Intersections – Music, Reading, and D&D?

Does anyone else listen to music while they read? This is something I love doing, I’ve always been a fan of having different music going while I’m doing different activities but lately I’ve found some new and I think interesting.

We can chalk this all up to my Dungeons & Dragons games. I spend a lot of time focused intently in on either my DM Binder (a binder that proves how much of the uncool nerd variety I am) or Microsoft Word to prep for my games ever couple weeks. In planning these sessions I’ve discovered atmosphere music. Now I knew that was a thing you could loop into your sessions as long as I’ve played games, I’ve even used it in years previous to this year. I haven’t however seen the depth of amazing music and sound you can find on Youtube before.

Where this intersects with my reading is that this atmosphere music can really help sink me deeper down into a story. It serves first as a backdrop and then as a great white noise that drowns things out. I used to listen to my generic ‘pop music’ playlist while I was reading, letting it play itself out. I’ve also used actual white noise apps that just recycle sounds. But these atmosphere tracks are great because they’re like the background music in a video game. They’ll evolve and help the pace of a read.

You can even pick a song that you think might match the book. For example…

I have The Monster Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson sitting on my desk to be read soon. I have a song on Youtube saved for just this book. It’s a mix of songs and sounds from other games and sources to make a ‘Peaceful/Travel Music mix’. Turned down low I’m hoping this will keep me drawn in in the opening segments and calm where I know it’s going to get tense.

I also have Terminal Alliance by Jim C. Hines sitting with Baru. For this one I’ve picked out ‘Quiet Tavern’ ambiance track. This has just a touch of music and some muttering voices that change and go in and out.

You see where I’m going with this? I recommend just hitting up Youtube and searching D&D ambiance and adding whatever you’d like. Creepy, Caverns, Tavern, etc. My favorite channel by far for both my games and my reading is Sword Coast Soundscapes.
See what you can find and if you have any great combos or recommended music let me know. Have a good one guys.