The arcade "Soundscape"

GalacticDancin

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Hey guys, I'm taking a graduate level course this semester called Sound in Society at CUNY. Basically studying sound and noise and how it impacts culture etc. We have a project in the class where we have to go out and make field recordings and edit them together to construct a "soudscape." For my project I wanted to record the sound of the arcade. But I want to capture the arcade sound as I remember it in the 80s/90s. I thought that this project would be relatively easy since there are a bunch of barcades around me (I live in NYC). But I am finding out that this is more difficult that imagined. Mainly because the barcades all have loud music playing and it seems to me that they have deliberately turned down the volume on the individual machines - they are not as loud as they kept them in the arcades back in the day. So when I go to the barcades to make recordings it just sounds like a noisy bar.

Sooo. I was wondering if there was anyone in the NYC area (like within a 2 hour drive of NYC) who had a substantial basement arcade that I could visit and make a number of audio recordings of the machines and people playing them?

I am allowed to edit multiple tracks together, so I can record different sound ambiances or individual games and edit it together to sound like a full arcade full of people. But ultimately the "soundscape" needs to sound like an arcade in its heyday. I can probably do this myself with trying to get some clean arcade sounds at the Museum of Moving Images in Queens and maybe some bar ambiance from a barcade and then record my Galaga 88 and DK machines and get a passable arcade feel to the mix, but I know there are people on these forums that have a more or less full arcade in their basement.

This assignment is due on Dec 11 so I'd need to make these recordings relatively soon. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. Also, I don't plan on publishing this, it's just a school project, but if it turns out cool I could post on here.

Thanks.

David
 
The arcade "Soundscape"

Basically, except that I have to be the one to record it :)


You can come over my place and record. I've culled my number of games down, but running all 8 that i have at the moment should provide decent results. Or mixed together should be sufficient. Shoot me a PM if you want. I'll be out of town next week, but we can meet up next weekend.
 
How about running several instances of MAME, maybe with multiple PCs lined up, so you could get the "walking down a line of games" sorta sound?

I'm ~4 hours from NYC, but you're welcome to use my games if you want to make the trip: http://projectvb.com/arcade/ .

DogP
 
I'm over in Jersey (about 20 min from the GWB). I have 40 machines in my basement. PM me if you want to swing by sometime.
 
I'm over in Jersey (about 20 min from the GWB). I have 40 machines in my basement. PM me if you want to swing by sometime.

Geez..40. Guess I have a way to go before I can say I have an collection. lol
 
Thanks for the responses thus far.

TheBasement - I appreciate the offer. But for this assignment I have to make the recordings in person to get credit (no pun intended!)

I've PM'd a couple of you.
 
some things to include -- coins dispensing into the metal scoop of a dollar bill changer, namely the all-at-once payouts that come from the Rowe BC series of the time, not the one-at-a-time coin plunkers you see today.

some "c'mon" or "what the heck" player outbursts
even trash-talk stuff and random stuff "can i borrow a quarter?"
or "yo, you doing that thing tomorrow, still?"

a few banging-on-the-coindoor sounds for good measure

attendant calling out change "12345, five makes ten and ten makes twenty. thank you." and "drinks have to stay outside, sorry"

and of course coins going through chutes, mechs and into a well-lined cashbucket and some overly dramatic button mashing.
 
Yaggy - Yes, totally! I was actually thinking about doing some recordings of coin dispensers and the sound of the games coining up. Hopefully I can find one of those old metal scoup ones.
 
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