Boing Boing'd!
Each year, being a dj, for my brother Brian's birthday, I try to record a set just for him. For the last three years the cd sets have been lots of sunrise trance, techno, heavy hitting stuff, and last year's leaned towards Euro Pop Vocal Trance.
A few weeks before his birthday this year, he and I were talking about music on a long drive. Brian mentioned that one of his most favourite cds was a story-esque presentation which told the adventure of some people outdoors hiking, camping, trudging through the snow. Apparently you could hear the sounds of snow crunching beneath boots, wind blowing through the forest. Brian remarked that he loved being able to dive in, being swept up in another world. The fact that the cd was composed entirely of audio samples ripped from 80s TV commercials and then processed all to hell was even cooler.
That gave me the idea for Brothers Vol 4.
Brian is a Disneyland Nut. He goes a few times a year, has been a Season pass holder, in fact he even has a Flickr site that is nothing but all the different Disney characters giving him noogies:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/briherbst/sets/72157594494726617/
Having had grandparents in southern California growing up, our family had MANY a trip to Disneyland. Like many of you out there today, we're often found grumbling and grrrring about the recent "updates" to the park. Gone is the Swiss Family Treehouse, the Submarine Ride, Mission to Mars, The Atomizer... many warm and happy memories from our childhood.
So it struck me that I could set out to present a musical journey of Disneyland's Golden age for this year's birthday set. Little did I know that the Disney fans of the world are insane!
At first I was able to find some sound clips here and there from some of the old rides... and began finding appropriate ambient tracks which could present the "feel" of the ride I was trying to resurrect (for example, I had about half a dozen wav files from the sub ride layered on top of Sonogram's Heartbeat Submarines). It worked surprisingly well - but on further digging out there in the interweb, bit torrent, you tube, some pay sites, and some hacked fan sites, I eventually found a treasure trove of Disney media.
Over the next few weeks I was able to find historical sound recordings of rides in the past (from each decade), recordings made by stoopidly committed fans made over the years, commercial products that had higher quality clips, and much much more. It took nearly 3,000 clips, records, DVDs, files and samples to create. It took about 72 hours in total to finish. I was able to restore as best I could some old recordings, and of course remove pops and clicks from Disney records I was able to rip.
My goal was simple - present a "Day at Disneyland" reminiscent of Brian and my childhood visits, hitting all the good rides, memories and experiences I could muster. From long extinct attractions, reworked rides, and sometimes a less commercial, corporate sponsor free presentation of some parts of the park, I think it came out great.
So if you have 5 hours to kill, I encourage you to dim the lights, grab a pair of nice comfy earphones, a bottle of wine maybe, and revisit the Happiest Place on Earth.
You will have your own Captain aboard the Submarine ride, Mission control will keep you safe on the Mission to Mars, you'll learn about the sub atomic world in the Atomizer. Walt will talk to you about a few of his hopes and desires. You'll ponder your escape from the doorless and windowless room of the Haunted Mansion, pillage and plunder with the Pirates of the Caribbean, make the world a better place with Captain EO and his crew, and tour the world with the children of It's a Small World. You'll groan at the Jungle Boat Pilot's bad jokes, you'll kick it with old skool Tiki room, look into the eyes of Maya in the Indiana Jones Adventure, enjoy the story of our nation as told in the old Circle Vision 360 theatre. You'll hoot and holler with the Country Bear Jamboree, and get the freaking pants scared off you as you wonder WTF they were thinking when they lured young children into rides like Snow Whites Scary adventure and Mr Toads Wild Ride (in which you go to HELL!). You'll hear the story of Peter Pan, and cool off from the hot day at Great Moments with Mr Lincoln as you hear the Gettysburg Address and the famous LD debate. From the Main Street Electrical parade at night with glow sticks and necklaces abundant, to finally the fantastic Fireworks show grand finale narrated by Julie Andrews... I hope your journey is a good one.
Oh yeah, and if you run into Charlie, Strong Bad, Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117, Anita O. Day, Sonogram, Katamari's Prince, Scott Hardkiss, or Brian Eno along the way, say Hi!
[bittorrent] Good for the Intertubes!
