First Uses of Real Life Music in Video Games

[ehh123]

What were the first video games to use recordings of real life musical instruments (as opposed to synth methods)?

To make it simple, I'm not talking about already existing licensed songs but rather a score and/or songs specifically made for the game. It can be from a rock band or a symphony orchestra.

[suicider]

I can tell you that Psycho Soldier was the first video game to use vocal samples. For instruments idk.

[ehh123]

Yeah, I'm not talking samples either. I'm talking full recordings. I heard Michael Giacchino's first big break was the PSX/Saturn score of The Lost World: Jurassic Park. It WAS going to be synth but when Spielberg was so impressed with it that he thought it would orchestrated, Dreamworks Interactive switched gears.

[Secret Squirrel]

The 1983 arcade game Dragon's Lair had some music that played briefly in a few scenes. It also had an Theme Song (which I don't remember hearing, but it's on this link).

http://www.classicgaming.cc/classics...ns-lair/sounds

The music is probably real-life synth, or a recording of someone playing a synth rather than music synthesized by the game, so it maybe a grey area for you. However, that song is probably a band.

My gut feeling though is that the real answer will be some pinball machine from the 1960s or 1970s.

[TerraEpon]

https://vgmdb.net/forums/showthread.php?t=19548 should have all the info you need.

[ehh123]

Originally Posted by TerraEpon

https://vgmdb.net/forums/showthread.php?t=19548 should have all the info you need.

Thanks.

[ommadawnyawn]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RLQV49ew8M&t=246s

There's this (and maybe some other games/interactive stories like it) from 1981 but I believe the audio stops whenever you're supposed to move manually, so you might not wanna count it.

The next non-laserdisk example seems to be Starglider from 1986, which uses a short recording for the title screen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAVqOBCHxkM

By 1988 you started seeing longer recordings within sample-based, sequenced tracks in arcade games:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tk5s5Bx4Keg

But also CD redbook audio thanks to the PC Engine CD being released:
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