The New Horizons ‘Hourly Music’ is TERRIBLE, can it be disabled?

[kappnfangirl]

the music in the game is great, whats wrong with yall lol

 

[aibo]

There's a lot of synth. It's different, but I don't dislike it. I'm personally more partial to the more downbeat, NL-esque tracks, but the music doesn't sound "not Animal Crossing" to me, either.

People are allowed to be outspoken about loving it and hating it. I get OP's opinion. I disagree that it isn't musically sound, but that's neither here nor there.

 

[GreenLeaf]

to me it's nor bad nor grating it's just bland
sometimes I forgot that there are different hourly tunes
I sense just a vague omogenous jazzy ambient landscape that sometimes adds or substracts something to the mix
I sense their goal was just this not be distracting or intrusive
not my cup of tea
I prefer strong mood and style variations but it's ok

anyway these are spring tracks
I've heard that other seasons have some differences in arrangment
can someone confirm that?

 

[Sloom]

my instant gut reaction to the music in was "oh, i'm not sure if this be out here vibin" but then it grew on me, and actually, after some consideration, I have come to the conclusion that it do be vibin doe
for me personally, of course

i actually often get annoyed that the walking on grass sound effect is so loud it drowns out the music a bit, and so I have to sit still to listen. but i lowkey highkey left it on at a late time in the night last night and accidentally fell asleep to it.

pretty sure they wont ever top city folk/wild world for me (and thats coming from someone who never played them when they were new im not biased ok) because they just are be out here bein my vibe. but the nh ost is great imo and they're definitely songs that I would voluntarily look up on youtube to listen to in the background

 

[Sowelu]

Thanks to (most) for your nonjudgmental feedback. I do enjoy this forum and I am glad to be able to discuss these things with other AC fans!

To jump back in, I must make it clear, this isn’t about change, and not giving something a chance. New Leaf's music was a big departure for the series, but it was magical and often mysterious during certain hours. The use of those beautiful French horns (or whatever that instrument is) were scattered throughout and a nice nod to WW and past games, but in a bit more grown up way.

The hourly music in New Leaf was really just so tastefully done while keeping that fun Animal Crossing vibe during the hours that called for it. Each hour was unique, noticeably different, and had proper representation of the hour that each track was playing in.

I knew that it would be difficult for New Horizons to come close to the much (and widely) beloved music of New Leaf - that bar was set pretty high, but I didn't think they'd go in the opposite direction (for many, not all tracks) in such a highly anticipated release. When PocketCamp came out, I was happy to see (or hear) that even on the mobile app, the (non event, regular background) music was relaxing and in-line with the AC vibe. Not amazing, but not irritating either.

I know that a lot of this comes down to personal taste, but for me it goes beyond that. Most (or, at least, many) of the tracks in New Horizons are just goofy and actually annoying, irritating and distracting. For many of the hourly tracks, I am just saying to myself, this is not background music! It's in your ear, poking at it, like a KK midi playing on a villager’s radio.

That one instrument that is in almost every song, the one that would mimic a vocal in an instrumental bad ‘muzak’ throwaway track is the bit that infiltrates my ears the most. Even at the lowest volume setting, that instrument is front and center.

Sadly, most of the hourly tracks sound like slight variations of the same song as they have the same (annoying) instruments, but shifted around a bit. There isn't a uniqueness to most hours, and many have that mindless, freestyle, ‘cool jazz’ sounds you’d hear in department stores in the 1990s. Very little mood, and not very layered. I know this is another nod to the GC game, but I personally do not like this style and prefer unique tracks as each time of the day is unique in every other way

I know people must think I am insane to go on and on about the music in AC, but my disappointment stems from the fact that Animal Crossing has been a great coping mechanism and sometimes a great escape for me (as it is for many people), to help get away mentally from the everyday grind, or the difficult things that life throws at you, and the music has always been in the forefront of that relaxing, happy and cute gameplay. I am deeply moved, influenced and affected by sounds, imagery and colors, so AC always hit all the triggers to brighten one’s day (or night).

