Red Alert Hell March military drill intro sample

I'm a bit of a sample digger when I'm about composing music and having rumaged through some old sample CD's for inspiration I happened to come across a sample that has gone on to become one of the most recognisable in game soundtrack history.

So here it is, in its entirity (approx. 30 seconds) as I found it on the CD.

Some observers claim that the speech says "die waffen legt an" - what do you think?

Much respect to Frank Klepacki, whose musical output continues to inspire gamers and composers the world over.

www.theadvanced.co.uk

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Red
• Alert
• Frank
• Klepacki
• hell
• march
• military
• drill
• army
• vocal
• voice
• chant
• intro
• sample
• clip
• sound
• track
• audio
• music
• command
• conquer
• westwood
• die
• waffen
• legt
• an

[c0xb0x]

To start with, it is definitely not "die waffen" - it is clearly three distinct words. The final syllable which people say is "um" even starts with a different vowel.

Also, listen to the shout at 0:18 - it is not very German sounding, is it?

[TheAdvancedMusic]

@c0xb0x

I never thought it sounded German either. I remembered hearing what I always thought was 'quick march' at the end of the first phrase. I am not sure why it is that the general consensus has come to accept "die waffen legt ans" as the speech - I hope this original sample will re-open debate.

[rand0m4productions]

So was that what the original was before it became the Hellmarch?

[TheAdvancedMusic]

I'm convinced this is the case. I'm sure that frank used the drill call bit at the beginning and some other 'crunchier' marching loop, though it's possible he processed the marching from this clip to sound the way it does in Hell March.

The CD from which I found this sample (and I suspect did Frank too) was one from the Sound Ideas SFX library.

Thanks for your comment and many regards!

[mastgrr]

@TheAdvancedMusic Thanks for letting us know which sample library! I've also found that Methods of Mayhem: Industrial Toolkit is like 50% of all samples used in Red Alert tracks. Plus drums from PowerFX's Lo-Fi & Illbient for Red Alert 2.

[TheAdvancedMusic]

@mastgrr

You're welcome. Thanks for your observations, too. I'll have a look at those sample cd's you've mentioned. I've noticed a good number of synth sounds used in the RA2 soundtrack have come from the Roland JV-80 expansion boards!

[dusttraveller]

@c0xb0x Hmm... Not sure... it is puzzling, but I will say that while I'm not as familiar with foreign march routines, it is not uncommon for drill to go through a "routine" especially if they are practicing for a review. Also, it might be a fuzzy translation, because "Present Arms" would make more sense. The german army doesn't appear to use "die waffen, legt an" as a drill command and those tend to be pretty rote so I admit I could be wrong, I was just presenting the possibility.

[c0xb0x]

@dusttraveller If the command is "die waffen, legt an" (weapons, take aim, more or less), why is the response to the command to start marching?

[dusttraveller]

@c0xb0x It does sound like 3 distinct words, for a reason. When someone is calling cadence, they stagger the words. Like Forrr Wardd... MARCH! This is clearly a drill call, and in order to keep the timing correct you stagger the syllables out so that the formation knows exactly when and on what foot they perform the action. So in actuallity what they are saying is Die Waf-fen Legt... An! Note that each syllable is drawn out so that it falls on a right foot step.

[riomhadoir]

0:18 sounds a bit like "all together, [something]". Perhaps "all together, turn"?

[chabi3000]

If its not : Die Waffen , legt an ! It could be : Die Waffen , tretet an ! ( Get your Weapons ready , step forward )

[mastgrr]

@TheAdvancedMusic …and the Novation Nova, which gots lots of standard patches used in plenty of songs. Bought one just because of that! Really want to get my hands on a Roland JV-80 too!

[c0xb0x]

I'm sad you feel like you have to call me an idiot. Frank Klepacki actually thought the order shouted was "we want war, wake up". By your logic then, this is what we are supposed to believe? :)

[mastgrr]

I obviously mean the dot com stock music, not the dot net.