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HALLOWEEN
MUSIC SOUND SYSTEMS |
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Playing sinister sounding music
and creepy sound effects on Halloween is an important layer
to creating a spooky atmosphere. The next time you are
watching a movie, try turning the audio off (mute) and see
what difference its makes not being able to hear the music
and sound effects. The same is true for your Halloween
haunt. There are a number of ways to broadcast your tunes,
each that work best for certain Halloween related
applications.
Basic Computer Sound System
 One cool advantage
to using a computer is that you can play a music CD and also
play WAV, MP3 or MIDI sounds files. We used to have to build
the system ourselves using a
Mini Stereo Amplifier, speakers and cables, but that's not
really necessary any more with higher powered packaged
computer sound systems available now. Using this with a lap top gives you a great portable sound
system that can be
programmed for your haunt or party and will play all night
without having to be
re-set, leaving you free to enjoy the night.
Whether you are going to play
Halloween music and sound effects indoors or outdoors or
both, if you plan on playing it very loud check with your
local zoning board to see if there are any zoning "noise"
limits. Also, you might let your neighbors know in advance
that you will be playing Halloween music loud, but only on
Halloween night. If you are using multiple audio
sources, don't play one so loud that it drowns out the sound
of the others.
We don't suggest that you use speaker wire over twenty-feet
between the amplifier
and speakers, but you can check with a qualified
computer/audio
representative to see
what the maximum safe distance they recommend.
Portable CD Players
 Portable "Boom Boxes" and CD
players with external speakers are another way of playing
Halloween music and sound effects outdoors. These work
especially well when you need sound effects in a particular
area, such as your Halloween graveyard and can be easily
concealed behind tombstones and other props.
The Halloween Online Ultimate Sound
System
If you haven't
noticed, we like to super-size things here at Halloween
Online. To play our Halloween music and sound effects we put
together an ultimate 800watt sound system for our Halloween
Haunt and for playing music at our Halloween party.
 Computer
Either
a laptop or desktop computer can be used, but we usually use
a laptop for its portability. Its important that which ever
type of computer you use that it has a high quality sound
card installed to produce the best sounding music. Just load
on all of your favorite Halloween music MP3's and install
music DJ software such as "Traktor DJ Studio" and you are
all set.
 Gemini
XTR-400 Speakers Packages (2)
We
really wanted to produce high volume and clear audio, so we
chose the Gemini brand XTR-400 sound systems. Each of the
"Gemini XTR-400 Complete Powered Speaker Systems" include
two GT-1002 ten inch, 85watt loudspeakers and one massive
fifteen inch, 230watt powered subwoofer, for total of
400watts on each system.
We use one of these great sound
systems to play our Halloween
music from and the other for producing the deep,
resounding sound of thunder in combination with our "Lightning
Machine". A system like this takes lots of
high quality audio cables. We use "Monster" and "Hosa" brand
cables to connect our sound system together. If you put
together a high-end audio system, don't skimp on the cost of
good audio cables.
Behringer
Eurorack UB802 Mixers
 The
UB802 features 2 invisible Mic Preamps (IMPs), 6 balanced
high-headroom line inputs, 1 post fader FX send per channel
for external FX devices and 1 stereo aux return for FX
applications or as separate stereo input. There is also an
effective, extremely musical 3-band EQ on all channels. The
UB802 is well-suited for use with computer applications.
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