Heart of China - Rough Takeoff

Heart of China - Rough Takeoff
You can listen to and download my version of the music here:
Heart of China - Rough Takeoff

Original Composer(s): Christopher Stevens and Don Latarski

(taken from abandonia) Heart of China was released in 1991 by Dynamix, which was an subsidiary of Sierra and usually developed the company's action oriented games. Therefore you get some nice action sequences within the game, which can fortunately be skipped. A big achivement for all hardcore adventurers among us. The game also contains Sierra-typical elements. So you should better save often...  

You can read more about this awesome underrated game (and even DOWNLOAD IT legally) HERE

This ReOrchestration showcases the very purpose of this blog.  Taking a handful of classic in-game motifs and themes to create something wholly different... a piece which which serves to rescore an embellished sequence in the game.  For the purpose of this piece, the main characters Jake "Lucky" Masters and his Ninja friend Chi are stopped by immigration at the airfield in Hong Kong and then make a break for the plane.  Traditional chinese instruments are peppered throughout accompanying a large orchestra and several extremely memorable themes / motifs from the game are utilized.  In this cue, you'll hear a rousing version of the main title theme, a reworking of the original "Immigration" cue heard at the start, and the bassline from "Flight to Chengdu".


For reference, you can listen to the themes referenced in this cue via Quest Studios here:
Main Title Theme

Immigration

Flight to Chengdu

Red Baron - Intro March

Red Baron - Intro March
You can listen to and download my version of the music here:
Red Baron - Intro March

Original Composer: Cayanie Music

Created by Damon Slyle and released in 1990, Red Baron was a WW I flight simulator and extremely ambitious for its time.  More about this game can be read HERE

For this ReOrchestration, I wanted to do something which was a complete about face from the very Zimmerish Police Quest material I've been doing.  The march from Red Baron is some amazingly thematic material and very much deserved an update and reworking.  The main theme is now performed by a large trombone section.. which sounded very german and villainous to me.  Given the actual red barons track record during the war... this very much seemed appropriate.  If you're a fan of Jerry Goldsmith film scores from the 1980s, you're bound to enjoy this one!


For reference, you can listen to a version of this theme as it was originally heard in the game via youtube:
Red Baron - Intro March - Original Version

Police Quest III - Crash Scene

Police Quest III - Crash Scene / The Accident
You can listen to and download my version of the music here:
Police Quest III - Crash Scene

Original Composer: Jan Hammer

Yes, THE Jan Hammer.. as in the composer behind the original Miami Vice television show in the 80s!

Produced by Jim Walls for Sierra and originally released in 1991.  More about this game can be read HERE

This is an interesting piece and something I wanted to take a stab at from the start.  It's got an amazing bluesy / rock vibe and, in my head anyway, sounded like some of the guitar heavy Hans Zimmer scores from the early 1990's such as K2 and Drop Zone, which is the exact approach I took when reorchestrating this piece.  This new version features some live guitar work (performed by yours truly) and has a really cool cinematic rock vibe about it.  Overall, it's pretty much a note for note recreation of one my favorite tunes from PQ3.

For reference, you can hear a version of this theme as performed on the Roland MT - 32 here:
Crash Scene - Original MT-32 version


All songs and screen captures are Copyright 1986-1998 Vivendi Universal / Sierra On-Line / Dynamix, Inc. All rights reserved

GUEST GAME - Fate of Atlantis

GUEST GAME - Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis

Original Composer(s): Clint Bajakian, Peter McConnell, and Michael Z. Land

Released in 1992 by Lucasarts, Fate of Atlantis was praised by critics and honestly... one of my favorite Lucasarts adventure games.  Of course I'm a bit bias as I'm a HUGE Indiana Jones fan at heart.  But I digress, the music heard in FOA is stunning and was just begging for a full remake / re orchestration pass... which is precisely what I've done.  In this very special first "Guest Game" post, I've got up for download my 30 minute album which I completed last year based on a handful of memorable themes from the game.  For the most part, many of the themes were left untouched and quite simply just updated for a modern orchestra set up so they should be instantly recognizable by you fellow fans of this incredible game.  In other cases (such as "Fight at the Dig") I embellished the source material a bit adding in my own flare.

My orchestrated version of this score is now going to be released on itunes and Loudr as it is being published by JOYPAD RECORDS

Stay tuned!

Tracklist (original titles from game score represented in parenthesis)

1.  The Raiders March (main titles)* - 2:23

2.  Map Screen - :30

3.  Kerner and Trip To Iceland (Kerner steals the statue)* - 3:13

4.  Sophias Presentation - 2:19

5.  Streets of Monte Carlo (monte carlo car chase) - 1:47

6.  The Unfortunate Death of Dr. Jones* - 1:24

7.  Fight at the Dig (fight music)* - 1:31

8.  The First Ring of Atlantis - 3:13

9.  Crab Raft - 2:25

10. Lava Maze - 2:54

*-Contains portions of The Raiders March by John Williams

all themes from the game itself are copyright lucasarts and lucasfilm ltd

Police Quest III - Marie in a Coma

Police Quest III - Marie in a Coma
You can listen to and download my version of the music here:
Police Quest III - Marie

Original Composer: Jan Hammer

Produced by Jim Walls for Sierra and originally released in 1991.  More about this game can be read HERE

I've taken Hammers very emotional hospital music, updated it, and re-orchestrated it.  The lead motif, now played on a nylon guitar should be instantly recognizable.  This piece features a full orchestra, and is once again very much in the style of Trevor Rabin and Mark Mancina, If you're a fan of film scores such as Bad Boys and Enemy of the State, you'll love this piece.

