race and music
- Thread starter thejc
- Start date
hmmm not a popular subject? seriously if every race had a genre of music represent it. would half orcs ride there beastly mounts to swedish metal as they descend on a helpless village. do your halflings party down to some home grown southern country/rock. Dwarves bumping the Hip Hop as they forge weapons of legendary quality.
No probably not. That is why I leaned towards genre and not particular songs. Music can use both magic and normal means to be played.
Music is just a huge part of most religion and culture but it seems it's always left from d&d.
ibldedibble
First Post
I don't really touch on this subject in my fantasy campaigns, except for humans and elves who mostly listen to bards playing on lutes and such.
There might be some bells and similar instruments as well.
Orcs feel like they should listen to something "gritty" or "dirty". Using logs as drums and what not, not really caring about rhythm as much as noise level.
Dwarves are more of a military race in my opinion. Proud folks. Military style drums, very strict. Maybe bagpipes (since everyone knows dwarves are from Scotland or Ireland (I don't remember if it's called a bagpipe on Ireland, but iirc they have something similar)).
Halflings... they are harder. Probably a mixture of the "lutes and such" that humans and elves listen to and the drums that the dwarves listen to (although more loose).
Exactly what genre I'd choose for everyone... I don't know.
Orcs - hardcore punk or grindcore or something like that. Really dirty.
Elves - harmonic stuff, Enya-style.
Humans, halflings and dwarves are much, much harder to choose only one genre for.
Sorrowdusk
First Post
This thread calls to mind Elven Rappers and Orc/Troll Thrashmetal in Shadowrun. Heh, otherwise I think ibledebibble has the right idea.
Cyronax
Explorer
This is a good idea.
Whenever the PCs encounter one or more gnomes I'll probably put the Star Wars Imperial March on in the background on loop. That makes sense right?
C.I.D.
Neat idea. This is something I don't generally include.
I think rather than trying to pick "real world" genres for fantasy races, I'll try to suppose/imagine the sounds/instruments they would use.
Humans: basically...anything. harps/lyres, mandolins, drums, tamborines, various brass/horns, some violin/fiddle in certain regions, harpsichord or pipe organ (if you have a civilization that advanced). I would say the style of music for a given human community would differ from region to region and is influenced by the other races around/within it...and probably multiple styles depending on the size of the community.
Elves: harps/lyres, lots of pipes/flutes, lots of reeds/woodwinds, chimes, bells, possibly piano. Very little or subtle use of brass instruments (French Horns strike me as a very "elf" kind of brass instrument, but a Trumpet or Trombone for example would be far to...harsh/brash). Lots of use of voice/complex choral harmonies. Little bass, lots of intricate and melodic treble.
Dwarves: Lots of drums/percussion, lots of brass/horns. I think lots of "deep" sounds. Tubas/Sousaphones (sp?), Bassoons,...I like the bagpipe idea someone mentioned above...not because it's Scottish, haha. But just that I imagine dwarves would have some type of instrument like that that no other race would have figured out how to make and would be distinctive to their culture. Lots of somber sounding music. Lots of bass, little treble, long "slow" sounding music...lots of "marches" type music...Chanting type "songs." I imagine Gregorian-style chants (but not so much on the treble side) during working or marching to war...AND upbeat rousing songs for drinking and/or victories.
Gnomes: Hmmm...LOTS of fiddle/violin and strings in general, lots of pipes and woodwinds. Maybe bagpipes go better here...hmm. I'm picturing lots of upbeat "high-stepping" dancing songs. A typical gnomish quartet would be someone on a flute or clarinet-like pipe, a fiddler, someone on an upright (gnome sized) bass, and percussionist (with a wash-tub drum, tamborine and triangle). I'm thinking like traditional Irish pub and step-dance music.
Halflings: Very similar to gnomes for "party music/drinking songs" but also more refined sounding music. Lots of strings here, violins, cellos, guitars. I might say that the keyboard/piano might have started in the comfortable burrow parlors of halfling homes? Halflings, like elves, also very much enjoy singing and songs with their music, something dwarves and gnomes are less likely to do.
