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The history of WarCraft as a video game franchise and as a fictional universe has known many heroes: noble knights, mighty warchiefs, wielders of all kinds of magic, legendary artists, musicians, code weavers, and storytellers. Some of them are well-known and famous, while others stay in the shadows and keep a low profile.
I believe that every true hero of WarCraft – fictional or not – deserves recognition, and no one must remain unsung. Recently, I (@Evilhog ) had a chance to interview one such hero – a composer, who created the wonderful soundtrack of WarCraft: Orcs & Humans.
Without further ado, let us welcome Gregory Alper!
Q: While WarCraft is an extremely popular franchise, it’s also quite an old one: the first game in the series was released in 1994. Some younger gamers might have little knowledge of WarCraft’s beginnings, let alone about the visionaries behind its creation. Gregory, could you please introduce yourself to our readers?
Gregory: I am a multi-instrumentalist (piano, flute, clarinet, bass, my main instrument is saxophone), composer, teacher, performer. I have composed for Film, TV, Games and records.
Credits include - Warcraft, MechWarrior 2, Might and Magic, Dark Seed, the song Feliz in the Sony Pictures Film Random Hearts (Harrison Ford, Kristin Scott Thomas) and many more.
My first album - FAT DOGGIE and the Greg Alper Band was a pick of the week in Billboard in 1978.
I continue to compose, perform, teach jazz to kids and record with my own group (all releases are under Greg Alper Band on youtube, apple music, spotify, amazon).
This has been an exciting year for me. I’ve been releasing archived music that hasn’t been heard. Some music is from film and TV scores, some material from the FAT DOGGIE period. Andrew Harrington from Xeen Music has been of tremendous help in assisting me to catalogue and organize. He deserves a big thank you in bringing this music to the public.
The cutting edge for me has been to produce music videos for my songs. We’ve done 6 this year and they’re really fun. The most recent one was released just last week “21st Century Picnic”. You can view it on YouTube and Apple Music.
Just today I released a new song with a latin beat: Z-LA by Moonlight.
The next release is Music for Cracker (Nov.29), a collection of music I wrote for a prime time TV series. I was brought in to write additional cues for 2 episodes. It ran at the same time as Seinfeld and only lasted 1 season. [Link to be provided when available]
In the pipeline are orchestral scores, as well as new music. I’m always creating something.
Q: How did your journey into the world of music composition begin? What has changed about the way music is composed since then?
Gregory: I began playing piano at the age of 6 and immediately started composing my own (simple) songs. In 6th grade I played guitar in my first (Rock and Roll) band doing covers. I played in clubs with some older guys when I was 12. I’ve always composed. My grandfather (who recorded books on tape - audio books for the blind) gave me an old tape recorder where I could do “sound on sound” a primitive form of overdubbing that compounded the tracks which weren’t separate like they are today. It was quite a challenge. I put together an album of my songs. In High School my band played mostly originals.
Music performance, recording and composition became my main focus in college. My first year at University of Pennsylvania, I began studying physics. While there I had the opportunity to study with the great modern composer George Crumb. The following year I transferred to Indiana University to focus solely on music. I had some great composition teachers, a great jazz improvisation instructor and saxophone teachers.
After college I moved to NYC, working with bands playing R&B, Jazz, Latin, African, Calypso, Big Band Swing and even Country. I wrote arrangements and/or composed original music.
I spent a lot of time listening to music of the world and studied composing music for film at Mannes College of Music in NYC and later at USC and UCLA.
I formed my own band (Greg Alper Band). Many famous players were in my band before they became more well known - Richie Morales (Spyro Gyra, Brecker Bros. Yellow Jackets), Chuck Loeb (Four Play, Stan Getz), Eric Doney and Bob Telson. In 1978 we made our first album FAT DOGGIE. It featured a fusion of R&B, Jazz, African and Latin, sometimes in odd meters. It garnered a Billboard Pick of the Week.
We made a 2nd album in 1985.
