I seem to remember somebody posting a thread asking for suggestions for music to play during a TOR session. While driving home from work one evening in Denmark I heard a track from an album called Synesthesia by a Danish classical musical outfit, Ensemble Midtvest.

The track I listened to, Metropolis Ouverture, put me in mind of a journey through Mirkwood or even to Dol Guldur itself. It is very haunted and features some deep woodwinds and nerve jangling piano strokes.

So I downloaded the album on iTunes and some of the tracks would be great, to my mind, for a game of TOR. Especially 'Synesthesia Part VI' which is reminiscent of a chorus of goblin horns as they march to battle.

Sounds good.

In our first game, I used music from PC games The Witcher and The witcher 2. They are quite suitable as well IMHO.

Oh, I wrote some of the music for The Witcher, at least the Enhanced Edition.

I had thought about writing some 'official' stuff for The One Ring but became very busy. I should try and track Jon down and discuss it. Perhaps I can get him down to my studio one weekend?

That would be awesome. I have both Witcher games (enhanced versions of course) and I really like the music. Dark and fitting, so I feel it kinda fits to Mirkwood too.

Very cool.

I wrote the music for most of Wraiths of Quiet Hamlet and if you check on the second disk there's a folder of extras and under music there's a folder called 'James Semple' and you'll find a load of music for another community module called Births & Virgins.

I've written music for other roleplaying games (notably Trail of Cthulhu) and I had been chatting with Angus about this previously.

Largely it comes down to whether it fits in with Cubicle 7's vision for the product line AND Jon has already offered a lot of high-quality music for free on the front page. Still it might be fun to knock up a couple of pieces for the line. I've just started a campaign myself and love the game.

You know at the start of The Hobbit Tolkien details the instruments carried by the dwarves very clearly and I've often wanted to create a piece using that specific ensemble. I might have a go at that...

I feel like I found the "official" TOR music on YouTube largely by accident, so I want to highlight your comment and provide the link:

YouTube link for "official" TOR music

Led Zeppelin.

I'm brand new here and had no idea that there was soundtrack for the game at all. So thanks for the heads up, it's really great atmosphere music. I'll have to look into the witcher soundtrack too.

I've got a collection of all the obvious tracks: The movie soundtracks, a few LOTR videogame soundtracks, and LOTRO's is particularly useful I find. The Elder Scrolls and Guild Wars OSTs also offer a large selection of music I believe are suitable (love me some Jeremy Soule).

I wasn't aware we had more TOR music beyond the first track. So I'll be adding those to my lot.

Has anyone converted the TOR soundtrack in mp3?

Yes. I converted the last 2 last night. That is, I have 4 tracks converted (so far).

The soundtrack for The Last Days of the Third Age might be good, give it a listen.

http://www.mediafire.com/?qo49x5m31fq26uq

(composed by Vladan Zivanovic. Some tracks are the same one for now, it'll be updated when he composes and records more)

TLD is our total Middle Earth conversion for the PC game Mount&Blade:

http://www.moddb.com/mods/the-last-days

(if you're into PC games, MnB is on sale on Steam and I'd like to think the mod's quite good. )

I'm having trouble converting them. Anywhere I can get hold of your mp3s?
We're playing over Google+ and use Spotify as music player and it just won't accept my Ogg Vorbis conversions...

URL Removed in case of legal issues.

Includes:
-The One Ring Theme
-The Mirkwood Theme
-The One Ring Atmosphere Theme
-The One Ring The Enemy Theme


SWTOR booted me while I was uploading this
Oh well.

I would be happy to upload the conversions and post a link to dropbox IF doing so is acceptable to Cubicle7. If a Staff Member could verify this?

It's probably much better if we don't know how you might chose circulate play-aid material which is given to you to solely use in your personal games. I for one certainly couldn't offer up any official approval either way.


There's a new tune up on the play list though. http://youtu.be/FPQNdiz73qc

And I'm so glad people are enjoying the "music".

Oh! And also edited one video on the playlist, which curiously only had 2 views from "private" to "public". Bonus!

