Net.Music.Book

Dan Thompson (dant@austin.ibm.com)

Hey, everybody--here's my first rough draft of the Net.Music.Book, a compilation
of titles and artists for mood-setting music for fantasy roleplaying. I NEED
YOUR HELP to make it better and more complete. Please send your edits, new
submissions, etc., to me at dant@austin.ibm.com. Thanks!

--big dan

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INTRODUCTION:

Welcome to Version 0.1 of the Net.Music.Book. The idea for this book came from a
series of threads that appeared on rec.games.frp.dnd and the Ravenloft mailing
list.

The Net.Music.Book addresses an often ignored aspect of roleplaying--using music
to help set the mood. Here, you will find listed artists and works that have
been recommended on the net, and--more importantly--comments from the people who
have recommended them. The music could be just about anything, but the most
popular suggestions so far have been either brooding, creepy tunes or
boisterous, let's-go-to-war hymns.


ORGANIZATION OF THIS FILE:

The first section is just a list of all the pieces that have been recommended.
This is also useful as a table of contents, since it is in the same order as the
main section, which comes second. In the second section, each piece is listed
along with any comments that have been made about it.

The third and final section contains a list of people who have helped, made
submissions, posted comments, etc. Each of these people is given a number in
this section, and those numbers are the ones you see in after titles and in
front of comments in the rest of the file. For example, if you see a comment
with a (5) in front of it, that means person #5 made that comment. This will
help you recognize each person's particular taste, so you can weigh their
recommendations against what *you* like.

Not everything in the list section appears in the comments section. That's
because some people have recommended music without saying enough about it to be
worth quoting.

Right now, there is also a "misc" section at the end of the main list. I haven't
figured out where to put everything yet, so unknown stuff gets clumped together
there. This section should disappear eventually.

Generally, the music in each section is sorted alphabetically by artist/
composer. Those pieces involving several authors or artists (e.g. the _Fantasia_
soundtrack, the "Fright Night" album from CBS) are listed by title.

If you see a ???, that means I don't have the piece of information that should
go there. If you happen to know what it is, or how I could find it, please drop
me a line at the address below.


ADMINISTRIVIA:

Completely without encouragement or permission, I have nominated myself owner
and maintainer of the Net.Music.Book. If you have anything to add to the list,
please send it to me at the address below. I will incorporate submissions as
quickly as possible, and release new versions as the book changes. If you want
your submission to be treated well, *please* include all of the following:

   0) Your name and email address.
   1) The full name of the work, if possible. "The Soundtrack from xxx" is also
      acceptable.
   2) The full name of the composer/artist. Since this will be how the entries
      are sorted, this is perhaps most important.
   3) Some brief comments describing the music, and possibly some roleplaying
      situations that it works well in.


HOW TO REACH ME:

I am Dan A Thompson, dant@austin.ibm.com. Send all requests, questions, flames,
spam, etc., to me at that address.


