Rixx
2010-01-20, 07:22 PM
Hello, all! I recently ran my first game of Pathfinder and I'm proud to report that it was more or less a hit. Of course, the system is a bit irrelevant, because I'm making this topic to discuss what surprised me most - they really like my 8-bit background music.
See, I like to have an adventurous, more lighthearted tone to my adventures - and I noticed that 8 bit music seems to capture that mood rather well. Luckily, I stumbled upon a program called GSXCC, which can convert any MIDI file into an 8 bit song.
http://www.geocities.co.jp/SiliconValley-SanJose/8700/P/GsorigE.htm
Over the course of several weeks before I ever ran a session, I converted many a midi and built up an impressive roster of 123 songs, sorted by when they would play - primary categories being Battle, Environment, Mood, and Situational. From there, I subdivided them further by title - Battle has generic "Battle" tracks labeled "Battle1, Battle2, etc.", but also more specific ones like "Boss1, Boss2, Boss3", and even more specific categories like "Rivals", "MadnessBattle", "EpicBoss", and the like. The others are divided similarly - Mood has "Happy", "Bittersweet", "Mellow", "Doom" and more - Situational has "Briefing", "HappyEnd", "GoTime", "DarkRitual", and the like. This system has worked out really well for bringing up appropriate music quickly, and none of it seems incongruous or out of place with the rest of the tracks, as they have all been converted to 8 bit.
And the players loved it! They said that the 8 bit music really set the mood and tone for the adventure, and really helped keeping momentum and immersion during periods of silence. (It also provided me with a handy tool - if they ever strayed off topic or stopped paying attention, I'd stop the music. That'd get the hint across.)
It also helped mess with them - I played the most panic-y tension song I had when they were in absolutely no danger. They were freaking out.
Anyway, what this topic is about: I'm wondering what songs all of you think as far as suggesting songs to add to my collection! Any song that has a MIDI file is eligible - if it's from a video game, you can find a huge collection of video game MIDI files here:
http://www.vgmusic.com/
Usually, anything that carries an obvious mood or situation with it is ideal - merely "cool songs" wont' cut it if I can't ever use them. (Believe me, I had to woefully leave out some of my favorite tunes from the collection just because they had little utility).
And as neat as it is when a player recognizes a song, if it happens too often, the game gets derailed - so anything too mainstream or recognizable is probably a no-go as well.
Feel free to post direct links to the files, by the way.
Once I get back to my home, I'll probably post a bunch of samples from my collection. If I can find a suitable host, I might even post the entire thing! (Be forewarned: some of the music names make sense only to me, like "Steppin")
So, suggestions? Thoughts?
See, I like to have an adventurous, more lighthearted tone to my adventures - and I noticed that 8 bit music seems to capture that mood rather well. Luckily, I stumbled upon a program called GSXCC, which can convert any MIDI file into an 8 bit song.
http://www.geocities.co.jp/SiliconValley-SanJose/8700/P/GsorigE.htm
Over the course of several weeks before I ever ran a session, I converted many a midi and built up an impressive roster of 123 songs, sorted by when they would play - primary categories being Battle, Environment, Mood, and Situational. From there, I subdivided them further by title - Battle has generic "Battle" tracks labeled "Battle1, Battle2, etc.", but also more specific ones like "Boss1, Boss2, Boss3", and even more specific categories like "Rivals", "MadnessBattle", "EpicBoss", and the like. The others are divided similarly - Mood has "Happy", "Bittersweet", "Mellow", "Doom" and more - Situational has "Briefing", "HappyEnd", "GoTime", "DarkRitual", and the like. This system has worked out really well for bringing up appropriate music quickly, and none of it seems incongruous or out of place with the rest of the tracks, as they have all been converted to 8 bit.
And the players loved it! They said that the 8 bit music really set the mood and tone for the adventure, and really helped keeping momentum and immersion during periods of silence. (It also provided me with a handy tool - if they ever strayed off topic or stopped paying attention, I'd stop the music. That'd get the hint across.)
It also helped mess with them - I played the most panic-y tension song I had when they were in absolutely no danger. They were freaking out.
Anyway, what this topic is about: I'm wondering what songs all of you think as far as suggesting songs to add to my collection! Any song that has a MIDI file is eligible - if it's from a video game, you can find a huge collection of video game MIDI files here:
http://www.vgmusic.com/
Usually, anything that carries an obvious mood or situation with it is ideal - merely "cool songs" wont' cut it if I can't ever use them. (Believe me, I had to woefully leave out some of my favorite tunes from the collection just because they had little utility).
And as neat as it is when a player recognizes a song, if it happens too often, the game gets derailed - so anything too mainstream or recognizable is probably a no-go as well.
Feel free to post direct links to the files, by the way.
Once I get back to my home, I'll probably post a bunch of samples from my collection. If I can find a suitable host, I might even post the entire thing! (Be forewarned: some of the music names make sense only to me, like "Steppin")
So, suggestions? Thoughts?