Strange Music in Background on DS Collection 23

[Philippe Cordier]

I've been watching the Summer of 1970 transition to 1840 storyline on DVD over the past few weeks.  I had just gotten into the 1840 storyline and one of the early scenes with Samantha was playing, and I was watching from over the island in my kitchen. I was hearing some distracting music in the background and wondered where it was coming from.  I knew I didn't have a radio on, and I can't hear anything like that from my neighbors.  I got closer to my TV set and found that the music was playing simultaneously with the DVD.  At first I thought there must be some kind of bleed-through coming from a TV station, so I stopped the DVD and went to the channel that my TV was on. The programming there didn't have any similar music.  I started the DVD again in the same scene, and there was the music in the background again. It wasn't DS music and didn't go with the scene. In fact, the music was something more contemporary to today, not something from the 1970s.

Thinking it still must be from the TV, I tried the disc again a day or two later - and the same music was there, playing somewhat muffled in the background of the same scene.

This was shortly before Christmas and I'm not 100 percent positive which scene or scenes I heard this in. But it had to have been on one of the first two disks of Collection 23.  It was either the last episode of Disc 1, or, more likely, one of the first half-dozen episodes on Disc 2.

Has anyone else remarked on the same thing?  What could the explanation be?  I don't think I'm crazy (based on this incident, anyway), since I don't here strange music at other times or on other DVDs.

[rainingwolf]

I've been through the series going on 4 times now, and don't remember that. But I often get hooked into the story and don't notice things like that. I'm coming up on that volume soon again and will listen for that. Watching DS I always find something new each time that I never noticed before.

[libshad84]

I remember hearing what seemed like music during several episodes of the 1840 storyline. My guess is that another tv show or movie or something was being filmed near the Dark Shadows studio at the time of the filming (1970) and the sounds of that were recorded by DS microphones!

I don't know for sure - just my take!

[Philippe Cordier]

Thanks for both of your responses. At least I know I'm not the only one who heard this.

I will post again when I can replay the DVD and find out exactly at what point this music occurs.
I'm unable to check into this now because my brand-new (three months) DVD player has a problem. It won't open, and it won't play, it says "tray error," and it has a DS DVD inside that I can't get out!

I can't imagine how the music could have happened. 

Your idea that it happened during the initial filming would make sense, but I don't think the music sounded like it could have come from the 1970s.  It was more recent music.

Could there have been some music playing in the sound booth when the sound track was being edited for the DVDs, which was then picked up?  I don't recall hearing this on my VHS of these episodes, but I don't have those with me now so I can't check them.

- Philippe

[libshad84]

I have the 1840 episodes on tape, recorded off the Sci Fi channel on their last run of DS. I believe it was when watching those tapes that I heard the music.

That sucks about your DVD player, and with a DS DVD stuck in it. I would not be too happy.

Question: Did you hear just music or was there any singing with it? I know you feel in sounds modern and not 1970ish.

Let us know whenever you can.

[Cousin_Barnabas]

I think I remember hearing something strange during this time period too.  Let us know when you found out the episode, so we can all investigate it.   

[Philippe Cordier]

I finally had my new DVD player replaced (they had to take it apart at BestBuy to get my DVD out) and I've had a chance to watch the first two discs of Collection 23 (1840 storyline) again. Sometimes I had background noise in my apartment - furnace blowing hot air, or I was running water in the kitchen, etc. - so I'm not sure if more than one episode was affected by this because I could easily have missed it. From what others have said, I think more than one episode may have had this annoying background music. But the one episode I now know for sure that did is #1115. The annoying background music occurs during several scenes set in the drawing room, but not in other scenes. I first noticed it in the scene with Gabriel and Gerard, when [spoiler]Gabriel reveals that he knows that Gerard Stiles' real name is "Ivan Miller," and he more or less blackmails Gerard into agreeing to kill Samantha.[/spoiler] Then Samantha walks into the drawing room. There were a couple more scenes in the drawing room later in the episode, and they also had the music. This time when I heard it, it seemed to be vocal music. It really could have been from the 1970s era - which makes me wonder if this is the same episode where I heard the music the first time.

I'm beginning to feel a little deja vu here, like maybe this topic has been brought up before (and maybe even by me ...). It would have to have been some years ago and I've forgotten in the meantime. But deja vu is tricky, so maybe not.

[Gothick]

There's a 1968 episode from late in the "Vampilique" storyline that has weird music and other sounds (I think muted, garbled dialogue) in one or two scenes.  I remember asking about this years ago and I was told that the distortion had happened on the master tape and with the tech then available could not be removed.  It may still not be able to be removed.

An explanation that occurs to me is that the master tape that was used on the taping dates concerned had been reused and for some reason, the previous content had not been completely wiped off the tape when it was used to record the episode.

From various threads here about the failure of many soap operas from the 1960s to survive, it seems as if the networks did re-use videotape a fair amount back in the day.

G.

[libshad84]

I just finished watching Epi #1115 on my Sci-Fi tape, and I definitely heard music, esp. during the Samantha/Gabriel scene in the first half of the episode. Listening to the music closely, I really just heard a woman singing (don't know what she was singing). No background music - piano, etc.

These tapes are a little old - recorded off Sci-Fi on their lasting showing of DS - and recorded on EP (SLP) 6 hrs on videotape. Not exactly the best quality, hence the reason I been purchasing the DVDs from Amazon. (Actually I'm waiting on Collection 17 to come today!)

Here's my guess:  A TV show, play or something was being filmed or rehearsed.
 
Question:  Does anyone know or can anyone find out what else was going on at or near the DS studio around that time? (Sept, Oct 1970)

[Willie Loomis]

isn't that other DS scenes being filmed at the same time?   i've heard several times other scenes being done in the background.

[Philippe Cordier]

All of those explanations sound plausible. If the sound were the result of some sort of bleed-through on a re-used tape, though, you would expect the singing/music to occur throughout the episode, whereas in this episode I think you can hear it only in the drawing room scenes.

Another oddity that has been discussed are the "pre-echos" that one often hears on DS (especially screams), and there was one of those on the disc, too, when Samantha finds [spoiler]*Roxanne collapsed after a visit from Barnabas.*[/spoiler]

[KMR]

The "pre-echos" referred to above sound to me like "print-through", wherein some sound is copied from one part of the magnetic tape to another part that it's next to on the reel.  It's not uncommon on audiotapes.

As far as multiple scenes being taped (not filmed!--this is videotape) at the same time, I don't think that would have occurred.  Each episode of DS was taped in sequence.  It also doesn't seem likely that other scenes would be rehearsing at the same time one was being taped.

Sounds like this was probably just some technical anomaly--perhaps some glitch in the transmission of the audio from the studio to the videotape recording apparatus (mixing sound from another source).  Sort of like when you're talking to someone on your telephone and you can hear faint voices from unkown people in the background.

[joe integlia]

this issue has been discussed here years ago during the sci-fi broadcast or during the mpi vhs releases. someone gave a good explanation which i cant remember in detail enuf to re post it. but reusing old videotapes and the audio from the previous recording not being fully erased or the audio bleed through is most likely to be what your hearing.

[Gothick]

Thanks, Joe--I knew this issue had been discussed some years back and it was confirmed by someone in the know that these sounds are ineradicably part of the master tapes.  I think "bleed" or "print-through" is the explanation. 

cheers, G.