Dungeons & Dragons (album)
Encyclopedia
Dungeons & Dragons is a studio album
by Midnight Syndicate
, released August 12, 2003 by Entity Productions. The album is designed as a soundtrack to the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons
and was produced by Midnight Syndicate at the request of Wizards of the Coast
, the company which owns the rights to the Dungeons & Dragons franchise. Midnight Syndicate were approached by game designers at a gaming convention
where they had set up stall, and they agreed to produce the album.
After an initial meeting with Wizards of the Coast, the two members of Midnight Syndicate—Edward Douglas and Gavin Goszka—were left to write and produce the album themselves. They went their separate ways and produced tracks independently of one another, but came back together to arrange the album and master the tracks. The album was a change in style for Midnight Syndicate, because it was mostly based around a fantasy
feel, whereas their earlier works had been almost entirely horror-based. Artwork within the album booklet came from Dungeons & Dragons sourcebooks, including works from prominent game designers such as Skip Williams
. The album was well received by Wizards of the Coast, with positive reviews from music critics and the gaming community. It is reputedly the only official Dungeons & Dragons soundtrack.
s. It was at the first one that Midnight Syndicate was approached by Wizards of the Coast who subsequently asked if they would be interested in recording an official soundtrack, at which time they agreed.
Before the band started writing or recording music they sat down with the Dungeons & Dragons designers who informed them of several elements that were essential on the album. According to Ed Stark, special project manager of Wizards of the Coast, this consisted of "a chase scene and a fight scene and things like that". This was new to the band who had never written music to fit around someone else's ideas before. Stark said, however, that "...they really got that. We were very impressed, because we're in sort of a niche industry, and we're not always used to people getting exactly what we need right away". After this, the band was mostly left to deal with the music themselves. The designers were already familiar with Midnight Syndicate's music and knew what to expect from the album. As inspiration for earlier albums had sometimes come from Dungeons & Dragons gaming sessions, Douglas said that writing the album came very naturally.
After the initial meeting with game designers, the album was written in the same way Midnight Syndicate conventionally write. First, Douglas and Goszka agreed on the setting they were trying to create with the album and then filled in details about the setting. Once this was done, they worked on music separately, in their own different studios. They remained in contact throughout the writing process to ensure that their work was cohesive and appropriate for the album. Once writing was complete, they worked together on arranging, mastering and mixing the tracks.
Douglas said that, for him, instrument choice came naturally and that "sounds and sometimes even melodies fall in line themselves". The band has a great number of instruments at their disposal, as all the music is produced on synthesizers. To ensure Douglas stayed true to creating the musical landscape he intended, his studio was covered with Dungeons & Dragons artwork and module covers throughout recording.
Joseph Vargo, executive producer on Midnight Syndicate's albums Born of the Night
and Realm of Shadows
, as well as the author of LegionoftheNight.com, says that he was the one who initiated the first contact between Wizards of the Coast and the band. Vargo claims that, in 1999, he sent a copy of Born of the Night to Dungeons & Dragons game designer Jason Carl
, at the time employed by TSR, who described the album as "terrific gaming music." Vargo also says that he sent a copy of Realm of Shadows to Carl a year later, and this communication helped forge the link between the band and Dungeons & Dragons game designers.
, then owners of Dungeons and Dragons, for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. The album was released both as a cassette
and a record
and came with a pre-printed module
. Both formats proved unpopular and are difficult to find today. The music on First Quest was keyed specifically to the module that came with it, rather than as a soundtrack to the game in general.
feel than previous releases which focused more on horror, meaning that he now describes the band's music as "Gothic Fantasy Nightmare Soundtracks". Chris Harvey of Movement Magazine — a magazine supporting "underground" music and arts — described the album as being symphonic, which he claimed added to the feel of the album. Sounds were also sampled, including the sounds of battle on "Final Confrontation", and spoken words in "Craft of the Wizard".
Peter-Jan Van Damme, owner of the alternative music ezine Darker than the Bat, described Dungeons & Dragons as going more in the direction of contemporary classical
composers such as Trevor Jones
, while still retaining the horror sound typical of Midnight Syndicate. The album has been categorized into many genres by various reviewers, including neoclassical
, Gothic ambient
, ethereal
, and Gothic rock
.
and Haunted Attractions are just beginning to take hold".
