Blue Thunder: The Sounds I Made For The Film

In this video I breakdown the FM Synclavier sounds/sequences I made for the 1981 movie Blue Thunder, Staring Roy Scheider & Malcolm McDowell.
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Anthony's musical touch as both composer and performer is connected with some of the most influential creative minds over the last 40 years. He’s composed and conducted original orchestral scores for over 80 feature films including Young Guns, Internal Affairs, The Man From Elysian Fields, 15 Minutes and Planes, Trains & Automobiles, been commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic for his symphonic work "In the Family Way", written over one thousand TV commercials in a myriad of musical styles, co-founded Levels Audio Post (LA's premiere post production facility) and performed and arranged on big-box-office films and influential hit records such as Michael Jackson's Thriller.
His extensive work as a young arranger, orchestrator and performer for Quincy Jones, Jack Nitzsche, Lamont Dozier, Arthur Rubenstein and Giorgio Moroder was vital in launching his own career. His early years pioneering modular analog synthesizers along with his wide-ranging music scholarship positioned Anthony at the center of the music technology revolution. He attended the University of Southern California School of Music as a piano and composition major.
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[@cameronskye94]

This channel is severely underrated. The knowledge and skills this man has are astronomical!

[@Andronicus2007]

Yeah, probably the best synth focused tutorials ever.

[@cameronskye94]

@@defcreator18725k subs for this quality of content is underrated

[@stack3r]

KZbin algo loves pushing mediocrity. But I assume it's due to majority of humans have low intelligence

[@MCann]

I first heard of this channel a couple weeks ago maybe, and subscribed within 45 seconds of starting the first video. I've learned more useful info by watching 10 minutes of his videos than I learned in college, probably.

[@annother3350]

@@defcreator187 We just want to see the channel grow -- I'm sure thats all the OP meant

[@effyiew7318]

KZbin is unfortunately overrun with so many basement producers and tutorial people who have zero real world experience that you're really a diamond in the rough. It's extremely rare to find the real deal - the guy who did the actual stuff - on youtube. Keep making content - it's fantastic to not only hear the audio, but also hear the stories behind the audio.

[@jooei2810]

I feel privileged to have found this channel.

[@johnthecloud]

I'm a bedroom composer with no success or real world experience, and this is hugely inspirational to me. Seeing the tracks in isolation, and how the Synclavier works is fantastic. It's old school electronic composition. And you know what - it works. It's daring and original, and not just a 2 bar repeating riff with some one riding the cutoff knob. It has inspired me a lot in the last few weeks. I've got off my backside and started recording again.

[@PhilAndersonOutside]

I'm fine with "basement" producers, as long as they know what they are really talking about, and how to clearly share it. I think that's the difference here. Anthony's real-world experience is something he can draw on just by nature, with those real-world examples, something few people can.

[@ciatangallaghe2485]

Man, i could listen to Anthony all day. Best Synthesizer teacher on youtube. Keep em coming!

[@adamjacksonmedia]

Holy Cow… he did Blue Thunder!!!! Marinelli IS the 80s!!

[@norrsken9608]

Blue Thunder was my favorite movie as a kid and the soundtrack is inprinted on me for life. An absolutely incredible soundtrack. ❤️ A million Thanks for this video!

[@alexwestconsulting]

Another awesome video. Blue Thunder had a big impact on me when I was a kid, one of the things that led me into electronic music. I love seeing the real genius behind Arthur's score.

[@cfibb]

I saw this movie when it came out. Great score to a fun and exciting film. Still holds up, like stepping into another world and into what seemed like the future back then. Simpler times indeed!

[@jimbotron70]

Blue Thunder, Knight Rider, Automan.

[@zumazmusic]

I loved Blue Thunder! This is great! 🚁🎵

[@ollikru]

Thanks again for making these important pieces of music history available for us today and preserving them for future generations- especially for all musicians: many of these techniques are timeless and still of so much value today! 👍

[@33ordie]

Truly a masterclass

[@gregbrookman]

Loved Blue Thunder when I was a kid. It paved the way for Air Wolf (which also had a great synth score!)

