Park Music

[Mega-Lite]

The IMAscore era of Thorpe's on park soundtracks is lazy, repetitive, uninspired and bland, quite why anyone would want to sit down and listen to them off park is beyond me.

 

As for if the CD will get put on iTunes, I very much doubt it. I waited months for the Liseberg CD to go up, it never did. Very few IMAscore CDs are on iTunes, you'd be very lucky.

[JoshC.]

This is very much a response to the way the industry is going as well.  Many parks sell their audio now (not just ones who have IMA score, but others like Efteling and older Movie Park Germany stuff for example), and as it happens more, the more fans - and the public - will come to want and expect it.  

 

There is obviously an argument to be made that parks need to make sure the audio sounds good in the park first, and I know some have had issues with that (either by just not liking the music or because of technical stuff that I won't pretend to know anything about or notice).  Hopefully we won't see things go too far to the commercial side and instead have it treated as a bonus thing for those who enjoy the music (sort of like how Phantasialand are doing it), but tone will tell.

 

It's good to see a lot of tracks on there, and 2 CDs worth too.  Hopefully it's not the end of the IMA score conversions, as there's still parts which could do with better audio (Swarm and Saw in particular, but things like Storm Surge and Rumba could benefit too if the park choose to go all out).  I enjoy the new music the park is getting, and I'm a sucker for a CD..

[Benin]

2 hours ago, Mega-Lite said:

The IMAscore era of Thorpe's on park soundtracks is lazy, repetitive, uninspired and bland, quite why anyone would want to sit down and listen to them off park is beyond me.

 

As for if the CD will get put on iTunes, I very much doubt it. I waited months for the Liseberg CD to go up, it never did. Very few IMAscore CDs are on iTunes, you'd be very lucky.

 

Toverland and Chiapas stuff is on Spotify, it must be a rights thing...

[yeah]

12 hours ago, Whatever said:

In general, I FAR preferred the old main thorpe theme, as barely recognised as it was. It was used in this promo video a few years back:
 

 

I can see why they've got rid of that though - wasn't it originally (and still is) the Quantum theme? I can see Thorpe wanting an actual entrance theme instead of the music from one of their smaller flat rides.

 

Say what you want about the music itself, but it's obvious what Thorpe want to do with their music, and it's not like it isn't working. I think I've posted it on here before but after we left, my dad was humming the entrance tune for about a week, and I even heard some of my friends singing it. And none of those have any interest in theme park music at all. In fact, I asked one of them what their favourite soundtrack was before this season and he replied "the music in KFC".

[StevenVig]

4 hours ago, Mega-Lite said:

The IMAscore era of Thorpe's on park soundtracks is lazy, repetitive, uninspired and bland, quite why anyone would want to sit down and listen to them off park is beyond me.

 

As for if the CD will get put on iTunes, I very much doubt it. I waited months for the Liseberg CD to go up, it never did. Very few IMAscore CDs are on iTunes, you'd be very lucky.

I bet you still buy it though

[Mega-Lite]

16 minutes ago, StevenVig said:

I bet you still buy it though

I've got much better things to do with my money, for example burning it.

[ProudToServe]

16 minutes ago, Mega-Lite said:

I've got much better things to do with my money, for example burning it.

you should think about investing it into something, rather than burning it...

14 hours ago, Whatever said:

 

I was sad to see the OG Colossus and now the OG Inferno tracks go, but I think they've done an alright job with the new ones and I'm very very glad that they're similar to their predecessors. It's a bit stupid that they've essentially paid IMAScore to redo something that was already great and didn't need fixing.

 

Inferno's exists still 

[Marhelorpe]

I know in previous posts I have been critical of some of this new audio being a little too repetitive in some areas with using the new 'island theme' too much, as well as it not suiting certain attractions. Whilst I still stand by that, it's brilliant to see a release finally where this audio can now be properly listened to, especially with the Port & Basecamp tracks which can be quite hard to hear in/around the dome at the park.

This is something I never expected would happen in all honesty given how all of Merlin's audio at UK parks for the most part between 2012 and now has remained unobtainable, so this was quite a pleasant surprise when announced yesterday and is a very welcome move by me, especially with Big Top released finally!

[SteveJ]

17 hours ago, StevenVig said:

This is IMAScore selling the music, not Merlin. So Merlin make no profit from it.

That's not how theme park music is commisioned or contracted, it's usually always bought outright by the parks, so IMAscore likely own no (or little) aspect of the music. Unless this is a new deal where they've retained the sales rights to the music and its simply on contract to Merlin. Either way, Merlin will have come to an arrangement for them to be allowed to sell it, and will be receiving significant royalties from the sales of these CDs, because it's their intellectual property.

