Vampire

[Matt 236]

Having ridden Vampire yesterday, I certainly didn’t find it too rough or comfortable, although I think rows, weight and time of day may be contributing factors. 

 

I just wish they were able to return/restore the chandelier lights. They used to help so much with the atmosphere of the station. However now it just looks like a terribly lit school disco and will probably continue to do so for the forseable future. 

 

Restoration of the original soundtrack would be nice too whilst they are at it.

[Matt A]

8 hours ago, Matt Creek said:

Restoration of the original soundtrack would be nice too whilst they are at it.

This might actually be going to happen this winter provided all things go well as the original soundtrack has been acquired by the current management and is just waiting on licensing/installation.

[HermanTheGerman]

6 hours ago, EpicSmatty said:

This might actually be going to happen this winter provided all things go well as the original soundtrack has been acquired by the current management and is just waiting on licensing/installation.

Depends what we’re classing as the ‘original’ doesn’t it  

[Matt A]

11 hours ago, HermanTheGerman said:

Depends what we’re classing as the ‘original’ doesn’t it  

I don't even know myself which one the original is! I do remember hearing that the organ in the outdoor soundtrack sounds very distant in case that helps to work it out.

[ashleyrose-66]

Chessington have announced that The Vampire will be open during the "Winter's Tail" Christmas events.

Seems strange that they plan to run it when the temperatures could be quite low and also obviously no large maintenance planned this winter.

 

https://www.chessington.com/christmas/

[streetmagix]

21 hours ago, ashleyrose-66 said:

Chessington have announced that The Vampire will be open during the "Winter's Tail" Christmas events.

Seems strange that they plan to run it when the temperatures could be quite low and also obviously no large maintenance planned this winter.

 

https://www.chessington.com/christmas/

 

As long as they prepare it for cold weather they'll be no issues. Different wheels, grease and maybe a minimum number of guests per train. From my German trip last year Taron and Black Mamba can operate down to -10c (yes, minus 10c). Blue Fire needs a minimum of 4c, Silver Star is 7c and I'm not sure about Wodan or EuroMir.

 

Chessington will still have the best part of 3 months to do annual maintenance though, from January to March. I really hope it's a success, Chessington and Legoland I suspect will go 365/364 day operation in the next few years.

[Matt 236]

Fingers crossed it will be a good and successful event for them. Would like to see a U.K. park try to do a Winter event similar to something like Efteling or Phantasialand, although maintenance and schedules would need to be on point. Three months maintenance for Vampire is possible as some parks have even less time to prepare.

 

 

[Nosferatu]

On 8/13/2018 at 12:16 AM, EpicSmatty said:

This might actually be going to happen this winter provided all things go well as the original soundtrack has been acquired by the current management and is just waiting on licensing/installation.

Wait, the original soundtrack is being restored? How is that possible? I though the original track was lost forever when they changed the sound system in 2014. Has somebody found a another high quality version of the original mix?

[Matt A]

13 hours ago, Nosferatu said:

Wait, the original soundtrack is being restored? How is that possible? I though the original track was lost forever when they changed the sound system in 2014. Has somebody found a another high quality version of the original mix?

That's the plan at least, I believe they got it from a theme park group who had it (can't remember which one). I haven't heard it myself but it is apparently much better than what's there currently.

[SteveJ]

Anything will be better than what's currently there, because the park have been using the same dodgy mp3 that you used to hear all over YouTube since the change a couple years ago.

Very silly when Vampire used to look and sound so fantastic. It's like if Wicker Man's audio was 'lost' and replaced by a bad quality download in 10 years time and all the lighting and scenery stripped out with no replacement. Very careless and unprofessional.

The vampire station needs a lot more than just a change of soundtrack though. It needs all the speakers repaired and the dead spots fixed, and really just a total overhaul of the station now that it's become incredibly bare.

[Nosferatu]

https://soundcloud.com/themeparkarchive/the-vampire-1990-audio-mix

 

This is the original mix that played from 1990 to 2013. Unfortunately, the poor sound quality spoils the track. If somebody has a good quality version I wish they would put it online.

[Vampire3000]

What even is the graveyard canopy / crypt which was “removed” on the Vampire. Are there any pictures of it?

[BritishThemeParkArch]

Apologies for the long pedantic post, but to save misunderstanding, here's the full story behind Vampire's audio over the years!

Obviously all the following is more technical info, no guests are gonna go in Vampire thinking 'hang on this is the wrong mix' – but the point is for the music to sound good and have good effect, and clearly this is not happening today. The ride currently sounds awful.

Here is where it gets pretty complicated and you need to consider how technology has changed massively over time to get your head around it.

Let's break it down to:
Production tapes (pre dubbing, pre downsampling)
1990 Ride 'dual zoned' mix
1990 stereo cassette mix
2016 Smart mix

The original music would have been produced from tapes as a high quality production master by the composer in 1990.

