Mark's Medieval Lahs
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Mark's Medieval Lahs is the official name of the song used in Dragon's Lair for the NES and Game Boy. The song was written by Mark Cooksey. The original recording of the song features Mark singing in several layers through the use of 8-track tapes, with a Roland D10 piano accompanying the background.
Doommaster1994 has the recording from Cooksey, but has refused to release it without Mark's approval.
Games
Dragon's Lair (NES)
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The song plays at the game's title screen. It was written by Cooksey in Notator for the Atari ST, and then converted into his sound driver to play on the NES. The song plays in the key of G minor. Unlike most NES games at the time, one of the square channels is used for the bass, while the triangle channel is used for the backing melody. Mark said he was trying to get "flutey" sounds out of the NES, so this was probably why he used this method, as the triangle channel has a similar sound to a flute.
The song's tempo is different everywhere it's played; the original US release plays at 180 BPM, the Japanese version plays at 225 BPM, and the European version plays at 188 BPM. Because of the common problem with NTSC to PAL Hz rates, the PAL verison plays the music a half-step lower. However, because the game was developed in England, a country that uses the PAL format, the PAL version's music may have been the way the music was meant to sound like. Mark should be contacted to verify this.
The song's chord progression goes as follows: Gm D Gm D F Bb F Gm Dsus4 D. The chord sequence repeats, but on the second time instead of the Gm, Dsus and D Chords, it plays a Cm, Dsus4, D, and finally Gm. Then the song plays Bb, F, Gm, D, Bb, F, Cm, D, and Gm. It then repeats the riff heard at the beginning. The main instrument appears to be a piano, with a bass accompanying, as well as a flute.
Dragon's Lair: The Legend (GB)
The song plays at the title screen. It is a completely different arrangement than the NES version. It plays at 150 BPM, in the key of Bb, and is extended.
