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Role playing linked album
I released my ninth album a few minutes ago. Why post something about it here? Because it is linked with an RPG I wrote a couple years ago - StarCluster 4 - Dark Orbital. The name of the album is also Dark Orbital, and it is a concept album set in that dystopic but darkly comedic setting. I started writing songs about the Orbital, and as the album progressed so did the plot such as it was - each song became key for another. It was interesting, but I will probably never do that again! So has this ever been done before? I expose my utter lack of coolness by asking such a question!
Comments
An interesting question! There are, of course, plenty of tracks and albums based on books - no shortage there at all, ranging from the pretty-good to the appallingly terrible! I haven't come across any based on games, but it would surprise me if nobody had done it.
I'm guessing your new album is on bandcamp?
I didn't link the album on purpose! I wanted to talk about linking music to tabletop games. Like you, I would think it odd if it hadn't been done before, but hadn't heard of any. Maybe Raven McCracken? He must have! I know he's a musician!
What about the other way - do those among us who regularly GM, use music as a way to set scene or atmosphere? Or is that just too distracting? (As I write, I have a bizarre mental image of The Hall of the Mountain King on very loud...)
I have done the latter on occasion. My old friends - godparents to Klaxon - have a goth band called Dreamchild, and I used to put their albums on occasionally while running a game to get a eerie atmosphere.
Doing some searching, there seems to be a lot of RPG background music out there, to be played during a game. There is an official D&D album by Midnight Syndicate. I suppose that is to be expected...
It seems like the albums intended for RPG backgrounds are mostly instrumental/ambient things, not song-based. I blame Eno!
(Seems this thread was accidentally deleted before I could respond - not to worry, I restored it)
I can't think of any music that's actually based on a specific campaign. I can think of music that's inspired by RPGs (and D&D specifically), and music that's inspired by specific books. But a concept album tied to a specific campaign - that might be unique. Mind you, I'm not into heavy metal, which seems to be where most of the music/game crossover happens, so you might find something there.
For myself, I've definitely had a soundtrack in my head for some campaigns. There are episodes in some of them that were inspired by specific songs, but for the most part it's more generically about how the music brings an image of the setting to me, rather than specific events.
But, to give some examples, when the characters faced off against the monkey god:
When they first entered the City of Pavonis, it was this:
When they passed through the mountains and caught their first glimpse of the plain below, it was this:
And this album was the soundtrack to my whole 13-Wives campaign:
I deleted it, and not accidentally.
Metal seems to be the only bit of Rock that has sustained itself and grown in the last few years. It's not something I do, and not something I especially care for, but it is alive and flowering.
You are inspired by music to create came episodes? I am inspired by game episodes to create music. That is the directly opposite process..
All the music is very good, but the last two speak most to me, particularly the last. I also love Blake's illustrations, so maybe the third benefits from that, but I catch some of the underlying lovely simplicity of the Shaker Hymn in it.
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> I deleted it, and not accidentally.
Oh? Shame- its an interesting topic.
To answer a question from Richard, some people do game while listening to music, but not me. The game has one pace and music another, and you usually want to change the pace with a change of scene, but that’s hard to do when songs (or movements in songs) are 3-10 minutes long but scenes are 30-60 minutes long. I think that’s why people turn to ambient sounds for this. But I prefer the natural pacing of play.
> Metal seems to be the only bit of Rock that has sustained itself and grown in the last few years. It's not something I do, and not something I especially care for, but it is alive and flowering.
Not sure I agree, since I’m exposed to new rock regularly that isn’t metal, but I think finding the new is a real challenge today. I’ve discovered that the CBC Listen app has a bunch of playlists (including various rock ones) so I’m going to explore this further.
> You are inspired by music to create came episodes? I am inspired by game episodes to create music. That is the directly opposite process..
Yes, true, but that’s because I can’t create music. If I could, I might do it the other way around.
> All the music is very good, but the last two speak most to me, particularly the last. I also love Blake's illustrations, so maybe the third benefits from that, but I catch some of the underlying lovely simplicity of the Shaker Hymn in it.
Vaughan Williams was a noted collector of folk music, so it informed a lot of his compositions.
Do you know that musicians are charged to get on many of these popular playlists? Nowadays musicians tour to pay for their albums, which produce no appreciable revenue. I don't tour, but other musicians are really hurting with no touring.
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> Do you know that musicians are charged to get on many of these popular playlists? Nowadays musicians tour to pay for their albums, which produce no appreciable revenue. I don't tour, but other musicians are really hurting with no touring.
I wouldn’t know. I guess music is like books and RPG writing and photography - everyone wants to do it, so the market is too saturated for the niche players.
When I grow up I want to be a niche player!