Gaming Music

[masque]

One of the few things that I have no complaints about in the prequel trilogy is the score, John Williams always comes correct. The music works great in the background, and I found it can be particularly effective as a mood setter since the prequel music doesn't seem to be as hardwired in SW fans minds as the Holy Trilogy score.

One thing I noticed the other night while running my game was a trick Williams did. For Anakin's theme music, he took the Imperial March and reversed it. I didn't pick up on until I was listening to the "Anakin vs. Obi-Wan" music from Ep. III, since that has Anakin's Theme and the Imperial Theme together.

Flawed as the flicks are, Williams is a genius.
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[Jedi Skyler]

Hear, hear! I agree completely. The score is ALWAYS good for mood-setting, regardless of which movie it's from. And using sections from the prequels does indeed add a new element, in that this music isn't quite as ingrained into our minds as the original trilogy is; it's very similar, because John engineered it that way. But it has its own distinct sound, and allows for greater flexibility if you're looking for a specific sound.

Two appendages WAY up!!!

[Camero]

I ran an introductory campagin the other day for couple of friends who were new to RPGs but knew Star Wars (one much better than the other) and Williams musical scores were great for getting them into the feel of it. I used the Fox fanfare and orignial opening tract to begin the game as I explained what their mission was and they all really seemed to like it. It was instant immersion in the mood. Gaming Music is a great tool.

A lot of modern composers diss Williams for being to pop culture and low-brow to be real classical music, but his scorse and compositions will be alive and welll listened to for years and years after his nay-sayers are dead gone and forgotten. John Williams is GREAT!
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[Jedi Skyler]

A lot of modern composers are just jealous that his name is synonomous with greatness, while their own names aren't even known...

[Hellcat]

Williams' music has reached more audieances thanks to the venues which have used it (music, television, ect.) than would have been as likely had he merely been composing merely to be played at a symphony, opera, or ballet. Of the classical composers, I'm far more intrested in Beethoven than any other composer and that is thanks to Peanuts and especially the Peanut's specials. If not for Schroder's constant admiration for Beethoven, I doubt I'd have been fascinated with him myself.

Williams is composing for what is today the equivalent, as I see it, of symphonies, operas and ballets in the classical period. The huge difference is that today far more people can get in to hear his music rathert than the class seperation of the classical period where you had to be of a certain class or better merely to be able to hear what had been composed. Unless, of course, you were a part of the orchestra or were one of the preformers.
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[Jedi Skyler]

Agreed, HC.

Having played violin during my grade school career, I did get exposed to a number of composers. While one of my favorite performance pieces was always the Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 by Bach, I do like Beethoven, and like you, thanks to Schroeder and that piano of his.

[Firehawk0220]

I do the same thing. I use the soundtracks of the movies to set the mood for my games. It has been a subtle yet effective tool.

[darthomer09]

I played Clarinet in several of my high school bands and a great deal of the music I listen to is classical (next to all the music that is from various video games and/or heavy metal) but star wars is definetely among my top favorites.
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Rebel Uprisings

In Soviet Russia, RPG plays you!!

[Kalibarr]

When I ran a game I had only the Episode IV DVD - so put that in and let the main menu music loop - it wasn't perfect but it did help the mood somewhat! Do you guys use the actual soundtracks? I was considering buying one and then previewing it to know what pieces evoked what type of emotion - an "action" song, a "relax song, of course the "stormtroopers are coming" song, tc. and then play that song at the appropriate time during the game! I think that woul be a cool thing to do...

[darthomer09]

Yeah. I use them all the time. It's probably the main thing I listen to. Sometimes if there's a big battle and things are getting really hard core i'll put in some metal. that seems to work.
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Rebel Uprisings

In Soviet Russia, RPG plays you!!

[vong]

[Gry Sarth]

And what screws it all up is albums that are very quiet at one moment and very loud another, like the Shadows of the Empire soundtrack. So we're contantly going "Turn that thing up, I can't hear a thing", and then "Turn that thing down, I can't hear a thing!".
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"He's Gry Sarth, of course he has the stats for them."

[vong]

exactly, which is why ive never tried to play music while rping, too much of a hassle i think.

but i can always give it a try, i do have my new laptop.
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[Gry Sarth]

It's well worth the hassle. It creates a truly magic moment when the music accidentaly matches the game perfectly. Like when the group suddenly run into a stormtrooper squad and the imperial march starts playing, or a dark jedi mows down an innocent child when the Order 66 music is playing, etc etc. We usually have 2-3 of these moments during an adventure and it's really cool.
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"He's Gry Sarth, of course he has the stats for them."

[krysallokard]

I've currently been trying to go through the various SW albums and break up the tracks into smaller ones when the music changed dramatically. I've been doing this since there are lots of good bits and pieces I like but can't use the whole track since the mood changes are too much.

hopefully after doing that I can then categorize them into various moods (sneaking, battles, etc.) From there I'll probably set up albums on my iPod and just let all the similar mood music play through on random. This can also help to alleviate the repetition of using a 1 minute music clip for 45 minutes of play.