Does anyone use music as a prop, similar to music in a episode of the show. Personally, I think background music is distracting and makes hearing the GM harder, especially in a Game Store playing area. Anybody try it and liked it? If you did, what did you do, what did you use?
I plan to use a soundboard with the sounds for transporters, phasers, disrupters etc. I have yet to see, how it works.
I tend to have some background sound and/or music running while in game session. Tends to help blend out noises from the outside world that would make it harder to keep up the mood. I have playlists for quieter moments, for action scenes and one for just background purposes. And like @MisterX mentioned a soundboard for iconic STAR TREK sounds.
Helps me instead of just saying: your door chime goes off, I just play the sound and my players can reakt or not. Keeps them focused as well
I do use any of the various trek sound FX websites you’ve probably found on google to make a few of the iconic sounds. Also have hero props/toys for tricorders, phasers, and communicators. People do seem to like that because then they can pick up the tricorder, make the sound happen, and get back to the game without using a computer or phone.
Music…sometimes yes, sometimes no. It’s hard to queue without basically being a DJ in addition to a GM. Ultimately I mostly dropped it except in very specific scenes (I did a time loop episode mentioned in another thread where a certain song played at the start of each new time loop. It was earth classical music song “Party in the USA” and everyone hated it. Which was great)
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I do! I use a small, cheap Bluetooth speaker I picked up off Amazon and Spotify via my phone. There’s a bunch of Trek soundtrack music on there, and I’m able to save out playlists like “Peaceful”, “Rising Tension”, “Fight Music!”, and the like. This makes it easy for me to pop into a playlist as needed and play the right type of music at the right time. I play it pretty quietly and it definitely helps heighten whatever mood we’re going for right then.
Edit: now that I’m not a newb, some links!
Mystery: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/31bUJ8dVZzv5RCquQn0ieB?si=aElzVqsBSTCMY-hnMJFfSA
Fight Music!: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6tG0j9tCjDENzyKiuqSaHa?si=FcEuxfk_TL6BNGLJ_cdhYg
Adventure!: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4jAvWJliaNQoliyBWGBtEd?si=b9ezzApuSpiqcyESomdzKA
Challenge: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2GeSk6arkOTRsTZ6dnknUD?si=dlV1IKFVQPeTec4lgwNIHA
Peaceful Space: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2064oynjP9ytiOG4XSD5wt?si=5jL7VRv6Q2W6-3G9EYG5Kw
Peaceful Planet: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6SaxihT2LH1naJ1uDsRd2w?si=V2cuofoNQtaJ_-0ChbGiZg
Rising Tension: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4F5bvOp0I3DFAAlZ8qSeit?si=Sv3EPQ5XSpWd7icnx-HmQw
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