[@Tazmanian_Ninja]

Oh yeah, Greg! Same here! I also watched Blue Thunder in awe - and felt (and still feel like) I was the world's biggest Airwolf fan 😎 I still get goosebumps whenever I hear intro, or sound design, from Airwolf. Such a unique piece of tv history.

[@gregbrookman]

@@Tazmanian_Ninja yep, nothing beats that intro :) Well, maybe the Street Hawk theme!!

[@alphabeets]

There’s this mythical status to the Synclavier, so it is great to see it in action in what was a real world situation. There is actually not a lot out there showing it being used in the studio. Keep them coming. This is absolute gold.

[@AndrewHunterMusic]

Blue thunder! No way! One of my favourites. I loved watching that with My dad and brother back in the day. I just showed it to my boys. “Outstanding!”

[@darrenblondin]

Thank you for sharing your experiences and techniques. The War Games one was so interesting - looking forward to this!

[@jimbotron70]

He has already covered it.

[@jdogmusic]

Ahh yes! The growl of the Synclavier. You & Brian had the sound everyone was chasing, largely, I think, because you had the vision of how it fit into the bigger picture. Nice!

[@moogfooger]

As you can see by the comments below, we are starved for real content. With the amazing amount of information on the internet, the problem as I see it is the lack of anything worthwhile. Anthony, you are the shining light on this and give us, the viewer ,a glimpse into how things could be if people cared about what they were watching. All thinking people see this fact and it continues to amaze me that the "crap" continues to propagate. TV has been a desperate wasteland for a long, long time and KZbin has taken it many steps down from there. Kudos to Mr Marinelli for showing what can really be done! All the best. Cheers

[@vaiman7777]

Starman, still one of my favourite movies and soundtracks. Beautiful work.

[@zachreitan3859]

I find this kind of technical stuff extremely interesting. I want to hear every story you have to tell.

[@Legoflymaster89]

One of the Synclavier players of the music from Blue Thunder!!!

[@Metalltool]

This channel is gold. Thank you Mr. Marinelli. I could watch this stuff all day.

[@albeckwall]

Using a hardware sequencer is such a tactile experience and IMHO, taps into a different form of creativy than using a DAW. Great to see the FM love. There's been such a big focus on analog and VA synths/plugins in the keyboard market, it's refreshing to revisit these timbers.

[@mrock828]

I absolutely love the 'Starman' soundtrack. Just beautiful tonally and ups the emotion on screen.

[@brianfisher7385]

Finding this channel has been a goldmine of information. I've been going through a journey with synthesis for the past few years and your knowledge is very much appreciated.

[@nightxnight]

As an electronic musician who is not at all new to the game, I love these videos. I learn something every time and you are very inspiring. I know videos are a lot of work, so Thank you!

[@johnpaulclarkson4671]

Just found the channel. As a kid in the 80s no film was complete without a synth soundtrack. Great stuff

[@totallypixelated]

It's great to have a lowpass filter to tame harsh high harmonics on an FM sound. Complex sounds give the filter something to get its teeth into! I've being playing with FM in modular with VCV Rack, the software modular environment. There's a particularly great FM operator module in that. I've patched the outputs and FM inputs from four operators into an eight way matrix mixer which essentially lets you change algorithms on the fly with CV control. Tapping audio from the operators which are modulators in an algorithm is also something I've been doing in VCV. Sometimes the modulators are way out of tune because of ratio, or not tuned at all if you're using a fixed pitch, but there's some interesting sounds lurking in modulators that you don't usually hear. Also worth checking, since you're an FM head, is the Ableton plugins from Fors. They have released some great instruments so far and there's more on the way.

