When it comes to iconic sounds of synthesis, few are as memorable as Vangelis‘ Main Titles for the classic science fiction film Blade Runner.
When Blade Runner was released, in 1982, many were confused by the movie’s narrative. Others were put off by the story’s dark tone, or by Harrison Ford’s deadpan voice-overs.
Few recognized the movie as a future classic.
The completeness of Ridley Scott’s fully realized, all-enveloping world, though, was immediately recognized. And even after more than 25 years, Scott’s visuals, combined with Vangelis’ stunning score, set the standard by which other science fiction films are measured.
Vangelis entire score to Blade Runner is a classic, but the “brass” theme from his Main Titles is iconic.
Embedded above, the opening scenes of Blade Runner, which kick in at about 2:30, immediately thrust you into a stunning futuristic world. The amazing visuals are accompanied by depth-shaking electronic drones and percussion, and a soaring Yamaha CS-80 lead that concisely sets the tone for the film.
While Vangelis used the rare CS-80 extensively throughout Blade Runner, synthesists have been using all sorts of synths to approximate the iconic sound of his Main Titles since.
Here’s a demonstration using the Yamaha CS-70, a younger sibling to the CS-80, to recreate the iconic sound:
Nice!
But do you have to have a rare vintage Yamaha synth to get that awesome sound?
This video demonstrates using a cheap Korg MicroKorg to recreate the Blade Runner brass sound:
Check out this take on the Main Titles performed on an Access TI Polar:
It’s not an exact match for Vangelis’ original, but the Access synth sounds fantastic and very musical.
Next up, a cover of the theme using an Access Virus TI:
Here’s a take on the Main Titles, done on the Roland Juno-60:
This video offers a visual guide to programming a Vangelis Blade Runner style brass sound on the Roland June-60:
Again, it’s not a match to the sound of the classic synths that Vangelis used, but it sounds great, nonetheless.
The Oberheim OBXa is a monster synth that can make gorgeous brass sounds, and it’s perfect for taking on the challenge of Vangelis’ iconic theme:
The Korg Radias was used in creating this cover of the Main Titles:
Here’s a visual guide to programming the Vangelis’ Blade Runner brass sound on the Korg Radias:
Finally, this cover of the Blade Runner Main Titles does an incredible job of capturing the sound and feel of Vangelis’ original:
An Ensoniq ESQ 1 is used here for the CS80 brass leads, a Juno 6 for electronic beeps, and a Korg x5 and Juno G for various bells and percussion.
Think software is the way to go?
Here’s an attempt at the iconic Blade Runner brass sound using using the MiniMogue VST software synthesizer:
Here’s a surprisingly close version of the Blade Runner brass sound, created on a Moog Little Phatty:
Ultimately, it’s tough for any synth to match up to the sound of the classic Yamaha CS-80. Trying, though, is a great way to explore and understand the capabilities and limitations of a synthesizer.
The CS-80 was way ahead of its time when it was released in 1977 and is still considered one of the most playable synths of all time. Vangelis owned seven CS-80′s at one time,. You can hear the CS-80 all over his Blade Runner soundtrack and much of his finest work.
Check out the examples, and then leave a comment with your thoughts on Vangelis’ iconic Blade Runner Main Titles theme…..and the synths that you think come closest to matching the Yamaha CS-80.
Note: If you’re interested in reading more about Vangelis and his keyboards, don’t miss this SOS article on Recording Vangelis.
Video credits: meastempo, StrangeQuarkStar, EnvelopeGenerator, antichicmusic, module19, magevers, notjarre, mik300z
Surely Arturia's CS-80v would be the obvious choice, although maybe being a soft-synth its cheaing
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Amazingly enough, I dug around and did not find any examples of people doing covers with CS-80v. Maybe that's not enough of a challenge?
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It would be interesting to see how close people could get using various software synths – not just the Arturia version. I wonder how things like Zebra2, ACE or SynthSquad would be at trying to get close to the classic CS-80 depth.
If I were better at programming I would give it a shot, but this is a bit out of my pay scale
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Not sure why this is, but all the CS-80v demos sound really cheesy.
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Let's see examples!
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That Blade Runner theme is very reminiscent of "Five Circles" on Vangelis's "Chariots of Fire" soundtrack. It never gets old, though.
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That Blade Runner theme is very reminiscent of "Five Circles" on Vangelis's "Chariots of Fire" soundtrack. It never gets old, though.
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I love how influential that one sound is. Amazing.
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Sure it's ICONIC, but i think, you can reproduce that brass sound on a decent VA synth too. The trick is, that you have to imitate the instabity of the analogue circiuts with modulation, plus you have to use modulation trough aftertouch combined with modulation trough expression pedal, as Vangelis did. I've made my best attempt on a Korg Z1, sadly there is too much aliasing in that machine, but it's a monster…
Anyway the JUNO-60 is pretty impressive…
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Let's see examples!
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The brass sounds on Vagelis' Soil festivities album always stayed with me.
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Holy Hankey! That was awesome!
In my opinion Blade Runner has one of the most memorable motion picture scores in film history and that synthetic brass melody just might be the key factor to that. The sound has always fascinated me and is one of the main reasons why I've gotten interested in emulating real life instruments like strings and brasses with synthesis.
I've managed to get some nice results myself but it's always a pleasure to see how other people do the same things. And to see someone tap into the classic that partially started it all for me is simply fantastic. Sounds great!
The other videos were also really cool. Yet another saliva inducing Synthtopia post!
Thank you for sharing these.
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Have to agree.
Blade Runner is a great movie and the music is a big part of it.
That opening scene gave me goosebumps the first time I saw it.
I was watching Terminator the other day and both the movie and the music are incredibly dated. It's amazing that Blade Runner, which is a couple of years older, holds up so well.
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really amazing work here. I hope someone takes the soft-synth challenge!
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using a motif xs can be called cheating?
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I think the ESQ 1 did it best. Mick is really good with Vangelis covers.
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