1187hunterwasser

Monroville said:

re:

Maybe someone has already done this, but would it be possible to create some form of a list to "weed out" the excess/repeat tracks from each of the CDs?  You have some great stuff here, but I'm sure most of the music is repeated from disc to disc (with a few original pieces here and there)...

 

Great idea! Although some of the fan-made BR releases are undoubtely very well done, their increasing number may sometimes be a cause of headache to those who (like me) are primarily looking for the unreleased or alternate music that isn't on the official soundtrack albums by Vangelis.

I have been doing such a listing for my own use, and I think you're right, my conclusion is that many releases seem to use the same material again and again.

As far as I could notice, the main sources of original, sound-fx free unreleased material always seem to be the same ones:

- The old 10-track 1982 tape release (which generated the Off-World and Gongo bootlegs)

- The BR Outtakes suite

- The 2019 Edition (although the "new" tracks sound like they have been ripped from the 5.1 audio of the movie, while the others simply come from the above mentioned Outtakes or the official releases)

All the other tracks come from the various releases of the movie on VHS and DVD, plus of course the soundtrack albums - apart from a couple of tracks of unknown origin.

What is sometimes a bit confusing with some private releases is that, sometimes, the music has been wrongly assembled to create artificially extended pieces, then copied from released to release, eventually being almost considered as real and original. One example is the delicate prologue to the Love Theme (or to the alternate Love Theme on the workprint version): Vangelis played two versions of it (or at least, to different mixes of it do exist): one with the Rhodes electric piano, one without. Unfortunately, some private releases have segued the two versions together in order to extend the track, and it now seems like this wrongly assembled version is getting commonly accepted.

This is why I am very interested to hear your finished work, Focuspuller, as I hope all these small things will have been sorted out and fixed.

Hi, does anyone know what is the source music heard when Deckard enters the Bradbury and looks up at the blimp?

Sounds like it's another Japanese traditional piece for biwa and voice, but it is NOT "Ogi No Mato" by Ensemble Nipponia, nor any other track from their "Traditional Vocal & Instrumental Music" album of 1976 (I have this CD).

I also have "Kabuki & Other Instrumental Music" by Nipponia but it's not from that album either.

The voice sounds similar though, so maybe it's from their 3rd album "Music From The Japanese Geisha" of 1978? (I don't have it so I can't check).

Focuspuller, were you intending to include this one in your Complete Collection?

VK2019 said:

did anyone see the latest score from the "Esper" folks on ebay?  A 6 CD set called the "Retirement" Edition! The track's seem pretty rare. Though the names above are different from some of the names in the "Retirement" edition.

I also think there's no new material in this bootleg. Looks like the "new" stuff is simply taken from the Trilogy's 2nd CD and the "2019 Edition" bootleg.

The only thing that draws my attention is that «Blade Runner Blues no longer has a pitch change at around 8:30 and has improved sound quality».

As far as I know, the 10-minute full length BR Blues is only available in medium sound quality from Gongo and OffWorld bootlegs. Esper bootleggers have simply mixed the low-fi Gongo/OffWorld ending into the incomplete but high-quality 1994 official version - the result stinks: indeed the sound turns crappy after 8:30. It hurts my ears everytime I hear this!!!

So does this mean THE original, high-quality recording of the full-length BR Blues has popped up? Would be great (I'm dying for it), but honestly I doubt it. Never heard of such material leaking anytime anywhere. Most likely it's just another amateurish mix of the two above mentioned sources... :-(

What is your opinion Focuspuller?

yotsuya said:

1187hunterwasser said:

By the way, although probably everybody here knows this link already, I think it's interesting because it put the right titles on the unreleased BR tracks:

http://repertoire.bmi.com/writer.asp?blnWriter=True&blnPublisher=True&blnArtist=True&page=1&fromrow=1&torow=25&querytype=WriterID&keyid=259951&keyname=PAPATHANASSIOU%20EVANGHELOS&CAE=54407690&Affiliation=BUMA

If this direct link doesn't work, search PAPATHANASSIOU EVANGHELOS from http://www.bmi.com

This is nice information, but it is quite jumbled and contains several things that are not BR related. "Change We Must" and "Come To Me" stand out plus the El Greco tracks. So I'm not really sure that the titles are indicative of what the Missing BR tracks might be called. Most of the titles are straight off the 3 cd set and the titles on Disc 3 are tracks created and titled specifically for that release. It is very interesting, but I'm not sure how useful it is.

Of course it's evident that the material in this list is not BR only. For instance, "Lance Loud - A Death in an American Family" contains no original music, it's a 2003 documentary in which "Blade Runner Love Theme" has been used - hence the registration here. Some other tracks are nothing else than the NAO cover versions.

