Music suggestions

[DungeonMaster11]

Hey again everyone, just was wondering if people used music when DMing and if so what do you use?
Any suggestions on artists or composers?

[Red Fel]

Hey again everyone, just was wondering if people used music when DMing and if so what do you use?
Any suggestions on artists or composers?

Using music while DMing is actually very challenging. You want something that creates ambiance, but not something that distracts from the game. And you want it set up in such a way that you don't have breaks in the music, or have to actively handle it, either of which could be jarring and disruptive.

As for what music to use, it really depends on the context, but I tend to find useful material in classical, metal, and J-pop.

[DungeonMaster11]

Thanks man, and I was thinking about looking for creepy music for undead and underground

[atemu1234]

Stuff without lyrics is usually good. Two Steps from Hell usually works, but be careful about the tracks. Some is too stimulating.

[Krobar]

I use a good bit of Owain Phyfe a lot of the time, sometimes some ambient black metal like Cryptic Ambience by Profane Grace or Black Star by Lustmord.

[DungeonMaster11]

thanks for the suggestions! and if you need some different type of music, i suggest looking up adrian von ziegler or antti Martikainen for adventuring/battle/mystery/pirate/town/tavern music

[Karl Aegis]

Quad City DJs remixes and The Great Gatsby.

[gorfnab]

www.ancientfm.com
Decent as background music for D&D.

[Uncle Pine]

I've never used music when DMing because I fear that it would distract myself, but the players in one of my groups like to put the Dragonball Z's recap theme on when I summarize the last session before starting a new one, as well as Final Fantasy's/Legend of Zelda's victory fanfare after a tough boss battle.

[Hiro Quester]

I can see some music adding ambiance and mood. But be careful not to add distractions for the players, and not to make it harder to hear what's going on.

We have a large party (10 players and 2DMs, often but not always split into two away teams).

When you have more than four players, it can get difficult to hear what someone says. Add music and it gets even harder to hear subtle details.

Plus we have two players who have hearing difficulties. We couldn't have music going all the time without making it even harder for them to hear.

I used to play a bard. I'd play a 5 or 10 second snippet of a song to give the others a sense of the bardic music they hear my character playing. But longer than that would be unwelcome in our party.

[Vhaidara]

I use Two Steps from Hell, Fairy Tail OST, Kingdom Hearts OST, a bit of Final Fantasy OST, Heroes of Might and Magic IV, and the occasional meme song.

I use music to warn my players before they start fights (especially optional ones). If they hear One Winged Angel, they know it's going to be a damn hard fight that will probably kill someone (should they choose to take the fight). If they hear 13th Struggle (Axel boss music), they know to expect a plot heavy arena fight. If they hear Fairy Law, they run.

[Inevitability]

I used a bit of music in my recent gaming sessions, though not too much.

In a room that I intended to be creepy, I used the theme of N's room from Pokemon B&W 2. Basically; a distorted music box song that occasionally skips or speeds up.

During a boss fight, I used the Grand Dungeon Boss theme from Dungeon Defenders and Divine Identity from Digital Devil Saga 2 for the boss' various forms, then followed with Mother 3's final battle theme and Metroid Prime 2's escape theme for the post-battle part.

[Nibbens]

I use music to warn my players before they start fights (especially optional ones). If they hear One Winged Angel, they know it's going to be a damn hard fight that will probably kill someone (should they choose to take the fight). If they hear 13th Struggle (Axel boss music), they know to expect a plot heavy arena fight. If they hear Fairy Law, they run.

This is actually a really cool idea. Auditory and smell are the two most powerful sensory centers with a connection to memories in the brain. Using music to tell your PCs how they view an upcoming battle is something that can be done very well if you know your audience.

[Vhaidara]

That s actually a very good addition: you have to know your players.

To explain how well I know my players the first time I dropped music, I linked the YouTube clip (I play on Roll20). One of the players starts laughing. When he's done, he tells me that the song I linked had just come up on his playlist.

[PsyBomb]

On PbP, I like to link boss themes (such as using Nightwish's "Over the Hills and Far Away" for a KH game, where they were fighting Mor'du in the Brave world). Live, my favorite music source is actually the FF7 soundtrack. Something for EVERYTHING in there.

[atemu1234]

I use Two Steps from Hell, Fairy Tail OST, Kingdom Hearts OST, a bit of Final Fantasy OST, Heroes of Might and Magic IV, and the occasional meme song.

I use music to warn my players before they start fights (especially optional ones). If they hear One Winged Angel, they know it's going to be a damn hard fight that will probably kill someone (should they choose to take the fight). If they hear 13th Struggle (Axel boss music), they know to expect a plot heavy arena fight. If they hear Fairy Law, they run.

