Ambient Music for Your Spooky TTRPG

By: Sheri

While not completely necessary, many GMs like to add to the immersive experience of their table. Whether this is through visual aesthetics, an interactive game board, or even cosplaying their characters or NPCs, adding a little zest can amplify the gamer’s experience. One popular, low-key way to help the players get sucked into the game is through the use of ambient music. Since Halloween is right around the corner, here are some resources (ideally, free) that GMs can utilize during their horror-inspired campaigns or one-shots. But first, a word of caution…

Something to keep in mind when using music is to carefully vet the tracks and vibes of the music prior to pressing the play button during your sessions. Some YouTube videos that feature entire albums or ambient soundtracks will interrupt your listening with ads. You don’t want to be in the middle of an intense horror scene and then suddenly hear a commercial advertising toilet paper. Additionally, artists do not create all their music the same. Not every track on a soundtrack will give off the same spooky vibes. Therefore, hitting “play-all” on your app may not be advantageous. If you want music that gives chase vibes, you don’t want a slow dirge playing in the background. Some strategy and planning may be necessary to fine-tune your perfect game session mixtape.

That said, here are some resources to check out if you’re feeling lost.

YouTube

Believe it or not, there are hours-long YouTube videos that will provide you with the horror/spooky vibes you need for your game session. The key to finding these gems can be tough. Getting the search terms just right to generate options can be frustrating. Simply adding “no ads” to your search bar isn’t always enough.

At these times, it’s best to search for YouTube content creators/accounts that deal specifically in ambient music. These accounts often put out videos that are “paid for,” so there may be an ad at the very beginning of the video, but they will provide you with uninterrupted ambient music throughout the video. However, these videos will give you one vibe and one vibe only. If you’re looking for four hours of haunted house noises, thunderstorms, or creepy forests, then finding your ambient music through YouTube is the way to go.

The best advice I can give to find those ad-free ambient videos is to play that video for at least half of its duration to test for ads. Videos may claim to be non-copyrighted and have no ads, but that shouldn’t always be trusted, as YouTube’s terms and conditions may change for older videos. I know if you’re looking for something in a pinch, it might not be practical to sit and listen to the same tracks for hours, but if you can play it while at work or around the house, it’s worth taking the time to vet the music.

For those who want some variety and a guaranteed ad-free listening experience, keep reading.

Music Artists

Midnight Syndicate is a personal favorite of mine. Recommended to me by a former co-worker who wrote horror and thriller short stories, he liked to play this band in the background during his writing sessions. With over 15 albums to pick from, their music can be enjoyed through Amazon Music or YouTube (again, be wary of ads). Several albums cater to particular vibes. Carnival, monsters, a cemetery, and even a Christmas album! Some tracks may have voiceovers or lyrics, so be careful of those.

Like with YouTube videos, if you can take the time to listen to select albums and cherry-pick tracks, you can create a unique playlist that follows the trajectory of your game session, or you can at least skip to the ideal track when you feel the situation calls for it.

On this note, Amazon Music (if you have an Amazon or Amazon Prime account) or Spotify can be a wonderful place to discover new artists. Searching similar bands to Midnight Syndicate provided leads to Nox Arcana, which created similar horror/suspense albums that can be a great alternative. Spotify can give already-creative playlists that put off Halloween vibes or horror-inspired music, and can be an equally reliable source for ambient music like Amazon Music, BUT beware of ads! Put in some effort to research and experiment, and you might be surprised by what you find!

Ambient Music Websites

There are a few out there, but if you want some general ambient music that doesn’t always lend to a particular scene or sequence during your game, you can explore some ambient music websites. One example is Ambient Mixer (www.ambient-mixer.com), where you can search for the vibe you want and even customize the tracks. There are dozens of “Halloween” ambient mixes, which you can modify to suit your needs. Don’t want the wolf howling in the background, you can mute that pupper and increase the thunder frequency. Make one sound effect louder than the other to really customize the experience. One downside to Ambient Mixer is that there are plenty of “duds” in the search results, so don’t be afraid to spend some time to carefully comb through your options.

Tabletop Audio (tabletopaudio.com) is another great ambient music site, but it doesn’t provide the level of customization that Ambient Mixer does. Though the quality and tailored nature of this site for TTRPGs is ideal. You can either loop the tracks or create a playlist with many tracks. Patreon supporters can enjoy extra perks as well. If you’re looking for some “ambience+music” tracks that follow the vibe you want without a lot of customization (just click and play), then this site is perfect for you. They have (what looks like) hundreds of tracks to pick from, which can be used for just about any flavor of TTRPG. Worth bookmarking!

I hope this gives you, the GM, some direction and guidance on how to curate the perfect musical ambience for your horror-inspired gaming session. For those familiar with using ambient music at your table, what artists or resources can you suggest to our readers? Let’s keep the conversation going in the comments!