Personifying Your Setting With Music

[Hibou]

Hey guys, long time no see. I've been doing some brainstorming and writing again recently, with most of the inspiration coming from (what I thought to be) an unlikely source: music. Actually, it was just one song in particular; a tune called Sweet Disaster by Whitehorse (equines ftw). This song has single-handedly been responsible for a lot of work being done on my old sci-fi setting. To me, it's got the perfect tone and feel for Fractal Galaxy, and I've spent more than a few nights daydreaming about what a would-be TV or movie intro for the setting would look like when paired with that song. That got me thinking about you guys.

I believe we've covered similar topics before, but it never hurts to encourage a new discussion - especially when it seems there are a number of new people around the site. So let's have a discussion! Tell me (and the rest of us) what music has the right feel for your settings, campaigns and even rule systems (past and present), no matter if it's a single song, an album or an artist's entire discography. Maybe you can mention what about it makes it fit so well. And hey, if you're answer is "no music" or a blend of artists or something, that works too.

Let's hear 'em.

[Rhamnousia]

I can't do links since I'm on my phone, but the "soundtrack" for Illuminati Mambo is pretty much themes from Craig era James Bond films and the Electric Six.

[LoA]

I've listened to a lot of Karliene when trying to get into that "epic fantasy feel". I'm probably going to be making a new sci-fi setting pretty soon, so I'll be looking for some cool historical music. Will probably also listen to some Daft Punk.

[sparkletwist]

Asura, being the over-the-top kitchen sink that it is, is kind of musically all over the place too.
However, if the whole setting had a theme song, this would be it.

[Steerpike]

Cadaverous Earth is pretty well represented by the dark ambient music and collaborations of Cryo Chamber and Atrium Carceri, like this mix. I'm also especially fond of Atrium Carceri's album "Metropolis."

Fimbulvinter I feel is summed up by anything by Wardruna - bleak Nordic music constructed around the elder futhark.

[Rose-of-Vellum]

Space Hoers, that is a fantastic song! I can see why you're enamored by it, and why it prompted the thread.

When GMing my seasonal tabletop campaigns in Sarantos, I tend to use a lot various ambient tracks tied to specific sites and/or scenes. Some of the barrios actually have a musical 'theme' of sorts that helps cue players as to when they have arrived or entered a specific area. That said, the main theme and/or inspirational music for the setting would be Red Dead Redemption OST.

As a player, I'm pretty active in a WoD game Blood & Bourbon where I play Louis Fontaine, a life-weary occult detective in the Big Easy. Music is a big deal, IC and OOC, and Lou's is straight-up noir/dark jazz. 

[ic]The alley sheds a man. He wears trouble. Trench-coat, long and dark. Tie, slim and darker. Shirt, white with forgotten stains: blood, gumbo, guilt. Sensible shoes, the kind of shoes you wear to stalk devils. Felt hat, grey and banded, casting shadows. A man, obscured.

He carries a silver thermos, like a bullet. It holds coffee and booze. Usually in that order. A gator-skinned briefcase hangs from his other hand, or where it should be. In its place, a prosthetic hook gleams. Sharply. A sewer vent rustles the man's coat, momentarily exposing a pair of well-oiled revolvers. They sleep in a single shoulder-holster. Lightly.

Beneath his gumshoe armor, a once-muscular man lurks. His frame is held together by gristle and grit. His shoulders, slack with the weight of sleepless nights and cases gone cold. Swollen joints crack and groan, badges of hard-won gutter-brawls and lonely stake-outs. Scarred knuckles, meat-slab hands. His skin, riddled with scars, rat out old injuries like bad alibis. A history of hurt.

His face, grim. Unlovely. Unloving. Atavistic brow. Thick-slabbed nose, mangled from kissing too many fists, crowbars, and brick walls. Iron-brush hair. Jutting underbite. Lantern jaw. Limp cigarette dangling from pale lips. A countenance of low cunning and stubborn pursuit.

His eyes, deep-sunk. Heavy-lidded. The hue of old bourbon, a watery brown that runs to black and drinks in everything they see. Lies. Lusts. The glint of truth in the flood of grime.[/ic]

I've got a ton of tracks for Lou, but here are some of my favorite.

In the same game, I also moonlight as Cletus Lee Boggs, a Cajun cannibal vampire with ties to the Bayou Knights of the KKK and the military-industrial complex. Naturally, his  themes aredifferent. 

[Hibou]

I can't do links since I'm on my phone, but the "soundtrack" for Illuminati Mambo is pretty much themes from Craig era James Bond films and the Electric Six.

Makes sense. I like the Craig Bonds!

I've listened to a lot of Karliene when trying to get into that "epic fantasy feel". I'm probably going to be making a new sci-fi setting pretty soon, so I'll be looking for some cool historical music. Will probably also listen to some Daft Punk.

Daft Punk makes me think of Kung Fury and the potential for a bizarre, ReBoot-esque sci-fi.

