The Black Knight 2000 | WMGSO's Fall 2021 Full Orchestra Concert

The Black Knight Theme - The Black Knight 2000 (1989)
Brian Schmidt, Dan Forden, Steve Ritchie
arr. David Werner
Imagine walking into your local pinball arcade and hearing an '80s, pop rock-inspired theme blaring out from one of the tables. It beckons you over, saying, “You’ve got the power, you’ve got the might! Get ready for battle, beat the Black Knight!” Such are the first impressions of the Black Knight 2000 pinball table.
The Black Knight 2000 table is a very difficult table to play. It includes a double-decker design, with a wide open lower area that requires quick reflexes to prevent the ball going past the flippers. Many of the high-scoring maneuvers require a precise shot from the lower level to the upper level in a very short timeframe-all the while listening to the table simultaneously cheer you on and taunt you.
This arrangement scales up the synthesizers, drums, and three-part vocals of the original tracks for full orchestra and choir. It presents as a medley the themes played while the table is idle and during gameplay, including: the main theme, Lightning Wheel, Double Knight’s Challenge, R-A-N-S-O-M, Hurry Up! mode, Multiball, a recapitulation of the main theme, and Jackpot. While a full orchestra is a much bigger ensemble than the few synthesizers and drums heard at the table, this arrangement preserves the signature themes as much as possible. You can also hear instrumental versions of the sound effects from the game throughout the piece.
Video Editor: David Werner
Audio Recording and Editing: Josh Haas, Jimyo Lin
A special thank you to the Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center for recording the concert video
#videogamemusic #pinball

[@Commanderkuiperbelt]

An actual orchestral piece for such an obscure game! Amazing

[@ZeynepDilli]

We do love deep dives :D😁

[@JohnSmith78098]

One of the most brilliant music compositions, so glad this came across my screen!

[@ZeynepDilli]

@@JohnSmith78098 Thank you! We really enjoyed performing it :)

[@mikelolz]

For the average person, absolutely. The average pinballer: "Black Knight 2k is obscure?? 😮"

[@TheLostBijou]

@@mikelolz For real - its one of the greatest pins ever made!!

[@SarahMaywalt]

This is one of the greatest arcade songs. Without question the greatest pinball theme. Great choice.

[@WMGSO]

We had a lot of fun with it! Especially our soloist reading the lines :)

[@mikelolz]

Black Knight: Sword of Rage combined my love for BK pinball with a Brendon Small soundtrack. I seriously can't get enough of the game and would love an orchestral version but this hits the spot. Great rendition.

[@WMGSO]

@@mikelolz Thanks so much :) We're hoping to do it again one day!

[@starwolf3020]

One of the greatest themes for a game , and it's a PINBALL GAME !!!!

[@BrianSchmidt-GameSoundCon]

Wow, I only recently heard there was an arrangement of Bk2k after they performed it at MAGFest! What a great recording. Thank you so much for putting it on your program; If you ever do it again, let me know, and I'd happily fly out from Seattle to see it Brian (Lead composer, Black Knight 2000 pinball)

[@WMGSO]

This made our weekend! Our arranger is so thrilled that the original composer saw our version. We will absolutely let you know if we perform it again soon :) Thank you so much!

[@musical_daredevil]

Thank you so much, Brian! As the arranger of this medley as well as the one performed at MAGFest (and a frequent player of the BK2000 table when I see it at conventions), I'm so happy you enjoyed our performance. I'd be honored to have you there if we perform it again.

[@BrianSchmidt-GameSoundCon]

@@musical_daredevil If you do, let me know and I'll be there!.... and let me know if I should bring my bass ;-)

[@donuteater]

Pero que maravilla me salio en youtube, de mis pinball favoritos de todos los tiempos.

[@NoThankYouReally]

I cannot believe I am just seeing this for the first time. Bless you all. Spectacular.

[@WMGSO]

@nothankyoureally No, thank you really :)

[@martyfrank3548]

Gimme yo money!

[@WMGSO]

🪙

[@juliest631]

You can do it! You can do it!

[@MarkChalice]

I use this line often, then explain what pinball game it is from.

[@Zero_Gamerfx]

4:51 Love this part. Can't stop listening to it. Gives me goosebumps every time. Greetings from a BK2K pin owner :D

[@faceheadman]

That choir gave me goosebumps

[@stippystompy]

just learned about this from Summer GDQ 2024, could not believe this existed. fantastic work to everyone involved! incredible version

[@nuothe11th]

I also discovered the pinball machine at SGDQ, 2016. It became my go-to during runs of lesser interest. I am now on a mission to procure a machine at my home.

[@Snakesht172]

Fingers crossed for f14 tomcat's (pinball) music gets the dance treatment.

[@davidtaylor9999]

Wow, totally amazing and awesome job!

[@WMGSO]

Thank you so much! We had fun :)

[@ForbiddenMagic]

Wow, i had a BK2K for a few years back in the 90s. It was as in the best pinball with the best music evah! We got to where we'd play ~45min per ball and all the time with the soundtrack blastin away. The music really helped keep the excitement up. Had and played lot of other pinballs but none would hold interest like the BK, and i'm sure that was mostly due to the music.

[@thepinballflipperchannel]

Amazing fantastic

[@WMGSO]

Thank you :) :)

[@thepinballflipperchannel]

I am a pinball collector, own black knight 2000 and sword of rage machine. Congratulations for the work done, I hope one day to be able to listen to your performance live. Greetings from Cagliari, Sardinia.

[@WMGSO]

@@thepinballflipperchannel Wow! It's amazing to have fans from Sardinia. We'd love to have you at a concert one day. Pinball competitions are pretty popular in the area, there's at least one bar with a Joust machine! Hope to see you someday :)

[@thepinballflipperchannel]

@@WMGSO I would love to!! and I've been wanting to go to your area for ages, I'd like to visit stern pinball and above all find a way to meet Steve Ritchie. Thank you man I hope to see you too one day. Greetings Andrew

[@jbponzi1]

Love it! Love it! Love it!

[@WMGSO]

Thank you so much!

[@nicholaslull1415]

The only classical music, I love

[@TheLostBijou]

They need a better sound recording system, I think a SACD of their work would be huge!

[@PitchBlackLaser]

1.1 times speed but otherwise amazing!!

[@drkillenger5564]

atpQuan

[@orangeTadpole]

GIVE ME YOUR PROGRAM