Yamaha Electone ELS-02C arrangement of 楚留香 ‘79 主题曲 (Chor Lau Heung 1979 Theme Song).
Chor Lau Heung (楚留香), also known as Swordsman Chu in some Southeast Asian countries, was one of those legendary TVB Wuxia series of the late 70s. In spite of my love for the genre, though, I never fully watched it. I probably watched less than half of the episodes.
Two reasons for this tragedy.
Firstly, the series was very long, 65 episodes in all! Secondly, I was still in lower primary back when the series was broadcast on Singaporean television in the latter part of the evening. No problem on my part staying up to watch, but my mother would have none of it.
Regardless, I remember many things about the series. For example, Adam Cheng’s incredibly suave portrayal. Years later, when I finally got down to reading the novel(s), I realised just how accurately Adam captured the charisma of Gu Long’s renowned marshal of thieves. How his mannerisms and his speech completed the written character, if you know what I mean.
There were also the villains, particularly, the enigmatic Shek Gu-un Yam (石觀音, Stone Guanyin). Goodness, she utterly terrified me back then! For a long time, I assumed she was the “end boss” of the entire series.
Even after finding out she’s but one of many bosses, and one of the weaker ones, I still fear her. Were I to write a listicle on the top-10 unforgettable Gu Long villains today, you can be sure I’d put Madam Shek as one of the top three. If not number one.
Free Yamaha Electone Score & ELS-02C Registration Data for 楚留香 ’79 主题曲 (Chor Lau Heung 1979)
Warning! The registration and Finale PrintMusic files are zip files! You might need to disable your virus/malware protection before downloading.
As I have disabled the function, do not right-click to save as. On PCs, simply click on the links and the file should auto download in a separate window.
Electone Registration Data for Stagea ELS-02C
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Arrangement Notes
- Per my arrangement style this year, I’m following the original recording very closely. Down to the use of a noisy vibraslap in the first stanza.
- To reinforce that Cantonese Wuxia song feeling, I’ve added Chinese Da Gu sounds to the main beats. If you find these too noisy or reverberating, tune down the corresponding volume/reverb in the Rhythm Pattern Program. (Use the global setting in the Drum Setup page of the R.P.P. Da Gu is part of Add Drums)
- There are several higher bass notes in the stanzas. To achieve a true legato feel, these ought to be played with the right foot (!).
- Some chords in my free Electone score are marked by Strum. This is my way of saying those chords should be played in a slightly broken, ascending way to mimic the guitar style.
- This is the first time I’m relying so heavily on choir sounds, so as to capture the essence of the original Adam Cheng recording. To be honest, I don’t think the Stagea’s choir voices completely cut it. You might want to tweak the individual sounds to achieve a stronger bass, or sharper “aaahhhhhh” …
- Last but not least, I’m having some fun with my score again. For all future Electone arrangements for songs related to Gu Long stories, this will be the format too. Please! Have fun guessing what my icons represent! 🙂
Full List of Downloadable Electone Sheet Music and Stagea ELS-02C Registration Data. ( English / 中文 / 日本語 )
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