Having said all that, I don’t hate ALL the tracks:

5am is beautiful, and unfortunately a standout. I wish the rest of the late night to overnight tracks had this kind of layering and mystery. But, they don’t.

6pm (a nice throwback) is also the only track that finally gives us those iconic French horns that are just signature AC. I wish they were present in other tracks, they are just so AC and give that warm and fuzzy AC feeling.

I also like 2am and 6am, they flow nicely and are fitting.

12pm has a great rhythm and synth and is a unique standout among all of the other daytime (into evening) tracks.

And finally, 7am gives us a fun little throw back to the older games, and it was done well.

So, I guess I will have to mute some hours, and hope that Nintendo releases an update that will allow the user to turn off the music, and just enjoy the in-game sounds. Until then, I will continue to enjoy the hours that are good, try to tolerate the ones that aren’t so bad, and mute the rest that just poke my ears and get in the way of the game.

Also, this post wasn’t ‘bait’, I wanted to ask a question, and express my views on the music, which is what one does on a message forum. I am not a teenager looking to get a rise out of an online community.

I know that NH is a big throwback to the original GC game in many ways (I get the console to console nod), and the music and structure follow those lines in a way (just wish they were done better), but, big surprise, I never liked the GC game much, or (some of) the music. I loved the special characters and mechanics of the game, but I started playing AC with WW on my DS, then got the GC game years later, and it just wasn’t the same, for obvious reasons. Then NL changed everything, and that has been my fave in every way to this day. I love NH’s graphics and great new features, but these features came at a bit of an expense (as of now, at least, and that's best expressed in another post).

I am sure in a few months none of this will no longer matter in my mind, and I’ll be enjoying this version as much as the others, and I am looking forward to future releases. But, I just like to express my views, and point out things that seem off when it comes to things I know and love (same for musical artists, and so on). A big fan without bias will be the biggest admirer as well as the biggest critic.

Having said that, what until you see my rant on all the things (big and small) that are ‘missing’ from NH. I’ll share that in the rant thread after I give the game play more time.

 

[Romaki]

I never really pay attention to music in Animal Crossing. For the most part it sounded like basic Animal Crossing (nothing special, nothing bad), but one of the nightly tunes was really weird to me and I disliked it a lot.

Personally I don't mind the game being bland, I rather concentrate on everything else, but when it's bad it's noticable and it's really just distracting.

 

[Mairen]

I can certainly say that the music is different from new leaf. I haven't decided if I like it more or not. For now I'm just giving it a chance. I'm not bothered enough by it to want to mute the sound and play different music yet, and I doubt I'll reach that level of dislike, but who knows!

 

[Kaizer]

One of the many things that I absolutely love about Animal Crossing is the hourly music. In the earlier days it was brilliantly moody and set the hourly tone, but it was more on the fun and quirky side (and still always fitting).

Then, in New Leaf, the hourly music graduated to a series of even more melodic and layered sounds that paired perfectly with each hour, while still maintaining that Animal Crossing vibe. The New Leaf tracks were so fitting and unique, you’d know what hour of the day it was by ear. The nighttime (and overnight) tracks had a layered, heady and somewhat mysterious vibe to them, which was a perfect musical backdrop for late night strolls around your town.

So, imagine my surprise and disappointment when I heard the opening theme to New Horizons. The somber trumpet sound that dominates is so off-putting and a bit depressing (to my ears, at least). It reminds me of an opening theme song to an early 1980’s TV family drama series. Not very Animal Crossing-y. I cannot hit 'A' fast enough when I start up the game.

But, I wanted to hold judgment on the New Horizons music until the hourly music unlocked. I was hoping that the opening theme was just a poor choice, and the rest of the music would be great, and have that iconic Animal Crossing hourly music vibe that we all know and love.