SECTION 1 -- The List

???:  _Highlander_ soundtrack (A Kind of Magic) (0)
???:  _Aliens_ soundtrack  (0)
???:  _Glory_ soundtrack (0)
???:  _Terminator_ _Terminator 2_ soundtracks (0)
???:  _The_Mission_ soundtrack (0)
Alan Parsons Project, The:  (8)
Art of Noise, The: (0)
Bach, Johann Sebasian:  "Magnificat in D" (11)
Bach, Johann Sebasian:  "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" (*)
Beethoven, Ludwig van: "Symphony #9" (11)
Berlioz, Hector:  "Requiem" (1)
Brahms, Johann:  "Requiem" (1)
Carlos, Wendy:  "Timesteps" from the _Clockwork_Orange_ soundtrack (1)
Clentori:  (10)
Cocteau Twins, The:  (12)
Danzig, Glenn:  _Black_Aria_ (9)
Delerium:  (3)
Doors, The:  "The End" (2)
Enigma:  (0) (2)
Enya:  _Enya_, _Shepherd_Moons_, _Watermark_ (0) (2) (4)
Fantasia (2)
Fenton, George:  _Dangerous_Liasons_ soundtrack (4)
"Fright Night: Music that goes bump in the night", by CBS Records (4)
Gabriel, Peter:  _Passion_ soundtrack (4)
Goldsmith, Jerry:  _Alien_ soundtrack  (0)
Grieg, Edvard:  "Peer Gynt Suite" (4) (10)
Handel, Carl Friderick: (11)
Holst, Gustav:  "The Planets" (2) (13)
In The Nursery:  _Koda_, _Duality_, _Sense_ (0)
Jean-Michele Jarre:  _Revolutions_, _Zoolock_ (8) (13)
Kamen, Michael:  _Robin_Hood:_Prince_of_Thieves_ soundtrack (4) (2)
Kilar, Kojciech:  _Bram_Stoker's_Dracula_ soundtrack (4) (2) (7)
Lush:  (12)
Morricone, Ennio:  _Hamlet_ soundtrack (2) (4) 
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus:  "Requiem" (1) (11)
Orff, Carl:  "Carmina Burana" (0) (2) (4)
Pink Floyd:  "Comfortably Numb" (2)
Poledouris, Basil:  _Conan_The_Barbarian_ soundtrack (0) (5) (2) (6)
Poledouris, Basil:  _RoboCop_ soundtrack (0)
Prokofiev, Sergey:  _Alexander_Nevsky_ soundtrack (1) (11)
Queen:  "Another One Bites the Dust" (2)
Rachmaninoff, Sergei:  "Isle of the Dead"  (10)
Rolling Stones, The:  "Sympathy for the Devil" (11)
Sabaleous (spelling please):  (10)
Sansone, Maggie:  _Mist_and_Stone_ (4) (10)
Serra, Eric:  _Big_Blue_ soundtrack  (4)
Sisters of Mercy:  (0)
Tangerine Dream:  _Firestarter_ (0)
Tangerine Dream:  _Legend_ soundtrack (4)
Tangerine Dream:  _Miracle_Mile_ (0)
Tangerine Dream:  _Near_Dark (0)
Tangerine Dream:  _Shy People_ (0)
Tangerine Dream:  _Three_O'Clock_High_ (0)
This Mortal Coil:  (12)
Vangelis:  (0)
Verdi, Giuseppe:  "Requiem" (1)
Vivaldi, Antonio:  "The Four Seasons" (0)
Wagner, Richard:  "Flegland Hollander" (10), 
Wagner, Richard:  "Parsival" (14)
Wagner, Richard:  "Ride of the Valkyries" (13) (4)
Widor, Charles Marie:  "Symphonie Gothique (No. 9)" (14)
Zen meditation music (11)


SECTION 2 -- Comments:

Alan Parsons Project, The:
   (8)  Try The Alan Parsons Project, or anything by Jean-Michelle Jarre to 
        introduce anything mysterious... our DM did that once and it WORKED 
        WONDERS.

Bach, Johann Sebasian:  "Magnificat in D"
   (11) Made it to Olympus, etc?  Something choral - Bach's Magnificat in D, 
        Beethoven's 9th, anything by Handel.

Beethoven, Ludwig van: "Symphony #9"
   (11) Made it to Olympus, etc?  Something choral - Bach's Magnificat in D, 
        Beethoven's 9th, anything by Handel.

Berlioz, Hector:  _Requiem_
   (1)  And then of course there are the Verdi, the Mozart, the Berlioz, and 
        the Brahms Requiems - each has some very powerful parts, as well as 
        some hauntingly sad mournful movements (esp. the Berlioz for this).

Brahms, Johann:  _Requiem_
   (1)  And then of course there are the Verdi, the Mozart, the Berlioz, and 
        the Brahms Requiems - each has some very powerful parts, as well as 
        some hauntingly sad mournful movements (esp. the Berlioz for this).

Carlos, Wendy:  _Clockwork_Orange_ soundtrack
   (1)  Wendy Carlos's "Timesteps" (off the Clockwork Orange soundtrack album) 
        is great background for some games.  [She may have been Walter Carlos 
        at that time, I'm not sure.]

Delerium:
   (3)  Add to the list anything done by Delerium (a Frontline Assembly side 
        project).  The music is very atmospheric and creepy.  Much like a movie 
        soundtrack.