Thanks, Jon!

Another excellent track!

As I recommended it, here's the link to download the LOTRO soundtrack. I'm not sure how up to date it is, maybe from around the Moria update? However, this is available for free, so:
http://www.fileplanet.com/199894/190000/fi...line-Soundtrack

I decided to remove my link with TOR's soundtrack, just in case.

I recommend some artists whose music I've used to great effect in my Middle Earth sessions:
Dead Can Dance (numerous albums)
Andreas Vollenweider (Book of Roses; Cosmopoly)
Both of these artists create exotic and enchanting tunes (including such archaic instruments as dulcimer, uillean pipes, harp, etc) which I've used them to create myriad atmospheres: impending trouble, journeying across wildernesses, arrivals into Elvish glades, feasting & dancing, etc.

Other Celtic- & Middle-Eastern- influenced music has a place in my games, eg: Loreena Mackennitt; Altan; Sileas; Capercaillie; Scartaglen; Andrew Lawrence-King; etc
I have also employed Raison D'Etre (Enthralled By The Wind Of Loneliness; Prospectus I) as background atmosphere to create a sense of slow creeping dread, or desolateness.

Of course heavy metal, classical and other music can enhance the feel of our games, and I would encourage further suggestions.
I find that making the effort to add extra sensory elements to my gaming sessions really pays off. On top of the narrative which of course drives the play, we can add further dimensions to the experience through the addition of:
SOUNDS - background music & effects where appropriate (as discussed above).

VISUALS - not only player handouts, maps, clues & puzzles, etc - but thinking outside the box one could drape material/items around the games room to resemble a lord's pavilion; putting maps & books around to portray a study or library; etc). Lighting is also a consideration here (candle light where reading isn't essential, etc).

SMELLS - can create a WOW! factor when used discerningly and sparingly (suitable essential oils/candles/incense). Obviously take your players' comfort into account here, and don't over-do it (especialy for that sewer adventure)!

TASTE - food & beverages can also give your players a memorable experience. Imagine serving your players some Lembas, or their favourite inn's beef stew, or a taste of that Shire cheese, Dwarvish ale, weird Khandian spiced cocoa, etc.

Perhaps further discussion along these lines could/should spawn a seperate thread? Game on!

Not sure if this would be good for a gaming session, but someone on my FB posted the following and I think you'll all appreciate it -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQiNVk_u0po...=share%27%2C%29

I picked tracks that relate to the setting of TOR better from the TLD soundtrack and put them on Youtube. (I realize it's easier to try them this way than to dowload the whole thing)

A Tale Untold

Beorning Town

Erebor

Follow Your Feet

Iron Hills

Lake Town

Mirkwood Elves

Over the Misty Mountains

Nightfall on Anduin

Rivendell

(Oops, I just noticed what the video says is not the actual title of all tracks. Must've done something wrong in the rendering process. Ah well. )

This post has been edited by Jan Pospisil on Apr 28 2012, 05:16 AM

You did nothing wrong. The actual, real titles ARE "TLD_something" (that is what is showing up as the "title" in YouTube) ... the "title" that appears through a "player" (iPod, MP3, etc. ... for instance, "Rivendell" all by itself) is what has been defined in the file's Properties. I run into this situation all the time with my iPod Nano ... in order to organize them into something I can actually use, I go into every file's Properties (under Windows Explorer), delete all references, and add my own (usually just a universal Album Title).

If you're referring to the metadata tags associated with MP3's, you should be able to find a free Meta Tag Editor on almost any free software website, but be aware that you will get Music, Picture & File tag editors lumped all together. (At least, that is what happened the last time I looked about a year ago.)

The Bard's Song(with or without the lyrics, acoustic or orchestral version) from Blind Guardian(The Band, not me! ) can be a good choice. Depending on where the Heroes are in Wilderland, of course.

I must be in the minority that uses Howard Shore's LotR score.

