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Lucas Pitta
2010-02-25, 09:16 PM
What are the best songs/bands to play D&D to?

I think that blind guardian gives a good feel to the game :smallsmile:

Pyro_Azer
2010-02-25, 09:17 PM
Pirates of the Carribean soundtrack (at least in my games).

Lawless III
2010-02-25, 09:20 PM
It's a bit cliche, but I use the LOTR soundtrack for more serious games and Led Zeppelin for most everything else.

Ormur
2010-02-25, 09:20 PM
Classical: Wagner, Chopin, Beethoven, Saint-Saens.

Sountracks: LotR, John Williams, Spaghetti Westerns (Ennio Morricone).

industrious
2010-02-25, 09:22 PM
What are the best songs/bands to play D&D to?

I think that blind guardian gives a good feel to the game :smallsmile:

This. Nightwish also works on certain occasions.

But I find that Gershwin is king for urban settings.

bytbyt
2010-02-25, 09:25 PM
Jpop music that or Nightwish

Touchy
2010-02-25, 09:40 PM
Jpop music that or Nightwish
I disagree.
Try finding something a bit more epic (The old epic, not the misused new epic), Oblivion's soundtrack is pretty cool, and I agree with the LoTR.

Malificus
2010-02-25, 09:50 PM
Fable has a good, distinct style that sets a mood without being overwhelming.

Soundtracks in general, as well as classical music. Like Chopin has a lot of music that would be good for formal settings and towns. Fantasie Impromptu would even make good battle music. Also try out Vivaldi's Four Seasons and Cavatina.

Kalaska'Agathas
2010-02-25, 09:52 PM
Prokofiev wrote some fairly epic stuff, and I love Rachmaninov's piano concertos for urban action. Vivaldi's Four Seasons is excellent, and the "Allegro Non Molto" in "Winter" is a favorite of mine. Then there are Verdi's "Dies Irae", Bach's St. Matthew Passion (Especially the "Erbarme Dich" and "So ist mein Jesu nun gefangen"*), and the Eroica (Beethoven's 3rd). Oh, and Palestrina, and the Peer Gynt Suite (with "Hall of the Mountain King" coming yo mind).

For modern music, Epica, Nightwish, Tyr (especially the songs with Old Norse) and "Requiem for a Dream".

Those are some good ones for all sorts of games.

*:And if you know German and therefore which words I ought to be capitalizing, please let me know, as I'm away from my score and can't check it to correct it)

Edit: The Planets but especially "Mars". Best music to set a tense mood ever.

Shadowbane
2010-02-25, 09:57 PM
I find classical music, particularly the above mentioned, very useful. I also have used the new Star Trek film's soundtrack on occasion.

CockroachTeaParty
2010-02-25, 10:00 PM
I find a lot of video game soundtracks work well. I usually use orchestrated versions of video game songs, or soundtracks from genre-appropriate movies. The soundtrack to Red Dragon is one of my favorites.

valadil
2010-02-25, 10:50 PM
I think that blind guardian gives a good feel to the game :smallsmile:

The problem with BG is I'd rather listen to them than play the game ;-)

I prefer music that isn't lyrical or easily recognized. Less than popular game and movie soundtracks are perfect. Vangelis has a lot of generic soundtrack material that nobody will recognize. I also like Sephiroth (Ulf Soderberg's version, not FF7's) for creepy dungeon music.

littlebottom
2010-02-25, 10:53 PM
anything that the group as a whole enjoy, as long as it isnt too loud as to distract from the actual game, hell ive had dragonforce to rammstein to sepultura playing while weve played. :smalltongue:

Saintheart
2010-02-25, 11:16 PM
Aliens. Has both combat tracks and moody atmosphere tracks.

Braveheart, too. Awesome stuff.

SharpWolf
2010-02-25, 11:29 PM
For a celtic-inspired, medieval fantasy campaign I'm currently running, I mostly use the following soundtracks:

The Witcher (both the OST from the game and "Inspired by" one)
Baldur's Gate 1-2
The Tower of Druaga
Shadow of the Colossus

They provide a great range of diversity and emotions -- and Shadow of the Colossus has the best music I've heard when it comes to epic battles!

Lawless III
2010-02-26, 12:05 AM
I have to second the use of the Oblivion soundtrack. The main theme just feels more mystical than I can rightly describe.

