Atmospheric Music [Archive] - Wizards Community

Atmospheric Music [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
RavenoftheCrags
07-21-05, 02:50 AM Does anybody play music during sessions to heighten the atmosphere? I occasionally play music from DnD PC games such as the Throne of Baal theme.
Nuntius128
07-21-05, 02:59 AM It really helps me out to pick a piece of music and listen to it, even repeatedly, while making my character, then listening to that piece before gameplay to get the feeling fresh in my mind.

For example, and I understand this to be quite popular amongst gamers, Liberi Fatali from the Final Fantasy 8 soundtrack is what I used while making my Aasimar Paladin, and Nine Inch Nails' Becoming is what I used for my Human Sorceror/Dragon Disciple.

I generally try to veer away from songs with lyrics, at least English ones, because it starts to feel like the emphasis is more lyrical than musical.
Silais
07-21-05, 04:02 AM I generally try to veer away from songs with lyrics, at least English ones, because it starts to feel like the emphasis is more lyrical than musical.

I couldn't agree more.

Over the while I've been DMing I've collected many music tracks (without lyrics) that are great for D&D, then what I did was organize them by theme: Battle, Boss, Overland, Dungeon, Misc. I then use my album feature on my sound system to switch between themes based on whats going on, it's great cause it avoids searchin for a fiting track as the machine does that randomly from the given album.

Some Idea's

Neverwinter nights music (you need a line in recording program.)
Any other Bioware D&D themed product
Games like command and conqure (usualy contain at least one good omonus sound track)
Pirates of the caribien
Final fantasy battle themes (can download of file share)
Mechwarrior music (hey I played the old classics, MERCWIN.exe all the way!)
Sim city 4 (has a couple of good overland and temple tracks)

Just to re-itorate Nuntius128's point.
Music with lyrics tends to draw the music out of the background. The idea of this music is to be background noice used to set the mood. Not to actualy be listened to.

And if your straped for adventure ideas (i assume your a DM) plug in some peice of music (mabey even with lyrics) and see where your mind takes you. One of my favoirte adventures I wrote while listening to Godsmack's "Vodoo", and Evanecence's "wake me up inside" on the radio.

One important point to remember is, Never let switching music distract you from the game for more than 5 seconds, your players ADD will have kicked in by then.
EnvyHax
07-21-05, 04:16 AM A band I recommend if you can get a hold of their music without the lyrics in is Tool.

To make Neverwinter Nights music readable, just rename it with a .mp3 extension, heh.
Silver_Fox
07-21-05, 08:24 AM You can never go wrong with Apex Twin in a dungeon crawl or weird and scarry place.
Just having it in the background can drive a man insane.
dongol
07-21-05, 09:12 AM I would recommend looking at this thread: http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=457837

There are a lot of good ideas in there.

Hope that helps. :)
Reivas Genocai
07-21-05, 09:26 AM You can never go wrong with Apex Twin in a dungeon crawl or weird and scarry place.
Just having it in the background can drive a man insane.

Wholeheartedly agree aphex twin is quite interesting.
Six interesting bands that you probably would not expect to be good or match up with D&D are

Borknagar
Dark Tranquility
Dimmu Borgir
Old Man's Child
Bal-Sagoth
Vintersorg

This combination can make it quite interesting, and this is all metal, last two are folk metal and the first four are black metal. These are all interesting for battling and stuff like that, amazing boss music.
Silais
07-21-05, 06:46 PM To make Neverwinter Nights music readable, just rename it with a .mp3 extension, heh.

I can't believe i never thought of that ARGGGGGGGGGGG...
:banghead:
scott644
07-21-05, 07:30 PM I can't do the music thing. Of the two groups I game with, one has a couple with young kids and we need to keep music off so they can listen for trouble and intervene if necessary (usually an amusing distraction and great comic relief when it happens). The other group has people that want their music so loud you're distracted and can't hear yourself think, meaning you don't dare even suggest it.
Vacerious
07-21-05, 07:42 PM yea, i like to use music to set the mood. a little barry white...some merlot...
wait, what were we talking about again?
Bruunwald
07-21-05, 08:04 PM Mostly I play with the music off. I'm a very musical person and will be distracted from DMing by it. When the players want it, I have mixes of Conan the Barbarian (my favorite), The Lord of the Rings CDs, some actual Celtic CDs and even a little music of my own.

When I'm writing I often have the television on. But for music, I often go with stuff that seems to have helped me be creative with past adventures: Early 80's metal, like Iron Maiden, new agey stuff like Loreena McKennitt and the aforementioned Conan.

