I recommend the soundtracks to Silent Hill 2 and 3.

most of the music that people seem to think of as "creepy" here, really isn't creepy to me. Or at least, doesn't feel to me to be suitable to a CoC game.

RPGpundit

Quote from: RPGPundit;441285most of the music that people seem to think of as "creepy" here, really isn't creepy to me. Or at least, doesn't feel to me to be suitable to a CoC game.

If they can use Tangerine Dream for a WW2-era horror movie...

Quote from: John Morrow;441290If they can use Tangerine Dream for a WW2-era horror movie...

Tangerine Dream's musical score in The Keep (1983) was a stroke of genius on the part of Michael Mann.

I was once involved with a write-in campaign to restore the film to its original 3+ hour long Director’s cut. The current version (1 hour 33 minutes) is seriously incomplete.

-Hans

Quote from: hanszurcher;441291Tangerine Dream's musical score in The Keep (1983) was a stroke of genius on the part of Michael Mann.

Oh, I really like the soundtrack (and own Tangerine Dream's Dream Sequence for that music) and thought it worked.  Modern music, even electronic music, can work with period horror, which is why I recommended the John Carpenter and Goblin horror movie soundtrack stuff.  

(Well, as long as it's not a musical atrocity like the Alan Parsons Project Ladyhawke soundtrack.)

Peregrin mentioned horror music building being a problem and I agree.  I've found is that good gaming horror music is music that creates tension and kinda gnaws at the players, especially if they don't fully notice that it's playing.  Violins.  Minor notes.  Perhaps some dissonance or odd vocals.  And, overall, good gaming soundtracks are soundtracks without musical flourishes tied to specific events in a movie that simply play across a scene (e.g., Poledouris, Zimmer, and Carpenter all produce that sort of soundtrack).

Quote from: hanszurcher;441291I was once involved with a write-in campaign to restore the film to its original 3+ hour long Director’s cut. The current version (1 hour 33 minutes) is seriously incomplete.

That would explain the difference I'm aware of between book and movie.  I actually have The Keep on Laserdisc.

Quote from: mrfish;406144+1 for lustmord!

Philip Glass, Robyn Miller, wavespan, danzig (black aria 2), aphex twin and perhaps Ulf Soederberg are other ok choices.

Ahkenaton from Philip Glass
Black Aria from Danzig

Yep.

The Black Rider from Glass might have some choice bits in there as well. But I cannot find my copy.

Quote from: John Morrow;441311...
Peregrin mentioned horror music building being a problem and I agree.  I've found is that good gaming horror music is music that creates tension and kinda gnaws at the players, especially if they don't fully notice that it's playing.  Violins.  Minor notes.  Perhaps some dissonance or odd vocals.  And, overall, good gaming soundtracks are soundtracks without musical flourishes tied to specific events in a movie that simply play across a scene (e.g., Poledouris, Zimmer, and Carpenter all produce that sort of soundtrack).

Something else to consider. Make your own gaming soundtrack..taking regular 20s (or whatever era) music and adding extra background tracks from samples of various sources, e.g., movie dialogue, animal noises, and creating effects using an audio editor like Audacity. It is actually a lot of fun.

Quote from: John Morrow;441311That would explain the difference I'm aware of between book and movie.  I actually have The Keep on Laserdisc.

I am truly green with envy!:)

-Hans

Quote from: hanszurcher;441291Tangerine Dream's musical score in The Keep (1983) was a stroke of genius on the part of Michael Mann.

I was once involved with a write-in campaign to restore the film to its original 3+ hour long Director's cut. The current version (1 hour 33 minutes) is seriously incomplete.

-Hans

You're pretty awesome, Hans.

Quote from: RPGPundit;441285most of the music that people seem to think of as "creepy" here, really isn't creepy to me. Or at least, doesn't feel to me to be suitable to a CoC game.

