Best Soundtrack for your FH sessions?

[TheTemplar]

I'm curious how many other GM's and Players out there find that music can really help to set the mood while you're gaming. I know when I'm playing CRPG's like Neverwinter Nights for instance, that sometimes the music track can really add alot to the game. I've gathered a few CD's that I think will really add drama and feel to a FH game.

 

The LOTR Movie Soundtracks. I've got both Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers and there's some GREAT tracks for an FH game on them. (Having "The Bridge of Khazad Dum" playing behind any battle makes it epic.")

 

Conan The Barbarian. Obviously a wonderfully orchestrated movie. Great battle tracks here, too.

 

Anything by Karl Orff. "O Fortuna" specifically comes to mind...but he's got a great Epic style.

 

Any other good suggestions?

[keithcurtis]

Von Holst's "The Planets", particularly "Mars, the Bringer of War". There's a reason you hear that on movie trailers before they hvae an actual score.

 

The Bakshi version of LotR actually had a very good soundtrack. Superior in some ways to the current crop of LotR soundtracks (Ducks head and covers).

 

Some ballets have a good feel. "Des Sylphides" is one.

 

Gregorian Chant

 

"Academic Festival Overture" by Brahms is very good. I even had my original fantasy campaign scored to it in my head. In fact, most of the Romantic composers. Some of that old Program Music fits very easily into a FH campaign.

 

Ooh, "Scheherezade", by Rimsky-Korsakov.

 

Most of John William's more epic scores, as long as you can divorce them from their original imagery.

 

Keith "More when I have time" Curtis

[Killer Shrike]

Basil Pouledoris's Conan soundtrack (the 1st one), and the 13th Warrior Soundtrack are faves of mine.

[War Admiral]

Peter Gabriel's "Passion"

[Blue]

Yup standard stuff here.

 

Fantasy: Conan, LotR, Braveheart, Pirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl.

 

I own Gladiator, but it doesn't give the same impact as it does with the movie.

[projecktzero]

I've read many who like the Conan soundtrack, so I picked it up. It just doesn't do it for me.

 

The LOTR soundtracks are good.

 

I do remember Bakshi version of LotR, and the soundtrack was pretty good.

 

David Arkenstone's Celtic Book of Days

 

Jethro Tull

 

I'll probably think of more after I click the submit reply button.

[Thag13]

Hermanns 7th voyage of sinbad and Mysterious Island are great to adventure to.

 

Danny elfman's NightBreed, Darkman and BettleJuce soundtracks are wonderful for setting different moods.

 

Rick Wakemans Journey to the Center of the Earth is a great music to adventure to

 

Eric Kudzils collection of Movie themes (especally the Sci fi ones are fantasic recording of all of the SF movie themes we have come to love. Look fo them in the classical section of your record store. These soundtracks are not only well played and composed, but the sonics will make your sound system sound like a million bucks.....

[Sketchpad]

For fantasy games, I typically use the following:

LotR (both the animated and movie versions)

Conan

Starship Troopers

D&D Soundtrack (both the movie and the Midnight Syndicate stuff)

Meditations on Middle Earth

Music Inspired by Tolkien (can't remember the actual title atm .. but that's the tag line)

Legend (The Score)

Princess Bride

Pirates of the Carribean

Star Wars Series (especially Duel of the Fates)

Gladiator

Harry Potter Series

[badger3k]

I've got two music styles for gaming:

 

80s for nostalgia, since that's when the best games came out

 

Celtic/Ren-faire:

 

Brobdingnagian Bards (free plug for friends!)

Clannad

Owain Phyfe

Heather Dale

Loreena McKinnet

Laura Powers

Lee Holdridge (Mists of Avalon soundtrack)

Blackmore's Night

The Bilge Pumps and the Corsairs for pirate shantys

 

South Park for a laugh (the BBEG singing "I can change")

 

Also Jethro Tull (Songs from the wood is appropriate), ELP, classical (the rhinegold and others), fantasia soundtrack (night on bald mountain). Midnight syndicate (the ones who did the D&D soundtrack) have some good music.

 

I've got them all on a hard drive, along with 400+ sound effects (unfortunately, they're all cheesy and not too many are appropriate for fantasy games). That way I can insert sound effects if I want too (hey, it works, sorta .

