Although it's not perfect, there is a lot of work behind this video, and in some parts, I literally had tears in my eyes (e.g. when he mentions Hook) because he explains in not-so-complex words (even for a non-professional musician like me) WHY WE LOVE John Williams.
I liked the ending a bit less, where he laments that John Williams' latest soundtracks bring fewer innovations, stylistically speaking. My friend, we'll talk about it again if both of us make it to 90, about the evolution of our 'style' hehe.
"It's not because I'm an old apple tree that I give old apples."
- Félix Leclerc (translated from french: « Ce n'est pas parce que je suis un vieux pommier que je donne de vieilles pommes. »)
The interesting thing is that Williams's concert work has become much more innovative in the last 10 years--and I expect the piano concerto to push things further.
Plus, the use of the flute in the BFG was all sorts of fresh.
Here's my translation with some additional information. These recordings were stunning (sorry, but for some reason the images don't appear here).
Star Wars Returns in Full Force to Abbey Road
A guided visit behind the scenes of the legendary London studio
by Florent Groult and Olivier Desbrosses, published 19 December 2015
Monday, November 12, 2012. A Monday morning like so many others for the vast majority of Ile-de-France residents who mill around, under by the grayness of Paris, to reach their workplaces. As is often the case in the streets of the capital and on public transport, most people keep their heads down, their eyes for some still clouded with sleep or for others absorbed by reading one of those free newspapers or playing the latest trendy smartphone game. The weather forecast has predicted rain, and a simple glance at the sky is enough to be convinced that it will probably not hold off any longer… But at the same time, two wide-awake friends meet again, their eyes sparkling with impatience, and their faces with broad smiles. For one, coming from a distant suburb and riding aboard a crowded RER as usual, and for the other, riding one of the Vélib’ (bicycles) of the Parisian municipality and making his way through traffic, this day and especially the two that will follow are simply radiant. The meeting place? Gare du Nord and the Eurostar platform. The destination: London! We arrive in plenty of time, and the train is departing on schedule. Time to pass the customary checks and security gates and we are comfortably seated for nearly two and a half hours on a trip that we have been impatiently, not to say feverishly, awaiting for several months now. And yet, it will take two and a half hours to incredulously repeat, again and again, the same words, that strung together in one sentence resonate above all in the minds of fans like an impossible fantasy, an unreachable dream... See for yourself: London Symphony Orchestra. Abbey Road. Star Wars!
But we are not there yet. When we arrive at our destination, the first step is to reach our hotel, located not far from Hyde Park, by one of the latest generation double-decker buses with a neo-retro look. Once the luggage is deposited, we leisurely return to the center of the English capital, this time by the force of our calves thanks to two bikes from Barclays Cycle Hire. And even the London rain that is coming soon will not get the better of our great enthusiasm that we have cherished since the morning… That afternoon, we have an appointment at the luxurious Langham Hotel facing the main building of the BBC. After we enter and first discover that part of the establishment is closed for filming (but for what?), we settle in as agreed at the Palm Court, the large and beautiful tea room, and wait for our host to provide more information on what to expect.
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Outside the Langham Hotel
Because what do we actually know so far? Very little, in fact. That we have been invited to attend the new music recording sessions for Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, the second version of the famous attraction that will be inaugurated at Tokyo Disneyland the following May. That Imagineering, the company which manages the attractions of all the Disney parks in the world, has convened nothing less than the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by composer William Ross, in the legendary premises of Abbey Road. That, of the two and a half days of recording originally planned, there will only be one day and a half. That despite being here at last, the questions have not stopped jostling themselves in our minds. We owe this high-end invitation to French composer and orchestrator Jérôme Leroy. Former assistant to William Ross, he then became his true artistic partner in his own right. And it is he who soon sits down at our table for a long, indispensable, and most informative explanation, obviously intended to light up our lanterns around a glass of good wine...
“Walt Disney Imagineering’s goal for every attraction is to make one enter a world and not leave it again. At Disney, unlike other theme parks, you don't notice cables or air conditioning, the universe has to be fully respected, and they do that for everything: restaurants, shops, and therefore attractions. When they remade Star Tours (opened in 2011, first at Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World, Editor's note), they crafted a series of random episodes that fall in between the two trilogies. To accompany the attraction itself, the music editor of John Williams had cut together some of the original pieces, and we do not notice the editing because there is always some sound effect, like phasers or swooping hyperspace. However, they completely changed the queue. As Star Tours is supposed to be a travel company, they designed advertisements, and it was Michael Giacchino who scored them by adapting some John Williams themes for big band, something light. In 2010, they asked Bill Ross to make about ten minutes of music to loop for a waiting room called the Droid Room which combined the themes of Jawas, droids, and the Sand People into background music. But inside the attraction, between the sound effects, the characters talking, and the people in the line, we actually don't hear it at all!”
