Character Building Resources/Music

Ah, yes... music. A character's theme isn't as big or important as a lot of other aspects. It's still very nice to have a theme that suits them, though, and it can feel... disconcerting, if their theme doesn't fit.

It's difficult to describe exactly what makes a theme "fit" a character. The combination of the rhythm, the overall tune, the specific instruments, and more - all the elements of the song contribute to its overall feeling, and the character's general feeling may or may not match it. Finding appropriate music can be quite troublesome. It'll be quickly apparent whether or not the theme fits the character, but if it does fit them, it'll make the character feel a good bit more believable.

So, the question is - what fits? Nearly every Touhou song shares a distinct aspect (it's immediately recognizable as a Touhou piece), but the feelings they convey (and the characters they cover) vary wildly. It's not necessary to have a Touhou-sounding theme for your character, though, as... well, there simply aren't enough fan-made pieces to cover every character.

Find something instrumental. Vocals are bad. Beyond that, it's more or less up to you to figure out what works for your character. It's would be nice if it sounded like traditional Japanese - but, seeing as how a lot of Touhou music doesn't sound Japanese at all, don't worry about it. As long as it's not horribly out of place, it's fine. Game soundtracks are a very good source, as are internet originals. If you want, you can give your characters more than one theme - one general, non-combat theme and a battle theme, for example. (Three is the upper limit on themes, though, and even that's excessive.) Just... keep in mind that battles in Touhou are fantastic and frantic, not heavy-metal. Aim for the former two, and don't have blaring, obnoxious rock that suffocates the listener with guitar riffs. Just don't. It doesn't fit the setting even remotely.

With that said, here are some examples. They're grouped by artist/game/collection. The links will go to a playlist of all the themes under the group, if possible. Otherwise, they'll go to a single example of the group's songs, and you're on your own to find the rest of them (which should be fairly easy to do). If you end up taking one of these, please make a note of it in the bullet point below the group.

These would fit in a Touhou game

 * Wanwan's Touhou Style
 * Taken: 鏡花水月　～ Fantasy of Natural, スカンディナヴィアグラキエール, 遊空の散歩道 ～ Wind Story, 夢現世界　～ the World of Lie, 崩れ落ちる世界　～ Field Collapse


 * yosiyosi's ZUN Style
 * Taken: None