Sound Tracks

[Andor]

I like using music to enhance a game. But I'm relectant to try to plot out a session strictly enough to make burning a CD or making a tape practical. And using an existing one is disruptive when it goes to the next (out of theme) track.

It ocurred to me the other day the solution might be to put all my music on my computer, and make up custom playlists by theme or mood. IE: Tense music, Chase music, battle music, etc..

So I was wondering has anyone else has tried this, and how did it work out?

-Andor

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I'm too lazy, but I did put a lot of stuff on my CD changer, with a list of appropriate tracks.

I could just as easily have made a tape.

Still, the result: exactly what I wanted. The tycho drum group KODO provided some great "you're being hunted/ chased" music. Seconds after I put it on, one of the players said "...so I...wait...Do we hear that?" pointing at my stereo. "Yup. That's the hunters..."

Every player shifted into panic gear. Chaos & Order in equal amounts. Awesome evening.

So I say go for it!

I'm a music nut, so I have a BUNCH of stuff.

Typical stuff for me to use:

Movie soundtracks like the Conan & LoTR films, Clan of the Cave Bear, and Last Temptation of Christ.

Bands off the beaten path: Tangerine Dream, Vangelis, Andreas Wollenwieder, Glenn Branca...

Unusual "World beat" stuff: KODO, American Indian Dance Theater, gammelons, african/brazillian drum groups.

Music from unusual instruments: Japanese Flute, Indonesian "singing bowls", glassharmonica or crystal organ (http://www.keeslau.com/TomWaitsSupplement/Instruments/cristalbaschet.htm ), theramins.

 

[The Shaman]

For our recently-concluded tabletop Modern game, I'd usually put something electronic on - Orbital and Massive Attack mostly - though when they were exploring a Mayan ruin I played an album of South American music and nature sounds.

For our PbP game, I inserted a link to a traditional Foreign Legion marching song, and I plan to insert links to popular 1950s music at appropriate places in the game. I also tend to listen to Edith Piaf when I'm preparing for the game...

 

[Angel Tarragon]

The Blue Danube is always a nice piece for any non-horror genre background music.

 

[deltadave]

I've digitized my entire music collection and made a few playlists from all the music. When I get new stuff, I just drop tracks into the existing playlists. Then the playlists get dropped onto my jukebox and go with me to the game. This is much easier (and lighter) than a duffelbag full of cd's that I used to carry around.

 

[John Morrow]

It ocurred to me the other day the solution might be to put all my music on my computer, and make up custom playlists by theme or mood. IE: Tense music, Chase music, battle music, etc..

So I was wondering has anyone else has tried this, and how did it work out?

Yes, but a large pool of source soundtracks help. I have playlists for "Ambient", "Combat", "Creepy", "Exploration", "Travel", "Romance" and a few other themes and play them as needed. I also have some specialty music (e.g., the Orion Slave Girl dance music from the original Star Trek) in a seperate "one off" playlist. I provided more details in a recent music discussion thread here (including what soundtracks are used heavily in each category). Take a look for it if you are interested. It's important to find tracks that are as pure to one theme as possible. Unfortunately some soundtracks have a lot of tracks that jump between themes which makes them difficult to categorize or use like this.

 

[CZHorse]

I once based a campaign on the lyrics of Black Sabbath, and had planned to use cuts out of these songs at certain stages in the game. The plot points of the game were planned out, but minor details were to be filled in as we went. The downside was that we never finished the game, and took a break in play to play another game system. The idea works well with certain bands, but would not work well for all. Another band that we toyed doing this with was Rush.

 

[IronWolf]

The idea works well with certain bands, but would not work well for all. Another band that we toyed doing this with was Rush.

HHhmmmm, this almost sounds like it would work well with King Diamond's Them album.

 

[JediSoth]

I made custom playlists for Mood, Battle, Travel, City, and "source" music using a multitude of soundtracks (lessee....Conan the Barbarian, all three LotR, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Excalibur, First Knight, Braveheart, The Vikings, Krull, the True Dungeon soundtracks, the Eberron soundtrack, Jason and the Argonauts, Clash of the Titans, and I know I'm leaving out some).

It works pretty well. Sometimes you get just the mood you want, but you have to stay on top of your playlists or "Anvil of Crom" will start playing while you're describing a holy site.

I did the same thing for the Star Wars RPG, but I have yet to incorporate music from Revenge of the Sith.

JediSoth

 

[woodelf]

Typical stuff for me to use:

Movie soundtracks like the Conan & LoTR films, Clan of the Cave Bear, and Last Temptation of Christ.

Bands off the beaten path: Tangerine Dream, Vangelis, Andreas Wollenwieder, Glenn Branca...

Unusual "World beat" stuff: KODO, American Indian Dance Theater, gammelons, african/brazillian drum groups.

Music from unusual instruments: Japanese Flute, Indonesian "singing bowls", glassharmonica or crystal organ (http://www.keeslau.com/TomWaitsSupplement/Instruments/cristalbaschet.htm ), theramins.

Hmm.. I wonder what's "on the beaten path". Except for the movie soundtracks (and i've got Last Temptation...), you've pretty much described my music library. And, while i consider the "unusual instruments" category to be pretty weird stuff [which i love], i'd've thought world beat and new age/modern classical were fairly common genres, especially among gamers. And, with the exception of gamelon and Glenn Branca, i'd say those are pretty mainstream examples of those genres.

Anyway, not trying to start an argument or anything. Just thought it was funny to see you describe the music i grew up with described as less-well-known. Probably says more about my experiences and tastes than anything else.