Background music in games [Archive] - Wizards Community

Background music in games [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Michikawa
10-14-05, 04:03 PM I'm interested in hearing how many of you use background music in games? Our gaming group uses a lot - there's almost constant background music going on, usually with volume so low that it won't distract the gaming but when there's not much going on you get into the right mood when instead of silence you hear something which enhances the atmosphere. Also in special situations a good choice of song and raised volume can really bring lots of feeling to the game itself. It makes the whole gaming experience a more movie-like, which usually is not a bad thing at all.

Of course, bad choice in music can totally ruin the experience also, so you have to be careful.

And what music do you use if you use it? Our group mainly uses movie soundtracks, different orchestral music, instrumental electronic music, of course depending on the setting.

I'm a hobbyist composer, fiddling around in my home studio and lately I've had this project to create my own soundtracks. I offer the material freely on the net and many DMs have found the material to be very useful. If you're looking for more music for your games, feel free to browse my projects, you can find the links in my signature.

Good luck with your games and make use of music also!

-Matti
Thynass
10-14-05, 04:14 PM I don't use music, but there's enough distractions in my games as it is, and the atmosphere gets trampled on by constant chatter and in-fighting. Still, I have considered playing Run Run by The Coral for the occassional encounter...
imperialjunkie
10-14-05, 04:22 PM I do. All three Lord of the Rings soundtracks and the Eberron CD. I'm also planning on adding Braveheart, Conan the Barbarian, and a number of other movie soundtracks.
LugWrench
10-14-05, 05:56 PM Midnight Syndicate does some very good 'atmosphere' music. Its mainly insturmental, so you dont have to worry about combats turning into a sing-along. Movie soundtracks can be useful as well. I scared my players with the intro music to 'Resident Evil' when they were checking out some ruins, once, and followed it up with Midnight Syndicate's "Haunted Nursery".
Michikawa
10-15-05, 02:20 AM In one horror game we used Shinjuku Thief's album The Witch Hammer, which is sort of "fantasy-horror-industrial" album. The music was so intense that when the last 20 minutes of the game began and the DM chose the right song for the climax, my friend had to keep his eyes closed for the whole time, although he is normally even quite a brave guy. After that game he said that he never wants to hear Shinjuku Thief again :)
Starlight Knight
10-15-05, 03:05 AM I don't like to use it all the time. But I do occasionally throw some in. I'll never forget the first time I had a party walk into a cemetery and I started playing a Midnight Syndicate CD. When you throw surprises like that in it can make a great game. I can't what to see what they are going to do when I surprise them for Halloween. ;)
Fixxxer
10-15-05, 03:29 AM CLICK HERE (http://www.dndarchive.com/music_reviews.html)
Fates_Jester
10-15-05, 04:17 AM The Last of the Mohicans soundtrack is good. It has a slightly Celtic feel to it, rousing battle standards, quiet interludes...good stuff Maynard.
Malice Duskblade
10-15-05, 09:15 AM I've posted these on a LOT of forums, but here we go again.

Check your computer.

I've got a five and a half hour soundtrack from the games I play. Use your search feature and look for music files. Listen to them, and pick the ones that fit. A part of my collection comes from Neverwinter Nights, X2, Age of Mythology, Doom 3, The Temple of Elemental Evil and Stronghold 2.
JD
10-15-05, 02:24 PM I can highly recommend the Vagrant Story soundtrack, which you can find dirt cheap on eBay. The various boss themes are great fast-paced pieces of battle music, but there's also a great number of atmospheric pieces. Best six quid I ever spent. :)
talkingbeatles
10-15-05, 02:45 PM Our group uses music. My friend always brings his laptop and we've occasionally listene to videogame music during play. We have battle music, boss music, town music, and travel music. I think it really adds to the game.
Steel Cobra
10-15-05, 03:11 PM I am still debating weither to put music in it most of my PCs want music but there is one sometimes 2 of them that pay attention to the music and sing it no matter how low it is I mean its great and IJ would love to use it but Im not sure......Well I do think music helps and by the way may I suggest thaT nightwish makes great D&D music.

-Steel
Ealrion
10-15-05, 04:25 PM the gladiator soundtrack is awesome for games
TheChilliGod
10-15-05, 06:24 PM I tend to experiment with my music during the different stages of adventuring: battle, BIG battle, exploring, town, suspense... and so on. Most of the time, the music didn't really go down very well with the players, except for the recent fight against the BBEG. I decided one particular tune from Chrono Cross (the game) would be nice, and it was. The players took over my computer for a while ("I've got secret DM stuff in it, ya fools!") and changed the tune to something from Final Fantasy 9, then it switched to something from the Matrix for the remainder of the battle. After it, I couldn't resist playing MC Hammer's 'Can't touch this' song, because the BBEG got really owned.

