Re-Imagining the Journey

NEWS FLASH: Everything You’re Listening to Is Wrong!
Ok, well maybe not wrong but certainly incorrect. This was my thought process while dreaming up the Future World Soundtrack Series (FWSS). Whenever I would listen to the soundtrack of a certain attraction or a pavilion’s background music (BGM) I thought it was like I was listening to the actual soundtrack to a film; lots of “dead air”, starting and stopping abruptly, forensic editing, etc. (1.)
I thought that the best way to present the FWSS was to completely ignore the historical context of the subject matter, and speaking as a historian this was in and of itself a radical concept. (2.) I wanted to create a “Listening Experience”. SO WHAT if things were not exactly labeled the way things are in the WDI archives (3.), and who really cares if you play around with the order of things. It’s about the music!

Re-Writing History
Most of the things we acquire from the digital frontier have never been reviewed by a sound engineer. In many cases, they are taken directly from sound boards or WDI demos. These recordings are mixed and scored for very specific systems with highly specialized equalizing for a particular type of industrial speaker. Most of the music you’ll hear from the FWSS was never intended for personal use. In saying that, I’ve endeavored to create the best possible mixes of these beautiful recordings.

Production Notes (highlights only)

DISC ONE
2. Pavilion Atmosphere
The BGM of any location is intentionally designed for the guest to come in or out of at any moment. Musically speaking there is no starting or stopping point. That being said, my favorite part of this loop is found at the very end. The last version of the Magic Journeys theme is, for me, the most visual piece of the score. It triggers my most early memories of EPCOT Center when I first visited in 1986. (Keep in mind I was 5-years-old at the time.)
In order to add more “atmosphere,” I enhanced the BGM with the slightest amount of reverb to give the small orchestra arrangements a little more scale.
10. Electronic Philharmonic
This selection of music contained serious volume leveling issues rendering certain sections frustrating to listen to. Fortunately, I was able to master a few audio smoothing techniques and return (most) of the track to its former glory.
11. Makin’ Memories
Most of the tracks on Disc One require highly specialized noise reduction, this process is delicate and open to interpretation. Too much reduction and you lose vital information, as well as, scope. Too little reduction and you might as well just leave it as is. In order to be truly effective my audio program needs some time that should be dead air luckily I was able to find some on this track.
12. Magic Eye Theater
This track has the most dramatic “before & after” of any other piece on the collection. To date, I consider this track my greatest and most professional re-mastering job. My personal love for this song (and this version of it) was the driving force behind many hours of work for 3 minutes of dreamlike bliss. It was so dramatic that it served as a preview for FWSS launch earlier this year…

13. Magic Journeys
In a perfect world, I would have probably had the music only track for the whole show and done a traditional soundtrack here. Magic Journeys is my favorite Sherman Brothers song, and certainly one of my top ten in Disney History. The version presented on the official albums is wonderful, but as compared to the original it lacks the psychedelic qualities of the post 1970s film. (4.) This track is basically a single mix containing both the beginning and ending title song.

DISC TWO
1. FWSS – Main Theme
This was an immensely fun (and sometimes frustrating) piece to create. As is stated in the liner notes, it begins with the music of TRON (a film that one could consider THE trailer for EPCOT Center). Then it intermixes with the EXXON Logo Music, followed by New Horizons, the Epcot Entrance Fanfare, We’ve Just begun to Dream (Epcot’s Theme Song), and finally Omnisphere from Horizons with the Wormhole sound effects from TRON again. (I like bookends :)
My original plan was include a piece from every pavilion, but sometimes symbolism must be submissive to artistry. In this case, I wanted to convey the darker more serious nature of Epcot’s dynamic and innovative musical tone and you can’t express seriousness with Veggie Veggie, Fruit Fruits.
In the future, I hope to have this (and few other pieces of music like it;) set to video. So, if anyone wants to take a stab at creating the visions in my head let me know!
6. CAPTAIN EO –The JLH Mix (Or Captain EO and the Seven Sources)
This was the hardest mix I’ve ever done. Remember that the purpose of the FWSS is to create listening experiences. Captain EO soundtrack, as is, is extremely visual. The first half of the movie contains no songs. For this project, I knew that I wanted jump right into the music, but I definitely wanted the James Horner prologue (5.). This track took six sources to create. There are 3 in the first two minutes alone! It starts with the highly coveted preshow music, and contains the recently released Michael Jackson version of “We Are Here to Change the World” as well as the instrumental exit version of “Another Part of Me”.
I completed over 10 versions of this remix over a year period, and all to find the right version. What was the hardest part? Correcting Hooter’s mistake! That took months to work out. But wait, where’s the seventh source? Just recently (a few days ago) new recordings of the Preshow music have been made with substantially higher quality.
Oh well, back to the mixing board. Expect a new mix soon. Maybe around July 2nd? …

Formatting for the Future

One of the most challenging aspects of the FWSS was to define a style that would be both consistent and adaptable for subsequent volumes in the series. Many of the concepts initially conceived for one pavilion would not translate well to others. The FWSS is directly inspired by the Walt Disney Treasures and Platinum Edition DVDs. The final design draws from the original photography, architecture and color schemes for each pavilion, all of which will change for each future release.

Vision for Tomorrow

Each pavilion in the series is very different and as such will be treated differently. Containing roughly the same amount of material (90 minutes to 2 hours) for each release has been one of the goals from beginning. In order to accomplish this, the original material will either be edited or elongated depending on the attraction. Supplemental Features will be created to support shorter experiences while certain pavilions will be shortened to accommodate running length. I would say expect the unexpected.

What’s Next?

Even though its many months away
Here’s a clue…

Any guesses?
The first person to guess correctly and describes why get's a preview!

Footnotes:

1. If you’ve ever listened to a “music only track” on a DVD you know the feeling. It’s a nice bonus feature, but not exactly entertaining to the ear.
2. “Logic is the beginning of understanding not the end.” –Spock, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
3. I for one have always hated the term BGM; you wouldn’t refer to the score of Star Wars as “background” for anything. I prefer to call it “Atmosphere” because that’s what it helps to create. For those of you who work in theme park or have had the experience of walk through one with the BGM turned off, you know how awkward that can be. (It’s kind of like being INSIDE a silent film.)
4. I’m sure this was intentional, for as much as Magic Journeys is a beautiful song, the movie itself is probably best left in the vault forever. More on this later on in E82.
5. The space music also acts a perfect transitional device with the rest of the disc. One of the things I obsess over is transitions from track to track. It’s sometimes the most important step in creating an album. During every step of the process, I’m constantly listening to the ends and beginnings of tracks to make sure it’s just right.