Be it coming from a penny whistle and a lute of the bard or bag pipes droning from a far off misty mountain; your vinyl, CD, or MP3. Music plays a important although perhaps unrealized part in the games you play. Whether it is serving as back round for your daring bar brawl or being listened to by your DM while writing the adventure you are currently playing.

For as long as I have loved RPG's I have loved music. In the past 15 years or so I have put together quite the list of music that can accompany your next gaming session and help stir thoughts of deep dungeons, great epic wars and far off forgotten lands. There are a few bands that set out to make this kind of music, such as Nox Arcana and Midnight Syndicate. There are also bands that incorporate fantasy theme into the rock, metal or folk such as Finntroll and
Rasputina. Movie soundtracks as well can be a great place to find music to inspire your gaming; check out the sound
tracks to Lord of the Rings, the Peter Jackson movies as well as the Ralph Bakshi 1978 animated film.

Other artists that inspire are Reverend Glasseye, Abney Park, Munly and the Lupercalians, Norman Blake, Jim White, Basia Bulat to name a few. Many classical pieces can work great too. This list could and probably should go on forever.

Below are links to these artist mentioned, please check them out and give them some support if you like their stuff buy a record. If you have any suggestions for great music to listen to while gaming or writing a new adventure or just dreaming of gaming than let me know in the comments. I am looking forward to hearing all about great music. http://www.noxarcana.com/

http://www.midnightsyndicate.com/

http://www.finntroll.net/

Rasputina

Ralph Bakshi

http://www.lordoftherings.net/

http://www.reverendglasseye.com/

http://www.abneypark.com/

Munly and The Lupercalians

Norman Blake

http://www.jimwhite.net/

http://basiabulat.com/

I can't believe I almost forgot about the

Brobdingnagian Bards

Here is a great song by a great band. Blind Guardian singing the bard song

3 comments:

WillJune 21, 2011 at 10:11 PM
On the bard side of things, I imagine the bard being a great boon to parties lucky enough to have one. Hell, a well played Hugh level bard would be an awsome sight to behold in one of your bar room brawl.
WillJune 21, 2011 at 11:35 PM
High* level, i was on my phone, lol.
Kris PackerJune 22, 2011 at 4:17 AM
Music is definitely inspiring but to me, its greatest use is actually as a mental enabler. It helps keep the players grounded to the task at hand when they feel more of a part of the story. We tend to use a lot of nature cd's (rainforest sounds, ocean noise, thunderstorms) and it really just gives the players that ambient feeling of being in the game, not at a table.

The Whole Realms Tavern

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Don't forget about the bards

Brobdingnagian Bards

3 comments: