I've been meaning to get around to this one for a while, as it's a subject that's come up in conversation with friends several times now.

Does music help you get in the mindset to play your character(s)? Is there specific music (genre, artist, song) that resonates with you for Gemstone, or for certain in-game events, or that you associate with a character (your own or someone else's)?

Does your character have a theme song? Or perhaps just a snippet of lyrics that really clicked with you?

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A little while after I rolled up Gavrien as my experimental abrasive personality, I started hearing songs that reminded me of him. Most of it ended up being angry alt-rock and metal(surprise?), and I named the resulting Pandora station 'Half-Elf Angst'.

Four songs that resonate with me for him:
Poets of the Fall - Ultimate Fling (https://youtu.be/y3rYhyIk8jM )
Seether - Nobody Praying for Me (https://youtu.be/5gokNVyDsr4 ) (NSFW, language)
Shinedown - Dangerous (https://youtu.be/owBhyenjmEk )
Five Finger Death Punch - Bad Company (cover)(https://youtu.be/O2oPoTNt2Hw )

And a couple for Azryen, because the partner in crime also has tunes:
Three Days Grace - Pain (https://youtu.be/h74nkELyHhM )
Skillet - Never Surrender (https://youtu.be/V5hiJQTxzsg )



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Cendadric says, "Hmm, a most impressive weapon of note. I'll give you 110 silver coins for it."

Furrow's theme song has always been White Lion's "Little Fighter" (https://youtu.be/n0phDcqA7v4 ) - both for title and lyrics

My warmage (reasons obvious) has always brought Cannibal Corpse's "Hammer Smashed Face" to mind (https://youtu.be/wTuk0hBPu9o ) (NSFW, language)

Playing my bard usually triggers a Violent Femmes kick, though nothing in particular (When I say dance, you best dance...) - it always makes me yearn for more instrument selection when "Gone Daddy Gone" (https://youtu.be/ekL7o8BQkZM ) comes around.

Fun topic! Can't wait to read more. I'm sure there's others I'm missing too, but I almost always have music going so it's hard to pinpoint specific stuff. I do tend to stick with rock/alt/whatever rather than other genres when playing though.

I don't generally listen to music while playing, but if I do, it's wordless and usually something lush and dark from some Russian composer. Prokofiev's "Dance of the Knights" is always fun, and a lot of Tchaikovsky that is NOT the 1812 Overture, which I think I'm allergic to from chronic overexposure. Occasionally I listen to ambient or atmospheric music, although that's usually what I have playing while I work rather than play; right now it's Ishq's "Bhakti": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByW7yuLBXYw

I can't listen to anything with lyrics when I work or play because I'll get some neurons crossed and wind up dropping a word or two from the song into whatever I'm typing. Depending on what I have playing, that could be anywhere from mildly funny to "oh no no no, forget I said that!" "Two Weeks" is not a song you want to randomly drop lyrics from into your work or your character's speech.

My favorite soundtrack for just about anything is when I can leave the windows open and hear birds or crickets and wind chimes. Love wind chimes.

I'd rather listen to the heavier stuff most of the time, Disturbed, older Metallica, Nightwish, things of that ilk. My favorite band of all time is Boston, even though they aren't as hard as what I listen to now. It seems the older I get the more metal I need.

As for Gemstone music, it all depends on what I'm doing. Just about everything I do that's creative, be it writing for Radeek or penning music, I do it to Tremonti or Nightwish (sometimes even something like 2 Cellos or Pentatonix, when I need a calming effect).

Invasions, that's easy... Disturbed

Muddling around, watching other people RP, things of that nature, I do it to the older stuff. Boston, Queen, Rush, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Def Leppard, all the way up the the 80's - 90's hair bands.

I have a TON of playlists tailored to my various tastes, or my moods; suffice it to say I don't play GS without music.

"Radeeks Songs"

1. Disturbed - Indestructable https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWxBrI0g1kE
2. Metallica - Wherever I May Roam https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwPg8gJq_Kw
3. All That Remains - This Probably Won't End Well https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_O003Cvwlc

The song that defines Radeeks relationship with Phever:
1. Disturbed - You're Mine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vka6wPrB4E0


In closing I have 1 song that I think you might enjoy listening too. I've heard it done by a LOT of people who thought they could sing, but this bad boy will eat you alive if you aren't spot on. This is the BEST I've ever heard it done, bar none.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRP8d7hhpoQ


General Radeek Andoran
Drakes Vanguard
Defender of Wehnimer's Landing
Black Raider of the Mir'Sheq

Only the dead have seen the end of war - Plato

http://radeekandoran.blogspot.ca/

http://thetehirchronicles.blogspot.ca/

>Does music help you get in the mindset to play your character(s)? Is there specific music (genre, artist, song) that resonates with you for Gemstone, or for certain in-game events, or that you associate with a character (your own or someone else's)?

>Does your character have a theme song? Or perhaps just a snippet of lyrics that really clicked with you?

This is something I've been building, so yes, definitely- occasionally when things are getting intense or busy I have to turn the music off and devote my attention, but other than that, I have theme songs for just about everyone Ysharra interacts with on a regular basis. Some of them fluctuate, and some of the newer characters that I've met are still in progress.