In my friend's campaign once, he decided the perfect journeying song was that one from the Muppets. (the one that goes, "Bandanana Do doo dodo do") I have nightmares from that.
polt
10-15-05, 08:28 PM Some generic background music for when we are just playing (like Lotr, Diablo, Midnight Syndikate, Clannad, stuff like that). Some times if I want to capture a specific mude, I find some music that seems fitting.

For combat I mainly use Blind Guardian.
FFTGeist
10-16-05, 12:21 AM Well in the sessions when i use battle music (any session in the computer room) it has gone over extremely well! I use an assortment of videogame music, mainly from games i know we have all played.

Final Fantasy 7 works really well. When they hear the boss music they all perk up and realize that they are in for some fun. :)

Generic battle music from any game works really well for fight scenes.

For traveling or other generic tasks some mellow LoTR style music does wonders.

I hope that helped :)
Andrewinator
10-16-05, 12:47 AM I compiled a playlist of Temple of Elemental Evil & NWN background music onto my iPod. I like these tracks because they have a uniform mood, no climaz that won't correspond to in-ga,e events. I attach my iPod to my seakers and there we are.

I tend to turn it off when I'm explainging something that may take a while, or when the players are in a part that doesn't have a mood affiliated with one of the 22 tracks I have on the iPod.
KeltenVonRatzenberger
10-16-05, 04:11 AM I always have some low background music going, usually Midnight Syndicate, movie soundtracks (like LoTR, Conan, Robin Hood), or music from things like DAoC, WoW, And various other RPGs. The music doesn't always match the scene but when everyone is into the game nobody notices the music.
mrshupizdumaterinu
10-16-05, 05:08 AM I use music in my games. I make an audio CD and chose each track with a scene, or a character, or a place in mind. Most tracks are either classical music or specific parts of various movie/game soundtracks, and there are as few songs ith lyrics as possible. And Nick Cave's Red Right Hand makes an exellent theme for the BBEG.
Leap_UK
10-16-05, 05:18 AM I like sound effects but they have to be situation specific....such as

Pub sounds (a la Neverwinter Nights, or Baldur's Gate when you go in the pubs)

Weather sounds (rain, wind, thunder)

