Harry Potter 7CD Collection - MUSIC discussion

[Incanus 5,713]

4 hours ago, Trumpeteer said:

Now, for a couple of questions. In the invisibility cloak scene in "SS," there's a stinger when Snape turns back to Quirrell after swiping at invisible Harry. I didn't hear it in that cue on the new presentation. What's the explanation for that?

That material is tracked.

Quote

In the Making 
In the film the quick vibraphone, celesta and string motif after Harry has evaded Ms. Norris (at 2:35 of the cue) is followed by rumbling ominous basses, celli and brass, which is tracked from elsewhere in the score as sneaking invisible Harry witnesses the exchange of professors Quirrel and Snape. This celesta, vibraphone and string idea that underscored the previous ethereal escape appears again when Snape senses something intruding on his discussion and makes a suspicious grope in the dark but the rendition is tracked from that previous section of this same cue. More tracked music follows (among it dramatic tubular bells from 8M1 The Chess Board) as Filch appears to alert the teachers and they go off to find the student in the library. The cue as written would have proceeded with the ghostly synthesized music for the Invisibility Cloak at 2:35 after the teachers and Filch left. Harry's/Family Theme in front of the Mirror of Erised is also shortened slightly in the film to conform to the cut.

 

[Arpy 4,145]

16 hours ago, Brundlefly said:

Does anyone else hear a clicking noise at 0:39 in "Buckbeak Saves the Day / Watching the Past"? I don't know whether it is my CD or just a noise from the recording.

It's the last note of the harp glissando. Seriously, the harp sounds screw with everything!

 

On a side note I've found quite a few clicks, pops and glitches that are extraordinarily subtle, but obviously artifacts of the recordings that couldn't be fixed. 

The 'glitches' I thought I was hearing in Rescue of Sirius are actually present in the film! 

[King Mark 3,625]

well the awesome sound quality makes it easier to notice recording glitches

 

For me the biggest glitch on this set  is the sound dropping off at the end of The Firebolt and End Credits Suite. It really sounds like the master  tape got damaged

[Arpy 4,145]

Yes, this set does sound amazing, but it does highlight some of the quality of the recordings in the process. It's probably one disappointing thing out of what is a remarkable film score set.

 

Prisoner of Azkaban sounds amazing!

[Alan 689]

7 minutes ago, King Mark said:

For me the biggest glitch on this set  is the sound dropping off at the end of The Firebolt and End Credits Suite. It really sounds like the master  tape got damaged

 

I'm almost certain that's a deliberate performance decision and not a glitch. Sounds good to my ears, and gives the orchestra a nice build to finish the piece.

[Brundlefly 2,385]

When you pay extremely much attention to the sound quality, you'll find tons of subtle noises and tiny glitches in every score!

 

BTW, I swapped "Lupin's Transformation" with "Lupin's Transformation (Alternate)". I definitely prefer the pizzicato strings over the Grevious percussion. I can listen to Revenge of te Sith, when I wanna hear that. The alternate sounds much more in line with the rest of the score. Moreover, I'm not necessarily a fan of the overlay.

[Richard Penna 3,670]

I vastly prefer the percussion over the strings. I thought the latter was part of Chasing Scabbers until I watched parts of the film again last week. I also think that the slightly buried music mix (under dialogue) in the film hid the fact that the Past overlay is an overlay, and it's only when you play it standalone that it sounds a bit weird. But I do think it's thematically appropriate and it satisfies my general desire to have what's in the film.

 

The one swap I made was the Waltz alternate. Nice to have the two stingers for completeness and the alternate opening is rather cool.

[TSMefford 1,509]

4 hours ago, Alan said:

 

I'm almost certain that's a deliberate performance decision and not a glitch. Sounds good to my ears, and gives the orchestra a nice build to finish the piece.

 

Are we talking about 6:54 in the track? Because yes, that is absolutely a performance choice. No clue why people think it’s a glitch just because it’s different 

 

6 hours ago, Brundlefly said:

I like that they tracked the menacing tubas from the end of the cue to the spot, when Sirius is threatened by Snape. It appears twice now, when someone is talking about the dementors.

 

In general the film edits were done so professionally that you don't really hear any of them.

 

I don’t recall that section playing twice in the film. I just did the edit and it seems like it was just moved to the point with Snape. It would’ve normally played under Pettigrew’s scene but that was replaced with “Reading the Map”. Or do you just mean that is was clever that they still kept the Dementor intention of that section?