 

Quote

16 hours ago, Terry Terry said:

I’m very glad that theme park soundtracks are becoming much more recognised as in the past they didn’t appear to be too big a deal.

That’s probably because enthusiasts were the only people that really cared about them (and the majority of theme park visitors are GP).

 

That's just not true, the public respond very well to themed audio, they just don't get hooked on it and want to listen to it at home. If you watched a movie with no musical score or a poor score, it would obviously feel flat and have no atmosphere. But you wouldnt necessarily want to go home and immediately buy the movie soundtrack, you don't have to be a film enthusiast to enjoy the effect. This "only enthusiasts care" attitude much of the industry has today is a complete misunderstanding.

 

Ride soundtracks were always a big deal in the past, but the standard dropped in the mid 2000s in the UK, just because parks weren't commisioning much for a while.

[Marc]

Am real happy they’ve released this - obviously it’s all down to personal preference, everyone likes different things but it’s good to see such a great reaction to it going on sale across social media, looking forward to it arriving now!

[CharlieN]

My main issue is that I don’t really think any of the soundtrack is particularly good. It’s all just so bland. Nemesis Inferno and Colossus had the best soundtracks in England if you ask me - but now they are wishy washy bland typical

Imascore.

 

Enthusiasts seem to praise imascore like they are the messiah which I really can’t understand. I love theme park audio, and my personal favourites are all composed by single composers who have clearly taken care in making an intellectual, atmospheric piece that uses a real orchestra. These pieces seem to have so much more of a purpose than the drab commercialised imascore numbers.

 

Also, Thorpe Park Twitter: I usually love the banterous persona but they seem to think that releasing a CD has completely changed everything and re-written their underperforming year. It’s a CD, nothing more.

[Marc]

14 minutes ago, CharlieN said:

Also, Thorpe Park Twitter: I usually love the banterous persona but they seem to think that releasing a CD has completely changed everything and re-written their underperforming year. It’s a CD, nothing more.

I don't think they've claimed such a thing  Just drawing attention to a new release in the middle of winter when not much else is going on!  

[CharlieN]

^Well, no of course they didn’t explicitly claim such a thing, I was just utilising my creative liberty.

 

Memes like this illustrate what I’m saying. And I know it’s light hearted ‘banter’ but like I said, it’s a CD, nothing more.

 

[Mega-Lite]

1 hour ago, CharlieN said:

Enthusiasts seem to praise imascore like they are the messiah which I really can’t understand.

I too get frustrated at this notion IMAscore are the be all end all in the themed attraction soundtrack market.

 

They have pulled off some really great stuff don't get me wrong, but for the most part it's all a bit samey and underwhelming.

 

Too many people see, "IMAscore are involved" and get over excited, whereas my reaction these days is, "oh, again?" and I know almost exactly what it's going to sound like before I even hear the teaser.

 

You're joking with that being an official post on twitter right? I know I'm old and miserable but that's just awful.

[CharlieN]

11 minutes ago, Mega-Lite said:

I too get frustrated at this notion IMAscore are the be all end all in the themed attraction soundtrack market.

 

They have pulled off some really great stuff don't get me wrong, but for the most part it's all a bit samey and underwhelming.

 

Too many people see, "IMAscore are involved" and get over excited, whereas my reaction these days is, "oh, again?" and I know almost exactly what it's going to sound like before I even hear the teaser.

 

You're joking with that being an official post on twitter right? I know I'm old and miserable but that's just awful.

Nope it’s genuine. To the distresss of my soul of course. 

 

And it’s times like this where I wait for Jerry Goldsmith to be resurrected... that man had more talent than all the imascore staff put together.

 

 

[JoshC.]

1 hour ago, CharlieN said:

Enthusiasts seem to praise imascore like they are the messiah which I really can’t understand. I love theme park audio, and my personal favourites are all composed by single composers who have clearly taken care in making an intellectual, atmospheric piece that uses a real orchestra. These pieces seem to have so much more of a purpose than the drab commercialised imascore numbers.

 

32 minutes ago, Mega-Lite said:

I too get frustrated at this notion IMAscore are the be all end all in the themed attraction soundtrack market.

 

They have pulled off some really great stuff don't get me wrong, but for the most part it's all a bit samey and underwhelming.

 

Too many people see, "IMAscore are involved" and get over excited, whereas my reaction these days is, "oh, again?" and I know almost exactly what it's going to sound like before I even hear the teaser.

