Café de Nuit

Now, that's about as un-Ravenlofty a musical genera as anyone could select! Even salsa would at least work for Souragne a bit....

It's corny, but I sometimes find that listening to sad pop ballads -- you know, the ultra-weepy ones about how the singer can't live/sleep/bear it without whatever-her/his-name-is -- is helpful when I'm concocting tragic backstories for sympathetic ghosts, imperiled NPCs, etc.

Let'S face it: We are children of the night in matters of gaming and matters of music...

*bwahahaha*

I find that most stuff that has lyrics is distracting, but music really helps with the mood when put on at the right moment.

...

R&B, rap, hip-hop, and the like don't really suit the mood of RL... But, if you made a domain that had the darklord 'Notorious B.I.G.' and his mortal enemy 'Tupac'...

::Scutters off to his workshop, a new campaign in the making::

I think anything with vocals, unless it's maybe opera or in a different language (i.e., one none of your players can understand enough of to find distracting), is inappropriate.

Then again, sometimes, music is distracting. I remember one star wars session my GM played the soundtrack and I just found myself listening to the music instead of what he had to say...

Talking about ambient/classic music. what do you think of Nobuo Uematsu, mastermind behind some of the greates video game soundtracks up to date?

-Not that I was much of gamer, but I've come to really like his stuff!

His stuff is awesome. My personal favourite is Terra from FF6. But it's not really appropriate to Ravenloft. Although there are a few. Too bad not all of them have been fully orchastrated like Terra.

Sepiroth would be good for a bad guy. I think also Reunion (I think (also from FF7)) might fit in, but it's just a glorified midi...

The *War of Genesis III Part II* Soundtrack is also a masterpiece, not to mention *Chrono Cross* OST.

Just check it out! It's a bit geeky to listen to such music, but apart from my everyday metal-load, it's really nice to have something so melodious in your repertoire...

Nobue Uematsu is my god. The chrono trigger soundtrack, whilst a bit dated by today's standards, is the single best 'heroic music' album ever made.

If you're looking for something witha bit more of a creepy/ravenloft vibe, have a look for 'One Winged Angel', the orchestral version, from FF: Advent Children. If you don't focus on the choir mumbling 'Sephiroth' every so often, it's some of the best music ever recorded....


*ahem* I should probably pull in my out-of-control Uematsu fanboyishness...

Once one has picked up fandom of this publically acclaimed master classic orchestrated music, it#s difficult not to be too enthusiastic with him.

He's one of the great geniuses of our time, without a doubt...