Dronolan's Tower: Legends of Kitholan—Volume 1: Tales of the Long Forgotten CD (based on
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MUSIC BY GAMERS FOR GAMERS
Dronolan's Tower produces medieval fantasy mood music appropriate for use in conjunction with pencil and paper Role-Playing Games (RPGs) such as Dungeons & Dragons or Collectible Card Games (CCGs) such as Magic: The Gathering.
"Legends of Kitholan" features over 64 minutes of music recorded by a professional Hollywood studio orchestra and choir, composed by David Allen Young, an experienced composer and gamemaster of 15 years.
The music covers a diverse range of subject matter, providing both inspirational themes as well as suitable background music for various game settings. Every aspect of a typical gaming session was accounted for. The CD features music that can be used for travel, combat, dungeon exploration, story-telling, introducing or highlighting heroes, villains, cities, and monsters, as well as marching to war or resting at camp (while calculating experience points).
"The idea for this project came about as a result of my own efforts to include music in my games as an AD&D 2nd Edition Dungeon Master. At first I was using soundtracks from various fantasy-themed films, but my gaming group quickly got tired of hearing the same background music over and over again. I decided to use my talents as a classically-trained film music composer to write a few pieces of music to cover some other areas of our gaming experience that weren't represented well in the soundtrack CDs, as well as to create some more music we could use for combat and exploration. It was during this time that it occurred to me that it would be really handy for gamemasters to have a continuous supply of original music for their games, specifically tailored to enhance various aspects of a typical gaming session. That's when I decided to create Dronolan's Tower and start writing the music for what would later turn out to be the 'Legends of Kitholan' CD.
Once I had written most of the music and began programming the computer to play back simulated orchestral and choral sounds via MIDI, I quickly realized that in order to do this music justice, I had to record it with living, breathing musicians. I wanted it to sound every bit as good as those soundtrack albums from the best fantasy adventure movies. These days you can get a pretty good sound out of the computer, but it still doesn't have quite the same magic as a real orchestra and choir. So, I decided to hire a professional Hollywood studio orchestra and choir to record the music. It was a joy to work with these wonderful musicians. I'm very glad I took that route, and I believe the gamemasters who get their hands on this album will really appreciate it."
It's always taking a chance when you order something musical from an online store, but in this case the risk paid off. The audio tracks have an obviously high production value, and the use of the full orchestra pays off. The tracks are easy to use to get the party "in the mood" for an adventure, and their variance makes the CD useful in many locations. I'd recommend this CD to any GMs who use music as a part of their tale-telling.
I was blown away by this CD and it made me wonder a) why I had never heard of this composer before, and b) how much did it cost him to produce this??? I use it to "get in the mood" when I'm writing scenarios, and as background music during sessions. My players felt the music really enhanced the mood at the table (if I had more time, I would sync particular passages with in-game scenes). There are epic pieces, quiet/romantic pieces, exotic pieces (that would be fitting themes when meeting characters of a race that is alien to the PCs for the first time), etc. I think the soundtrack is on par with the works of Shore, Horner, etc... but you needn't worry about your players humming along or goofing off to some well-known movie theme. High quality, and highly recommended!
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