Well, the hourly music finally unlocked in my game yesterday, and as each hour goes by, I am more and more irritated and disappointed. One of my favorite things about Animal Crossing is gone in this version. What were they thinking? Was the music an afterthought? Most tracks are so bad to my ears, it goes beyond ‘not liking the music’, it’s actually distracting and interfering with gameplay.

Save one or two, all of the tracks sound like mindless KK Slider songs - the annoying, repetitive ones that your villagers play in their homes (and you can’t wait to leave). And to make matters worse, each of these tracks sound like variations of the opening theme song. There is one instrument in particular (that I cannot identify) that is so annoying, and they use it over and over again, throughout the day. It just sticks in your ear distracting you, instead of helping to relax, chill and vibe out while you’re doing your daily tasks or just wandering around.

Aside from the music just being bad and a bit distracting, the hourly tracks don’t seem to have any rhyme of reason and they don’t fit the hour that they are representing. It’s all very random and very little mood is set by the music. It's not background music, it's annoying KK style music and you're just looking for the OFF button. They put so much time and effort into the graphics and the natural lighting shifts throughout the day, it’s a shame that the music doesn't flow with these shifting moods, it actually takes away from them.

I am beyond disappointed with the New Horizons music. It has changed the gameplay experience for me and I find myself muting my Switch during certain hours (many of them), and knowing that this isn’t going to change and this is what we are stuck with, is really upsetting to this huge Animal Crossing fan.

At this point, I’d prefer to revert back to the ‘starter’ music track that played all day. While it was pretty blah and repetitive, it was at least relaxing and sort of faded into the background, instead of getting in the way of the game, and stuck in your ear, as most of the new hourly music does.

So, (long) rant aside, I have tried to disable the music by talking to Isabelle at the Town Hall and then talking to Tom Nook in the system preferences, and there is no option to do so. I don’t want to keep playing with my Switch muted, as I want to enjoy the all of sounds of the game, so I was hoping that there was an option to just disable the music? If there is one, does anyone know how to do it?

I know this is an old post but I agree with literally every single thing you said regarding the new music, including how you would even prefer the original music that looped in the very beginning before you completed your construction with Tom Nook. I felt so strongly in fact that I even messaged Nintendo on their website about the possibliltiy of bringing back the old soundtrack as an option lol like a few months ago or so. With this new update, it seems that they're somewhat listening to fans but I was really disappointed that they didn't do anything about the hourly music (allowing you to play the original soundtrack as an option). I honestly feel like this is the only main thing missing from the new game that holds true weight for the overall game experience generally speaking, with the other exception at this point being the disappearance of the old items such as Master Sword, Arwing, etcetc those type of items which were like diamonds in the game haha.

I even signed a petition a few months back about changing the hourly music which was supposed to help convince Nintendo but I have no idea what happened to it. I can only find this one now that only has 100 signatures: https://www.change.org/p/animal-cro...ndtracks-from-animal-crossing-in-new-horizons. The other one had thousands of signatures from what I remember. Might be thinking of the petition to improve the villagers dialogue so that they're more charasmatic tho lol.

But yeah. The music is somewhat starting to grow on me, but for the most part I find myself muting during gameplay as well. I really really hope they add the feature to allow you to play the older hourly music. That would be perfect. I feel like if enough of us bring this to Nintendo's attention, they'll start to realize how serious this is for so many people and they'll give us that option. We have to be vocal and let them know!! I'm gonna send this petition to them like tmw to let them know that other people want the old hourly music as an option too.

 

[nightglow]

There isn't a way to adjust music vs sound effects/nature sounds unfortunately. They really should have added that in the update.
I know everyone has thier tastes but I'm not fully getting what's so terrible about NH music and what's so great about NL music. To me, NH music I can recall multiple tunes from memory and mine is awful. NL I can't remember the tunes. They just don't seem that memorable to me and they seem kind of plain even though pianos are nice.
Well to each thier own. Hopefully the next game allows us to adjust the music or pick tunes.

 

[Brandelis]

Music taste is always individual and subjective of course. I personally love the music, however, I can understand that it would be nice to turn it down (or off) sometimes. I completely hate the 8am music - I feel like it's trying to spur me on to face the day ahead and I don't want to be spurred thank you, I want to stay in a ball on the sofa - so being able to turn that down a bit would be nice.

 

[Blueskyy]

I liked NL’s more, but I still like NH. It definitely doesn’t distract me. If anything I don’t even notice the hourly themes because they don’t stand out to me.

 

[SirQuack]

While I still like New Horizons, I agree that New Leaf was a little better for my taste. I do wish you had the option to play whatever hourly music you want at anytime, or even pay some K.K. Slider music every now and then.

 

[Kaizer]

But guys what about Population Growing's (Gamecube) hourly music? That music was straight undeniably epic. But yeah. Music is of course subjective. That said, it would make all the more sense to add options regarding the music, whether it be turning it off, turning it down, or adding previous hourly music from previous AC games. I really in my brain can't understand why they seem resistant to this. I feel like they know that people want this on some level or another.

 

[Moritz]

I know everyone has thier tastes but I'm not fully getting what's so terrible about NH music and what's so great about NL music. To me, NH music I can recall multiple tunes from memory and mine is awful. NL I can't remember the tunes. They just don't seem that memorable to me and they seem kind of plain even though pianos are nice.

I'm wondering if some people prefer the NL music because the NL music was so... bland isn't the right word... but bland, that they don't even notice its there.

But the new horizons music is upbeat and stands out more.

Even when I played New Leaf daily I couldn't remember any music apart from 1am.

I dont get the love for it at all.
I would understand more if people wanted wild worlds music. That sound track had some life to it

 

[Berrymia]

I’m with OP on this one. I just can’t with the NH music. It might be bc I’m highly sensitive but some tracks are downright unbearable for me, like 2pm, 5pm and 3am. I tried to use the website that plays hourly new leaf music according to the right hour but ofc I don’t have sounds there. I’d love to to switch off the music and only have sounds lol
That being said, tastes are different and ppl who love NH music are just as valid as ppl who dislike it

 

[StarlitGlitch]

Honestly I probably can't remember any of the songs from ACNH, despite playing it quite a bit recently, because it all blends together for me. I don't even think I could hum any of them right now for you. But I could still easily remember tunes from any of the previous games (and sing them) even if I haven't played them in quite a while.

I think part of the problem is the instruments used in the NH track.

 

[amemome]

Hmm... NH hourly music isn't my favorite, but I do think the main theme (the one with the trumpets) is really chill and nice.

 

[Berrymia]

Honestly I probably can't remember any of the songs from ACNH, despite playing it quite a bit recently, because it all blends together for me. I don't even think I could hum any of them right now for you. But I could still easily remember tunes from any of the previous games (and sing them) even if I haven't played them in quite a while.

I think part of the problem is the instruments used in the NH track.

it’s the Synthesizer for me I think! I prefer more natural instruments like guitar or piano. I loved the tutorial music lol

 

[ForgottenT]

I've been playing NH with no volume since release, because the music gives me a headache, it's like I'm at a concert 24/7 I absolutely cannot stand it, there's nothing redeeming about it as far as I'm concerned, sounds awful, and repetitive, it's stressful to listen to, and yeah headaches on top of that, I'd pay 100$ just for the option to turn it off, even if they didn't replace it with anything else.

And it's such a shame, because the sound design in NH is incredible, but I won't be able to experience it.

 

[StarlitGlitch]

it’s the Synthesizer for me I think! I prefer more natural instruments like guitar or piano. I loved the tutorial music lol

Thank you, I wasn't confident on what it's called! I was about to just say "that whiny sound" haha. Yeah, same.