Jump to content

Vampire


Recommended Posts

On 4/6/2019 at 12:33 PM, Nosferatu said:

Well the backing track is the one that was on SoundCloud right? That track was extremely bassy, especially with the drums and guitar during the rock part.

 

That bass is completely absent from the station, and I don't think it's just a dodgy sound system either.

Hi, we posted that on Soundcloud a few years ago, that was just the backing track with the faint organ parts turned up a lot. We were missing the discrete organ part at the time, but recently found both tracks for Chessington.

What Chessington are playing now is the ride's original sound store that we sent them, mixed to mono (because the current system is no longer zoned that way). We since removed our Soundcloud track now that you can hear the original mix in the ride again.

It doesn't sound as good as it did before in the station, but the track itself is fine now and doesnt have the bass missing. Should the park want to restore the organ 'zone' we'd sent that too!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Even in the mid noughties the sound quality in the station still seemed better than what it was. Yes, I’m not afraid to admit I missed Chessington’s golden days by at least six years. 

 

From what hat I heard last time I visited (March time), the audio quality was definitely an improvement but I know the park can do even better. Then again, it’s safe to say 90% of Vampire’s station just needs a complete overhaul and restoration. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Of course what matters at the end of the day is the entertainment factor, and I think without the music having much real presence in the station and the feeling of emptiness, it just doesn't have that anymore. What gave it that in the past was the picturesque detail and feeling of animation, and the gradual build up with the queue going into the dark with the sounds and scenes behind the windows.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 4/8/2019 at 10:09 PM, BritishThemeParkArch said:

Hi, we posted that on Soundcloud a few years ago, that was just the backing track with the faint organ parts turned up a lot. We were missing the discrete organ part at the time, but recently found both tracks for Chessington.

What Chessington are playing now is the ride's original sound store that we sent them, mixed to mono (because the current system is no longer zoned that way). We since removed our Soundcloud track now that you can hear the original mix in the ride again.

It doesn't sound as good as it did before in the station, but the track itself is fine now and doesnt have the bass missing. Should the park want to restore the organ 'zone' we'd sent that too!

Thanks for the reply.

 

I was wondering, is the full 1990 track going to put on SoundCloud at some point? I remember something being said about updating it a few months ago.

 

If I'm honest, finding the the true station soundtrack is the only reason I joined this forum 6 years ago.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Nosferatu said:

Thanks for the reply.

 

I was wondering, is the full 1990 track going to put on SoundCloud at some point? I remember something being said about updating it a few months ago.

 

If I'm honest, finding the the true station soundtrack is the only reason I joined this forum 6 years ago.

I don't think it will go online, the reason I put the version I had at the time on there was to encourage Chessington to restore the audio and now that they have started that process I've taken it down. It belongs in the ride really, it doesn't sound best there at the moment but hopefully will be fixed in the near future (along with the rest the ride's audio like the corridor, and the lighting etc). :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Was good to hear the audio improvements on Vampire the other day! Sounds much better both indoors and outdoors. It seems like there has been a bit of work on the station and the queue line too, with all the lights working inside, looks like they're all LED now so should hopefully last a while. Torches have new flickering lights in them, and tunnel has new light fixtures with the same bulbs too (which fit quite well). Outdoors a bit of old theming has returned, graves etc. Obviously all this is a far cry from what it once was but it's still an improvement!

 

Finished it off with a rare overshoot of the breaks in the trims, so the front seats got a bit of a bashing!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

51 minutes ago, EpicSmatty said:

Finished it off with a rare overshoot of the breaks in the trims, so the front seats got a bit of a bashing!

That really was an interesting experience, cant say I've ever had that happen to me before. The irony was that it had literally been the smoothest ride I have had on Vampire in as long as I can remember, to then getting smashed three times into the sides of the wheel catch!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...

 

For anyone interested in Vampire and Bubble Works in their old days, I'm currently attempting to recreate the interiors in 3D for a book on Sparks, the studio that created them. Also the Alton Towers Haunted House (see the Duel topic). This after sadly most the photo archives on the two classic rides (when they were first built) were destroyed by a fire some years ago.

To raise funds to recreate the missing scenes to a photo-realistic standard, from all the original production records and plans, I'm doing a Kickstarter campaign this month. It would be brilliant if anybody wanted to contribute, if we beat the target the recreation will be able to go ahead.