[direct download] if you must...
posted by Cory Doctorow at 02:28:14 AM permalink | Other blogs' comment
A few weeks before his birthday this year, he and I were talking about music on a long drive. Brian mentioned that one of his most favourite cds was a story-esque presentation which told the adventure of some people outdoors hiking, camping, trudging through the snow. Apparently you could hear the sounds of snow crunching beneath boots, wind blowing through the forest. Brian remarked that he loved being able to dive in, being swept up in another world. The fact that the cd was composed entirely of audio samples ripped from 80s TV commercials and then processed all to hell was even cooler.
That gave me the idea for Brothers Vol 4.
Brian is a Disneyland Nut. He goes a few times a year, has been a Season pass holder, in fact he even has a Flickr site that is nothing but all the different Disney characters giving him noogies:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/briherbst/sets/72157594494726617/
Having had grandparents in southern California growing up, our family had MANY a trip to Disneyland. Like many of you out there today, we're often found grumbling and grrrring about the recent "updates" to the park. Gone is the Swiss Family Treehouse, the Submarine Ride, Mission to Mars, The Atomizer... many warm and happy memories from our childhood.
So it struck me that I could set out to present a musical journey of Disneyland's Golden age for this year's birthday set. Little did I know that the Disney fans of the world are insane!
At first I was able to find some sound clips here and there from some of the old rides... and began finding appropriate ambient tracks which could present the "feel" of the ride I was trying to resurrect (for example, I had about half a dozen wav files from the sub ride layered on top of Sonogram's Heartbeat Submarines). It worked surprisingly well - but on further digging out there in the interweb, bit torrent, you tube, some pay sites, and some hacked fan sites, I eventually found a treasure trove of Disney media.
Over the next few weeks I was able to find historical sound recordings of rides in the past (from each decade), recordings made by stoopidly committed fans made over the years, commercial products that had higher quality clips, and much much more. It took nearly 3,000 clips, records, DVDs, files and samples to create. It took about 72 hours in total to finish. I was able to restore as best I could some old recordings, and of course remove pops and clicks from Disney records I was able to rip.
My goal was simple - present a "Day at Disneyland" reminiscent of Brian and my childhood visits, hitting all the good rides, memories and experiences I could muster. From long extinct attractions, reworked rides, and sometimes a less commercial, corporate sponsor free presentation of some parts of the park, I think it came out great.
So if you have 5 hours to kill, I encourage you to dim the lights, grab a pair of nice comfy earphones, a bottle of wine maybe, and revisit the Happiest Place on Earth.
You will have your own Captain aboard the Submarine ride, Mission control will keep you safe on the Mission to Mars, you'll learn about the sub atomic world in the Atomizer. Walt will talk to you about a few of his hopes and desires. You'll ponder your escape from the doorless and windowless room of the Haunted Mansion, pillage and plunder with the Pirates of the Caribbean, make the world a better place with Captain EO and his crew, and tour the world with the children of It's a Small World. You'll groan at the Jungle Boat Pilot's bad jokes, you'll kick it with old skool Tiki room, look into the eyes of Maya in the Indiana Jones Adventure, enjoy the story of our nation as told in the old Circle Vision 360 theatre. You'll hoot and holler with the Country Bear Jamboree, and get the freaking pants scared off you as you wonder WTF they were thinking when they lured young children into rides like Snow Whites Scary adventure and Mr Toads Wild Ride (in which you go to HELL!). You'll hear the story of Peter Pan, and cool off from the hot day at Great Moments with Mr Lincoln as you hear the Gettysburg Address and the famous LD debate. From the Main Street Electrical parade at night with glow sticks and necklaces abundant, to finally the fantastic Fireworks show grand finale narrated by Julie Andrews... I hope your journey is a good one.
Oh yeah, and if you run into Charlie, Strong Bad, Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117, Anita O. Day, Sonogram, Katamari's Prince, Scott Hardkiss, or Brian Eno along the way, say Hi!
[bittorrent] Good for the Intertubes!
[direct download] if you must...
posted by Cory Doctorow at 02:28:14 AM permalink | Other blogs' comment