Background Music

[loki44]

I generally prefer orchestral movie soundtracks, as I think they are better written for the most part. I've ripped a bunch of such movie soundtrack CDs to mp3 and put them all on a single CD, and then I hit shuffle during my sessions.

Thanks for the list. For some reason movie soundtracks hadn't occured to me. I guess because I don't generally listen to them.

 

[loki44]

I generally play music when I'm DMing. I try to suit the music to what the PCs are doing at the time

I tried that before but it ended up not being worth the effort. I was running an Al-Qadim campaign at the time and I created a soundtrack that was supposed to match various scenes or settings. I put an enormous amount of time into compiling it but my players really couldn't have cared less. Of course, that was well before I had access to a CD burner so I had to contantly shuffle things around. Needless to say I never attempted it again.

 

[Desdichado]

Personally, I find trying to match the song and the moment is too much work. I keep my background music fairly quiet and subtle anyway, so it adds to the mood without distracting from the game.

And thanks for the additions; I actually do also have some Conan tracks, although I had forgotten them. Along those same lines, I also have a track or two from Starship Troopers, which is the same composer (Basil Poulidouris) and Hunt for the Red October. I've used that last entire soundtrack before, even, when playing a spy-game (using TSR's old Top Secret S.I. system) set in Eastern Europe, and also for Khador with Warmachine.

And Star Wars soundtracks for Star Wars games, naturally, is a given.

 

[Henrix]

No, no, don't get me wrong. I don't try to match the tunes with what they are doing, I match the cds, and somethimes I make compilations. But generally it's more on the line of putting the soundtrack to Gladiator or Hero on when there's combat, or the music from Planescape:Torment when they're planehopping.

 

[kenobi65]

I've used that last entire soundtrack before, even, when playing a spy-game (using TSR's old Top Secret S.I. system) set in Eastern Europe

Oh! That reminds me!

I've got a custom CD I made to play during Spycraft games. It's got a bunch of the James Bond theme songs, the Mission: Impossible theme (both the original and the U2 version), "Secret Agent Man" by Johnny Rivers, "Twilight Zone" by Golden Earring, etc.

 

[TheLostSoul]

It is very rare for me not to use music when I run games. What I use generally depends on genre, style and mood. For fantasy I use:

:Of the Wand and the Moon:
Blackmoore's Night
Dead can Dance
Death in June
Finntroll
Forseti
The Gathering
Lacrimosa
Moonsorrow
My Dying Bride
Nightwish
Saturnus
Tiamat (Wildhoney)
Type O Negative (Oktober Rust)
Ulver
Within Temptation

And occasional others, depending on the situation.

For modern:

A Perfect Circle
Bauhaus
Charon
The Cult
The Cure
Fields of the Nephilim
Katatonia
Killswitch Engage
Last Rites
The Loveless
Ministry
The Mission
Opeth (Damnation)
The Nefilim
Theatre of Tragedy
Tiamat
Type O Negative

and various other contemporary rock (gothic or otherwise), metal (any), dark folk and various soundtracks. I also use many of the bands that I use for fantasy. It all depends on the game...

 

[Desdichado]

...and various other contemporary rock (gothic or otherwise), metal (any) and dark folk. I also use many of the bands that I use for fantasy. It all depends on the game...

All of which would detract and distract from the game, IMO. I would never use "contemporary" music in a game, unless it was a contemporary game. I guess if I ever get off my duff and run that John Hughes vs. Lovecraft "Pretty in the Color Out of Space" game, I can play a bunch of 80s New Wave...

 

[TheLostSoul]

All of which would detract and distract from the game, IMO. I would never use "contemporary" music in a game, unless it was a contemporary game. I guess if I ever get off my duff and run that John Hughes vs. Lovecraft "Pretty in the Color Out of Space" game, I can play a bunch of 80s New Wave...

Neither me nor my group has any problems with it, but it not turned very high and that could have something to do with it. I have played with a few players who occasionally would become annoyed with it, but they were almost always very easily annoyed by anything (I am happy that they are not a part of my regular group any more, as they often were very disruptive during games...).

When playing fantasy I mostly use atmospheric dark folk albums, such as the aforementioned :Of the Wand and the Moon:, Dead can Dance, Death in June and Lisa Gerrard. Occasionally I use heavier bands to increase pace.

 

[Desdichado]

Yeah, that's one of the big secrets to music in gaming; if it's too loud, it's almost certainly a distraction. If it has lyrics, and you can hear them during the game, that likely distracts as well.

And modern music in a fantasy game is a just a pet peeve; I don't like it movies either, unless they're set in a modern, contemporary setting.

 

[reanjr]

(a few names may be mispelled; I'm too lazy to look them up right now)

Instrumental:
Mortiis - Fodt Til A Herske (and anything else before Smell of Rain)
Basil Paladouris - Conan Soundtrack
Wojciek Kilar - Bram Stoker's Dracula Soundtrack
Carl Orff - Carmina Burana (anything but O Fortuna; which is way too well-known)

Non-Instrumental
Medieval Baebes - entire catalogue
Blind Guardian - Nightfall on Middle Earth (or anything else, really; Bard's Song is particularly appropriate)
Luca Turilli - anything, but primarily Black Dragon for combat

I can't think of anything else off the top of my head.