The world of Dune is a wild one. On any given day you’ve obtained clairvoyant sisterhoods poking your neck, big spicy worms, and Javier Bardem spitting in your flooring — and I haven’t even began on the actually bizarre stuff. Capturing the tone and taste of this eccentric setting isn’t straightforward, and whereas I’m not against getting a prolonged monologue from Virginia Madsen, the precise audio course can do a higher job of laying the groundwork for a sci-fi epic. And music has all the time performed an necessary function within the numerous variations of Frank Herbert’s Dune universe throughout motion pictures, TV, and video games.
The soundtrack to David Lynch’s 1984 Dune adaptation options a sweeping orchestral soundtrack by Toto. A particular look was additionally made by Brian Eno, who recorded the extra moody and haunting stuff. Dune is the one soundtrack Toto has ever labored on, and how they got here to be concerned with the film is a for much longer story that you’ll be able to learn extra about in A Masterpiece in Disarray (David Lynch’s Dune — An Oral History).
The soundtrack for the ’84 movie is simply as epic as Hans Zimmer’s rating for the 2021 film, however takes a completely different method. On the time, the work of James Horner and John Williams was dominating sci-fi on the field workplace, and the theme for the unique Dune film follows a equally bombastic method however avoids among the extra uplifting melodies (an specific request from Lynch).
Very like the film’s vibe itself, the rating for the unique is far groovier than the later variations, with a heavy reliance on synths punctuated with guitar riffs. The principle title suite seems like a rock opera model of “Ride of the Valkyries,” whereas the theme for Baron Harkonnen instantly evokes Mike Oldfield’s haunting “Tubular Bells.” Nevertheless, for those who simply want the CliffsNotes, the rating is greatest summarized with the sci-fi rock ballad “Take My Hand,” which performs over the film’s closing credit and runs by means of the important thing actions within the rating in underneath three minutes.
Whereas Zimmer’s rating for Denis Villeneuve’s Dune motion pictures is actually a drastic departure from Lynch’s movie, you’ll be able to nonetheless hear echoes of the ’84 soundtrack in it. Particularly, the observe “Stillsuits” pays direct homage to the opening measures of the principle title of the unique film. The rating isn’t a huge departure from Zimmer’s work on a myriad of different blockbusters, however makes a higher effort to really feel distinctive.
I’m a fairly massive Hans Zimmer fan, and whereas a lot of his work is responsible of sounding a bit same-y, I’d argue his rating for the 2021 film Dune: Half One is a few of his greatest work. Zimmer’s identification is nonetheless very current in Dune, with aggressive devices and percussion, however the rating locations a higher emphasis on vocals and unconventional devices that sound otherworldly when layered collectively.
The rating for Dune: Half One is greatest described as very dry and very previous, due to its intentional use of woodwinds and hole percussion to convey not solely the arid setting of Dune, however its enigmatic environment as effectively. These phrases usually sound like a unhealthy factor, however right here, it actually works. The deep, heavy rhythms from tracks like “Armada” and “Leaving Caladan” are probably the most harking back to Zimmer’s earlier work. Nevertheless, it’s with tracks like “Sanctuary” and “Ripples in the Sand” the place these emotions of thriller and surprise actually manifest.
The soundtracks for the Dune video video games are a complete different can of sandworms, but it surely’s necessary to debate them as a result of they not solely occupy a essential place in online game historical past, however have been dealt with by among the most prolific composers within the gaming trade.
1992’s Dune 2: The Constructing of a Dynasty, by the now-defunct Westwood Studios, is maybe probably the most well-known recreation primarily based on the Dune franchise, and is steadily cited as the sport that popularized the real-time technique style. The soundtracks for Dune 2 and its 1998 remake Dune 2000 have been dealt with by Frank Klepacki, who was additionally answerable for scoring each entry within the legendary Command & Conquer franchise.
Klepacki’s work on Dune 2 was supposed to emulate the soundtrack for the unique Dune journey recreation by Cryo Interactive. And whereas stable, the soundtrack undoubtedly bumps up in opposition to the technical limitations of manufacturing music for a recreation with a file measurement of underneath 5 MB. Nevertheless, when Klepacki revisited the traditional rating, he had the liberty to not solely remake larger constancy variations of his unique Dune 2 soundtrack, however inject them with homages to Toto’s work on the ‘84 Dune movie. This is most apparent when listening to the Dune 2000 track “Rise of Harkonnen,” which is a remastered version of Dune 2’s “Rulers of Arrakis,” with a gap that’s an efficient tribute to Toto’s Baron Harkonnen theme.
The latest Dune recreation title, Dune: Spice Wars, featured a soundtrack composed by Jesper Kyd, whose credit embody work on franchises like Hitman, Murderer’s Creed, and Borderlands, to call a few. Whereas Kyd hasn’t cited any particular inspirations for his Spice Wars soundtrack, the rating mirrors the fashion of the sport, borrowing ideas and themes from throughout the prevailing franchise with out sounding spinoff. The 2 hours of music options ambient, dreamlike tracks that echo the work of Brian Eno on the ‘84 Dune movie, whereas additionally together with rhythmic synth beats that will really feel acquainted to followers of the traditional Westwood titles.
Frank Herbert’s Dune was initially revealed in 1965, and it’s outstanding that virtually 60 years later — and throughout its spectrum of variations — each composition manages to evoke comparable emotions in its viewers. Whether or not it’s the appropriately epic work from Toto, the extra primal model produced by Hans Zimmer, or the stellar online game soundtracks, Dune has impressed a wealth of composers and musicians to supply a cohesive sense of identification to Frank Herbert’s unusual and enigmatic universe.
