RPG Soundtracks

I have been thinking a bit recently between the relationship between music (including sound effects) and tabletop RPGs. Over the years I have been both a passionate advocate and skeptical user of music in role playing games. While I think when done well, even just as background 'white noise', it can make a good game great and adds to the players' immersion in the game, it can also result in the GM fiddling around with a computer or CD player to the detriment of the game's flow.

Another issue is the amount of prep time it can take to listen to music, cue it up to the right scenes, organise the special effects and bring it all together in one package. All this can sometimes be to the detriment of the quality of the game itself when it takes precedence over the GM's familiarity with the story or character involvement. I have been involved in games when the GM was so intent on us getting the 'meaning' of the music, that I felt more like an audience than an active participant in a story.

Part of the reason I have been thinking about this was that I was originally wasn't going to bother with any music for my new Trail of Cthulhu Campaign, preferring to use the limited time I had on streamlining the plots and making really nice handouts, but two things have made me revisit the decision. The first was some of my players expressing a preference for it, which kind of surprised me as last time I used it I thought it didn't go too well, and the other was the discovery of the  Scene Sound programme which allows you to more easily manage music and effects by overlaying tracks, looping them and the use of hotkeys. It is not the most user friendly programme out there, as I'm still figuring everything out, but it's free, so I can't really complain.

I think I'll start small with the music and effects, and see how it goes, partly so I'm not listening to creepy music all day, and partly because I think the integrity of the plot is more important, but I will be interested to see how it plays out. I'm quietly excited I guess, as I tend to view the games I run quite cinematically, and the score is obviously an important part of any movie.

I'm also interested to hear how you all feel about music in RPGs. How do you use it? Is it an integral part or a last minute add on? Is it worth the time and effort? What about effects? Any thoughts welcome.