The album was criticized by Marc Shayed, of hobby gaming news site GamingReport.com, for focusing too much on combat and ambiance. He explained that there was only one track that felt triumphant and no tracks suitable for traveling or character "down time", which are standards in fantasy gaming. This, Shayed said, meant that there were gaps in the album, meaning it could not be considered a complete soundtrack for the game. He claimed, however, that the album still met and exceeded the target of being the "ultimate gaming soundtrack". The album was further criticized by Gene Vogal of the National Gamers Guild who said that it lacked a lot of the "oomph" that Vampyre had, and speculated that this may have been because of the influence that Wizards of the Coast had on the direction of the music. He did claim, however, that the fact that the music was made specifically for gaming was a good thing, meaning it was more appropriate than film soundtracks to use as backing music to gaming sessions. He also compared it to The Lord of the Rings soundtracks
, stating that, compared to Vampyre, the album lacked originality.
role-playing sourcebooks. Douglas said that he was "a huge fan of Dungeons & Dragons artwork, so having free on that material was fun". This artwork was praised by Gene Vogal who described it as "one plus to the possible Wizards of the Coast
interference" and said that the "CD jacket was done very nicely and has some cool artwork throughout". The album contains artwork by game designers Todd Lockwood
and Skip Williams
, as well as from artists Scott Fischer, Brian Snoddy, Lars Grant-West
, Wayne Reynolds
, Mark Tedin, and Sam Wood
.
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by Midnight Syndicate
Midnight Syndicate
Midnight Syndicate is an American musical group that has been working mainly in the genre of gothic music since 1997 and is based out of Chardon, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland...
, released August 12, 2003 by Entity Productions. The album is designed as a soundtrack to the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
and was produced by Midnight Syndicate at the request of Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games...
, the company which owns the rights to the Dungeons & Dragons franchise. Midnight Syndicate were approached by game designers at a gaming convention
Gaming convention
A gaming convention is a gathering that centered on role-playing games, collectible card games, miniatures wargames, board games, video games, or other types of games. These conventions are typically two or three days long, and often held at either a university or in a convention center hotel...
where they had set up stall, and they agreed to produce the album.
After an initial meeting with Wizards of the Coast, the two members of Midnight Syndicate—Edward Douglas and Gavin Goszka—were left to write and produce the album themselves. They went their separate ways and produced tracks independently of one another, but came back together to arrange the album and master the tracks. The album was a change in style for Midnight Syndicate, because it was mostly based around a fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
feel, whereas their earlier works had been almost entirely horror-based. Artwork within the album booklet came from Dungeons & Dragons sourcebooks, including works from prominent game designers such as Skip Williams
Skip Williams
Ralph Williams, almost always referred to as Skip Williams, is an American game designer. He is married to Penny Williams, who is also involved with the games industry...
. The album was well received by Wizards of the Coast, with positive reviews from music critics and the gaming community. It is reputedly the only official Dungeons & Dragons soundtrack.
Conception and production
According to Bob Ignizio of Utter Trash, an ezine featuring "music, movies and more", Midnight Syndicate's older albums had already been used as background music to role-playing sessions for many years. Wizards of the Coast even described the band's music as "the perfect accompaniment to role-playing game sessions". Support for Midnight Syndicate's music as a role-playing aid grew so much that the band decided to set up stalls at gaming conventionGaming convention
A gaming convention is a gathering that centered on role-playing games, collectible card games, miniatures wargames, board games, video games, or other types of games. These conventions are typically two or three days long, and often held at either a university or in a convention center hotel...
s. It was at the first one that Midnight Syndicate was approached by Wizards of the Coast who subsequently asked if they would be interested in recording an official soundtrack, at which time they agreed.
Before the band started writing or recording music they sat down with the Dungeons & Dragons designers who informed them of several elements that were essential on the album. According to Ed Stark, special project manager of Wizards of the Coast, this consisted of "a chase scene and a fight scene and things like that". This was new to the band who had never written music to fit around someone else's ideas before. Stark said, however, that "...they really got that. We were very impressed, because we're in sort of a niche industry, and we're not always used to people getting exactly what we need right away". After this, the band was mostly left to deal with the music themselves. The designers were already familiar with Midnight Syndicate's music and knew what to expect from the album. As inspiration for earlier albums had sometimes come from Dungeons & Dragons gaming sessions, Douglas said that writing the album came very naturally.
After the initial meeting with game designers, the album was written in the same way Midnight Syndicate conventionally write. First, Douglas and Goszka agreed on the setting they were trying to create with the album and then filled in details about the setting. Once this was done, they worked on music separately, in their own different studios. They remained in contact throughout the writing process to ensure that their work was cohesive and appropriate for the album. Once writing was complete, they worked together on arranging, mastering and mixing the tracks.
Douglas said that, for him, instrument choice came naturally and that "sounds and sometimes even melodies fall in line themselves". The band has a great number of instruments at their disposal, as all the music is produced on synthesizers. To ensure Douglas stayed true to creating the musical landscape he intended, his studio was covered with Dungeons & Dragons artwork and module covers throughout recording.