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Star Tours: The Adventures Continue
“For Tokyo Disneyland, because the weather is not the same as in Florida or California, the queue is much more indoors. It rains a lot more often there. So they built a gigantic airport-style hall where people can wait up to forty minutes. Thus they needed music for this new place. At first it was thought to be a kind of background music again, but in fact it turns out that there will be a huge screen with animated sequences, without any dialogue so that it can be exported more easily afterwards. They said, ‘we need forty minutes of music with John Williams' themes, and we're going to base the animation on what you're doing.’ So there was a lot of back and forth between us and the team of animators: we made suggestions, they told us if they could do something with them… It was constructed over time, measure by measure, and in the end they created a series of blocks of paired ‘cues’ that represent destinations: Alderaan and Cloud City [for example]… There are three that are repeated, so suddenly that's thirty minutes of music to record. We then took the twelve hours of existing music, and we had to extract the appropriate pieces and reduce them. The idea was to create medleys while remaining as faithful as possible to the original recordings, so there was never any question of composing something new. Initially, they directly contacted John Williams to do all of this, but obviously he didn't have time to deal with it. He therefore requested that Bill Ross take care of it, as he has complete confidence in him, to ensure that his music is scrupulously respected.”
“With Bill Ross, we first tried to design 10-12 minutes of music, just to see if we could do it. As I know the music of the different Star Wars films quite well, I got all the records I had, the RCA reissues released for the special editions of the films, The Empire Strikes Back by Gerhardt which is superb, the re-recording with the Skywalker Orchestra led by Williams, in which some pieces are put together differently, the records of the last trilogy and even the infamous CD of the Special Edition of Episode I without any editorial work. We imported everything into ProTools, and then we had to find the most thematic passages. They're like mini concert suites: there are nine of them, each with two themes, and you had to be able to go from piece to piece without it being noticeable. Each of them comes to an end, but there must always be the possibility that something can pick up right after, so that it never stops and goes on a loop: a harp glissando, a timpani roll, etc.”
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Star Tours: The Adventures Continue
“Finding the right pieces was pretty difficult after all. You couldn't do a real orchestral suite with solos, and you always had to have the full orchestra and keep it dynamic. And in the end, in the thirty minutes retained, I think there are maybe thirty seconds in a different tone than what was originally written… We made a demo for the animators, and they are working on it based on a click track, like a traditional animated film. We don't know what exactly is happening on the screen, we just have a general idea, and we need to record exactly what is planned. It's very close to the original, but we adapted the tempos so some passages are slower and others faster depending on the time constraint and the pieces chosen. We cut and shifted rhythms to make each one work in one or two minutes. You modify things that are not very interesting, you change the end or the beginning, you plan a transition, and within the piece, to the extent that you cut something, you have to make transitions. So Bill and I chose the pieces to edit, we presented it to Disney for approval, and then I took charge of the orchestrations based on the original ones. Often, there will be a connection to be made between two pieces, so you have to change the notes or the instruments for it to work. It’s a real headache. It represented three or four months of work for three people. Bill worked out the whole concept, figured out which pieces were going to be used and how they were to work. In the end, I had to rewrite 40 or 50 bars. It’s not huge. A transition is something like four bars, a chord at the final two or three bars, and there are about fifteen like that. It's finding a way to make it work that is difficult, to make it seem natural."
A young man joins us: it is William Ross and Jérôme Leroy's assistant, Alex Kovacs. With a big smile on his face, he too makes no secret of his excitement about being in London today. The explanations continue. “Initially we had considered asking for four sessions with an orchestra of 55 musicians because we thought it was just background music. When we learned what it really was, we said to ourselves that we had to be even closer to the original recordings and therefore to the original orchestration: we got three sessions, the first with 85 musicians, the second with 81 and the third 75. In the first there are six horns, four trumpets, four trombones and a tuba, whereas if we had done something more ‘light,’ there would have been only four horns, three trumpets, three trombones and a tuba.”
