DCA Music

Does anyone have the FULL loop for Paradise Pier?  I have half of it (the one that has "California Girls" and "Surfin' U.S.A."), but I'm looking for the other half that has "California Sun."  Anyone?  Thanks!
 
Aren't those needle-drop commercially available music?
http://www.mousebits.com/smf/index.php?topic=2810.msg18034#msg18034 will give the titles as listed on magicmusicloops.
As I said there, I don't know if these are the actual releases from the likes of the Beach Boys or not (never been there) but, if they are, they won't be available here as they can still be bought.
If they are not and are made especially for the loop, I would have thought they would have been uploaded if available.
 
I believe Paradise Pier's BGM is actually puff-organ-ish versions of CA-themed songs, made specifically for the area.
I have a track labeled as being the "complete" Paradise Pier loop that runs 61:31, but it's littered with so much skipping that about 50% of the audio is missing in big chunks. :-\
It was uploaded here in the past but was taken down because the same torrent contained needle-drop material from Sunshine Plaza.
 
Yes, I noticed that it was here at one time.
Are the needle drop tracks part of the actual loop or just added to a fan-made compilation ?
I had a listen to  a few bits of the loop on another site via a link from Visionsfantastic (very short clip) so I understand the "puff-organish" bit ;D
If it was available and doesn't contain any needle drops, I wonder why it hasn't resurfaced.
Shame horizons doesn't cover DCA.
I did notice that RBs site has them all as "unavailable" (points to them being park music only) and rather comforting to note that he didn't point to the Beach Boy on Amazon. He's slipping ;D
 
The needle drop things that were in the torrent were from the loop for Sunshine Plaza, the main entrance area, which was packaged in with the Paradise Pier track.
I'd like to see the Paradise Pier track re-uploaded sometime ... but a working version. Dunno if such a thing exists out there. :(
I'd wager a guess that the broken-ness of it is at least part of the reason it's not on here again, although it's equally possible (maybe even more likely) that people have just forgotten about it. :p
I have the "California Girls" track from it (first track in the loop) from a different torrent as a fully working version. It's the only individual track I have though. :(
 
PL-7764 said:
I have a track labeled as being the "complete" Paradise Pier loop that runs 61:31, but it's littered with so much skipping that about 50% of the audio is missing in big chunks. :-\

That's weird, the entire file plays fine for me in Winamp v5.3.1.

According to this posting, CAScreaminDude says he assembled that loop from what I *think* are source tracks from the Boardwalk loop and the King Triton's Carousel loop.  The loop is not totally accurate because the Carousel version of the tracks differ slightly from the Boardwalk version of the same tracks, as he points out in some other posting that I can't find right now.

eyore said:
If it was available and doesn't contain any needle drops, I wonder why it hasn't resurfaced.

I thought only submarines and cetaceans resurfaced ;D.
Sorry, I still find the jargon amusing <smack>.  Besides, the above statement is incorrect since there are other creatures that also dive into the water.

My induction recording has more bass than that file but that's how it sounded live as well.  I'll need to do a couple of simple edits so the loop starts with the proper track and has the correct length.  Then I'll upload it to a filesharing site.  Which file format would be good - the original WAV, FLAC, or MP3?  What can I say, I like to offer people a choice when possible :D.

BTW, should this topic be moved to a more appropriate forum. such as "Requests" or "The Mouse in the West"?
 
I'd love to hear this induction recording of the Pier. Some Disney-philes have begun looking at me crazily when I mention that the Pier and Carousel are two separate loops...

I must admit I've always been partial to mp3s. They just make things so much easier...
 
pixelated said:
That's weird, the entire file plays fine for me in Winamp v5.3.1.

Shortly after I made my last post in this thread I remembered that this torrent in particular was one that gave me trouble with downloading a number of times, so it's very possible I only got a few pieces of the file from the torrent (albeit enough to have it labeled with the artist/album info, which is usually a sign to me that something's finished downloading).