The FAT DOGGIE album was remastered and released on CD in 2010. I flew to London to supervise the session at Abbey Road.
After having composed a lot of music for industrial films, (now called infomercials), commercials and a couple of feature films (including Alexa, which I scored for jazz quintet and string quartet) I moved to LA in 1989.
I continued composing, first for student films and later for film and TV. I scored another movie “My Brother Jack” about an Italian family who moved to NYC (available on Amazon). It featured a blues band and a jazz quintet as well as some smaller and larger ensembles.
During this period I recorded many works with live orchestra - pretty exciting!
I learned all my skills by listening and studying. When I wrote for orchestra or jazz ensembles, I began with score paper and pencil. Every note was written by hand, every part hand copied. I still consider pencil and paper integral in my process, though, of course I use voice memos, pro logic and sibelius too.
Your readers may be amused that in 1986, with the Macintosh computer, I was one of the first people in my circle to begin using a computer for sequencing. Later I had a full 16track tape studio with processing equipment, stacks of samplers, mics, etc.
Q: You’ve worked on a relatively small number of video games, but most of those titles are blockbusters and cult classics: Dark Seed is loved by fans of the point-and-click adventure genre for its dark, H. R. Giger-inspired visuals and atmospheric soundtrack; MechWarrior 2 is often regarded as the best ‘mech combat game ever made; Might and Magic[1] stands on the same pedestal as Ultima, The Bard’s Tale, and Wizardry – the defining pillars of computer role-playing games. WarCraft’s impact and role in the history of video games cannot be understated. How does it feel to be a part of such a legacy? Have you considered returning to the video games industry?
Gregory: I am of course honored that people continue to appreciate my work. At the time of the first game Dark Seed and then Warcraft, gaming was still young. One never knows what the impact will be. You just give it your best and see what happens.
Q: How did you get involved with WarCraft: Orcs & Humans? Were you a full-time employee of Blizzard Entertainment, or a contractor?
Gregory: As best as I can remember (it was quite a while ago) I was referred for Dark Seed as an independent composer. One of the producers, Mike Morhaime went to Blizzard and hired me for Warcraft.
Q: According to the “Credits” section of the WarCraft: Orcs & Humans manual, four people worked on the game’s music and sound: Gregory Alper, Rick Jackson, Chris Palmer, and Glenn Stafford. Can you identify each person’s input? How did you interact with other composers/developers of WarCraft?
Gregory: I recently asked Glenn who did what and his recollection was that I did everything. My guess is Rick and Chris were focused on the sound, I don’t know.
Q: Did you enjoy working on WarCraft? What lessons did you learn from that experience as a composer?
The orchestral based score was very exciting because I could apply all I had learned from studying and composing for orchestra.
Q: Can you describe the process of composing music for WarCraft? Are there any anecdotes or funny stories from that period?
Gregory: There is a picture of me composing from that time. You can see the green score paper on the piano, a cassette recorder and a flute on the counter behind me. I referenced scores and listened to many different composers to focus my style and approach.
Q: Would you like to revisit your WarCraft score and remaster it using modern techniques and hardware?
Gregory: Sure, it would be great to hear it with high quality samples or even live orchestra.
The “Official Orchestrated Arranged version” of Human Campaign Theme №3 from the WarCraft: Orcs & Humans soundtrack by Gregory Alper
Xeen Music has some interesting trivia about the song:
Q: WarCraft, in its several iterations (the original MS-DOS version, the later Macintosh port, and the obscure PC-98 release), was released on different types of storage media. Some CD versions featured Redbook audio[2], while floppy disk releases only had MIDI and FM-synthesized[3] music, which was meant to be played through various kinds of sound hardware. The earliest known public demo[4] of the game supported 8 different music cards!
Which music hardware, in your opinion, provides the definitive WarCraft audio experience? My personal favorite is the stereo Dual OPL2 mode (emulating two Sound Blaster Pro chips) in DOSBox.
Gregory: I like Warcraft I - G.S. remix version [real SC-55]: Orcs & Humans - Soundtrack Music OST BGM by Xeen Music.
