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Towers Loving Care

Dave said:
I mentioned the hazard tape to someone and they said it was already there before the TLC and that they had just replaced some that had fallen down and dusted it all. I thought "nah" so went and had a look at some old photos and they are right the hazard tape was already there (dunno if they have added more) but check out the TS behind the scenes gallery (can't link as on phone).

Amazing what we don't notice.
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I've just had a look and there was indeed hazard tape before. However it was used more sparingly than it has been this time around; I do feel they have gone slightly over the top with it meaning that it draws too much attention to itself. I have no doubt that the intentions were good though so I hope that the TLC team see this as constructive feedback!

:)
 
Rob said:
I've just had a look and there was indeed hazard tape before. However it was used more sparingly than it has been this time around; I do feel they have gone slightly over the top with it meaning that it draws too much attention to itself. I have no doubt that the intentions were good though so I hope that the TLC team see this as constructive feedback!

:)
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a lot had fallen down by the time of TLC and was re-hung, no idea if they have added more than was there when it opened though.
 
DiogoJ42 said:
This guy gets it.



They aren't the only ones. When BBC News moved to Broadcasting House, the lighting budget could be boiled down to "You can have as much unlimited licence payer's money for as many LED lamps as you like.... but tungsten is banned." This led to news.... freakin' NEWS... buying a load of high end moving heads that they have NEVER USED, just because they could.
The LED lamps they were given to use as keys all died within a few months, and ended up being replaced with good old tungsten.

Unfortunately LEDs are the new fashion. Companies love them because they save money while enabling them to boast about how they are saving the planet. People who actually understand light, on the other hand, know that as in any field, you use the right tool for the right job.
LEDs are great for big, uncontrolled splats of colour, or twinkly things far away. But they are not a replacement for every bloody lighting fixture under the sun!
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I don't work in lighting, but I do work in TV and where I work we are pushing more and more towards LED lighting. Things seem to be moving pretty quickly, the lamps we've got at the moment look a lot better than the cutting edge stuff from only two or three years ago, but equally I've seen from lighting tests that for every good fixture, there are a load of crap ones!

I'm sure Towers have bought something cheap, that will probably be fading by the end of the season.
 
DiogoJ42 said:
Oh they are getting better (Try the ETC Source 4 HD for an acceptable keylight). But nothing will ever beat proper tungsten for me.
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Thats sounds like a line that would be in the you know your old when..... thread :D
 
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I really enjoy the new Heritage music. There were times when I felt like I was walking in a completely unfamiliar place, its funny how music can completely change the atmosphere.

That being said, I HATE the music around Oblivions drop. It's a mish mash of a few seconds of the old BH music, some tune I'm unfamiliar with, and the Oblivion theme interspersed with random announcements. The way it's done reminds me of music at a funfair. Get rid of the music and just keep the annoucements! It is however nice to hear the old "Don't look down" message again every few minutes.


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jmc said:
That being said, I HATE the music around Oblivions drop. It's a mish mash of a few seconds of the old BH music, some tune I'm unfamiliar with, and the Oblivion theme interspersed with random announcements. The way it's done reminds me of music at a funfair. Get rid of the music and just keep the annoucements! It is however nice to hear the old "Don't look down" message again every few minutes.
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I quite like the Oblivion audio, as the announcements make me jump! And I think the black hole music gives X-Sector some atmosphere when The Smiler is down!
 
To be honest I am very tired of when parks repurpose old music, or stick a station theme outside, then edit them together on a loop like a playlist. Loops like that is not themed entertainment, that is background music for the sake of it, Oblivion doesn't need that. Think about context, and think from a new guest's perspective. :)

The teams behind this may think theyre valiantly boosting the theme, but they're objectively only serving to cheapen the feeling and make it more disjointed by doing that. Audio need to be designed with a purpose to have a real effect. For Oblivion it should have been a soundscape or ambiance only, something very subtle & characteristic in sound - or just silence but for the raw powerful sound of the ride.

Also the Black Hole is gone, it's music was great yes but it was never designed to go around Oblivion's drop. Oblivion's music is the identity of the station only. Music aint really a commodity you can just repurpose anywhere you fancy and adopt a 'more more more' approach. A lot of parks get carried away with 'nods' to old ride music for fans too, by splicing it in here and there. Why?

It's something Disney also overdo these days I think, loudly spreading their theme tunes everywhere like a big in-joke and creating an inescapable soup of music. It isn't necessary or actually in touch with a first time guest's experience, it themes 'at' them rather than creating an environment to step into and explore for themselves. :)
 
I like the music around the park, there are some areas like oblivions drop that could do with a bit of tweaking.