Doors, The:  "The End"
   (2)  I try to stick to more instrumental music, but during one adventure 
        when one of the PCs delved into a highly hallucinagenic (sp?) narcotic, 
        Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" and the Doors' "The End" were rather 
        appropriate.

Enigma:
   (2)  Enigma (I don't care for the dance beat in some parts, but some nice
        Gregorian Chants)

Enya: _Shepherd Moons_, _Watermark_, _Enya_, etc.
   (4)  Excellent Gaelic works -- again, great for Celtic feel (you can
        tell that I ran a sequence of Moonshae adventures, can you not?).

Fenton, George: _Dangerous_Liasons_ soundtrack
   (4)  Much to work with here.

"Fright Night; Music that goes bump in the night", by CBS Records
   (4)  *A definite must-get*.  Includes almost every major classical
        piece that a Ravenloft GM would want:
           Mussorgsky: 'Night on Bald Mountain'
           Saint-Saens: 'Danse Macabre'
           Grieg: 'In the Hall of the Mountain King'
           Gounod: 'Funeral March of a Marionette' [Alfred Hitchcock's theme]
           Dukas: 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice'
           Bach: 'Toccata' from 'D-Minor Toccata & Fugue' [The classic!]
           Humperdinck: 'Witch's Ride' from _Hansel & Gretel_
           Berlioz: 'March to the Scaffold' from _Symphonie fantastique_
           Holst: 'Mars--The Bringer of War' from _The Planets_
           Ives: 'Halloween'
           Liszt: 'Mephisto Waltz'
   (2)  The 'Fright Night' tape (I've got it too, and it's got great music on 
        it)

Gabriel, Peter:  _Passion_ soundtrack
   (4)  Soundtrack for _The Last Temptation of Christ_.  Excellent on
        its own merit -- certainly some dark and brooding selections.

Grieg, Edvard:  _Peer_Gynt_Suite_
   (4)  Features "Hall of the Mountain King" and others.

Handel, Carl Friderick:
   (11) Made it to Olympus, etc?  Something choral - Bach's Magnificat in D, 
        Beethoven's 9th, anything by Handel.

Jarre, Jean-Michele:  _Revolutions_, _Zoolook_
   (8)  Try The Alan Parsons Project, or anything by Jean Michelle Jarre to 
        introduce anything mysterious... our DM did that once and it WORKED 
        WONDERS.
   (13) Try these:
           Dwarven Mines - first few tracks of 'Revolutions'
           Spelljamming  - last track of Zoolook
           Jungle        - any other track of of Zoolook

Kamen, Michael:  _Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves_ soundtrack
   (4)  Not gothic, but good forest-based heroic fantasy.

Kilar, Kojciech:  _Bram_Stoker's_Dracula_ soundtrack
   (2)  Bram Stoker's Dracula (It's not just for Ravenloft anymore :)
   (4)  Excellent gothic mood music, plus you get Annie Lennox at the
        end -- what more could you ask for?  Play "The Ring of Fire"
        while running an encounter with the Headless Horseman and
        watch them squirm.
   (7)  For some really excellent background music for Ravenloft, use the 
        soundtrack for the recent movie: Bram Stokers Dracula. It is perfect.

Morricone, Ennio:  _Hamlet_ soundtrack
   (4)  A personal favorite:  Excellent, subtle, unnerving background
        music, plus a dark, regal theme and festive-yet-something's-
        slightly-amiss selections.

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus:  _Requiem_
   (1)  And then of course there are the Verdi, the Mozart, the Berlioz, and 
        the Brahms Requiems - each has some very powerful parts, as well as 
        some hauntingly sad mournful movements (esp. the Berlioz for this).
   (11) For those climactic encounters, try Mozart's Requiem if you're the DM.
        Even better if the PCs recognize it.  

Orff, Carl:  "Carmina Burana"
   (2) 'Course, probably the best combat-oriented music next to Ride of the 
       Valkyries has got to be Imperatrix Fortuna (remember _Excalibur_?).
   (1) The name of the track is "O Fortuna", and is the first track of Carl 
       Orff's "Carmina Burana" work.  
   (4) Best known for "O Fortuna" (as heard in countless movie soundtracks, 
       including _Warlock_).

