Setting the Mood

For many people the ambient sound of their game is the clatter of dice and shouting from other tables running their own adventures, as well as the footfalls and cash registers of their FLGS. Adding more sounds to the space in the form of musical cues would just widen the cacophony. There are, however, still plenty of groups who play in smaller rooms, rented spaces, or even their own homes. In these cases, a little background sound can add to the ambiance.

“The Lord of the Rings” was a fantastic film series that redefined what the fantasy genre was able to accomplish on the Big Screen. The hobbits and wizards were great to watch, but one of the real stars of the film was Howard Shore’s score. For some, this soundtrack likely has become the background sound of their sword and sorcery gaming experiences. There are, however, other choices.

Portugal musician BrunuhVille has an extensive catalog of music, ranging from high fantasy to western, to science fiction. As well as being available to listen to on YouTube and SoundCloud, you can purchase these tracks from iTunes, and he even licenses his work for personal use. BrunuhVille uses standard fantasy instrumentation in unique ways, making his epic themes feel both familiar and yet new. Stand out tracks include “Age of Wonder“, “Wolfborn“, and for a slightly more Eastern-influenced feel, “Celestial Temple.”

Naegi Ki, another YouTube content producer, has created several sci-fi and fantasy soundscapes. While there are currently only a few videos available, each one is around two hours long and themed for a certain aspect of an RPG session. For instance, “Into the Depths of Dungeon” has a low-key music bed of resonant strings and ghostly flute that evoke the eerie feel of descending into the dark unknown. Included are various sound effects, such as wind and chains and other things that might go bump in the dark – and then try to eat you.

Another track, “On the Road“, is three full hours of traveling music, beginning with a swelling string section and whistle combo, and then eventually moving on to more upbeat themes that give a sense of travel and discovery, and finally settling on long, enduring ambient washes illustrative of open plains and distant mountains. Naegi Ki pairs his music with visuals which also helps establish mood.

Moving on to scifi, William Gibson wrote the seminal cyberpunk novel “Neuromancer” way back in the 1980s about a future that merges technology and flesh. In the book he described a type of music called “Dub” (not to be confused with “Dubstep” which sounds like a distorted heart monitor layered over thick, heavy beats and random electronics, all cranked to 11). The master of dub is King Tubby, a 1960s and 70s era artist, whose album “Dub from the Roots” is available in its entirety on YouTube. These clean, funky sounds make a great background for PCs wandering a black market looking for new tech, or just while hanging at their pad planning a heist. Another music channel, Astral Throb, features dozens of original electronic soundscapes of various lengths and intensities which can be used as a background to that heist the PCs planned above.

While Eighties electropop band Information Society made a big splash in 1988 with “I Want to Know (What You’re Thinking)” (using samples from Mr. Spock saying, “Pure Energy”), their follow-up, “Hack“, better encapsulates the cyberpunk aesthetic of the time. Some of the album is light electronic pop, but there always seems to be a slightly harder-edged record just trying to get out through the sampling and synthetic beats. It makes for a solid background when exploring New Angeles and perhaps meeting a contact in a club.

The debut album “Flaunt It” from cult band Sigue Sigue Sputnik, a mélange of big hair, fishnet stockings, and pure commercialism, sounds like an electronic drum kit strapped to a synthesizer falling down the stairs, but somehow still manages to be fun and entertaining. Their blend of rock, EBM, random samples, and sci-fi lyrics – along with the fact that they sold actual advertisements on their debut album in between songs – makes them the perfect backdrop to a genre that encapsulates the profit-driven and cross-cultural aesthetic of the Android or Shadowrun settings.

Lastly, if you are looking for a way to control your sound effects or to create your own background sounds, Syrinscape is “an app that brings beautiful, immersive, dynamic sound effects and music to tabletop games.” You choose a sound set, for example “Cyberpunk Disco,” and load it into the app, which has a simple set of controls that allow you to turn on or off any of the sounds in the library and tailor your background any way you wish. It’s easy to use and has hundreds of music cues and sounds. Unfortunately, it is the most expensive choice on this list, as there is a subscription fee. Alternately, you can just purchase individual sound collections. While the sounds are lush and well produced, it does require a bit of setup before the game as well as interaction with a computer or phone during the session, as opposed to just turning on music and letting it play, which may be a deal-breaker for some groups.