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

[cmad1977]

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.

I need to get a little better with my music in Roll20.

—- is there a thread for Roll20 tips/ideas/etc on here?

 

[Prakriti]

I need to get a little better with my music in Roll20.

—- is there a thread for Roll20 tips/ideas/etc on here?

Not that I'm aware of, but Roll20 has its own forums with lots of discussion on the subject. The stickied "Stupid Roll20 tricks" in the Specific Use & Macros Questions forum is particularly good. And this video, which someone included in an LFG I viewed recently, includes some good tips (but might be too basic for experienced users): Five Roll20 Tips That Saved My Life.

 

[Weiley31]

Only during key moments/battles/Plot Beats.

For example in one campaign I'm musing about, Aerosmith's "Dream On" will play when the one MC and rival have their third encounter/plot related duel, while it's raining, before the big twist about the rival, over the course of the fight, is revealed.

 

[ccs]

All of my games are played live around a table with 3-5 other people.
1/2 down at the local shop, 1/2 at a buddies place.
Our ambient campaign noise starts with conversation between 4'6 people. At my buddies add in whatever his family is doing/watching on tv.
At the shop? Add in 2 other rpg tables, a table of MTG, & sometimes miniature wargaming. The game room is plenty spacious for all this (+ more), but it's still a large open space. So even when the other sounds aren't interfering you've still got plenty of background sound. Adding music/soup fx to my game there, loud enough to matter for the table, will just add noise for others.

But most importantly? I've got plenty to do as a DM without adding "curate play list" & acting as a DJ to the list.

 

[Charlaquin]

Ambient sounds and background music are not necessary for me at all, but they can GREATLY enhance the experience when present. They can also be distracting if not handled well, so it’s important to use them with care if you do use them. Keep it to the background, keep the volume low, and don’t pick songs that might take the players out of the game (I have seen this become a problem with music the players recognize from a movie or video game or whatever).

 

[BigJackBrass]

I have a great deal of difficulty following conversations when there is music playing, so for me it's not only an unnecessary addition it's an actively unhelpful one.

 

[OblivionDrive]

I'm definitely a fan. One of my formative memories was playing a 2e game with a group of people I had hooked up with through online local BBSes (ahhh there's a dated reference). The DM didn't go super over the top - he just played some appropriate nature sounds at the right time. I remember vividly a trip through a swampy area at night where that one little thing alone made the whole scenario just spring to life in my head. He might have played some softer soundtrack music during combat but I still remember the swamp crawl.

Flash forward like 30 years and I've tried since 3e to incorporate music and sound effects where I could. My current 5e group seems to enjoy it well enough, though it can occasionally make for amusing moments. For instance, if I throw on someone else's curated Spotify playlist on random, more than once has a song with a totally inappropriate vibe popped up at the wrong time to underscore the seriousness of a scene with a more uptempo ditty, which usually makes everyone laugh and roll their eyes as I skip to the next track. I keep saying this means I need to sit down and do my own hyper-specific playlists myself, but I just never find the time.

Beyond that, I use Syrinscape for ambiances that always pop up, like tavern noise, wagon journeys, woodland soundscapes and the like. That, combined with the Midnight Syndicate D&D album has gotten us through many a session. So much so, in fact, that "Skirmish" from that album was one of my top Spotify tracks of 2019 just because of how often it looped on repeat during combats.

 

[Beleriphon]

It depends, I don't pay for Spotify so every 30 minutes our ambient music will be interrupted by a VW Golf advertisement or whatever. That said, I find that appropriate music an be great. Hall of the Mountain King is superb for anyplace that has dwarves. There are several operas that work for music in a fight. As long as your players don't start singing "Kill the wabbit, kill the wabbit!"

I suppose that might be the bigger problem, not that the players know the classic music pieces, but they've associated the piece with the wrong thing.

 

[iserith]

I need to get a little better with my music in Roll20.

—- is there a thread for Roll20 tips/ideas/etc on here?

I've never looked. I tend to check out the Roll20 forums or Reddit for that.

 

[Eltab]

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)