When I pitched the game to my group at the end of a gaming session, I put in the Fellowship's Complete Recordings DVD, and the repeating menu music sold them on playing (we all commented on how it pumped us up).

Now I just pop one of the Complete Recording DVDs in the player each session. It has been great so far. We have had some wonderful "happy accident" moments of a perfect musical cue appearing right when it should.

Personally, I can't wait to hear what he produces for the Hobbit films. That soundtrack will definitely be added to the playlist once it is out.

I, for one, utilize them ... both the full scores AND a bunch of snippets (30 seconds to 1.5 minutes in length, I'd estimate) that were used in the video game of Battle for Middle-earth. The snippets have really hit that "happy accident" to which you refer, too.

The snippets are available for download out in the ether somewhere ... I believe I actually downloaded them from the game manufacturer's website. If interested, I'd say a Google Search with the phrases "battle for middle-earth" and "mp3" would do the trick.

BTW, (in no particular order) I regularly utilize music from Leonard Rosenman's The Lord of the Rings score, Howard Shore's The Lord of the Rings scores, the aforementioned Battle for Middle-earth video game, The Lord of the Rings Online video game, The One Ring RPG YouTube-published videos, BBC Radio Music from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit radio dramas, the War in the North video game, The Hunt for Gollum fan-made movie score, and The Last Days video game. Thusfar, I have gathered 12 to 15 hours of music ... more than enough for a game session!

I assign tracks to themed playlists, to minimize the "accident" part of "happy accident".

For example, I have a "Battle" (self-explanatory), "Travel" (expansive, wildernessy) "Spooky" (creepy, ominous), "Free Peoples" (light, folksy), "Halls" (ancient, solemn), and "Elven" (Elf sanctuary) playlists specifically for TOR.

Those playlists have some overlap with my Battle, Spooky, etc. playlists for my Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, for example, but a lot of music (Shore, Tolkien Ensemble, etc) that is specific to them.

Since I run things off an iPad, it's seamless switching between playlists for mood - I'm neither heads-down in a laptop, nor likely to blow the mood by an inappropriate musical cue.

I've been pondering doing just this within iTunes on my laptop. I setup my laptop beside me when running and keep notes on the games events in a MS-Word doc that I have setup for each of my campaigns. Until recently, I just played MP3s from a burned CD in a MP3-compatible CD player ... my available music has surpassed the 700 MB storage capacity, so I need to come up with an alternative. An external speaker connected to my laptop (I have a powerful little device called a Magic Bullet which should work quite well) and playing themed playlists seemed like the way to go. So, I would love to see your playlist(s) as a source of inspiration. Would you post them? Please....

I've done it both ways, and more and more I'm appreciating not controlling the theme. During the Marsh Bell session, I was occasionally letting the music tell me what random event or turn would happen next. It made things fun and surprising.

I'll try to do that when I get back in the office tomorrow.

The music from the fan film Born of Hope has some nice tracks that are suitable.

As requested...

I use elements from:

Howard Shore's soundtracks (esp. the Complete Recordings collection)
Basil Poledouris' "Flesh + Blood") sdtrk
Ensemble Unicorn (great stuff there)
Tolkien Ensemble
selections from Immediate Music
selections from "The Witcher" and "Lord of the Rings Online" sdtrks
Dead Can Dance, etc

I'll also note that I'm pretty picky. I've used some synthesized orchestral pieces, but a lot of the tracks from video game soundtracks (LOTRO, etc) are just too artificial/tinny for my tastes. YMMV, however, in which case there are even more potential tracks for use from those soundtracks.

"Travel" is the longest of the lists at just over two hours of music. I intend that to be the primary playlist, as it's filled with evocative melodies, and ones that are (to me) generally suggestive of "outdoors" and movement, and fit within the tone I want to create. That will be on the majority of time, broken up by setting/mood-specific lists (e.g. Spooky or Elven).

Also note that with a fair number of Howard Shore pieces, I've edited them in GoldWave. The arrangements on the CDs follow the movies, and Jackson LOVES to shatter a peaceful moment with BLARING HORNS FROM MORDOR in case you've fallen asleep. Fine for the movies, but not so good for a game.

