Recently, Paulton Parks released large parts of audio for their new Tornado Springs area. Anyone can stream the 45 minutes or so of music through things like Spotify and listen to the IMA Score audio that’s been specially made for the new land. A part of me was intrigued to hear it, but then I stopped myself and thought…why do I want to listen to it?
Let’s backtrack a bit first though. Music and audio are an important part of the overall theme park experience. If nothing is being played, it is extremely noticeable and feels almost awkward. Even if you just have pop songs playing, it adds a sense of atmosphere, perhaps akin to the old-fashioned ‘seaside fun fair’ feeling that people sometimes think back to.
But of course, plenty of rides have specifically designed scores and audio elements to accompany them. Be that through music played in queues, stations, on ride or just in the nearby/surrounding areas, it’s very much there now. And a lot of that music goes hand in hand with the setting and atmosphere the ride was designed to take place. Nemesis at Alton Towers has its slightly sci-fi, eerie adventure score that plays through. The audio played around Colossus at Thorpe Park has a sense of grandness to it, making you feel like you are stepping into a lost city.
When audio is done right, it can really make an impact. It doesn’t have to be catchy (like The Smiler’s music). It doesn’t have to be in your face (like Speed of Sound at Walibi Holland). It doesn’t have to be an epic masterpiece. As long as it works within context of the area, it can be impactful. And that can cause a surge of emotions, of course. Hearing that music can bring back memories of your first ride, for example. Or just in general re-create your positives experience that you (should) experience at a theme park.
I remember close to 15 years ago; it was difficult to be able to listen to theme park music outside of theme parks. Some guy might have stood next to a speaker for an hour and uploaded a dodgy, crackled recorded to YouTube. Some fansites might have got their hands on a couple of shorter copies. But in any case, having access to theme park music away from the setting was more of a fun quirk, rather than being something that someone would actively choose to listen to.
But now, everything is very different. There are more people composing theme park audio. There are more companies composing the audio. There are endless YouTube accounts dedicated solely to theme park audio. Within seconds, you can be listening to the soundtrack to your favourite ride, or to a ride at a park you’ve never been to. If you step back and think about it, it’s a little bit…crazy.
With this ability, it leads to the chance for theme park music’s impact to be watered down. Instead of listening to audio in situ, through speakers which could be costing hundreds or thousands of pounds, you listen to it through headphones, or out of a car speaker, or whatever. So it’s unlikely to really be of the same quality. But then there’s the more important point: you lose the context.
No longer can you accompany Nemesis’ score with this eerie unease of discovering a monster in a bit. Smiler’s catchy repetitiveness isn’t the same without the Ministry of Joy’s latest contraption towering nearby. Chiapas’ upbeat melodies have…something missing. And sure, listening to the music of your favourite ride might trigger the happy memories of it. But can you reach a point whereby you listen to it too much, and it loses its core focus of accompanying a physical ride?
I’m completely guilty for this by the way. For example, I love the Chiapas soundtrack, and have listened to it many times. The same for plenty of other rides. But then, with the announcement of Tornado Springs’ audio being released before the area has even opened, all these thoughts flooded into my head. In particular, why do I want to listen to theme park music?
I guess the simple answer there is ‘because I enjoy it’. And that’s no doubt the answer for many others too. But theme park music as a whole has become a lot bigger, with people craving to hear soundtracks for rides before / just as they’re opening. The quality of the music is almost as important as the ride itself these days. And maybe that’s a good thing, with it adding another dimension to creating better rides.
Or maybe it’s become too big a thing? Maybe there’s too much focus on an attraction having good music. Maybe people are diverting their attention from everything else and wanting good music. Wanting something they can then take away from the park, and enjoy again and again in their own way. A little connection to the park at all times. But then, why bother with anything else? If a park can create a good ride, but then only have a short soundtrack that they don’t release, will people be as interested by it compared to an averaged ride with a long, released soundtrack? I don’t know.
But where we live in a world where social media makes it much easier to create cult followings for rides, and with it being much easier to listen to theme park music, it seems almost inevitable that rides with well-received soundtracks could become some of the most popular rides out there. And part of me wonders if that’s a step too far.
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