# Am I the only one who wishes we could turn off the background music?



## tolisamarie (Nov 24, 2020)

Most of the time I either turn the volume off or very low. The problem is that I can't fish with the volume muted, or hear balloons, so I really wish we could just mute the music, and leave the sound effects on.

This is an option in most video games, so I don't understand why Nintendo hasn't added this feature to New Horizons.

I don't know why, but the music really irritates me after a while, and it almost drowns out the other sounds, like footsteps and balloons.


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## Bluelady (Nov 24, 2020)

Yeah. The music does seem louder this time, Imo. It makes it hard to hear the whistling of balloons.


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## Etown20 (Nov 24, 2020)

I do like the music, but I agree with the sentiment - this is a modern video game feature, and it's odd that it's absent here.


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## JKDOS (Nov 25, 2020)

I've been asking for this one since unlocking the hourly music. I find some of the songs hard to listen to. It'd be nice to have a volume slider to set the BGM level. It would also be cool, though far fetched, to re-enable the prologue music.


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## xara (Nov 25, 2020)

i like the music but being able to mute it would definitely be a good feature to have. my hearing isn’t the greatest and so, like others have said, the music sometimes makes it a bit hard to hear auditory cues (ex. whistling of balloons)


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## coldpotato (Nov 25, 2020)

I agree! I'd love to have that feature too and was a little surprised they don't have it in this game. Sometimes I mute it and play other music but then there's a risk of missing shooting stars if it's night time.
Thankfully I like all of the music except the 2:00 PM music. I will actually run into a building as quickly as I can to escape it, or just shut the game off completely to avoid it lol


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## Pyoopi (Nov 25, 2020)

I'm a bit indifferent to that idea. I don't mind the music.

I can hear the balloons fine but to the point where they irritate me so much where I have to shut off the sound.


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## GnarlyGarden (Nov 25, 2020)

I probably play most games with the music off, but other sounds on.  I would probably do that in ACNH, too, if it were an option.

But for the whistling of the balloons, I find the water noises can be very similar.  Also, when it’s windy, it can be hard to hear the difference between the balloons and the wind.


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## Katzenjammer (Nov 25, 2020)

I completely agree, yes. Also, has anyone ever noticed that when you're in hardhat mode, the sound it makes when you lay a custom design sounds a lot like a shooting star. Just sayin' lol.


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## Le Ham (Nov 25, 2020)

Even putting aside the balloons, being able to hear sound effects isolated from the background music would be peaceful. And you also wouldn't have the annoying transition between songs played on a stereo and the bgm as one fades out for the other


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## Korichi (Nov 25, 2020)

Although I like the music, I do wish we had this option! Sometimes the music can get grating and repetitive, and like others have said, it makes it a little hard to hear all other noises.

	Post automatically merged: Nov 25, 2020

Also, imagine how peaceful it would be to hear just all other sounds!


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## Starboard (Nov 25, 2020)

Le Ham said:


> Even putting aside the balloons, being able to hear sound effects isolated from the background music would be peaceful. And you also wouldn't have the annoying transition between songs played on a stereo and the bgm as one fades out for the other


I encountered a glitch once where my BGM turned off and it was really peaceful. Unfortunately it only lasted until I entered a house. And I can't stand putting music outside because of the transitioning! 

I really hope they one day make this a feature, I'll instantly enjoy the game a lot more and no longer have to avoid 2pm anymore


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## Purities (Nov 25, 2020)

I enjoy the sounds of water, balloons, wind, footsteps and other natural sounds so much and then an overbearing constant tune kind of ruins it for me :/ I know the BGM is important to alot of people though, and has significant nostalgia and is kind of a classic, but they should definitely make it optional in a future update imo


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## Cherry Tree (Nov 25, 2020)

I always have the volume down because of this. I don't mind hearing the ingame noises but the music just annoys me


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## Chris (Nov 25, 2020)

Yes. I experience motion sickness symptoms when playing video games and the audio plays a role in that, so often one of the first things I do after starting a new video game is mess with the audio and camera options. I noticed right away that is was missing in this game and that bothered me. Often I play with the audio low/off, or drown it out with other sound, to make it more comfortable to play.


