RockRaiders Music

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RockRaiders Music
A photograph of a LEGO music box model
EP and soundtrack by
Marl Boonyer
Released23 August 2022 (2022-08-23)
Recorded1998
GenreElectronic
Length9:35
ProducerAlan Boorman
Marl Boonyer chronology
RockRaiders Music
(2022) 		The Fractal Shoreline
(2022)

RockRaiders Music (also called RockRaiders EP) is a 2022 soundtrack extended play release for the 1999 real-time strategy video game LEGO Rock Raiders. It features three tracks composed by Marl Boonyer (credited in-game as Mark Boobyer) that originally played in-game during missions. The EP was released digitally through Boonyer's Bandcamp page "Temple Sound" on 23 August 2022; prior to this, only low-quality versions of the tracks were available in the game's CD audio.

Production

The three music tracks that play during missions in the Windows version of LEGO Rock Raiders were composed by British artist and musician Marl Boonyer in 1998.[1] Each of the tracks were inspired by, and named after, one of the three cavern environments in the game: rock, ice, and lava; however, the tracks were unnamed on the game's CD.[2] The tracks were produced by composer and sound designer Alan Boorman.[1][3] The LEGO Rock Raiders credits thank Boonyer and Boorman for their "musical contribution"; Boonyer was credited as "Mark Boobyer".[4] A separate "sound and music" section in the credits also names John Saull, Jon Harrison, and Joseph Harper;[5] these three were also credited in the PlayStation game,[6] which has the same menu music but uses different music during missions (possibly composed by Harper).

Although Boonyer's three music tracks were included with the game as 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 sampling rate (from 44,100 Hz to 11,025 Hz) prior to being converted to CD audio – despite the conversion resampling them back to 44.1 kHz, saving no disc space while also not restoring the original audio quality.[7] Certain later releases of the games eliminated the three music tracks entirely, leaving only the main menu and mission results screen music (which is stored in the game's Data folder).[8]

Release

In 2022 Alan Boorman was contacted regarding the LEGO Rock Raiders soundtrack, and he revealed he still possessed the master tapes containing Boonyer's tracks.[8]

Marl Boonyer uploaded the high-quality original versions of the three tracks to SoundCloud on 22 August 2022.[9] The following day, the three tracks were released on Boonyer's new Bandcamp page "Temple Sound" as an extended play titled RockRaiders Music, available for £4 GBP.[1] In early September the EP received new cover art featuring a photograph of a LEGO music box model built by Peter Carmichael; prior to this it had used the cover art from the PlayStation version of LEGO Rock Raiders as a placeholder.[10][11] Later in September the Bandcamp listing's title was changed to RockRaiders EP, though the cover art kept the original name.[12] Boonyer lowered the EP's price to £3 on 3 December,[13][14] then made it available for no minimum price on 18 April 2023. Boonyer announced that the EP was free through an email to all Temple Sound Bandcamp followers, thanking them for their support during "a very tough period."[15]

Following RockRaiders EP, Boonyer released two other works on Bandcamp: The Fractal Shorline, an eight-track EP released on 28 August 2022,[16] and "infant narcotic", a single track released on 18 April 2023.[17]

Track listing

All music is composed by Marl Boonyer.

No.TitleLength
1."Rock"3:03
2."Ice"3:26
3."Lava"3:05
Total length:9:35

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Boonyer, Marl (23 August 2022). "RockRaiders Music by Temple Sound". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on 26 August 2022. Composed and produced in 1998 by Marl Boonyer & Alan Boorman
  2. ↑ Baraklava (23 August 2022). "Also good info: The tracks have names!". Reddit (comment on r/RockRaiders post "The original Rock Raiders composers just shared the uncompressed PC tracks!"). Archived from the original on 21 April 2024.
  3. ↑ Boorman, Al. "who". Wevie. Archived from the original on 18 February 2012.
  4. ↑ Data Design Interactive (November 1999). LEGO Rock Raiders (Windows). LEGO Media International. Scene: Credits. Additional Thanks – ... Thanks also to Mark Boobyer and Alan Boorman for their musical contribution.
  5. ↑ Data Design Interactive (November 1999). LEGO Rock Raiders (Windows). LEGO Media International. Scene: Credits. Sound And Music – John Saull, Jon Harrison, Joseph Harper
  6. ↑ Data Design Interactive (December 1999). LEGO Rock Raiders (PlayStation) (PAL ed.). LEGO Media International. Scene: Credits. Music & Sound Effects – Joseph Harper, Jon Harrison, John Saull
  7. ↑ Baraklava (23 August 2022). "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..." Reddit (comment on r/RockRaiders post "The original Rock Raiders composers just shared the uncompressed PC tracks!"). Archived from the original on 21 April 2024.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Baraklava (7 November 2023). "LEGO Rock Raiders [PC] High-quality soundtrack OST" (Item description). Retrieved 9 February 2025 – via Internet Archive.
  9. ↑ Baraklava (22 August 2022). "The original Rock Raiders composers just shared the uncompressed PC tracks!". Reddit. Archived from the original on 23 August 2022.
  10. ↑ "RockRaiders Music by Temple Sound". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on 11 September 2022.
  11. ↑ Carmichael, Peter (April 4, 2020). "Lego Music Box". Flickr. Archived from the original on April 21, 2024.
  12. ↑ "RockRaiders EP by Temple Sound". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on 21 September 2022.
  13. ↑ "RockRaiders EP by Temple Sound". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on 9 December 2022.
  14. ↑ {{cite web |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240421053708im_/https://ringtailraider.neocities.org/WikiArchives/Temple%20Sound%20email%202022-12-02.png |title=New message from Temple Sound |type=Email from Temple Sound on Bandcamp |first=Marl |last=Boonyer |date=3 December 2022 |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 |via=ProtonMail.
  15. ↑ Boonyer, Marl (2023-04-18). "Email from Temple Sound on Bandcamp". Hello everyone. Many thanks for your generosity. Helped me through a very tough period. All tracks are now free. marl Screenshot from ProtonMail.
  16. ↑ Boonyer, Marl (28 August 2022). "The Fractal Shoreline EP by Temple Sound". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on 20 April 2024.
  17. ↑ Boonyer, Marl (18 April 2023). "infant narcotic by Temple Sound". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on 20 April 2024.

External links

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