Travel 2:03:55 total time

Basil Poledouris Flesh and Blood/Courtship And Mandrake
The Chieftains Reel Music/The Matchmaking
The Chieftains Reel Music/Mountain Fall - Main Theme
The Chieftains Reel Music/March of The King of Cornwall
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring/The Ring Goes South
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring/The Great River
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King/Flight from Edoras
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers/The Forests of Ithilian
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers/One of the Dunedain
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers/The Story Foretold
The Lord of the Rings The Return of the King/Hope And Memory
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers/The Leave Taking
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring/Very Old Friends
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring/Saruman the White
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring/Rivendell
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring/The Doors of Durin
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring/The Road Goes Ever on...
The Last Of The Mohicans/The Courier
Russia's War: Blood Upon The Snow/Before The Storm 3:53
Lord of the Rings Online/The Brigand’s Tale
Lord of the Rings Online/The Flammifer of Westernesse
Lord of the Rings Online/Forsaken Paths
Lord of the Rings Online/A Glimmer in the North
Lord of the Rings Online/Guardians of the Wild
Lord of the Rings Online/The Ice Bay
Lord of the Rings Online/Journeys Long
Lord of the Rings Online/The Long Winter
BBC Lord of the Rings Opening Theme
The Witcher/01_Dusk_in_Northern_Kingdom
The Witcher/03_River_of_Life
The Witcher/15_Order
The Witcher/18_Sere_Roses
The Witcher/24_Seawall
The Witcher/27_Goodbye_Leo


Elven - solemn and haunting. More for Lothlorien and Rivendell on a starry night than for a Woodland Realm celebration, 45:52 total time

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring/Caras Galadhon
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring/The Story Foretold
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King/The Eagles
Tolkien Ensemble/Galadriel's Song of Eldamar, I sang of leaves...
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring/Rivendell
Dead Can Dance/The Arrival and the Reunion
Tolkien Ensemble/Galadriel's Song of Eldamar, Ai! Laurie lantar...
Tolkien Ensemble/Elven Hymn to Elbereth Gilthoniel, Snow-white!
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring/The Passing of the Elves
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King/The Houses of Healing
The Witcher/28_Silver_Sword

Battle 1:01:56 total time

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring/Weathertop
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers/The Breach of the Deeping Wall
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King/The Lighting of the Beacons
Basil Poledouris Flesh and Blood/Siege Of The City
Basil Poledouris Flesh and Blood/The Box
Immediate Music Themes For Orchestra And Choir/Final Omen 2.0
Immediate Music Themes For Orchestra And Choir/Heaven's Warriors
Immediate Music Themes For Orchestra And Choir/With Great Power
Immediate Music Themes For Orchestra And Choir/Timburton Hollow
Immediate Music Themes For Orchestra And Choir/Epicon
Immediate Music Themes For Orchestra And Choir/Lacrimosa 2:17
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring/The Bridge Of Khazad Dum
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring/Balin's Tomb
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King/The Battle of the Pelennor Fields
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King/Grond - The Hammer of the Underworld
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers/The Battle of the Hornburg
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers/The Three Hunters
The Witcher/16_Night_is_coming
The Witcher/17_True_face_of_the_Grand_Master
The Lord of the Rings Online/Courage of Men.mp3
The Lord of the Rings Online/Wreck and Slaughter.mp3


