View source for RockRaiders EP

{{Infobox album
| name       = RockRaiders EP
| type       = EP
| longtype   = and [[Wikipedia:Soundtrack album|soundtrack]]
| artist     = Temple Sound
| cover      = RockRaiders EP cover.jpg
| imagesize  = 220
| alt        = Current cover
| released   = {{start date|2022|08|23|df=yes}}
| recorded   = 1998<ref name="BC 22-08"/>
| genre      = [[Wikipedia:Electronic music|Electronic]]
| length     = 9:35
| producer   = Alan Boorman
| next_title   = The Fractal Shoreline EP
| next_year    = 2022
}}
'''''RockRaiders EP''''' (originally titled '''''RockRaiders Music''''') is a [[Wikipedia:Soundtrack album|soundtrack]] [[Wikipedia:Extended play|extended play]] for the 1999 [[Wikipedia:Real-time strategy|real-time strategy]] video game ''[[LEGO Rock Raiders (video game)|LEGO Rock Raiders]]''. It features three tracks composed by Marl Boonyer that originally played in-game during missions. The EP was released digitally through Boonyer's [[Wikipedia:Bandcamp|Bandcamp]] "Temple Sound" on 23 August 2022; prior to this, the tracks were only available in low-quality in the game's files.

== Background ==
The three tracks were composed in 1998 while LRR was still in development.<ref name="BC 22-08"/>

Each of the three tracks Boonyer composed was inspired by and named after the three cavern types found in ''LEGO Rock Raiders'': Rock, Ice, and Lava.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/Rockraiders/comments/wv7ziy/the_original_rock_raiders_composers_just_shared/ilgrot2 |title=Also good info: The tracks have names! |author=Baraklava |date=23 August 2022 |website=[[Wikipedia:Reddit|Reddit]] |type=comment on post "The original Rock Raiders composers just shared the uncompressed PC tracks!" |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240421034503/https://old.reddit.com/r/Rockraiders/comments/wv7ziy/the_original_rock_raiders_composers_just_shared/ilgrot2 |archive-date=21 April 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>

== Release ==
Although the three music tracks were included with the game as [[Wikipedia:Compact Disc Digital Audio|Compact Disc Digital Audio]] (or ''Red Book'' audio), the in-game audio is noticeably low-quality. The tracks appear to have been resampled to a quarter of their original [[Wikipedia:Sampling (signal processing)|sampling rate]] (from [[Wikipedia:44,100 Hz|44,100 Hz]] to 11,025 Hz) prior to being converted to CD audio (despite this process resampling them back to 44.1 kHz, saving no space).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/Rockraiders/comments/wv7ziy/the_original_rock_raiders_composers_just_shared/ilfqgnq/?context=3 |title=No one is sure what happened to the CD tracks given these master tracks, but it was at least resampled to 1/4th the original frequency... |author=Baraklava |date=23 August 2022 |website=[[Wikipedia:Reddit|Reddit]] |type=comment on post "The original Rock Raiders composers just shared the uncompressed PC tracks!" |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240421034528/https://old.reddit.com/r/Rockraiders/comments/wv7ziy/the_original_rock_raiders_composers_just_shared/ilfqgnq/?context=3 |archive-date=21 April 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Nearly 23 years after the game's release, composer Marl Boonyer uploaded the high-quality original versions of the three tracks on Soundcloud on 22 August 2022.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://old.reddit.com/r/Rockraiders/comments/wv7ziy/the_original_rock_raiders_composers_just_shared |title=The original Rock Raiders composers just shared the uncompressed PC tracks! |author=Baraklava |date=22 August 2022 |website=[[Wikipedia:Reddit|Reddit]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220823022826/https://old.reddit.com/r/Rockraiders/comments/wv7ziy/the_original_rock_raiders_composers_just_shared |archive-date=23 August 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> The following day, the [[Wikipedia:Extended play|extended play]] soundtrack ''RockRaiders Music'' was released on Boonyer's [[Wikipedia:Bandcamp|Bandcamp]] page "Temple Sound".<ref name="BC 22-08"/> It was originally priced at £4 GBP and used the [[Wikipedia:PAL|PAL]] [[Wikipedia:PlayStation (console)|PlayStation]] [[LEGO Rock Raiders (PlayStation video game)|''LEGO Rock Raiders'']] front cover as its album art.<ref name="BC 22-08"/> By September 2022 the soundtrack had been renamed to ''RockRaiders EP'' and received a new album cover featuring a LEGO music box built by Peter Carmichael.<ref name=>Boonyer, Marl (23 August 2022). [https://web.archive.org/web/20220921004656/https://templesound.bandcamp.com/album/rockraiders-ep "RockRaiders EP by Temple Sound"]. [[Wikipedia:Bandcamp|Bandcamp]]. Archived from the original on 21 September 2022.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/pacific_brick/49733460576 |title=Lego Music Box |website=[[Wikipedia:Flickr|Flickr]] |first=Peter |last=Carmichael |date=April 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240421034555/https://www.flickr.com/photos/pacific_brick/49733460576 |archive-date=April 21, 2024}}</ref> On 3 December 2022 the soundtrack's price was lowered to £3.<ref>Boonyer, Marl (23 August 2022). [https://web.archive.org/web/20221209133102/https://templesound.bandcamp.com/album/rockraiders-ep "RockRaiders EP by Temple Sound"]. [[Wikipedia:Bandcamp|Bandcamp]]. Archived from the original on 9 December 2022. The price has been lowered to £3 GBP from the previous archive in late November.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240421053708im_/https://ringtailraider.neocities.org/WikiArchives/Temple%20Sound%20email%202022-12-02.png |title=Email from Temple Sound on Bandcamp |first=Marl |last=Boonyer |date=2022-12-03 |quote=Hi, Just to say my mini album is available at little cost. I was going to offer it pay what you want but I don't know how to set it up.  I just want to say thanks for your support.}} Screenshot from [[Wikipedia:ProtonMail|ProtonMail]].</ref> On 18 April 2023 the soundtrack was made free; Boonyer sent an email to all Temple Sound Bandcamp followers thanking them for their support "through a very tough period."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240421053721/https://ringtailraider.neocities.org/WikiArchives/Temple%20Sound%20email%202023-04-18.png |title=Email from Temple Sound on Bandcamp |first=Marl |last=Boonyer |date=2023-04-18 |quote=Hello everyone. Many thanks for your generosity. Helped me through a very tough period. All tracks are now free. marl}} Screenshot from [[Wikipedia:ProtonMail|ProtonMail]].</ref> By August 2023, however, it had returned to being priced.<ref>Boonyer, Marl (23 August 2022). [https://web.archive.org/web/20230822220622/https://templesound.bandcamp.com/album/rockraiders-ep "RockRaiders EP by Temple Sound]. [[Wikipedia:Bandcamp|Bandcamp]]. Archived from the original on 22 August 2023. The price has been raised to £1.50 GBP from the previous archive in early June.</ref>

