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MachineWraith
2010-05-09, 11:23 AM
I'm going to be running a Call of Cthulhu campaign for several friends. When I DM, I have my laptop present, as I have many of my books in PDF format, and it makes many things convenient and quick. I also use my laptop to play themed music.

Therein lies my problem. I've only got a couple of suitably creepy songs, and I don't really know where to start looking. Suggestions?

Boci
2010-05-09, 11:48 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CViRaBFmdnA Just loop the first minute or so. If your players aren't into anime. If they are, they might recognize it, and that could be bad. You can use this as default. It will allow build up upon it (since you can get creepier), but it should establish a good base level. YMMV.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzQEh4CllsE The intro here, (around the first 20 second) can be chilling.

I'd just use youtube. Type in horror music/song and click around a bit and see what comes up.

Brother Oni
2010-05-09, 11:54 AM
The Silent Hill soundtrack is great for creepy music.

What era is your CoC game set in? If it's the 1920s, try finding some period pieces - there's nothing quite as unnerving as hearing some jazz while the investigators are searching an old abandoned house, especially if it suddenly starts up on a gramophone somewhere in the house.

Fatal Frame is another good set of quiet ambient scary sounds.

Edit: Are you looking for scary music or scary songs?

Samurai Jill
2010-05-09, 12:11 PM
Well, there's always Lustmord to consider (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-OuCyph0rI).

MachineWraith
2010-05-09, 12:37 PM
Are you looking for scary music or scary songs?

A bit of both, really. It is in the 1920's, so I'll try to find some 20's jazz pieces. Right now I have some instrumentals, mostly from video games, along with a little Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Aphex Twin. Not exactly period pieces, but it's all creepy. I need two kinds of music: some that can be played quietly in the background for ambiance without distracting the players, and some that I can kick in at particularly horrifying moments to set the stage.

Samurai Jill
2010-05-09, 12:50 PM
A bit of both, really. It is in the 1920's, so I'll try to find some 20's jazz pieces. Right now I have some instrumentals, mostly from video games, along with a little Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Aphex Twin. Not exactly period pieces, but it's all creepy. I need two kinds of music: some that can be played quietly in the background for ambiance without distracting the players, and some that I can kick in at particularly horrifying moments to set the stage.
NCatBS counts as 'creepy'? Which album we talkin' 'bout?

MachineWraith
2010-05-09, 03:57 PM
NCatBS counts as 'creepy'? Which album we talkin' 'bout?

The song "Red Right Hand" always gave me the creeps, I don't know about you.

White_North
2010-05-09, 06:13 PM
I'll strongly second the jazz/blues suggestion. The great thing about it that it's real mood music. I find ominous latin chanting, opera and metal to be far too present to properly serve as mood music. Blues simply fades into the background, and sets an ambiance without being distracting. On my own playlist, I use ''Black Snake Moan'' (yes, from the movie), as well as a selection of John Lee Hooker, Stevie Ray Vaughan, B. B. King and Robert Johnson.

horseboy
2010-05-09, 06:20 PM
Somebody has to say it. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIj60VJQ8Wo) I mean, that is what it's about and all.

BobVosh
2010-05-10, 02:38 AM
Anyone know any 1910s Italian music worth looking into for CoC?

Ormur
2010-05-10, 02:51 AM
The soundtrack from The Ninth Gate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ninth_Gate#Soundtrack) is very creepy.

This is the opening titles music (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDl0GkTAWgw).

Ravens_cry
2010-05-10, 02:58 AM
Personally, I think music would be more distracting then anything else. But that's my opinion.

hamlet
2010-05-10, 08:24 AM
Personally, I think music would be more distracting then anything else. But that's my opinion.

Seconded.

Silence, and by that I mean actual silence, is far creepier. Just the sounds of an otherwise empty house around you, or the muffled and only half understood sounds of others coming through the walls of an apartment building are far creepier than soundtrack music.

jokey665
2010-05-10, 09:04 AM
Nox Arcana
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nox_Arcana)

Samurai Jill
2010-05-14, 07:32 AM
The song "Red Right Hand" always gave me the creeps, I don't know about you.
Yeah... but I reckon you're looking for something more 'ambient'. And, as you said, it doesn't exactly fit the period.

Prodan
2010-05-14, 07:49 AM
Tentacles! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaJckcCZtBQ)

Tentacles, tentacles! Tentacles!
Tentacles, tentacles! Tentacles!

SpikeFightwicky
2010-05-14, 08:30 AM
I found that the soundtrack to American McGee's Alice is good for creepy ambiance.

Thieves
2010-05-14, 10:18 AM
As for lack of music - depends. I'm an audiophile and nothing sets the mood better than a well-chosen piece.

Try the band Coil for creepy stuff; from the band Electric Wizard, the song "Processean" (on youtube). If they are going to see Cthulhu, especially on a destruction spree, use anything from their albums "Come My Fanatics" or "Dopethrone"; for final confrontation, if that's the kind of game, title song from "Dopethrone". There's possibly no Bigger song than this, and no Bigger creature than Cthulhu.

SpikeFightwicky
2010-05-14, 10:24 AM
Another thing that just came to mind:

If you own the CoC: Dark Corners of the Earth game, you can find the music files in the game directory. It's QUITE fitting for the setting (as it should be). They're named oddly, so if you need help finding it, I can get the music folder for you.

Warpwolf16
2010-05-14, 10:29 AM
Nox Arcana
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nox_Arcana)

I support this one, they have two albums dedicated to lovecraft and the mythos. If your party is going beneath the earth into the lair of cultist, Nox Arcana is good for this.

Altair_the_Vexed
2010-05-14, 11:59 AM
The soundtrack from the PSX port of DOOM is all kinds of disturbing and creepy - and it's designed to repeat and not get in the way of your game.

http://www.doom2.net/~doomdepot/music.html

allonym
2010-05-14, 12:20 PM
Well, there's Aklo (http://www.aklo.net/), which is specifically designed as background music for Call of Cthulhu. I second the use of Jazz in certain circumstances. Certain classical pieces work well - a few of the quieter parts of the Carmina Burana work (just stay the hell away from O Fortuna, it's far too well known). Oddly, the opening tracks to a few Cradle of Filth albums work quite well - I have used this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNAF48qaU4U) to great effect during a climactic scene. Second Nox Arcana. I used the remixed versions of the War of the Worlds (that you find with the almost-impossible-to-find PC game) for a more apocalyptic live action Cthulhu game, that worked well. But only in the out of character area.

As for music being distracting, that's a difficult one. If you can multitask it, turning it on and off at the right times can be useful. Having it on in general, along with candle-light and a nice setting (a decent-looking wooden table and a handful of less-modern-looking things and props works wonders) makes it clear when it's time to start roleplaying, and makes the transition a lot easier. But it has to be kept quiet and having anything with lyrics, even those you don't understand, is very distracting and a big no. It depends on your group, your gaming style, a lot of things. But it can be used in a very good way.