 

Also yes, many of the edits are clever, but some of them are quite sloppy and they only get away with it due to dialog and sfx being around. Some of them are pretty awful on their own.

 

7 hours ago, crumbs said:

 

The music for Harry disarming Snape sounds different too, but I can't put my finger on it. Might need a rewatch of the film.

 

The most obvious section of tracking is from The Marauder's Map, right as Lupin and Sirius are about to kill Pettigrew (but Harry intervenes). Also, the climax of the film version (as Pettigrew chews his fingers) seems to be 2:30-2:37 from The Marauder's Map.

 

Very effective tracking, I must say. Kudos to the music editor (was it Kenny Wannberg on these films?)

 

Lupin’s has some sort of string build (similar to Aunt Marge Points The Finger) and when Snape is hit there is a similar string build overlayed now also with a gong or cymbal roll. Then some of it is stretched a tad too I believe.

7 hours ago, Josh500 said:

In many ways Chamber of Secrets is Philosopher's Stone on steroids!

 

Absolutely agreed! On all fronts!

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

4 hours ago, Alan said:

 

I'm almost certain that's a deliberate performance decision and not a glitch. Sounds good to my ears, and gives the orchestra a nice build to finish the piece.

 

Yes we’ve talked about this a bunch of times already, it’s certainly a performance choice. You can tell because the tone of the trumpets is consistent with the sound they’d be making at a lower dynamic; they simply wouldn’t sound like that if they were playing at forte and the volume was pulled down.

 

I don’t want to tell anyone to stop catastrophising, but KM, stop catastrophising.

[TSMefford 1,509]

39 minutes ago, Docteur Qui said:

 

Yes we’ve talked about this a bunch of times already, it’s certainly a performance choice. You can tell because the tone of the trumpets is consistent with the sound they’d be making at a lower dynamic; they simply wouldn’t sound like that if they were playing at forte and the volume was pulled down.

 

I don’t want to tell anyone to stop catastrophising, but KM, stop catastrophising.

 

Yes, thank you!

[Trent B 337]

Jack Napier: He's a tired old man.

[Luke Skywalker 1,792]

is there a Azkaban editing guide somewhere in the thread? I may have missed it.

 

[bollemanneke 3,337]

AFAIK we're still waiting with bated breath for Jason's spreadsheet.

[Jay 37,287]

Baited... 

[Wojo 2,453]

You're spellcorrecting the blind man? 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

32 minutes ago, Wojism said:

You're spellcorrecting the blind man? 

 

Yes he is!

[TSMefford 1,509]

Well that's frustrating. The film uses the Window to the Past overlay in "Lupin's Transformation" just a tad earlier than the LLL one does. 

[bollemanneke 3,337]

5 hours ago, Wojism said:

You're spellcorrecting the blind man? 

He should! I'm using a braille display and am a translator... Oh well, it's Christmas.

 

EDIT: Wait a moment, dictionary says it's 'bated'...

[Wojo 2,453]

19 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

He should! I'm using a braille display and am a translator... Oh well, it's Christmas.

 

EDIT: Wait a moment, dictionary says it's 'bated'...

 

You are correct. 

 

 

6 hours ago, Jay said:

Baited... 

Incorrect! 

 

Quote

Baited" Versus "Bated"

 

A memory trick from Shakespeare's famous moneylender, Shylock.

 

By Mignon Fogarty, 

Grammar Girl

August 2, 2012

 

"Bated" is one of the many words Shakespeare invented (or at least he was the first person to put the word on a piece of paper that survived to this day).

 

"Bated" is a form of "abate," which means “to diminish, beat down, or reduce.” So when you’re waiting with bated (read: abated) breath, you’re so eager, anxious, excited, or frightened that you’re almost holding your breath.

Shakespeare used the phrase "with bated breath" in The Merchant of Venice. It's a scene where Shylock, the moneylender, points out the irony of Antonio, the merchant, coming to him for a loan after treating him so poorly in the past:

 

Shall I bend low and in a bondman's key,
With bated breath and whispering humbleness, Say this;
“Fair sir, you spit on me on Wednesday last;
You spurn'd me such a day; another time
You call'd me dog; and for these courtesies
I'll lend you thus much moneys”?

 

Quote

That set phrase, "with bated breath," is the only place you’ll hear "bated" used these days. Since "bated" is such an archaic word, it’s common to see the phrase incorrectly written as "with baited breath."