I'd love to have the fully working version of the file, accurate or not, if you could by any chance get it to me. I just like that sound. ;D Can't wait to hear your recording too. I'm not too biased in terms of the file format, but knowing me it will be MP3 on my computer by the time I'm satisfied with it, so that would save me some time ... :p

Now I'm curious about the variations mentioned in the thread you linked to ... I knew about the Jumpin' Jellyfish one, but I didn't notice anything different around the Zephyr Rockets and haven't been on the Orange Stinger before so I haven't heard those. Gotta check it out if they've got the different versions going when I go in April (the only reason they wouldn't being their ongoing mega-remodel).
 
And, presumably, it could be uploaded here afterwards?
If the needle drops are not there, that should be OK, No?
 
PL-7764 said:
...I didn't notice anything different around the Zephyr Rockets...
The Zephyr area has more tremulant sounding organ instrumentation (less band organ, more "rock" pipe organ), tubular bells (as opposed to warm bells or triangle), theremin (as opposed to band organ high register pipes: tibia), synth clari, and a bit of reverbed glock.

Here's a quick example (live): http://www.visionsfantastic.com/CASD/I%20Get%20Around%20(GZ).mp3
and another (live): http://www.visionsfantastic.com/CASD/Happy%20Together%20(GZ).mp3

Both selections, as well as several other live recordings of GZ music, play on VF Radio.
 
Neat stuff! :) Makes me want the whole loop now though. :p

I'll definitely be listening for the differences this trip if the music's going. Still hoping that loop from the torrent can be uploaded by someone ...
 
Hopefully pixilated will be able to do the edit and post it up for us and we'll get it posted here as a torrent.
Nobody took the bait (yes, sorry, pun on that previous joke about oceanic fauna) about it not being allowed so we watch this space ;D
 
I'm pretty sure the Paradise Pier loop is not needle-drop.  If it is, I want that CD! ;D  I really like the overall sound of the loop and I'm probably not the only one.  I would guess that if the loop was based on existing recordings, the tracks would have been used by someone else besides Disney in some other public area like a fair, carnival, mall, etc. but that doesn't seem to be the case.  It seems to be unique to Disney.  And I could just as easily be dead wrong :D.

Anyway, here's the link to the edited recording of the DCA Paradise Pier Boardwalk BGM loop:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/l0x77x

It's a 320 kbps CBR MP3 file and the total loop length is 1:02:08.768.
The only processing I did was to increase the volume by 2.5 dB.  The noise floor was very good at -41 dB or below so noise reduction was not necessary but there is definitely hiss if you listen through headphones.  This recording has more bass than CAScreaminDude's reconstructed version of the loop so you may want to re-equalize the recording to "brighten" it so it's a better match to the reconstructed loop.  A suggestion for anyone who does process the recording: it would be great if you put a short summary of what you did in the comment section of the MP3 file's header.  That way, there is a log of audio changes to the file.  I already put my +2.5 db level change in the comment.  Thanks!

And of course anyone with upload privileges may make a torrent of this recording.  I think that's it; the 't's have been crossed and the 'i's have been dotted.

EDIT: It seems I'm a pilot that relied only on the cockpit instruments and forgot to look out the window :D.  My recording has a definite hiss in it if you listen to it through headphones.
 
Awesome! Thanks! :D

I balanced out the treble/bass a bit, and except for the constant underlying hiss (which I guess is near-unavoidable in a recording like this, and to be honest doesn't bug me all that much) it sounds great. Thanks again! :)

EDIT: I've just figured out how to remove some tape hiss in Sony Sound Forge Audio Studio 9, but it comes at the expense of a small bit of treble data (but a very impressively small bit). Working on getting the hiss out here without killing the glockenspiel-type sound too much ...

Does anyone know if there is any file out there, source or recorded, that has the other tracks not included in this version of the loop? I'd still like to hear some of the ones that were in the torrent file and not here, if anyone has them ...
 