Q: What are your favorite tracks in the game? Are you happy with how the soundtrack turned out?
Gregory: I like all of them, of course. The ones that stand out to me today are the Intro, Marching Humanz, Human Army (I recorded a version of this with a real orchestra), Human Scene Death, Orc Death, Orc Scene Death. I’m very happy how it turned out and that it continues to be meaningful for so many.
Q: What mood and feel were you aiming for with the music you composed for WarCraft? Was there any shift from your initial ideas for the soundtrack to its final implementation?
Gregory: Glenn gave me free reign and loved everything I did. We had an initial meeting about the tone and direction of the game. Orchestral, driving, action. The tracks needed to loop. I don’t recall any specific guidance or reworking but honestly that was 30 years ago!
Q: The music from the game’s introduction cinematic is highly reminiscent of “The Planets” suite (in particular, the first movement called “Mars, the Bringer of War”) by Gustav Holst. Where did the inspiration for the music of WarCraft come from? Did Blizzard provide you with any reference material?
Gregory: I brought my own experience with classical music and references to the score. Mars is the obvious source as it is for so many action battle movie scores. March to the Gallows by Berlioz is one of the pieces I referenced. And believe it or not, Beethoven’s Für Elise. I used one of the later movements from that piece which is quite exciting and beautiful chord sequence. Most people only know the opening which has a very different vibe.
Q: Some Macintosh CD and combined Mac/DOS releases of WarCraft include a track that was used for the Orc Defeat screen in WarCraft II Tides of Darkness. Do you know how and why this track ended up in those versions of the first game?
Gregory: Sorry, no.
[I’ve redirected this question to Glenn Stafford via Xeen Music. As of November 15, we’re waiting for his response - Evilhog]
Q: Do you listen to video game music? What do you think about the soundtrack of WarCraft II Tides of Darkness, scored by long-time Blizzard veteran Glenn Stafford?
Gregory: Warcraft II soundtrack is wonderful. Great themes and orchestration.
Q: What advice would you have for someone who wants to start writing music?
Gregory: Listen to as many different kinds of music as you can. Go to the source in each genre. For classical music, buy the scores and study them. Learn how to write music by hand. Play or sing the parts you write. The more direct connection that you can forge to the music, the better. Computers and synthesizers are fantastic tools and do things that can’t be realized any other way. They can also be a crutch. There is no substitute for developing your own musical skills.
Thank you very much for answering my questions, Gregory!
Good luck with your future projects, and remember that you are a Hero of WarCraft!
Special thanks also go to Andrew Harrington of Xeen Music. Be sure to visit his YouTube channel for high-quality recordings of classic video game soundtracks.
Links:
1) Alper Music - Gregory Alper’s personal website. Find more information about the composer and his band, and learn about Alper Music School.
2) Greg Alper Band YouTube channel - Greg Alper Band
3) Xeen Music – Complete Original Official Archival Edition Soundtracks: https://www.youtube.com/c/xeenmusic
4) Hive WarCraft 1&2 general discussion thread – music remixes, covers, fan art, etc.
Notes:
[1] Gregory was a co-composer of Might and Magic 3, 4, and 5. He also worked on Planet’s Edge, a less-known title from New World Computing (the developer/publisher of Might and Magic 1 – 9). The list of Gregory’s video game scores also includes Ambush at Sorinor by Mindcraft Software.
[2] Compact Disc Digital Audio, also known as Audio CD, or Redbook audio, is the standard format for audio compact discs. Audio CD tracks from the game’s compact disk can be played on any CD player.
[3] MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a protocol that allows computers, musical instruments and other hardware to communicate. The MIDI format and FM synthesis (short for frequency modulation) were popular in the early to mid-90s with both game developers and hardware manufacturers: it allowed the former to produce video games supporting a wide range of sound hardware (MIDI on PCs; FM synthesis on home computers, consoles, and arcades) and keep the size of game files small (an HDD of an average home computer in 1994 had a capacity of several hundred megabytes, often even less), while the latter offered a wide choice of electronic instruments, sound cards, and other hardware for music creators and consumers alike.