Joseph Vargo, executive producer on Midnight Syndicate's albums Born of the Night
Born of the Night
Born of the Night was the second album of the band Midnight Syndicate, released in 1998, and is currently out of print.- Track listing :# "Premonition" – 2:35# "Darkness Descends" – 2:00# "Born of the Night" – 3:15# "Lost Souls" – 1:21...
and Realm of Shadows
Realm of Shadows
Realm of Shadows is a studio album by Midnight Syndicate, released March 6, 2000 by Entity Productions. The track "Witching Hour" is a staple at Six Flags Great America during its annual Fright Fest...
, as well as the author of LegionoftheNight.com, says that he was the one who initiated the first contact between Wizards of the Coast and the band. Vargo claims that, in 1999, he sent a copy of Born of the Night to Dungeons & Dragons game designer Jason Carl
Jason Carl
Jason Carl is a game designer who has worked on a number of roleplaying games, including the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game.-Biography:...
, at the time employed by TSR, who described the album as "terrific gaming music." Vargo also says that he sent a copy of Realm of Shadows to Carl a year later, and this communication helped forge the link between the band and Dungeons & Dragons game designers.
First soundtrack
Wizards of the Coast claimed that the album was the first official Dungeons & Dragons soundtrack, one that was mirrored by other groups, including Metropolis Mail Order, GamingReport.com and Skirmisher Game Store. It was not, however, the first official Dungeons & Dragons music. Years earlier another album, First Quest: The Music, was released by Filmtrax and licensed by TSRTSR, Inc.
Blume and Gygax, the remaining owners, incorporated a new company called TSR Hobbies, Inc., with Blume and his father, Melvin Blume, owning the larger share. The former assets of the partnership were transferred to TSR Hobbies, Inc....
, then owners of Dungeons and Dragons, for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. The album was released both as a cassette
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
and a record
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
and came with a pre-printed module
Adventure (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, an adventure or module is a pre-packaged book or box set that helps the Dungeon Master manage the plot or story of a game...
. Both formats proved unpopular and are difficult to find today. The music on First Quest was keyed specifically to the module that came with it, rather than as a soundtrack to the game in general.
Musical style
According to Mario Mesquita Borges of Allmusic, Midnight Syndicate typically create "darkly blended compositions", described both as "gloomy" and "brooding". Leonard Pickel of Haunted Attraction Magazine stated that "each year, the band's music becomes more a part of America's Halloween culture", and stated that the band had "literally formed their own musical genre". For Douglas, however, Dungeons & Dragons was a different style of music from other albums and soundtracks that the band had produced. Originally, he had described Midnight Syndicate's music as "Gothic Nightmare Soundtracks", but claimed that Dungeons & Dragons had a more fantasyFantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
feel than previous releases which focused more on horror, meaning that he now describes the band's music as "Gothic Fantasy Nightmare Soundtracks". Chris Harvey of Movement Magazine — a magazine supporting "underground" music and arts — described the album as being symphonic, which he claimed added to the feel of the album. Sounds were also sampled, including the sounds of battle on "Final Confrontation", and spoken words in "Craft of the Wizard".
Peter-Jan Van Damme, owner of the alternative music ezine Darker than the Bat, described Dungeons & Dragons as going more in the direction of contemporary classical
Contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to the period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. However, the term may also be employed in a broader sense to refer to all post-1945 modern musical forms.-Categorization:...
composers such as Trevor Jones
Trevor Jones (composer)
Trevor Alfred Charles Jones is a South African orchestral film score composer. Although not especially well known outside the film world, he has composed for numerous films and his music has been critically acclaimed for both its depth and emotion.-Career:At the age of five, Jones already had...
, while still retaining the horror sound typical of Midnight Syndicate. The album has been categorized into many genres by various reviewers, including neoclassical
Neoclassical (Dark Wave)
Neoclassical Dark Wave refers to a music genre within the Dark Wave movement. It is characterized by the use of ethereal atmosphere and angelic female voices but also adds strong influences from classical music. Neoclassical Dark Wave is distinct from the academic art music form known as...
, Gothic ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
, ethereal
Ethereal Wave
Ethereal Wave, also called ethereal darkwave in Europe and ethereal goth or simply ethereal in the US, is a term that describes a subgenre of Dark Wave music...
, and Gothic rock
Gothic rock
Gothic rock is a musical subgenre of post-punk and alternative rock that formed during the late 1970s. Gothic rock bands grew from the strong ties they had to the English punk rock and emerging post-punk scenes...