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## Livia (Nov 25, 2020)

I like the most of the music. The only time I would want to turn it off is 2pm. I usually stop playing so I don’t have to listen to that music


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## oranje (Nov 25, 2020)

I'm not a huge fan of the music this time around in NH and I agree that I wish there was a volume slider and mute button for the music. It is hard to hear the sound effects and the music players over the volume of the music. I'd also like to adjust the waterfall noise too, just because it's also super loud.


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## Yukari Yakumo (Nov 25, 2020)

Etown20 said:


> I do like the music, but I agree with the sentiment - this is a modern video game feature, and it's odd that it's absent here.


It's a Nintendo thing. They always do their thing and create games in the way that they want and only add features they are comfortable with letting the player have and are willing to ignore complaints that ask for something that doesn't go in line with their vision of how a player should experience the game.
Like how there is no reticle for terraforming even though that would remove so much frustration for so many people. And the new "only one island per system" requirement.


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## JKDOS (Nov 25, 2020)

On the topic of background music, it's also frustrating that on certain days, such as tournaments and holidays, they replace the hourly music with one annoying background track that plays nearly all day long, as it remains constant with every hour.


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## Sharksheep (Nov 25, 2020)

I wish there was a way to adjust all the sounds and music. The sound balancing in this game is really bad.


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## ForbiddenSecrets (Nov 25, 2020)

Some days I love the music and some days I just want to enjoy all the amazing sounds they put into this game that they are drowning out with the BG tracks. I really wish they would let me control it.


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## Yukari Yakumo (Nov 25, 2020)

ForbiddenSecrets said:


> Some days I love the music and some days I just want to enjoy all the amazing sounds they put into this game that they are drowning out with the BG tracks. I really wish they would let me control it.


Actually I've noticed that it decreases the music volume the higher elevation you are at. My house is at a level 3 elevation and I notice the music gets louder as I descend.
If you were desperate, you could make the whole island a mountain.


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## Kalle (Nov 25, 2020)

While I do like the NH soundtrack, though not nearly as much as NL's, I think it should be an option to shut off the music. When I'm playing at night, I rarely hear balloons because they're so much lower. I could just go handheld mode and use headphones, but I often don't like to.


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## John Wick (Nov 25, 2020)

It is so obnoxious and loud.

Background music should remain in the background.
Not dominate the foreground obliterating natural sounds.

It doesn't help that it's a hideous soundtrack, IMO.


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## Licorice (Nov 25, 2020)

I was just thinking about this last night. Why is it so loud?? I’d like to enjoy the crunchy leaves as I walk around and the sound of the river without blaring background music.


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## maria110 (Nov 25, 2020)

Now, I need to pay attention to the 2:00 PM music.   I enjoy time traveling to day time when I am doing island work but I don't like the daytime music as much.  I like the nighttime music a lot more but can't always see well enough to do tasks. Also, like others have said, it can be hard to hear present balloons or other necessary sounds over the background music.    It would be great if Nintendo would make all this more customizable to make the game more accessible.


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## jenikinz (Nov 25, 2020)

I prefer quiet, and would rather hear the wind/balloons/ocean etc than the music. I am not against it, but it would be nice to have the option to change the volume or mute it completely.


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## Uffe (Nov 25, 2020)

It would be a cool feature to have, but like I said in another topic, my monitor doesn't have speakers, so I hear nothing unless I use headphones.


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## jokk (Dec 8, 2020)

i wouldn't like NO music, but i do get annoyed by the NH music sometimes. if only we had the option to play the hourly music from other games


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## Coolio15 (Dec 8, 2020)

Personally, I've never had a problem hearing any of the other sounds.
In fact, the wishing of the balloons is actually what annoys me more at this point because it always distracts me from my island work!
But I understand why some are frustrated, seeing as it is a lot louder than in previous games.


