Music that gives you inspiration

[the Jester]

So I'm sure that many of you find ideas for your games in your music; I know I do.

What bands or albums do you listen to when you want a creative kick?

I'll start by mentioning Coheed and Cambria, since their new album (well, either their new double album or their two new albums, depending on how you count them) has been a major jolt of inspiration for me lately, both for gaming and for my writing. I'll add to that a ton of old Rush, especially 2112.

How about you?

 

[delericho]

Good topic; it will be interesting to see how the answers differ from the more standard "music to game to" topic.

For me, for the most part, it's still soundtracks, though not necessarily the same soundtracks as I would use for the session itself. Instead, I tend to identify films with a similar tone (even if the plot and characters are nothing alike), and use those. For instance, for a one-shot of "Black Crusade" I ran last year, I used the soundtrack for "Enemy at the Gates".

Of course, for any "Star Wars" games, the soundtracks of choice are obvious. However, in particular I have found the soundtrack for the "Clone Wars" movie extremely useful, and the soundtrack for the "Shadows of the Empire" book somewhat useful. I do wish Lucasfilm would release some more soundtracks from the "Clone Wars" series - there's lots of good stuff there, and the themes are at once close enough to be instantly recognisable and yet different enough not to distract from the game.

My oddest "inspiration music" though comes from a truly terrible band called Dubstar. Unfortunately, they had a brief moment of fame back when I was at university, and had near-constant playback on the radio just as I was reading the "Vampire: the Dark Ages" rulebook. To this day, I can barely prepare anything for that game without listening to that band.

 

[DanotheSlender]

I have found game inspiration in music ranging from Beethovan to Metallica to ZZ Top and all points in between...depending on the game system and if it's more or less combat or roleplay. Movie (see Star Wars, Oh Fortuna) and game soundtracks (Elder Scrolls) and other symphonic material can get the juices flowing for a more roleplay oriented session, where Pantera and Metallica are my go to for battle planning...Music can open the minds eye to things one would not see without its presence.

Game On!!

 

[Stormonu]

Usually soundtracks, but lately wandering around youtube has found me some interesting music (searching "top 10", "epic music", and such)

 

[Mark CMG]

Probably a few more thoughts herein -

http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?174448-Game-Related-Music-Threads-and-Links

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Some of these:

Basically, I get inspiration all over the place- I just keep my mind open.

Music that has inspired me has come from sources like:

Black Sabbath
Kodo
Brian Eno
Robert Fripp
Rush
Santana
Earth
Peter Gabriel
NIN
Tangerine Dream

And probably many others...

 

[DnD_Dad]

I find trance music the best to get my creative juices flowing.

 

[Super Pony]

I occasionally use music in-game. But most often I just fire up an internet music stream of some kind (Pandora, Grooveshark, Spotify, etc) and let it roll in the background while I'm reading or writing up something of my own. In these cases the music tends to be more ambient or instrumental content as it frees up my brain whilst tickling my ear holes with sound.

When it comes to getting inspiration though, I find that in "real" music if that makes any kind of sense. My tastes here range from 30's and 40's era tunes to current "stuff." Usually it'll be some set of lyrics that gets me thinking of something in the 'ol imagination factory. I've had sci-fi gaming inspired by Neil Young of all things.

 

[khantroll]

Music has given me all sorts of idea for adventures, probably as many as tv shows or movies. As a for instance, I had a player that wanted to play a 3.5 Alienist. Our current campaign is really kind of gritty, and didn't really lend itself to it. But then, I was listening Katy Perry's E.T. (don't judge). Anywho, that gave me an idea for a side trek adventure involving princess and her pseudonatural lover.

Music also gives me cues on how to handle things, like when I re-worked Hour of the Knife into a combination spy/murder mystery and removed the Jack the Ripper elements. "Red Right Hand" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds set the tone for that.

Or an adventure with a vampire as the bad guy, played as a mystery. Several of the scenes and clues were ripped straight from DMX's Damien.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

FWIW, most musical inspiration for me occurs on the player side of the screen, not the GM's side.