[4] The first public demo of WarCraft: Orcs & Humans was officially released on October 04, 1994.
Nov. 18 update:
- Slight revisions to the text
- Added a video for a new song by Gregory: Z-LA by Moonlight
I believe that every true hero of WarCraft – fictional or not – deserves recognition, and no one must remain unsung. Recently, I (@Evilhog ) had a chance to interview one such hero – a composer, who created the wonderful soundtrack of WarCraft: Orcs & Humans.
Without further ado, let us welcome Gregory Alper!
Q: While WarCraft is an extremely popular franchise, it’s also quite an old one: the first game in the series was released in 1994. Some younger gamers might have little knowledge of WarCraft’s beginnings, let alone about the visionaries behind its creation. Gregory, could you please introduce yourself to our readers?
Gregory: I am a multi-instrumentalist (piano, flute, clarinet, bass, my main instrument is saxophone), composer, teacher, performer. I have composed for Film, TV, Games and records.
Credits include - Warcraft, MechWarrior 2, Might and Magic, Dark Seed, the song Feliz in the Sony Pictures Film Random Hearts (Harrison Ford, Kristin Scott Thomas) and many more.
My first album - FAT DOGGIE and the Greg Alper Band was a pick of the week in Billboard in 1978.
I continue to compose, perform, teach jazz to kids and record with my own group (all releases are under Greg Alper Band on youtube, apple music, spotify, amazon).
This has been an exciting year for me. I’ve been releasing archived music that hasn’t been heard. Some music is from film and TV scores, some material from the FAT DOGGIE period. Andrew Harrington from Xeen Music has been of tremendous help in assisting me to catalogue and organize. He deserves a big thank you in bringing this music to the public.
The cutting edge for me has been to produce music videos for my songs. We’ve done 6 this year and they’re really fun. The most recent one was released just last week “21st Century Picnic”. You can view it on YouTube and Apple Music.
Just today I released a new song with a latin beat: Z-LA by Moonlight.
The next release is Music for Cracker (Nov.29), a collection of music I wrote for a prime time TV series. I was brought in to write additional cues for 2 episodes. It ran at the same time as Seinfeld and only lasted 1 season. [Link to be provided when available]
In the pipeline are orchestral scores, as well as new music. I’m always creating something.
Q: How did your journey into the world of music composition begin? What has changed about the way music is composed since then?
Gregory: I began playing piano at the age of 6 and immediately started composing my own (simple) songs. In 6th grade I played guitar in my first (Rock and Roll) band doing covers. I played in clubs with some older guys when I was 12. I’ve always composed. My grandfather (who recorded books on tape - audio books for the blind) gave me an old tape recorder where I could do “sound on sound” a primitive form of overdubbing that compounded the tracks which weren’t separate like they are today. It was quite a challenge. I put together an album of my songs. In High School my band played mostly originals.
Music performance, recording and composition became my main focus in college. My first year at University of Pennsylvania, I began studying physics. While there I had the opportunity to study with the great modern composer George Crumb. The following year I transferred to Indiana University to focus solely on music. I had some great composition teachers, a great jazz improvisation instructor and saxophone teachers.
After college I moved to NYC, working with bands playing R&B, Jazz, Latin, African, Calypso, Big Band Swing and even Country. I wrote arrangements and/or composed original music.
I spent a lot of time listening to music of the world and studied composing music for film at Mannes College of Music in NYC and later at USC and UCLA.
I formed my own band (Greg Alper Band). Many famous players were in my band before they became more well known - Richie Morales (Spyro Gyra, Brecker Bros. Yellow Jackets), Chuck Loeb (Four Play, Stan Getz), Eric Doney and Bob Telson. In 1978 we made our first album FAT DOGGIE. It featured a fusion of R&B, Jazz, African and Latin, sometimes in odd meters. It garnered a Billboard Pick of the Week.
We made a 2nd album in 1985.
