Arcade Background Mix

[Token]

I stumbled upon Daniel Hower's classic arcade recordings some time back. If you love classic arcade games you have to go listen to his original recordings from 1980s arcades. In his own words:

We recorded our video game experiences from 1982 until 1988 in a variety of locations on the east coast. Most of the recordings come from Ithaca, NY, Albany, NY and Ocean City, MD. Other locations include Lancaster, PA, Falmouth, MA, Rehoboth Beach, DE and Key West, FL.

Luckily I stored all fourteen audio tapes in a safe place and rediscovered them when I moved the rest of my stuff out of my parents house in 1997. In the last several years I digitized these nostalgic recordings to preserve and share them.

Hower's recordings are of individual games, but you can often hear other nearby games and conversation in the background.

After downloading his recordings, I set out to mix them in a way to simulate playing in an arcade of that era. Each MP3 that I mixed is a combination of three of his original recordings. Each track has a specified game for the left channel, right channel, and one that is mono (sample file name-- L-Galaga R-Yie Ar Kung Fu MONO-Pengo). This hopefully simulates being in an arcade, surrounded by other games. I tried to edit out any intelligible human voices so that the listener isn't distracted from the amazing original game sounds.

There are currently eight mixed MP3s. You can download them here: Arcade Background Mix

I play these files with Jeff Shanholtz's Ambiance Program. One day as we were playing arcade games at my house with these files in the background, my nine year old son suddenly said, "Hey, that's the song from Mappy!" Parenting win! 

Notes:
All credit for the source recordings goes to Daniel Hower.
I originally named these Arcade Ambiance, and then I discovered Andy Hofle's work. He used "Arcade Ambiance" for his mix of edited arcade background tracks (mostly recorded from MAME, but supplemented with Hower's recordings). So I am going with "Arcade Background Mix." However, there is still some internal MP3 tagging that uses the phrase "Arcade Ambiance."

[DeLuSioNal29]

I'll need to check these out. :-)

[yotsuya]

I just turn on all my games and invite people over. 



Nice job! Thanks for sharing.

[mgb]

Thanks for sharing these.
I've checked out Arcade ambiance in the past.
I'll check your mixes too.
When you have only one machine it's nice to have that extra background noise.

On game nights with my son, the current strategy is to play
80s music videos through my xbmc pc.
Maybe I'll add some low volume arcade mix on another pc

[BadMouth]

I just ordered a popcorn scented candle for the sake of arcade ambience.   

Between that, background audio, and UV carpet, it should be a pretty immersive experience.

[Token]

I just ordered a popcorn scented candle for the sake of arcade ambience.   

Between that, background audio, and UV carpet, it should be a pretty immersive experience.

Now you just need to put your cabinet(s) on a raised platform to simulate your height during the 1980s.

[BadMouth]

I just ordered a popcorn scented candle for the sake of arcade ambience.   

Between that, background audio, and UV carpet, it should be a pretty immersive experience.

Now you just need to put your cabinet(s) on a raised platform to simulate your height during the 1980s.

I'm shooting for the mall arcade of the early 90's.  I don't think I've grown too much since then.

The 80's would be an arcade that was part of the local Tastee Freez, so it would smell like French fries and ice cream.
(it was a full blown arcade with dozens of machines, not just a few machines off to the side)
At that age, I'd put a quarter in Frogger, move once, and watch the frog die.  I'm not all that nostalgic about it.

[Ginsu Victim]

I just ordered a popcorn scented candle for the sake of arcade ambience.   

My memories require a cigarette scented candle.

[ArtistTheGeek]

I just stumbled across this thread (I've been away from BYOAC for 20 years! But now I'm back) - I assume these tracks are no longer available anywhere?

[Extruder]

Looks like the original files are long gone.
I did find something similar in the 'ambiance' category on YouTube called '10 Hours of Arcade Noise'  which seems similar. Muted talking, games in the background, the sound of buttons slapping, etc. Very nostalgic 


And another whole playlist called "Arcade Ambiance'


Takes me right back to the 80's at the mall.