For reference, you can also check out the original version of this theme as performed on the venerable Roland MT-32:
Marie - Roland MT 32 Version



As stated on the first post in the blog, these remakes / reorchestrataions I'm doing are all original and are recent reorchestrations (as in the last year).  They aren't meant to sound exactly like the source, but rather update it making it more cinematic while still retaining some of the themes and motifs.  More soon!

All songs and screen captures are Copyright 1986-1998 Vivendi Universal / Sierra On-Line / Dynamix, Inc. All rights reserved

Police Quest III - Intro

Police Quest III - Intro
You can listen to and download my version of this music here:
Police Quest III - Intro

Original Composer: Jan Hammer

Produced by Jim Walls for Sierra and originally released in 1991.  More about this game can be read HERE

For my second music post, I've taken a couple of pieces from the Intro and have reworked them.  This piece is mainly made up of original material while retaining several of Hammer's motifs.  This piece features a full orchestra, and is once again very much in the style of Trevor Rabin and Mark Mancina, If you're a fan of film scores such as Bad Boys and Enemy of the State, you'll love this piece.

All songs and screen captures are Copyright 1986-1998 Vivendi Universal / Sierra On-Line / Dynamix, Inc. All rights reserved

Police Quest 1 Symphonic Suite

Police Quest 1 - In Pursuit of Death Angel
You can listen to and download my version of the music here:
Police Quest 1 Suite

Original Composer: Rob Atesalp

Produced by Jim Walls for Sierra and originally released in 1987.  It was eventually remade in 1992 using 256 color VGA graphics and the SCI engine.  More about this game can be read HERE

For my first music post, I've taken several of my favorite themes from Police Quest 1 and have updated them to make them much more cinematic.  This piece features a full orchestra, live guitar, and is very much in the style of Trevor Rabin and Mark Mancina, which seemed very fitting for the vibe.  So if you're a fan of film scores such as Bad Boys and Enemy of the State, you'll love this suite I've put together.  The themes are used liberally here and should be instantly recognizable to you fellow fans of the PQ series.


For reference, to hear exactly how Ive updated this piece, the original version of the Intro (which I used for the first half of this suite) can be heard here:
Police Quest 1 - Intro - Roland MT 32

The original version of Hoffmans Arrest (which is the second half of the suite) was featured in the VGA remake and can be heard in its midi form here:
Police Quest 1 - Hoffmans Arrest Midi

Up next, a slew of cues from Police Quest III composed by the iconic Jan Hammer.

All songs and screen captures are Copyright 1986-1998 Vivendi Universal / Sierra On-Line / Dynamix, Inc. All rights reserved

The purpose of this blog

So just what is sierra soundtracks re-orchestrated?  Well, for years I've been a huge fan of the sierra adventure titles from the 80s and the 90s... especially the music heard in them.  While the music heard in many of these games is effective and worked for its time, on this blog I'll be posting new versions of these soundtracks which I have re-orchestrated and re-arranged updating the original tunes making them far more cinematic in sound utilizing current music technology and samples.  Please take note that any music I post here was done from scratch and is NOT using the original source material in any way other than referencing the themes and motifs heard.

Why am I qualified to do this?  I've been working professionally in the video game industry as a composer and sound designer for the better part of 9 years and have a wealth of experience composing cinematic music.  But enough about me, this blog is all about my 20 year love affair with Sierra adventure games and the music heard in them.  You can learn more about me and hear some of my original music over at my website: http://www.richdouglas.net 

I'll post pieces which I've re-imagined as I get 'em done.  Some of these music re-orchestrations will rely heavily on the original pieces themselves and be instantly recognizable... while others will just use hints of the old pieces and be completely re orchestrated from the ground up just using the games story as inspiration.  On occasion there will most likely be guest pieces from other non-sierra retro games.

I also wanted to do a big shout out to Quest Studios...what Tom does over there is absolutely amazing and a service to all of us fans of classic sierra titles!  Be sure to check out his amazing Sierra Soundtrack Database here:
Quest Studios

I'll actually be referencing material over at Quest Studios quite a bit in order to provide reference so you guys can hear the source material and what it is exactly that I'm updating music wise.

The first official music post after this will be a suite of music from POLICE QUEST 1: IN PURSUIT OF DEATH ANGEL.  Stay tuned for updates as I have time to make them... I've already started work on a completely reworked soundtrack from police quest III and will most likely tackle Heart of China shortly after that.