The FAT DOGGIE album was remastered and released on CD in 2010. I flew to London to supervise the session at Abbey Road.
After having composed a lot of music for industrial films, (now called infomercials), commercials and a couple of feature films (including Alexa, which I scored for jazz quintet and string quartet) I moved to LA in 1989.
I continued composing, first for student films and later for film and TV. I scored another movie “My Brother Jack” about an Italian family who moved to NYC (available on Amazon). It featured a blues band and a jazz quintet as well as some smaller and larger ensembles.
During this period I recorded many works with live orchestra - pretty exciting!
Your readers may be amused that in 1986, with the Macintosh computer, I was one of the first people in my circle to begin using a computer for sequencing. Later I had a full 16track tape studio with processing equipment, stacks of samplers, mics, etc.
Q: You’ve worked on a relatively small number of video games, but most of those titles are blockbusters and cult classics: Dark Seed is loved by fans of the point-and-click adventure genre for its dark, H. R. Giger-inspired visuals and atmospheric soundtrack; MechWarrior 2 is often regarded as the best ‘mech combat game ever made; Might and Magic[1] stands on the same pedestal as Ultima, The Bard’s Tale, and Wizardry – the defining pillars of computer role-playing games. WarCraft’s impact and role in the history of video games cannot be understated. How does it feel to be a part of such a legacy? Have you considered returning to the video games industry?
Gregory: I am of course honored that people continue to appreciate my work. At the time of the first game Dark Seed and then Warcraft, gaming was still young. One never knows what the impact will be. You just give it your best and see what happens.
Q: How did you get involved with WarCraft: Orcs & Humans? Were you a full-time employee of Blizzard Entertainment, or a contractor?
Gregory: As best as I can remember (it was quite a while ago) I was referred for Dark Seed as an independent composer. One of the producers, Mike Morhaime went to Blizzard and hired me for Warcraft.
Q: According to the “Credits” section of the WarCraft: Orcs & Humans manual, four people worked on the game’s music and sound: Gregory Alper, Rick Jackson, Chris Palmer, and Glenn Stafford. Can you identify each person’s input? How did you interact with other composers/developers of WarCraft?
Gregory: I recently asked Glenn who did what and his recollection was that I did everything. My guess is Rick and Chris were focused on the sound, I don’t know.
Q: Did you enjoy working on WarCraft? What lessons did you learn from that experience as a composer?
The orchestral based score was very exciting because I could apply all I had learned from studying and composing for orchestra.
Q: Can you describe the process of composing music for WarCraft? Are there any anecdotes or funny stories from that period?
Gregory: There is a picture of me composing from that time. You can see the green score paper on the piano, a cassette recorder and a flute on the counter behind me. I referenced scores and listened to many different composers to focus my style and approach.
Gregory: Sure, it would be great to hear it with high quality samples or even live orchestra.
Xeen Music has some interesting trivia about the song:
Q: WarCraft, in its several iterations (the original MS-DOS version, the later Macintosh port, and the obscure PC-98 release), was released on different types of storage media. Some CD versions featured Redbook audio[2], while floppy disk releases only had MIDI and FM-synthesized[3] music, which was meant to be played through various kinds of sound hardware. The earliest known public demo[4] of the game supported 8 different music cards!
Which music hardware, in your opinion, provides the definitive WarCraft audio experience? My personal favorite is the stereo Dual OPL2 mode (emulating two Sound Blaster Pro chips) in DOSBox.
Gregory: I like Warcraft I - G.S. remix version [real SC-55]: Orcs & Humans - Soundtrack Music OST BGM by Xeen Music.
Q: What are your favorite tracks in the game? Are you happy with how the soundtrack turned out?
Gregory: I like all of them, of course. The ones that stand out to me today are the Intro, Marching Humanz, Human Army (I recorded a version of this with a real orchestra), Human Scene Death, Orc Death, Orc Scene Death. I’m very happy how it turned out and that it continues to be meaningful for so many.
