Video: For a while now, Paweł Zadrożniak has been treating us to some classic tunes played on his Floppotron – a musical instrument built from 64 floppy disk drives Frankenstein-ed together. His latest work nails the Ghostbuster theme song, just in time to update your trick-or-treat playlist.
GIF Source: Paweł Zadrożniak
Some songs on the Floppotron work better than others. Of course, the Zelda soundtrack is going to sound right; the 8-bit bleeps and bloops come from the same era of computing. At the same time, Darude’s techno classic “Sandstorm” comes off as a little too manic when played on floppy drives. You can hear the equipment struggling to keep up and percussion is incapable of reproducing the necessary thump that makes you nod your head.
Ray Parker Jr’s “Ghostbusters” could have gone either way. It has old-school synth sounds that the Floppotron does best, and isn’t too heavy on the bass. But can it handle the pitch-shifted theremin-style tones that give the song its spooky flavour? Yup. It’s just as good as the original.
So if you’re putting some mood-setting tunes on your doorstep this Halloween, let us recommend including a little Floppotron. Tracks such as “Enter Sandman” and “Sweet Dreams” will fit in great with the “Monster Mash”.