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THE
ORIGINAL MUSIC |
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Vestibuel/Foyer
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The
first cue heard upon entering the Mansion. Used as the basis for all
subsequently recorded tracks, the cue was designed to enhance the mood
of the Mansion without inferring with the Ghost Host's narration. |
Organ|
THE
GREAT HALL |
The
second cue heard after exiting the Stretching Room. Originally a bass
flute was recorded then processed through an Echoplex, but after that
failed an alto flute was used in its place. The most interresting event in this recording was the wind effect accomplished by Jimmy Macdonald (Disney Legend, sound effects artist and the voice of Mickey Mouse). Jimmy enflated a balloon then let the air out over his lips, mouthing the GGG tune. |
Bells
Alto Flute and Wind
Thunder|
THE LIBRARY
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Exclusive to the The Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland, this cue was
recorded after the Disneyland soundtrack. This loop provides an Rachmaninoffesque interpretation of the Grim Grinning Ghost melody. |
Grand Piano
The Library|
THE HALLWAY
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This
is actually a series of cues being with the Endless Hallway and ending
before the Seance Room. The original intend was to feature no music or
narration, however late in production it was decided to bring back the
foyer cue from the start of the attraction and the Ghost Host continues
his monologue throughout. This is also the the most dramatic part of the attraction. The layering of highly realistic sound effects with the knocking of the doors and the usually loud clock, we are drawn out of ourselves and into the mansion itself. It contains the single most ominous moment in Disney attractions when the Ghost Host says: "Shhh....listen!" most people grow silent. |
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THE SEANCE
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The
cue in the attraction to feature character dialogue: Eleanor Audley's
outstanding performance as Madame Leota. Once again the melody of GGG is carried throught the scene, only this time with a soft organ line. The scene features musical instruments floating around the room, as such those instruments are recognized in the score. This is also the only time in the Haunted Mansion when Buddy Baker performs the score, right after Madame Leota says "rap on a table," Buddy knocked on a piano. |
Leota and music
music|
THE GRAND HALL
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Once called a "Demented Concert," this cue is what Buddy referred to as the "kooky organ." Done in a watlz tempo, it's the only track not synchronized with the rest of the Mansions score. When originally recorded Gaylord B. Carter was asked to "go wild" with the melody, however as Buddy put it "After I heard what Gaylord had done, it wasnt kooky enough. Gaylord is a fine organist, but hes pretty straight all the time." So late in the evening, two nights later Buddy tried again with Bill Sabransky. This time Buddy had the exact score that he was looking for. Buddy said of Bill: "He had the whole melody written out there, and he played it enough that he knew the melody- but I told him to ad lib the whole thing and crank us all the way with it! Sometimes instead of hitting one note, he'd just hit a custer of notes... The rhythm line, the bass line, of that thing is pretty true to the tune. It's just that the melody is all screwed up." [Gaylord's original test tracks for the kooky organ are found on the Haunted Mansion 30th Anniversary CD Track eight called "Otherworldly Music"] |
Organ |
THE ATTIC
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In the original show the attic featured only sound effects. Only recently has the shadowy pianist playing "The Wedding March" been added. This is probably the most conversial issue facing the attraction today. On one hand the song detracks from the Grim Grinning Ghost theme, on the other hand it does provide a short break from the theme before the graveyard jamboree. |
Bride's Heartbeat|
THE GRAVEYARD JAMBOREE
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The Haunted Mansion Main Theme. Every cue in the ride is synchronized to this basic track. (Excluding the organs in the Foyer and Ballroom) It was recorded in to stages, first the rhythm section (guitars, contrabass, and drums) then the organ was recorded on a separate track. This track also serves as the underscore of all cues in the graveyard sequence. Musically, the graveyard score is programmed very much like a parade score in reverse. Where as the individual units are faded in and out with a basic underscore. |
GGG Instrumental
GGG Tea Party
GGG Father Time and Mummy
GGG Prisoner and Hangman
GGG Headless Horseman
GGG WHICH GHOSTS ARE THAT?
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THE PHANTOM FIVE
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The
most unusual cue recorded for the Haunted Mansion (and probably one of
the most unusual recordings ever.) The track was recorded three times
including "backwards". The only backwards tracks that made it
into the Mansion was Cappy Lewis Trumpet and Art Smith's flute cue. The
latter is also the highly publicized 13th Track found on the first 999
of the 30th Anniversary Disk. The woodwinds were really the only tracks
the actually lived up to the potential of the backwards experiment, in
that when played forwards the air goes into the instrument. The bagpipe didn't work because the bag element of the instrument was hard to control, and Gordon Schoenberg performed the piece with a oboe (out of tune). The stones were the easiest part to record and were intended to simulate the drumming of tombstones. |
The Phantom Five
Harp
Flute: backwards and original|
THE SINGING BUSTS
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The
most noteable cue in the Mansion experience: the singers recorded the
lyrics first. Afterwards, the recording session leader, Allan Davies,
noticed how well the five men looked together and decided to cast them
as the bust's heads also. After the song was recorded, the rest of the
recording session was spent producing odd tracks for the graveyard. Thurl did some dog whines and Bob and Verne did some cats vocals. Allan Davies even got into the act by doing the voice for the mummy in the graveyard. A week later the "Busts" were brought back in to do the filming. Each were given a makeup treatment to look like pure marble busts with some aging. Then each where placed in a "vice" as Thurl calls it and filmed together lip-syncing to their voices. The filming only took at maximum two takes, an within minutes the films were developed. Then the five singers were able to see the finished product. Thurl reacted this way, "One minute it's just a dead bust and the next there I am in the flesh and blood, and I can see my tongue and the inside of my mouth and my teeth. You know, it was frightening!" |
The Busts|
THE HOKEY OPERA SINGERS
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Like the "Kooky Organ" this is another well executed improvisation of the Grim Grinning Ghost theme. Buddy commented: "The Crazy soprano was Louie Jean Norman, and she had the melody down, so she get so far away from it so you wouldn't recognize it." The soprano did steal the show at her moment, and most of her performance was due in part to Buddy's willingness to allow creative freedom. |
GGG Opera Ghosts |
THE CRYPT
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Musically, the end of the ride. In the Disneyland version this cue is heard and then Little Leota's "come back" invitation, however in the Magic Kingdom Little Leota appears first inside a Mausoleum and then the exit music (aka the Grim Grinning Ghost Reprise.) Recorded at the same time as the singing bust section, this cue has a very different mood and almost as if the ghost mourn, the guesst return from the external night of the graveyard to the rest of the decidedly more cheerful park. |
Qintett
Little Leota|
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The Ride |
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"Phantom
Mansion" |
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Yeah! |
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Assorted
"Welcomes" |
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Assorted
Laughter |
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Cat |
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Crow |
| Doggy
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Wolf |
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Buddy Baker
at the 30th Anniversary Event of the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland. |
