Daren Dochterman

Back in the late 80s and early 90s, I had a hobby of doing some music composing. Was a nice little diversion from doing artwork, and was something I enjoyed. Haven’t had a chance to do much of it nowadays, but I did take all the music I could and put it into a 2 CD set... these are some highlights of the tracks on them. (click on the track titles to download MP3s) ©2006 Daren Dochterman.

Original Works and parodies:
Here’s stuff I came up with myself... or adapted.

Talk Trek Theme.mp3
I was co-host of a nationally heard show on the Cable Radio Network called “Talk Trek” which focused on the many facets of the Star Trek world... we needed a theme song for the show... and I made this.

I Loot LA.mp3
A week after the Los Angeles Riots my friend Ed Marsh called me up and said “I have this idea for a song... let’s record it”... two days later he and I and my friends Chuck Michael and Van Ling were recording it after I came up with the Karaoke instrumental. It was played on the local Dr. Demento Show and was number one on the “Funny 25”

Superman's Birthday.mp3
Just a funny idea to orchestrate “Happy Birthday” in the style of John Williams.

The Rocketman.mp3
When I heard that James Horner was going to score the “Rocketeer” I did this in anticipation...cause I thought it would sound something like this. I was totally wrong, but I still like this piece.

Heroic Bullfighter.mp3
This was just some noodling... and I thought it sounded a bit spanish... so sue me.

Contemplations.mp3
Me trying to do a John Williams-y tune... but with too many notes.

Honey, I Blew Up the Baby.mp3
This was done in 1991 when I was working on the movie “Honey I Blew Up the Kid” (which was then called “baby”)... thought it might be fun to have the movie end real vegas style, with rick moranis doing a musical number in one of the casinos... Alas, as with all great ideas, it was not to be.

Anthem.mp3
This is me getting all “new age”y...

Battle at the Pole.mp3
A standard Action Cue... full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

Anakin Rap.mp3
Back in college roommate days, my roommate Chuck Michael and I did a couple tunes with his awesome synthesizer and drum machine setup. This was supposed to go along with a bunch of sound bites from the Star Wars movies... that version is somewhere... but not here. This is the instrumental

Anakin Rap (voice clips).mp3
Ok, here is the version with the sound bites. So there. See which one you like the best.

Instant Guts Theme
When my friend Jon Bell called me and said that his wife was putting together a “book on tape” of stories and encouragement to “Do something with your life”, I was asked by the author, Joan Frank, to “score” the tape... and I did... with about 12 minutes of music... This was the theme.

Adaptations and Performance:
Some serious noodling going on here... Just arrangements of stuff I like... and wanted to know how they worked. Click on the blue squares to download.

”Hook” Teaser (John Williams)
A reasonable attempt at taking an early 90s synth and making it sound like an orchestra.

“Take my Hand” from DUNE (Toto)
Goofy, but a neat tune... and it just stayed in my head for a long time, so I recorded it.

“King’s Row” Theme (Erich Wolfgang Korngold)
Another attempt in getting that “big orchestra” sound...

“Concerto for Motorcycle”
From Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade excerpt (John Williams)
Just wanted to try and see if I could do it...

Theme from “Jane Eyre” excerpt (John Williams)
A lovely melody... and I wanted to figure out the piano part.

“Lost in Space” year 1 (John Williams)
Never heard a decent recording of this... so I did one.

”Lost in Space” year 3 (John Williams)
Another instance where I thought the existing re-recordings were awful... so I did one.

“Land of the Giants” year 2 (John Williams)
Was on an Irwin Allen kick.

“The Love Boat” (Charles Fox)
Schmaltz personified.

“Over the Moon” from E.T. excerpt (John Williams)
Was always fascinated by this piano part... so I wanted to figure it out.

“The Adventures of Robin Hood” Main Title and Tournament excerpts (Erich Wolfgang Korngold)
Always one of my favorite scores since childhood...

Clarinet Concerto #2 (alla polacca) (C.M. von Weber)
The grand pinnacle of my high school music career... this was done at the end of my Junior year. 1984.

Star Trek Animated Incidental music 1 (Jeff Michael, Yvette Blais)
Never heard a re-recording of this anywhere...

Star Trek Animated Incidental music 2 (Jeff Michael, Yvette Blais)
Or of this one.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan “Battle in the Mutara Nebula” excerpt (James Horner)
Just trying to see how Horner got that big sound from so few instruments.

Star Trek VI Trailer (Cliff Eidelman)
Never heard a seperate recording of this trailer music... so i made one.

Star Trek: Voyager Main Title (Jerry Goldsmith)
I really liked the Voyager theme... so I did a recording and “disco”ed it up.

UFO (Barry Gray)
Great late 60s sci fi... and a cool theme.

“Dream On” (Michael Gore)
Early 90s HBO at it’s best... the theme haunted me... so I captured it.