The great thread of electronic/synthesizer soundtracks

[Micke]

Micke -

Any idea for Mark Isham''s Hitcher score? Prophet 2000 and...? Maybe an Emulator?

Mark Isham used the following setup for The Hitcher (1986):

Prophet 5 with poly sequencer
(rack-mounted) Oberheim 4-voice with custom-built patch bay and separate keyboard
Roland MC-4B (hooked up to the Oberheim)
ARP 2600
Moog 12
Prophet 2000 sampler
E-mu SP-12 drum machine

That's quite a setup!


Btw, I just pre-ordered the remastered reissue of Brad Fiedel's Terminator soundtrack on vinyl (I'll get the CD too as soon as it's available):



This new presentation of the score is just great and a big improvement over the old "definite edition" CD, which was improperly mixed.

I'm very happy with this release and we can now finally enjoy the score as it was meant to sound after all these years.

[mdannyg]

hmmm, very interesting. I wonder if I will like it since that version is probably all I know. I kind of like how strangely (or improperly) mixed it sounds.

[Micke]

With a few exceptions, Brad Fiedel's new presentation of the score is pretty much identical to what's heard in the film. So if you have seen the film you should know what
it sounds like as the mix is very close for the most part. The new release also adds a few cues that were absent on the 'definite edition'.

Brad once told me that one of the challenges was keeping the Prophet sequences and the Oberheim in sync as they were not connected by midi at that time.
However, with this new release the synchronisation problems between the drum machine, sequencers and the synths have been corrected.

Note that the old 'definite edition' CD was produced and mixed without Brad's involvement, and I can tell you that he was not very happy with the result.

I'm sure you won't be dissapointed with the new one.

[mdannyg]

i'll definitely be checking it out. thanks for the info! It's probably my favorite soundtrack.

[Micke]

You're welcome

It's one of my favorite synth scores too.

The old 'definite edition' CD isn't bad at all, it's just that the mix is so different to what's heard in the film.

[Walter Ego]

I just watched the over-the-top homage to 80's post-apocalyptic action flicks Turbo Kid. Movie was kind of funny, but the soundtrack was very enjoyable.

Le Matos

Here's one example.

[tim gueguen]

Bill Conti's soundtrack to the 1981 James Bond film For Your Eyes Only has been posted to YouTube. This cut, "Runaway," seems to be the most synth heavy track, although synth leads can also be heard on "Submarine" and "Helicopter Ride."

[tim gueguen]

Came across this one tonight. "Video Tronics No. 3" was used in the first season Space: 1999 episodes "Force of Life" and "End of Eternity."

[Micke]

Bill Conti's soundtrack to the 1981 James Bond film For Your Eyes Only has been posted to YouTube. This cut, "Runaway," seems to be the most synth heavy track, although synth leads can also be heard on "Submarine" and "Helicopter Ride."

Mike Moran played the synths on that soundtrack. I'm not sure what keys he used on this particular score but he's credited with playing Prophet 5 on Kate Bush's Never For Ever (1980)
and Mick Fleetwood 's The Visitor (1981)...so chances are he used it on this score as well.

[synthroom]

Bill Conti's soundtrack to the 1981 James Bond film For Your Eyes Only has been posted to YouTube. This cut, "Runaway," seems to be the most synth heavy track, although synth leads can also be heard on "Submarine" and "Helicopter Ride."

My first real exposure to Bond soundtracks was in 1977 when I was 14. We had a cassette of the Spy Who Loved Me soundtrack and my mom had a 1974 Lotus Elite. We'd play that cassette everywhere we went in that car. I liked to pretend to steer the rockets from the truck using the shift lever. I never could figure out how to get the fire button to appear...

Marvin Hamlisch did the soundtrack and he had a few synths in it - his "Bond 77" cut was a good remix of the classic James Bond Theme. It had a disco flavor to it, as did Conti's later work. The synth work is pretty simple, and I love how it's got two rhythm guitar parts, one on each stereo track. Oddly, the album version is slowed down from the film version.

[synthroom]

Came across this one tonight. "Video Tronics No. 3" was used in the first season Space: 1999 episodes "Force of Life" and "End of Eternity."

I was such a Space:1999 fan when it came out. I had the soundtrack album to that. I think I wore that record out. When I watch it now, it's not nearly as good as I remembered it being... The model SFX work on the show was spectacular though.

My favorite cut on the album was this:

Not really synthy though. And I guess it wasn't even used on the show.

Of all the Gerry and Sylvia Anderson shows, I enjoy Thunderbirds the most now - but I loved Space:1999 and UFO as well when I was a kid.

[Micke]

My first real exposure to Bond soundtracks was in 1977 when I was 14. We had a cassette of the Spy Who Loved Me soundtrack and my mom had a 1974 Lotus Elite. We'd play that cassette everywhere we went in that car. I liked to pretend to steer the rockets from the truck using the shift lever. I never could figure out how to get the fire button to appear...

Marvin Hamlisch did the soundtrack and he had a few synths in it - his "Bond 77" cut was a good remix of the classic James Bond Theme. It had a disco flavor to it, as did Conti's later work. The synth work is pretty simple, and I love how it's got two rhythm guitar parts, one on each stereo track. Oddly, the album version is slowed down from the film version.

Francis Monkman told me a while ago that he played the synths & keys on that Bond soundtrack. As far as he could remember he played an ARP Odyssey on the Bond 77 theme.
Before Francis got the Oberheim OB-1 and Prophet 5 in the late '70s, he used the Odyssey a lot - more than any other synth on sessions (he always preferred it over the Minimoog).

Speaking of Francis, his excellent electronic/orchestral score to "The Long Good Friday" (1980) will soon be re-issued on CD in remastered form and, for the first time, in stereo.

[forcedopinion]

The Long Good Friday theme is great, I think someone re-used it in a recent film but I can't remember which one.

[LoboLives]

Any idea if the organ used on Buio Omega and Contamination is a real pipe organ or a mellotron?

[Micke]

Maurizio Guarini played the keys on Buio Omega and Contamination and as far as he can remember he used a Yamaha CS-80 for the 'pipe-organ' sounds,
at least on the latter score.