.
Reception
Wizards of the Coast were happy with the resulting album with Anthony Valterra, RPG category manager, saying that Midnight Syndicate "have succeeded at capturing the magic of D&D through music". Numerous critics picked up on the idea that new subject matter had resulted in a new feel for the music, with reviewers claiming that the fantasy influence had given the album a different sound to Midnight Syndicate's classic Gothic horror soundtracks. An unnamed writer for the now defunct Living Dead Girls ezine said that Dungeons & Dragons "brings a wider range of songs than Midnight Syndicate produces for their Gothic horror soundtracks", meaning the album "displays for the first time the diversity and musical craft [of which] Midnight Syndicate is capable". GamingReport.com claimed that the album "furthered the band’s establishment as the leading producer/supplier of music to the hobby game industry". The band became the best-selling role-playing game soundtrack ever in its first month of release, and Leonard Pickel of Haunted Attraction Magazine claimed that the album helped spread the band's popularity to Europe where "HalloweenHalloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
and Haunted Attractions are just beginning to take hold".
The album was criticized by Marc Shayed, of hobby gaming news site GamingReport.com, for focusing too much on combat and ambiance. He explained that there was only one track that felt triumphant and no tracks suitable for traveling or character "down time", which are standards in fantasy gaming. This, Shayed said, meant that there were gaps in the album, meaning it could not be considered a complete soundtrack for the game. He claimed, however, that the album still met and exceeded the target of being the "ultimate gaming soundtrack". The album was further criticized by Gene Vogal of the National Gamers Guild who said that it lacked a lot of the "oomph" that Vampyre had, and speculated that this may have been because of the influence that Wizards of the Coast had on the direction of the music. He did claim, however, that the fact that the music was made specifically for gaming was a good thing, meaning it was more appropriate than film soundtracks to use as backing music to gaming sessions. He also compared it to The Lord of the Rings soundtracks
Music of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
The music of the The Lord of the Rings film trilogy was composed, orchestrated, conducted and produced by Howard Shore. Shore wrote many hours of music for The Lord of the Rings, 10 hours of which have been released in The Complete Recordings CD/DVD boxed sets...
, stating that, compared to Vampyre, the album lacked originality.
Personnel
The album was written and produced by Edward Douglas and Gavin Goszka, the only two members of Midnight Syndicate. The album's graphical design was executed by Mark Rakocy and Jeff Visgaitis, with 'additional design' credited to "Stan!" The album heralded a change in production in that it was the first album in which the band hired a professional writer to write the descriptions in the album booklet and the blurb. Before this point the descriptions had been written by Douglas or by Joseph Vargo, who had been responsible for artwork in some earlier albums. Artwork for the album was taken from Dungeons & DragonsDungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
role-playing sourcebooks. Douglas said that he was "a huge fan of Dungeons & Dragons artwork, so having free on that material was fun". This artwork was praised by Gene Vogal who described it as "one plus to the possible Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games...
interference" and said that the "CD jacket was done very nicely and has some cool artwork throughout". The album contains artwork by game designers Todd Lockwood
Todd Lockwood
Todd Wills Lockwood, born in Boulder, Colorado, is an American artist specializing in fantasy and science fiction illustration. He is best known for his work on the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, and for his covers for the books of R.A. Salvatore...
and Skip Williams
Skip Williams
Ralph Williams, almost always referred to as Skip Williams, is an American game designer. He is married to Penny Williams, who is also involved with the games industry...
, as well as from artists Scott Fischer, Brian Snoddy, Lars Grant-West
Lars Grant-West
Lars Grant-West is an American artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games.- Early life and education :Lars Grant-West was born in Brooklyn. He attended New York City's School of Visual Arts. As of 1997, he lives in North Scituate, Rhode Island...
, Wayne Reynolds
Wayne Reynolds
Wayne Reynolds is a British artist whose work has appeared in comics and role-playing games.-Early life and education:Wayne Reynolds was born in Leeds, UK...
, Mark Tedin, and Sam Wood
Sam Wood (artist)
-Works:Sam Wood has continued to produce interior illustrations and cartography for many Dungeons & Dragons books and Dragon magazine since 1997, as well as cover art for Deities and Demigods , Underdark , Frostburn , and Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss...
.
Track listing
There is a final 36-second bonus track, which sometimes receives no title, and sometimes named "BOTCH!" The Midnight Syndicate website does not mention the track at all. It features the sound of dice being rolled, which Chris Harvey of Movement Magazine described as being "hilarious".External links
- [ Dungeons & Dragons] at Allmusic
- Dungeons & Dragons at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...