[@jasonpoland5507]

My dad and I as music majors and musicians loved this score and movie - also - March Air Force Base was featured in the field where he was stationed back then when he was in the Air Force Band of the Golden West

[@glyph2011]

I LOVE Blue Thunder and ADORE the score.. can’t quite believe I’m watching this!!! So excited 👍👍👍👍❤️❤️ would LOVE a Starman video👍

[@lundsweden]

Anthony is definitely on the money about it being time for a FM comeback. Theres a whole load of recent software and hardware FM synthesizers, I used the Dexed free plugin (DX7 emulator) have used the Korg Volca FM and Elektron Digitone. These are all great options, plus theres the Arturia DX7 plug and Yamaha Reface DX keyboard. Of course there are other FM plugs/hardware, but these are the most popular/common ones. FM never truly went away, maybe it lost popularity, but for instance Trent Reznor/NIN were big users of the DX7 in the 90s and even though it was way overused, the DX7 Rhodes sound has been a staple of pop music since the 80s!

[@Aruba-ei6xx]

This channel will be at 50k by the end of the year. Unbelievable knowledge!

[@craigjs]

I F'ING love the Blue Thunder score. I remember hearing it as a kid and just obsessing about how the sounds were created. I still routinely re-watch the film but the score is what REALLY haunts me to this day. FUN FACT! The score isn't on streaming so if you want it you have to watch (listen) to it on KZbin.

[@johnthecloud]

This is another amazing soundtrack. It's eerie that you mention unions being worried about the work you did on the synclavier. It's the same worries people had with Bebe and Louis Barron's score for Forbidden Planet, or the worries they had with the Moog Modular. Now everyone is up in arms about AI assisted/generated music (which having dipped my toe in with Meta's version of that, I'm not hugely impressed by!). 400 years ago it was the printing press, 200 years ago it was the loom. Everything changes and nothing changes.

[@CaseJams]

Frame synthesis, never heard of that one. Bought my first hardware synth in 2019. Glad you are documenting some of these archeological finds as I think all the knowledge will be lost when people pass. I think back in the day it was important to protect your techniques and secrets while today many people share it all.

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

John Badham did all of us a HUGE favor by hiring you not just once but twice. Blue Thunder and War Games are two of my absolute most beloved 80s Blockbusters. And i'm sooooo incredibly thankful that you are giving us this personal insight into how it all came to be, which is not only super interesting but also very inspiring. I just love the calm and to the point narrative where we as the audience (and fans) really get involved and imagining the creation process back then going by your explainations. This whole mix of Synthesizer sounds and orchestral sounds is exactly why i love 1980s movie and TV show soundtracks so much since i was a child. And i respect every director & producer who went for this approach. This is something that really got lost since the 90s and today it really hardly stands out because most movies seem to go with only a few basic "Bread & butter" sounds like bases, strings and effect sounds.

[@trentpmcd]

Rediscovering FM and additive - I picked up a Regen a few months ago and I really love creating new sounds - such a fantastic instrument! Looking forward to hearing more and learning more from one who was using the Synclav II from the beginning.

[@jooei2810]

Why I only just found your channel, I am flabbergasted!

[@ooxx1xxoo927]

I can't wait for this one. Such a memorable soundtrack!

[@sevenstone1091]

Found this channel because this video. I love this movie, and watch it almost every year. Great music, and it gives me a huge nostalgia bump every time I hear that sinclavier theme.

[@DeirdreSM]

I always love seeing Synclaviers. ❤ So cool, I loved this movie! Malcolm McDowell was apparently *terrified* by the helicopter scenes, so that is some amazing acting on his part.

[@BrandonMooreMusic]

This is great Anthony. Arthur B. was a friend and music influence on me. I have seen the Blue Thunder sketches at UCSB. Such great work. He spoke highly of your work on this and WarGames when I interviewed him in 2007!

[@user-bl5pz1oc2s]

Loved that score, thanks Anthony. had a very sinister edge to it, perfect for the movie.

[@MuratEltanOfficial]

God bless you Anthony thanks for these videos this is history, live. Something this new generation will never know & realize how fragile those floppy disks were.🙏

[@kanedNunable]

loving all these videos. as a 48 year old man, you made so much of the music of my life. kudos dude. loved this movie and tv series.

[@duffybrickwood]

Fascinating story and tremendous presentation and music. Can't wait for 'Starman'!