Q: What mood and feel were you aiming for with the music you composed for WarCraft? Was there any shift from your initial ideas for the soundtrack to its final implementation?
Gregory: Glenn gave me free reign and loved everything I did. We had an initial meeting about the tone and direction of the game. Orchestral, driving, action. The tracks needed to loop. I don’t recall any specific guidance or reworking but honestly that was 30 years ago!
Q: The music from the game’s introduction cinematic is highly reminiscent of “The Planets” suite (in particular, the first movement called “Mars, the Bringer of War”) by Gustav Holst. Where did the inspiration for the music of WarCraft come from? Did Blizzard provide you with any reference material?
Gregory: I brought my own experience with classical music and references to the score. Mars is the obvious source as it is for so many action battle movie scores. March to the Gallows by Berlioz is one of the pieces I referenced. And believe it or not, Beethoven’s Für Elise. I used one of the later movements from that piece which is quite exciting and beautiful chord sequence. Most people only know the opening which has a very different vibe.
Q: Some Macintosh CD and combined Mac/DOS releases of WarCraft include a track that was used for the Orc Defeat screen in WarCraft II Tides of Darkness. Do you know how and why this track ended up in those versions of the first game?
Gregory: Sorry, no.
[I’ve redirected this question to Glenn Stafford via Xeen Music. As of November 15, we’re waiting for his response - Evilhog]
Q: Do you listen to video game music? What do you think about the soundtrack of WarCraft II Tides of Darkness, scored by long-time Blizzard veteran Glenn Stafford?
Gregory: Warcraft II soundtrack is wonderful. Great themes and orchestration.
Q: What advice would you have for someone who wants to start writing music?
Gregory: Listen to as many different kinds of music as you can. Go to the source in each genre. For classical music, buy the scores and study them. Learn how to write music by hand. Play or sing the parts you write. The more direct connection that you can forge to the music, the better. Computers and synthesizers are fantastic tools and do things that can’t be realized any other way. They can also be a crutch. There is no substitute for developing your own musical skills.
Thank you very much for answering my questions, Gregory!
Good luck with your future projects, and remember that you are a Hero of WarCraft!
Special thanks also go to Andrew Harrington of Xeen Music. Be sure to visit his YouTube channel for high-quality recordings of classic video game soundtracks.
Links:
1) Alper Music - Gregory Alper’s personal website. Find more information about the composer and his band, and learn about Alper Music School.
2) Greg Alper Band YouTube channel - Greg Alper Band
3) Xeen Music – Complete Original Official Archival Edition Soundtracks: https://www.youtube.com/c/xeenmusic
4) Hive WarCraft 1&2 general discussion thread – music remixes, covers, fan art, etc.
Notes:
[1] Gregory was a co-composer of Might and Magic 3, 4, and 5. He also worked on Planet’s Edge, a less-known title from New World Computing (the developer/publisher of Might and Magic 1 – 9). The list of Gregory’s video game scores also includes Ambush at Sorinor by Mindcraft Software.
[2] Compact Disc Digital Audio, also known as Audio CD, or Redbook audio, is the standard format for audio compact discs. Audio CD tracks from the game’s compact disk can be played on any CD player.
[3] MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a protocol that allows computers, musical instruments and other hardware to communicate. The MIDI format and FM synthesis (short for frequency modulation) were popular in the early to mid-90s with both game developers and hardware manufacturers: it allowed the former to produce video games supporting a wide range of sound hardware (MIDI on PCs; FM synthesis on home computers, consoles, and arcades) and keep the size of game files small (an HDD of an average home computer in 1994 had a capacity of several hundred megabytes, often even less), while the latter offered a wide choice of electronic instruments, sound cards, and other hardware for music creators and consumers alike.
[4] The first public demo of WarCraft: Orcs & Humans was officially released on October 04, 1994.
Nov. 18 update:
- Slight revisions to the text
- Added a video for a new song by Gregory: Z-LA by Moonlight
Last edited:
who has since moved on to other projects, from his view, simply leaving his trails of work to be forever enjoyed by others.
