Just to re-open the rather narrow but nonetheless interesting subject of RPG background music. Some of my (and my compatriots') favorite selections are: Peter Gabriel's "Passion" (soundtrack from _The Last Temptation of Christ_) -- good for setting a mystic mood soundtrack from "Henry V" (Kenneth Branaugh's recent version) -- good all-around adventure music Orff's "O Fortuna" -- battle music Holst's "The Planets" (esp. "Mars: The Bringer of War") soundtrack from "Conan the Barbarian" (God, we wish this were on CD) -- The _ULTIMATE_ battle music!!! This is a partial list of what I can recall of the top of my head. We're always looking for more ideas. ******************************************************************* Matt Simmons matt@sed.stel.com In article <1992Feb13.164158.16490@sed.stel.com>, matt@sed.stel.com (Matt Simmons) writes: > Just to re-open the rather narrow but nonetheless interesting subject > of RPG background music. Some of my (and my compatriots') favorite > selections are: > . . . goodies deleted . . . > > ******************************************************************* > Matt Simmons matt@sed.stel.com > One that has been getting a lot of play by our group lately is the soundtrack from "Night Breed." Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful mood music. Check it out...I bought it on cassette and now I *really* wish I had it on CD.... -- _______________________________________________________________________________ If you get the impression I'm not qualified to speak for this University, it's because I ain't, I can't, I don't, I won't, and I don'wanna. ________Lisamarie "Rifa the Insane" Babik_________91babik@gw.wmich.edu_________ Hi! I am a .signature virus. Copy me into your .signature to join in! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In article <1992Feb13.164158.16490@sed.stel.com> matt@sed.stel.com (Matt Simmons) writes: >soundtrack from "Henry V" (Kenneth Branaugh's recent version) > -- good all-around adventure music Also, see the movie. It's in video--it is what a high-adventure rpg run ought to be. In article <1992Feb13.164158.16490@sed.stel.com> matt@sed.stel.com (Matt Simmons) writes: >Just to re-open the rather narrow but nonetheless interesting subject >of RPG background music. Our group frequently plays with movie soundtracks going in the background: Star Wars, the Indiana Jones movies, The Mission, Top Gun. I also have a collection of famous opera overtures, and a disk of "Wagner without words", i.e., the famous instrumental bits out of the Ring cycle. Since I do that kind of thing for fun, I also assemble cassettes (in the "greatest hits" type of vein) with specific themes that I play too. Since the players are aware of the kind of things that are likely to happen are foreshadowed by the tape I put on, this adds to the atmosphere. There is MUCH more caution when I put on the "Morale Check: Failed" or "Horror" tapes than the "Hero Inspiration" tape. The latter begins with a fade-in to Scotland the Brave, and I think I have conditioned several players to look forward to hearing bagpipes.... --- Well, while GMing my science-fiction/fantasy mixup game, I use the following CDs or cassettes: - "Terminator 2" O.S.T. Try it when the characters are chasing an unknown horror through damp corridors or in a hot pursuit through underground tunnels... - "Miracle Mile" O.S.T. Also very nice for pursuits or timed sessions, like cliffhanger stuff. - "Akira" O.S.T. Nuff said... - "Blue Thunder" O.S.T. Also very good for urban nightmares. - Fields of the Nephilim "Live Inferno". Heavy, moody, strange and beautiful. If you don't know the band, try and take a listen to it... - Sisters of Mercy "Floodland". Another very dark thing, not necessary for action, but for a moody ambiance. - Mike Oldfield. Almost all the instrumental stuff he did fit quite well for most RPGs, but specially fantasy stuff. - Klaus Schultze "Miditerannean Pads". Nice, long and instrumental new-age strengeness. Fits almost any game. - Fates Warning "Perfect Symmetry". Progressive metal, just for the fun of it. Nice instrumental acrobatics, though... More later, if I can find some... "Fire in Harmony!.." Alias ################################################################################ ################################################################################ ## //|| ================= ## Stephane "Alias" GALLAY // || (O \\ ## c/o satellite@eldi.epfl.ch // || \\ ## // \\---++--- || ||\\ \\ ## "Tout est dans rien // \\ || || || || \\ \\ ## et rien est dans tout // \\ || || || || \\ \\ ## et reciproquement..." // \\|| ||___ || ||__________\\ ## (Pierre DAC) ## ################################################################################ ######################################### ALIAS.SIG v.2.0b Comments welcome! ### In article <1992Feb14.103214.2826@gw.wmich.edu>, 91babik@gw.wmich.edu (Lisamarie 'Rifa the Insane' Babik) writes... >In article <1992Feb13.164158.16490@sed.stel.com>, matt@sed.stel.com (Matt Simmons) writes: >> Just to re-open the rather narrow but nonetheless interesting subject >> of RPG background music. Some of my (and my compatriots') favorite >> selections are: >> > . . . goodies deleted . . . > >> >> ******************************************************************* >> Matt Simmons matt@sed.stel.com >> > >One that has been getting a lot of play by our group lately is the >soundtrack from "Night Breed." Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful mood music. >Check it out...I bought it on cassette and now I *really* wish I had it on >CD.... > >-- Also, The soundtrack from Costner's Robin Hood (except the last two tracks) a tape of Gregorian Chants almost anything "New age" Although it doesn't set mood as well, it makes great background noise. ******************************************************************************* * ------- | Courtesy of: \ These opinions are protected under the * * / \ |_ Bitnet: \ First Ammendment. So there, Nyah. * * / o o \ |_ Ruderman@msuegr \ * * | | | |_ Internet: \______________________________________* * \ / |_ Ruderman@clvax1.cl.msu.edu \ My other car is * * \ ----- / |_ \___ also a VAX... * * ------- Have a Day.| Also known as Dooley.the.Mauve\ * ******************************************************************************* Faith No More's "Surprise! You're Dead!" is always a good one to have in reserve... :) Well, it depends on the game: 1. The best for this is STAR WARS. I ran a modified "Tatooine Manhunt" adventure where I used all of the pieces from the first half of the movie. One suggested in the module is that, whenever the PCs enter the cantina, play the Cantina Band tune. Then stop during the shootout with the bounty hunters (a la Ben's fight with Snaggletooth and Walrus Man) and restart after the shootout. 2. For my friend Mike's Cyberpunk campaign, I made him a tape with selections from Blade Runner, Terminator 1 and 2, and the rest being the heaviest, hardest thrash-metal I could get. Played at low volume in a darkened playing room, the game was a lot of fun. (I was an observer though.. too much work to do). 3. For V&V, I like to use Superman and Batman mixed with other soundracks to make the "heroes" theme clear. Other sountracks that work well for me include Star Trek 6, Terminator 2, The Empire Strikes Back (I use it a lot), and Robocop. 4. For AD&D, I've only used Conan and some of the eerier action film tracks. Star Trek 6 has a few that could go anywhere, like "Escape from Rura Penthe" and "The Death of Gorkon." Happy gaming, and don't play the music too loudly. Tony 8^\) On the subject of excellent gaming music... Anyone heard Carl Orff's Carmina Burana? No? Yes -- you have! It's that great choral music from Conan the Barbarian (i.e., "Da-Na-Na-Na; Da-Na-Na-Na; Da-Na-Na-Naa-Naaa-Na-Na" -- I'd transcribe the actual notes for those of you who are musically inclined, but that's kinda impossible in this format...). Anyway, that well-known bit that has shown up everywhere from Shwarzenegger's debut to the "Hamlet" previews (_now_ do you remember it?) is only the first song from Orff's 30-plus song work. When you go searching in the Classical section, though, be careful -- there are _a LOT_ of works titled Carmina Burana; some of the rest are good, but the popular one is by Orff. There must be something about the Star Trek saga that inspires... all but one of the six movie soundtracks are great for any type of gaming (Leonar *pardon me* _Leonard_ Rosenman's STIV soundtrack is a bit too New-Age-Jazzy for my taste...); although STII by James Horner is much more nautical than the rest (we use it for our Wooden Ships & Iron Men games). Also by James Horner -- the Glory sountrack, which is one of the best ever written; and there are some great military-sounding tracks. But if you obtain the CD, track 9 is some of the most moving music you'll ever hope to hear. AND... Just released, by Jerry Goldsmith, who wrote the STI and STV sountracks (much better than the movies they accompanied), is the soundtrack to Medicine Man. Apart from a couple of Central American folksy- sounding tunes, it is wholly adaptable to a wide variety of settings (I recommend trck 4 on the CD). If you like Star Wars/John Williams, get a hold of "The Star Wars Saga -- John Williams conucts John Williams" -- it's a re-recording of the best of the music from the movies; although for some reason they left out "Into the Trap" from RotJ... but the Imperial March makes up for any loss. =) From the non-soundtrack standpoint, there are (of course) Wagner ("Ride of the Valkyries", although "Entrance of the Gods" (I'm not sure I got that right...) is _much_ better... don't worry, it'll be included on the same CD with "Ride"); Grieg ("Peer Gynt" -- yes, you've heard this one too); Beethoven ("Pastoral" Symphony); Alexsandr Borodin ("In the Steppes of Central Asia"); and almost _anything_ by Aaron Copeland. That's all I can think of for the time being... hope it helps. =) Cricket