Unreleased Jan Hammer cues from Miami Vice


Crockettt

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Crockett- Newbie just wanting to extend a heartfelt thank you for the work and artistry you volunteer. I can't even imagine how much time it must take to capture, edit, and accumulate a catalog like this given the volume of music you've purified.. I can only say hearing these works presented in this unadulterated form is pure joy to a long time fan who has long lusted for these cues in dialogue free form.

 

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10 hours ago, Crockettt said:

Everybody's In Showbiz score:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice work ! Elements of "The Maze" in this one !

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  • 4 weeks later...

Has there ever been a proper rip of the original Definitely Miami theme? The version from Red Tape kinda has bad audio (I realize you're doing the best you can Crockett). And oddly enough in the actual Definitely Miami episode the theme usually played only briefly. Did this theme show up in other episodes?

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24 minutes ago, Den Taylor said:

Has there ever been a proper rip of the original Definitely Miami theme? The version from Red Tape kinda has bad audio (I realize you're doing the best you can Crockett). And oddly enough in the actual Definitely Miami episode the theme usually played only briefly. Did this theme show up in other episodes?

No it only featured in those two episodes Den :done:

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3 hours ago, Den Taylor said:

Has there ever been a proper rip of the original Definitely Miami theme? The version from Red Tape kinda has bad audio (I realize you're doing the best you can Crockett). And oddly enough in the actual Definitely Miami episode the theme usually played only briefly.

Do I have your email, Den? PM me if I don't. 

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6 hours ago, Den Taylor said:

Has there ever been a proper rip of the original Definitely Miami theme? The version from Red Tape kinda has bad audio (I realize you're doing the best you can Crockett). And oddly enough in the actual Definitely Miami episode the theme usually played only briefly. Did this theme show up in other episodes?

That's not my rip. It was made by another guy. I'm going to upload my version of "Definitely Miami Theme" soon.

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  • 4 weeks later...
Am 12.4.2017 um 05:02 schrieb Dadrian:

Do I have your email, Den? PM me if I don't. 

Yes you do. I will just send you an email later.  I just got off writing you a PM on a different subject. ;-)
 

Zitat


That's not my rip. It was made by another guy. I'm going to upload my version of "Definitely Miami Theme" soon.

Excellent, can't wait!

Edited by Den Taylor
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  • 4 weeks later...

One thing I noticed about the DVD rips is that there is a lot more reverb going on compared to the released CD songs.
Is that reverb due to the TV/DVD formatting or the software process being used or did Jan really produce them that way?
I really love these fat reverbs! Too bad Jan didn't use it like that for the complete collection except for a couple of sounds here and there (especially toms and snares).
Then again the overall EQing probably wouldn't have come out as clear.

 

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I always assumed the reverb was to give the cues a definite ambience for a particular set of images and/or emotions tied to the experience of watching the episode. Those ambiences may not work so well for listening to a cd/vinyl alone (in Jan's opinion?). Idk. As always: just speculation. 

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Excellent point, Dadrian. After all, the original CD was called "Escape FROM Television" so it's safe to assume he really wanted to leave some of that ambience behind. It's kinda funny though and I'm really torn on this - one the one hand I really love the crip sound of the CC but on the other hand I also love that darker reverbed sound one can find with these DVD rips. Crockett, is that really the original sound as it is within the episodes or is the software or whatever gear you're using partially to blame for it? I assume that it does some frequency filtering/loweing in order to cut out the voices and noises - which means it would change the music's EQ too...? (but leaving the essential sound intact)

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One perfect example of my remarks above is the ambience of the instruments on "Robbie's Theme" in Buddies, and the cue's recurrence in Forgive Us Our Debts. 

In Buddies, the reverb and EQ are very gritty--almost raucous. As with many Season 2 cues, the kick drum has that Phil Collins kind of gated reverb. In the scene where Crockett finally convinces Robbie to "do the right thing", the cue has nearly reached Def Leppard heights of expression. 