[@JAFOpty]

this is amazing! I love that soundtrack! (this could have been a great extra on the bluray) Keep these vids coming, it's history preserved.

[@n3ver3nd1ng]

I was born 1982 and I'm pretty sure I've seen the movie early 90's, but now I have really Watch the movie and listen closely the soundtrack! Very interesting content! Thank you!

[@WIDOW.OFFICIAL]

Another amazing episode! I use all kinds of gear spanning many decades. I love seeing your behind-the-scenes work on the older gear. I greatly respect the skill and engineering it took to make scores with limited technology at the time. I put Anthony and Brian in the category of Vangelis as well as Giorgio Moroder.

[@qaisbenjamin8238]

😎😎😎,,, Thank u for making art today that was then, love it, keep it up, and we keep watching it again and again, 😎😎😎

[@bob-rogers]

Back in the day one of my buddies borrowed his dad's car so a group of us could go see Blue Thunder. It's cool seeing how the music was made. I've heard of the Synclavier, but I don't think I've seen any other examples of people showing what they do.

[@ludovicBerquin]

Blue thunder was really the movie that made me love synthesizers. My nanny's husband had an old casio phase FM synthesizer, this gong at the beginning of the main score, this theme, I played it over and over after taping your sound on my grundig K7 recorder from a very bad VHS, listening to it over and over. I am so happy that you decided to share this with us. Also I can"t wait to see what you guys did for Starman. My other favorite childhood movie. I am very happy to finally virtually meet the person behind all those sounds, please continue your videos this is a great source of inspiration for us synthesizer enthusiasts. you are a great inspiration thanks to your sounds.

[@hayward85]

A wealth of information - really appreciated! Thank you!

[@jimlemons9231]

Your knowledge and experience are a great resource for all of us!! Many thanks!

[@albeckwall]

I could watch these all day. Keep ‘em coming. Very inspiring.

[@bigglesfm]

That's great. I thought I would get one of those synclaviers as I have a floppy drive. Then I looked up the current price. ... think I better keep the house haha 😂

[@Legoflymaster89]

Love that movie. One of my favorite aviation movies

[@downtuned9000]

I will be honest at first glance, I thought, yeah, some dude stuck in the 80's no thank you for synth... but gave the channel a chance anyway. So glad I did I have played guitar/bass for 20 something years and started to get into production the last couple of years. So much great advice here not just for synth the arrangement, writing and overall knowledge of music is amazing and such a warm soul. You have got me to start experimenting with synth and keys it has opened up a bunch of possibilities. Thank you Anthony

[@sawsquaresinetube]

Awesome video again, thank you so much for taking the time to create this for the synth community. I love how meticulously you have your floppy library organized, and the Synclavier really is an early type DAW, your sequences and sounds are amazing. Thanks again!

[@boldstandard]

Wow, this is the perfect time in my life to find this channel. I was born in 1982 and loved these movies as a kid. I composed on toy keyboards with pots and pans for my drums. I got my first real synthesizer in 1998 or so, an Ensoniq ESQ-1, which I still have. I now use a mix of Arturia V collection, DAW, some plugins, and my analog synths and drum machines and various instruments. I love sound design and have only just gotten to the level of proficiency on piano where I can play some classical and ragtime repertoire reasonably well. I want to create something new that is also somehow very old, and a resource such as this is exactly what I need. (I know that’s all probably “TLDR”, but just really wanted to say thank you!!)

[@Markynava777]

Underrated. You are giving out diamonds and gems. Your channel will become huge.

[@PatrickRosenbalm]

My Blue Thunder DVD says 1983. Love the soundtrack!!

[@analogwave2]

Aww yeah!

[@ConstantinoOfficial]

I don’t believe it. This is one of my favorite soundtracks of all times, and movies.! absolutely amazing to find out you did this

[@inasimplerhyme]

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for sharing your knowledge and experiences. I feel it's incredibly important that the details of the process be preserved. You're helping write the virtual history books on the subject of synthesis, composing and sound design. It is much appreciated.

