Music at zoos

gentle lemur said:
Im sorry if I didn't make myself clear. I didn't mean music in RotRA, I meant 'jungle noises' - particularly thunder.

Alan
Click to expand...

I gathered it was jungle noises, but I suppose the inmates keep me to occupied to notice anything else. ;)
 
gentle lemur said:
.
It's been a couple of years since I was there, but I always associate Colchester with really annoying music.
Personally, I'd get rid of all of it if I could.
Click to expand...

I haven't been to Colchester for several years but it always seemed to me they went overboard with taped music in a number of the exhibits. It didn't seem to add anything at all in my opinion.
 
Little late on the convo, but I actually like ambient sounds and music in aquariums and museums, as long as they are done right and aren't too loud or in your face pop songs. For instance, the National Aquarium has soothing rainforest ambience as well as nice sounding ambience music in the Atlantic Coral Reef and Jellies Invasion. They set the mood and allure of the ocean greatly and the animals are at least inside a tank so it probably won't cause too much stress. For zoos is where I think it can be a little problematic especially if
 
My local zoo, the Capron Park Zoo, actually recently changed its background music to encompass the entire zoo. Prior to now, there were two different background tracks:
- ambient sound, track titled 'Sounds of the Everglades' in the Nocturnal Building. Not really a big deal, slight increase in immersion, since removed (or have I stopped noticing?)

- Music played in the area near the amphitheater, popular amongst children and a net zero for other visitors. Slightly annoying for staff and volunteers when they tried to use the space for animal encounters/ educational programs.

However, the zoo recently upgraded their speaker system to encompass the entire zoo (a necessity before AZA re-accreditation), and chose to play the music across the entire zoo, which as a volunteer I very quickly realized means it repeats the same few songs every hour. Honestly, I don't really see there being many positives to this situation. Most visitors either don't notice or don't care, and it can be a slight annoyance for staff and volunteers who have to hear the same handful of songs over and over again.

(@Dyl0526 can probably share his take on Capron's music as well)
 
SeaWorld of course has annoying pop entrance music but I actually find the music inside of their exhibits very soothing. The music in Turtle Reef is very relaxing and calm, the blizzard track that plays in Wild Arctic actually works well. The weird music in the Atlantis and Shipwreck area are a little annoying but not to the same level as the pop music at the entrance.
 
I'm with those of us that enjoy nice subtle background tracks or ambient noises! To me, when used appropriately and in the right setting, it can add an entirely new depth to the zoo experience.

For example, I distinctly remember the music playing as I walked into Georgia Aquarium's Ocean Voyager habitat and viewed the animals. It was a fantastic experience, something I feel like could never be properly explained, it has to be experienced and felt in person.

I do understand the annoyance for employees and regulars with repetitive tracks day in and day out though. :p
 
Neil chace said:
My local zoo, the Capron Park Zoo, actually recently changed its background music to encompass the entire zoo. Prior to now, there were two different background tracks:
- ambient sound, track titled 'Sounds of the Everglades' in the Nocturnal Building. Not really a big deal, slight increase in immersion, since removed (or have I stopped noticing?)

- Music played in the area near the amphitheater, popular amongst children and a net zero for other visitors. Slightly annoying for staff and volunteers when they tried to use the space for animal encounters/ educational programs.

However, the zoo recently upgraded their speaker system to encompass the entire zoo (a necessity before AZA re-accreditation), and chose to play the music across the entire zoo, which as a volunteer I very quickly realized means it repeats the same few songs every hour. Honestly, I don't really see there being many positives to this situation. Most visitors either don't notice or don't care, and it can be a slight annoyance for staff and volunteers who have to hear the same handful of songs over and over again.

(@Dyl0526 can probably share his take on Capron's music as well)
Click to expand...

Oh don’t even get me started with the music at capron park, they play the same 6 or 7 songs on loop for the 6 hours I’m there during the day. There’s one song that I just can’t get out of my head, no matter how hard I try
 
In Planckendael (Belgium) there is also music in the Asian part and it really helps you to empathize with the theme. In the African area there is a speaker in a tree that plays realistic monkey sounds, and some people (especially small children) really believe there is a monkey sowewhere in the tree:D. The same with the plastic hippos in the water around the giraffe enclosure. I've even seen adults who actually believe there are hippos in the water:p.
 