I'm doing a retro-scifi campaign soon, and it's going to be nothing but 70's prog (Rush, Yes, King Crimson etc.)

Window459
2010-02-26, 12:10 AM
Lustmord is your in a more evilsih setting

AslanCross
2010-02-26, 02:27 AM
While I agree that Blind Guardian is awesome, I would rather not have vocals in my music as it has a jarring and distracting effect from narration.

I've found that a number of remixes of Touhou Project songs actually work very well as BGMs. Some of them are great as orchestral music, others are awesome as a mix of orchestra and metal, while others work well fine as metal or techno even if it's a fantasy setting (I DM Eberron, so techno still kind of works.) To the point:

Yama of Xanadu (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nYwHXJY-7s)
Alice in the Wonderland (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKhJ1AC2ObI)
Satori Maiden (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gbj8bsBwJvY)
The Border of Life (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq2Z4ZaTkt4)
Midnight March (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnxkLiSFgKc)
Rage (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAP124dQZk4)
Nuclear Fusion (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Br7AcIiu84) (This made an AWESOME red dragon boss theme.)
Nuclear Fusion (a more subtle remix) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cy9eqZT5Pl0)
Septette for the Dead Princess: Ascending into Naught (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UDwwOwXWss)
Locked Girl (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKqBTD1XsSE) (Another epic boss theme; great for dragons)

Super Robot Wars tracks by Salamander Factory work really well too:
Chaos (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vds5cJ_RnAU)
ZEST SEVEN (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQLUXVa5CwE)
The Banquet of Despair (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eUXyNdE0iE)
The Last Judgment (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bVVU82dxVw)
Dark Prison (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3HcfmPAxCY)
Armageddon (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYDJAZeuU0I)
To Judge or Be Judged (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6qu61NY87A)

Dramatic music from Code Geass:
Madder Sky (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzaLJ0i52UY)

Ambient music:
Neverwinter Nights 2 Main Theme (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGT7IY91jIE)

Anonomuss
2010-02-26, 03:04 AM
My current soundtrack consists of:
-Guild Wars,
-Final Fantasy
-LotR
-Watchmen
-James Bond
-Serenity
and the occasional bit of Halo music. I tend to avoid anything too synthetic for Fantasy games, but a lot of the instrumental music from the above seems to work fine.

Emmerask
2010-02-26, 03:05 AM
Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis :smallbiggrin:
Conan intro
Final Fantasy - Liberi Fatali
and star wars ep 1-3 (the movies are not that good but the soundtrack is ^^)

Shademan
2010-02-26, 03:27 AM
back with my old group we just launched the power metal playlist :smallbiggrin:

Radar
2010-02-26, 05:18 AM
Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis :smallbiggrin:
(...)
and the rise of sons of Arius. :smallcool:

Besides ever-awsome Conan soundtrack:
- Clannad - especially Legend album (soundtrack for the best incarnation of Robin Hood in history)
- Krzesimir Debski - since he won't probably be very well known, I'll let his music speak for itself: 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0drHclGf0oE&feature=related), 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FS-gNL1qls&feature=related), 3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at9kzbVHqEc&feature=related).
- if I ever run a SF campaign, I'll surly experiment with Vangelis

Angelmaker
2010-02-26, 05:35 AM
radiorivendell has it all. :smallbiggrin:

All hail Lord Elrond!

Steelblood
2010-02-26, 05:46 AM
Slipknot's Gematria... not really.
Use Winamp to stream celtic music or other relaxing music.

Farlion
2010-02-26, 05:50 AM
Summoning, best background music for RPG in my opinion.

I second "The Witcher" Soundtrack, perfect fighting music.

Cheers,
Farlion

Katana_Geldar
2010-02-26, 05:57 AM
The one and only, John Williams.

Emmerask
2010-02-26, 06:06 AM
- Krzesimir Debski - since he won't probably be very well known, I'll let his music speak for itself: 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0drHclGf0oE&feature=related), 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FS-gNL1qls&feature=related), 3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at9kzbVHqEc&feature=related).


oh nice ones will add them to my playlist :smallbiggrin:

onthetown
2010-02-26, 06:11 AM
We tend to use whatever instrumental songs fit the area . . . In RL D&D we usually only use it for battles. Online, I remember having a DM for years who would prepare ahead of time and have free mp3s online (not pirated, just free to use) that he would link to us when we entered an area, started a battle, changed the mood, etc. It was our choice if we wanted to listen, so it wasn't annoying in the least; we pretty much always listened to what he linked to us because he had a real knack of finding the perfect songs.