[@MrTweaksTV]

like this video? bro, when i was a kid (and watching blue thunder) , this is what i imagined that the internet would be!!!!!!!!!!

[@suitandtieguy]

Blue Thunder, like WarGames, is an incredibly _relevant_ movie about the dangers of the security state and the mil-industrial-university complex. both have been severely underrated but when viewed with 2023 lenses are significantly more realistic than they seemed to be at the time. also, thanks for explaining this! a friend of mine has a Synclavier that he only uses for the sampling on it, but most of the music i know it from was made with the FM/additive voices.

[@MartinEl78]

Thank you for this - can't even tell you how massively influential both this movie and its soundtrack was for me both then and now. Hearing those synth motifs again was a real treat - would be happy to just listen to a reel of those alone. Meantime for all the folks saying the picture was released in '83 you're correct, but it was shot in '81 and suffered various delays...

[@Meteotrance]

I discover this beast keyboard because it was heavily used as a sampler and sound designer machine for the movie Akira, it was also heavily use at skywalker sound for many movie like Jurrasic Park or Toy Story , Franck Zappa love it too and it was also heavily use on many british hit like Franky goes to hollywood or Propaganda , the FM engine was rarely used but it was one if the most powerful features of this beast !

[@squishmallowfan025]

I just found this channel - thank you for doing all this! This is great. We had a Synclavier II in college in the mid-late 80s and it seemed like a well-made machine with a great user interface. No surprise in retrospect it used a medical diagnostics computer system. You were pioneers then creating all these sounds we STILL know.

[@Horizontedesucesos_]

This is awesome, I loved the movie when I was a kid (I still do), and as a musician myself I must share the enthusiasm I'm having mixing analog synthesis and FM synthesis. It opens a very wide palette of sounds and colors.

[@onemancinema4642]

Yea this movie has a fantastic score totally representative of early 80's synth music. Great stuff. Well done.

[@chrisharrison809]

Man, this is my fav channel these days. Thank you for making these. ❤

[@TheSynthnut]

Thanks Anthony for taking the time to go over these topics! It's so ironic how as you say, that FM works so well with analogue synthesis, yet the arrival of the DX7 heralded a mass jettisoning of synths deemed classics. Some folk like yourself always knew of this magic interplay, but so many turned their backs on subtractive synthesis in the name of convenience and that damned electric piano preset.

[@PhilAndersonOutside]

Thanks so much for sharing this. I am old enough to have seen that film in the theater and owned the soundtrack when it came out. I remember thinking while there were few "dramatic" synth sounds on the soundtrack, it had a very sophisticated, layered feel to it. The combination of your work, plus Arthur's traditional composing fit the movie really well. What may be most underrated, is this score integrating modern synths playing somewhat traditional sounds, combined with an actual orchestra in harmony, was ahead of its time. While composers like Hans Zimmer, James Horner, Eliot Goldenthal etc, would make careers out of doing so at times, they all found success doing so after this score. Great job.

[@NexxuSix]

I certainly remember the movie. I had no idea there was so much work behind it. I find it interesting that the music was composed on piano, yet the sounds were designed on a Synclavier. That must have been quite a process to get to fit all together, and sound right as well. Thank you Anthony for sharing this!

[@swanofnutella4734]

I'll have to check this score out. I think due to my age at the time, I just barely missed out on this one. An older friend of mine was a fan though. He made a Blue Thunder chopper out of legos :)

[@mdleavitt]

Man!! I love your videos! They’re informative, fun, and the sounds you made/make are incredible! Thanks for sharing with us.

[@RossTotino]

Love this. It really helps to fill in all this missing information about these soundtracks so many of us grew up with. I can only wish that other artists such as Wendy Carlos and Alan Howarth would do something similar.

[@chrismatthews1969]

One of my favorite soundtracks still have the vinyl record murphys law is my favorite had a 12" record of it by the beepers 😊

[@listonheinz9103]

I listen to this soundtrack all the time, I bet that’s why this video got recommended to me by the algorithm. I’d never would have thought as a kid in the 80s that I someday would get some insights on how one of my favorite scores came about. Thank you for that! I was waiting to hear those money chords from one of the main themes but they never came… 😢 “Da-daaaaa! Daa-Daa-d-d-daaaa!” 😂 Thanks anyway, keep it up!

