Slightly different this week–I’m assembling a playlist as some examples, rather than a start-to-finish mix tape.

I’m a big fan of ambient music and like to use it during games. After a years of trial and error (a lot of error) I’ve broken game music into 3 types:

Campaign themes, to be played once at the start of the session. I’ve never used these but I’ve observed others doing so. These can be as loud and disruptive as they need to be, since they’re only played at the start to get the group in the mood.

Set pieces, which are played once through–or maybe only partially played–to frame an exciting scene. A couple of GMs I know use these really well–one went to lengths of timing his narrative description so the big reveal coincided with the horn section. These are hard to work in sometimes. They can be fairly disruptive also, but since a dramatic scene will require players to make decisions as a response, they need to be chosen with care–if the GM has to repeat themselves it will probably spoil the effect.

Loops. These form background throughout a scene or set of scenes to provide mood or link themes. These have to have two properties–be unobtrusive with no sudden peaks, and be long enough that a loop isn’t going to be noticed.

There is a fourth kind, used by a friend who would pick a playlist from a particular artist, then structure (some might say stretched, given the number of puns) his game session around it. In that case the music was the game. Ah, that was fun.

This list is a set of examples, some of which aren’t my own but have been played in great games run by friends. 

Campaign Themes

Unsurprisingly most of these are TV themes, so there’s a risk of genre-clash if the theme used has a different association.

Still, who wouldn’t want to begin a session chanting Yo Way Yo?

1. March of the High Guard, Alex Lifeson (Andromeda, first season from the soundtrack¹)
2. Brunnen-G (from Lexx, composed by Marty Simon)
3. Mind Heist by Zack Hemsey (from the Inception trailers)
4. Pollution by Tobias Tinker (from Broken Saints. Guess the sample!)
5. Hellraiser II: Hellbound theme by Christopher Young (some of the other tracks may make reasonable loops–see below)
6. The Chad Who Loved Me by Mansun

Loops

7. Whisper of a Thrill by Thomas Newman (Meet Joe Black)
8. Crepitata by Tod Dockstader and David Lee Myers
9. Battles by Clannad (from Legend)
10. Shalebridge Cradle by Eric Brosius (from Thief: DS; Eric does superb ambient music for the Thief series)
11. Theme from Battery by Amon Tobin (from Splinter Cell 3)
12. Death Threat by Death in Vegas (from the Contino Sessions)
13. Lament by Christopher Young (from Hellraiser)

Set Pieces

14. Star Trek II Overture by James Horner (the whole piece is long, but it’s not too obtrusive–if it bleeds into the scene you would need to follow with a suitably exciting but upbeat loop)
15. First Rendezvous by Jean Michel Jarre (from Rendezvous)
16. In The House–In a Heartbeat by John Murphy (from 28 Days Later)
17. To Heal by Underworld (from Oblivion with Bells, featured in Sunshine)
18. Where Are You? by Coil (from Musik to Play in the Dark 2)

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p>That’s enough for now. If you do this too and have favourites, why not comment?

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1. This is a rearrangement of Alex Lifeson’s theme (which is strongest in the last 30 seconds) meaning it’s not commercially available–but it’s just fantastic: