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Listening to “Battle of the Orcs” is a little like listening to a metal-classical fusion band like Apocalpytica, toned down and smoothed out to serve as background music. It’s pretty repetitive, as you’d expect, but with enough variation not to stray too far into monotony. The use of electric guitar keeps the track edgy. However, despite the name, I don’t hear much of a battle in this track. I don’t think I’d actually use this track to score a battle scene. A better title might have been “The March of the Big Scary Orcs As They Converge on You for Battle.” When I listen, I don’t picture a fight. I picture a threatening horde moving ever closer, relentlessly threatening but not here yet. The name conjures up certain expectations that the track doesn’t really fulfill, but this doesn’t actually detract from the quality of the track. Finally, as I find myself writing all too often about the latest wave of Sonic Legends offerings, the ID3 tags are a mess, and you’ll need to clean them up yourself (unless the publisher has changed something since I last downloaded the track).
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I added this to a Traditional Koto and Shakuhachi playlist in order to vary the songs for my Legend of the Five Rings roleplay atmosphere.
The players were enthusiastic about it.
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On August 29, 2010, the Savage Troll was fortunate enough to receive On the Open Sea, and several other Sonic Legends soundscapes. The crew at the Savage Troll Blog was so impressed that a blog entry was immediately made: http://rptroll.blogspot.com/2010/08/review-ambient-music-for
-gaming-by.html
I was remiss in not entering my first impressions here for RPG Now. I loved it. I immediately put it on my phone and played it several times, letting it loop and it got me in the piraty mood.
As I said in the blog:
" The little riff four and a half minutes in using the tuba and squeeze-box created the image of a staggering pirate trying to navigate the rolling deck of a ship with humor. If you use ambient music to set the tone, this one is a great pirate adventure score. I will enjoy playing it while driving thru Southern California traffic. Now I just need a cannon. I can think of so many B pirate movies that could have been almost pushed into an A with this soundtrack."
In short: Great soundtrack for a pirate setting. With the re-release of 50 Fathoms, I can't think of a better way to set the ambient piraty mood!.
Keep Savage!
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The title “Speakeasy” suggests the 1920s, and immediately draws my mind to Call of Cthulhu. Imagine a couple of investigators chatting it up with high society figures suspected of cult associations. This music would be great for the background of any such a role-playing scene. There are enough sound effects (footsteps, drinks mixing, even something that sounds like the spin of a roulette wheel) that you’ll want to keep the volume set low, but this would really spike up the ambiance. I think you could even use this for a lounge or casino scene in a contemporary setting, maybe even space opera depending on the flavor of the campaign and the planet’s culture. The giggles and voices are appropriate to the setting, but get a little old after you’ve looped the track a few times; they don’t have as much repeat play value as the music itself. The only real negative about this track is technical: as often seems to happen with Sonic Legends mp3 files, the ID3 tags were insufficient, practically nonexistent in this case except for the title tag, which was identical to the filename (which itself was set, inexplicably, in all caps). I can’t give five stars if I have to edit the ID3 tags myself.
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This track hurts my ears. It’s hard to listen to for long … and I think that’s the point. According to title, this track is supposed to take us into the mind of a madman. The pitches, the rhythm, the discord, and the sound effects all work together to make you feel like you’re going a bit crazy yourself. This piece is a paradox: if it makes you scream, “Turn it off! Turn it off!” then it’s doing its job perfectly. I’ve rated the track at four stars because it is perfectly suited to its purpose, not because I like listening to it. I’ll have to think carefully before I inflict this on my players. But when they’re fighting mind flayers, why not? I couldn’t go to five stars, though, because the ID3 tags were sloppily done. The title tag contained an Internet-style filename (“mind_of_a_madman”) rather than a proper song title (“Mind of a Madman”), and the artist’s name wasn’t capitalized properly in the artist tag. I can’t give a sound file a full five stars if I have to edit the ID3 tags myself.