Following ''RockRaiders EP'', Boonyer has so far released two other works on Bandcamp: ''The Fractal Shorline EP'', an eight-track extended play released on 28 August 2022,<ref>Boonyer, Marl (28 August 2022). [https://templesound.bandcamp.com/album/the-fractal-shoreline-ep "The Fractal Shoreline EP by Temple Sound"]. [[Wikipedia:Bandcamp|Bandcamp]]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20240420221531/https://templesound.bandcamp.com/album/the-fractal-shoreline-ep Archived] from the original on 20 April 2024.</ref> and "infant narcotic", a single track released on 18 April 2023.<ref>Boonyer, Marl (18 April 2023). [https://templesound.bandcamp.com/album/the-fractal-shoreline-ep "infant narcotic by Temple Sound"]. [[Wikipedia:Bandcamp|Bandcamp]]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20240420221509/https://templesound.bandcamp.com/track/infant-narcotic Archived] from the original on 20 April 2024.</ref>

== Track listing ==
All tracks are composed by Marl Boonyer.
{{track listing
|title1   = Rock
|length1  = 3:03
|title2   = Ice
|length2  = 3:26
|title3   = Lava
|length3  = 3:05
|total_length = 9:35}}

== References ==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name="BC 22-08">Boonyer, Marl (23 August 2022). [http://web.archive.org/web/20220826092304/https://templesound.bandcamp.com/album/rockraiders-music "RockRaiders Music by Temple Sound"]. [[Wikipedia:Bandcamp|Bandcamp]]. "Composed and produced in 1998 by Marl Boonyer & Alan Boorman". Archived from the original on 26 August 2022.</ref>
}}

== External links ==
* [https://templesound.bandcamp.com/album/rockraiders-ep ''RockRaiders EP''] at [[Wikipedia:Bandcamp|Bandcamp]]
* [https://graphicexistence.portfoliobox.net graphicexistence], Marl Boonyer's website
* [https://www.wevie.tv Wevie], Al Boorman's website

[[Category:2022 albums]]
[[Category:LEGO Rock Raiders]]