Hello all.

This post may very well get moved elsewhere, or taken away entirely. Meantime though,
I want to ask this simple question: what is the best Pendragon atmosphere music choice?
If any, that is, perhaps having music to the game just spoils the magic for some people.

My choosing would be the irish folk/pop-group Clannad, especially the older recordings,
such as the album "Fuaim" or "Crann Ull". They (most of the time) give the game the right
celtic feeling, atleast when they play songs like "Na Buachaillí Alainn" or "Ní Lá Na Gaoithe
Lá Na Scoilb" or "Planxty Browne". Heartlily recommended! Excuse my english - I'm swedish.

Very much in the same vein is Lorena McKennit. I also like movie soundtracks such as "last of the Mohicans" or "crimson Tide" for combat background.

I'm very much influenced by the Film Excalibur. From that my favourite is Wagner's Sigfried's Funeral March from the Ring of the Nibelungings. Excuse my spelling.

I'm with his lordship, the Earl. I don't actually use music during a session, but if I did, Wagner would feature prominently, thanks to Excalibur.

I associate Clannad too much with Robin Hood to use Celtic-sounding music, thanks to the old British TV series, Robin of Sherwood (*not* the recent, far inferior Robin Hood series). I do like them a lot.

I did use the Medieval Baebes once in a court scene:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXCA5z6kQZM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdaPgnmE1Hc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juUNs3vcPNk&a

Some my favourite medieval groups:

Omnia (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDTnegJvB3I&feature=related)
Alan Stivell (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWJFNth1Mjk&feature=related)
Tri Yann (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erEyGVNEX-M)
Celtic Horseslips (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8YuAbkDT94)
Tempradura

Cheers!
Ruben

YMMV. I've been listening to Black Sabbath, Dio and Rage Against the Machine for most of my inspiration. The hard crunch of the music really conjures up the death and destruction of battle.

For courtly scenes I've tried various type of music: classical, celtic folk, early music, fusion of early and modern music (ala Dead Can Dance), etc. The only thing that has worked is early music; but, its hard to remain true to the early periods of the campaign since there is so little recorded music of the Dark Ages. Late Medieval music is much more available.

We don't play any music during our sessions. The music above is just for inspiration as a GM.

Very much in the same vein is Lorena McKennit. I also like movie soundtracks such as "last of the Mohicans" or "crimson Tide" for combat background.

Aha! Lorena McKennit? Sounds interesting, wonder if I can find her on Spotify or somewhere else? Many thanks for your tip!

I'm very much influenced by the Film Excalibur. From that my favourite is Wagner's Sigfried's Funeral March from the Ring of the Nibelungings. Excuse my spelling.

Ahhh... Excalibur... That one is the greatest King Arthur-film ever made - atleast IMHO. The film with the green light. And yes - the wonderful and atmospheric music choice of Wagner. Why didn't I think of that! I think my thoughts of Clannad's (early) music were more ideally suited for the calmer situations in Pendragon. But definetly, Wagner and the like is what you should play during the highlights. There are also many other classical choices for Pendragon adventures. Once I ran the "Grey Knight" campaign (unfortunately not to the end) and used Franz Liszt's "Totentanz" in the opening scenes when the Grey Knight himself walks onto the tournament arena. That was something to make the players draw their collective breaths...

I associate Clannad too much with Robin Hood to use Celtic-sounding music, thanks to the old British TV series, Robin of Sherwood (*not* the recent, far inferior Robin Hood series). I do like them a lot.

I did use the Medieval Baebes once in a court scene:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXCA5z6kQZM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdaPgnmE1Hc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juUNs3vcPNk&a

I agree with you - to some degree. Atleast if you use the Clannad album especially made for that excellent TV series of "Robin in the Hood". But I think you should give Clannad a second chance and listen to the earlier production, which is quite another thing, musically, than the theme music for "Robin". The earlier albums are entirely without the echo-sounding stuff and somewhat weird non-distinctive sound of that Robin Hood-album.

Medieval Baebes? I'll look into it. Sounds like something using contemporary instruments. Am I right?