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What a lovely piece of music! This track does a perfect job of giving a sense that everything is just fine. The instrumentation may be a bit too modern to fit easily into a fantasy game, but DMs should judge that for themselves. If you have a pulp or modern equivalent of the Shire or the Inn of the Last Home before everything gets all complicated, this music is a wonderful backdrop. The track loops seamlessly, and you could even let it run in the background while you work to help keep yourself cheerful. I withheld one star from my rating for technical reasons: the embedded tags give the track name as “Happy Fun_Carew_Full_44k.” I shouldn’t have to edit ID3 tags after purchasing an MP3. It would also be nice to have some artwork, square like an album cover, embedded in the file or provided along with the product description.
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Interesting music. I don't use music much in gaming except for horror. I gave this one a try based on the positive reviews so far. I like it. If I never use it in gaming, I'll use it for Halloween!
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This 8:25 track is a fantastic for any nautical campaign. It captures the the theme well and starts off with great enthusiasm, much like the thrill of setting out for a journey. As the track goes on the boredom of sea life becomes apparent and the music reflects this well without becoming boring itself. Later still a sense of foreboding and danger subtly creep into the music until the finale of coming back into port and the excitement that follows. A great track for background music that loops seamlessly.
One great use that I have found for this track is using it to represent time between long journeys via ships as it gives the players a sense of both the excitement and boredom of the long journey without getting bogged down in tedious random encounters.
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This 8:12 track is certainly not a bad track, in fact I quite liked the guitar solo at the start (at the 0:55 mark), however I did have a few issues with it. The first issue was that it doesn't loop as well as the other tracks from Sonic Legends, even the song itself felt musically disjointed at times. The second issue I had with the track is that it didn't capture the desolation or desperation of the apocalypse it described in the description, more of a heroic fantasy apocalypse. Apart from these two issues it makes great background music for a heroic modern/post-apoc game as well as for painting music for wargamers.
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This track alternates between ambient synthesizer, angelic vocals, plinking strings, and creepy rumbles. If you want a desolate, creepy vibe for a session this works well. It doesn't blast out anything too obvious and your players will probably forget about it until they get quiet and hear the impending doom. I like this for it's utility in a variety of situations when you need something ominous.
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A nice track for background music. Wind blows, a fire roars, tavern music plays (Irish sounding jigs and some harpsichord for good measure). Some of the patrons probably need some vitamin C as they have some serious sniffles and coughs. I like that this can fit about any tavern situation and can be used really easily in the background of your session. Definitely a good track for your repertoire.
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This is a surprisingly vocal heavy track. It starts with almost a female monk chant and transitions to Native American style drums and pan flute. It picks up the pace with more aggressive drums and the haunting vocals. I can't quite pick out the next instrument (either generated fiddle or accordion). Not a bad track at all. It's just not jumping out for any particular situation. Maybe a witch's den or some sort of tribal religious ceremony? Either way, it's worth a listen.
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I wanted to give this a 4/5, but it's a bit too overbearing at times. It features very loud ululating type yelling (more Native American, not Middle Eastern). Drums come in with grunts and continued yelling. This one is a lot less useful for a broad array of situations. However, if you have a primitive battle or even a rescue from a sacrifice, then this would be dead on. Just make sure the volume isn't too loud.
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Mysterious pan flute and light drums give a mystic impression of a primal tribe. The track is somewhat dark, but not overly so. It would be great for visiting a village that worships the primal spirits and control their magics. It's not going to intrude on your session, so you can loop it and let it go.
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The track starts out with some very promising bagpipes. It then changes to a trumpet fanfare (a little fake sounding but not distractingly so). About a third of the way through it goes back to the Scottish or Irish feel with drums, flutes, and other wind instruments in jigs and reels that make you think of riding horses through the open glens of the British Isles. This one does go up and down a bit in tone, volume, and tempo, so it may not fit every session. It would work well for traveling and allow for some interesting mood music.
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