I first discovered Blade Runner via my dad. He’s a massive fan of the film and the incredible score that accompanied it. It’s fair enough really – the powerful combination of the imagery of the film and Vangelis’ synth driven score is still mind bending today let alone when the film was released in 1982. Add to that the mystery around the film and the soundtrack itself (which wasn’t released until 1994) make it something very special to music and film lovers and geeks like me.
When I found out that Vangelis died it hit pretty hard but I’m not really sure why. I don’t really own much of his music to be honest. He was 79, a fair age. He did many other film score like Chariots of Fire (which I think I have a 7inch of somwehere) and 1492: Conquest of Paradise, and released many solo albums and albums with Jon and Vangelis and Aphrodite’s Child but really for me it all comes back to Blade Runner.
The video below is my little tribute to Vangelis’s Blade Runner score; recorded quickly using Ableton live, the drums are 808 samples and all of the synths and bass are care of the amazing Arminator 2 plugin, arguably the best Yamaha CS80 emulator you’re likely the use. There’s a small nod to the pulsing noise from Chariots of Fire too if you listen closely. The lead synth was recorded using the midi pickup fitted to my SG which worked pretty nicely.
You can download the audio below too.
RIP Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou aka Vangelis. Thank you for everything you did.
1 thought on “Vangelis – A Tribute”