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The impressive line for Star Tours in Tokyo
“So we had very little artistic freedom. We could take such-and-such a selection and copy it as it is: we had only the possibility of doing it, and of doing it well. And we have the LSO. Most of the musicians who will play tomorrow have taken part in Episodes I, II and III: this is also why we wanted this orchestra. They know the music. We made changes, edits, but they already know how to play the music, it's almost innate with them. Normally, when you record in London, you don't hire the LSO. It's very complicated to book them, they have a very specific schedule, tours, rehearsals, concerts... To get them, you can't do that a week before! It takes at least three months. Usually it all goes through Isobel Griffiths: she creates an orchestra from scratch, taking the best people from all the orchestras, chamber ensembles, even the LSO, depending on everyone's availability. There are months when recording in London is really complicated, like August, when everyone's gone, and then you really get the worst! We did it once and it was horrible!” (laughs).
Abundantly informed, we now feel prepared for what is already shaping up to be an experience beyond our wildest dreams. For awhile, there was even talk of going to the studio the same evening, specifically to allow Jérôme Leroy and Alex Kovacs to oversee the preparation of the premises for the next day. Unfortunately, since the day's work had not yet been completed, the set-up was postponed until very early the next day. We arrive at the outskirts of the studio shortly after nine in the morning, not without obvious excitement now, it must be admitted. At the intersection of Abbey Road and Grove End Road, one can nevertheless only linger a few moments… It is impossible, taking in this banal city view in this chic district of the north of London, not to focus your attention on the iconic pedestrian crossing and to mentally visualize the famous cover of the Beatles album. There was hardly anyone there that morning, but we have little time to spare. The studio is revealed a few meters further. Regularly repainted, the white wall which limits access, however, is always covered in its every nook and cranny with innumerable graffiti, first names linked to a heart and testimonies of devotion, for the most part of course dedicated to worship of the immortal English group. “Beatles Forever!” we can read here and there...
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Discrete entrance to Abbey Road Studios (left) and the graffiti
Seen from the outside, this old mansion from the beginning of the 19th century, converted in 1931 into a recording studio, really doesn't look like much: almost boringly sober, only its entrance staircase stands out, surmounted by an illuminated sign with black letters on a white background: Abbey Road Studios. We enter, almost intimidated… Does each newcomer to this place, like us at this moment, have this exhilarating, almost religious impression of entering a kind of temple of music? After a small corridor, we must first show our IDs to the reception staff who, behind a large counter, verify that our names are on the register of authorized guests. Jérôme Leroy is waiting for us there and, once the formalities are completed, then guides us into the building: first a corridor, lined with various recording devices and consoles (some obviously from another age), then a staircase adorned with multiple photos, like so many witnesses of the passage of many artists, composers, singers, conductors among the most famous, recalling the glorious history of the place.
A small jog to the right and here we are in front of one of the entrances to Studio One: musicians are already there to prepare, while some technician tends to small details... The room itself makes a strong first impression by its dimensions: a little over twenty-eight meters long and about sixteen meters wide with a ceiling height of twelve meters, this is what allows it to easily accommodate up to a hundred and ten musicians and a hundred choristers, if necessary! But for us who are treading on its herringbone parquet for the first time, this studio is all the more striking because of course we have in mind the names and photos of composers who have come here to bring some of our favorite scores to life. Time for a quick glance at the conductor's podium, the precisely arranged music stands, the acoustic elements on the walls and the bay window of the control room, just behind, and then we go out to leave the space for the musicians who are now arriving in large numbers.
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Studio Two
Jérôme Leroy then risks a glance at another door, before waving us in… The place is empty: there is obviously no recording planned today in this mythical Studio Two which has seen numerous groups pass through and has definitely established Abbey Road's reputation for artistic excellence among the general public. Placed there, alone in a corner of the room, the famous piano called "Lady Madonna" seems to be enthroned as an indisputable emblem ... We only stay a few moments, and Jérôme Leroy soon invites us to follow him to reach the place from where we will, at first, attend the work of the orchestra. After crossing one of the main corridors adorned with film posters bearing signatures and dedications to the place by different composers, we enter a small technical room before reaching the upper floor located above the control room. We thus arrive at a sort of rather crowded lounge which, through a soundproof airlock, gives access to the balcony overlooking the orchestra, directly inside the gigantic studio. We sit there while the musicians finish settling in. Shortly thereafter, as our watches show roughly ten o'clock in the morning, they appear ready.
