Practical fight music

[shadow_archmagi]

So, I don't know about your group, but in my experience, combat tends to take awhile.

Like, a long while. If your group isn't completely focused and knowledgeable about the rules, it's easy to see combat that gets measured in hours.

Of course, most songs get measured in minutes. Generally 2-10 minutes. So while I'd like to step up my game and put a little more effort into the theatrics of it, I can't help but notice I have a glaring shortage of songs that last two hours, except maybe for a few symphonies, which are hardly combat music.

So what do I do? What do you do? Loop the same song endlessly? Prepare lists of 10-15 different songs per fight? Forget buying soundtracks, and just play an entire movie in the background, since it lasts about as long?

[sirpercival]

Depending on the atmosphere you're trying to create, soundtracks are probably the way to go. Inception, Two Towers, City of Ember are all good ones.

[flabort]

If you have time (which I'm 99% sure you don't) and have at least a little education into music theory (I don't know if you do or not), you could try composing some battle music, set up so that it can loop. Use a digital composer/MIDI editor (or whatever those are called) so you can hear it as you compose. 18 minute song is long enough that no-one will notice if it loops endlessly.

Unfortunately, I know you won't do this. Not because I know you, but because I've tried making my own music. I only tried rewriting an old song in a new style (NOT a remix, a rearrangement), but trying to compose a song from scratch would be hard (some people do it quite often, though).

No, you may not here my attempt. I couldn't get the first three notes on one instrument to sound good. :smallmad:

[sirpercival]

Hmmm... that's a good idea.

It just so happens that I have a degree in music composition and almost went to school to be a film scorer. It would take me quite a while (because I just don't have time), but I could probably do that.

[Templarkommando]

I know that finale has a copy paste function that can make entering your parts a little easier. If you ever want a part to be repeated just select the section that you want repeated and paste it somewhere else in the song. I can only imagine that other sorts of composition software have similar functions.

[sirpercival]

Probably the easiest thing to do is make a bunch of midi samples in Finale or Sibelius, then splice them together in Garageband with some of their built in samples. If you do it well it could sound really awesome.

[Big Fau]

Well, the problem is we don't know what type of music you and your playgroup enjoy. Off-hand, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Apocalyptica, or Amon Amarth have long, powerful-sounding songs, but you or your group may not enjoy their styles (and TSO's best stuff is all holiday music).

Video game/movie soundtracks tend to be noticed fairly quickly amongst gaming groups too, and may cause major distractions unless you go out of your way to find things they've never heard of (my playgroup doesn't know about Touhou, for example, so most of my combat music tends to be Touhou fan music).

[Aegis013]

Demon's Souls/Dark Souls sound tracks make great encounter music, even if your players have played the games, it's actually unlikely they'll recognize it since the songs only play during boss fights, when players are typically on the edge of their seats paying all of their attention to the terrifying demon trying to murder them.

Baccano! OST can also be pretty nice for peaceful settings. Some light slow jazz or blues to set an easy mood.

[Sception]

If your fights all last two hours and include a lot of looking up and reading rules, you'll also want to be careful to pick some more subdued battle music then you might otherwise think to grab. Apocalyptica's awesome for the opening rounds of the fight against the BBEG, but if you're getting into your 100th minute of the fight against the other two ogres on the bridge and maybe some orcs or hobgoblins, I forget what the DM said they were when we started this thing that we didn't fight the last time we came through this room but this time Mark doesn't have that power that lets us all use his stealth checks for five minutes I'd really wish you'd maybe turn that racket down while I try to read through the small text on this battle standard of the hungry blade to see if ogre B trying to pick it up provokes opportunity attacks or not because I'm really starting to get a headache here.


I know I made the mistake of using Utena battle music once. It was cool and gave the fight against that villain a unique flavor... for maybe 10 minutes, then the ipod had to go. Like, out the window.

[Bloodgruve]

We loop the Final Fantasy fight tracks, Legend of Zelda, the classic 8 bit'rs :P They were composed to play in the background for hours on end...

GL
Blood~

[Templarkommando]

Now that I think about it, I like the idea of a battle soundtrack. You could ideally have a battle soundtrack and a regular soundtrack (for when you aren't in battle)

[Kerrin]

Movie sound tracks would be an easy way to go. For example, the Conan movies starring Arnold, Lord of the Rings, etc. Heck, even classical pieces - I love me some Night On Bald Mountain.

[Daftendirekt]

Two Steps From Hell literally does nothing but make epic music. Go get their discography, and cherry pick your favorites. Personally, I think Heart of Courage (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRLdhFVzqt4) is as epic as it can ever get.

[Kol Korran]

i have also encoutnered a similar tproblem (though most of my fights last 15-30 minutes) my solution so far was to pick one 4 min+ song to get them into the atmosphere and then forget about it.

but lately someone enlightened me about youtube playlists (silly me for not knowing that! :smalltongue:) i have now made several battle music lists for major fights in the coming 3 sessions (the last sessions) which are about 20-35 minutes long. if the fight won't end, i'll either replay them or let it go- the mood has been set.

here are some: (i apologize for getting music genres wrong)
very epic, mostly out of Two Steps From Hell (http://www.youtube.com/user/kolkorran#grid/user/28C0D9F897841003)
grim goth rock, ends as uplifting (http://www.youtube.com/user/kolkorran#grid/user/EEC33B24F6F7A7F5)
fairly fast paced general fight music (http://www.youtube.com/user/kolkorran#grid/user/EE4EA1159835732D)
battle music with some Latin, a bit goth rock (http://www.youtube.com/user/kolkorran#grid/user/EB2B42E88553E55A)
creepy, eerie, depressing and other worldly. mostly Mustlord. (http://www.youtube.com/user/kolkorran#grid/user/EA2C3523A8823DA1)

hope this helps.

