The great thread of electronic/synthesizer soundtracks

[HideawayStudio]

Also used by Fred Myrow & Christopher Stone on 'Phantasm II' (1988), Peter Gabriel 'The Last Temptation of Christ (1989), Stevie Wonder and Herbie Hancock (and I think Chris Franke used one as well at some point).

A friend of mine produced many of the samples on TLToC for Peter and so the story goes they didn't use the WaveFrame in the end because it was just too difficult to use and it was crashing with alarming regularity - they ended up using an S900 on loan from AKAI Professional for rendering a big chunk of the ethnic flavours on that score - which just goes to show you don't need the latest uber tool to make something decent in the right hands!

I'm pretty sure Mr Cretu aka Enigma made good use of the WaveFrame on much of his early material.

[visceralvoids]

MCMXC

[Micke]

Also used by Fred Myrow & Christopher Stone on 'Phantasm II' (1988), Peter Gabriel 'The Last Temptation of Christ (1989), Stevie Wonder and Herbie Hancock (and I think Chris Franke used one as well at some point).

A friend of mine produced many of the samples on TLToC for Peter and so the story goes they didn't use the WaveFrame in the end because it was just too difficult to use and it was crashing with alarming regularity - they ended up using an S900 on loan from AKAI Professional for rendering a big chunk of the ethnic flavours on that score - which just goes to show you don't need the latest uber tool to make something decent in the right hands!

I'm pretty sure Mr Cretu aka Enigma made good use of the WaveFrame on much of his early material.

I'll be darned...one learns something new every day! The album credits for TLToC must be incorrect then, at least where
the WaveFrame is concerned. The Akai S900 and Fairlight are also credited on that album.

Peter does seem to have used the WaveFrame on his album "Us" though.

You're right about Mr. Cretu, I simply forgot to mention him.

[HideawayStudio]

Also used by Fred Myrow & Christopher Stone on 'Phantasm II' (1988), Peter Gabriel 'The Last Temptation of Christ (1989), Stevie Wonder and Herbie Hancock (and I think Chris Franke used one as well at some point).

A friend of mine produced many of the samples on TLToC for Peter and so the story goes they didn't use the WaveFrame in the end because it was just too difficult to use and it was crashing with alarming regularity - they ended up using an S900 on loan from AKAI Professional for rendering a big chunk of the ethnic flavours on that score - which just goes to show you don't need the latest uber tool to make something decent in the right hands!

I'm pretty sure Mr Cretu aka Enigma made good use of the WaveFrame on much of his early material.

I'll be darned...one learns something new every day! The album credits for TLToC must be incorrect then, at least where
the WaveFrame is concerned. The Akai S900 and Fairlight are also credited on that album.

Peter does seem to have used the WaveFrame on his album "Us" though.

I'm sure he has used the beast - it's just that it wasn't working well for him at the time. As you know he was hugely into the Fairlight, as were Genesis (Fisher Lane studio is gorgeous by the way - the huge old SSL desk and 48 track SONY digital tape machine are still there!), and they used to very good effect - as did Jean Michel in Zoolook - and I think I caught sight of the very beast in a cupboard recently - it wouldn't surprise me - he never gets rid of anything!

[Esus]

I'm sure he has used the beast - it's just that it wasn't working well for him at the time. As you know he was hugely into the Fairlight, as were Genesis (Fisher Lane studio is gorgeous by the way - the huge old SSL desk and 48 track SONY digital tape machine are still there!), and they used to very good effect - as did Jean Michel in Zoolook - and I think I caught sight of the very beast in a cupboard recently - it wouldn't surprise me - he never gets rid of anything!

Do I see a Studer 800 series 24-track and Westlake monitors?

[HideawayStudio]

Do I see a Studer 800 series 24-track and Westlake monitors?

Yes, but you failed to see a Mr Rutherford Jr!

[Micke]

Hmm...I thought the guy looked vaguely familiar!

Getting back on topic; here's Alan Howarth's opening music from the low-budget flick "The Lost empire" (1985)


(better quality)

Main instruments used:
Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 & Prophet-10 w/Poly sequencers
E-mu Emulator 1
ARP Avatar(x2) & ARP sequencer
Linn LM-1 Drum Computer
Fender Stratocaster and Jazz Bass
Alto saxophone and flute

Music recorded at Electric Melody Studios, August 1983.

Parts of Howarth's score is very reminiscent of the music he did for The Osterman Weekend that same year. Howarth's
sequencer-type music can be heard toward the end of the film when everything gets scary. Lalo Schifrin composed the main
score.

[MrFrodo]

Enjoy


Star trek: the motion picture - Trailer (1979):

the sound effects heard throughout this trailer were done by Alan Howarth
using a Prophet 5 rev 2 (on four tracks) plus an Arp Avatar.

Didn't Jerry Goldsmith use an ARP 2600 for the drone effects during the main movie score?

[Micke]

Enjoy


Star trek: the motion picture - Trailer (1979):

the sound effects heard throughout this trailer were done by Alan Howarth
using a Prophet 5 rev 2 (on four tracks) plus an Arp Avatar.

Didn't Jerry Goldsmith use an ARP 2600 for the drone effects during the main movie score?

What sound(s) are you referring to in the score? can you point me to specific examples.

Craig Huxley (aka Hundley) did the synth work on Goldsmith's underscore and he used an ARP 2600, along
with a Yamaha CS-80, Oberheim OB-X and Serge modular. It's a heavily orchestrated score though and from
what I remember (it's been a while since I heard the music) most of the synth sounds are are barely audible
in the mix (for this score they were mainly used to blend with and reinforce other instruments of the orchestra).
The "blaster beam" is heavily featured on the score though.

The sound effects guys included Alan Howarth, Frank Serafine, Joel Goldsmith and Franciso Lupica but their
stuff was recorded separately, and was not part of Goldsmith's main movie score.

[MrFrodo]

I see. You probably answered my question, in any event. Two spots I was thinking of were a scene 1-2 minutes after the opening credits and the climactic scene near the end. (I'd mention specific time spots, but without a DVD, that's not presently possible.)

[Micke]

Revenge Of The Ninja (1983) - Music composed, arranged and performed by Rob Walsh

[Esus]

Revenge Of The Ninja (1983) - Music composed, arranged and performed by Rob Walsh

Ha! Shot in my home town. I know (knew) and worked with many of the below-the-line cast members (but not on this one). The climactic fight scene was on the roof of a local bank tower. I used to catch this one often, because Showtime would air it incessantly (usually between 1-4 am). Laughably bad.
Thanks for bringing this one up, Micke!

[Micke]

Wow! that's cool man!

Rob Walsh's score was originally released on vinyl back in the day but it seems next to impossible to find a copy
these days.

I did however manage to get hold of a sealed vinyl copy of the Shogun Assassin OST. I really like Mark Lindsay's
& W. Michael Lewis' synth score for that movie (entirely done on a giant E-mu polyphonic modular system):

[Micke]

The Chain Reaction (1980) - Music by Andrew Thomas Wilson

This obscure early '80s flick has a pretty cool synthesizer-score too, and believe it or not but the score was released
on LP back in 1980.




The soundtrack album even lists the gear used:
Modular Moog
Oberheim 4 Voice Synthesizer
Roland system 700
Roland 100m
Moog Vocoder
Clavinet
Bosendorfer grand piano
Mellotron

Recorded at Leo between January - April 1980
Recorded on Lyric 24 track using Scotch 250 tape.


"The Chain Reaction" soundtrack album cover

[Micke]

John Carpenter's Starman (1984) - Music by Jack Nitzsche

Synclavier programming by Brian Banks and Anthony Marinelli