Music in Ravenloft
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InVinoVeritas
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Boris Drakov
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I see alot of music I use has been mentioned here but not George Clinton's Brainscan theme.
It is very, very good for ghost/creepy/dark moods.
Sadly it has been done to death in my campaign.
I also like to give major villains theme songs.
Like a sorcerer/shapeshifter they battled for years which had David Arkenstone's "the Dragon's Breath" for a theme or the lich the previous party served and eventually destroyed who had "o fortuna" as a theme.
The look on their faces when they first met him flanked by two giant blind angels and that music started playing....
The memory still brings happiness to my sadistic DM soul.
It is very, very good for ghost/creepy/dark moods.
Sadly it has been done to death in my campaign.
I also like to give major villains theme songs.
Like a sorcerer/shapeshifter they battled for years which had David Arkenstone's "the Dragon's Breath" for a theme or the lich the previous party served and eventually destroyed who had "o fortuna" as a theme.
The look on their faces when they first met him flanked by two giant blind angels and that music started playing....
The memory still brings happiness to my sadistic DM soul.
"I kneel for no-one!"
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CorvusCornix
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Well, most of the good stuff has already been mentioned, so I'll just add two more of my favorites:
- The CD "Dark Wood" by David Darling
- The "Nightmare on elm street" theme
I use "Dark Wood" and some other stuff by David Darling when my players come up with something I totally didn't expect and therefore didn't prepare any music for. It's very gloomy and calm, the perfect music you can just play in the background when you don't want the music to stand out too much.
Well, and the nightmare theme is my absolute favorite for the darkest and most horrifying moments...
Generally, I stick to the same guidelines Gonzoron already listed (no lyrics, no well-known tracks, furthermore no sudden mood-jumps in the tracks).
Before sessions, I select a number of tracks per location/encounter I have planned and copy them into one large file each. You can use the DOS prompt to do this quite simply: copy /b track1.mp3 + track2.mp3 + track3.mp3 target.mp3 puts track 1, 2 and 3 together into target.mp3. Then, I set my mp3player to repeat the track, so I only have as many tracks as planned encounters. Now I can switch between encounters without even looking at the display by only pressing the button for the next track.
- The CD "Dark Wood" by David Darling
- The "Nightmare on elm street" theme
I use "Dark Wood" and some other stuff by David Darling when my players come up with something I totally didn't expect and therefore didn't prepare any music for. It's very gloomy and calm, the perfect music you can just play in the background when you don't want the music to stand out too much.
Well, and the nightmare theme is my absolute favorite for the darkest and most horrifying moments...
Generally, I stick to the same guidelines Gonzoron already listed (no lyrics, no well-known tracks, furthermore no sudden mood-jumps in the tracks).
Before sessions, I select a number of tracks per location/encounter I have planned and copy them into one large file each. You can use the DOS prompt to do this quite simply: copy /b track1.mp3 + track2.mp3 + track3.mp3 target.mp3 puts track 1, 2 and 3 together into target.mp3. Then, I set my mp3player to repeat the track, so I only have as many tracks as planned encounters. Now I can switch between encounters without even looking at the display by only pressing the button for the next track.
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High Priest Mikhal
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Being a little bored I decided to try and raise this thread. ::holds defribulators:: CLEAR! ::shocks thread::
When I hear music I tend to associate it with something--sometimes part of Ravenloft, sometimes not. "Sanitarium" by Metallica always makes me think of the Nightmare Lands. The angst, the frustration, and the way it builds from slow to a faster, harder pace towards the end makes the song perfect for the portrayal of a nightmare. Things don't get better; they just get worse. Only if (not when, if) you wake up will things be okay again. Back when I had a group I gave them a taste of the Nightmare Lands through the PCs dreams--a cutscene, really. The narrative followed the pace of the song and brought out their worst fears (the PCs', not the players). After that they banned me from using the NL.
