Using Music to enhance the Mood

[Spibb]

When I DM, I sometimes use music to enhance the setting the characters are in. I haven't done it much though so I'm not sure if its a useful tool or just a distraction yet. Has anyone had substantial experience with this? Does it make the game more fun?

Also, if it does help, what are some good sound tracks to use?

 

[Erudite Frog]

I love adding music or when my dm adds music. It depends on the campaign but it usually helps lot when the dm is describing scenes.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

You might want to check out Mark CMG's excellent thread: http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/174448-game-related-music-threads-links.html

 

[Will Doyle]

I always use music - but I keep it low, and avoid anything with lyrics. Video game soundtracks are good, especially so if your players haven't played them. At the moment, I'm using the Witcher OST for King of the Trollhaunt Warrens, and it's perfect.

 

[Nemesis Destiny]

I am currently running a viking-themed campaign and have been using viking and folk metal as background. It's fine as long as you keep it low. The lyric issue that would normally pose a problem doesn't matter here, as most of it is in languages we don't understand, which makes it less distracting.

I'd say group reaction is split on it - most of us at least like metal, but we have one 'country boy' and another who likes mostly classical, so I don't imagine it helps them much, but they don't complain either.

 

[Quickleaf]

When I DM, I sometimes use music to enhance the setting the characters are in. I haven't done it much though so I'm not sure if its a useful tool or just a distraction yet. Has anyone had substantial experience with this? Does it make the game more fun?

Also, if it does help, what are some good sound tracks to use?

Dannyalcatraz beat me to it! I also recommendWelcome to Syrinscape | Syrinscape, which is a continuous multi-track non-repetitive ambient sound program which you can lay music tracks onto. Benjamin frequents these boards and designed it with RPGs in mind. He's got some cool sound libraries for free. If you like his software so consider donating, he's put a heap of work into it.

 

[UnknownAtThisTime]

This is one of those things that is very "person specific" and must therefore be handled judiciously.

While I personally would love a light soundtrack, I think evey other player in my game would range somewhere between distracted an annoyed.

 

[delericho]

When I DM, I sometimes use music to enhance the setting the characters are in. I haven't done it much though so I'm not sure if its a useful tool or just a distraction yet. Has anyone had substantial experience with this? Does it make the game more fun?

We usually have some music on in the background, but don't generally bother with specific cues for specific events or characters.

Some general advice:

- Keep the volume low. Basically, if you're having problems talking over the music, or anyone is having problems hearing, it's too loud.

- Avoid anything with lyrics. Again, those are generally quite distracting.

- Avoid anything too familiar. The "Star Wars" sountracks are great, as are the themes from "Indiana Jones", Bond, and many other famous pieces of music. But they're very tightly tied to the particular context from the movies, so they really don't work for gaming. Except for the appropriate game, of course!

Also, if it does help, what are some good sound tracks to use?

I've found that "The Da Vinci Code" soundtrack is surprisingly excellent.

Also, if you find yourself running Star Wars (and only if you find yourself running Star Wars, I cannot recommend the soundtrack from the "Clone Wars" movie highly enough. It is familiar enough to be immediately recognisable, while at the same time being different enough to avoid any contextual baggage.

 

[Kzach]

I tried it for a few sessions and I've played in several other sessions and groups that used it. After experiencing it and giving it a pretty solid chance, my ultimate decision is that it's intrusive, annoying and distracting.

 

[Lindeloef]

I personally don't need to hear music while playing. Often it just annoys me, especially when played in a loop... for an hour or longer.

There are moments music can really help the scene but these are rare.

I prefer background noise, like rain or waves if they fit in.