Alternate Takes of Star Wars Music?

[Sweetmeats 2]

You'll have to forgive me if I get anything wrong because I'm not up to speed on my John Williams like you guys! :cry: However, I really enjoy the alternate takes of John Williams Star Wars music i.e. Binary Sunset and Sail Barge Assault. I like how when they are playing the Main Title variations, you can hear the producer ( I think ) announcing the take number and such. So, has anything else like this been released official or not? Or is this all we have been given? Just an fyi, I have the Star Wars Anthology, and the RCA discs as well. Oh, and thanks to the powers that be for such a great board!

[Elmo Lewis 7]

I believe the Anthology set is mostly comprised of alternate (or "wrong") takes.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 12,388]

I expected Neil to say that.

[Lurker 5]

There are several alternates used in the Anthology assembly for Star Wars. I don't have a list in front of me, but I'll go home and see if I can remember some of them as I play it. I'll note them here.

Neil

[Henry B 51]

You'll have to forgive me if I get anything wrong because I'm not up to speed on my John Williams like you guys! Crying or Very sad However, I really enjoy the alternate takes of John Williams Star Wars music i.e. Binary Sunset and Sail Barge Assault. I like how when they are playing the Main Title variations, you can hear the producer ( I think ) announcing the take number and such. So, has anything else like this been released official or not? Or is this all we have been given? Just an fyi, I have the Star Wars Anthology, and the RCA discs as well. Oh, and thanks to the powers that be for such a great board!

You're getting alternate takes confused with alternate cues. Alternate takes are different recordings of the same cue. Alternate cues are different, rewritten pieces, such as "Binary Sunset" and "Sail Barge Assault."

[Mr. Breathmask 624]

If you're looking for alternate cues, there's a few hidden on the RCA Victor and the Sony release. On ESB, there's an alternate of the carbonite being retrieved from the freezing chamber hidden inside Carbon Freeze. The two different cues for the same scene play after one another. I haven't found the exact markers for this, though.

One that is much more easy to find is the alternate Light of the Force from RotJ. It's in the same track, and you hear a grand rendition of the Force theme there twice. The first is the original version, the second the film version.

And of course there's Ewok Celebration out there, which was replaced by Victory Celebration on the SE of RotJ. This track is also on the Anthology set (along with all those alternate takes).

[John Crichton 4]

If you're looking for alternate cues, there's a few hidden on the RCA Victor and the Sony release. On ESB, there's an alternate of the carbonite being retrieved from the freezing chamber hidden inside Carbon Freeze. The two different cues for the same scene play after one another. I haven't found the exact markers for this, though.

The music right after the main title is also an alternate. The film version is at the start of The Imperial Probe/Aboard the Executor.

[Mr. Breathmask 624]

This has confused me. Did they track The Imperial Probe into that scene? The liner notes eem to suggest something like that, but I don't recall it being used anywhere else.

[John Crichton 4]

This has confused me. Did they track The Imperial Probe into that scene? The liner notes eem to suggest something like that, but I don't recall it being used anywhere else.

I double-checked that myself before I posted earlier. The liner notes say that the post-Main Title music was "rescored", which indicates that it was intentional and not tracked. But then why would the film version be on The Imperial Probe when Mattessino and Redman were so good about film order, even with that Carbon Freeze alternate?

[fommes 165]

Hmm. I've never understood that case well either.

[Henry B 51]

I double-checked that myself before I posted earlier. The liner notes say that the post-Main Title music was "rescored", which indicates that it was intentional and not tracked. But then why would the film version be on The Imperial Probe when Mattessino and Redman were so good about film order, even with that Carbon Freeze alternate?

The case of alternatives vs. film versions is inconsistent across the three sets.

Star Wars

"Binary Sunset" - film version in sequence

The Empire Strikes Bac

"The Imperial Probe" - film version as bonus track pasted onto "Aboard the Executor"

"Carbon Freeze" - film version in sequence, alternative pasted onto film version

"Luke's Nocturnal Visitor" - alternate ending unreleased

Return of the Jedi

"Han Solo Returns" - alternate section unreleased on SE set

"Sail Barge Assault" - film version in sequence

"The Emperor's Arrival" - alternate version as bonus track pasted onto "The Lightsaber/Ewok Battle"

"Leia's News" - alternate version not included on SE set

"Light of the Force" - alternate version in sequence, film version pasted on

So, overall, it's pretty disjointed. I prefer to always have the original versions in sequence. Even "Binary Sunset." Usually, the edits aren't hard to make.

[Lurker 5]

But then why would the film version be on The Imperial Probe when Mattessino and Redman were so good about film order...

Because that's how every Empire album (even the Gerhardt recording) has started, so obviouly that best represents Williams' intentions.

Neil

[Kendal_Ozzel 36]

Sir! Sir! I've isolated the alternate cue ending!

By that I mean I ripped the film version of the ending of "Luke's Nocturnal Visitor".

I don't know why the film version is different (perhaps someone can enlighten me?), but I assume a shot was cut or shortened because the film version is a few seconds shorter. Basically, the album has a short flute section while the film just repeats a calrinet (?) part. Now, the timpani section at the end sounds the same in both, but the album has some strings over the first part. In the clip I made, I used the album version until the alternate section and then cut back to the album afterward. But the sound FX drown out part of the timpani in the film, and since there are strings there on the album, I just left part of it out for the sake of listenability. (The timpani just repeats it's part, but slower the second time; I just left the first part out.) Hope that was confusing enough for you.

Rather than me taking PMs and emailing this out, perhaps lordskylark would like to put it up with the other unreleased stuff?

And just incase anybody else wants it, I may make a clip that's straight from the film, along with all the Dagobah creatures and Falcon noise.