D&D General Music and ambiance -- how important are they to your D&D experience?

[Prakriti]

By ambiance I mean aural soundscapes: crackling campfires for long rests, chirping birds for wilderness exploration, murmuring crowds for taverns, etc.

I usually use a lot of music and ambiance in my campaigns, but I see Roll20 has lost yet another streaming service since I last played, and my music library is now gone. I spent tens of hours curating a library on Souncloud, then tens of hours curating a library on Fanburst... I'm not really inclined to spend another ten hours curating a music library on whatever service they have now. I'm thinking of going music-less.

My own feelings on music/ambiance are mixed. On one hand, I think music/ambiance adds a lot to the game and has the power to transform a mundane scene into a memorable one. On the other hand, not using music/ambiance feels kind of liberating. Music was just one more thing I had to micro-manage as a DM. Not having to worry about it sounds really nice for a change.

But that's me. What do you think?

 

[schneeland]

I generally like it, but managing the music is something that interrupted the game flow too much when I DM'ed the last couple of times. So I will probably drop it again.

 

[Fenris-77]

I like orchestral stuff for some fight scenes (the Wrath of Khan soundtrack is great) and I use ambient of various sorts a fair bit too, dark ambient especially.

 

[bedir than]

I have a couple spotify playlists for mood setting, and recently switched to using Syrinscape in game. Having it on my phone with a knowledge that I'm going to just punch a couple buttons at key points rather than make it a radio play has led to so much joy at the table.

Finding the right volume has been the most difficult part for me.

 

[Legatus Legionis]

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[Doc_Klueless]

I selected Meh because I have no feelings about it one way or another. If it's there, I don't notice it. If it's not, I don't notice its absence.

 

[Nebulous]

By ambiance I mean aural soundscapes: crackling campfires for long rests, chirping birds for wilderness exploration, murmuring crowds for taverns, etc.

I usually use a lot of music and ambiance in my campaigns, but I see Roll20 has lost yet another streaming service since I last played, and my music library is now gone. I spent tens of hours curating a library on Souncloud, then tens of hours curating a library on Fanburst... I'm not really inclined to spend another ten hours curating a music library on whatever service they have now. I'm thinking of going music-less.

My own feelings on music/ambiance are mixed. On one hand, I think music/ambiance adds a lot to the game and has the power to transform a mundane scene into a memorable one. On the other hand, not using music/ambiance feels kind of liberating. Music was just one more thing I had to micro-manage as a DM. Not having to worry about it sounds really nice for a change.

But that's me. What do you think?

I noticed that Roll20 uses Tabletop Audio now, which is quite good. I might start using Roll20 soon for the first time, I have always gamed in person but need to start a secondary group (maybe not even D&D).

But anyway yes I love using music. I have hundreds of tracks I've accumulated over the years, mostly movie soundtracks and video game music.

 

[Nebulous]

When the music became mysterious/frightful, so too did the tone of the game.

One player got so freaked out, he swore to never play again if music was in the background.

Yes, I have often had their very decisions CHANGE because of the music unsettling them. To me it's like watching a movie without music, it loses a lot of power.

 

[Blue]

I don't have the best of ears (some high-range/low-range hearing loss), and music makes it quite hard for me to track conversations. So I'm against it at any session i attend. Which is a shame, it can add to ambiance. But constantly asking the DM and other players to repeat themselves is much more disruptive. Same issue with car trips - I like listening to the radio, but it really impedes conversation.

For other ambiance I've used it, but I don't often give too much thought to it. Lighting is the easiest - but sometimes makes text and character sheets are to read. Have a set of battery powered candles for the gaming table to help with that (and have used actual candles before). I have done props like making aged maps and notes to hand out in the past, which is usually well received. I would not try a fog machine or introducing scents, though I've heard stories of both.

 

[iserith]

I like music and ambient sound effects in my game. It was pretty annoying when Roll20 lost some of the options they used to have. I scored my latest one-shot with stuff I bought off of Bandcamp and uploaded to Roll20. I don't like how much time I have to spend on this, but the end result is a nice touch.