Oh yeah, *that* hiss :-[.  I never listened to this recording through headphones until now, just through my computer speakers, so I didn't notice it.  I only looked at the level of the hum in the silent gaps between tracks and saw how low it was.  That'll teach me to always do the simple quality check of listening through headphones at least once. ::)  I did a quick test pass through Izotope RX Denoiser [algorithm A (realtime), noise reduction = 12 dB, smoothing = 5] and it seemed to remove the hiss without adding artifacts or munching the treble tones.

EDIT: I can run the whole recording through Izotope and upload that new version to sendspace, leaving the first version in place for those who don't mind the hiss or want to process the recording themselves.
 
PL-7764 said:
EDIT: I've just figured out how to remove some tape hiss in Sony Sound Forge Audio Studio 9, but it comes at the expense of a small bit of treble data (but a very impressively small bit). Working on getting the hiss out here without killing the glockenspiel-type sound too much ..
I have SF... what's your tip?  ;D Does it involve Graphic EQ, because I've been trying to play around with that (when I come up with something, I'll let you all know.

pixielated:Thank you SO MUCH for your great track! AWESOME to have the REAL loop. I hear (certainly quite noticeable LOL!) what you mean about the bassish sound you have, which is great, you just need some treble, which shouldn't be hard to put it post production. I'm sure the data is already there within the mp3 file, I'll just do some playing around with it, and see what I come up with, let you know any sound quality edits I make.
 
CAScreaminDude said:
I have SF... what's your tip?  ;D Does it involve Graphic EQ, because I've been trying to play around with that (when I come up with something, I'll let you all know.

Tape hiss removal involves the "Audio restoration" tool under "Tools." The bottom slider will have the biggest effect on hiss, but the upper ones affect what kind of effect it will have. I've discovered that what it does the most (under my parameters I've set for it anyway) is remove the higher, sharper parts of the hiss, making it more of a mid-range-focused sound and thus much less noticeable. It'll still be there, most obviously during silences, but it'll be much less noticeable when music is going.

Unfortunately whatever song-used frequencies are above the one specified by the "Affect frequencies above ..." box will be compromised. :( If you wanna try for yourself though, I find that setting said box to ~4,000 Hz has the most desirable hiss-removal-to-sound-destruction ratio. Gets rid of the sharpest parts of the hiss, but destroys the glockenspiel as a compromise.

I also have a Graphic EQ setting I found works just right for restoring the whole recording if you want to use it for yourself:

 
Very nice suggestions, thanks. I decided to go with two separate Graphic EQ applications, the first identical to yours, and a second which keeps all else at 0.0, but drops 15k to -Inf. It cuts on the hissing without affecting the glock much at all, seeing as ~4k is being cut in any case with the audio/vinyl restoration. If you go into the Graphic EQ envelope (as opposed to the 10 band view on your display), you can manually affect the frequencies between 4 kHz - 15 kHz (and inf) however you wish, and create a nice slope downward as opposed to a rough drop off at the 4K level. I added a similar audio/vinyl restoration at the end, but I moved the noise floor to 70dB to try and get more of a reduction. The glock loss isn't all that great to begin with, not when you compare it to the Triton mp3s anyway. Actually, I really feel embarrassed to say, but I feel like playing around with the in-house Windows Media Player (10) effects, namely WMP's Graphic EQ, "Quiet Mode," and SRS WOW effects, produces results that are even on par with Sound Forge.

pixielated, forgive me if you've already answered this, but, how did you ever manage to record this loop?
 
pixielated, forgive me if you've already answered this, but, how did you ever manage to record this loop?

On the bridge/walkway between Ariel's Grotto restaurant and the circular hub in front of the former Golden Dreams theater (i.e., where they put the DCA Christmas tree), there are speakers that play the loop which are very, very accessible.  They are set into the concrete pillars under each lampost at roughly shin-level, behind a coarse square grill.  The hard part is having to stand around for over an hour :D.
 
