8 Tabletop Composers You Must Know

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: the easiest way to enhance the mood and immersion of your tabletop campaigns is by introducing a bit of music. You don’t need to be an expert, you don’t need to dedicate hours to prep, and it’s totally fine if you just press play and forget about it. A bit of TTRPG music goes a long way! 

But… what music do you play? Well, I’ve talked before about using playlists and finding the right tracks using the RPG Music Matrix. I’ve also published a list of unexpected albums you should check out. Today, I’m going to pitch you on some excellent composers who specifically make music for use in a tabletop context. These are fabulous musicians who have made a career out of releasing tunes designed to be played during sessions. If you’re going to choose any one source for tabletop music, I believe you should reach for these experts first!

Before we start, here are three important notes:

• I cannot feign impartiality here. I know all of these composers personally because it’s a pretty small community. Their music is great, but for my own journalistic standards, I gotta come clean that these are both peers and pals. 
• I’m not going to be pitching my own music in the list below, but… well, I am also a dedicated tabletop composer, and I’ve released (at time of writing) over 600 tracks for use in your adventures. Please check out my enormous catalog of tabletop tunes wherever you stream! Note that I release music under the names Will Savino and Borough Bound. 
• For now, I won’t be focusing on dedicated playback apps like Soncraft, Opus, or Pocket Bard. Those deserve their own proper write-up, which I will certainly tackle in a future blog post.

ASKII

At any given time, ASKII is usually the number 1 artist on the “Fans also like” section of my own Spotify artist profile. I think a huge percentage of my listeners are blasting some Will Savino tracks in conjunction with Erik Rettig’s stunning fantasy music. 

I always say that Erik should replace Jeremy Soule for any and all future Elder Scrolls projects. He absolutely nails those beautiful fantasy moods, epic soundscapes, and quaint village vibes. His Isverden series perfectly creates a sense of awe-inspiring coldness, while his Hegelburg trilogy is my definitive soundscape for medieval-ish fantasy towns. His more recent releases have explored the nuanced moods of exploring real-world natural landscapes. 

ASKII’s music is everywhere, but it’s worth checking out his insane YouTube videos in which his albums accompany detailed renders of towns and landscapes that he has built in Unreal Engine. 

Mordela Morana

Whenever Ela releases a new album, I always have to give myself a little pep talk. “No, Will. It’s fine. You don’t need to quit music. Ela is just really really good and also a decade younger than you.” Her music is just that incredible. 

Ela's music also exceptionally diverse. More than any other artist on this list, her music explores the widest possible range of genres and themes, everywhere from minimalist choral textures to bad-ass sci-fi action, Gothic noodling, and straight-up metal. I always advocate for using a wider array of music in your campaigns, and Ela makes it all!

You should listen to Mordela Morana (Ela’s artist name) if:

• you want insane epic vibes that are more nuanced than your typical Two Steps From Hell copy-paste slop
• you run a campaign with cyberpunk themes
• you want to make your players cry (in a good way!)

Her 2025 release Cloudland is certainly the creative high point of her fantasy work thus far. Play these tracks to instantly highlight the biggest, strangest, and most beautiful moments of your campaign. Check that album out on Spotify or Apple Music (or wherever).

Tabletop RPG Music

I’ve previously interviewed Ian Fisher (aka Tabletop RPG Music) for this very blog, but I’d be crazy not to shout him out again. Perhaps more than anyone else in this space, Ian understands how to make every track unique while simultaneously knowing exactly how much restraint to employ. My greatest flaw as a tabletop composer is that I often put too much shit into my tracks, and that can be distracting to players depending on the context. Ian’s music always perfectly sits in the background without ever being boring. 

More importantly, Ian’s music is built for purpose. Every single track has such an obvious use case. “Play this track when exploring the astral plane” or “play this track when fighting gnolls.” You get the idea. It almost feels like a slight to call this music “utilitarian,” but every track is just so useful. 

Ian has released a slew of numbered albums on streaming services, but he is also the in-house composer for Foundry VTT. If you want music for Foundry sessions, I don’t believe there is a better option available. Grab his module here.