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## BoringNameHere (Dec 8, 2020)

I would like the option to decide which hourly music I hear while playing, some of the music is definitely grating on my ears


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## iamjohnporter67 (Dec 8, 2020)

Or better yet have a Settings App in our Nookphone to let us change the music to KK songs whenever we want.


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## Matt0106 (Dec 8, 2020)

iamjohnporter67 said:


> Or better yet have a Settings App in our Nookphone to let us change the music to KK songs whenever we want.


That would actually be pretty cool and make sense. Maybe the character could even plug in headphones!


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## DarkSlayer1331 (Dec 8, 2020)

coldpotato said:


> I agree! I'd love to have that feature too and was a little surprised they don't have it in this game. Sometimes I mute it and play other music but then there's a risk of missing shooting stars if it's night time.
> Thankfully I like all of the music except the 2:00 PM music. I will actually run into a building as quickly as I can to escape it, or just shut the game off completely to avoid it lol


For me, it's the 5:00 PM music. Just seems so bizarre to me for some reason. 

I really like the music of the game overall! I don't really have any issues with hearing sound effects, so I guess I'm lucky in that regard. But I do think that it should be an option to turn it off or have a volume slider for people who think it's too loud.


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## Galaxite (Dec 9, 2020)

Some of the songs are just so annoying after hearing them so many times lol I wish if we had a jukebox playing music or something like that, it'd play through the entire island.


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## Starboard (Dec 9, 2020)

I'd love some kind of way to listen to something else, or switch it off. I like the idea of our Nook phones getting a music player app. The music really does get annoying after hearing it on repeat for hundreds of hours total. I have over 400 hours and considered starting to play it on mute but then remembered I want to hear balloons.

And whyyyyy did they have to make 2pm the way it is? I know it's popular to hate on it but I genuinely disliked this tune since the beginning and I still actively avoid playing at that time. Of all the themes they could come up with, they make an obnoxious high pitched squealing thing? Why Nintendoooooo


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## Mezzanine (Dec 9, 2020)

Deleted


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## xlisapisa (Dec 9, 2020)

I don’t mind the background music and wouldn’t want to turn it off completely, but I do wish there was a way to adjust the volume to one’s liking. I do like some hourly music better than others for sure though.


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## Sharksheep (Dec 9, 2020)

I would love it if the background music didn't play when I was near a speaker. It's really grating when you hear both of them at the same time. I really love the 5am music because I don't hear it as often and it's relativity quiet compare to the other music.


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## Sheep Villager (Dec 9, 2020)

I don't mind the music but having the option to turn it off would be nice.

I'm particularly prone to earworms which can range anywhere from being a mild annoyance to keeping me up at night and one of the things that sets it off is listening to the same song over and over.

I mostly play around 2 PM and I don't like that track and I definitely don't like having it stuck in my head for days on end.​


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## moo_nieu (Dec 9, 2020)

it haunts my dreams.
mute please, nintendo   i'll never time travel again i swear


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## Holla (Dec 9, 2020)

I agree even though I don't mind the music personally. There are definitely times where I wish I could at least lower the volume of the music a little bit compared to the sound effects.


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## Jam86 (Dec 9, 2020)

i would love if we could turn the music off and just listen to the other sounds ♡

i used to love animal crossing music so much but the new horizons hourly music is pretty bad imo


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## Yumei (Dec 9, 2020)

Yes!! At least this time 'round you can place music everywhere and supersede the bgm, though this does make me miss the music boxes/clam shells.  
I've mentioned this before, but giving us the hourly tunes as KK songs would be rad.  Now I want one called 's i l e n c e.'  This also reminds me of the optional extra sounds in HHD~the traffic/nature/underwater and echo effects.


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## marea (Dec 10, 2020)

I wish for this as well! I dont want the music but there are other sounds i want to keep instead of having to play on mute.


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## amemome (Dec 10, 2020)

I'd love to adjust the sound balance. I rely on audio cues for balloons, stars, and scorpions/tarantulas so it would be really nice to be able to hear those things without my waterfalls blasting water sounds through the speakers.