[Thiyr]

I will also suggest setting up and tweaking a Pandora station for such things. If you spend a bit of time, it can work out well, especially if you start with something like, say, The Black Mages.

Also, there is never an inappropriate time for Dancing Mad, more Dancing Mad, and even more Dancing Mad. Maybe Prancing Dad, too.

[McToomin]

Video games should be a great resource. Just look up any RPG, and they'll have fight music right there. You can download midi compositions of the songs for free at the video game music archive (http://vgmusic.com/).

What I do is make a playlist for different kinds of fights. So far I've got three options; easy fight, hard fight, boss fight. The list isn't terribly long, and maybe this'll help some people out. I'm always looking for lists like this of actual songs and not just vague suggestions (I've added links where appropriate):

Easy Fight
Aboard the Koopa Cruiser ~ Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
Alleycat Blues ~ TMNT 4 - Turtles in Time
Athletic BGM ~ Super Mario Bros. 3
Attack of the Koopa Bros. ~ Paper Mario
Attack of the Snippet Mutants! ~ Banjo-Kazooie soundtrack
Back 2 Back ~ Sonic Rush
Battle 1 ~ Chrono Trigger
Big Apple, 3 A.M. ~ TMNT 4 - Turtles in Time
Boss Battle ~ Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga
Concrete Jungle [Concrete Man Stage] ~ Mega Man 9
Desert ~ Kirby 64
Docaty Mountain Railroad ~ Super Mario RPG
Du-Di-Da!! ~ Ristar remixes (http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/140390)
Electric de Chocobo ~ Final Fantasy VII
Fight Against Monsters ~ Super Mario RPG
Get Edgy ~ Sonic Rush
Hop Hop Donut Lifts ~ Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Icecap Snow ~ Sonic Adventure
Let's Race ~ Super Mario RPG
Mini-Boss ~ Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Psychobilly Freakout ~ The Reverend Horton Heat
Pump It ~ Black Eyed Peas
Right There, Right On ~ Sonic Rush
Sewer Surfin' ~ TMNT 4 - Turtles in Time
Shoot-out at the Sunset Ranch ~ Sunset Riders
Shooting Ristar ~ Ristar - The Shooting Star
Smokin' ~ Boston
Still, the Road is Full of Dangers ~ Heavy Troopa is Ready to Launch (http://gamemusic4all.com/heavytroopa/media.html)
Super Mario World ~ Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Tank ~ Cowboy Bebop
Won't Stop, Just Go! ... Green Forest ~ Sonic Adventure 2

Hard Fight
Battle with Bowser ~ Heavy Troopa is Ready to Launch - ♥♪!? (GENO) B-Sides Disc (http://gamemusic4all.com/heavytroopa/media.html)
Battle with Culex ~ Heavy Troopa is Ready to Launch (http://gamemusic4all.com/heavytroopa/media.html)
Beware the Forest's Mushrooms ~ Heavy Troopa is Ready to Launch (http://gamemusic4all.com/heavytroopa/media.html)
Big Boss BGM ~ Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Bike Chase ~ Chrono Trigger
Bombs Over Baghdad ~ Outkast
-Bonus track- Genesis Beyond the Beginning ~ Ys Origin
Boss ~ Sonic 3 & Knuckles
The Chase of Highway ~ Final Fantasy VII Advent Children
Climactic Battle ~ TMNT 4 - Turtles in Time
Come Down ~ The Pillows
Dante's Office 7 Hells Battle ~ Devil May Cry 3
Fight Against a Somewhat Stronger Monster ~ Super Mario RPG
Fight On ~ Final Fantasy VII remix (http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01253/)
Genesis Beyond the Beginning - Opening Version ~ Ys Origin
Lufia II Battle Music ~ Lufia II remixes (http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/53572)
The Gun ~ Sonata Arctica
King Dedede's Theme ~ Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Kingdom for a Heart ~ Sonata Arctica
On the Verge of the Assault (from FFVII "Those Who Fight") ~ Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-
Ridley's Theme ~ Metroid Metal (http://www.metroidmetal.com/songs/)
Rock'n Temple ~ Legend of Zelda remixes (http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/10586)
Starwolf's Theme ~ Star Fox 64
The Summoned (from FFVII "Those Who Fight Further") ~ Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-
Those Who Fight ~ Final Fantasy VII

Boss Fight
Administrator ~ Armored Core 3
Back to Mad ~ Texas Fa gg ot (with no spaces, it's the name of the band)
Boss Battle 1 ~ Chrono Trigger
Bowser the Shredder ~ Super Mario 64 remixes (http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/12306)
Bring the Hammer Down (I Am the King) ~ Heavy Troopa is Ready to Launch (http://gamemusic4all.com/heavytroopa/media.html)
Final Boss ~ Sonic 3 & Knuckles
First Mission (from FFVII "Opening ~ Bombing Mission") ~ Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-
Halo Theme -(Metalized?)- ~ Halo remixes (http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/67661)
Koopa ~ Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Sonic and Knux - Final Showdown ~ Sonic 3 & Knuckles remixes (http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/65880)
8th Commandment ~ Sonata Arctica

So, anyone else have a similar list? I haven't had a chance to look through many of my movie soundtracks to pick out appropriate music from there. And I'm always looking for song suggestions!