music genre's and stage shows

[A.J.O.D.]

So i have this idea for a wizard who uses music genre's for evocatin elements instead of the standard set. So my question is what counts as a music genre and would using music magic to alter the emotions of others violate any of the laws of magic. So far for genre's i have Blues, Rock, Metal and Punk. I'm trying not to go too far into the little sub genre like German black metal and things like that. Also how would this work for thuam. Any help would be much liked.

[bibliophile20]

So i have this idea for a wizard who uses music genre's for evocatin elements instead of the standard set.

Spellsingers are an old but good trope, however, be careful about that sort of thing.  If he casts magic by singing music, that means he might accidentally cast when absently humming a tune...  That's why the Dresdenverse wizards use dead languages that they do not know well; a wizard that casts in his native tongue is begging for a poorly timed fire.

So my question is what counts as a music genre

Whatever you want it to be; I have one character whose magical language is flute/piccolo music, with the breath control and the finger movements being used to cast a spell.  The more narrow, the better, most likely, so as to reduce the risk of misfiring magic.
 

and would using music magic to alter the emotions of others violate any of the laws of magic.

Without a question he would be violating the  Fourth Law; it is still magic, and he is still altering someone else's head; the metaphysics make no distinction between what language was used, be it a tonal scale or Swahili; it's the intent to go inside someone else's head and redecorate that's the key. 

So far for genre's i have Blues, Rock, Metal and Punk. I'm trying not to go too far into the little sub genre like German black metal and things like that. Also how would this work for thuam. Any help would be much liked.

Honestly, having thought through the implications of this approach before, define one instrument as your spellcasting medium; that will make things more manageable for you and makes a handy focus.  Then start defining small little note sequences as your spells; a rapid high pitched sequence of four notes might be a shield, for example. 

Doing it smaller--an instrument and individual notes, instead of whole genres--also reduces the chance of misfires, which, if you spread things out among the width and breathe of music, will make things annoying for your character.  Ever get a song stuck in your head, a really catchy tune?  Now imagine that happens to your character.  Now imagine that, buried somewhere in the lyrics, is the acoustical sequence--or one very similar--to the one that is used to cast a fireball.   

[Richard_Chilton]

This reminds me a bit of Manly Wade Wellman's Silver John (or John the Balladeer) stories...  He used the power in the old songs to do things.

Few people can do multiple genres well.  There's a world of difference between opera and rap, and "pop" music is just whatever is popular at the time while alternative is a catch all phrase.

But if you want to see a list that you can pick genre's from, head to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_music_styles which lists every form of music wikipedia readers can think of.

Richard

[Tsunami]

Sorry, but i have to butt in with a little nitpick.

Spellsingers are an old but good trope, however, be careful about that sort of thing.  If he casts magic by singing music, that means he might accidentally cast when absently humming a tune...  That's why the Dresdenverse wizards use dead languages that they do not know well; a wizard that casts in his native tongue is begging for a poorly timed fire.

Actually, that's not true.
Talking to cast a spell is simply an aid to concentration, and unfamiliar word or phrases (i.e. dead languages) are used because they provide a kind of insulation between the casters mind and the magic he's channeling. Simply speaking the word does not constitute casting a spell.
Harry can say "Fuego" as much as he wants. It's not going to trigger a fireball every time he says it.
So for a Spellsinger, simply singing a certain song would not constitute casting a spell. There has to be the intent and effort of will behind it.
Sure, unconscious spellcasting might happen, but that has more to do with the emotions of the caster, not him or her singing.

From Fool Moon:
Magic is a kind of energy. It is given shape by human thoughts and emotions, by imagination. Thoughts define that shape—and words help to define those thoughts. That's why wizards usually use words to help them with their spells. Words provide a sort of insulation as the energy of magic burns through a spell caster's mind. If you use words that you're too familiar with, words that are so close to your thoughts that you have trouble separating thought from word, that insulation is very thin. So most wizards use words from ancient languages they don't know very well, or else they make up nonsense words and mentally attach their meanings to a particular effect. That way, a wizard's mind has an extra layer of protection against magical energies coursing through it.

[A.J.O.D.]

Well what I'm thinking for the wizard is a guitar or a bass. The first idea was as a scion of Ogma the celtic god of poetry and luange.

[Jay Bass]

Well what I'm thinking for the wizard is a guitar or a bass. The first idea was as a scion of Ogma the celtic god of poetry and luange.

I actually did something similar for my character for our game.  He's an exiled member of an alternate order of bardic practitioners called the Taliesen Orchestra.  Taliesen is the Welsh god of Bards and, in some legends, was the bard in King Arthur's court. High concept - "Jukebox Hero - He's got Pentacles in his Eyes)

The biggest issue is the concept of supernatural power and tech, especially modern, electrified, instruments, and how power interacts with technology.  Basically me and the GM agreed that there would be some ways to get around this.  First, the use of vintage instruments and equipment (basically nothing with a microchip and pretty much the older the better) My character uses a '75 Rickenbacker 4080 doubleneck 4 string bass/6 string guitar and a late sixties amp. The other safeguard is in the form of two warded leather wristbands that pretty much mute and contain the flow of supernatural energy (similar to the amulet Harry wears while in hospitals to help prevent him accidently blowing up sensitive medical equipment).  Even with those safeguards in place, there is always the risk that the power will overflow and end up damaging the equipment (up to the GM's discretion) which IMO is a fair trade off in order to be a rock star wizard. ^_^ 

So, I've made it a point that my character was also trained in the fiddle.  Basically, an alternate focus item that acts as a back-up when my character A.) Damages his gear, B.) Can't lug his gear around , or C. Can't power his gear.

In terms of actual powers, basically he had full  blown evocation with a level of refinement( to account for all the focus and enchanted items he needs) with no ritual or Thaumaturgy.  Basically the instruments act as a focus item, the music acts as a level of mental protection to help focus the thoughts on the effect he wants to produce.  So, basically two Symphonomancers can use the same piece of music and produce different effects, it really depends on how the music shapes their thoughts.

Me and my GM also created a stunt called "Magical Performance" which means that whenever I play music, I roll against my Discipline instead of my Performance skill, since my music and magic are so interlinked.

Sorry 'bout the info overload.

[devonapple]

I had an idea for a musical Booster type who used music (and the adrenaline inspired by certain musical associations) as a casting mechanism. However, it is not feasible in the Dresdenverse for a Focused Practitioner to reliably operate a personal audio device containing the music. I almost forgot this, and would have had an NPC minor talent use such powers, but the players did not opt to engage with him.

[newtinmpls]

"So i have this idea for a wizard who uses music genre's for evocatin elements instead of the standard set. So my question is what counts as a music genre and would using music magic to alter the emotions of others violate any of the laws of magic. So far for genre's i have Blues, Rock, Metal and Punk. I'm trying not to go too far into the little sub genre like German black metal and things like that. Also how would this work for thuam. Any help would be much liked."

While wiki might be a useful resource for making a list, more important than the list itself are your associations with it. From seeing "Crossroads", I associate classical music with precision, training, control and that sort of thing - but your list (or the list for that specific game-verse) might be totally different. I'd want about 5-6 styles, and I'd associate them with characteristics, and that way when I say that "well my character has a +1 to classical" I know what I mean.

And on the other hand, IF my musicomancer sees country as regarding deciet, tradgedy(sp), betrayal, bad karma/luck, and manipulation, then it adds a whole layer of meaning to "I hate country music".

Dian