Man, Basil Poledouris's soundtrack to that film is amazing. Music is the soul of any film. Maybe that's why that movie still matters to me after all these years. The sequel sucked, though.
da beast
07-22-05, 12:49 AM I liked the music from FF7 and thought some of it might be great for specific moments (like the aries theme for dramatic moments)
Drath'ri
07-22-05, 02:30 AM Well i went out and bought the D&D soundtrack from Midnight Syndicate... (its an awesome soundtrack that fits into almost any situation) and i use the Final Fantasy 7 music as well. yes the entire four disc soundtrack of final fantasy 7 is what i use, that fits well with any situation as well... i always have used music.... even like if my players were adventuring and it began to rain in the game i'd switch to the nature soundtrack and put on the Rain track... my players love it...

and btw... keep away from things with lyrics... english ones anyway because your players will start paying more attention to the song then the game
LCD2YOU
07-22-05, 08:03 AM My Wizard's personality and mannerisms starting out was from my listening to the radio. Sade's "Smooth Operator" came on and I knew I had a winner. He was NE at 1st level but "trying to be good". The baggage and mannerisms I gave him before we started playing made it a real interesting experience.

My Aristocrat/Fighter's personality came from the "Imperial March" that was on the TV. My girls were watching the "Star Wars" DvDs and that song just happened to come on. So my fighter was made to be the archtypical soldier.

As for my campaigns, Queen's "Another one bites the dust" was turned into a complex web of conflicting loyalties and bloody double-crossings. It even set up PC vs PC conflicts, in game, which as I had mature players led to some of the best RPing I've seen.
digoraccoon
07-22-05, 08:11 AM Occasionally I use background music. My favorite selections are from "Castlevania Symphony of the Night". Nice collection of creepy castle and dungeon music.

I've also used the sound tracks of the game "Suikoden" on rare occasion. Suikoden has interesting tunes for villages and towns.
Silais
07-24-05, 12:42 AM Well i went out and bought the D&D soundtrack from Midnight Syndicate...

Is that something that would be common in many music stores? or do I need to go to a specailty store?
Taladel
07-24-05, 01:32 AM Wholeheartedly agree aphex twin is quite interesting.
Six interesting bands that you probably would not expect to be good or match up with D&D are

Borknagar
Dark Tranquility
Dimmu Borgir
Old Man's Child
Bal-Sagoth
Vintersorg

This combination can make it quite interesting, and this is all metal, last two are folk metal and the first four are black metal. These are all interesting for battling and stuff like that, amazing boss music.

Funny story about Dimmu Borgir. I was DMing a campaign with 4 players (Average character level ~ 16). They were on a regular dungeon crawling mission to get rid of some demons that have infested the basement of the dwarven cave. They get to the final battle against 3 Bearded Devils (Barbazus) and a Barbed Devil (Hamatula).

All this time, my laptop is playing some music at random. I hear this, in a growly voice:

I'm on the devil's paaaaaaaatttttttttttttttthhhhhhh..... (The opening line to Dimmu Borgir's "Devil's Path")

I don't show any emotion to my players, but I'm thinking 'This is the perfect song!'

It was really awesome.
da beast
07-24-05, 01:46 AM Lots of good stories
Muddball
07-24-05, 04:01 PM on the labtop i was useing (from one of the players) i had the creapy music playing when they were searching the dragon's layer. I had the dragon hidden, and they prolly made close to 15 spot and listen checks before i finaly sprung the dragon on them. the low, creapy tones of the song really started to get to the players fast, and they were almost releaved when the dragon finaly attacked.
TheAwersome
07-24-05, 06:25 PM There's a lot of music that I would like to use, but here's the problem. If you are going to use music, I find you need to be running it on either ur laptop, or an iPod hooked up to speakers. Using CDs is too distracting, takes too long, and takes away from the session I find.

I tried using a CD of NWN battles once.... once the players start swaying to the beat, you know somethings wrong lol.

But yeah, if you're running most of your session off a laptop w/ albums of different situations, you can get some rokkin' mood changes.

Lol, I also find that Liberi Fatali is great. It, and the music from the Fable (Xbox game) website are what got me wanting to play music at our sessions.
But CDs are just too hard for me too use, take too long. I already said that, but it's true. Laptop/mp3 player definately needed.
lonesoldier
07-24-05, 07:12 PM My friend has a nice music setup in his den, which where we play. So I can bring a CD loaded with mp3s, make sure you have a list of what music for when and a remote so you can change as needed.