RPGpundit

RPGPundit, what do you think about "the masked ball" from Eyes Wide Shut soundtrack (Jocelyn Pook's song)?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THNzuF33tZo)

What is creepy for you man?
Thanks, best! :)

The creepiest thing to me is not to use "creepy" music, but to use perfectly normal music suited to the time and place of the setting, and have something really creepy happen in the game, while its playing.

RPGPundit

Quote from: hanszurcher;441291Tangerine Dream's musical score in The Keep (1983) was a stroke of genius on the part of Michael Mann.

I agree that it is among the best things in the movie, but I always felt that Mann and the Tangerine Dream simply took inspiration from the soundtracks of Italian '70s "giallo" movies (exp. the ones by Goblins for "Deep Reed", "Suspiria" etc.)

Quote from: RPGPundit;441519The creepiest thing to me is not to use "creepy" music, but to use perfectly normal music suited to the time and place of the setting, and have something really creepy happen in the game, while its playing.

RPGPundit

Yeah, very interesting remark. "Normal music" does not really means something, but yes, it's in the game that things happens. All musics could be used, just think your context. In fact, there is many ways to inspire fear.

Applause.

And some songs are creepy, but they are not pertinent in your party.

Quote from: Reckall;441539I agree that it is among the best things in the movie, but I always felt that Mann and the Tangerine Dream simply took inspiration from the soundtracks of Italian '70s "giallo" movies (exp. the ones by Goblins for "Deep Reed", "Suspiria" etc.)

There is probably some truth to that. Mann does list his influences as Andrei Tarkovsky, Dziga Vertov, Alain Resnais, and of course Stanley Kubrick (what young auteur did not). It is interesting to note the first three film makers had a impact on the films of Ingmar Bergman, who Dario Argento often cites as his biggest influence. So they seem to share creative roots.
They also had similar visions for Suspiria and The Keep, focusing on the fantastic and fable elements of the stories.

Mann had also worked with Tangerine Dream previously in Thief (1981)*, his first cinema feature as director.

-Hans

*A film about an ex-con looking for the American Dream.

Quote from: RPGPundit;441519The creepiest thing to me is not to use "creepy" music, but to use perfectly normal music suited to the time and place of the setting, and have something really creepy happen in the game, while its playing.

Personally, I think that can be effective in small doses, but after one too many Oliver Stone films using that trick, I just find that goofy now. It's like playing Patsy Cline during a gunfight.

Quote from: Peregrin;406020So we're slowly getting ready to kick off our (real) CoC campaign with Masks of Nyarlathotep, after having a really successful run with one of the demo scenarios.  Couple this with the fact that Boardwalk Empire begins airing tonight on HBO, and a lot of my players are really getting into the 20s mood.

The one thing I've been having trouble with is getting together a soundtrack.  A lot of the music of the 20s is now public domain, but I'm having some trouble finding good collections available online.  I can get bits and pieces here and there, but was wondering if anyone knew of any indexes or collections that are more comprehensive.

I'm also struggling to find some more ambient pieces that fit the Cthulhu mythos, and was hoping some here may have soundtracks or compositions that have worked well for them in the past -- I'm thinking more subdued and mysterious, rather than the typical horror compositions that have a lot of rising actions and such as those will probably interrupt the mood.

Thankee for your time.

If you can find a copy of Quake I (the actual CD itself, not the game necessarily), Trent Reznor's ambient score for it is nice and creepy.

"Abagail Mead" (Vivian Kubrick, Stanley's daughter) did an ambient noise/industrial score for Full Metal Jacket that is simply amazing.

Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind did the score for The Shining and a few select pieces there have to be heard to be believed.  Especially the haunting synth version of dies Irae:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tfHXobSQNI

...but I'd scour the web for the entire (out of print!) soundtrack.  It is...horrifying.  Rarely will I say that music actually scares me, but The Shining OST is one that I won't put on my 'droid phone and listen to driving home in the dark...!