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## Feraligator (Dec 10, 2020)

If I could mute the music I would play other AC songs over it that I prefer.
I was honestly thinking of doing the unimaginable and swapping the music myself but I don't know if it's worth going through that much trouble just to change the music when I could just play at hours where I'm fine with the music (albeit not many...)


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## visibleghost (Dec 10, 2020)

yeah, the sound is not important to me so i usually play the game with very low or no volume. i don't love the hourly music so yeah.


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## smorris (Dec 10, 2020)

I'd love to have the option of turning the background music off. I do find it annoying at times.
When I got the game, it was the first thing I looked for and was surprised they still hadn't implemented that option.


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## JKDOS (Dec 10, 2020)

A lot of problems I found with the music is mainly the stuff they play at night.
Some of the noon music (11am, 1pm, 3pm)  is just boring. But the night music... Nearly all of it is rather very dull or it messes with my anxiety and stress levels.

8pm  is not only annoying, but sounds out of place.
9pm is depressing and irritating.
10pm drives me insane.
11pm sounds like it has potential, but fails.
*1am is like a migraine or worse. Let's say a fever dream.*

There are some good ones that play at night though
7pm - I'm not a huge fan of 7pm, and it's really not that great compared to all the music in the game, but it does have some calming elements to it.
12am - this piece is calming and works well as a 12am song.
*2am - very relaxing and calming. Absolutely beautiful*

I'd really love to down turn or off the music most of the time and just listen to the wind rustle the leaves as I move around the island.

My December 2020 music tier


Spoiler



S- Love these
A- Great  songs
B - Not bad.
C- A little boring/dull
D- Annoying and worse
F- Uh....Is this some kind of joke?


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## meo (Dec 10, 2020)

Nope, I def am one. I'm light and sound sensitive so, while I do enjoy the soundtrack, it does get very hard to hear nonstop. I also really would just enjoy a natural ambience for a better deserted island feel (water, bugs, birds, wind, thunder, rain). I hope eventually in the series they'll have a toggle feature for music like most games do now.


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## ForgottenT (Dec 10, 2020)

The music in this game is like nails on a chalkboard to my ears, I also mostly play muted, and it's so sad, I loved the music in all of the previous games.
Except for the night time music, it's still nowhere near the previous games, but I like them.


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## Romaki (Dec 10, 2020)

It would be nice if Nintendo added basic functions such as volume controllers for different things. I don't mind the music, but I feel some things can be too loud and, like, I don't even have a need to hear ocean waves constantly when I'm like hunting down a specific fish.


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## Starboard (Dec 10, 2020)

JKDOS said:


> *1am is like a migraine or worse. Let's say a fever dream.*


Wowww this surprised me, I actually like 1am! I think it sounds relaxing, like a sleepy night time stroll. I do agree that 2am is absolutely amazing and my favourite track. My other favourites are 1am, 5am, 10pm and 12pm. The rest are mostly "meh" for me. Maybe I used to like them more before I heard them a million times.

Edit: Except 2pm. That isn't meh, it's ARGH.


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## JKDOS (Dec 10, 2020)

Starboard said:


> Wowww this surprised me, I actually like 1am! I think it sounds relaxing, like a sleepy night time stroll.



Isn't it neat how music effects us all differently?


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## Croconaw (May 16, 2021)

The background music never bothered me. I usually turn the volume down though and listen to my own music. I have headphones in most of the time when I’m playing any video game.


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## Moritz (May 16, 2021)

Honestly this isn't something I've ever considered.
I really like the soundtrack to this game so listening to the music is cool with me.

I can hear all the sound effects just fine. I've never had any issues hearing balloons, or the ocean, or my footsteps or whatever.
Sometime I cant hear shooting stars if I have my fan on, but that's me drowning out the noise so totally my fault.

I'm curious, for those who have a hard time hearing things over the music, do you plan on the TV? Because it could be the TV speakers causing the issue.