IE:
Track 1 - Midnight Graveyard
Track 2 - Dragon
Track 3 - Wenches!
etc

Play the music very lightly, you do not want to have to have to raise your voice to be heard.
Radijs
07-24-05, 07:29 PM Whenever my players face undead I play Dance Macabre by Saent saens.
Wether its a good idea or not I do not know but I play it anyway because I like the music.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
RavenoftheCrags 07-21-05, 02:50 AM	Does anybody play music during sessions to heighten the atmosphere? I occasionally play music from DnD PC games such as the Throne of Baal theme.
Nuntius128 07-21-05, 02:59 AM	It really helps me out to pick a piece of music and listen to it, even repeatedly, while making my character, then listening to that piece before gameplay to get the feeling fresh in my mind. For example, and I understand this to be quite popular amongst gamers, Liberi Fatali from the Final Fantasy 8 soundtrack is what I used while making my Aasimar Paladin, and Nine Inch Nails' Becoming is what I used for my Human Sorceror/Dragon Disciple. I generally try to veer away from songs with lyrics, at least English ones, because it starts to feel like the emphasis is more lyrical than musical.
Silais 07-21-05, 04:02 AM	I generally try to veer away from songs with lyrics, at least English ones, because it starts to feel like the emphasis is more lyrical than musical. I couldn't agree more. Over the while I've been DMing I've collected many music tracks (without lyrics) that are great for D&D, then what I did was organize them by theme: Battle, Boss, Overland, Dungeon, Misc. I then use my album feature on my sound system to switch between themes based on whats going on, it's great cause it avoids searchin for a fiting track as the machine does that randomly from the given album. Some Idea's Neverwinter nights music (you need a line in recording program.) Any other Bioware D&D themed product Games like command and conqure (usualy contain at least one good omonus sound track) Pirates of the caribien Final fantasy battle themes (can download of file share) Mechwarrior music (hey I played the old classics, MERCWIN.exe all the way!) Sim city 4 (has a couple of good overland and temple tracks) Just to re-itorate Nuntius128's point. Music with lyrics tends to draw the music out of the background. The idea of this music is to be background noice used to set the mood. Not to actualy be listened to. And if your straped for adventure ideas (i assume your a DM) plug in some peice of music (mabey even with lyrics) and see where your mind takes you. One of my favoirte adventures I wrote while listening to Godsmack's "Vodoo", and Evanecence's "wake me up inside" on the radio. One important point to remember is, Never let switching music distract you from the game for more than 5 seconds, your players ADD will have kicked in by then.
EnvyHax 07-21-05, 04:16 AM	A band I recommend if you can get a hold of their music without the lyrics in is Tool. To make Neverwinter Nights music readable, just rename it with a .mp3 extension, heh.
Silver_Fox 07-21-05, 08:24 AM	You can never go wrong with Apex Twin in a dungeon crawl or weird and scarry place. Just having it in the background can drive a man insane.
dongol 07-21-05, 09:12 AM	I would recommend looking at this thread: http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=457837 There are a lot of good ideas in there. Hope that helps. :)
Reivas Genocai 07-21-05, 09:26 AM	You can never go wrong with Apex Twin in a dungeon crawl or weird and scarry place. Just having it in the background can drive a man insane. Wholeheartedly agree aphex twin is quite interesting. Six interesting bands that you probably would not expect to be good or match up with D&D are Borknagar Dark Tranquility Dimmu Borgir Old Man's Child Bal-Sagoth Vintersorg This combination can make it quite interesting, and this is all metal, last two are folk metal and the first four are black metal. These are all interesting for battling and stuff like that, amazing boss music.
Silais 07-21-05, 06:46 PM	To make Neverwinter Nights music readable, just rename it with a .mp3 extension, heh. I can't believe i never thought of that ARGGGGGGGGGGG... :banghead:
scott644 07-21-05, 07:30 PM	I can't do the music thing. Of the two groups I game with, one has a couple with young kids and we need to keep music off so they can listen for trouble and intervene if necessary (usually an amusing distraction and great comic relief when it happens). The other group has people that want their music so loud you're distracted and can't hear yourself think, meaning you don't dare even suggest it.
Vacerious 07-21-05, 07:42 PM	yea, i like to use music to set the mood. a little barry white...some merlot... wait, what were we talking about again?
Bruunwald 07-21-05, 08:04 PM	Mostly I play with the music off. I'm a very musical person and will be distracted from DMing by it. When the players want it, I have mixes of Conan the Barbarian (my favorite), The Lord of the Rings CDs, some actual Celtic CDs and even a little music of my own. When I'm writing I often have the television on. But for music, I often go with stuff that seems to have helped me be creative with past adventures: Early 80's metal, like Iron Maiden, new agey stuff like Loreena McKennitt and the aforementioned Conan. Man, Basil Poledouris's soundtrack to that film is amazing. Music is the soul of any film. Maybe that's why that movie still matters to me after all these years. The sequel sucked, though.