[Lord Mhoram]

Originally posted by keithcurtis

The Bakshi version of LotR actually had a very good soundtrack. Superior in some ways to the current crop of LotR soundtracks (Ducks head and covers).

 

I don't think it is superior to the Shore, but I do comment to friends "The only good thing to have come out of the Bakshi LoTR is the soundtrack". The only problem is that Leonard Rosenman has only one soundtrack in him. His LoTR and his Star Trek IV scores are almost identical.

 

Other really nice music bits...

 

For sinister music The Omen- it is amazingly good mood music.

Lawrence of Arabia and the Ten Commandments have the granduer and sweep in the music for epic fantasy. So do The Mummy scores. The Black Hole by John Barry is also very nice.

I'll use selected Mannheim steamroller pieces.. Small wooden Bachses or some of the pure piano music.

Gregoran Chant as mentioned earlier.

If you want to strech a little Ladyhawk and Dune. A little less traditional but the music is very nice.

Brian Eno can work sometimes.

 

I have a 10 CD box set of Laserlight Digital Classical music CDs called "power classics - high energy classical music for your active lifestyle" that I picked up for 20 bucks. Overtures, marches and bombastic classical music. I use that a lot. In that vein there are "cappucino classics" and "Classical music for home improvement".

[Susano]

The soundtrack to Kevin Branagh's version of HENRY V.

[keithcurtis]

Hey badger3k,

You are friends with the Brobdingnagian Bards? I've only heard a little of their music on internet radio. Fun stuff. I've got to learn "Fairy Story" for Ren Faire.

 

As for sound effects. I tried to do that for my SF game. It was always a hassle for them to go off at precisely the right time. Even a half second pause destroys the verisimilitude.

 

Keith "Ex-Madrigal singer. Really." Curtis

[keithcurtis]

Originally posted by Lord Mhoram

I don't think it is superior to the Shore, but I do comment to friends "The only good thing to have come out of the Bakshi LoTR is the soundtrack". The only problem is that Leonard Rosenman has only one soundtrack in him. His LoTR and his Star Trek IV scores are almost identical.

 

I can certainly agree with that. I have to check to make sure which one I'm listening to.

Have you heard the Deluxe edition, though? It has been re-edited into the order heard on the film, and some parts have been expanded. Much better, IMHO. I find for game inspiration purposes, I like it more than the Shore verion(s).

 

For some types of games, the Broadway version of the Lion King has some great Lebo M music.

 

FWIW, Weiss and Hickman credit Fresh Aire V with inspiritaion for Dragonlance.

 

Keith "Fa-la-la" Curtis

[TheTemplar]

Why "Scheherezade" (awesome for a desert or middle eastern style setting!!) and "The Planets" had not occured to me sooner I have no idea. Thanks for the tip. Those are going in the mix. "Jupiter" would be great for the Royal City theme. Very regal. Seems like Rimsky-Korsakov had another piece that would lend itself nicely to gaming...can't for the life of me think of the name of it though (And I've got a music degree, for crying out loud!!) It's a very regal processional type piece...the theme behind it was that the listener was progressing through a Great Hall, or perhaps a museum. Please....somebody throw me a bone on that piece before I bash my head into my desk trying to remember what it was called! Thanks!!

 

Oh..and incase I forgot to mention it...gaming to Wagner is top-notch, too.

[Lord Mhoram]

Originally posted by Susano

The soundtrack to Kevin Branagh's version of HENRY V.

 

I can't believe I forgot that one, it's one of my 2 or 3 favorite soundtracks.

*Clears throat*

Sings "Non Nobis Domine, Domine"

 

 

Anything by Patrick Doyle is amazing. His Much Ado is great music for a lighthearted game.

[Lord Mhoram]

Originally posted by keithcurtis

Have you heard the Deluxe edition, though? It has been re-edited into the order heard on the film, and some parts have been expanded. Much better, IMHO.

 

No I haven't. I'm actually fairly ambivalent about the whole soundtrack, I just love the main theme. I recorded the last track to my computer and edited out the start of that track, so I just have the overture/theme. That is one of my favorites.

 

I thought it would be cool if a bit of that or "Where there's a whip there's a way" could have been worked into the Jackson movies as an homage.

[Trencher]

The Hulk soundtrack

Pirates of carabian.

[Yogzilla]

Virtually any soundtrack from a Japanese cRPG does nicely; though I've always been particularly fond of Chrono Trigger and the sequel Chrono Cross. Burn your own CD with tracks from various FF games and you've got yourself a party...!

