Synths used in Jurassic Park (and other scores of the age) - found one

[InTheCity 140]

Hi all, there may have already been a thread about this somewhere but I was wondering if we could concentrate our knowledge about some of the sounds used in this score.

Dennis Steals The Embryo

I was able to find the Owl Sound from Dennis Steals The Embryo (Synclavier) at 16 seconds you can clearly hear it
I believe the synth boo-bams are the actual live boobams now in the posession of LA percussion rentals

I believe the main clave (originally pulli sticks in the score)  in the song may be synth

 

I believe the dx7 was being used at the time (for example the TUBELL preset I believe is a sound on Home Alone Main Title)

Does anyone else have info?

[QuartalHarmony 641]

No info in my hands, but I agree that the chimes in Home Alone do sound very FM, so DX7 is a possibility. My only other suggestion might be Korg M1, because that was the biggest synth in the world at the time - by 1990, the DX7 was a bit 'last month'.

 

Ralph Grierson was the keyboard player on JP (and for a huge number of JW scores, plus Horner et al) and seemed like a really friendly chap when @TownerFan interviewed him. If anyone could track down contact details for him and ask nicely, I suspect he might be quite happy to help us geek out. His synth rig was probably pretty comprehensive, back in the day, but I imagine that extra synth kit would have been hired in for certain scores - I believe it was pretty common practice. This picture from @TownerFan's interview webpage gives you an idea of the scale we're talking about:

 

 

The website gearspace.com often discusses this sort of thing (with a degree of obsession and fanboy-ness which residents of this forum may recognise), but I can't find much of substance about Ralph on there. It seems he was a featured artist in Keyboard magazine (May 1986) - if anyone can get hold of a copy, it might have some info in. Or might not.

 

Mark

[Thor 8,078]

I would also love to hear what synths were used in Williams scores -- from cases where they're upfront and the main component, like "Training Montage" in SPACE CAMP or a lot of HEARTBEEPS, to the more common and discrete uses in cases such as JP, HOME ALONE, PRESUMED INNOCENT, NIXON, SLEEPERS, A.I. etc.

 

Wish I could discern it by ear, but it's very difficult.

[Naïve Old Fart 10,218]

What synthesisers are used, in ROTJ (the bit where Luke opens Jabba's palace door) and "Lapti Nek"?

[The Great Gonzales 6,018]

3 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

What synthesisers are used, in ROTJ (the bit where Luke opens Jabba's palace door) and "Lapti Nek"?

Moog?

[Naïve Old Fart 10,218]

That was my first thought. 

[GoodMusician 56]

On 22/11/2022 at 11:57 PM, InTheCity said:

Hi all, there may have already been a thread about this somewhere but I was wondering if we could concentrate our knowledge about some of the sounds used in this score.

Dennis Steals The Embryo

I was able to find the Owl Sound from Dennis Steals The Embryo (Synclavier) at 16 seconds you can clearly hear it
I believe the synth boo-bams are the actual live boobams now in the posession of LA percussion rentals

I believe the main clave (originally pulli sticks in the score)  in the song may be synth

 

I believe the dx7 was being used at the time (for example the TUBELL preset I believe is a sound on Home Alone Main Title)

Does anyone else have info?

such a COOL discovery! I've studied the score but I never quite knew what was going on at that moment. I'm also finding now comparing the original DTS that THIS sound is mixed MUCH HIGHER and earlier in the film at the cut to Nedry arriving at the main gate

So cool to know what synth it was!

Also i had noticed that the boom-bams are performed live too but thought i was going crazy. You can hear the stage noise of them being performer (which got claned out unfortunately in the '22 release) which wouldn't have existed if they were synth hah

As for HOME ALONE, I can definitely confirm that the DX7 was used. i've used it to replicate the gold tooth sound and such.

 

 

looking at the Synclavier, I'm also realizing this was probably what was used to perform some of the LADD Company Logo music too?

[Naïve Old Fart 10,218]

Synclavier?

I always thought it was a brass section.

Where's the Synclavier?

[GoodMusician 56]

4 hours ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Synclavier?

I always thought it was a brass section.

Where's the Synclavier?

I mean, the sound they posted is literally heard mixed strongly at this moment:
 

so it was at least used for that. There's a good amount of synth percussion in this cue

[The Great Gonzales 6,018]

Apparently the drums in Setting the trap are from the Roland R-8