Some my favourite medieval groups:

Omnia (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDTnegJvB3I&feature=related)
Alan Stivell (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWJFNth1Mjk&feature=related)
Tri Yann (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erEyGVNEX-M)
Celtic Horseslips (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8YuAbkDT94)
Tempradura

Wow, that was quite a lot to choose from. Thanks for the tip! One favourite british medieval music-playing group of mine, is the group called "The York Waits". Recommended.

YMMV. I've been listening to Black Sabbath, Dio and Rage Against the Machine for most of my inspiration. The hard crunch of the music really conjures up the death and destruction of battle.

For courtly scenes I've tried various type of music: classical, celtic folk, early music, fusion of early and modern music (ala Dead Can Dance), etc. The only thing that has worked is early music; but, its hard to remain true to the early periods of the campaign since there is so little recorded music of the Dark Ages. Late Medieval music is much more available.

We don't play any music during our sessions. The music above is just for inspiration as a GM.

Interesting to hear that kind of totally different choice of music from what I'd use! But as you say, the battles must become even more savage with that kind of sound. That's very atmospheric! Thanks for the thoughts.

John Renbourn guitar music should work well, or anything by John Dowland.

enya - the celts
OST "kingdom of heaven" (a bit too much arabic flavour but I like the sound)
OST "knights of honor" (PC Game)


gregorian chorals? (not sure if this is the right term, translated it from german) in general

I am very fond of dramatic music and, prior to my divorce and my move from Alaska, had a considerable selection of Movie Soundtracks. I found that Hans Zimmer or James Horner made excellent background music for both court and battle sessions. I also use Enya, Clannad, Vangelis and McKennet. But, when you really just have to go kill an Englishman, no music is better than the soundtrack to Rob Roy! (My original campaign setting resulted in Cumbrian Knights, you see....)

John Renbourn guitar music should work well, or anything by John Dowland.

Ok, I'll look that one up. Sounds interesting. What kind of music would you classify it as? Thanks.

enya - the celts
OST "kingdom of heaven" (a bit too much arabic flavour but I like the sound)
OST "knights of honor" (PC Game)
gregorian chorals? (not sure if this is the right term, translated it from german) in general


Yes! Enya can sound almost designed for Pendragon sometimes, no great wonder she was the
one hired to make the LOTR-movie music. And did you know Enya was an early member of the
irish folk/pop-group Clannad I mentioned earlier? Yes, it's a shame she left them.

It's funny you should mention "The Knights of Honor" game, because I have a couple of tunes
from it, though I've never actually played the game. They sound very in tune with chivalry,
although sometimes maybe a bit too much computer-made...

Gregorian chants can be very useful, atleast when one wants that sacral, church-like feel.

Thanks for the tips!

I am very fond of dramatic music and, prior to my divorce and my move from Alaska, had a considerable selection of Movie Soundtracks. I found that Hans Zimmer or James Horner made excellent background music for both court and battle sessions. I also use Enya, Clannad, Vangelis and McKennet. But, when you really just have to go kill an Englishman, no music is better than the soundtrack to Rob Roy! (My original campaign setting resulted in Cumbrian Knights, you see....)


Yes, of course - Rob Roy! Why I didn't I think of that? The film itself is so very good, a true gem often overlooked.

Hans Zimmer and James Horner is very good choices, just like many of the other fantasy/sci-fi/action movie composers like
Danny Elfman and John Williams. Many thanks for the tips.

Ok, I'll look that one up. Sounds interesting. What kind of music would you classify it as? Thanks.


John Renbourn was a member of the folk group Pentangle, so I would classify him as folk. However, much of his solo work is renaissance or medieval. Hope that helps. :)

Ok, I'll look that one up. Sounds interesting. What kind of music would you classify it as? Thanks.


John Renbourn was a member of the folk group Pentangle, so I would classify him as folk. However, much of his solo work is renaissance or medieval. Hope that helps. :)

Yes thanks! I checked him out on Spotify, sounded very calm and acoustic. Nice!

I'd recommend some of the neo-medieval revival stuff coming out of central Europe. The main people are the groups Estampie and Qntal. Both are more or less the same group, with Estampie doing mostly traditional instruments and Qntal adding a touch of synth to some of their songs. Qntal, I feel, is the better of the two projects; they even did an entire album centering around Arthurian stuff. The whole thing gets lumped into the Goth scene but I've always felt that's a bit unfair.

