This is perhaps not the strangest request we've received via this column, although for the life of us we can't think of a stranger one right now.
Evidently, it's not that strange, however, since our trusty research department seems to have unearthed just what you're looking for in the form of "Sounds of the Casino!" -- high-quality digital recordings of actual ambient casino sounds (including shrieks and coughing).
It's a three-track CD that runs for 75 minutes and the manufacturers suggest that you "play the CD in the background and put it on repeat or loop the next time you have a Las Vegas night as a school or church fund-raiser to make it sound like a real casino. Do the same if you have a Vegas-themed party in your home or a poker night!"
Okay, so far, so good. Then it starts getting a little weirder: "If you just like hearing the sounds of the casino, put it in your CD player in the car or listen while you jog!" Uh, whatever.
Next comes our favorite bit:
"If your hobby is advantage play in a casino, put it on in the background when practicing your craps, blackjack, or other skills in order to simulate the casino environment and make your practice sessions more like the real casino experience." Brilliant!
If you'd like to preview this CD, you can hear track one by clicking here.
The only bad news is that it appears currently to be out of stock, although the site says it'll be available again soon. You can sign up for an email alert to let you know when it's back in stock (we did*).
That was the only album-length option we came across, but if "Sounds of the Casino!" isn't shipping in time for your party, fear not. There are some alternatives. Movies, TVs, and now Web sites often use sound-effect CDs to build or enhance a soundtrack, plus there's the whole cell phone ringtone market now, too.
One such example of casino sounds we found was from an outfit called shockwave-sound.com, which sells compilation CDs like "Casino Sounds: Slot Machines," "Casino Sounds, Set 1" (featuring tracks like "Casino ambience #2: casino hall, people chatting, multiple slot machines, and gambling sounds") and "Playing Cards and Poker Sounds." They sell the compilation CDs for between $19.95 and $29.95, or you could build your own, at $1.95 and up per track, selecting from such hits as "Stacking poker chips 1-10" and "Slot machine paying out many coins."
Another one we found that might be even better is www.audiosparx.com, which also sells effects by the track, of which there are at least 80 to choose from, including "1980s casino ambience" (1 min. 2 sec. for $2 to download to your PC or $2.99 as a ringtone), "1970s casino ambience" (same price for only 44 seconds), "Walking around a casino" (a 2 min. 15 sec. track that downloads at $8.30 to your computer for personal use, $2.99 for ringtone).
If none of these does it for you, you could consider checking out our ultimate iPod Vegas/gambling song list, which first ran as a QoD on 5/21/06, then repeated with all the additional suggestions sent in by readers on 6/04/06, then ran as part of our "Best of QoD" feature on 5/23/07, where it generated even more suggestions and updates.
We can't face counting just how many songs and artists make up the final list, but with tracks by such diverse artists as Ray Charles, Motorhead, Electric Light Orchestra, ABBA, Suzanne Vega, Yellowman, Carly Simon, Billy Joel, AC/DC, Stereophonics, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Grateful Dead, Max Romeo and the Upsetters, Leonard Cohen, Faith Hill, Aerosmith, Eminem, Barry Manilow, Patsy Cline, Frank Sinatra, ZZ Top, Engelbert Humperdinck, Madonna, and the Clash, we figure just about anyone should be able to put together their ultimate Las Vegas soundtrack from this list.