da beast 07-22-05, 12:49 AM	I liked the music from FF7 and thought some of it might be great for specific moments (like the aries theme for dramatic moments)
Drath'ri 07-22-05, 02:30 AM	Well i went out and bought the D&D soundtrack from Midnight Syndicate... (its an awesome soundtrack that fits into almost any situation) and i use the Final Fantasy 7 music as well. yes the entire four disc soundtrack of final fantasy 7 is what i use, that fits well with any situation as well... i always have used music.... even like if my players were adventuring and it began to rain in the game i'd switch to the nature soundtrack and put on the Rain track... my players love it... and btw... keep away from things with lyrics... english ones anyway because your players will start paying more attention to the song then the game
LCD2YOU 07-22-05, 08:03 AM	My Wizard's personality and mannerisms starting out was from my listening to the radio. Sade's "Smooth Operator" came on and I knew I had a winner. He was NE at 1st level but "trying to be good". The baggage and mannerisms I gave him before we started playing made it a real interesting experience. My Aristocrat/Fighter's personality came from the "Imperial March" that was on the TV. My girls were watching the "Star Wars" DvDs and that song just happened to come on. So my fighter was made to be the archtypical soldier. As for my campaigns, Queen's "Another one bites the dust" was turned into a complex web of conflicting loyalties and bloody double-crossings. It even set up PC vs PC conflicts, in game, which as I had mature players led to some of the best RPing I've seen.
digoraccoon 07-22-05, 08:11 AM	Occasionally I use background music. My favorite selections are from "Castlevania Symphony of the Night". Nice collection of creepy castle and dungeon music. I've also used the sound tracks of the game "Suikoden" on rare occasion. Suikoden has interesting tunes for villages and towns.
Silais 07-24-05, 12:42 AM	Well i went out and bought the D&D soundtrack from Midnight Syndicate... Is that something that would be common in many music stores? or do I need to go to a specailty store?
Taladel 07-24-05, 01:32 AM	Wholeheartedly agree aphex twin is quite interesting. Six interesting bands that you probably would not expect to be good or match up with D&D are Borknagar Dark Tranquility Dimmu Borgir Old Man's Child Bal-Sagoth Vintersorg This combination can make it quite interesting, and this is all metal, last two are folk metal and the first four are black metal. These are all interesting for battling and stuff like that, amazing boss music. Funny story about Dimmu Borgir. I was DMing a campaign with 4 players (Average character level ~ 16). They were on a regular dungeon crawling mission to get rid of some demons that have infested the basement of the dwarven cave. They get to the final battle against 3 Bearded Devils (Barbazus) and a Barbed Devil (Hamatula). All this time, my laptop is playing some music at random. I hear this, in a growly voice: I'm on the devil's paaaaaaaatttttttttttttttthhhhhhh..... (The opening line to Dimmu Borgir's "Devil's Path") I don't show any emotion to my players, but I'm thinking 'This is the perfect song!' It was really awesome.
da beast 07-24-05, 01:46 AM	Lots of good stories
Muddball 07-24-05, 04:01 PM	on the labtop i was useing (from one of the players) i had the creapy music playing when they were searching the dragon's layer. I had the dragon hidden, and they prolly made close to 15 spot and listen checks before i finaly sprung the dragon on them. the low, creapy tones of the song really started to get to the players fast, and they were almost releaved when the dragon finaly attacked.
TheAwersome 07-24-05, 06:25 PM	There's a lot of music that I would like to use, but here's the problem. If you are going to use music, I find you need to be running it on either ur laptop, or an iPod hooked up to speakers. Using CDs is too distracting, takes too long, and takes away from the session I find. I tried using a CD of NWN battles once.... once the players start swaying to the beat, you know somethings wrong lol. But yeah, if you're running most of your session off a laptop w/ albums of different situations, you can get some rokkin' mood changes. Lol, I also find that Liberi Fatali is great. It, and the music from the Fable (Xbox game) website are what got me wanting to play music at our sessions. But CDs are just too hard for me too use, take too long. I already said that, but it's true. Laptop/mp3 player definately needed.
lonesoldier 07-24-05, 07:12 PM	My friend has a nice music setup in his den, which where we play. So I can bring a CD loaded with mp3s, make sure you have a list of what music for when and a remote so you can change as needed. IE: Track 1 - Midnight Graveyard Track 2 - Dragon Track 3 - Wenches! etc Play the music very lightly, you do not want to have to have to raise your voice to be heard.
Radijs 07-24-05, 07:29 PM	Whenever my players face undead I play Dance Macabre by Saent saens. Wether its a good idea or not I do not know but I play it anyway because I like the music.