Manakin Skywalker

This has always been my assumption, especially after what we know now about the process on the SW sequels and DoD. It was probably a mix of JW suggesting what to do with the connecting bits as well as allowing Ross to improvise a little bit. There are tiny bits here and there that sound more like Ross' style than JW's if you listen to some of his original music (such as the skeleton falling part).

The rapid aging is probably just a biproduct of having to score Rise of Skywalker a dozen times.

The grain profile and amount seems to be exactly the same, with the benefit being a higher bitrate (leading to higher sharpness and the appearance of more grain because less of it is compressed). The updated color is definitely the bigger benefit imo.

In that case other potentially relevant credits include... Score produced by John Debney & Michael Mason Deluxe Edition executive producer: Cary E. Mansfield Production assistance: Lukas Kendall

The loop in "Escape From Ants" and possibly the edits in "Balthazar's Camp" (I'll have to double check) are like that in the film, but just those two. The choir overdub is present in "Cassandra's Bath" in the film, as that's the only other source of that cue since it was unreleased, and not on the promo. Everything else is just either errors or someone deciding to take personal liberties. Chas Ferry and Melinda Hurley.

Alright here's a comprehensive list of all of the issues I've noticed in this set. Major issues are highlighted in RED. I also included minor issues that might have been Debney's ideas, and therefore not technically mistakes. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1-08 Escape From Ants - Loop at 0:08 (likely a composer decision?) 1-11 Enemy at the Gate - Cut off ending at 0:27, replaced with faked/reverbed tail (likely a composer decision?) 1-16 Cassandra's Bath - Opening is missing choir overdub 1-18 Message to Memnon - Entire orchestra section is mono! 1-22 Healing - Orchestra section is mono starting around the 0:30 mark! 1-25 Balthazar's Camp - Multiple very short cuts from 2:41 through 2:52 (likely a composer decision?) (NOT present on OST track) - Loop at 3:41 (NOT present on OST track) <--- the loop artificially brings the track up to the same length as the OST track 2-06 A Small Demonstration - Part of track "Veiled Threat" is playing ON TOP of the first 50 seconds of the track! - This is more of a nitpick, but the gong scratch overdub at 3:09 is way too loud (might be as intended?) (much quieter in film) 2-07 Party's Over - Woodwind section is cut off at 0:41 (likely a composer decision?) 2-08 I've Come For The Woman - Section missing at 3:08 (possibly an insert?) (also missing from OST) _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Aside from "I've Come For The Woman", there are two other "film versions" missing from this set. There's an insert/fix at the beginning of "Balthazar Arrives" (very minor, not necessary), and an entirely different ending for "The Scorpion King". All OST tracks aside from "Balthazar's Camp" use the OST masters, completely unaltered. There isn't anything missing to my knowledge, so this is probably fine. The mixing on those were perfect as-is in my opinion. The overall mixing of the unreleased material on this release, barring the errors, is pretty good. The previously-unreleased material is however mixed very center-heavy compared to the previously-released material, which is kind of jarring in my opinion. There should have been a bit more consistency in that area, but it is what it is.

I hope it's a benign humor.

For those that aren't interested in The Scorpion King and therefore have not visited that thread, let me introduce you to possibly the worst error ever found in an expansion release:

Found a MAJOR issue at the opening of "A Small Demonstration"! The entire final third of the previous track, "Veiled Thread" is playing ON TOP of the opening! *And* it's partially mono! This is quite possibly the most hilariously bad mistake I have ever heard of. Like, in need of a replacement batch bad! Holy fucking shit! How the opening is supposed to sound: Intended.mp3 This is how it sounds on the Deluxe Edition! Mistake.mp3 This is the ending of the previous cue that's playing underneath: Previous Cue.mp3 I believe a similar issue is happening at the very opening of "Cassandra's Bath". <--- the opening is also missing a choir overdub. I have not yet finished the album, so there might be additional mistakes. I noticed a few tiny snippets cut here and there, particularly from the track "Balthazar's Camp" (which is un-edited on the OST), but that might've been more of a Debney request. To the engineers working on these releases, please PLEASE PLEASE double-check your work before you send it off! It's really not that difficult.

I have not, not yet anyway. I just got my CD and have yet to listen to it in full; someone elsewhere mentioned that track being mono so I checked it on Spotify this morning. I plan on listening to the set in full tonight to make sure there aren't any other issues or mono tracks.

The track "Message to Memnon" is almost entirely mono!

Well, aside from Debney's additional score that was recorded in LA.

Yeah there's really only a couple of cues that are guitar-heavy. Maybe 3 total that I can think of where he went full-on rock and roll, and that only accounts for portions of those cues.

YES! I've been requesting this one on FSM for years!