Another use of a song (again Metallica, but I don't use them exclusively) is a trip to Odiare. When Maligno and his carrionettes made their first appearance they looked like simple wooden puppets on display. Then as "Master of Puppets" began playing the dolls stood up and began to dance, tumble, and otherwise make it quite obvious they were alive. Then an Odiaran adult, dead and strung like a puppet himself, was lowered from the shadows hiding the ceiling and made to dance as well. Then the music stopped, the body collapsed, and the carrionettes disappeared into the shadows of the ceiling. After that I'd sometimes play the song if they were near a puppet--whether or not it was a carrionette or even a doll golem. Up until our last session they still broke out in a nervous sweat whenever there was a child's doll around and the song started.
When I hear music I tend to associate it with something--sometimes part of Ravenloft, sometimes not. "Sanitarium" by Metallica always makes me think of the Nightmare Lands. The angst, the frustration, and the way it builds from slow to a faster, harder pace towards the end makes the song perfect for the portrayal of a nightmare. Things don't get better; they just get worse. Only if (not when, if) you wake up will things be okay again. Back when I had a group I gave them a taste of the Nightmare Lands through the PCs dreams--a cutscene, really. The narrative followed the pace of the song and brought out their worst fears (the PCs', not the players). After that they banned me from using the NL.
Another use of a song (again Metallica, but I don't use them exclusively) is a trip to Odiare. When Maligno and his carrionettes made their first appearance they looked like simple wooden puppets on display. Then as "Master of Puppets" began playing the dolls stood up and began to dance, tumble, and otherwise make it quite obvious they were alive. Then an Odiaran adult, dead and strung like a puppet himself, was lowered from the shadows hiding the ceiling and made to dance as well. Then the music stopped, the body collapsed, and the carrionettes disappeared into the shadows of the ceiling. After that I'd sometimes play the song if they were near a puppet--whether or not it was a carrionette or even a doll golem. Up until our last session they still broke out in a nervous sweat whenever there was a child's doll around and the song started.
"Money is the root of all evil...I think I need more money."
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Gonzoron of the FoS
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OK, I really am ashamed to admit this... In fact, I'll put in a tiny font to avoid embarrassment. While my wife watches So You Think You Can Dance, I often pay attention to the names of the songs so I can look for them later to use for Ravenloft
One such recent find was Filet from the soundtrack of "La Reve," a show in Las Vegas. Perfect dark battle music, I think. Too bad it's not available anywhere online.
Another was Vitamin String Quartet. Apparently, they do tribute albums to all sorts of artists, and the songs are disguised enough by being played by a string quartet that I'd have no qualms using them. They do have tracks available online, and a huge catalog. It's like finding out Apocalyptica just came out with another 100 cover albums.
(They're not as awesome as Apocalyptica of course, but have a similar feel when used as RPG background music.)
One such recent find was Filet from the soundtrack of "La Reve," a show in Las Vegas. Perfect dark battle music, I think. Too bad it's not available anywhere online.
Another was Vitamin String Quartet. Apparently, they do tribute albums to all sorts of artists, and the songs are disguised enough by being played by a string quartet that I'd have no qualms using them. They do have tracks available online, and a huge catalog. It's like finding out Apocalyptica just came out with another 100 cover albums.
(They're not as awesome as Apocalyptica of course, but have a similar feel when used as RPG background music.)"We're realistic heroes. We're not here to save the world, just nudge the world into a better place."
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Zettaijin
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The Goblin, if only because their keyboardist now looks like a creepy old man ready to jump on any nubile female in his path.
Seriously though, The Goblin contributed the score to numeorus Argento pics as well as Romero's Dawn of the Dead, launching numerous copycat acts trying to milk the creepy synth and jazz fusion craze for all it's worth. Even John carpenter later confessed that he sort of, kind of ripped off The Goblin for his now infamous minimalist Halloween theme.
Then someone thought adding hevay metal would be a cool idea. Well, it worked in Lamberto Bava's Demons, but I stiill fail to see the point of Iron Maiden's Flash of the Blade in Argento's Opera (as thematic as it may be).
If you have no idea what I'm talking about, do yourself a favour and check out the scores for Suspiria and Profondo Rosso.
Seriously though, The Goblin contributed the score to numeorus Argento pics as well as Romero's Dawn of the Dead, launching numerous copycat acts trying to milk the creepy synth and jazz fusion craze for all it's worth. Even John carpenter later confessed that he sort of, kind of ripped off The Goblin for his now infamous minimalist Halloween theme.
