Background Sounds (Music)

[benjamin]

I'm considering donating to your site for the extra VIP content. How does one do that after registering?

By the way, does anyone know how to convert RPG soundmixer's free downloadable sound collections out of the .sol format, like those found here ... RPG-SoundMixer - The new PnP RPG Experience ???

Hi Dragon...!

You can donate by...
1) Tell me you're going to do it, so I can make sure I unlock your access to all the material quickly.
2) Click on the paypal donate button on the homepage.

I sampled that CD... pretty cool indeed... The Flooded cavern soundset sounds very much like that... with some distant monster rumblings and some nice disturbing music thrown into the mix... listen to the demo on the homepage to get the idea. If you donate you'll be able to download all the soundsets including my UBER COOL dragon battle set.

As to the .sol sounds... I have NO idea... presumably the writer is trying to protect his sounds by using an obscure compression... but there is usually a solutiion somewhere on the web.

Good luck!



Ben

 

[benjamin]

So, I went over to Syrinscape ... and I am trying to figure out how to use it. Obviously I have not signed up for VIP membership, as I just want to testdrive it before I go further.

I downloaded a couple of files (not the latest -- well I did, but the file couldn't be opened by my computer, which is pretty darn current; I assume there was some step I have missed). From the bit that I have found there is sounds as if I have to have the computer set up at my gaming table in order to use it, rather than something that I could, say, dump over to a cd and play in the background.

Overall, I find the presence of a computer at a table to be very distracting -- the players and GM tend to pay attention to their screens rather than the story and each other, it becomes a series of individual games rather than a group experience.

As such, I think I will simply go back to loop cds made from various sound effects

Hi Wombat...

Make sure you have a look at the tutorials... they will help lots.

As for computers at the gaming table...

Syrinscape needs very little attention during play... that's the whole point of the program. I suggest you just have a laptop (or PC) down on the ground next to the table... when you start playing it'll take two clicks to start up the sound... and then if you go into battle that'll be another two clicks... so you'll need to pay attention to the computer about once every hour or so.

The other option is to let Syrinscape run and record the result (you'll want something that can record whats heading out the outputs of your soundcard... plenty of little apps out there will let you do this...

...then encode these recordings as mp3s and chuck on any i-thing.

Do people think it would a good idea to make some of these recordings myself and have them available for download in the VIP section... maybe 2 hour mp3s... or something.

...?

Ben

PS Oh yes... and all the sound files are in Ogg Vobis compression (because it is as good as mp3 and FREE). You can find converters online to convert from OggVobis to other formats...

 

[carmachu]

So, I was thinking that I might like to have some background sounds and music playing during my game to help create the mood. I know that I'm not the first person to want this, so I did an ENworld search for threads with "music" in the title. Didn't really find what I was hoping for though (maybe I should have used 'sounds'?). Many of the posts seem to discuss inspiring battle music (metal, orchestral, techo), which is totally cool (I'm a big Danzig fan for anyone from THAT thread), but I'm wondering if anyone has ideas on tracks that are or could be reasonably construed as location specific.​

Ideally, each would be long (sixty minutes even?), so as not to require constant restarting, feature subtle, non-intrusive, non-vocal music that is periodically (every minute? two minutes? five minutes?) overshadowed by a location specific noise. Here are some examples:​

1. Dungeon - water dripping, doors creaking, footsteps, whispers, weird laughter, grunts, metal clinking, crying and so on. Presumably the background music would be somber, spooky, etc.​

2. Wilderness - wind rustling through trees, bird sounds, crickets and other "forest" sounds. A daytime and a nightime version would be awesome. Night music might be a little spookier and have wolves howling, etc. Seasonal variants would be awesome as well - the winter version might be marked by prominent howling winds, for example.​

3. City- perhaps the murmur of a crowd in the background, occasionally someone yelling about "Buy this fruit," or an "Excuse me," or "You there," or whatever. A tavern variant would be cool tool, I suppose.​

Anyway, maybe something like this has already been created by Paizo/WotC. If so, any links would be awesome. If not, then perhaps some enterprising reader might be inspired -​

Edit: Thinking that videogame tracks MAY be my best bet?

I have several nox arcana CDs and they are great.

paizo.com - Store / Game Aids / Audio CDs / Nox Arcana

 

[benjamin]

Syrinscape website down for a few hours!

Hi All,

The syrinscape website is down for a few hours... should be up soon.

I'll let you know when it's up again!

FRUSTRATION!!!



Ben

 

[benjamin]

Site is back up...

Hi,

The site is back up now...

...and should stay up!

Crossing everything (swords and sound effects included)...

Ben

 

[TheAuldGrump]

I've got an amazing CD with sounds from caverns, called Deep Into the Earth - Sounds of the Earth. It's one of those new age CDs with natural sounds.

Dripping water, wind in caverns, and so forth - totally astounding!


I've got a couple of others too, with surf, forest, howling wolves, but the cavern sounds are outstanding and is the one I use most.

It's sadly out of print, and goes for truly horrifying prices at Amazon! Over £50!

Pssst! Look under MP3s at Amazon.... You may not be able to find the entire album, but they have a 23 'song' set from the series, including Deep Into the Earth.

The sample sounds great, I am now downloading the rest.

The Auld Grump
*EDIT* Not to mention a whole bunch of other 'albums' by them....

 

[TheAuldGrump]

I am going to have to see if Syrinscape can be running concurrent with RPG Deck - if so, then I will be quite happy. Syrinscape handling ambient noise, RPG Deck for background music and sound effects.

The Auld Grump

*EDIT* Yep, they run quite happily together, so I will have Syrinscape running quietly in the background, haunting the house, while RPG Deck handles the creepy music and the sudden BOO!

 

[benjamin]

That's awesome Auld Grump!

Glad to hear Syrinscape works with RPG Deck!

I usually have a set of sound effects sitting ready in Windows Media Player... So if I need a specific sound, like "the altar activating" or "the boss doing it's big dying implosion", I just double click and I've got it.

That way Syrinscape handles the generally unsettling mood, and randomly chooses the music I have plugged into it... and I can still have specialised sound effects when I want them.

It's certainly made our table more dangerous feeling at times!



Benjamin

 

[TheAuldGrump]

I picked up a bunch of sound effects at Amazon last week, with [ame=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000V8YIZ4/ref=sr_1_album_1_rd?ie=UTF8&child=B000V924MM&qid=1263272392&sr=1-1]Rail Dynamics[/ame] as an ambient track. Lots of good steam engine sounds out there.

Syrinscape and RPGDeck continue to play nice with each other - Syrinscape is very good for mixing ambient noises.

The Auld Grump

 

[buddhafrog]

Yes, you have to have your computer present to use it.



The way to overcome this is to have the computer for sound purposes only. I use my laptop at games, set up my sounds as I want them, then turn back to it only when I need to change the music/sounds.

Same here, but I also use it occasionally to show an image of a particularly interesting location or item. I try to be careful not to do this too much so that players use their imaginations primarily. But I find the music to add atmosphere and the occasional picture (say, as they near to a dark village at the base of a mountain, or occasionally maybe one image in the city to show the how dirty or modern it might be).

These audio suggestions are great. I've been searching all of them.

The other day, as I turned on the music, the players all stated "get your swords ready." I think it is important to switch it up, to use music but not always, and I love to use music during nature/journey moments. I've downloaded many tracks about nature (storms, rain, night, forests, rivers, etc). They work great.