I hope they now walk the park now guests are there and see how it work with the areas theming.

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I also like the new music around the park and Oblivion area. Great to hear some of the old audio and especially the "Dont Look Down" bit.
 
You are jumping straight to the "most guests don't notice" card and so seemingly have no idea about what music does for a park then. This is not "twittering on", this is just how design works - good thing you presumably don't have career in construction or architecture where a thousand factors have to be closely considered, about how other people will respond to a design, in order to bring a project together.

Of course most guests won't "notice" the way you put it, but it creates an atmosphere for every visitor consciously or not, and a playlist of edited old ride music played as audio 'theming' is not what should be encouraged. It quite obviously is a cheap method and soon looped park music will be pretty much everywhere. This is all directly a part of the guest's impression of their day, absolutely.

I have worked in theme park technical entertainments departments and produced audio designs for various creative projects. Do you mean to come across arrogant and argumentative whenever I make a post? Maybe do yourself a favour and block my posts if you don't want to accept any different point of view, you're not being very constructive. :)
 
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I get your point however the audio changes at Towers over the last 12 months have done nothing but enhance the overall atmosphere in the park. There is nothing worse than standing in an area of a theme park on a quiet day and hearing only silence with the odd scream or coaster noise once every couple of minutes.

Maybe some of it is not as good as it can be but they are clearly trying to make vast improvements. Last year they played the pre-2016 Towers Street music in Fountain Square but the introduction of the Heritage soundtrack (albeit only 6 minutes of it at present) is an improvement. I know that new audio for other areas of the park is being worked on as well.

Music provokes emotion in all sorts of forms. Towers aren't getting it all right but on the whole it is very positive.

:)
 
Again, I find it amazing that Towers make an effort to enhance the guest experience by adding speakers here and there, new music, some old mixed up music, and yet people still complain. The heritage music I think it an excellent addition to the park, as is the music around Oblivion which was previously silent.

I actually felt a lot more positive this opening day (ride breakdowns aside) from an atmosphere point of view than I did previous opening days!
 
Efteling is a good comparison I'd say, as a fair few of their long winding paths between areas have no music at all, meaning you can just enjoy the location and mostly silence...

You do need quiet areas of a park, adding sounds/music to fill 'empty space' can be detrimental to atmosphere as much as enhance things...
 
Interesting points ElectricBill you make. I get where you're coming from but X-Sector is a tricky one in my view.

X-Sector has had its identity changed majorly since its original form in 1998. The Smiler is such an intimidating and monstrous idea that when it was introduced, it overpowered X-Sector as a whole. It achieved its aim but in the process, transformed the whole of X-Sector - not just the atmosphere but the back-story too. With the loud effects and visuals from the marmaliser and the area music suddenly Oblivion's identity lost its point. The point of the sound design was to play on and with the natural sounds and ambience from the coaster itself, but that is now completely drowned out by the Smiler. The queuing experience was designed for the crowds back then with the intimidation intensifying the nearer they got to the station, random effects and sounds along with the lift hill, the screams and the roar of the coaster. That is exactly what the sound design of Oblivion got so right, X-Sector was Oblivion - Blackhole had no sound bleed so the area was set up for perfect intimidation purely from Oblivion. However now, we have an audio battle between the two. I know you say about sticking a station theme outside, but the Oblivion set-up could still work if The Smiler's audio outside was in-line with its station track...it would allow X-Sector to once again be about ambience and let the coasters layer their sound on top of the track.

Nowadays, Oblivion needs more in-your-face SFX and to be able to establish its own identity separate from the Smiler. Bringing back the don't look down effect has been a great addition and one that's been sorely missed. Whilst I understand about the random mix tape feel, the announcements certainly work. I think I'd keep the "Don't look down" but intersperse it with ticking and heartbeats etc and create a beat from these sounds. Oblivion needs audio because X-Sector is now simply too loud for the original sound design to be effective, it's sad but true. You may indeed define the audio as theming, but that theming has to now morph and work with the area we now have. When the Smiler is down and show mode is off, people complain that X Sector has lost it's atmosphere...this is the problem. For years we've had the imposing Oblivion rule the sound of the area but now that has completely shifted.

When it comes to the Heritage track I really welcome the move. I'm glad that nearly all the paths are audio rich - it sets up for great immersion, it feels like an experience and I've wanted the Towers area to have its own track for seasons. The old TS soundtrack around fountain square didn't work so I'm glad they addressed this. Let's remember, just like Thorpe's audio so far, we've only got short demos for the moment and the final versions along with other soundtracks will be phased in across the season.
 
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