 

-Yogzilla

[The Mad GM]

A long time ago I picked up a CD called "Fright Night: Music That Goes Bump in the Night" It's classical creepy music:

Night on Bald Mountain

Danse Macabre

In the Hall of the Mountain King

Funeral March of the Marionette

Mars-Bringer of War

Mephisto Waltz

Ride of the Valkyries (probably my favorite, smells like victory)

Toccata from D-minor Toccata & Fugue (most people think of it as the Phantom of the Opera background)

Great stuff for setting a mood, and I got it for like 5 bucks in a bargain bin.

 

The only problem is that every time I hear classical I think Bugs Bunny.

 

As for sound effects. I tried to do that for my SF game. It was always a hassle for them to go off at precisely the right time. Even a half second pause destroys the verisimilitude.

 

I had a friend who bought one of those keychain sound effect do-hickeys with like 8 sounds, and he used it for emphasis. Of course it was occasionally the wrong sound because of the small buttons, but usually he could hit it right on cue.

[badger3k]

Originally posted by keithcurtis

Hey badger3k,

You are friends with the Brobdingnagian Bards? I've only heard a little of their music on internet radio. Fun stuff. I've got to learn "Fairy Story" for Ren Faire.

 

As for sound effects. I tried to do that for my SF game. It was always a hassle for them to go off at precisely the right time. Even a half second pause destroys the verisimilitude.

 

Keith "Ex-Madrigal singer. Really." Curtis

 

Got all their stuff (well, except for Mark's solo cd (the soul of the harper)). Met them a few years back, and they go to the same fairs, and come to where I live and perform. They're cool and good guys - lots of fun. You should see them do the unicorn song - Andrew can get real mean (in a fun way) about the unicorns dying. Hilarious stuff. If you're interested go to thebards.net, it's their home page. They also have links to a lot of celtic music you can get online.

 

As for the sound effects, yeah, it's been a hassle, but sometimes I can use it to add a little flavor to the game.

 

There's also a program that I found on another site: http://www.rpgsoundmixer.com/. It's a german site that has english, and its a sound program that has theme stuff (tavern brawl, etc). It doesn't seem too bad, but then again I haven't tried the program, just looked at the site.

 

Doh - can't believe I forgot "The Planets" - Holst is great for atmosphere!

[shadowcat1313]

the Planets makes for great backround music, I also have a few odd things for some games...

 

Hawkwinds 2 CD set based on the Elric Books

Rick Wakemans Knights and Legends of King Arthur

Assorted songs by Tempest and Wolfstone

 

 

I have a fairly goodsized collection of filk music by various artists

and have found uses for some of it

 

Filk is such a wonderful genre by itself, but thats another topic entirely, some sf and fantasy authors write and perform their own music.

[badger3k]

May not be fantasy

 

But then again, maybe it is:

 

The legend of Bilbo Baggins, sung by Leonard Nimoy

Rocketman, sung? by William Shatner

 

If that doesn't kill, er set, the mood, I don't know what will.

[shinrin]

I've burned selected tracks from various soundtracks onto CDs to make "Fantasy Game Music Mixes" I've used LOTR, Record of the Lodoss Wars, Giant Robo, Alien 3, Dead Can Dance, Gladiator and even a Batman Beyond soundtrack CD I found.

 

I picked up the LOTR: Return of the King soundtrack (haven't seen the movie yet...) and it is good. Definitely some tracks I want to use during our next fantasy game session.

[Dinofreak2000]

i'd have to say, the best music i find for my Fantasy games has been the soundtrack to Lord of the Dance, the Final Fantasy Games and movie, and the list of the classical masters is just to long.

 

in the last sci-fi game i ran (DnD Dragonstar) i used tyhe soundtrack to Batman Beyond the Cartoon and Mortal Kombat.

 

for my L5R games i used crouching tiger, hidden dragon and some shakuhachi flute.

 

so much good music out there. and to silence a room quickly, i used the pokemon soundtracks i own. Yes, i admit to owning every pokemon and digimon soundtrack out there, even the imports... and i listen to them regularly.

[Lord Mhoram]

I generally go for orchestral stuff (as can be seen previously) but another really great band for mood music is Ozric Tentacles. Really spacey instrumental stuff.