Asura, being the over-the-top kitchen sink that it is, is kind of musically all over the place too.
However, if the whole setting had a theme song, this would be it.

I gave that a full listen and that doesn't surprise me at all :P

Cadaverous Earth is pretty well represented by the dark ambient music and collaborations of Cryo Chamber and Atrium Carceri, like this mix. I'm also especially fond of Atrium Carceri's album "Metropolis."

Fimbulvinter I feel is summed up by anything by Wardruna - bleak Nordic music constructed around the elder futhark.

I keep hearing about Cryo Chamber. I'm going to have to give both of those more of a listen.

Space Hoers, that is a fantastic song! I can see why you're enamored by it, and why it prompted the thread.

When GMing my seasonal tabletop campaigns in Sarantos, I tend to use a lot various ambient tracks tied to specific sites and/or scenes. Some of the barrios actually have a musical 'theme' of sorts that helps cue players as to when they have arrived or entered a specific area. That said, the main theme and/or inspirational music for the setting would be Red Dead Redemption OST.

As a player, I'm pretty active in a WoD game Blood & Bourbon where I play Louis Fontaine, a life-weary occult detective in the Big Easy. Music is a big deal, IC and OOC, and Lou's is straight-up noir/dark jazz. 

In Character
The alley sheds a man. He wears trouble. Trench-coat, long and dark. Tie, slim and darker. Shirt, white with forgotten stains: blood, gumbo, guilt. Sensible shoes, the kind of shoes you wear to stalk devils. Felt hat, grey and banded, casting shadows. A man, obscured.

He carries a silver thermos, like a bullet. It holds coffee and booze. Usually in that order. A gator-skinned briefcase hangs from his other hand, or where it should be. In its place, a prosthetic hook gleams. Sharply. A sewer vent rustles the man's coat, momentarily exposing a pair of well-oiled revolvers. They sleep in a single shoulder-holster. Lightly.

Beneath his gumshoe armor, a once-muscular man lurks. His frame is held together by gristle and grit. His shoulders, slack with the weight of sleepless nights and cases gone cold. Swollen joints crack and groan, badges of hard-won gutter-brawls and lonely stake-outs. Scarred knuckles, meat-slab hands. His skin, riddled with scars, rat out old injuries like bad alibis. A history of hurt.

His face, grim. Unlovely. Unloving. Atavistic brow. Thick-slabbed nose, mangled from kissing too many fists, crowbars, and brick walls. Iron-brush hair. Jutting underbite. Lantern jaw. Limp cigarette dangling from pale lips. A countenance of low cunning and stubborn pursuit.

His eyes, deep-sunk. Heavy-lidded. The hue of old bourbon, a watery brown that runs to black and drinks in everything they see. Lies. Lusts. The glint of truth in the flood of grime.


I've got a ton of tracks for Lou, but here are some of my favorite.

In the same game, I also moonlight as Cletus Lee Boggs, a Cajun cannibal vampire with ties to the Bayou Knights of the KKK and the military-industrial complex. Naturally, his  themes aredifferent.

Thanks! I'm going to have to read more into your stuff - I loved RDR.

Is Cletus Lee Boggs inspired at all by Luther Lee Boggs on the X-Files?

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As a more general question to you guys, how does music affect your setting design? Do you find yourself using it as initial inspiration, or once you've already developed something, maybe somewhere in between? Does it play a special role in any way outside of providing atmosphere to yourself and your games?

[Rose-of-Vellum]

Is Cletus Lee Boggs inspired at all by Luther Lee Boggs on the X-Files?

I'd not seen that episode, so no, the names' relation is a happy coincidence. I do like me some X-files, though.

As for your other set of questions, I tend not to design based on music. I do enjoy listening and re-listening to music that resonates or seems to capture a setting, site, scene, or persona as I try to get in the right head-space to GM or play.

[LoA]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_alO42jYmo

I like this GOT song a lot. The child-like innocence hiding a much darker history in this song is very interesting to me, and it's what I listen to when I'm trying to set the mood for Panorah.

[O Senhor Leetz]

Music is a huge influence on me. I've had an idea for a setting in my head from quite a while for a noir-esque, lightly steampunk-Bell Epoque setting based in an equatorial colonial city at the end of the world strongly influenced by Rio de Janeiro and Salvador, Brazil. This band is great as is (electric Portuguese fado!) but these two songs fit the weird, languid tropical feel I have in my head:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvWZfLboWH4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxuGlu2XOLI

[Rose-of-Vellum]

Leetz, that idea sounds so cool, and I know you could rock it. Please make it so.

[LoA]

Yeah that brazillian music is really cool!

I know this doesn't count as music, but when I'm writing Panorah, I'll watch those Game of Thrones History dvd segments on youtube, and then my library has a pretty big collection of Redwall audiobooks, and I'll listen to that for a while before writing as well.