I'm often asked what prompted me to write and direct "The Lost Empire". Was it the lure of working with dozens upon dozens of Hollywood's most tantalizing starlets? The thrill of bringing all my guilty-pleasure childhood fantasies to life on the wide screen? Or is it just plain greed? Well the answer is all of this ... and more.

The 'more' I'm referring to, of course, was being able to commission Alan Howarth to create Lost Empire's astonishingly picturesque score. Just as sure as Max Steiner aided Kong on his way up the Empire State and Bernard Herrmann changed the sheets at the Bates Motel, Alan Howarth breathes a unique musical life into the soundtrack of my new infamous drive-in classic.

And though I hoped-in-vain for an original score album during the film's initial release, I'm kinda glad it finally came now in the age of CD technology. Alan's excellent themes sound as fresh, vibrant and exciting as the day he first played them in the studio. Long live the Empire & long live this wonderful score.

The Lost Empire score was performed in August, 1983 using 24 track analogue recording techniques. The 24 track master was re-mixed in July, 1990 using combinations of new automated mixing and blends of the original mixes from 1983. The stereo mixes treated thru B.A.S.E. (Bedini Audio Spacial Enviroment), an audio spatial enhancement processor that gives at 3 dimensional quality not available until now. This spatial processing will reproduce on any speaker system and will seem to have added width and depth.

The musical instruments used to create Lost Empire consisted of units that were the cutting edge in 1983, although technology has made quantum leaps since then, I still keep these instruments today. Their usefulness is measured not by the technology, but by the skill I have developed in their use. A list of the main keyboards and Instruments used follows:

Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 & Prophet-1 0 with Poly sequencers
E-mu Systems Emulator 1 with 8 voices
ARP Avatars-2 (guitar Synthesizers) and Arp Sequncer
Linn LM-1 Drum Computer
Fender Stratocaster and Jazz Bass
Alto saxophone and flute

The Lost Empire score was my first solo work and I find great joy in finally being able to have this work available. I had scored films with John Carpenter before this work and continue to collaborate with him today, however, I saw the opportunity to make a solo statement for "The Lost Empire'' and although the film was a low budget "campy" show, treated it musically as if it were a major release.

The Lost Empire's director, Jim Wynorski, asked for a "James Bond" type score for this film and I worked the "spy adventure" component into the music. I scored to video tapes synchronized with 24 track recorders.

 

The score to "Retribution" is another example of my solo scoring. This film was scored from May thru October, 1986. As I was creating music for this show, the movie itself underwent extensive re-cutting. These delays allowed me to experiment with themes and try blending sound effects with the score. This was also the first show I was able to use an Apple Macintosh and Mark of the Unicorn "Performer" software based sequencing.

The director, Guy Magar, wanted the first seven minute opening scene carried by music only, no dialogue or sound effects, and he wanted to constantly build intensity for the entire seven minutes!! You get the idea. By the time I finished scoring there was 86 minutes of score for a 95 minute movie.

Brian Christian, the producer and music supervisor was with me thru the entire process. He contributed many suggestions and was totally supportive thru it all. 18 hour scoring sessions were not uncommon, besides, it's not that easy to be a 100 piece band by yourself.

This score also shows what MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) was able to add. Compared to "The Lost Empire", the density of sound textures in Retribution are 10 times greater. Also in the three years between these scores I added another 5 keyboards and a new automated console to my ammo. Now I would MIDI together 8 to 10 keyboards in a stereo group and record them mixed to 2 tracks of the 24 track machine. Before this it would take 8 to 10 tape tracks to achieve what was now available in real time MIDI sequencing on 2. This technology is commonly available today, but at the time it was a major advance in sound. The keyboards on this score included the ones listed above as well as the "new stuff" of the time.

Thanks for listening
Alan Howarth, July 1990