William Ross is also present on the conductor's podium. Delayed the day before by a concert by his friend, singer Barbra Streisand, he arrived directly from the airport from the United States. For a while, his team even thought that he might not be on time and Jérôme Leroy had, in that instance, prepared to ensure the start of the session himself. But he is there, despite the jet lag and little sleep to his credit, alert and already absorbed by the score sheets placed by his side for the working day ahead. In front of him, the musicians of the London Symphony Orchestra, in full force, wait a few moments after tuning up. A few words of welcome, and the composer and conductor launches the first planned piece, as a simple warm-up lap… And what a warm-up lap! The solemn brass instruments of The Throne Room then sound, for a concise adaptation of the piece in less than two minutes. For us, it is really simple: luckily we were already seated! The direct sound of the orchestra, its power as well as its clarity, carried within the celebrated acoustics of the studio, are simply astounding, and this theme, which we know by heart of course, will undoubtedly have given us instant goosebumps like never before. We cannot help but think of one of the remarks that Alex Kovacs had made the day before: "I grew up with that, I have all the figurines, all the toys, it's a dream that becomes reality for me! I'm going to cry!” Well, believe us: for a little bit, we too would have cried, with joy of course! And is this just a false impression dictated by our own enthusiasm, or do some of the orchestra musicians themselves seem more than delighted to be there on this day too?
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Studio One
But there is little time to waste. William Ross has put on his headphones and asks each instrumental section, in turn, to perform their part: the opportunity first to appreciate the magnificent sonority of the LSO strings, then that of the woodwinds, the horns, the other brass together, harps, piano, glockenspiel (“Very good! It sounds superb!” remarks the composer), timpani, before the simple crash of cymbals and finally the xylophone. And off we go for a second reprise of the theme in full. A quick glance at the layout of the orchestra allows us to precisely enumerate the forces present for this single piece: a large section of strings made up of 26 violins, 10 violas, 8 cellos and 6 double basses, woodwinds of up to 2 flutes and 1 piccolo, 2 oboes and 1 English horn, 2 clarinets and 1 bass clarinet, 2 bassoons and 1 double bassoon, an imposing brass section where 6 horns dominate 4 trumpets, 4 trombones and 1 tuba, all enhanced by the presence of 2 harps, 2 pianos as well as timpani, glockenspiel, snare drum, free and suspended cymbals.
At the end of the performance, each musician in turn puts on one of the headphones at their disposal and absolute silence ensues. William Ross asks for the click to sound and then, after adjusting a few details, announces a new general orchestral chord before the actual recording begins. There will thus be eight successive takes dedicated to The Throne Room. After each of them, William Ross receives in his only headphone the impressions and desired adjustments from the control room. From where we are, we only perceive his reactions and his instructions to the musicians: these concern first the general tempo of the piece as well as the part devoted to the trumpets; after the sixth take, it is this time asked that the brass be made less prominent in bar 47 and give the strings the possibility of being heard better. At the end of the last take, William Ross simply concludes: “Great job, everyone. Beautiful.” He then gets off his podium and walks into the control room for a few moments to listen to the playback again and make sure everything is going well. The clock is already showing 10:55 a.m.
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William Ross conducting the LSO
The second track consists of a montage between The Arrival at Tatooine and The Flag Parade, whose protrusions of vigorous horns and dazzling trumpets, again, glue us to our seats... However, this first take of the piece (the ninth, in the chronology of the day) reveals a number of slight imperfections to the ears of the officiating professionals: a glockenspiel that is too prominent, the trumpets too far forward compared to the horns of which it is a question of "inflating" the sound a little after it is recalled that the original version had eight when there are only six here. Shortly after, it is the combination of glockenspiel and piccolo that poses a problem: the latter are asked to play softer... Despite everything, five takes spread over a little over thirty minutes are enough to complete the selection, just before giving the musicians their first break. We ourselves return to the lounge again to exchange our enthusiastic impressions.
Jérôme Leroy joined us there a few minutes later: “So? Not bad, eh?” he says to us a little jokingly. "It always goes like this the first hour" he explains to us then, "we set things up, we always lose several minutes here and there, and we will now have to accelerate to stay on time... You record everything, including the first reading just in case, but it's usually not the one you retain. But the first is often already not bad. We're going to record about three minutes per hour, which is really comfortable. When he came to London for the last Star Wars, John Williams would book three weeks of sessions, but that included a week ‘just in case’! Actually he only needed two, but the sessions are still reserved. For his work on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Bill Ross also reserved three weeks. He did it all in ten days, and didn’t need the last five days. There was nothing more to do with the orchestra and the musicians were paid anyway. With Williams, there is no ‘you have to do three minutes an hour.’ He's recording, that's all, and it will take as long as it takes! On our side, when Bill and I did Touchback, it was eight minutes an hour: now it's running smoothly!"