Pink Floyd: "Comfortably Numb"
   (2)  I try to stick to more instrumental music, but during one adventure 
        when one of the PCs delved into a highly hallucinagenic (sp?) narcotic, 
        Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" and the Doors' "The End" were rather 
        appropriate.

Poledouris, Basil:  _Conan_The_Barbarian_ soundtrack
   (5)  Well, I have to say that my favorite D&D mood music is a tape we made 
        from the movie _Conan the Barbarian_ straight from the videotape, and 
        then edited, so not only does it have the rather nice, if menacing, 
        music, but also the clang of swords, the shrieks of the wounded , and 
        other mood creating sound effects (the thud.thud.thud. of the evil 
        priest's head rolling down the stairs, for instance...)
   (6)  I'm telling you all, the _Conan_ soundtrack works time and time again.  
        We recently played for 8 straight hours with the CD going over and over 
        and over...great stuff.

Prokofiev, Sergey:  _Alexander_Nevsky_ soundtrack
   (1)  Also, Prokofiev's "Alexander Nevsky", another movie soundtrack, is 
        great stuff.
   (11) Alexandr Nevsky (Prokofiev) has some wonderful battle-type music, and 
        also one of the world's truly great laments for when somebody carks it.

Queen:  "Another One Bites the Dust"
   (2)  If you're feeling especially cold, you could play 'Another One Bites 
        the Dust' by Queen when a character dies :)

Sansone, Maggie:  _Mist_and_Stone_, _Traditions_
   (4)  Hammered dulcimer at its finest -- great for Celtic flavor.

Serra, Eric:  _Big_Blue_ soundtrack
   (4)  Certain selections are good for gothic, most are better for
        other genres.

Tangerine Dream:  _Legend_ soundtrack, etc.
   (0)  Don't forget Tangerine Dream's soundtracks.  Three O'Clock High, Near 
        Dark, Shy People, Firestarter and Miracle Mile all get regular play in 
        my gaming.
   (4)  Good fantasy background selections, with a few darker pieces.

Verdi, Guiseppe:  _Requiem_
   (1)  And then of course there are the Verdi, the Mozart, the Berlioz, and 
        the Brahms Requiems - each has some very powerful parts, as well as 
        some hauntingly sad mournful movements (esp. the Berlioz for this).

Wagner, Richard:  
   (10) Depending on your mood, nearly anything by Wagner (the Flegland 
        Hollander for example), 
   (14) themes from "Parsifal" (including "Karfreitagszauber")


Miscellaneous:

???:  _Glory_ soundtrack
   (1)  [Refernce to Carlf Orff's "Carmina Burana"] If you like that one, you 
        should also listen to the soudntrack to "Glory" which is based heavily 
        in that sort of work as well.

Zen meditation music:
   (11) Travelling through the Planes? Slow Oriental stuff has a certain 
        "spaciness" (I have Music for Zen Meditation on vinyl, just right).


SECTION 3 -- People who have helped:

* - Submitted by more people than I can count.
0 - tdunn@ecst.csuchico.edu (Stress Kitty)
1 - jbridson@kean.ucs.mun.ca (Robert Bridson)
2 - agulke@kirk.msoe.edu (Akira)
3 - akuma@netcom.com (Steven E Barnes)
4 - Compiled by fluffy@camelot.bradley.edu (Jeffrey Waltersdorf)
    From the Ravenloft mailing list.    Special thanks to:
       Shawn M. Witzki (switzki@cs.indiana.edu)
       Jeff Waltersdorf (fluffy@camelot.bradley.edu)
5 - mars@faxcsl.dcrt.nih.gov
6 - tmiller@cimmeria.gatech.edu (Thomas Miller)
7 - brian@onyx.kiwi.gen.nz (Brian Leybourne)
8 - comphy04@halo.tau.ac.il (Ronen Altman (Shred))
9 - switzki@cs.indiana.edu (Shawn M. Witzki)
10 - lowell@locus.com (Lowell Morrison (Uncle Wolf))
11 - young@spinifex.oz.dg.com (Philip Young)
12 - gitzlaff@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Jim Gitzlaff )
13 - lrrodrig@eos.ncsu.edu (LOUIS RAFAEL RODRIGUEZ)
14 - umt400@ibm.rhrz.uni-bonn.de (Andreas Schuster)

