Have you ever wondered whether the music you hear in a movie is authentic? The soundtrack plays a huge part in setting the scene but in the case of movies about casinos, does the music really show us what these places are like?
The Diversity of Casino Music Keeps Growing
To understand this subject better, we need to look at what music gets played in casinos. This is something that the owners spend a lot of time thinking about, as they look to create a laid-back and welcoming atmosphere for their clients. Sofy, jazzy instrumentals are extremely popular in casinos, and it’s easy to see why this sort of easy listening experience is so common.
It’s worth pointing out there are now plenty of live casino games available online such as roulette and blackjack, with human dealers streamed onto the screen. In this case, players have the choice of listening to the original sound effects and any background music, or putting their device on mute and playing the music that they prefer. This makes it more difficult for us to find a particular trend that all players enjoy.
In land-based casinos, the music is now more diverse too. The jazz instrumentals mentioned earlier are joined by classical music in some cases. We can also find more modern styles such as rock or pop in other casinos. How well this works depends upon the location and the games played by their typical clients.
For example, a relaxed casino in Las Vegas may play rock while people are playing slots. But if we look at the upcoming playlist for the Lounge Bar Salle Europe at the famous Monte-Carlo Casino, we find an eclectic mixture of lounge, funk, and other styles being played while their players enjoy the craps table and card games.
What Do the Movies Show?
The truth is that movies very rarely let us hear the music played in casinos. However, there are some very good reasons for this, as filmmakers look to create a certain type of atmosphere and the music played in real casinos is usually unobtrusive rather than attention-grabbing.
The first thing to bear in mind is that the movies often play songs over the top of the action, rather than the music that the characters would hear if they were actually in a casino. For example, in some older James Bond films like Dr No, you’ll briefly hear 007’s theme tune playing while the agent is gambling. On the other hand, Martin Scorsese’s Casino sets the scene with pop music and blues tunes from the year being shown.
Other movies about card games use dramatic music to crank up the tension at the most crucial moment, regardless of the setting. Meanwhile, Rounders takes a different approach by letting the dialog take center stage during the much-analyzed final hand of poker in a private club, with moments of silence used to let us understand the tension of the game.
Watching casino movies isn’t the best way to understand the music played in these establishments, but it gives us an interesting perspective on casino games, with soundtracks that are designed to grab our full attention.