A lot of them were from fantasy or sci-fi RPGs, some of the most memorable being from FF6 - 10. I seem to recall some Dragon Age and Golden Sun, though . . . When I try to do the online linking thing, I actually use my own music. I don't do it often enough to have to be composing new songs, and I don't do it with my best friends because I'm horribly shy of my musical ear :smallredface: The stuff I use is mostly Celtic medleys of jigs, reels, some waltzes for quieter places, etc . . .

KellKheraptis
2010-02-26, 06:21 AM
Surprised there are so many BG fans on here :D Savatage's Hall of the Mountain King album is awesome to RP to, as is the non-Christmas TSO. Really anything neoclassical or classical, though as a neoclassical guitarist, I gotta watch it to make sure I don't leave the table and grab the axe...happened last time someone threw on Micah Scoville doing 8 finger tapping :P

lesser_minion
2010-02-26, 08:07 AM
We always just picked things that the majority of the group enjoyed and went from there. Sometimes we'd break out a particular song for a particular scene, usually at the request of the DM, but aside from that, nearly anything goes (as long as it constitutes halfway-decent music).

We've used Rammstein, Dragonforce, and even Slipknot.

Vorpal Soda
2010-02-26, 08:42 AM
Clearly, this should be played whenever a player character dies. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6iT-lMgfAI)
(Not recommended for serious games)

bosssmiley
2010-02-26, 09:16 AM
The one and only, John Williams.

Too iconic. Polidouris now...

Nai_Calus
2010-02-26, 10:37 AM
I dislike music during RL sessions, but for getting in the mood beforehand or writing PbP posts, I'm partial to the Lord of the Rings musical. Particularly The Road Goes On, Star of Earendil, Lothlorien and Now And For Always. Flight To The Ford makes for good fight music, I think.

Radar
2010-02-26, 11:45 AM
Too iconic. Polidouris now...
Ehm... (http://www.basil-poledouris.com/index88.html)

As far as noteworthy soundtracks go, I should have mentioned Yoko Kanno's work for Vision of Escaflowne - I am really amazed, how easily she jumps between different styles and music genres (take Cowboy Bebop or GITS: Solid State Society for contrast). El Cazador de la Bruja soundtrack made by Yuki Kajiura is very flavorfull as well.

industrious
2010-02-26, 02:36 PM
I was once playing in a horror-comedy type game(inspired by Halloween), and during a chase sequence involving a horde of fast zombies. He then played this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QZJp3KIH2g&feature=PlayList&p=259AE4D65C71C68E&index=3);hilarity ensued.

LichPrinceAlim
2010-02-26, 02:57 PM
Surfin' Bird by the Trashmen

Bawitaba by Kid Rock

Time of Dying by Three Day's Grace

I'm Alive by Disturbed

Never Gonna Stop by Rob Zombie

Indestructable by Disturbed

Meaning of Life by Disturbed

Down with the Sickness by Disturbed

Bodies by Drowning Pool

i'll update when I regain my ability to think

Reynard
2010-02-27, 07:37 PM
Ladies and Gentelmen. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaxNaPv4cAM)

Give it a minute or two, you'll see why I put this here.
That is, if you can't read.

Grommen
2010-02-28, 12:49 AM
We played a lot of metal back in the day..

All out of a one speaker tape deck in the garage of my buddies house with the hissing drone of a Salamander Karosean heater in the background. It sets a mood, it sets a mood.

Lord Loss
2010-02-28, 06:19 AM
For fights, I compose playlists of Battle Music from videogames, set in different themes. I have yet another playlist for creepy music and another for towns. I try and use songs without words, except for bosses/ important moments in-game.

Final Fantasy, Castlevania and Zelda are good sources of battle/ambient music.

Nightwish, Sabaton and Linkin Park are great for bossfights (No More Sorrow is a fave). The Pirates of the carribean soundtrack is, as mentioned before great, as are others (like LOTR). If you look up epic music mix on youtube, it also provides great music. We used that last session (yesterday :smallbiggrin:)