In article <0Ly9FB5w164w@netlink.cts.com> guido@netlink.cts.com (Joel Cherney) writes: >Soundtracks: The AKIRA soundtrack is very good... Hmmm ... I didn't know Japanese anime soundtrack is THAT popular in r.g.frp. Or is that an American verison? Anyway, my favourite game music for fantasy games is the soundtrack of Record of Lodoss Wars. What is this? Well, it's a Japanese animation based on a famous pseudo-D&D rpg in Japan. Some very nice classical and new age music can be found there. What else can I ask for? :) Chadwick Sheeta "the Elf" Several readers have offered their suggestions for appropriate music for role- playing games, and being a musician myself, I thought I would offer my own suggestions. This is a list of classical music by various composers which might prove useful in an FRP campaign. If you have any other suggestions, please E-mail them to me at HSGIBBONS@Amherst.edu, because I can assure you that this is not all that could be used!! Here goes: Composer: Piece: Janacek, Leos Sinfonietta (great fanfare) Schubert, Franz Der Erlkonig (The Erlking-scary) Holst, Gustav The Planets Stravinsky, Igor The Rite of Spring The Firebird Wagner, Richard Ride of the Valkyries Siegfried's Funeral March Magic Fire Music Berlioz, Hector Requiem (Dies Irae/Tuba Mirum=huge sound, good for BIG events) Sinfonie Fantastique (Witches' Sabbath) Strauss, Richard Don Juan Death and Transfiguration Liszt, Franz Les Preludes (another great fanfare) Orff, Carl Carmina Burana (of Excalibur, Hamlet fame) Mussorgski, Modest Night on Bald Mountain (Fantasia) Pictures at an Exhibition None Gregorian Chant (for solemn religious moments in campaign) Palestrina, G. Pierluigi da Missa Ut Re Mi Fa Sol (for sunrise scenes, etc.) Bach, Johann Sebastian Organ Preludes and Fugues (Toccata...) There is a partial list; for those who want something really exotic, try music of the early and late middle ages: it's really strange and might fit a campaign very well. When I think of about 20 more pieces I will post them, too. Sandy Gibbons a.k.a. Gronk the Liberator Chadwick W Ngan writes: >Joel Cherney writes: >>Soundtracks: The AKIRA soundtrack is very good... > Hmmm ... I didn't know Japanese anime soundtrack is THAT popular in >r.g.frp. Or is that an American verison? > Anyway, my favourite game music for fantasy games is the soundtrack >of Record of Lodoss Wars. What is this? Well, it's a Japanese animation >based on a famous pseudo-D&D rpg in Japan. Some very nice classical and new >age music can be found there. The actual soundtrack is damn near unusable as it has voiceovers at the beginning of each track, and there are only 4 tracks. The symphonic suite is far better, it being either an exact recording or damn close to the BGM (background music) that was playing at the time. The symphonic suite is what is marketed here by Books (Crooks?) Nippon as the Akira soundtrack. It is exactly the same as the JVC symphonic suite in Japan. As for other BGM, there are a lot of comedy cues from Ranma that seem to work nicely, if I can find that disk (BGM 1, I think) and a way to have them always at hand. Laputa has some fantastic music. The 'discovery' theme (dunno the actual track's title) was the inspiration to an entire campaign. It's really a well put-together disc. The trumpet fanfare is great, as is the 'villian' tracks. Yotoden 1 (and 2, same BGM) has some very errie stuff. Project AKo has some very electronic space and battle music. Still good. You gotta watch out for the other pieces, you could get saccharine poisoning from the lyrics. MZ23 has a goodly selection of albums out. Between the BGMs, complete song collections and whatnot etc, you should be able to find usable stuff. Other stuff I've used: BGC, Lupin 3 - Cagliostro's Castle, Naausica, and Arion, in no particular order. Tim The Eagles did an instrumental piece called "Journey of the Sorcerer" which is good. Anything by Tangerine Dream, if you're running an adventure that a given piece will match up with. In general, NO non-choral lyrical music is any good for RPG background sound. Songs have a way of distracting people, because they either focus on the lyrics (and NOT on the game), or they end up having to talk over the spoken words, which makes the room grow gradually louder and louder. Choral pieces are a little safer; nobody actually *listens* to the *content* of Gregorian chants, they just listen to the *sound* of the chants. Of course, I haven't gotten around to playing a CP RPG yet... I suppose that lyrical music (specifically certain goth/industrial and metal) are kind of the whole *point*. Even without lyrics, if I was playing a CP character with the right attitude, *I'd* want ART OF NOISE's "Peter Gunn Theme" on my side. -- The Secret Man tsm@digex.com "Accept no substitutes." I have found that the French musician Jean Michel Jarre has done some really spectacular stuff in terms of synthesized music. He has several albums out in the US, including Magnetic Fields, Oxygene, Equinoxe