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If memory serves me correctly there was also a very bad jaws like june in the giant foot room series 3.

the shark music was a litle too corny for my liking

The shark music made me laugh to death (not really, I'm a snowwie not a ghost wolf) not scared to death

Incidental music has been in use since Knightmare Series 1. At its most successful, it's subtle to the point of unnoticeable, while still complementing/enhancing the mood. (I wonder, is the error/ambiguity in the first post of this topic an indication that pre-S6 incidental music was successful in that way?) I liked the way that in Series 1-5, sound effects doubled as incidental music, adding marvellously to the atmosphere, e.g. the spellcasting tune, Grimwold's comical yet menacing walking-down-the-dwarf-tunnel theme, the floating sword sound (also used in T-Bag...).

And then came Series 6. In which, in my opinion, the use of incidental music was awful. Not because the music itself was of poor quality, but because it was overused and overbearing. There were occasions when it was so prominent that it was almost a struggle to hear what the characters and adventurers were saying. When you're overly conscious of incidental music, it doesn't work; and even as a young Watcher, I found it patronising. 'Here's some loud, persistent scary music, because we want you to be scared!' The result is a sense that the programme makers lacked confidence in the visual action to convey tension/emotion on its own. Which, where Knightmare is concerned, would have been a wrongful assumption on their parts.

For a direct comparison, there are the causeways of S5 and S6. S5 had simply the straightforward fact that a fatal plunge into darkness awaited any dungeoneer who put a foot wrong or put it slowly, and the sounds of blocks dropping into oblivion. S6 had this, plus music, plus the frightknight timer. Did it really need both additions? And after all, the advisors didn't need to have incidental music blaring out to make them tense and panicky, so why should the Watchers?

So, although the original question is ambiguous, my opinion is: better without. Its use from S6 onwards made it a distraction and a detraction for me. Though if other people have found that the incidental music enhanced their experience, I'm glad.

I'm glad that you mentioned that Series 1 had incidental music, because I wasn't going to comment on this topic until I saw that!

I'd say better with - again, I am one of the 'bring on tension' breed - but the KM S1 Knightmare Haunt music really stands out for me as an example of brilliant incidental music. It was in no way intrusive and really built up the eerie, spooky feeling of Level 3. It's a shame it was only really heard twice, though, as I'd have liked to hear more of it!

Series 4-5 were always a little quiet for my liking, with just the rustling of the leaves as the dungeoneer, through the eyeshield, trudges through the forests.

I preferred music, although not too loud it drowns out what anybody's saying. I'm one of those types of people where if more than one person talks I go "You wha'?", so it doesn't help things!

I like threads that become active after 23 months, it's a bit like forum members who awake from hibernation, don't 'cha think?

Drassil wrote: the floating sword sound (also used in T-Bag...).

Was it?

Remind me where, because trying to work it out after a gap of anything up to 20 years is going to drive me up the wall.

With the episodes not readily available, it's hard for me to be specific: but the sound effect occurs a couple of times in short bursts during the final episodes of T-Bag And The Pearls Of Wisdom, and possibly in other T-Bag series too.

Drassil wrote: So, although the original question is ambiguous, my opinion is: better without. Its use from S6 onwards made it a distraction and a detraction for me. Though if other people have found that the incidental music enhanced their experience, I'm glad.

It definately enhanced the experience for me!!

(Sorry for bumping such an old topic but let's face it, there's not much else going on).

I agree with Drassil that the S6 onwards music was often VERY loud, but it's just a personal thing as to whether that annoyed you or not. Personally, I loved it.

I didn't feel patronised or that I was being told "You WILL find this bit tense". All I felt was that the music made otherwise boring scenes interesting. It also broke the overhwelmingly still silence of Series 4 and 5.

Dwarf tunnels, for example, were spooky and atmospheric thanks to that music. Otherwise they would have just seemed like cardboard tubes in a TV studio.

I loved the ambiguity of its use as well. Sometimes it would be used just as a dungeoneer was about to die horribly. But other times the same piece of music would be used during an eyeshield sequence. So you constantly got the impression through continuity of music, that danger was always around the corner.

You definately did NOT get this impression through the dull Series 4 and 5 eyeshield sequences, or indeed many of the other clue rooms or foor puzzles in earlier years.

I'd LOVE to get clean copies of the incidental music used in Series 6-8, just so that I could edit them over some of my favourite pre-S6 moments, and make them all the more "nasty".

Moocowthingy wrote: Do you think the teams heard the music?.  That would be rather hard as they have to communicate with each other.  I suspect it was only added to episodes for our benefit and therefore I dont think its essential or needed.  If somehow it was to be heard by the team then that would have a worth while effect as teams may panic or rush into stupid mistakes.  Tension music works well in films or video games but in KM I prefer to judge danger for myself rather than be tipped off about an ending or close shave.

Don't think so, why did the music end perfectly when they either died or escaped? Too coincidental if you ask me LOL

Presumably nobody knew what these parts were and so included the Incidental Music to create the mood. The Series 8 music in Rebecca's quest (Team 5) (In the Corridors of Goth) their death scene would have been (IMO) fabulous for a dwarf tunnel background mood.

It's hard to imagine either incidental music not being used on any modern non-live production, or incidental music being used on any live non-scripted production. [...He says, glances to his videogame shelves, and then reconsiders]

...Actually, scratch that, although you'd probably want to go for hiring a videogame composer who's used to dealing with a need for composed music to be interactive, and probably need someone to tell the music 'what to do' manually since the conditions would be far subtler for Knightmare than in an actual videogame.