A standard mix for listening would have been in stereo obviously, but for use in the ride it was mixed differently. Theme park audio is usually always in mono mix, or 'multi mono' if its a score for a whole ride that changes as you move through it. This is because a stereo image requires a left and a right speaker, but in an attraction you're constantly moving around space with usually multiple speakers playing the same track, so it makes more sense to have it in mono.

Vampire actually had a 'dual' zoned effect where the same music played throughout the station, where the organ stage played the organ instrument, and the backing track played through the rest the station (guitar in both). This opened up the sound a bit more and gave the effect of the organ playing the actual organ part.

To do this effect, a mix with split organ and backing was sent to Sparks (who produced the Vampire station), with one on the L channel and other on R. This wasn't a traditional stereo mix, it was more of an installation mix, so would sound great standing in the station, but would sound bizarre played on a home stereo. Sparks also dubbed it with the familiar screams and thunder sounds. This mix was unique to any other mixes, which is why all other versions sound slightly different.

However, because of the technical limitations of the time, the ride track needed to be downsampled to play on solid state EPROM chips, which could only hold a certain amount of memory. The downsampling means it's lacking bass, but otherwise is good and wouldnt have been noticeable on the big station sound system – as anyone who went in Vampire in the 90s would remember it still sounded great! However, in mono, it wouldnt sound so good in isolation on a home stereo.

This zoned effect was lost in Vampire around 2000 when the sound system was changed. From then on it played as one zone throughout the station, but was the same 'mix'.

Then there was a souvenir cassette that was sold in the Chessington shop in the 90s, this was a very different mix to the ride version – and was in stereo (for listening). This is the one more commonly heard online. Although a more polished mix, the sound quality has always been dire, because the same warbly digital transfer has been passed around since forever (the original cassettes are hard to come by).

Somehow this was the track that Chessington replaced the original with in 2014 when the sound system was changed to mp3 playback. What! It sounds awful due to the poor quality of the transfer from cassette and is not edited to loop correctly.

Then a few years back the composer put up his own version (the Smart mix), from his own tapes, pre-downsampling... BUT it was actually yet another mix, half the 'cassette' version and half the 'original' version. This is the best quality version of the track available, but doesnt have the zoned effect or the 'rawer' guitar.

After years of trying to find the original track, I first found just the backing part on its own, which only had the guitar and organ on it faintly. This is what's on Soundcloud, edited to sound less 'mono' and with the organ part turned up a bit. More recently I finally found the organ track to go with it, so will update the Soundcloud track soon. Have sent this to Chessington.

These are the downsampled, dubbed tracks that played in the ride from 1990 to around 2000. So, not full listening quality and would sound weird played on a stereo, but would sound good restored in the dual zones in the station. Much better than the current dodgy mp3 being played.

Ideally, a brand new mix should be struck from the original master tapes (if they still exist with the composer) to recreate the dual zoning and the more 'raw' original mix – but without the downsampling, since this is no longer necessary with today's playback technology. Combine this with a repaired sound system and it would sound amazing. However, the original composer seems to be completely uncontactable.

So, there's the saga of Vampire's audio! Once sounded classic, now sounding very lame with the poor recording they're using at the moment. But, simply putting back the orginal mix on a broken, mono system probably wouldnt make much difference. What it needs is a new, overhauled sound system and a full quality zoned mix.

[SteveJ]

13 hours ago, Vampire3000 said:

What even is the graveyard canopy / crypt which was “removed” on the Vampire. Are there any pictures of it?

It was a cool themed part of the queue, under a canopy covered in ivy and fog. You'd walk between tombs and past grave plaques on the wall. It hid the ugly building from view as you walked in and made the space feel very different to the horrible concrete square. There used to be bat sounds from the rafters.

Then you'd head into the dark tunnel with the flickering lanterns and windows, which used to have choir and tolling bells echoing inside.
There was also a simple pepper's ghost effect in one of the windows which hasnt worked properly for years, and more detail/better lighting behind the windows.

This was before they started batching before the station too, it was much creepier when you used to queue in it rather than breeze straight through.

I remember it being a classic build up to the grand station, but declined massively over time (bad maintenance as usual). It just feels like walking into a tin box now, since like any ride the effect was all in the sound, lighting & scenery..

[Vampire3000]

Is there multiple types of the Vampire organist. It certainly does look different to images of it many years ago - not to mention all of the dust which accompanies it. It also makes a clicking noise now...

[BritishThemeParkArch]

On 11/3/2018 at 3:53 PM, Vampire3000 said:

Is there multiple types of the Vampire organist. It certainly does look different to images of it many years ago - not to mention all of the dust which accompanies it. It also makes a clicking noise now...

It's always been the same organist, just fallen into a bad state by almost never being maintained properly. He has a lot more animation that hasn't worked for years and would move much more lifelike if he was fully serviced.

[Kerfuffle]

6 hours ago, BritishThemeParkArch said:

It's always been the same organist, just fallen into a bad state by almost never being maintained properly. He has a lot more animation that hasn't worked for years and would move much more lifelike if he was fully serviced.

