I know for
some of the more experienced gamers out there this is not a new concept and
everyone knows the old stereo type of the pimple faced kids playing D&D and
listening to Led Zeppelin in their mom’s basement. But in this post we’ll talk about some do’s
and don’ts as well as some things that have helped players and GM’s become just
a little more immersed in the game.
Soundtrack v.s. Score
This one is
both a pet peeve for me as an audiophile and something that will hopefully help
you find the music you’re looking for the next time you run a game.
~Score:
The music composed for a movie, television
show or game that is used as mood setting for a scene. Characters on screen, unless the 4th
wall is being broken, are not aware of the score.
~Soundtrack:
All of the music, sound effects, and dialogue that you hear
in a movie or game. The Score is PART of the sound track
~Motion Picture, Video Game, and Television Sound Tracks
found at the store:
These are typically composed of tie
in and publicity songs for a movie, game, or show. Sometimes you might hear one
of these songs on the radio in the background of a movie or game. Every now and then a song on a “Sound Track”,
usually for the credits, an opening, or montage, is legitimately part of the
Score. Though more often than not A
Sound Track you buy is part of the advertising scheme and many of the songs are
never heard in association with the film or game except for on the Sound Track
Now that that rant is out of the
way on to more relevant topics.
Plan Ahead
Just like
when putting together encounters, NPC’s, fights, and locations for a game
before hand it is always a good idea to plan the music. Either by building a single play list or
several it will help maintain the mood you might be going for. There’s nothing more distracting than being
in the middle of a tense situation and having weird all Yankovich pop on and blowing
the carefully crafted mood. Another solid reason to have a play list built ahead of time is for pacing. Maybe you only have a certain amount of time for a game session and want to make sure you work in certain events. With a pre built play list you can give yourself audio cues for when to start an important encounter or when it’s time to start wrapping up.
Known v.s. Unkown
When
picking your music conscience of how musically aware your players might
be. Having a well known theme song like
Vaders Imperial March come on when your bad guy enters the arena could incite
laughter and a slew of jokes, star wars references, and tangents. If it’s the comedic effect you’re going for,
by all means, but be aware of how your players might react. Usually, however, you want your music to
blend into the background and help set the mood of a moment not over shadow
it. In this regard if you are using
songs or tracks from well known sources then try to stick to the more obscure,
or B-Sides of an album.
Where to find music
Music as a
whole is rich with sources and songs that can help set the mood you’re looking
for. Classical music is always good for background
playing, as are movie scores. But where
do you find this stuff? Music stores
work for the more contemporary and mainstream, websites like YouTube for the
more obscure and public domain. The best
place I’ve found though is the Library.
Most places that have a public library, and more importantly a library
with an AV section will find it rich with little known music that can help
transform your game into something deep and immersive. Which, for a gamer
looking to find a musical score or stirring concerto that isn’t from the latest
Don’t be afraid to Loop
Maybe
combat is running a little longer than expected or that quick shopping trip for
supplies has turned into a full on Macy’s shopping spree. What ever the reason you might have to stall
before letting your play list roll into the combat or creepy dungeon music,
looping isn’t a necessarily a bad thing. Yeah, it’s annoying if you have the latest pop
hit playing over and over in the back ground, but some of the best video games
have looping music. MMO’s and other
video game RPG’s have music specifically designed for looping so that it blends
smoothly from finish to start and is constructed so that listeners do not
readily notice that they’ve been listening to the same minute and 30 second
song for the past 3 hours. RPG games from
the 90’s are a treasure trove for music of just this music. Just be cautious with some of the Final
Fantasy fanfares or suffer the wrath of tangent talk.
Think outside the Genre
In regards to
fantasy movie music there are a lot of very epic, very well known fantasy
scores floating around out there. Lord
of the Rings music and Harry Potter being two of the most recognizable. Fans of the genre will with out fail pick out
the music from these films and others like them. Granted, there are some groups out there,
like “the Midnight Syndicate” who make music just for role playing games. Rousing battle music? Try music from a movie about the American Civil War. Somber and dreary? Try the Dramas. If you’re trying to set a mood, find movies that set the tone you’re looking for and see if it has a score available.
Finding music to set a certain tone is especially easy to do if you’re trying to emulate a specific time. It’s reasonably easy to find original recordings from the 1920’s thru current times. And often, modern recordings of older, historical, music can be found under the labels of classical or folk.
Last Bit
If you are
indeed running a Star Wars game or a Lord of the Rings game then don’t be
afraid to use the music. After all, the
Imperial March is very appropriate if a squad of Storm Troopers is chasing your
players through the dusty streets of Mos Eisly.
Don’t be
afraid to experiment with what works best for you and the group that you’re
running games for , and most importantly: Have fun.