Digressing somewhat from the main topic of this thread but still about "Music at zoos":-

The book Life at the Zoo: Notes & Traditions of the Regent's Park Gardens ( C. J. Cornish; 1895) includes three strange chapters that, bizarrely, describe how playing tunes on various musical instruments (violins, piccolos and flutes) affects the behaviour of animals at London Zoo.

Animals subjected to the music include reptiles, bears, big cats, elephants, zebras, Himalyan blue sheep, apes and monkeys.....
 
I saw one of the marine shows at the Shedd Aquarium a few years ago, and part of the show was fairly loud music that didn’t seem to negatively affect the animals.
 
I have mixed feelings on music in zoos. I do dislike zoos playing mainstream pop music at the entrance. My local zoo - Brookfield - does this and it always slightly irks me. Hearing Lady Gaga and Maroon 5 doesn't quite set the tone for a professional institution, it sets the tone for a theme park. I am also not a fan when music is played around the entire zoo, no matter how good it is. Sometimes less is more. I don't mind when live animal noises are piped in on occasion, depending on the area. Milwaukee's hippo underwater viewing has hippo vocalizations piped in and I think it works very nicely.

I actually can enjoy a more subtle, instrumental beat when entering a zoo. As long as its not overbearing or loud, I think it can do a good job at setting a positive tone and building anticipation, without being too obnoxious. Tell me you wouldn't want to hear this when stepping into a zoo for the first time.

(As an aside, I had forgotten how damn good the Zoo Tycoon 2 soundtrack is. Good times)
 
If there's is one thing that's really bugs me at Pairi Daiza, then it's that never ending djingldjangldjengl at literally every single corner of the parc. As if the visually dazzlingly over-temple-themed cultural aspects aren't enough.
 
My opinion on having music in zoos is that it depends on what kind of music is playing. If it’s quiet, or calm
music, I don’t find it a big problem. If the music is loud, and obnoxious, then I think it’s an issue because of certain animals, and it may ruin the guest experience. “Theme Parks” that are also “zoos” (like Disney’s Animal Kingdom) which play music, it depends on how loud the music is.
 
At the North Carolina Zoo’s North America entrance, there used to be ambient music of soft Native American flutes. Now the entrance plays a variety of music types like jazz, which, admittedly, is still North American.
 
Old thread but when I went to Zoo Miami back this past April, I heard Kendrick Lamar music playing in the gift shop (TOTALLY family-friendly, right?).

I also wouldn’t mind if zoos played Aquatic Ambience from Donkey Kong Country in their aquarium sections, or the remix of Lava Reef Zone Act 2 from Sonic Mania in volcanic island reef halls (i.e. halls containing exhibits that display Hawaiian and/or Japanese reef fish). Yeah, I know that Nintendo and/or Sega would eventually find out and sue the ever loving crap out of the institution, but it would still be fun while it lasted lol
 
I don't recall ever hearing music played in a zoo, but it's pretty common to have light, 'underwatery' music playing in aquariums. I don't mind much either way as I usually pay the music little attention (often, I don't notice it at all until I watch videos I took after the visit). Cairns Aquarium plays a recording of local rainforest bird calls in its freshwater exhibits which I think is nice for the atmosphere.
 
The Taman Safari group in Indonesia was/is notorious among local zoogoers for their constant repetition of their jingle, "Let's Go Safari", in all of their parks. It seems to have gotten a little better since they've introduced a few instrumental versions of the same jingle into their song rotation, but it's still the same tune. the entire day.
It's not even that catchy.

A few moments of silence with/without stock animal noises inserted in between rotations would help a lot in my opinion, but I'm rather sure if they did that, they'd be unwillingly admitting how horrible their jingle is.
 
Haven't been in years, and only went on the winter Zoo-only days, but this used to be played at various volumes around the zoo portion of Chessington World of Adventures:

 
1. Fine in public areas, eg cafes, gift shops, where it can be a calming background. Not fine if it hypes people up, especially children.

2. Fine if in association with mock human habitation associated with an immersion exhibit, for instance African music as you pass through an African village entering an African exhibit area. Needs to be done well, though.

3. Not fine in association with an animal exhibit, ever, any more than "elephant temples" or such are OK. Animals should be presented in their environment. (on occasion human habitation might be their environment, though).

4. Background sounds found in nature may be acceptable, again if done well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top