Music and Role Playing

Using music during a session is one of the easiest ways of adding atmosphere to a session. Many people think about it or try it, but it doesn't work for everyone. The biggest problem is breaking the immersion of the game. When you go to see a movie, chances are you don't notice the music, but you can feel it's effect on the movie. Usually the music only becomes apparent when the director wants the audience to pay attention to it, and associate it with something, for instance The Imperial March.

Admittedly I'm still learning how to use music in my sessions, but I have picked up a couple rules.

1) DON'T use music that the players will recognize. It doesn't matter if you think it will fit, if even one of them will recognize it don't use it. This creates a small problem for picking music to use during sessions because if you want the music to be atmospheric the best places to find atmospheric music is in TV shows, movies, and video games. The obvious answer then is to use music from movies/TV shows/video games your players don't know or haven't heard. Youtube is a good resource for finding fitting music, just search for whatever kind of music you're looking for and try all the stuff that comes up.

2) DON'T use music with lyrics. This is related loosely to rule number 1) since (obviously) the vast majority of music is stuff that would be played on the radio (figuratively speaking) and thus, fairly well known. Additionally, if the lyrics are decipherable then the players may be distracted by trying to understand them. If the players are paying attention to the lyrics, they are paying less attention to the game.

3) DO try to create leitmotif. Leitmotif is the musical idea of associating a certain musical composition with a specific character, theme, situation, or place. The previously mentioned Imperial March is a perfect example, many people know it as Vader's Theme. There's also using leitmotif with a specific sound as opposed to a piece of music, such as the sound effects for lightsabers. To create leitmotif the GM must play the music/sound every time the character/situation/etc is "on screen" and perhaps a little louder the first time.

4) DO try to find the right volume for the music. This is tricky and depends on the group, the situation in game, the song, and the placement of the speakers. The music needs to be loud enough that it can be heard by everyone, but not so loud that it distracts from the game and breaks the immersion. If possible test it beforehand, but be prepared to adjust it throughout the session. Important to remember is that if you notice that everyone has gotten louder since the music has been put on that means they are talking over it, so don't turn the volume up if it can't be heard.

5) DON'T loop the music. The song should play once and be done with for that scene. It's ok to use it again later (particularly when using a leitmotif), but once per two scenes is probably plenty. Relatedly, if you use a playlist to sort your music, make sure to set it so that the playlist won't go to the next song on the list. I'd only make an exception to that if ALL the songs are fairly similar and would be less jarring without each other than the first one would be alone.

6) DON'T fiddle with the music player too much. The addition of music to the session should be as smooth as possible. Don't put the session on hold to adjust the volume, find the right song, or whatever. Keep your actions hidden. If the players notice you fooling about too much that'll distract them.

7) DO remember that you don't need music. It doesn't work for everyone, not everyone has the right equipment, and not everyone has the right ear for the music. Give it a try a couple times, ask your players what they thought of your use of the music, and if it doesn't work after the third or fourth time, leave it be.