The best thing the Estampie/Qntal people did, though, was a collaboration with a group of Iberian musicians called The al-Andaluz Project. It tried to revive medieval songs from the Iberian peninsula around the time of the Reconquista. A bit exotic for game use until Palomides shows up maybe but remarkably good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iuHi5YqB9k - al-Andaluz Project
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gR6bNR50vxM - Qntal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4tG33uwPKI - Estampie

Very much in the same vein is Lorena McKennit. I also like movie soundtracks such as "last of the Mohicans" or "crimson Tide" for combat background.
Aha! Lorena McKennit? Sounds interesting, wonder if I can find her on Spotify or somewhere else? Many thanks for your tip!

Seconded. I also do Last of the Mohicans =) But please note that her albums differ a lot.
Here are some links for her on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjRe6ymE1Bw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKaPu_o47Lc&feature=related

So lets see what I got in the playlist...
First I'm a bit astonished :o that the film music to the first conan films has not been mentioned. Both Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer have some excellent tracks.
Then since you are swedish you should be spanked if you don't have Garmarna follow this link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miBDjgXWbew&feature=PlayList&p=53F325881D3 2FA2B&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=28)

-Soundtracks-
Conan
Last of the Mohicans
Kingdom of Heaven
In the name of the rose - for a ventue into the forest savage... its spooky
Gladiator
LOTR
The princes bride - if you younglins haven't seen this (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093779/) movie you should see it just to shake your head on what old folks could get excited about.
Dragonheart
13th warrior
Ben hur - you got to play the "Victory March" at some point its mandatory
Eragon - soundtrack was one of the few interesting things about that one

-Artists-
Loreena McKennit - or I will have your balls hanging from my crest before noon
Vangelis - his 1492 soundtrack is excellent
Bandyta
Medieval Romantics - its a collection album
The Hilliard Ensemble
Ennio Morricone - his Hamlet soundtrack has some good stuff
Michael Lorenc

Maybe some classics like
Carl Orff - Carmina Burana, for the charge (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rA8MeJFRh04&feature=PlayList&p=580E7E5C209 CAD19&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=23)
Wagner - ride of the valkyrias, for the charge, since you have already played Carmina Burana 30 times, then "Prelude to Parsifal" and "Siegfried's Funeral March" are nice
Bach - sarabande, for court

One thing that is often overlooked is game music, like Elder Scrolls IV which has some excellent stuff, or why not WOW if your players haven't played it.


OK gotta stop blabbering here
;D

Heather Alexander's March of Cambreadth, especially before a battle against a Hated foe.

"Midnight mare and blood-red roan,
Fight to keep this land your own.
Sound the horn and call the cry,
How many of them can we make die!!!!"

I'd recommend some of the neo-medieval revival stuff coming out of central Europe. [...]
The best thing the Estampie/Qntal people did, though, was a collaboration with a group of Iberian musicians called The al-Andaluz Project. It tried to revive medieval songs from the Iberian peninsula around the time of the Reconquista. A bit exotic for game use until Palomides shows up maybe but remarkably good. [...]

A mega-thanks for this info! It sounds like something I must look up! I wonder if they are possible to locate on Emusic or Spotify...?
I bought some Hurdy-gurdy music by the British musician Nigel Eaton on Emusic, look that one up, the hurdy-gurdy is such a wonderful instrument.

Then since you are swedish you should be spanked if you don't have Garmarna follow this link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miBDjgXWbew&feature=PlayList&p=53F325881D3 2FA2B&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=28)

Haha! No I'm not that daft. I do own a cd by Garmarna, and hmm, yes their music can be used, but probably is a bit too rough sometimes. A good tip nontheless.

Many thanks for the excellent list, and yep have a few of those too, but hadn't really considered them for Pendragon. This is
really the heart of this "survey": what do people want as their Pendragon music choice - what is their take on the Pendragon setting - and how will that take color their playing style AND choosing of atmospheric tunes (if any) for the game?

Heather Alexander's March of Cambreadth, especially before a battle against a Hated foe.