I'm a little more than excited over this loop.
Apart from Disney, one of my interests has, for many years, been mechanical music.
This loop sounds very much like the music of the European barrel organ. Now these are not the ones played by a man with a monkey on his shoulder but HUGE things with drums, glockenspiels etc built into them (and they actually play) - a much more advanced machine than those found on a carousel and very sophisticated although still using the sheets with holes cut in them.
see the pic under the organ pipes here
http://www.chycor.co.uk/tourism/paul-corin-music/
I'm pretty sure that this music has been recorded from something very similar.
I'm sure there's an interesting history here.
Thank you for this ;D
 
eyore said:
I'm a little more than excited over this loop.
Apart from Disney, one of my interests has, for many years, been mechanical music.
This loop sounds very much like the music of the European barrel organ. Now these are not the ones played by a man with a monkey on his shoulder but HUGE things with drums, glockenspiels etc built into them (and they actually play) - a much more advanced machine than those found on a carousel and very sophisticated although still using the sheets with holes cut in them.
see the pic under the organ pipes here
http://www.chycor.co.uk/tourism/paul-corin-music/
I'm pretty sure that this music has been recorded from something very similar.
I'm sure there's an interesting history here.
Thank you for this ;D
Now to find just which one (PS: It uses the same samples that they made the NEW Fantasyland "Dumbo" loop with)... I want to say it's a later model in the Wurlitzer family, or possibly a Gavioli, even Mortier. I've pretty much ruled out Welte (manufacturer in the Penny Arcade) and Verbeeck (which have a lovely sound, think the 118 key "Victory")... Now Disney houses a Gavioli behind the Dumbo attraction, but that isn't what is played throughout Fantasyland, since the Fantasyland Dumbo/Casey/Carousel BGM is the digitally sampled Pier-organ. Disney also houses a reproduced Wurlitzer 157 on King Arthur Carousel, but that is not operational as well.

Thanks for your patience, pixelated. It's very well worth it and appreciated. It's just unfortunate there is no 'ground' speaker to speak of in Zephyr/Jelly/Stinger 'lands.' And the Carousel isn't all that easy to access.
 
I'd have guessed the Mortier by the effects (that little "bubbly" sound is typical) but no piano accordion but it has been a few years since I stood by one playing  ;D
I actually have a vinyl LP of mechanical organs like this (sad, or what).
If I can find it I'll try a comparison.
Wurlitzer, I think, tend to use a lot more brass  than wooden pipes.
Gavioli is more fairground and there's afew instruments in the loop I wouldn't expect to find on one but, then again, I have only a small sample to compare with.
For those of you who are not familiar with these things there's a real beauty here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hans_vk/3149634817/
There's a sound file (try the second one) here http://www.swissmusicbox.com/showroom/10/100/Th.Mortier-Antwerpe.html
Not a good comparison but, if you listen carefully, you can hear the "bubbly" pipes in the background although drowned out a little by the metal ones.
 
I ran the recording through Izotope RX Denoiser on the high-quality preset (simple processing: algorithm C, noise reduction 12 dB, smooth 5) and it did reduce the hiss by a good amount.  You can still hear a faint hiss but it's much better than before the processing.  The treble tones seem to be all still there; the glockenspiel sounds intact to my ears.

The link to this second version:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/1latbx
DCA - Paradise Pier Boardwalk loop (induction recording, less hiss).mp3

PL-7764 and CAScreaminDude, can you compare this version against what you've been able to do with Sound Forge as far as reducing the hiss?  I'm curious about the pros and cons of the different approaches we've been taking.  Thanks!
 
I like your new edit, to tell you the truth, after a while, all the recordings with all the different hiss-edits start sounding the same, which means none are all that far off from each other anymore. Thanks, pxltd (PS: I sent you a PM).
 