and Concerts in China & Houston. I liked Equinoxe best for background Fantasy roleplay music, and Oxygene was a close second. ___________________________ | \//// | | |n n| | Another great Communique from |---oooo-o-+-U-+-o-oooo---| """"""""""""""""""""""""""""" | | Darrell Benvenuto, Eternal Student | Kilroy wuz Here! | 163-09 Crocheron Avenue, Dept. 1C | | Flushing, New York 11358-2716 |_________________________| Email: C8SQC@CUNYVM via BITNET Since my stupid UNIX system (news) is always a weeks "late" my article on the fantasy music didnt catch the original discussion. Sorry :) Well, anyway, here are some more classical ideas: Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade (A VERY good work - suits extremely well a Persian style game (Aladdin and so on)) Sibelius: (*grin* a Finnish composer) Finlandia Organ music - Bach: Toccata und Fugue in d-minor BWV 565 (a MUST!) Tshaicovsky (not sure about the spelling): 1812 (or was it 1817?) overture Swan Lake (a must! too) Piano concerto no. 1 Marche slave Khachaturian: Gayaneh (at least the sabre dance - but there are other good spots too) Prokofiev: Romeo and Julia Rossini: Wilhelm Tell overture The Barber of Sevilla overture Debussy: La Mer (for sea adventures and why not some other wilderness themes as well) Wagner: The Flying Dutchman overture (for a storm on the sea) Lohengrin and Parsifal overtures (for chivalrous music) (And as I (and others) said earlier such excerpts as "Ride of the Valkyries", "Magic Fire music", "Entry of gods into valhalla", "Forest murmurs", "Siegfried's funeral march" and the Immolation scene of Goetterdaemmerung from the Ring of the Nibelung are as if they were created for Fantasy gaming! And if one examines the four-part Ring further, there are endlessly more incredibly great passages such as "Siegfried's Rhine journey", Hagen's threatening "Hoi-ho!" calls, Wotan's Farewell to Brynnhilde, Prelude to act II in die Walkyre (it is no use to even try to list them all here!) There is an interesting CD collection (orchestral) of the most important themes in the Ring' called "Das Ring ohne orte" (conducted by Lorin Maazel). Only few major motives were missing from it (the mystical Tarnhelm motive, for example) and some orchestral passages had been shortened. -- Topi Ylinen | An NPC f1toyl@kielo.uta fi | in RL In article <4866@kielo.uta.fi> f1toyl@uta.fi (Topi Ylinen) writes: > >Well, anyway, here are some more classical ideas: > >Sibelius: (*grin* a Finnish composer) Finlandia The last movement of the 2nd Symphony makes great triumph music, too. >Organ music - Bach: Toccata und Fugue in d-minor BWV 565 (a MUST!) Something really sinister and dissonant - Poulenc's organ concerto. >Tshaicovsky (not sure about the spelling): 1812 (or was it 1817?) overture It's the 1812 overture, and "Tchaikovksy" or "Tschaikowsky" or even "Cjaikovsky", depending on your country of origin and time period. >Khachaturian: Gayaneh (at least the sabre dance - but there are other good > spots too) Anything by Khachaturian is loud, crude, and noisy. It's great stuff. >Prokofiev: Romeo and Julia Romeo and Juliet, you mean. A lot of Prokofiev's stuff makes great gaming music. Alexander Nevsky has some wonderful battle music, and the Fifth Symphony in general is terrific. >Debussy: La Mer (for sea adventures and why not some other wilderness themes >as well) If you're looking for great sea music, try Vaughan Williams' First Symphony, "A Sea Symphony". It's basicaly a choral work, with a huge amount of poetry about the sea. >Wagner: Anything Wagner is good. The man wrote operas on heroic fantasy themes; you can't go wrong with him. More music: Shostakovich: really great, menacing symphonies, especially the 5th and 7th. Bruckner: solemn, serious music, big on brass. Diamond: an American composer, writes big, neoRomantic symphonies heavy on brass and percussion. John Williams: even though they say the man rips off great composers, he does it awfully well. Anything he does is generally good (except for _Hook_. Bleah) Ben Hur: I don't remember who wrote this, but there's a two CD set with the complete movie music. The gladiator stuff is particularly stiring. Erich Kunzel and the Cincinatti Pops have some CDs with music that's quite appropriate to gaming. Star Tracks I and II, Time Warp, Hollywood's Greatest Hits, Bond, Symphonic Spectacular, and Pomp and Pizazz all make good gaming music. The music from the Star Trek and Back to the Future movies is also terrific. Danny Elfman, probably best known for the music to the PeeWee movies and "The Simpsons", has some stuff that's wonderful gaming music. There's a CD of his collected music, ranging from the PeeWee scores to Nightbreed. /~\______________________________________________________________________/~\ |n| Lydia Leong | If there is anyone here that I have not |n| |~| lwl@eniac.seas.upenn.edu _| offended, I deeply apologize. -- Brahms |~| |_|_________________________|#|__________________________________________|_|