 

There’s an odd logic to the "baited" misunderstanding—you bait a hook to catch a fish, and people eagerly waiting for something could be tempted to put out metaphorical bait, but why would it be their breath? It wouldn’t. Nobody would rush toward fishy breath.

 

Just remember the moneylender Shylock and his abated breath.

 

[Lewya 360]

I am wondering, has J.K. Rowling ever commented on the Harry Potter music and/or on Williams? I don't think I have ever heard her comment on it.

[Arpy 4,145]

Has Williams ever met J.K.? 

[Faleel 5,340]

1 hour ago, TSMefford said:

Well that's frustrating. The film uses the Window to the Past overlay in "Lupin's Transformation" just a tad earlier than the LLL one does. 

Thankfully we have it pretty much clean at the end of the Windows of the Past track.

[TSMefford 1,509]

1 minute ago, Faleel J.M. said:

Thankfully we have it pretty much clean at the end of the Windows of the Past track.

 

Oh Excellent! I forgot it was there. Felt like it was somewhere. You just saved my edit. Thanks @Faleel J.M.

[Faleel 5,340]

[crumbs 14,300]

I never joined that connection! Thanks @Faleel J.M.

 

So basically the only thing in the concert track A Window to the Past that isn't taken from elsewhere in the score is the opening flute solo (0:00-1:04)?

 

1:04 - 2:28 is an excerpt from the end credits suite

2:28 - 3:26 is an excerpt from A Walk in the Woods

3:26 - 3:55 is the film overlay from Lupin's Transformation

[Jay 37,287]

Wow, I never knew that before about the bated/baited breath thing. I learned something today. Neat! 

[Faleel 5,340]

[Jay 37,287]

Indeed!

[King Mark 3,625]

5 hours ago, Lewya said:

I am wondering, has J.K. Rowling ever commented on the Harry Potter music and/or on Williams? I don't think I have ever heard her comment on it.

I don't recall reading a single quote of hers about the music

[TheUlyssesian 2,473]

5 hours ago, Lewya said:

I am wondering, has J.K. Rowling ever commented on the Harry Potter music and/or on Williams? I don't think I have ever heard her comment on it.

 

It is too nuanced for her to comment on it. I think she's better at comparing current political events to scenes and characters from her own books.

[Josh500 1,615]

I wonder whether she even knows who JW is.

[bollemanneke 3,337]

She might think JW is like Donald Trump for composing that children's suite.

[Bilbo 3,709]

Was Harry is a Parselmouth on the recording sessions? I don’t recall it and it immediately jumped out to me.

[Jay 37,287]

Nope it never leaked before.  You can use this as a resource to figure that stuff out (note there are multiple tabs):

 

On 12/17/2018 at 5:59 PM, Jay said:

Harry Potter 1

Harry Potter 2

[Bilbo 3,709]

Thanks Jay!

[bollemanneke 3,337]

Disc 1: my thoughts.

Only one word can sum up this disc. Perfect. This is such a great, great presentation. Engaging from beginning to end, perfect sound, perfect volume levels, perfect silences between tracks... Congratulations to Mike Matessino and Jason.

I'm still wondering what's going on at 0:33 in Don't Burn My Letter. Is this a glitch in the recording itself?

I'll have to get used to the new Diagon Alley version and am curious how Matessino found out how to edit it in the cue because it didn't seem to be recorded that way.

The Daily Prophet's first bars are extremely slow. Why?

Is that someone coughing at 0:09 in Quidditch Introduction? This was also audible on the sessions.

That's it for now. Home Alone tonight.

[TSMefford 1,509]

I just sort of picked up on the mild connection between the opening of "Buckbeak Saves The Day" and "The Boggarts" (specifically "Snape Dresses Up"). The little horn statement there. Cool.

 

In other news I have finished my reconstruction of the film edits for "Prisoner of Azkaban" and instead of boring everyone with specifics and technical talk here's some Razzie-style awards:

