Dungeons & Dragons (album) - Conception and Production

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 conventions. 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.