But ultimately, although for me it's not needed at all, I suppose it could be nice for those who take issue with the audio in the game.
(Although I'm 95% sure these options will never come)


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## OLoveLy (May 16, 2021)

yes, i really don't like the background music when i play the game... (i always walk near the ocean to listen to the nature without the background music...) :B


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## King koopa (May 16, 2021)

Eh, I don't mind the background music during the morning (8am is the best theme imo) but once it hits 2pm, I'd advise to turn down your volume because I don't know about everyone else, but 2pm is one of the louder, annoying themes to me.


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## Starboard (May 16, 2021)

I hope they implement a mute button soon. So many games have that option so I'm not sure why some games refuse to add it. Like I don't understand the reasoning, especially if people ask for one. Unless you totally love the soundtrack it's a bit hard to listen to the same music loops for an hour every day. I'd like to be able to turn it off but still be able to hear ambient sounds, balloons and shooting stars. 

And yes I always avoid 2pm because that song is just so grating I can't believe they greenlighted it as an hourly track!


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## The retro leafeon (May 16, 2021)

I will say it gets repetitive


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## Red Cat (May 16, 2021)

I'd like the ability to play music from the previous games. It would be really neat for us to be able to mix and match our favorite music from every AC game.


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## honeyaura (May 16, 2021)

I personally can't stand a good chunk of the hourly soundtrack, especially songs with the synths (doesn't fit at all). No offense to anyone who likes it, it's just ear-grating to me. I love waterfalls, natural sounds. So most of the mid-day songs, I just mute or low volume.

	Post automatically merged: May 16, 2021



Red Cat said:


> I'd like the ability to play music from the previous games. It would be really neat for us to be able to mix and match our favorite music from every AC game.


Agreed. NL and WW are my personal favorites.


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## vixened (May 16, 2021)

I wish they had the Stardew Valley sound settings, you can turn up/down SFX, music, footstep sounds, ambient noise.


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## xxcodexx (May 16, 2021)

i dont like the background music either...especially during shooting stars nights. i literally have to stand on the pier so i dont have to listen to the music. in Every video game that i play i always turn off the music completely...footsteps are important to hear!


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## -Lumi- (May 16, 2021)

vixenism said:


> I wish they had the Stardew Valley sound settings, you can turn up/down SFX, music, footstep sounds, ambient noise.



I would love this so much. Anytime a game gives me the option to turn up/down audio it makes me so happy. I almost always put the music down lower because I love the sound of footsteps, lol. It would also help in this game with hearing the shooting stars and balloons! 

As a whole though I just don't vibe with a lot of the New Horizons music. It's not my cup of tea so I do wish we could mute it without losing the sound effects or have the option to play the New Leaf music (or any other older games music! I've just only played New Leaf so I'll use them but it would be cool to hear other tracks from the older games as well). I generally play around the same time each day so I'm almost always hearing the same daytime tracks and to be honest, I feel like a lot of them sound the same?? Which doesn't help with the repetitive-ness. I've played a few times at like 3 and 5 am and I think those sounds tracks were prettier but nothing is open at those times so it's not reasonable to play then.


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## floatingzoo (May 16, 2021)

No, no you are not at all! I rarely ever play with the sound on, since the music doesn't feel like "animal crossing" to me. Sometimes I even listen to New Leaf's soundtrack while playing. It would be nice to just walk around your island and listen to the natural sounds.


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## Moonlight. (May 16, 2021)

i don't care for new horizon's soundtrack at all, i wish you could just turn it off. i especially hate when you have a music player out and you walk a few steps away and the background music overpowers it immediately. i'm at a point where i just mute everything and listen to podcasts instead.


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## McRibbie (May 16, 2021)

I don’t hate the soundtrack, so I’ve no desire to have the ability to use older AC soundtracks (the fact that it’s also been composed with the deserted island in mind isn’t warming me to the idea, either!)

The ability to mute it would potentially be helpful, tho. Sometimes you just need to hear the rustle of grass and the trickle of water, y’know!


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## Faux (May 16, 2021)

I'd personally love a way to turn down the damn waterfalls, it's exhaustingly loud, and I don't want to even have waterfalls because of how roaring it is.


