Tuesday, April 5, 2016

More Ambient Music to Game by - John Carpenter

It has been an obnoxiously long time since I posted (almost a year?? I am filled with shame), and my overly-long list of "to-do list" has the next series "real" articles coming up, but in the meantime, here's something that compelled me to write.

In addition to being "Master of Late 20th Century Horror", movie director John Carpenter composed a lot of the soundtracks to his movies.

They had a minimalistic feel and are very successful at conveying a mood. Come to think of it, that was a point I made the last time I wrote about gaming music...

Keeping to another point from my prior entry: unless you (the DM) want the music to specifically prompt a connection in the players to a particular movie, say like...

...You'd do well to look at some of his less recognizable work. You find A LOT of his work here John Carpenter's Music on Spotify

My Spotify Picks for John Carpenter Soundtrack Music

Beyond the Soundtracks

Though he hasn't directed a film since 2001, he released an album of original tracks called "Lost Themes" in 2015. Though it recalls his movie soundtrack work, I believe it's all original tracks. Some favorites for gaming....

Why Now?

The genesis of this writeup was learning that John Carpenter has a new album of original music due out April 15, 2016. But NPR has the entire album available for streaming right NOW. And it is GREAT for gaming.

John Carpenter - Lost Themes II