Wow, it sounds a lot better than what I was able to do. :p Great work there! :)

Can I come to you when I need something de-hissed? ;D (In all seriousness, I do have one track in particular I'd like to hear this done to ... I'll PM it to you if you want to try.)
 
A belated "You're welcome!" to everyone. :D
No requests so far to make a torrent of the recording so I guess that answers eyore's question about why CAScreaminDude's reconstructed loop did not reappear after the original torrent was removed.  Vox populi ;D.
 
Ok, I have asked if this is commercially available and, as far as I can find out from various lists, it isn't and the previous torrent was removed because it included a different area which WAS, - so I'm uploading it. :eek:
I've done as much as I can to ensure that I'm not doing anything naughty.
Of course, if there's a problem, I'll remove it at once. :D
Give me a while to get the gray cells to remember how to do this ;D

Edit:
OK, it's uploaded.
Please download it ASAP as I have limited time to seed at the moment.
 
A very BIG thank you to eyore for making the torrent and seeding it!  As I write this, it's been downloaded 40 times.  I guess if you seed it, they will come :D.  Thanks again!
 
I've wanted go back to this recording and to do a better job of processing it so this seemed to be a convenient excuse/moment. ;D  I ran the recording through the newer iZotope RX 2 and there is much less hiss now.  I also re-equalized the tonal balance using about -6dB bass and +6dB treble.
DCA - Paradise Pier Boardwalk loop, 2001-2010 (induction, fixed, denoised v3, eq'd, trimmed).flac
https://www.mediafire.com/?kdyq9l5co3rkakq
 
pixelated said:
I've wanted go back to this recording and to do a better job of processing it so this seemed to be a convenient excuse/moment. ;D  I ran the recording through the newer iZotope RX 2 and there is much less hiss now.  I also re-equalized the tonal balance using about -6dB bass and +6dB treble.
DCA - Paradise Pier Boardwalk loop, 2001-2010 (induction, fixed, denoised v3, eq'd, trimmed).flac
https://www.mediafire.com/?kdyq9l5co3rkakq

Any particular reason that your loop begins on "I Love L.A.?"  Most of the recordings/listings of this look usually start with "California Girls."

Just curious if you've found that's the song that follows the largest break in the music.  Or if that just happened to be the first song that played when that recording was made.

(I guess the real question should be "is the big space after the last song accurate for what's in the parks?"... as that sort of would answer my question about why the different first track, lol)
 
Yep, there is a 3 sec. silent gap before "I Love L.A." and that the largest gap in the loop.  By comparison, the silent gap before "California Girls" is only 0.56 sec. long.
If you listen carefully to the end of the track before "I Love L.A.", which is "California Sun", you can hear the track just cut out instead of fading out.  It's very easy to see that edit in a spectral display.  There are a few other edits like that in this loop, which is somewhat unusual because most of the edits I've encountered in the various park loops don't have an obvious cut like that.
 
Sweet, thank you.  Seems the other version of the loop I've had was cut up into individual tracks, then reassembled.  Right order, but spacing's off.

Wish I could get copies of the other arrangements but, too late now.
 
RocketRodsXPR said:
Any particular reason that your loop begins on "I Love L.A.?"  Most of the recordings/listings of this look usually start with "California Girls."
Finally remembered to ask this question ;D: are there other actual recordings, live or induction, of this loop or are they reconstructions?
 
As far as live or induction recordings go, I've only seen the ones (one?) posted here.  The other version of the "regular" loop, source unknown, that appears on a lot other sites is in the right order but has way too much space between the songs.  That's also the one that switches every other song between the Pier loop and the Carousel loop.

No idea what's the situation on the other variations (Jellyfish, Zephyr)... I know they're out there on the streaming sites, but I've never been able to listen to them (plus, know the audio would be messed up with cross-fades from whatever else they're playing, so never would bother with 'em)
 
If that was accurately edited based on the actual in-park loop spacing, wonder if they did tweak the spacing at some point after opening... tightened it up a bit.
 
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