Orcs: I agree with the poster who mentioned beating longs and drums. I concur with "the louder the better." Wild banging, booming and screeching sounds.
...do with it what you will.
Thanks for making me think about something I haven't before.
--Steel Dragons
I think rather than trying to pick "real world" genres for fantasy races, I'll try to suppose/imagine the sounds/instruments they would use.
Humans: basically...anything. harps/lyres, mandolins, drums, tamborines, various brass/horns, some violin/fiddle in certain regions, harpsichord or pipe organ (if you have a civilization that advanced). I would say the style of music for a given human community would differ from region to region and is influenced by the other races around/within it...and probably multiple styles depending on the size of the community.
Elves: harps/lyres, lots of pipes/flutes, lots of reeds/woodwinds, chimes, bells, possibly piano. Very little or subtle use of brass instruments (French Horns strike me as a very "elf" kind of brass instrument, but a Trumpet or Trombone for example would be far to...harsh/brash). Lots of use of voice/complex choral harmonies. Little bass, lots of intricate and melodic treble.
Dwarves: Lots of drums/percussion, lots of brass/horns. I think lots of "deep" sounds. Tubas/Sousaphones (sp?), Bassoons,...I like the bagpipe idea someone mentioned above...not because it's Scottish, haha. But just that I imagine dwarves would have some type of instrument like that that no other race would have figured out how to make and would be distinctive to their culture. Lots of somber sounding music. Lots of bass, little treble, long "slow" sounding music...lots of "marches" type music...Chanting type "songs." I imagine Gregorian-style chants (but not so much on the treble side) during working or marching to war...AND upbeat rousing songs for drinking and/or victories.
Gnomes: Hmmm...LOTS of fiddle/violin and strings in general, lots of pipes and woodwinds. Maybe bagpipes go better here...hmm. I'm picturing lots of upbeat "high-stepping" dancing songs. A typical gnomish quartet would be someone on a flute or clarinet-like pipe, a fiddler, someone on an upright (gnome sized) bass, and percussionist (with a wash-tub drum, tamborine and triangle). I'm thinking like traditional Irish pub and step-dance music.
Halflings: Very similar to gnomes for "party music/drinking songs" but also more refined sounding music. Lots of strings here, violins, cellos, guitars. I might say that the keyboard/piano might have started in the comfortable burrow parlors of halfling homes? Halflings, like elves, also very much enjoy singing and songs with their music, something dwarves and gnomes are less likely to do.
Orcs: I agree with the poster who mentioned beating longs and drums. I concur with "the louder the better." Wild banging, booming and screeching sounds.
...do with it what you will.
Thanks for making me think about something I haven't before.
--Steel Dragons
This all came about because in my campaign (http://www.enworld.org/forum/story-hour/297656-darkness-us-all.html)
we had agreed to take a break until the new year. Well it turns out everyone had Dec. 23rd off and wanted to start the second season(as I call it, helps me with the rise of plots and resolution of backstories and villains and such). So we agreed to play. Well only a couple people showed. Others got roped into family time, weather issues ect. So we bought some Dos Equis and Killians and we were just playing guitar and hanging out. Well it turns that we talked about this very subject. So we had an aside for the 2 characters they went to a Bards competition and we hacked out and recorded about 6 songs or so. I have to master them and such. But it was fun. So I really started to think about it.
I also remembered that once I had a dwarven festival in a former campaign and they did there music with differently tuned anvils and such.
we had agreed to take a break until the new year. Well it turns out everyone had Dec. 23rd off and wanted to start the second season(as I call it, helps me with the rise of plots and resolution of backstories and villains and such). So we agreed to play. Well only a couple people showed. Others got roped into family time, weather issues ect. So we bought some Dos Equis and Killians and we were just playing guitar and hanging out. Well it turns that we talked about this very subject. So we had an aside for the 2 characters they went to a Bards competition and we hacked out and recorded about 6 songs or so. I have to master them and such. But it was fun. So I really started to think about it.
I also remembered that once I had a dwarven festival in a former campaign and they did there music with differently tuned anvils and such.
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