In
analyzing the new
area loop for the Esplanade last week, I got to thinking about
what such a music loop is,
and the answer was both obvious and food for further thought: it's a
themed playlist. Users
of Pandora and similar internet radio services will be familiar with
this concept—you choose a set of songs (and/or instrumental pieces)
to enhance a mood, illustrate a concept, or otherwise adhere to,
well, a theme. Think of the mixtapes of “makeout music” people
would put together back in the day when tapes were still a thing. Or
a student's “study playlist,” comprising songs that help them
concentrate on their academic work.
The
theme of the Esplanade music loop is, of course, “The Disneyland
Resort.” The objective is to give arriving guests a foretaste of
the sorts of attractions the two parks offer. I would say it succeeds
(even without any reference to the Haunted Mansion), although
first-time guests may not pay much attention or connect the rides
they go on later with the snippets of music they heard upon arriving.
They will probably at least recognize the tunes, and so the loop sets
an appropriate “wonderful world of Disney” atmosphere.
We
Disneyland fans, of course, like to create our own playlists honoring
the park(s). Of course, ours generally consist of music and even
non-musical audio taken directly from the attractions, live
entertainment, and other experiences within the parks. We scour
released albums and the internet for as much genuine Disneyland music
as we can lay our hands on, and arrange it geographically, land by
land, to create the perfect, comprehensive collection.
My
Disneyland playlist easily occupies a 40-hour work week. Not that I'm
bragging.
But
suppose you didn't have access to all these specialized theme park
albums? Suppose you wanted to create a working Disneyland playlist
from the much more commonly found Disney film soundtracks and general
genre music? Say, one song per significant attraction, maybe another
to bring across the ambiance of each land? It wouldn't be 40 hours
long, obviously, but it might occupy a long drive. (Such as the drive
to Disneyland? Well, that depends on where you live.)
It
needn't be completely devoid of park-specific melodies, as many of
the more successful songs have been released on Disney compilation
albums. Additionally, many of the individual performers and groups
that have been stationed at Disneyland over the years have released
recordings, some of which are still available.
For
the next few weeks, I'll be sharing my version of such a thing. I've
had to break it into segments because this post would be unfathomably
long otherwise. So here's Part 1—Main Street and Adventureland.