Then someone thought adding hevay metal would be a cool idea. Well, it worked in Lamberto Bava's Demons, but I stiill fail to see the point of Iron Maiden's Flash of the Blade in Argento's Opera (as thematic as it may be).
If you have no idea what I'm talking about, do yourself a favour and check out the scores for Suspiria and Profondo Rosso.
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Zettaijin
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OK, I see no one is sold on giallo/70's Italian cinema music, even if I strongly urge you to give L'alba Dei Morti Viventi from the original Dawn of the Dead soundtrack a shot. If anyone needs suggestion regarding Goblin, I'll be glad to help. (I'm nothing if not persistent)
I checked in the more ambient section of my music colelction and found the following:
Wappenbund - Gothy, doom and gloom, synth heavy stuff with a strong fantasy feel. Might work best with particularly serious encounters with say a powerful Lich or inside an ancient dead's lair. It has that taint of old, evil magic.
Elend - Plenty of piano and organ to accompany an all-female chorus but it's a bit too slow and melodramatic. The album I have here deals with the fall of Lucifer and a great battle between angels and demons and what not. A bit wordy at times thanks to the male singer, but again, hard work might reveal some real gems.
Ophelia's Dream - Slightly pretentious operatic goth/ambient featuring a soaring soprano with a tad too much harp for RL, but YMMV...
Dargaard - Look, the man behind this project is a huge Tolkien geek. I mean HUGE as in basing every single one of his previous band's albums on Lord of the Rings (before the movies, mind you). You'll be hearing your share of music that would fit in quite well for a campaign set in the Faerun, but if you dig around, you might find some RL-worthy material.
Black Tape for a Blue Girl - Ashes in the Brittle Air was made for RL, the rest of their material varies, but stick to the instrumentals.
Bethlehem - Awesome band, really, however quite unsuitable for RL due to their lack of errr subtlety. This said, the vicious "oh my god someone is ripping the flesh from my bones" screams could wake up the neighbours. Makes for a great ringtone!
The Future Sounds of London - Perhaps too futuristic and gothy for RL, but you can't deny that Dead Cities would make for some very interesting battle music.
I checked in the more ambient section of my music colelction and found the following:
Wappenbund - Gothy, doom and gloom, synth heavy stuff with a strong fantasy feel. Might work best with particularly serious encounters with say a powerful Lich or inside an ancient dead's lair. It has that taint of old, evil magic.
Elend - Plenty of piano and organ to accompany an all-female chorus but it's a bit too slow and melodramatic. The album I have here deals with the fall of Lucifer and a great battle between angels and demons and what not. A bit wordy at times thanks to the male singer, but again, hard work might reveal some real gems.
Ophelia's Dream - Slightly pretentious operatic goth/ambient featuring a soaring soprano with a tad too much harp for RL, but YMMV...
Dargaard - Look, the man behind this project is a huge Tolkien geek. I mean HUGE as in basing every single one of his previous band's albums on Lord of the Rings (before the movies, mind you). You'll be hearing your share of music that would fit in quite well for a campaign set in the Faerun, but if you dig around, you might find some RL-worthy material.
Black Tape for a Blue Girl - Ashes in the Brittle Air was made for RL, the rest of their material varies, but stick to the instrumentals.
Bethlehem - Awesome band, really, however quite unsuitable for RL due to their lack of errr subtlety. This said, the vicious "oh my god someone is ripping the flesh from my bones" screams could wake up the neighbours. Makes for a great ringtone!
The Future Sounds of London - Perhaps too futuristic and gothy for RL, but you can't deny that Dead Cities would make for some very interesting battle music.
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Jester of the FoS
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Gonzoron of the FoS
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Yes, of course I remain uninterested. How could I watch such a show.... from now on, when Katee didn't win!HuManBing wrote:Riiiiiiiiiiiiiight... when your wife watches it... and while you remain COMPLETELY UNINTERESTED.
"We're realistic heroes. We're not here to save the world, just nudge the world into a better place."
