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

[Prakriti]

The nice thing about Roll20 is that everyone has their own volume slider (which goes all the way down to mute). So the people who like music can listen to it, and those who don't can turn it off.

 

[Bitbrain]

Um... My players have a rule that no music is allowed when I’m DMing, because I will be unable to focus on anything other than the music.

The same applies to ambiance. I blame it on my being on the autistic spectrum.

 

[The Green Hermit]

I don't bother. I have enough other things to do that I am not going to waste time coming up with mood music and sound effects. Having said that, if I was a player and not the DM, and it was done well, I would probably enjoy it.

 

[Nebulous]

I've not had music in the background for a D&D session (yet). There are a few things I would like to try / experience, for serious or for fun.
The enemies are chasing us: William Tell Overture (also known as the Lone Ranger theme)
Entering the sepulchure of the Legendary Artifact: Siegfried's Funeral March (from Wagner's Ring cycle)
Activating said artifact: Thus Sprach Zarathustra (2001)
BBEG's enforcer lieutenant arrives to fight the PCs: Duel of the Fates (Darth Maul confrontation)
BBEG himself arrives: Imperial March, from Star Wars
PC tries some spectacular physical stunt and rolls a 20: Indiana Jones theme
Final Victory: Siegfried and Brunehilda in the Forest (Wagner's Ring again)

While those CAN work and do work, I have noticed that having immediately recognizable songs can often distract players and make them think about something other than the adventure they're playing. I like to use more obscure movies, or movies you've surely heard of, but the music soundtrack wouldn't be the first thing that comes to mind. A few I've sampled over the years include:

Alien, Aliens (mostly the action scenes), Slither, Ravenous, Blade, Abominable (as in the snowman), The Omen, Jupiter Ascending, and many more.

Game soundtracks are good too, but usually only recognizable if someone played the games. I've used Halo, Gears of War, Quake, The Longest Journey, Half Life, Doom, and others for mood music. The game soundtracks tend to be far less distracting than playing, say, the Star Wars theme song.

 

[Shiroiken]

I find that it's just not worth the effort. The amount of work involved to select the music and rotate it in a timely fashion can be staggering, especially if IRL. IME this leads to a loss of immersion, rather than the intended increase. To me, the only reasonable purpose would be to add it in post-session for a podcast.

 

[Nebulous]

I find that it's just not worth the effort. The amount of work involved to select the music and rotate it in a timely fashion can be staggering, especially if IRL. IME this leads to a loss of immersion, rather than the intended increase. To me, the only reasonable purpose would be to add it in post-session for a podcast.

I use rpg soundmixer. You do the work ahead of time, once. Then everything is matched to a single keystroke. "C" for creepy music, it randomly picks a track and randomly picks a new one. "F" for fighting music, same thing. It doesn't take any more time in session than looking down and hitting a key. All the grunt work is done before the session begins. Having to actually search for pertinent tracks in-game would be far too time consuming.