Ivan Duch

While Ian Fisher is always happy to throw in some wonky audio effects and warped samples, Ivan Duch keeps things almost completely orchestral. He, too, has a massive library and prioritizes his Foundry output, but his sound is much more traditional: string ostinati, light woodwind melodies, swelling horns. I wouldn’t necessarily call this music “diegetic,” but it’s far less “sound design-y” than that of his peers. You could imagine hearing almost any one of these tracks in the concert hall. 

There’s value in that limited palette. It means that any two Ivan Duch tracks sound like they’re coming from the same sonic world, even as he explores wildly different themes (pirates, vampires, dinosaurs, etc). With a focus on melody first and foremost, Ivan’s tracks are great for establishing motifs for important characters or locations in your campaign. 

Michael Ghelfi Studios

Michael Ghelfi is the all-time GOAT of ambiences for tabletop RPGs. He has created 1,700+ ambiences—y’know, pure SFX stuff like Cursed Marsh, Palace Corridors, or Inside a Volcano—and if you use any ambiences at all, you should absolutely be using his. Unequivocal recommendation. 

However, Ghelfi also works with a team of composers making music under the Michael Ghelfi Studios banner. Filip Melvan makes stellar bread-and-butter fantasy music and Lyre RPG Music performs incredible tavern-y tunes on live instruments. The MGS website also list one Miguel Abuel, but I am not yet familiar with his work.

Michael Ghelfi Studios is an insanely impressive team achievement. While I said I wasn’t going to talk about dedicated audio tools, it is definitely worth checking out their Opus software. Ghelfi built this tool with the dScryb team, and it’s almost certainly the best way to incorporate MGS audio into your campaigns.

Chalmeris

Krisztian Palmai is a fabulous Hungarian composer who wears many hats. I enjoy his solo piano music, but the tunes he releases under the name “Chalmeris” are particularly beautiful. His best work is quiet, meditative harp music. I often joke about the ubiquity of music that basically amounts to “walking through a pleasant forest with harps, strings, and flutes.” Like, does the world really need more of that? On one hand… it is a saturated market. On the other hand, Chalmeris is simply the best in the biz for that very specific niche. 

Just listen to “The Lady of Shalott” and tell me that’s not the most sublime version of this sub-genre that you’ve ever heard. 

For any quiet times in your fantasy campaigns, feel free to just go to the Chalmeris artist page, hit shuffle, and forget about it. You'll hear one gorgeous melody after another.

Fiddlewold

I believe Alex (aka Fiddlewold) is the most recent entrant into this scene that I feature in this post. He shot onto my radar when his first couple EPs became popular on Spotify seemingly immediately. Trust me when I say that this popularity is well-deserved! Each of Alex’s 5-or-6-track EPs has a simple theme which he executes flawlessly. His Tavern albums are quintessentially tavern-y. Inferni is filled with fiery combat bangers. Long Rest is all pleasant campfire tunes. 

There’s not a wasted track here. Every single tune on each of these EPs is perfectly mixed, and you’ll know right away when you ought to use it in your campaigns. Alex’s library is not as large as the rest of the artists here, but I fully believe in a few years, it’ll be easy to head to his profile and grab the perfect tune for any given encounter.

Crooked Worlds

Duo of Oliver Thomas and Alba Torriset typically make music for the stage, but they began making dedicated tabletop music a few years back. I think there is a notable theatricality to their output. Much of what they’ve released has felt like the soundtrack for those creepy fables you read growing up or saw performed by some local troupe. 

Anyone running campaigns through dark woods with spooky hags and fae weirdness should listen to Crooked Worlds and their Dark Fairytales collections. 

There are loads more tabletop composers I should be shouting out: Elise in the Clouds, McRoMusic, Coltrin Compositions, Daniel Ran, Arcane Anthems, Brombaer, Martin Egger, and more. I also know that it’s entirely possible that fabulous composers are just not on my radar. Tell me who I should write about in a future post!