For more information on the book see the Kickstarter video on the link!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...

Where will this new music be going? Will it actually be new music or a restored lost track? 

 

The station was 'refurbished' during the Vekoma transfer, even though it did nothing but take away. It would be nice to have the 1990 station back again. But would Merlin want to spend that much on a 30 year old ride?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Nosferatu said:

Where will this new music be going? Will it actually be new music or a restored lost track? 

It's new replacement music I think. The original "mix" was put back, but seemed like the sound system so broken that the station still sounds naff. Sad really, it used to sound brilliant.

It wouldnt cost a bomb to redesign the station properly and bring back the beast it was in 1990, or better. But it costs way more than Merlin would ever be willing to pay.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is the new music going to be organ based still? Otherwise the organ and organist is going to look a bit out-of-place. I suppose they could just remove the whole scene, since the organist isn't going to ever move properly again anyway.

 

I have a feeling they will make the station more cartoony and child friendly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really hope this is a refurbishment for the better and not the worse. The ride is so unique and I really hope it doesn't lose that uniqueness.

I do know that they have wanted to replace the speaker system for a few years (the back-end of it is relatively new but the speakers themselves are getting fairly old now). I really wish they'd put the chandeliers back up, the room feels so empty without them. It's not out of the question since they've still got them tucked away at the end of the station although I imagine it wouldn't be cheap.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, Nosferatu said:

I suppose they could just remove the whole scene, since the organist isn't going to ever move properly again anyway.

Who says it can never move again?

 I have no idea about the music. Bit strange to change such an iconic track unless it's going to be a reproduction or they have some kind of new vision in mind.

Yeah if they don't finally fix the sound in there then a new music track is going to be pointless!
 

20 hours ago, EpicSmatty said:

The ride is so unique and I really hope it doesn't lose that uniqueness.

Let's be honest though, everything that made Vampire brilliant has long gone. It's just an empty box now with an organ at one end and an average coaster. I loved Vampire to bits but it's had all the fun chiselled away (thinking if I were a kid going on it today).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Even missing the ride’s peak years by some considerable margin, I have noticed the station’s standards slip considerably from my first ever visit in 2006.

 

Back then, the chandeliers were still hanging, with a better lighting package, not to mention a noticeably better quality of theming, audio and atmosphere.  Oh and train service too, but let’s forget that for now. 
 

I’ll wait until opening to see if the station has changed (and how), but who knows what will happen and what they may have done. Must admit, the idea of the original theme being replaced does concern me, especially as I consider much of Graham Smart’s park music to be masterpieces.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, SteveJ said:

Let's be honest though, everything that made Vampire brilliant has long gone. It's just an empty box now with an organ at one end and an average coaster. I loved Vampire to bits but it's had all the fun chiselled away (thinking if I were a kid going on it today).

During my time working on there I found (surprisingly) some people were still impressed with the station, I guess it must be the scale of it is so unusual in the UK. While a lot of what made it what it is has gone I would hope they can at least claw back some of its former glory.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

SteveJ how do you know that Vampire is finally receiving it's_much needed refurbishment? I truly hope this refurbishment restores Vampire to how John Wardley intended the ride and theme to be,three decades ago! In addition to this I hope this revamp enables Vampire to operate with three trains again. To be honest it wouldn't be an impossible request to deliver as Vampire previously operated with three train's. "With the Vampire hopefully being restored to its former glory as well as all the other refurbishment work going on around the park,I can definitely say that 2020 will be the best season Chessington World Of Adventure's has has in it's thirty-three year's of being a Theme park".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/25/2020 at 12:10 PM, Theme Park Fanatic said:

With the Vampire hopefully being restored to its former glory as well as all the other refurbishment work going on around the park

Painting and dressing used happen as part of normal maintenance. It's nothing new and doesnt make this "the best year" Chessington ever had, Vampire's station has been relit and redressed several times in the past. Nobody's even seen what they've done with Vampire yet so wait and see. But it won't be restored to its original level unfortunately.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, StevenVig said:

I love how everyone thinks it's going to be a refurbishment, when in reality it's literally going to just be 30 minutes ERT for AP Holders

Unlikely haha, but after all you did say there was no chance Walking Dead would happen, so there is still hope. 😂

 

Nice to see some optimism from people for a change even if it leads to nothing 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...