Landscape sounds (tree's creaking, birds singing, general town noise (people walking, horses, folks chattering, buskers, beggars)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Michikawa 10-14-05, 04:03 PM	I'm interested in hearing how many of you use background music in games? Our gaming group uses a lot - there's almost constant background music going on, usually with volume so low that it won't distract the gaming but when there's not much going on you get into the right mood when instead of silence you hear something which enhances the atmosphere. Also in special situations a good choice of song and raised volume can really bring lots of feeling to the game itself. It makes the whole gaming experience a more movie-like, which usually is not a bad thing at all. Of course, bad choice in music can totally ruin the experience also, so you have to be careful. And what music do you use if you use it? Our group mainly uses movie soundtracks, different orchestral music, instrumental electronic music, of course depending on the setting. I'm a hobbyist composer, fiddling around in my home studio and lately I've had this project to create my own soundtracks. I offer the material freely on the net and many DMs have found the material to be very useful. If you're looking for more music for your games, feel free to browse my projects, you can find the links in my signature. Good luck with your games and make use of music also! -Matti
Thynass 10-14-05, 04:14 PM	I don't use music, but there's enough distractions in my games as it is, and the atmosphere gets trampled on by constant chatter and in-fighting. Still, I have considered playing Run Run by The Coral for the occassional encounter...
imperialjunkie 10-14-05, 04:22 PM	I do. All three Lord of the Rings soundtracks and the Eberron CD. I'm also planning on adding Braveheart, Conan the Barbarian, and a number of other movie soundtracks.
LugWrench 10-14-05, 05:56 PM	Midnight Syndicate does some very good 'atmosphere' music. Its mainly insturmental, so you dont have to worry about combats turning into a sing-along. Movie soundtracks can be useful as well. I scared my players with the intro music to 'Resident Evil' when they were checking out some ruins, once, and followed it up with Midnight Syndicate's "Haunted Nursery".
Michikawa 10-15-05, 02:20 AM	In one horror game we used Shinjuku Thief's album The Witch Hammer, which is sort of "fantasy-horror-industrial" album. The music was so intense that when the last 20 minutes of the game began and the DM chose the right song for the climax, my friend had to keep his eyes closed for the whole time, although he is normally even quite a brave guy. After that game he said that he never wants to hear Shinjuku Thief again :)
Starlight Knight 10-15-05, 03:05 AM	I don't like to use it all the time. But I do occasionally throw some in. I'll never forget the first time I had a party walk into a cemetery and I started playing a Midnight Syndicate CD. When you throw surprises like that in it can make a great game. I can't what to see what they are going to do when I surprise them for Halloween. ;)
Fixxxer 10-15-05, 03:29 AM	CLICK HERE (http://www.dndarchive.com/music_reviews.html)
Fates_Jester 10-15-05, 04:17 AM	The Last of the Mohicans soundtrack is good. It has a slightly Celtic feel to it, rousing battle standards, quiet interludes...good stuff Maynard.
Malice Duskblade 10-15-05, 09:15 AM	I've posted these on a LOT of forums, but here we go again. Check your computer. I've got a five and a half hour soundtrack from the games I play. Use your search feature and look for music files. Listen to them, and pick the ones that fit. A part of my collection comes from Neverwinter Nights, X2, Age of Mythology, Doom 3, The Temple of Elemental Evil and Stronghold 2.
JD 10-15-05, 02:24 PM	I can highly recommend the Vagrant Story soundtrack, which you can find dirt cheap on eBay. The various boss themes are great fast-paced pieces of battle music, but there's also a great number of atmospheric pieces. Best six quid I ever spent. :)
talkingbeatles 10-15-05, 02:45 PM	Our group uses music. My friend always brings his laptop and we've occasionally listene to videogame music during play. We have battle music, boss music, town music, and travel music. I think it really adds to the game.
Steel Cobra 10-15-05, 03:11 PM	I am still debating weither to put music in it most of my PCs want music but there is one sometimes 2 of them that pay attention to the music and sing it no matter how low it is I mean its great and IJ would love to use it but Im not sure......Well I do think music helps and by the way may I suggest thaT nightwish makes great D&D music. -Steel
Ealrion 10-15-05, 04:25 PM	the gladiator soundtrack is awesome for games
TheChilliGod 10-15-05, 06:24 PM	I tend to experiment with my music during the different stages of adventuring: battle, BIG battle, exploring, town, suspense... and so on. Most of the time, the music didn't really go down very well with the players, except for the recent fight against the BBEG. I decided one particular tune from Chrono Cross (the game) would be nice, and it was. The players took over my computer for a while ("I've got secret DM stuff in it, ya fools!") and changed the tune to something from Final Fantasy 9, then it switched to something from the Matrix for the remainder of the battle. After it, I couldn't resist playing MC Hammer's 'Can't touch this' song, because the BBEG got really owned. In my friend's campaign once, he decided the perfect journeying song was that one from the Muppets. (the one that goes, "Bandanana Do doo dodo do") I have nightmares from that.
polt 10-15-05, 08:28 PM	Some generic background music for when we are just playing (like Lotr, Diablo, Midnight Syndikate, Clannad, stuff like that). Some times if I want to capture a specific mude, I find some music that seems fitting. For combat I mainly use Blind Guardian.
FFTGeist 10-16-05, 12:21 AM	Well in the sessions when i use battle music (any session in the computer room) it has gone over extremely well! I use an assortment of videogame music, mainly from games i know we have all played. Final Fantasy 7 works really well. When they hear the boss music they all perk up and realize that they are in for some fun. :) Generic battle music from any game works really well for fight scenes. For traveling or other generic tasks some mellow LoTR style music does wonders. I hope that helped :)
Andrewinator 10-16-05, 12:47 AM	I compiled a playlist of Temple of Elemental Evil & NWN background music onto my iPod. I like these tracks because they have a uniform mood, no climaz that won't correspond to in-ga,e events. I attach my iPod to my seakers and there we are. I tend to turn it off when I'm explainging something that may take a while, or when the players are in a part that doesn't have a mood affiliated with one of the 22 tracks I have on the iPod.
KeltenVonRatzenberger 10-16-05, 04:11 AM	I always have some low background music going, usually Midnight Syndicate, movie soundtracks (like LoTR, Conan, Robin Hood), or music from things like DAoC, WoW, And various other RPGs. The music doesn't always match the scene but when everyone is into the game nobody notices the music.
mrshupizdumaterinu 10-16-05, 05:08 AM	I use music in my games. I make an audio CD and chose each track with a scene, or a character, or a place in mind. Most tracks are either classical music or specific parts of various movie/game soundtracks, and there are as few songs ith lyrics as possible. And Nick Cave's Red Right Hand makes an exellent theme for the BBEG.
Leap_UK 10-16-05, 05:18 AM	I like sound effects but they have to be situation specific....such as Pub sounds (a la Neverwinter Nights, or Baldur's Gate when you go in the pubs) Weather sounds (rain, wind, thunder) Landscape sounds (tree's creaking, birds singing, general town noise (people walking, horses, folks chattering, buskers, beggars)