[@alphabeets]

Anthony, thank you again for sharing this inside info. This channel has become my favorite synth channel. It’s because you and your guests are the REAL deal. You are music industry veterans- not some kid who wasn’t even born yet trying to talk about it. PS: It was extra work to put in the pop up words, but I don’t think it is really needed.

[@PJRII]

Thank you Anthony for this vast amount of information, you are so generous.

[@justinb9387]

i love blue thunder , i was enjoying your other tutorials , one after the other of big songs ,..... but now ... now ... blue thunder !!! you are stepping it up , next week it will be the next thing , totally amazing , loads of my friends also enjoyed blue thunder and thought of it as inspirational to their music careers , there wasnt that much synthy stuff around in those times

[@kgbinfo]

I would love so much to see a video about the work you did on Starman. That’s a seriously underrated movie and I think the soundtrack does a wonderful job of showcasing some of what the Synclavier does best. Thanks so much for doing these soundtrack videos, I’ve been having a blast watching them.

[@jarrodleeott]

I'm familiar with the Synclaver from the Arturia Suite, and it's a REALLY great sound VST, but the more I hear this in practice and real-world applications, the joke I love it.

[@Polyinstrumentalism]

Frame synthesis? Can't wait.🍿📺

[@mateosmusiclist2119]

Your content on the tech side is really informative. Your connection to your guest and stories of the music industry show a deep and profound human element that is very special. Please keep this going Anthony…Amazing stuff!

[@mmhcreates]

Your breakdown of Analogue synthesis, as subtractive synthesis via filtration. Illuminated further understanding in my mind. You articulated it, in such a manner that made it so much clearer and simple. Chears

[@ridge7524]

Awesome!!!!Making sounds for films😊💯

[@jeffjfindley4802]

My friend, congratulations on hosting my new favorite KZbin channel.

[@QQIQ24170]

I love your work. Your music and video's are helping me with a dark time.

[@ChristopherStoppiello]

Great walkthrough, as always! I was unaware of the Synclavier before you introduced me to it. You should do a video where you approach patching a modern FM synth like the Elektron Digitone (or Digitone Keys) or Korg OPSIX. Come to think of it, The Elektron boxes are very much carrying on the idea of sequencer as DAW.

[@neolyth]

its my favourite synth channel again, tuning in for the next episode. thanks antoni

[@mik300z]

He's like the guy when I'm watching an old 80s movie thinking' ooh I like that, I wonder who made that music.' And wishing I could see his set-up...and here we are. Thank you!

[@dafunkycanuck]

I saw that movie in the theatre with my dad when I was eight. Seems a little young but I loved it and even as a kid knew there was something unique about the music. I had no idea what a synth was then of course. Thanks for sharing this insight into your involvement on this great film. Subbed.

[@Legoflymaster89]

Even have the soundtrack! I love it!

[@TRUMPSUCKS45]

Interesting to hear about the resistance to the electronic instruments by the other musicians. Makes me wonder about what's gonna happen with AI and music.

[@ns1983za]

Soooo happy that I found this channel!

[@Roland_Tr909_Swing]

Thank you Anthony for taking the time to enlighten us. MORE PLEASE.🙏

[@kasperkosminen2679]

I love your videos Anthony, they have helped me navigate through sound design and I now have a way better understanding of what I'm doing on my synths. I've learned more in a week than I have in the past few years.

[@RANDOMLOOPGENERATOR]

Thoroughly enjoying your KZbin output Anthony, so much knowledge and inspiration! I only wish your videos were longer. Keep up the fine work, one of the best synth related channels there is!

[@mmhcreates]

Excellent. I appreciate you for sharing the good you have to offer. I appreciate that you used, and remain to use your energy to feed what you are passionate about. And vice versa. As the practicing of what we are passionate about, also feeds that energy. And now you can educate, inspire and entertain, all who are drawn here. Love