• The "Most Edits" Award
  • This goes to "The Werewolf Scene" for it's 34 edits. This number can go to over 40 if we include the Pettigrew overlay and "Sirius and Harry" (since they overlap in the film)
    • Note: An edit is considered and counted as: removing a section, looping a section, an overlay, or a time stretch.
• The "That's A Stretch" Award - This is basically which track time stretched a segment of music to it's slowest.
  • We have a tie between "The Big Doors" and "First Frozen Lake" who stretch segments to 136% and 137% their original length in the film.
• The "Most Annoying To Edit" Award
  • This easily goes to "Time Past / Saving Buckbeak". This whole section was a pain in my ass, necessitating a combo of almost every source and version to create the film version. It required the Art of the Score podcast for the film opening, as well as having to re-insert the ticking clock loop into various sections of the La-La Land version where it drops out, then having to switch to the non-ticking version of "Saving Buckbeak" and then back to the original LLL track for the final ending. Kill me
    • `Runner-Up: "The Confrontation Scene".
• The "Most Resourceful" Award - This goes to, basically, the best tracking of material that did not belong in the original cue.
  • The winner is: "Brief Snow Scene" for using "Lupin's Departure" to close out the cue.  Great decision, flows well, and helps tell the story in a better way.
• The "Pitch Please" Award:
  • The winner is: "Double Trouble March" for tracking and pitch shifting a significant section of the cue.
• The "Worst Edit" Award - These cues got butchered! And not in a good way.
  • Another tie: "The Portrait Scene / The Big Doors / The Great Hall Ceiling" and "The Confrontation Scene"
• The "Best Edit" Award - Which edit was so good that I didn't realize it was edited?
  • The winner: "The Rescue of Sirius". It only has two cuts, but I didn't even notice until I compared it to the film. Also "Something Wicked Intro and Double Trouble" because it's just great.

If anyone has any specific film edits questions, let me know, I've recreated every edit as close as I could, but I'll just leave my findings at this fun post for now. Lol.

 

Glad more have gotten the set and are getting to enjoy the music! The set is so much more than the music in the film. So good. I really have found the sets order growing on me more and more. That's how I'll listen to it most often I'd imagine.

[Datameister 2,037]

I finally got to Azkaban in my slow first listen-through of this set. Only partway through the main presentation of the score but I'm already on cloud nine. Sooooo much wonderful music to finally enjoy!

[Demodex 557]

I listened to Disc 1 today. My impression: Hedwig's theme every 30 seconds with the other themes thrown in here and there. 

 

Still pretty good though. 

[gkgyver 1,645]

Still stuck in Frankfurt.

[Wojo 2,453]

21 hours ago, Faleel J.M. said:

 

[Datameister 2,037]

2 hours ago, Demodex said:

I listened to Disc 1 today. My impression: Hedwig's theme every 30 seconds with the other themes thrown in here and there. 

 

Still pretty good though. 

 

Yeah, someone involved in the production must have really fallen in love with the version of Hedwig's theme that Williams wrote for the trailers. No idea whether it was Columbus, Williams himself, or someone else. But parts of that cue were written in all over the place before Harry gets to Hogwarts. Fortunately, it drops way off after that.

[Arpy 4,145]

My reasoning for the abundance of Hedwig's Theme early on was the filmmakers way of expressing Harry's journey from his crappy life to that of the Wizarding world, the magical events that occur. 

10 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

 

I'm still wondering what's going on at 0:33 in Don't Burn My Letter. Is this a glitch in the recording itself?

 

I think that's just the overlap of the two segments joined together.

[artguy360 1,843]

Despite their differences being fairly minor, I much prefer the alternate opening to COS than what was used in the film. The whole COS score comes to life with this release compared to the OST. William Ross did a wonderful job.

[King Mark 3,625]

and it sounds a lot better than the leaked sessions too

[bollemanneke 3,337]

Disc 2, my single thought: perfect.

[Bilbo 3,709]

Prisoner of Azkaban is utterly and stupidly ridiculous. It’s like hearing a brand new classic for the first time. What a stunning score. 

 

[Josh500 1,615]

13 minutes ago, Bilbo said:

Prisoner of Azkaban is utterly and stupidly ridiculous. It’s like hearing a brand new classic for the first time. What a stunning score. 

 

 

It's a stunning and amazing score, all right, but for me it's not like brand-new music. I've seen the movie often enough--watching particular scenes over and over again, just to hear the music--do I know well enough what was missing from the OST album.

[OneBuckFilms 319]

I started listening to Azkaban CD 1, and I'm smiling ear-to-ear, and just got past Double Trouble, and part of Trouble Takes Many Forms.

 

It is such a musical treat, every cue so far.

[TSMefford 1,509]

1 hour ago, Josh500 said:

 

It's a stunning and amazing score, all right, but for me it's not like brand-new music. I've seen the movie often enough--watching particular scenes over and over again, just to hear the music--do I know well enough what was missing from the OST album.

 

I’d say the same, but wow I never noticed how much of a treat “Time Past / Saving Buckbeak” is