Using music in horror gaming
I never really used music much when running RPGs in the past. This was usually due to the fact that I would be running them during a society games night at high school or university, where people would be participating in other games around you. so the effect of a soundtrack or sound effects would be lost. It is the same deal for convention games - there is a lot of gaming going on around, creating a lot of noise. The use of music is not going to have much effect. However, since I got back into roleplaying with groups at home, and especially with my focus on horror games like Call and Trail of Cthulhu, I have found myself experimenting with music and sound effects more and more. The first time I was tempted to use music in one of my campaigns was after I had downloaded DMDJ by Blueface Games for my iPad, an app with a variety of ambient soundscapes and effects designed for use with RPGs. It caters for multiple genres, including horror, fantasy and science fiction. The app also allows for some level of mixing to be carried out, so sound effects are not drowned out by ambient music and so forth, although it does not have quite the range of functionality that you might expect. I found it pretty fascinating and was pleased to find that at least some of the ambient tracks and sound effects were pretty good, although there are some that are quite poor in quality, with many being clearly synth and computer generated instrumentals. Most importantly, though, it allowed you to import your own playlists of mp3s into the app, which can then also be mixed with sound effects.
Of course, there are multiple sound effect and music resources for RPGs, ranging from simple browser interfaces like Tabletop Audio, to music specifically arranged for game systems, for example Pelgrane Press' suites of music for their games, all the way up to complex applications providing huge ranges of audio options, such as Syrinscape. These different options have their own advantages and disadvantages, which I am not going to get into so much here. But as a GM, know that you have a multitude of options for bringing music into your game that are specifically designed for RPGs. Even greater than that, there is a wealth of music out there that has been produced for television, film and video games which can also be brought into play to add additional flavour to your games. What I am going to do now is provide a brief discussion of how I incorporated music into my games and used it to add ambience and tension. I will be focusing on horror gaming, as that is my bread and butter, but much of what I discuss can be ported over to other genres.
Selecting music for your games
You must be careful when selecting music, as some times it can detract from the game you are trying to run. An example might be running a game with the Indiana Jones theme music in the background. Because this piece has certain themes attached to it - and is familiar to most, if not all players - it can invite expectations for the context of the game, as well as more than a few jokes that can take players out of the game's atmosphere. As a result, I tend to try and select music that my players cannot readily identify. This doesn't necessarily mean that I hunt out obscure music. However, I try not to pick out music that my players will instantly associate with a specific source, which may result in some of the issues outlined above. A good example is where I have used tracks from Bioshock as ambient background music, but not the main theme to the game. While the players may recognise the pieces, they cannot immediately associate them to the video game. This means that there is no association between the scenario that were are currently playing, and what the themes of the video game are. In this way, the two are removed from each other, and I can (hopefully) avoid implanting false expectations into my players.
I am also selective when choosing pieces for an ambient background. Very often, music will rise and fall in intensity, something that is especially true of soundtracks. This is because they aim to mimic scenes of action, romance, tension and so forth in the film they accompany. Sometimes, if you are not careful, this can clash with the type of scene you are trying to portray. As a result, I tend to focus on more ambient tracks that avoid these elements, such as those from the suites of RPG specific music out there, whether that is from apps like Syrinscape or DMDJ, or from music collections like Pelgrane Press' and Sense Impacts from Chaosium. I also look for tracks that will loop well without a noticeable repeat point that is particularly jarring. That way the music can continue in the background until I need to change it. While ambient music is important, there is always room for those pieces that do vary their tempo and intensity. These make great pieces to insert when you need to evoke changes in the game's atmosphere, whether that is the chaos of battle, or the rising tension in horror. When to use these pieces is the key to getting music right in your games, and that is what I come onto next.
Incorporating music into horror games
There are several ways you can incorporate music into your game. The simplest is to put on a soundtrack or some ambient music in the background. This can be fine in some cases - imagine a game set in Robert E. Howard's world of Conan with Basil Poledouris' soundtrack from Conan the Barbarian on in the background. In such cases, a specific soundtrack or piece of music will go well with the whole game, fitting the themes and genre you wish to represent perfectly. However, most of the time a single piece of music, or a sound track on repeat, can become repetitive, especially over several hours of play. There is also the issue mentioned above, where some pieces of music will clash with the scene you are trying to present. Therefore, it is often better to be a bit more selective over how you plan to incorporate music into your games. This is especially true for horror gaming, where the aim of the music is to support the ambience of the game and serves to help create tension, as well as creep out the players.
When I prep for my sessions - and I am now very much a low prep person - I make brief notes of what happens in each scene, any key characters and tips on roleplaying them, and any clues or things the players should find. I usually do this on index cards, or individual notebook pages so everything is clear and succinctly presented. At the same time, I think about what music I wish to support each scene and note specific tracks in block capitals at the top of the card/page. I can then use these as cues for when to change track as I move from scene to scene. The music I choose will usually be something to suit the ambience and mood I am going for that will not be overly distracting during play. Having music specific to each scene also allows players to distinguish between scenes. Generally, at the beginning of horror scenarios, I will choose music that is fairly low key and only mildly creepy, and then ramp up the music to very high horror the deeper into the scenario the players get.
At the same time, I will make notes about specific events within scenes, especially those that are horrifying or weird. I will try and pick out musical cues for these as well. These will be pieces of music that are less ambient and much more focused on evoking tension. Here those pieces with rapid crescendos and greater intensity are prefect. They immediately jump to the fore and are noticed by the players. This is what you want - to indicate to them that something important and, in the case of a horror game, probably bad is happening. I will make cues for myself, so that I know when to change the music for these events.
To give an example, when I was running Pelgrane Press' The Final Revelation, a set of scenarios for Trail of Cthulhu, there is a particular scene near the end where the players believe that have resolved everything, only to be shown that their efforts have been in vain. To evoke this with the music, I chose a couple of excellent tracks from the Bioshock soundtrack, Empty Houses followed by This is Where They Sleep. The first is a sorrowful piece, emphasising the cost of defeating the Mythos, but also bringing some element of closure to the proceedings.
This is Where They Sleep on the other hand, immediately starts with an element of creepiness. It signals that something isn't right. It gradually builds through screeching violins, before collapsing into a deeper, menacing tone. This evoked the final horror, and the depressing realisation that the threat had not truly been defeated.
This brief example gives you some idea of how I can use music to emphasis an event and evoke a specific mood in my game.
Concluding remarks I hope this overview is helpful to some and inspires you to try using music in your games. Do not worry if things do not go how you expect the first time around. No doubt you will miss a cue, or forget to switch tracks when you are caught up in the roleplaying. I know that I have before! However, experimenting will give you confidence and before long you will be able to anticipate those track switches and queue up subtle music changes to help enhance the mood of your games. If you are interested in finding out more about using music in games, I would also highly recommend listening to Ken Hite and Robin D Laws' interview with Will Hindmarch on Episode 206 of Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff, where Will talks in detail about using music in his games.