Roc Ness
2016-04-12, 08:49 AM
Heya playground, long time no see.
So, the context for this thread is that recently I got a game running (FATE system, good stuff, might never look back) on Roll20. And I noticed they have a music feature going through soundcloud, and so I thought... this is neato, let's give it a spin. And so I did.
I played recap music (https://soundcloud.com/ignacio-martinez-47911963/yesterday-beatles-cover-instrumental-piano) while recapping at the beginning of sessions.
I played suspenseful music (https://soundcloud.com/crane43/thrill-theme-suspense-aj-ace-attorney) while making things go bump in the night as my players slept.
I played some beaty music (https://soundcloud.com/danang-m-pratomo/19-kodou-ost-mushishi-2) to set the pace when an encounter happened.
And I played some silly music (https://soundcloud.com/lukefearsome/dogsong) for when my players went hilariously off-track with some silly idea (as players do).
It was well received! I was happy and impressed! But then I ran into a problem...
I don't really know very much music! I've been drawing from two anime (Mushishi (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkpT3eS001M) & Mononoke (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EtNCG-gBWM&list=PL5yjoleUuslaOs-4xd4UpVUn1_tyr21_D)) my game was partially inspired by, Ace Attorney (because it seemed the most obvious place to find 'courtroom' music), and goofy jazz covers of random songs I knew my players would recognise. However, only so many tracks from any source are useful to me, and I didn't have a wide pool of sources, so I ran out of applicable music in three sessions! Also, I'm not really sure how/when I should apply music, asides from the most obvious (encounters, suspense & comic relief).
Now, I'm not asking the playground to help me with music for my game specifically, in part because I don't have very much planned ahead, and what little I have planned ahead I have music specifically set aside for already. However, I would love to know... fellow DMs and players alike in the playground, what experiences have you had exactly in implementing audio into your games? From where did you find your music? What where some moments that stood out to you? Did you have a pattern or guideline for when you would use music and when you would let silence be? Or did you have background music the whole time? Do you have any experiences to share about Roll20, soundcloud, or some other way of disseminating sound to your players from across the interwebs? What advice might you have for me, who is looking to continue supplementing his games with music, but didn't really think very far ahead?
So, the context for this thread is that recently I got a game running (FATE system, good stuff, might never look back) on Roll20. And I noticed they have a music feature going through soundcloud, and so I thought... this is neato, let's give it a spin. And so I did.
I played recap music (https://soundcloud.com/ignacio-martinez-47911963/yesterday-beatles-cover-instrumental-piano) while recapping at the beginning of sessions.
I played suspenseful music (https://soundcloud.com/crane43/thrill-theme-suspense-aj-ace-attorney) while making things go bump in the night as my players slept.
I played some beaty music (https://soundcloud.com/danang-m-pratomo/19-kodou-ost-mushishi-2) to set the pace when an encounter happened.
And I played some silly music (https://soundcloud.com/lukefearsome/dogsong) for when my players went hilariously off-track with some silly idea (as players do).
It was well received! I was happy and impressed! But then I ran into a problem...
I don't really know very much music! I've been drawing from two anime (Mushishi (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkpT3eS001M) & Mononoke (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EtNCG-gBWM&list=PL5yjoleUuslaOs-4xd4UpVUn1_tyr21_D)) my game was partially inspired by, Ace Attorney (because it seemed the most obvious place to find 'courtroom' music), and goofy jazz covers of random songs I knew my players would recognise. However, only so many tracks from any source are useful to me, and I didn't have a wide pool of sources, so I ran out of applicable music in three sessions! Also, I'm not really sure how/when I should apply music, asides from the most obvious (encounters, suspense & comic relief).
Now, I'm not asking the playground to help me with music for my game specifically, in part because I don't have very much planned ahead, and what little I have planned ahead I have music specifically set aside for already. However, I would love to know... fellow DMs and players alike in the playground, what experiences have you had exactly in implementing audio into your games? From where did you find your music? What where some moments that stood out to you? Did you have a pattern or guideline for when you would use music and when you would let silence be? Or did you have background music the whole time? Do you have any experiences to share about Roll20, soundcloud, or some other way of disseminating sound to your players from across the interwebs? What advice might you have for me, who is looking to continue supplementing his games with music, but didn't really think very far ahead?