"Midnight mare and blood-red roan,
Fight to keep this land your own.
Sound the horn and call the cry,
How many of them can we make die!!!!"

Ah, sounds intriguing. The feel of that kind you can almost feel just by the lyrics. Thanks, I'll try to look it up!

A mega-thanks for this info! It sounds like something I must look up! I wonder if they are possible to locate on Emusic or Spotify...?


Probably. I know their stuff is available on iTunes which, in the case of the al-Andaluz Project, was surprising to me.

I found Qntal a little (big) bit too modern. For me, they even sounded like a sort of
Rave-music. That is, for me, far far from the Pendragon feeling I'm after. I'm sorry
if this sounds negative. Also, when people suggest that I should look up hard rock-
music, that is also waaaaay of the mark for me.

I want to feel that the music has roots in the cultures the Pendragon game describes.
Therefore Clannad (celtic music from Ireland) is right down my lane. Try it.

Noted on Qntal. They add a touch of synth to a lot of their songs so they do feel more modern. Don't let that scare you from their entire catalog, as there are quite a few songs that forgo the synth, or from their other projects, which are quite a bit more traditional. The al-Andaluz Project, in particular, has nary an electrical cord in a thirty mile radius.

You have awakened a passion within me here. I am trying to find a way that i could write you a message that would GRAB you and make you listen to me so that you will risk spending money and buying one of their CD"S There is a group that is sooooo amazing and awesome that I beg of you to hear them plz.... Their reels and jigs are the best EVER! Their called .. ALTAN ......Best group ever . I swear by them. You will not be dissapointed.
Enya is always a winner, and there are two great compilations called .. CELTIC ODDESY.......... and.... CELTIC LEGACY...... for me these choices are the best and i have used them for sooo long.

Also. no matter how you feel about the Movie, BRAVEHEART sountrack is okay as well.
I also use the sountrack from the movie LEGEND . It is very fantasy but is very appropriate for anything to do with the fey in pendragon! Good luck ;D

Altan?
They ruin almost all their songs with a too strong/loud modern guitar or worse ruin it with making old songs into a pop-ish sound. Then almost all of their good songs are only usable in a 'court' setting. Can you even find one song that could provide a decent background for a charge?

Its like sitting in any average irish/welsh pub, not the feeling I want.

;) ;D :D

Can you even find one song that could provide a decent background for a charge?


In our Battle of Lindsey (490), events conspired to bring "Black Sabbath", by Black Sabbath, into my wicked GM head. ;D

Altan?
They ruin almost all their songs with a too strong/loud modern guitar or worse ruin it with making old songs into a pop-ish sound. Then almost all of their good songs are only usable in a 'court' setting. Can you even find one song that could provide a decent background for a charge?

Its like sitting in any average irish/welsh pub, not the feeling I want.

;) ;D :D

Very true , when they sat down to do songs they probably didnt count on the fact that they would forever suck because they had NO chargeworthy songs, ... bummer. I also strongly disagree with you on every point you have made. I dont find any problem with a too " Modern " sound. The only thing we can agree on is that you certainly have an all-encompasing hatred of them... Hmmm , with all the stuff that you did list , which almost included the kitchen sink , i am astonished that they gain your ire , but some of the other music you listed made the grade for you , and you consider it better than Altan's stuff? Video game music at the very least is certainly not better than Altan for me. :-[

Can you even find one song that could provide a decent background for a charge?


In our Battle of Lindsey (490), events conspired to bring "Black Sabbath", by Black Sabbath, into my wicked GM head. ;D
Black sabbath rocks. It certainly could be good for many sequences!

Black sabbath rocks. It certainly could be good for many sequences!


I recently just found about this album of medieval-style covers of Black Sabbath songs by an Estonian band called Rondellus: http://www.sabbatum.com/. It immediately went into my background music playlist (and I'll be swiping some other suggestions from this awesome thread as well!).

don't miss:
- Beowulf OST
- The Day After Tomorrow OST
- Bram Stoker's Dracula OST
- almost anything with Jordi Saval
- "The Foggy Dew" with The Chieftains and Sinéad O'Connor

... all on spotify...

// M