Playing music while playing a RPG

[Wik]

Music is a huge distraction for me. I wind up paying more attention to it than the game. If a good song comes on, I have to kick in with trivia about the album - "Do you know this song was recorded the same time the beatles were recording Abbey Road? If you listen carefully, you can hear Paul cough in the background".

If it's a bad song, I have to kick in with my opinion on it. And if it's new, I have to listen to it, to figure out my opinion... and then share it with the rest of the group.

I'm kind of exaggerating here, but it's sort of true. Music is a very big part of my life - much larger than, say, gaming. I could live a perfectly happy life without another game of D&D. But I couldn't go a week without music.

So, when I'm sitting at a table, the music takes a higher priority. And that takes me out of the game.

 

[Dioltach]

I've tried it: soundtracks from Conan, The Hunt for Red October, Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings. On the whole, though, unless you can really incorporate it into the game it's pretty much a waste of time and a distraction, in my experience. And I don't have the time or energy to go to that kind of effort.

Still, if I could do it as well as the soundtrack from Planescape: Torment, I'd be a happy camper.

 

[Mark CMG]

The Auld Grump

*EDIT* ByronD on these forums turned me onto 99 Darkest Pieces of Classical Music for background music. Now available from Amazon for the low, low, low price of $2.49 (Hey, 99 pieces of really good music for less than three bucks? You really can't go wrong! )

I owe ByronD a big thanks for that.

I owe you both, then. I'm listening to it now while I mess with an upcoming adventure. I think it is making the adventure more deadly and I disavow any part in the TPK that will surely follow.

 

[reiku_uk]

I use music all the time in my campaigns, but I run them via my laptop so it's quite easy. I have BGM for all my towns and villages, most areas have themed music and some of the main characters have a signature song that gets the players smiling when they hear it, as they know s/he's coming. I currently use Final Fantasy soundtracks (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, some of the Distant Worlds soundtracks and the Piano Collections have some interesting tracks as well), the World of Warcraft soundtracks (some great orchestral pieces on there) and any random movie soundtracks I have lying around. Just to note, the Beyong Good and Evil HD soundtrack went up for free today, another nice set of tunes to use! Google it!

 

[CorditeJimmy]

I've used music quite heavily before and found there are three things it generally needs in order to work.

1) No vocals. Almost without exception vocals on a track make it distracting and intrusive, whilst instrumental pieces fit nicely in the background.

2) Loops well. Sometimes scenes drag on and you need pieces on your play list that'll loop through without sounding weird or getting annoying.

3) Not too familiar. The problem with using soundtracks from Final Fantasy, or WoW or Gladiator or whatever is that then people start thinking/talking about those.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5uBX8HNqgg"]Leyland Kirby[/ame] Leyland Kirby does very good haunting, minimalist pieces that are good for setting things to.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znJGiSqfbas"]Bohren Und Der Club Of Gore[/ame] Bohren Und Der Club Of Gore do excellent German noir jazz. It's pretty much the ideal thing for any sort of detective game.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

I owe you both, then. I'm listening to it now while I mess with an upcoming adventure. I think it is making the adventure more deadly and I disavow any part in the TPK that will surely follow.

It seems polite to continue sharing it - I have gotten much more than my money's worth out of the collection. I think of it as paying forward, and I suspect that some of those I have told about the album have told others, as I have done since ByronD made his post.

The Auld Grump

 

[NewJeffCT]

I had asked about creepy atmosphere music on here a few months back - got some good advice in that threat. One important thing was to pick background music, and no famous movie themes (Jaws, the Exorcist, etc) as a famous theme will be distracting.

Nox Arcana was a good suggestion for creepiness, as well as some stuff from Thief: Deadly Shadows.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiUnoY_mf9s]YouTube - Thief Deadly Shadows OST - The Blue Heron Inn[/ame]