Background music for games

Striderman · Jul 31, 2002

Hey all. I know that many of you out there like to have some kind of music playing in the background during your games. I know that I do, and so do most of my players. Well, I thought it would be fun and useful to compile a list of good music cues to use in games. As a matter of fact, now that I have a CD writer, I plan to make several mix CDs for different moods/styles in my game. ie action/fighting, tense combat (like against "bosses"), moody/dark/sinister/creepy, stalking in caves/dungeons, general traveling, cities, etc. you get the idea.
Anyway, what sorts of music do you all like/use in your games?
Personal favorites of mine include Wagner (everybody loves to fight while listening to Ride of the Valkyries), Grieg's In the Hall of the Mountain King, various tracks by Basil Polydouris (from the Conan movies among others), and the occasional John Williams (although his music tends to be too well recognized and distracting).
So what do YOU listen to while gaming?

Limper · Jul 31, 2002

Glen Danzig.... Black Aria.

Abba Dancing Queen for every fight!

arwink · Jul 31, 2002

The Soundtrack to the Lord of the Rings movie. That's about all we've experimented with. As a general rule, no-one really remembers to bring music when game-day starts.

Mouseferatu · Jul 31, 2002

I've had great success with the following soundtracks/albums:

The 13th Warrior

Lord of the Rings

Needful Things

Dracula

Frankenstein (the Kenneth Branaugh version)

The D&D movie soundtrack (hey, something useful had to come out of that.

Dune

The Messenger

From Hell (if you skip the Manson track)

The 6th Sense

Conan the Barbarian

Gladiator

Batman Returns

Black Aria, by Danzig

I've also put together a combat CD from various other sources, some of which are listed above, some of which aren't. Two of the best pieces on there, if you can get 'em, are "The Duel of the Fates" from Phantom Menace, and "Let's Go Kill That Bastard" from Ravenous.

Crothian · Jul 31, 2002

I'd add the Stigmata soundtrack to the above list. It's more techno, but really good.

Limper · Jul 31, 2002

Temptation by Peter Gabrial

Early 80's Black Sabbath (the Dio years)

Dio

Carl Orf - Carinia Burahma (sp)

Striderman · Jul 31, 2002

Since I am already on the subject, other ones I've used also include the Dune Soundtrack, Dracula, both of the Tim Burton Batman movie scores, and LotR:FotR, Highlander scores (the scores from the first three are available on one CD), various cues from the Robotech Perfect Soundtrack Album, Macross Plus, the Shadow, Wing Commander (yes, that dreadful movie, I could have written better with my turds), Stargate, and a few others I don't currently recall.

Napftor · Jul 31, 2002

As usual, here is a blatant plug for when the music topic comes up. See my article "Fine Tuning Your Campaign" in Asgard issue #6. It mentions many of the soundtracks and other music I would have posted here as my answer...

rackabello · Aug 1, 2002

for general ambiance i recommend
Dead Can Dance
Vas, a voice and percussion duo with medieval and middle eastern influences
Fairport Convention, Liege and Lief, a British folk rock classic
Finnish folk group Gjallarhorn

i also love using music to that evokes what the characters themselves might hear -- wild fiddling at a fey revel, the steady tolling of a temple bell. perhaps it's just my own taste for world music, but i find that traditional music from around the world can be very effective, particularly if the players are unfamiliar with it. the centuries old tradition of Tibetan Buddhist chanting can be profoundly meditative, but if you're hearing it for the first time from the stone mouths of demons carved on the pillars of a long sealed burial vault it's truly unnerving...