It's just sad to know that Chessington apparently take no notice of the animation...yet still decide a couple years ago that it's the HAIR that needs an "upgrade". So now the organist not only doesn't move much (if not at all) but also appears to belong in the Georgian era, while not being remotely intimidating by any means.

[Matt A]

8 hours ago, BritishThemeParkArch said:

It's always been the same organist, just fallen into a bad state by almost never being maintained properly. He has a lot more animation that hasn't worked for years and would move much more lifelike if he was fully serviced.

I believe Chessington is planning to get him moving again over the closed season, don't think there's much more planned than that though (although it may not happen, it didn't strike me as being a big priority). The whole organ is in such a bad state compared to what it used to be.

[Benin]

If I had a quid for every time Chessie had PLANNED to do something etc...

[Matt 236]

Me, when the Merlin parks get everything done they planned to.

[A Lost Zookeeper]

Sadly its not really by choice that things like the organist fall into disrepair. Unlike Disney and Universal, Merlin Parks don't have a huge budget for fixing up themselves. Unless its attached to a new project or an IP, there is no push for things like that to get done as it is not going to attract any more guests. Not many guests complain or even notice how things aren't working. 

 

I am sure that if you gave the parks the opportunity to refurbish the parks they would jump to the opportunity. If there weren't so many "H&S issues" with the chandeliers, they would be up right now otherwise they would have been straight in the skip.

 

It shouldn't be a PR stunt (Towers Loving Care). It should be something they do regardless of if it will attract more guests. However that is not the way Merlin parks are organised and set up at the moment.

[Matt A]

10 minutes ago, A Lost Zookeeper said:

If there weren't so many "H&S issues" with the chandeliers, they would be up right now otherwise they would have been straight in the skip.

The chandeliers haven't been binned, just stored at the back of the station, you can see them if you look closely as the train goes back into the platform.

[BritishThemeParkArch]

On 11/5/2018 at 3:33 PM, Kerfuffle said:

It's just sad to know that Chessington apparently take no notice of the animation...yet still decide a couple years ago that it's the HAIR that needs an "upgrade". So now the organist not only doesn't move much (if not at all) but also appears to belong in the Georgian era, while not being remotely intimidating by any means.

Interestingly the current hair is near identical to how the same organist character looked in the Black Forest Chateau. Personally I don't think he looks any less effective, it was always a Phantom of the Opera style vibe the room was going for. Although the theatrical humour in it doesn't come across at all now, it's in such a bad way.

What really lets him down is the fact he moves so little on the rare occasion he does work. The park are wanting to get him moving, but will it be a proper refurbishment to get back to its original lifelike standard? If they did do it, that would look brilliant.

[SteveJ]

23 hours ago, A Lost Zookeeper said:

Sadly its not really by choice that things like the organist fall into disrepair. Unlike Disney and Universal, Merlin Parks don't have a huge budget for fixing up themselves. Unless its attached to a new project or an IP, there is no push for things like that to get done as it is not going to attract any more guests. Not many guests complain or even notice how things aren't working. ... It should be something they do regardless of if it will attract more guests. However that is not the way Merlin parks are organised and set up at the moment.

The Disney / Universal are the biggest, wealthiest entertainment companies on the planet and are also in competition with each other, so I wouldnt say that's a fair example. It needn't be as good standards as Disney, it just has to be decent.

A better comparison would be the likes of Europa Park, Efteling, Phantasialand, which are all run by companies infinitely smaller than Merlin, but they maintain their parks fantastically. A trip there costs you about the same as a Merlin park but is infinitely better value.

True it's not Chessington's choice that they get no budget or structure for this kind of maintenance, it is Merlin's method. Like you say, if it isn't able to be rebranded then they just don't care, this is their strategy. Even with new rides, once the press launch is over they rapidly stop caring. It's not the attitude of a real entertainment company interested in return customers and long term benefits for their parks.

However, Chessington is particularly bad at maintaining its effects and attractions, compared to Alton Towers for example. Sometimes it feels like, top down, Chessington are totally unaware that audio, lighting, etc even makes a jot of difference to guests.

You would very soon notice the difference in guests' reactions if these attractions as good as they were originally. The fact that "not many" of them actively complain about specifics is true but not really a valid reason to not maintain something. Why should it be the guests' perogetive to know the details of lighting, sound, animation, etc? They are paying for a good experience and instead getting a sub par overall experience.

IL Bubbleworks had plenty of regular complaints about how poor it was long before it got removed, nothing was done about it for years until they could get a new brand in. Also, the fact the park looked shabby and run down for years was a frequent online complaint from your average guests, but all that happened was they got the local painter decorators in to paint one facade per year.

The only excuse Merlin have is they can just hype up the brand and monopolise the UK market so nobody knows the parks could be any better.

[Sarger]

Had 39 rides on Vampire today! Old music's been restored inside the station though I'm not an audio expert and don't really know more in depth (it sounds good) The lighting in the station also looks quite a bit better. Looking great and vampire is running absolutely beautifully.