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Dungeons & Dragons is a studio album by Midnight Syndicate, released 12 August, 2003 by Entity Productions. The album is designed as a soundtrack to the roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons, and was produced by Midnight Syndicate.

Wizards of the Coast game designer Jason Carl had approached Joseph Vargo (executive producer for two of Midnight Syndicate's previous albums), who sent the band's Born of the Night and Realm of Shadows CDs to the gaming company for consideration a few years earlier. After that initial introduction, Wizards of the Coast looked to Midnight Syndicate to produce an album for D&D. The album was a change in style for Midnight Syndicate, in that it was mostly based around a fantasy feel, where as 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, music critics and the gaming community, and is the only official Dungeons & Dragons soundtrack.

Conception and production

As Midnight Syndicate's music was so appropriate for background music for Dungeons & Dragons gaming sessions, it had already been used as such by many gamers for years. Support for Midnight Syndicate's music as a roleplaying aid grew so much that the band ended up setting up stalls at gaming conventions, and it was at the first such convention that Midnight Syndicate was approached by Wizards of the Coast and asked if they would be interested in recording an official soundtrack, which they said they would be.

Before the band started writing or recording music, they sat down with the Dungeons & Dragons designers, who told them of several elements that were essential on the album. This was new to the band, who had never written music to fit around someone else's ideas before. After this, the band were mostly left to deal with the music themselves. The designers were already familiar with Midnight Syndicate's music, and so 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 separate studios. They remained in contact throughout the writing process, ensuring that their work is cohesive, and appropriate for the album. Once writing was complete, they worked together on arranging, mastering and mixing the music.

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 to, his studio was covered with Dungeons & Dragons artwork and module covers throughout recording.

Musical style

For Douglas, Dungeons & Dragons was a different style of music from other albums and soundtracks that the band had produced before that. Originally, he had described Midnight Syndicate's music as "Gothic Nightmare Soundtracks", but he claimed that Dungeons & Dragons had a more fantasy feel than previous releases, which focused more on horror, meaning that he now describes the band's music as "Gothic Fantasy Nightmare Soundtracks". The album was described as being symphonic, which reputedly 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".

Dungeons & Dragons was described 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, including neoclassical, gothic ambient, ethereal and gothic rock.

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 people picked up on the idea that new subject matter had resulted in a new feel for the music, with reviewers saying that the fantasy influence had given the album a different sound to Midnight Syndicate's classic gothic horror soundtracks. The music within the album was also said to be more diverse than music on Midnight Syndicate's earlier albums, allowing Dungeons & Dragons to display for the first time the musical diversity Midnight Syndicate were capable of. The album is the first and only official Dungeons & Dragons soundtrack.

The album was criticized by a gaming review site for focusing too much on combat and ambiance, with only one track that felt triumphant, and no tracks suitable for traveling or character 'down time', which are standards in fantasy gaming. This, the reviewer said, meant that there were gaps in the album, meaning it could not be considered a complete soundtrack for the game. However, the reviewer still said that the album met and exceeded the target of being the ultimate gaming soundtrack.

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, and 'additional design' is 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 & Dragons roleplaying sourcebooks. Douglas said that he was "a huge fan of Dungeons & Dragons artwork, so having free reign on that material was fun." The article ended up containing 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.

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. The track features the sound of dice being rolled, which one reviewer described as "hilarious".

References

1. "Discography". Midnight Syndicate's official site. Midnight Syndicate/Entity Productions. 2006. Retrieved 2007-07-04.
2. ^ "Dungeons and Dragons overview". All Music Guide. Retrieved 2007-07-04.
3. ^ "Midnight Syndicate - Dungeons & Dragons (2003)" (in Dutch). MusicMeter. Retrieved 2007-07-04.
4. ^ "DUNGEONS & DRAGONS (more info)". Midnight Syndicate official site. Midnight Syndicate/Entity Productions. 2003. Retrieved 2007-07-04.
5. "Letter to Joseph Vargo from Wizards of the Coast" (PDF). 1999. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
6. ^ "Midnight Syndicate Makes D&D Music". Wizards of the Coast website. Wizards of the Coast. 2003-04-21. Retrieved 2007-07-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
7. ^ Ignizio, Bob. "Dungeon Masters (An interview with Gavin Goszka of Midnight Syndicate)". Utter Trash. Retrieved 2007-07-04.
8. ^ "Paragon Magazine Interview with Edward Douglas". Paragon Magazine. 2003. Retrieved 2007-07-04. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
9. ^ Harvey, Chris (2003). "Dungeons & Dragons review". Movement Magazine. Retrieved 2007-07-04. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
10. ^ Van Damme, Peter-Jan (2003). "Dungeons & Dragons review". Darker Than The Bat. Retrieved 2007-07-04. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
11. "December 2005 Archives". Middle Pillar. 2005. Retrieved 2007-07-04. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
12. ^ "Dungeons & Dragons". Metropolis Mail Order. Retrieved 2007-07-04.
13. ^ "Dungeons & Dragons review". Living Dead Girls. 2003. Retrieved 2007-07-04. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
14. ^ Shayed, Marc (2003-08-24). "Dungeons & Dragons (Music of the Midnight Syndicate)". GamingReport.com. Retrieved 2007-07-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
15. "Midnight Syndicate Bio". Midnight Syndicate official site. Midnight Syndicate/Entity Productions. 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-04.

External links

• Dungeons & Dragons at All Music Guide
• Dungeons & Dragons at Discogs

• Pages with empty short description
• Midnight Syndicate albums
• 2003 albums