump - Abney Park works in the background of Steampunk fairly well.
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Last edited by TheAuldGrump; 20th October 2009 at 05:46 AM..
Is it weird that I keep wanting to play Judas Priest and Dragonforce music whilst playing 4th ed?
Nope, I had just read this thread and while classical, instrumental, and soundtracks all have a lot to be said for them, something with *metal* in it seems appropriate too.
During our last session, my Holy Avenger, using radiant skills such as Temple Of Light and Abjure Undead, and some timely crits rampaged through a skeleton pack in a small village. I had my laptop over in another corner, and cranked up Skillet's "Monster"....
Just seemed to fit...
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Nope, I had just read this thread and while classical, instrumental, and soundtracks all have a lot to be said for them, something with *metal* in it seems appropriate too.
I would never, ever, ever play anything metal at the gaming table.
I would never, ever, ever play anything metal at the gaming table.
I'm not a big metal fan myself, but I really like Apocalyptica. I use their songs as "battle" music in our games (I try to avoid their Metallica covers unless I think I can get away with it)
You may find the program RPG-Deck handy - it allows multiple tracks, so you can interrupt the background music with gunshots, explosions, etc.
Dang, when I saw this I thought "what a coincidence"! I just downloaded some nature music that I wanted to try and play it with my regular background music. The only thing was I assumed I was going to have to use Winamp to play my soundtrack playlist and MediaPlayer to play the nature sounds. Then I saw you mention RPG Deck and it sounded perfect.
But I'm disappointed about it. There really isn't any kind of control over it at all. I can't even figure out how to remove a song from the program once it's loaded and I no longer want to use it. It's odd that you can't select a specific song in a playlist after uploading a playlist (but it shows the list of songs in the playlist). The volume control is wacky too. Oh well, it was a good start though. I would hope for an update but it looks like the last version was made in 2007.
Any particular reason why? There is some fair amount of overlapping on certain types of metal and DnD situations, after all...
Several, one of which I already mentioned in this thread, for instance. The main reason is that it's distracting. It's hard to play the game when folks get distracted by the music. And I disagree that there's overlap; or if there is, it's in the lyrics. Lyrics while gaming are always a bad thing, IMO.
But also, I don't really like metal. I don't really want to hear it in any circumstance, especially not in tandem with a hobby of mine.
That covers a broad variety of stuff, but artists who have at one time or another been classified as some kind of rock/metal/industrial that could work at a gaming table- obviously depending on campaign type- include (but are not limited to):
Joe Satriani
Yngwie Malmsteen
Shawn Lane
Pelican
Earth
Kyuss
Ronnie Montrose
Helios Creed
Godflesh
Ministry
Praxis
Buckethead
The main reason is that it's distracting. It's hard to play the game when folks get distracted by the music. And I disagree that there's overlap; or if there is, it's in the lyrics. Lyrics while gaming are always a bad thing, IMO..
I listen to "kill-your-mother" metal and, in general, I agree with the above. "Histrionic" metal at the game table gives me a headache.
Although, if you're heavily into science, law, the Roman Classics, edicts and papal bulls issued by the Catholic Church, or your parents just decided that your first language should be latin for some unusual reason, I guess I can see it becoming an issue... 
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