Blade Runner Theme On A $500 Korg Minilogue

Synthesist Julien Hauspie shared this impressive take on the classic Vangelis Blade Runner Main Titles, using only a Korg Minilogue for the synth sounds.

The cover features impressive sound design – especially considering the high-end gear that the original was made with.

Technical Details:

All sounds are from the Korg Minilogue, reverb is Valhalla Shimmer/Room.

22 thoughts on “Blade Runner Theme On A $500 Korg Minilogue

  1. Close enough for government work. I had the big poly’s in the 80’s which I foolishly sold at the end of the 80’s for peanuts. Now days I can only afford the cheaper poly’s like the Minilogue, Rev 2, and DM12, but enjoy all of them including the Minilogue just as much as I did those old back breakers like my Jupiter 8 and Oberheim’s.

  2. I had a hard time getting any sound I liked out of my ML.. sold it and got a Subsequent 37, but this is impressive. I think the reverb helps a lot.

  3. Three takeaways from this video:

    I) Synth makers should hire this guy to do their sound demos;
    2) Synth makers should put Valhalla reverb into their synths; and
    3) I need to work on my patching skills!

    1. on number 2, that is almost what Korg did with the Prologue…
      But they almost forgot about the rest… 1 Lfo only… I get that it might be more of a live-tool than sound-design tool, and motion sequencers are not the best tool for live keyboard playing, but then they should have replaced that with a second LFO, compared to the Minilogue.
      it’s unfortunate that the thing that really lifts the Prologue is something that can easily be added in the DAW, to any synth…. Or be had in hardware form as a Strymon BigSky or Eventide H9.

  4. More than anything this does not prove that the Minilogue (or any other synth) is a great tool. Rather it proves that it’s not about the CS-80 either. It’s not about the tool. It’s about talented people, taking tools in their hands and making something beautiful with them. It’s about the end result, not the way to get there. It’s what separates artists from hungry consumers. I’m neither, but I incline to the latter.

  5. Don’t have this synth yet but played it lots of times at a music store here in the Netherlands. Sounds very well to my ears. Much better than you might expect. This man proves it again.

  6. Yes this is nice and can also be done by many freeware synths for your computer. The ML is indeed awesome but it has some shortcomings as well. Main one is the imprecise fune tuning knob when going beyond the initial few cents which was a big stopper for me. Very few will notice though but it drove me nuts.

  7. For me these is a demo of the Valhalla Reverb !! … I try the Vangelis sounds in every synth I buy, these video shows a very nice result but the pitch needs some kind of envelope to recreate a little “detune effect” at the begining of each note in the “CS style” lead sound. I admire the user and not the tool.

    The best Vangelis recreation I get its with VAST technology form Kurzweil, digital but with analog sound and unlimited control of the sound including the reverb programming.

    1. You mean… totally awesome and an immortal classic for the instrument? 😀

      More seriously, isn’t the main riff in that song played on organ as well as guitar and bass? That’s part of what makes it sound so big. And although the main riff is justifiably famous, the guitar solo/bridge is lovely as well…

      1. Every time a new synth has come out, you will find 100+ videos on youtube, with middleaged men playing the Blade Runner theme. Don’t get me wrong. I love Blade Runner. And I’m middleaged. But … it has to stop. I kinda feel sad that the Blade Runner soundtrack has been so used/abused over the years.
        And btw: my comment about Smoke on the water, wasn’t singing its praises. That song obtained karaoke status a long time ago.

  8. The Valhalla DSP Shimmer reverb is super beautiful and super affordable; if you want to make giant space reverbs with a VST it is your friend. Not that the other Valhalla verbs aren’t great, but that is what Shimmer is good at.

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