 

IMA score have become a brand in their own right now; in a way, becoming the B&M or John Wardley of audio.  What they produce might not always be the best, but they've got a reputation and proven track record for producing good things, and making sure that we're getting something that has had effort and thought put into it.  It's sort of a safe bet and reassurance that we'll get something at least half-way decent.  And normally, they produce stuff which people respond to well and enjoy both in and out of context, which is win win really.

 

As I've said earlier, it's partly the way the industry is heading.  People are seeing audio more and more as a piece of merchandise and a way to either link back to their visit(s), or for more hardcore people to enjoy as something to just listen to back home.  IMA score are one of the best at the moment who create music which works well on park, whilst also being easily enjoyed out of context, which not only fits with what people want, but makes people want it more.  

 

 

[SteveJ]

Posters above arent wrong about IMAscore's composing style either, they tend to use preset MIDI beds and sequences with cliched tunes added over the top, and go for an impressively glossy (for theme parks) but still very cliched sound (which is technically very easy to do these days with the right software).

 

They're a brand first and composers second, they have the resources to do big orchestras and high production but not the uniqueness. If they do have the talent, they certainly prefer to sell the same quick, big sound over and over to UK parks. It's clearly what Merlin parks want and it's part of a bigger focus of brands over product quality.

 

I loved The Smiler score when I first heard it, it was so fresh and captured the awesome edge of that ride's theme, but then when I stood in the concrete queue for hours and heard that tacky "Ha ha ha" circus chorus, it really hammered it too far on the nose. The public often look visibly bored with it by the hour mark. Since then they've repeated the formula more and more.

 

Digital music is now SO easy to do with the right set of tech, that things were always going to end up marketing & brand led, unfortunately. There are many freelance composers who could produce the same or a better sound than IMAscore, but IMAscore have found a niche to inhabit in the theme park industry and obviously have very persuasive sales reps.

 

There was a lot more atmosphere and charm in the older composers, but it was more effective while on park, whereas parks today seem to want the music more for promo videos, etc.

 

We'll never get a Hex again, or even a classic fun sound like Prof Burp's. Colossus' theme still used a preset drum loop, but it was dynamic track, a  unique feel for the ride and great melody. The redo of Colossus sounds glossier produced but the only good parts are those lifted from the original melody.

[TPC]

I really want the album but the price of £20 is unecessarily high, considering that the old soundtracks could be found on YouTube for free, and there's only 7 main areas/ attractions which have the music on the album. Hmm, to buy or to not to buy

[Marc]

10 minutes ago, TPC said:

I really want the album but the price of £20 is unecessarily high, considering that the old soundtracks could be found on YouTube for free, and there's only 7 main areas/ attractions which have the music on the album. Hmm, to buy or to not to buy

 Could try your luck and enter the competition to win one over on our facebook page!

 

https://www.facebook.com/thorpeparkmania/

[StevenVig]

Or just wait for it to be ripped and uploaded to YouTube, which is inevitable 

[ThemeParkML]

IMAscore has confirmed that there will be no digital release of the new CD on iTunes or Spotify. However, it will be interesting to see if the park does decide to sell the CDs in the Island shop.

[Coaster]

I quite like some of Thorpe's new audio for this year, especially the recurring motif which I think works well in the environment.

 

The issue I have is when existing park music is unnecessarily replaced with very similar sounding music, I don't see why every piece of music in the park needs to be copied and pasted by IMAScore as it defeats the point of having very different sounds and sights throughout the park.

 

It's also a shame when the chilled out "island" theme they're going for is undermined by having every ride themed to an abandoned warehouse - I'll miss the music they added to X for this year!

 

Personally I have no issue with parks selling copies of their audio, as long as they continue writing/purchasing it with the area of the park in mind rather than how it will sound on a CD.

[Benin]

15 hours ago, ThemeParkML said:

IMAscore has confirmed that there will be no digital release of the new CD on iTunes or Spotify. However, it will be interesting to see if the park does decide to sell the CDs in the Island shop.

 

Wonder what the decision is behind this, especially more confusing given there's Chiapas but no Klugheim on Spotify...

[ProudToServe]

On 14/12/2017 at 10:36 AM, StevenVig said:

Or just wait for it to be ripped and uploaded to YouTube, which is inevitable 

then quickly removed

15 hours ago, Coaster said:

It's also a shame when the chilled out "island" theme they're going for is undermined by having every ride themed to an abandoned warehouse - I'll miss the music they added to X for this year!

 

it's on the CD

[ThemeParkML]

7 hours ago, Benin said:

 

Wonder what the decision is behind this, especially more confusing given there's Chiapas but no Klugheim on Spotify...

Hopefully, this image should answer your question.