Tabletop Tunes Adds Immersive Music to Tabletop Gaming with Interactive App
Adaptive music application specifically made for tabletop gaming
When I discover somethng cool and creative, I instanty want to know more! more! more!
Such is the case with Tabletop Tunes — an adaptive music application specifically made for tabletop gaming. This is my first encounter with ‘music for tabletop gaming,’ so I was definitley intrigued to find details about who dreamt up such an endeavor.
This leads us to Anthony Sabatino, the founder of Tabletop Tunes. A film composer and conductor from Kansas, Sabatino is a graduate of Berklee College of Music and USC, and has composed music for over 100 different film, game, and television projects.
In addition to his music scoring, he produces electronic music under the moniker “Moose with a Scarf” and created the first of its kind Robot DJ sidekick: “Moosebot.”
Sabatino not only founded Tabletop Tunes, he also wrote and produced all the music for the application.
So… With the basic details out of the way, let’s dive deeper into the world of magical forests, quaint villages, and glorious kingdoms — with the right music, of course.
I recently caught up with Sabatino who delivered a great breakdown of the Tabletop Tunes story — the inspiration, the development, the challenges and the future.
What inspired you to start Tabletop Tunes, and how did the idea evolve into a full-fledged business?
Anthony Sabatino: Tabletop Tunes started from the usual board game nights I would have with friends.
We would try to find a playlist, or series of songs to help match the mood of the game or campaign we were doing, but it was so difficult finding the right songs that matched the moods we were going for. In addition to that, most playlists we would find online would have issues of huge volume differences, low quality control, and awkward gaps between tunes.
All of these contributed to my idea of putting together Tabletop Tunes, but there was a problem: I’m not a programmer!
I have had some experience with making scripts and some simple audio coding, but I knew I was going to need someone to help me out. It would just so happen that as I was coming up with this idea, I ran into a buddy of mine from Berklee (Jacob Johnson) working at a synth shop in Burbank (Perfect Circuit).
Jacob and I both took the audio programming class together at Berklee, and we was by far the most talented audio programmer in the class, so after I ran into him at Perfect Circuit, I messaged him about the idea. He liked it, and thus Tabletop Tunes was formed.
After we initially launched on iOS in 2021, we found that we were going to need some extra help to expand the Tabletop Tunes web app. So what I ended up doing was hiring web developer Wilco Breedt, and have worked with a few other contract programmers to help get all the new features implemented.
Its been a long and arduous process, but I’m so excited that its finally out for the world to experience, and I can’t wait for more people to try it out!
How do you approach creating or curating music that enhances the experience of tabletop games?
Anthony Sabatino: So 100% of the music in Tabletop Tunes was written and produced by myself.
I’m open to licensing music in the future, but honestly I just love writing this kind of music, and consider it a good exercise in composition. When I first started writing the music for the app, I would pull up concept art of various fantasy forests, or dark caverns, basically anything to get the imagination going. Then I would just imagine what it would be like to explore these areas, and once I had that little mini visual in my head, I would write music to it as if it was a film or video game score.
It’s very similar to a video game score in that I want to keep the music somewhat static so as to keep immersion into the space I’m trying to evoke, yet at the same time its important to have musical ebbs and flows to help create these serendipitous moments for the players to experience when listening.
One of my favorite things in the world is when a piece of music swells at just the right time, when the music, art, and narrative all converge in a powerful peak that haunts your memories forever more.
What challenges have you faced in marketing a niche product like gaming soundtracks, and how have you overcome them?
Anthony Sabatino: Most social media marketing is a double edge sword these days, it does give you an incredible amount of reach to potential customers, yet at the same time it is incredible difficult to cut through the noise (even if you are paying for targeted ads).
On top of that, I’ve noticed people have started to become particularly vicious online, especially towards musicians and people trying to market their music or products.
With all that being said, typically when a post doesn’t do well, its either a problem with the audience or the video not being engaging enough.
Humans are self interested, when they log on to social media, they don’t want to be sold something, they are seeking pleasure through entertainment and communications.
Our job in the marketing space is to offer either entertainment or value without making it feel like we are selling something.
At the same time, the marketing tools we have available with social media ad managers makes it very helpful to properly target the super specific niche we are going for, so even though organic posts trying to sell something may be more difficult to cut through the noise, properly targeted ad campaigns can really help budge the needle for click throughs and engagement (although the organic discovery is much more desirable compared to sponsored posts).
Can you walk us through your creative process — from concept to final composition — for a typical track or playlist?
Anthony Sabatino: I always start with a location, mood, or abstract imagery to get started composing. For example, while working on some of the fantasy forest music, I wanted one to be ethereal and wandering, one to be more upbeat and flowing, and one to be vast and regal feeling.
This adds variety for the listener to have specific options within each scenario, and it also helps me to focus the composition and orchestration. As mentioned earlier, I’ll sometimes use concept art to help awaken musical ideas, or just imagine a scenario or scene in my head and score that.
I always mix while composing, making sure any effects I want on each instrument is there right at the start, and can be tweaked later down the production chain. When the arrangement is complete, I’ll start working on a final mix for the composition, and compare it to similar genre references.
After the mix is complete, I’ll do a serious of listen tests in my car, on my airpods, my phone speaker, and on my JBL speaker. I think its very important to test your mixes and compositions on many different systems because sometimes you’ll catch something you didn’t hear before.
How do you stay connected with the tabletop gaming community, and how has their feedback shaped your offerings?
Anthony Sabatino: Admittedly I’m working to get a bit more dialed in to the tabletop gaming community with the outreach and collaboration with the app. I plan to do various demo nights for the app at some local board game shops and gaming conventions, as well as collaborative videos with content creators and influencers within the TTRPG and gaming space.
I’m very open to feedback from people because I really do just want to create a powerful and immersive music app!
If there is a way I can get more people to adopt and use it, and I can enhance their experiences through my music, then I’m going to do whatever I can to make that happen, without sacrificing artistic integrity of course.
What are your future plans for Tabletop Tunes — any new features, collaborations, or expansions on the horizon?
Anthony Sabatino: We have a number of planned features and expansions for the app. Currently I’m working on composing music packs for volume 2, which will include Wester, Sci-Fi, and Horror music, and I’ve also already started coming up with ideas for a volume 3!
I also want to add some additional utilities in there as well, such as a coin flip or dice roll module, and countdown timer with music integration, and many others.