Spooky - darker, creepier mood music, 1:16:58 total time

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring/Keep It Secret
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King/Shelob's Lair
The Dark Crystal - Complete Film Score/Chamberlain Is Attacked
Immediate Music Horror And Sci Fi/07 - Cold Space
Immediate Music Horror And Sci Fi/10 - Alien Crawlspace
Immediate Music Horror And Sci Fi/11 - Betrayal Voices
Immediate Music Horror And Sci Fi/15 - Dead Ringer
Immediate Music Horror And Sci Fi/26 - In The Ducts
Immediate Music Horror And Sci Fi/33 - The Nest
Immediate Music Horror And Sci Fi/36 - Nostromus
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers/The Dead Marshes
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers/Gandalf the White
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers/The Forests of Ithilian
The Witcher/11 - The Mine
The Witcher/02_One_of_the_Wolfs
The Witcher/13_Ominous_Place
Lord of the Rings Online/Before the Storm
Lord of the Rings Online/The Creeping Gloom
Lord of the Rings Online/The Last King
Lord of the Rings Online/Skies of Grey
Lord of the Rings Online/The Sleepless Cold

Free Folk - Lighter, folksy music for Laketown, Bree, feasts and other Free Folk settings - 1:33:23 total time

Ensemble Unicorn /Amours, ou trop tart me suis pris
Dead Can Dance AionMephisto
Ensemble Unicorn /Quant ay lomón consirat
Ensemble Unicorn /Cuncti simus concanentes
Ensemble Unicorn /Cantiga de Santa Maria No. 77/119
The Chieftains Reel Music/Escape and Chase
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring/Flaming Red Hair
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring/The Shire
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring/Bag End
Ensemble Unicorn/Koleda Na Bozic
Dead Can Dance Aion/Radharc
The Dark Crystal Soundtrack/The Pod Dance
Dead Can Dance Aion/Saltarello
Basil Poledouris Flesh and Blood/The Feast
The Chieftains Reel Music/Main Theme-The Grey Fox
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King/The Green Dragon
Ensemble Unicorn Nevestinko Oro
Ensemble Unicorn /Quant voi la flor novelle
The Witcher/08 Duan - 'Skellige'
The Witcher/11 Rimead - 'Sentinels of Brokilon'
The Witcher/11_Evening_in_the_Tavern
The Witcher/12_Peaceful_Moments
The Witcher/23_Tavern_on_the_End_of_World
Lord of the Rings Online/Autumn Ale
Lord of the Rings Online/Bree-land Jig
Lord of the Rings Online/Land of the Lossoth
Lord of the Rings Online/Lay of the Free Peoples
Lord of the Rings Online/Let Us Sing Together
Lord of the Rings Online/Hills of the Shire
Lord of the Rings Online/Home from the Hunt

Halls - more formal/royal settings. hallowed ground. 21:14 total time (still working on this one)

Dead Can Dance Aion/Wilderness
Dead Can Dance Aion/Musica Eternal
Dead Can Dance Aion/The End of Words
Basil Poledouris Flesh and Blood/Cask And St. Martin
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring/Balin's Tomb
The Witcher/02_One_of_the_Wolfs
Lord of the Rings Online/All Other Lights
Lord of the Rings Online/Lament for Oakenshield


I'm always revising and adding, so these are works in progress.

Thanks, Crafty!

Of your list, I don't have:
Ensemble Unicorn
Tolkien Ensemble
selections from Immediate Music
selections from "The Witcher" sdtrks
Dead Can Dance
The Dark Crystal (had it on LP many years ago, but never located on CD ... good stuff ... especially The Pod Dance)
The Chieftains Reel Music
Russia's War

As you've used them, I (of course) must needs now check them out!

Someone very kindly posted my Witcher stuff on YouTube.

Here's the first track http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXivUleyzU4

cheers

James

Yeah, it's a great soundtrack. I would use more from it (and others), but I think they're too recognizable for my group.

I like to stay away from selections that will make my group think of, say, Conan the Barbarian instead of Tolkien, even though Basil Poledouris' soundtrack is incredible.

Crafty, which albums from Ensemble Unicorn? Unfortunately, on Amazon, they have many titles. Thanks, again.

The albums I have are The Black Madonna: Pilgrim Songs from the Monastery of Montserrat and On the Way to Bethlehem.

I may check out the preview of the others as well - I like the music anyway.

If you think of this song as a duet between Celebrimbor and Sauron, it works in a weird way.

That's hilarious!