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In-game Music Recommendations

Gerald.Lock

Active member
Wizard of Story
I'm a HUGE fan of using evocative music in my games, and my players really respond in kind.
I consistently get 'that was a great game' comments after every game that I play suitable music and as an experiment I've run a few sessions where I don't play music and I find the level of 'wow' in my players is significantly diminished.
I also find that it gets me into the role of storyteller, using music to set and hold the tone and atmosphere when words can only hint at this.

So, here I hope to start a thread of recommendations for excellent dark ambient- and cinematic-style music to use in your games to ensure everyone not only has more fun but gets more 'wow' from every game!

Top artists (and notable albums):

Crypt of Insomnia
https://cryptofinsomniacinematic.bandcamp.com/music
- Gothic Romanticism
- Mysterious Orchestral
- Atmos
- Phobos
- Dystopian Sci-Fi Thriller
- Atmospheric Ambient Choir
- Replicants
- Minimalist Chamber Strings
- Vikings — Dramatic and Atmospheric
- Epic Orchestra

Trial of the Bow
- Rite of Passage (available on mp3va)

Robert Rich
https://robertrich.bandcamp.com/music
- Stalker (available from www.robertrich.com)

Lustmord
https://lustmord.bandcamp.com/music
- Heresy

Shinjuku Thief
- The Witch Hammer
- The Witch Hunter

Michael Damon
- The Pyramid Code OST

Michael Stearns
- Samsara OST
- The Lost World

Yen Pox
- Blood Music
 

ejnotts

Member
Wizard of Story
I've had some success using sync-tube.de along with a Youtube playlist of D&D-relevant tracks to ensure all my players can remotely hear the same music at the same time.

It's not perfect, since breaks between tracks are not blended, so there are some verisimilitude-breaking cuts, and you're completely reliant on the tracks available from Youtube (so you can't layer additional ambient sounds over the top of a track), but it's free and easy to use, so I like it!
 

Barbarulo

Member
Gold WoA
I've tried a few including playlists and settled on this (I use the iOS version):
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nl.mediavibe.rpgsoundscapes&hl=en&gl=US
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/rpg-sounds-fantasy-worlds/id1453514004

It's really easy to manage during the game, which is essential for me, but also very flexible. It's generative so you can just leave a theme going, but you can also easily customise a theme. I had a player death and just played the music from the Siren's Song and the players loved it.
 

Gerald.Lock

Active member
Wizard of Story
Holy shizzle! I've just recently discovered an artist that has a huge library (75 albums!) of 1-minute duration tracks on a vast, easy-to-find spectrum of themes.
The 'library' comprises a veritable treasure trove of albums with names like 'Apocalypse', 'History', 'Speed' and 'Thriller' and within each are typically 3 'discs'. The discs are typically named 'Cinematic', 'Intimate' and 'Ambient' and each contain a list of 30 tracks with the a single evocative name. Each track is a cleverly-composed variant, so you can get some really nice nuances.

The Library Of The Human Soul
https://libraryofthehumansoul.com/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/7gibFuxJgyCr7oOSTQ3XV5

The named themes has been something I've had as a project for a while now. I've compiled my private (CD, Apple etc.) collection into a series of public Spotify playlists that I'm naming RPG: [mood]
eg. RPG: Dark Ominous, RPG: Mystery Intrigue etc..
In a similar method to @JohnnFour's 'bucket' system, I use them to drop in tracks whenever I hear them to the appropriate mood/feeling (sometimes more than one). Whenever I want a specific mood, I got direct to that playlist and voila! Instant, appropriate mood music. My players are always impressed and have commented after the game with words like 'tingles' 'synchronicity' and 'suspension of disbelief'.
Bingo!

Two examples:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2seMf7XNGHMF4xBK18X0A7
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6YSrqu0NKF9eypfGjCJEIO

If you're a Spotify user, feel free to copy them and seed them with your own additions (Spotfy is kinda helpful in suggesting adds)
Even if you don't have a Spotify account, you can still see the track list and search/acquire the tracks in your preferred music source.
 

Aeludor

New member
Platinum WoA
Gold WoA
Wizard of Story
One album I like to use for atmosphere and inspiration is an older one.

The Diablo 2 soundtrack has some epic music.

Lots of good suggestions in this thread that I'll need to check out.

Edit: I've been looking at syrinscape over the last month, and am strongly considering a subscription to it. Would.like to add notes for each area.or encounter to play specific sound effects at key moments. "You manage to sneak quietly across the hallway, but suddenly you "insert sound effect" trigger a tripwire. (By the sound they may have guess at what happened as its revealed.
. Fireball trap?
 
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