However, by Season 3, Jan had some new gear, the direction of the show had changed, and Forgive Us Our Debts had no loose cannons like Robbie's character, so the ambience is more brooding, much smoother, and more reflective of the kinds of elements in Forgive Us Our Debts. No gated reverb on the kick, the synth string pad is much smoother, and there's no guitar lead. The new addition of the choir sound is the  centerpiece, and perhaps the main reason for all the changes in the final product. 

I plan to share examples of the Season 3 version very soon.  You'll see what I mean about the mix (if you don't already). :thumbsup:

Edited by Dadrian
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Oh yeah, the tone really kinda changed in Season 3. Mostly probably because Jan had switched to the Fairlight Series III, right? Which brought in some new sounds and patches. Plus it was 16 bit vs only 8 bit of the II. And if he transfered all his samples and cues over to the III (which I assume he did?) then the output would have had a slightly different sound too.

I hadn't much noticed the difference about the reverb and EQ before but now that you've mentioned it....yeah, the style took on a different direction too. I think tThey also dropped a lot of these fast paced and sequenced cues that were so prevalent in Season 1 (like Desiree's Motel). Kind of a shame but understandable from a progression point of view. I mean Tubbs and Crockett had been on the force together for two years now so everything had become a bit more settled and routine. (Which in a way already might have signalled the serie's decline)

p.s.: "Def Leppard heights of expression" ? LOL, love that terminoloy. Did you know that Def Leppard used the Rockman for the entire Hysteria album? From what I read they used many layers of it mashed together to achieve that sound....

Edited by Den Taylor
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Yeah the Fairlight III made big contributions to season 3, and yes I'd seen that about DL and the Rockman. That album sounds great. 

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  • 9 months later...
  • 4 weeks later...

One of my favourite JH cues is from the 1987 Season Premiere “Contempt of Court”. This was a full length cue and had so e beautiful parts especially when Crockett spoke to the informant’s kid by the beach.:hippie:

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  • 1 month later...
6 hours ago, Retro80sfan said:

I just found this.

Thankyou for sharing - very interesting and good quality.  Terrible images of the two stars of this episode!

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This really would have deserved its own stand-alone track:

 

Such a great cue, with that quiet, brooding, lush bass arpeggio from the Memorymoog... THIS is the kind of thing that people remember today about 80s synth music... :thumbsup:

Then again, maybe Jan Hammer didn't think a 15-second melody hook was worth putting into a three-minute track or so.

 

Two more tracks that should have had their own stand-alone track:

 

And this:

 

 

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It seems the cues that sounded like full songs (like final approach on “Home Invaders” and love scene from “French Twist”) could be so easily released. There were so many like this. Maybe he just didn’t like those. :birdie:

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6 hours ago, Dadrian said:

It seems the cues that sounded like full songs (like final approach on “Home Invaders” and love scene from “French Twist”) could be so easily released. There were so many like this. Maybe he just didn’t like those. :birdie:

I agree Dadrian - those two you mentioned are great full length cues like -

“Prodigal Son” / “The Fix” (slow NY love theme)

”Contempt of Court” Theme

”Lend Me an Ear” Theme 

“Dorothy’s Theme”(Buddies) and (Deliver Us from Evil). These four are all excellent and full cues ranging from two and a half to three and a half minutes.

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Has Jan Hammer ever said if he could imagine converting yet another batch of unreleased cues into published tracks?

It's probably a big amount of work involved (and he appears to be a busy guy still these days),  he said in an interview a few years ago that he had to reconstruct many of the previously unreleased Complete Collection tracks pretty much from scratch or from the old studio tapes and then run every single one of them through Cubase. Maybe that's something that's not worth the effort all over again for the small fan base of his work on Miami Vice.

Here's another track that would have deserved being released IMO...

 

The mid-section of this cue (from 0:40), in its more pared down version from "Golden Triangle" (Tubbs and Castillo checking the Thai restaurants for recent immigrants) was my phone ringtone for some time, about 13 years ago... :)

Edited by Daytona74
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