Background Music

[reanjr]

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.

What do you mean by "modern"? Given D&D's implicit timeframe, you may be cutting out Opera and even a lot of Baroque and most Classical music.

 

[loki44]

I find lyrics distracting as well and volume level is pure common sense. I disagree about the anachronistic use of modern music. I kinda like it at times. Two examples that jump to mind are the movies "Plunkett and Maclean" and "A Knights Tale".

 

[Desdichado]

What do you mean by "modern"? Given D&D's implicit timeframe, you may be cutting out Opera and even a lot of Baroque and most Classical music.

By modern, I mean contemporary music; pop, jazz, etc. Clearly most of the movie soundtracks I've listed are modern in terms of composition, but that's not what I'm talking about.

 

[Desdichado]

I find lyrics distracting as well and volume level is pure common sense. I disagree about the anachronistic use of modern music. I kinda like it at times. Two examples that jump to mind are the movies "Plunkett and Maclean" and "A Knights Tale".

Well, like I said, it's a personal pet peeve, IMO, and all that. I've never seen "Plunkett and Maclean" (never heard of it even) but in "A Knight's Tale" I think it was purposefully done to be a bit on the silly side. Although my games certainly aren't all dour-faced seriousness, I also don't consider them to be silly either, so I wouldn't find it appropriate to playing Queen.

Then again, I also don't like a lot of "rpger death metal" or classic rock and roll type music, so I'd object on other grounds too.

 

[Blue_Kryptonite]

We play with the Live365 station on in the background that plays the past 50 years or so of top 40 lists in random rotation. Its odd how often the someone will notice that a song seems to correspond perfectly to the action at the table.

 

[reanjr]

There's a rock band called Rhapsody.

Many people prefer the term Glory to indicate the genre Rhapsody is in. Not quite as glorious as their guitarist's solo stuff (Luca Turilli), though.

 

[reanjr]

I've tried it but it never worked out the way that I envisioned it. I wanted to have "action music" playing while the pc's were fighting and such, but it never worked out well. I lost were certain tracks were, some people didn't like it etc.

You know, I would love to see someone talented put together some DirectMusic compilations. DirectMusic is a Microsoft technology designed to be used with video games that allows compositions to blend together and actually be generated randomly (so you never [rarely] hear the same thing twice). Once composed, you set the mood, tone, tempo and just let it go. You can dynamically change the mood while it's playing, and the music will transition to that composition. It would be perfect for D&D.

You might play it and then change the settings during game. For instance:

Play Music
Town
Intrigue
Background
Travel
Battle
Victory -> Background
Travel
Exploration
Dread
Battle
Victory -> End

And it would be done on the fly.

 

[reanjr]

Almost forgot!

I almost forgot one great addition to any D&D collection:

Dargaard's trilogy of albums
Eternity Rites
In Nomine Aeternitatis
Dissolution of Eternity

A bit hard to find, but well worth it. Tharen, the composer, is involved in a lot of Black Metal projects, but don't be turned off by that. This is straight up classical music with vocals by Elisabeth Toriser. The vocals are very low key and act almost as just another instrument. Very, very good stuff. Relapse.com is probably the best place to find these in America.

 

[Arnwyn]

Ah... this topic pops up once every few months or so. Near and dear to my heart.

I use a lot of Joshua Dyal's list, among many others. (Though, unlike him, I do match up the music and the moment.)

With my home theatre PC and remote, it makes using music during a session very easy. With more than 360 albums (7500+ songs) to choose from, all properly categorized (the ID tags make sorting a snap) tied with my intimate knowledge of what I own, it's very easy for me to grab the right song for the right moment.

Along with JD's list above, I also use a fair number of video game and anime soundtracks. Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger/Cross, Suikoden, etc. are all very good. For anime, anything composed by Yoko Kanno is sure to fit.

I avoid songs with lyrics (and anything anachronistic) like the plague... except during my futuristic campaign.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

I recently expirimented with using music, and didn't care for the results; I don't have a nice, cozy, acoustically effective space to play in, so the tunes were either so quiet that players at the far end of the table couldn't hear or so loud that nobody could hear what was going on. I won't be going back unless I can pare down the group size to 6 or less and find a better place to play music.

However, while planning a game, I mostly listen to soundtracks.

The main ones I've used:

Chrono Cross
Conan (the Barbarian and the Destroyer)
Final Fantasy (6,7,8,9,X and Tactics)
Gladiator
Last of the Mohicans
Once Upon A Time In China
Vagrant Story
Van Helsing
Xenogears