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## KaibaKihashi (May 16, 2021)

I don't really like the music this time around either. I wish nintendo did an options for music, not just a volume slider, but also the option to use music from previous games would be cool, I used to adore just having the game on and listening to the music for a bit on older games.

another thing I've kinda thought of is how we are able to make our own town tunes? maybe make your own hourly music and make it shareable online like we can with designs, just a thought. like with minecraft music packs.


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## Flicky (May 16, 2021)

I'd love a way to get rid of the music for a bit. It's not the worst I've heard, but there are certainly more pleasant tunes out there, and I prefer the ambiance sounds anyway. Although, I'd also be happy if we could change our whole island to a K.K. song without the need for scattering phonographs all over the place (I can barely hear one of my secret music players, and it's only 3 squares away from me)!

The 5am song is the only one I'd never mute - it's beautiful, and I feel so calm and relaxed when listening to it.


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## BellBrokeGirl (May 16, 2021)

I am officially sick of the background music. It’s so repetitive and annoying now that I’m just muting the game. RIP to all the fish I’ve lost in this process


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## JabuJabule (May 16, 2021)

I wish I could change it to ACGC music.


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## peachsaucekitty (May 16, 2021)

JKDOS said:


> I've been asking for this one since unlocking the hourly music. I find some of the songs hard to listen to. It'd be nice to have a volume slider to set the BGM level. It would also be cool, though far fetched, to re-enable the prologue music.


hourly music is something you have to unlock first!!? that's ridiculous??? and to answer op's question, i tottally agree. i haven't unlocked the hourly music yet, but if it were a feature, i would totally mute it if i could. new horizon's music is just so....nah


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## Sidney (May 16, 2021)

I do wish there was a way to adjust it, not just turn it off. Most video games nowadays let you adjust the volume for each part of the game, so it really stinks that we can’t yet. Maybe in a future update?


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## peachsaucekitty (May 16, 2021)

peachsaucekitty said:


> hourly music is something you have to unlock first!!? that's ridiculous??? and to answer op's question, i tottally agree. i haven't unlocked the hourly music yet, but if it were a feature, i would totally mute it if i could. new horizon's music is just so....nah


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## amylsp (May 16, 2021)

You’re definitely not the only one. I hate that we can’t adjust the music down and just listen to the ambient sounds of the game. It would be so easy to implement. It’s crazy it’s not an option!


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## VanitasFan26 (May 16, 2021)

Yeah same here I really don't like the soundtrack in the background. I just mute the game and put on Kingdom Hearts Soundtrack. Trust me there is alot of relaxing KH songs that to me makes this game feel more relaxing when I play.


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## Starboard (May 17, 2021)

All the times I've placed music players I've ended up removing them because every time I went near the area the music would just clash with the background music and sound gross. That's another reason I want a mute button.


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## Moritz (May 17, 2021)

I went on the game today and paid extra attention to things like my footsteps.
I can hear them louder than the music.
Genuinely confused now as to why people are saying they can't hear it over the music.


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## Goldenapple (May 17, 2021)

Reminds me of this video. Timestamp is at 3:58! There's also a part two here.


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## JKDOS (May 17, 2021)

peachsaucekitty said:


> hourly music is something you have to unlock first!!? that's ridiculous??? and to answer op's question, i tottally agree. i haven't unlocked the hourly music yet, but if it were a feature, i would totally mute it if i could. new horizon's music is just so....nah



it unlocks with the grand opening of the Town Hall. Before that, although it can be annoying, the prologue music plays, which is very chill and relaxing.


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## Corrie (May 17, 2021)

I fully agree. The hourly music in New Horizons is atrocious and grates on my nerves. I'd love to be able to turn it off but still hear the other in game sound effects.


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## Che5hire Cat (May 17, 2021)

Still wondering to this day why there isn't a option to turn off the background music, other games already offer this for a while. Compared to the previous titles, I'm honestly not such a big fan of NH's soundtrack, it becomes too annoying and stale over time to a point where I just lower the volume on the Switch and listening to music on YouTube. Not sure how high the chances are for an update that adds the possibility to turn of the music, but I would welcome it with open arms if they ever would add it.


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