But you're right, almost all the material from CD 2 and CD 3 of the Trilogy is here (Numbers starting with 939). The tracks that don't appear here are simply not licensed by BMI (most of CD 1, the 1994 soundtrack)What I find interesting is the tracks with registration numbers starting with 356. If you put them together, it gives the following track listing:

- LOOKING FOR SNAKE MAKER
- CHINATOWN CLUB
- ORIENTAL MUSIC ON TELEVISION
- ZORA TRIES TO KILL DECKARD
- ROY KILLS TYRELL & SEBASTIAN
- OUTSIDE THE BUILDING
- DECKARD ENTERS SEBASTIAN'S BUILDING
- ROY STABS HIS OWN HAND
- WHERE ARE YOU GOING

Not drawing any conclusion, just pointing at this list with a question mark, as it seems to refer to some unreleased cues and bring titles to them.

Now, I do agree the names may not reflect their real location in the movie. "Roy Stabs His Own Hands", for example, because when he actually does stab his hand with the nail, there's no Vangelis music playing but the Nipponia Ensemble "blimp" track. Maybe is this cue heard somewhere else, or simply it's not used...?

By the way, although probably everybody here knows this link already, I think it's interesting because it put the right titles on the unreleased BR tracks:

http://repertoire.bmi.com/writer.asp?blnWriter=True&blnPublisher=True&blnArtist=True&page=1&fromrow=1&torow=25&querytype=WriterID&keyid=259951&keyname=PAPATHANASSIOU%20EVANGHELOS&CAE=54407690&Affiliation=BUMA

If this direct link doesn't work, search PAPATHANASSIOU EVANGHELOS from http://www.bmi.com

yotsuya said:

In listening to the DVD audio to see if I could extract anything better (and failing usually), I think some of the sound effects are syth and could be by Vangelis.

Oh yes, I remember thinking that some of the Esper machine bleeps sounded just like they'd been played on a Yamaha CS80 - actually the four ones heard just before Deckard says "Track 45 left" ("Main Titles", 0:36, 1994 Warner release).

Also, that woosh sound heard many times during the movie. I have heard a version of "Deckard Enters The Bradbury" which has no sound effects but where the woosh sound can be heard during amost of the track. Who knows?

Much has been said about whether the Blade Runner soundtrack is to be appreciated with or without sound effects. I personally think: both ways! but I know many people who are craving for the purity of the original sound-FX free cues only. Maybe it would change slightly the debate if it would appear that Vangelis has played some!

Actually the Master himself did it both ways: while the Trilogy's CD1 (= 1994 album) has sound effects and dialogs from the movie, CD 2 has none...

teriweigel said:

I worked for Warner Bros.Germany when the Blade Runner DVD Box Set was prepared, so I was able to get a private copy of the music track which was used for the final mix - and that's not the tape Focuspuller wanted to use, simply most tracks were cut, delayed etc. The pure music (without sound effects which were created in part by Vangelis himself) which ended up in the film is about 65 minutes - and that's all...

Hi teriweigel,

First time I hear that Vangelis created some of the sound effects used in the movie. Thought they had all been created by the Sound designer. Now that's very interesting! Can you tell us more about which sound on which cue for example?

Do you mean that the music track used in the Final Cut was 65-minute long, with all the tracks already cut and delayed? I would be curious to know the track listing.

Sorry for your job... Must have been very tempting there indeed for a music fan.

digitalfreaknyc said:

Does anyone else use this soundtrack to relax?

Yes, definetely. I like it even better when it's raining outside and I can hear the sound of raindrops in the background...

One of my favourite tracks is "Leon's Voigt Kampff Test" - the version with the soft sequencer sound.

By the way, I've read somewhere that this synth is not played by Vangelis, and that it had been added by a bootlegger...

Does anyone know more about this rumour?

Hello everybody,

New to this forum, have just discovered it.

Focuspuller, your project sounds soooo exciting! What a labour of love! A huge archaeological project I can only admire and support.

Having spent quite a lot of time working BR's various audio files myself in order to create a private BR release (like many other BR fans apparently) that would please me, I totally understand your goal and also appreciate how difficult and complex this task is. The original material looks like a bit of a chaos, having been cut and mixed so many times by music editors. But you're right, it's worth it as Blade Runner has been waiting for 25 years for a soundtrack album that would do full justice to its legendary score.

Not that I dislike the official Trilogy (I really enjoy it very much, well done Vangelis (and Frederick), but honestly I miss a fourth CD that would contain all the unreleased material in pure, soundFX-free form.

Or, even better, a complete collection!

Can't wait to hear it, but of course no stress, take all the time you need!