Music while playing Angband?

[mrfy]

Since I can't have sounds on at the moment, was looking for appropriate music to play while playing. Started off with Chant by the Benedictine Monks, was thinking the soundtrack to Game of Thrones would work well too.

I'm curious what others listen to while playing?

[Chud]

I often listen to the NPR politics podcast, which is probably not much help for you...

[Grotug]

Dwarf Fortress music isn't bad for Angband.

[RogerN]

I thought I remembered this topic coming up before... here's the Angband music thread from 2008, if you're interested.

My recommendation: The Lord of the Rings Symphony directed by the composer himself, Johan de Meij. The 2nd and 4th movements are particularly appropriate.

[Ingwe Ingweron]

There's already an extensive thread devoted to this topic. http://angband.oook.cz/forum/showthread.php?t=9474

[Glorfindel]

I tend to listen to a lot of soundtrack when I use music. Words would usually feel incongruous. The particular pieces are more governed by what I have than what I would like for the occasion, but I suppose there is no harm in mentioning them. I like to use 'Betray to the Emperor' from the soundtrack of Curse of the Golden Flower, for an ominous sound; it works better if there aren't that many monsters on a level, just leaving a sense of a dark, evil place. I also use most of the soundtrack from the 1978 Lord of the Rings, but it might not be so suited for those who do not already have positive associations for that music (I know I am decidedly in minority in my liking the movie).

I actually use quite a bit of Star Wars, too. There is quite a bit of suited music, either as being ominous or exciting. I try to avoid the really recognizable themes, as again, those would feel wrong when they came. Anyway, A New Hope offers 'Imperial Attack', 'Rescue of the Princess', 'The Walls Converge', and 'The Last Battle'. The Return of the Jedi has 'Into the Trap', 'Han Solo Returns' and 'The Emperor'. The themes of The Force Awakens are less iconic, so I have ten tracks from that, but they might be too associated with particular characters for some people.

There are a couple of songs I bought especially with Angband in mind. After I read Robert E. Howard's Kull stories, I decided to see whether he had inspired any music worth hearing, and I found the soundtrack for Kull the Conqueror. Most of it wasn't very interesting, but I thought that the opening track and 'Ship Brawl' would be enjoyable to play to, the one for when I was feeling tough or adventurous, and the other when the action was intense.

Somewhere in the border between soundtrack and non-soundtrack is 'Requiem for a Tower', which I doubt needs any introduction. It is just a good piece for tension and what might have been called an epic feel before that word started being overused.

Before moving onto the songs with words, I will also mention 'In the Hall of the Mountain King' from the Peer Gynt suite, which seems thematically appropriate and sounds right for when one is trying to avoid some monster.

I have two actual songs to mention, 'War is a Science' from the musical Pippin, and 'Adventure is a Wonderful Thing' from Pooh's Grand Adventure. Both are for when I want to play with a less serious mood. I am not sure I could describe the applicability of 'War is a Science' very well, so I will suffice to say that for this purpose I prefer the new Broadway cast, although I usually like the original version. 'Adventure is a Wonderful Thing' is meant to be an encouraging song, but is all about the probability of getting killed or maimed while on the quest.

If I were to say what I thought was ideal, I would guess it was music from actual fantasy video games, such as the various ones based on The Lord of the Rings. I haven't played them, but I have listened to some iTunes previews for their soundtracks, and they seemed just right, with plenty of fighting-fit pieces, some atmospheric location types, and keeping up one mood for an extended period, instead of suddenly heightening for some jump moment in a movie before fading back into tense obscurity; that last can be kind of annoying when there is no obliging unique to appear around the bend on cue.