I'm going to get those tracks now.

[BWR]

Soundtracks all the way.
For D&D stuff from Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights, etc. Movies like Stardust, LotR, artists like Mediæval Bæbes, some folk music (usually Irish)
For L5R/OA: Soundtracks from Hero, House of Flying Daggers, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, the Banquet, Curse of the Golden Flower, Spirited Away, etc.
For SW: the SW music (obviously)
For other SF: nBSG, soundtracks from Mass Effect, etc.
Ars Magica: Ambrosian Chant, Gregorian chant, various traditional songs, minstrel songs (check out Martin Best's stuff like this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66e50dXBT0M)), etc. Usually hard to find stuff from the 13cth century but we make do.

[Vhaidara]

I'm going to get those tracks now.

It is worth noting that these only apply if your players know the music. All of my players are Kingdom Hearts fans, and two of the four have seen Fairy Tail

[atemu1234]

It is worth noting that these only apply if your players know the music. All of my players are Kingdom Hearts fans, and two of the four have seen Fairy Tail

Oh, honey...
They most definitely know all of that. At least two of them are millenials, the others were born in the late nineties.

[Vhaidara]

Hey, I've met people my own age (21) who don't like KH. And I didn't watch anime at all until a year and a half ago.

[atemu1234]

Hey, I've met people my own age (21) who don't like KH. And I didn't watch anime at all until a year and a half ago.

Fair enough. Same goes for me if you don't count things like Pokemon or Avatar.

Though KH and Star Wars Battlefront are my childhood...

[Vhaidara]

Oh, speaking of childhood.

I plan to mix in some baldur's gate, Warcraft, diablo, and StarCraft (my game has sci-fi sections)

[Ken Murikumo]

Kammarheit: all albums

Sephiroth: Draconian Poetry (has nothing to do with the FF Villain)

& I second Two Steps From Hell

[Karl Aegis]

Fair enough. Same goes for me if you don't count things like Pokemon or Avatar.

Though KH and Star Wars Battlefront are my childhood...

In what world is Pokemon not an anime and in what world is Avatar an anime? Which Avatar are you even talking about that can even be considered close to an anime?

[BWR]

In what world is Pokemon not an anime and in what world is Avatar an anime? Which Avatar are you even talking about that can even be considered close to an anime?

Probably Avatar: The Last Airbender / Legend of Korra.
If those aren't Western anime, I don't know what.

[Karl Aegis]

If The Last Airbender or The Legend of Korra are considered "western anime" then you have to include Spongebob Squarepants in that category as well.

[Nibbens]

I once used Grendel's Lair (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ap1MWdnwC8I) from the Too Human soundtrack (on loop) for a boss battle-y thing. When turned low (as to not disrupt gameplay) it has a driving quality that can really get under your skin.

For games that have a horror element - I go hog wild on some of the Silent Hill 2 and 3 tracks. They're almost all ambient and work well turned low. Nothing got under their skin worse than when this one (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfJAooq3mTg)popped up while exploring hidden/creepy rooms in whatever dungeon.

[Psyren]

There are all kinds of 10-hour ambient mixes on Youtube, everything from tavern music, to medieval faires, to epic orchestras to pounding battle drums.

Also, seconding whoever said no lyrics, they have a tendency to be distracting even when turned down low.

[Nibbens]

I actually agree with the "no music at all" thing. But I did have a few successful runs with it in the past.

A past DM had a group of players attend an opera, and actually stopped the game, dimmed the lights, and played 30 seconds of some opera-singing-stuff in Italian. (it was a smooth transition and was pre-set up to go off before the game ever began) After the 30 seconds he slowly lowered the music, returned the lights and gameplay resumed.

It actually worked, in terms of theme, and even if you didn't like opera music, or find music distracting, his introduction of music in the game succeeded in achieving its goal. (setting mood, tone, depth of scene, etc.)

Since that point, I've been more open minded to actually halting the gameplay for 20 seconds or so set mood and such (as long as I don't take 20 seconds to do get there). However, this may not be the case with all players. It works for mine because "that's just how they are" but maybe not so much for yours.

As I said earlier and was repeated - know your players. Know what they want and what they accept as tolerable for game play.

[atemu1234]

If The Last Airbender or The Legend of Korra are considered "western anime" then you have to include Spongebob Squarepants in that category as well.

Not really. Considering that one draws on highly similar themes and inspirations to anime, it's only a question of source. I wouldn't call My Neighbor Totoro anime, but its source is similar.