For Ysharra herself, she's a Cocteau Twins junkie for me, specifically songs from Heaven or Las Vegas, with Frou-Frou Foxes in Midsummer, Iceblink Luck and Rilkean Heart being her regular traveling, hunting or causing/participating in trouble themes. Their music has an ethereal, elemental quality to it, like each note is a ghost looking for a heart or a home to haunt:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrJjByaG6jQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_Tj4bJ0VFw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkvmjniEW0E


Gavrien and Azryen get to share Throwing Muses , since 4AD is never too far from my mental GS picture for a variety of reasons. Their songwriting always seems to combine some aggressive challenge with an almost playful beauty, which I'm sure the two of them would object to me or Ysharra accusing them of:
"Bright Yellow Gun": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ5FpXLOh-Q
"Not Too Soon": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZI-FTcFtn8

We'll continue to beat this nail in with Alisaire's regular soundtrack of the Breeders, as Kim Deal seems the natural choice for an Alisaire proxy in modern music, right? Right! Raw, experimental, never what you expect:
"Cannonball": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qpoqzt2EHaA
"Safari": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd7ILa_mhgA

Naamit won't be too surprised at my picks for her, alt-J seems to hit the right notes of disquieting and yet incredibly addictive hooks (and I hope their post-Captain America popularity doesn't have her thinking I see her as a beer commercial):
"Left Hand Free": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVeMiVU77wo
"Breezeblocks": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVeMiVU77wo

I'm going to rip through my remainders to save space and time, if you all are curious, click the links and then find these folks in Elanthia and see if you agree with me ;P

Rekarth: Paul Schwartz's take on Schubert's Winterreise, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GAthn5laXc
Alasatia:Delerium, "Innocente" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFQ6Ewc-eqc
Lylia: Lush, "Sweetness and Light" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7cqkpy4QrQ - heh, pinnacle of red-headed sarcasm
Xorus:Due to his incredible and fascinating contributions to the Old Legends and Tales board:
Riddle of Steel/Riders of Doom, Conan the Barbarian Soundtrack (1982), Basil Poledouris https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lKUYAnqxjU
and of course, Carl Orff's O Fortuna Carmina Burana, via Excalibur ST https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXFSK0ogeg4
Cruxophim: Pixies, "Wave of Mutilation" (UK Surf version from the Pump Up the Volume ST): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUxJ08WgC6g
Mithumbras: Pink Floyd,
"The Great Gig in the Sky" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVBCE3gaNxc
"Learning to Fly" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCB_INs2E24
(Added note for Mithumbras, expressing to him that he's a walking Pink Floyd song is what started all this thematic character/song matching.)
Rhayveign: Marianne Faithful "Who Will Take My Dreams Away", City of Lost Children ST: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYNCnLTnzys


Still got some more work to do, and likely as not to change frequently. Great question :)

-GK

>Naamit won't be too surprised at my picks for her, alt-J seems to hit the right notes of disquieting and yet incredibly addictive hooks (and I hope their post-Captain America popularity doesn't have her thinking I see her as a beer commercial):
"Breezeblocks": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVeMiVU77wo


Oh...Hate to sound horribly out of touch, but I've never heard of this band before. That song is pretty dead on.

I take no offense. Naamit IS kind of like a beer commercial: she comes with celebrity endorsements, spews copious amounts of highly suggestive symbolism, drops double entendres and subliminal messaging they're going out of style, and on occasion she even helps creaste aspirational identities for those she comes in contact with.

I appreciate music unfamiliar to me hitting my radar. :D Moar pl0x.

Re: Azryen's 'My Body is a Cage' - ow, my feels. That song rips me to shreds every time I hear it.

Also, for Alisaire: Breaking Benjamin - Lights Out (https://youtu.be/4PqPrI66Ylg )
And for Ysharra: Poets of the Fall - War (https://youtu.be/zP_ZAczJwmQ )

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Cendadric says, "Hmm, a most impressive weapon of note. I'll give you 110 silver coins for it."

Hah! I was just thinking, amusingly, that this should be Berkana's theme song currently (and subject to change).

https://youtu.be/jPW5A_JyXCY

Sugar, by Robin Schulz.

~ Berkana

Oh, I haven't really got songs for a lot of people, that, in my mind, embody them. There are songs I do associate with very few here, but now I'm curious what I would give to others — maybe after some further thought. For now, though:

Mithumbras: Mith's player once accused me of having very weird taste in music. It's likely true. My iTunes playlist is exceedingly eclectic. I've got sub-playlists for my various moods and needs. When on deadline, especially if it's intense, I like to fire up my late 60s retro songs. Anyway, he knows about one of these.

"Crash Into Me" by Dave Matthews (https://youtu.be/k7in-9E3ImQ)
"How We Operate" by Gomez (https://youtu.be/S8bDpzpDVu4)

Talinvor: First, as graphic as some of these songs might be, it goes beyond the lyrics. It's the tone they set for me. I'd like to thank the player of Tal for giving Berkana a chance to go to a darker place, and a chance for me to play with a bit more extreme personality. Most of it might be in private, and granted, it might just be a shade of gray right now in comparison to what some folks roleplay, but it takes a bit of dipping toes in the water to push beyond normal bounds for me, and I'm glad for the freedom to experiment, with Talinvor's guidance. These will probably come as a surprise.

"Closer" by Nine Inch Nails (https://youtu.be/EKSJxHslGPg) PLEASE NOTE: Censored version, but probably still not NSFW.
"You Set Me Free" by Michelle Branch (https://youtu.be/9vhCq1bhqE4)

Oh, and Tal... if you post that Liz Phair tune for me...

~Berkana

For Rohese, I have to go with anything by Phamie Gow especially these:

Rackwick Bay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTlksAVk3co for general demeanour.

Carousel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svwGpyEkpb0 on her angsty days.

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>>You slay me woman! ~ Wyrom

https://gswiki.play.net/Rohese_Bayvel-Timsh'l