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Staircase leading up to the balcony and some vintage microphones
Things are happening. Back in front of their stands, the musicians tackle Anakin’s Theme[translator’s note: the loop doesn’t include Anakin’s Theme, but does feature Hail to the Victor, Anakin Skywalker, which must be the piece referenced here]: three takes make it possible to settle the details, notably by asking the brass to leave more room for the woodwinds this time, and the fourth will probably serve as a basis for the final cut. One then seeks to refine and ensure certain aspects by carrying out some additional partial takes. Next follows an End Credits condensed in less than two minutes, and packaged in just three "small" takes, then the beautiful Yoda theme in six takes. Between each of them, William Ross works to squeeze the adjustments a bit as lunchtime looms large. When 1 pm finally rolls around, the ten minutes or so that make up the five pieces planned that morning are in the can: the team is on time.
While many musicians prefer to spend their lunch hour outside the building, there is in fact no need to go out to eat: in the basement of Abbey Road, a cafeteria bar, The Crossing, is bordered by a small relaxing garden where everyone can refresh their minds and enjoy a cup of coffee or tea, if necessary. During this break, between comments and anecdotes, Jérôme Leroy dwells a little on the professionalism of the members of the London Symphony Orchestra: "The musicians have not rehearsed" he confides to us then, "and despite this, the orchestra sounds great from the first take. In fact, they were only sent the scores at the last moment, except for certain specific positions: the percussionists so that they could set up and organize their changes of instruments, the harpists, as well as a few soloists who have a particular part to prepare."
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Exploring the studio during the break
The afternoon session promises to be intense. We are first back to the balcony of the studio. The orchestra has already visibly shed some of its members: two horns, a trumpet, a harp and a piano, as well as a percussionist. The festivities begin with a nicely arranged Han and Leia’s Theme which again allows the beautiful sound of the horns and the tenderness of the LSO strings to be heard. It is also one of the longest cues scheduled for this Star Tours program with its very precise 2'43’’. Five takes, and it's time for the iconic Main Title, very concise in just over a minute, to give us its little impression: just four takes this time, two of which seem absolutely perfect: it's apparently also the opinion of William Ross who obviously has little to rectify.
The scheme is repeated in this way for each selection. The following Imperial March will be more of a problem: one minute and nineteen seconds to adjust until the desired precision is achieved. After appreciating the theme for the first time in raw “direct sound” in the large studio, we decide to leave the balcony and go downstairs to take a close look at the work carried out in the control room. In a kind of adjoining technical room, we first wait for the right moment to slip inside as discreetly as possible. The place is not particularly large but nevertheless quite cozy. Two black leather sofas arranged against the walls allow guests to sit: on one of them, John Dennis, the Music Director of Walt Disney Imagineering, is evidently on the lookout for the smallest detail. In the center of the space, Jérôme Leroy occupies a work desk where he can follow, measure by measure, the score of the piece performed, identifying at each take the inevitable adjustments that can be applied to the next one: by a nearby microphone, it is he who addresses William Ross to inform him of all the feedback. At his side, Alex Kovacs conscientiously notes for each take their feedback and comments. On the right of the bay window separating us from the studio, in front of a computer screen, the editor Ed Kalins is busy controlling the click and the synchronization, and preparing the eventual final version of each selection by isolating the takes considered the most successful and relevant. But what catches our eye and fascinates us the most, of course, is the impressive AMS Neve 88RS analog mixing console and its 72 channels, an object that is easy to imagine as a tool of extreme quality and which, in fact, costs several hundred thousand euros.
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Recording Engineer Peter Cobbin and Music Editor Ed Kalins (in the back)
This also gives a good idea of the quality of services that Abbey Road Studios do not hesitate to offer their clients. As for the man who officiates in front of this beast, he is a virtuoso in his own way: Peter Cobbin has been at home here since 1995, and his reputation as a sound engineer is well established. “He was there when they did the last Star Wars,” Jérôme Leroy told us, “Shawn Murphy did the mixing then, but Peter Cobbin was present during the sessions. We asked him to make this all sound like Shawn Murphy was taking care of it himself. He thus recovered all the configurations that were used." The other striking technology of this control room jumps first and foremost to our ears, while through the bay window, the orchestra once again performs the Imperial March: processed and broadcast in particular via three superb high-end speakers (Bowers & Wilkins brand), the sound reproduction is totally impressive in a booth like this one whose acoustic environment has been thought out down to the smallest detail. Put simply: it sounds like one of the records from the Star Wars trilogy. Except that all this is happening live...
In the studio, after nine takes for the Imperial March, the musicians once again enjoy another short break. In the booth, we take the opportunity to listen to the playbacks. A curious development, however, in the meantime: one of the orchestra's spokespersons respectfully comes to point out that certain instrumentalists are beginning to complain for making them play the same thing too many times… This remark, which to us sounds like a warning, comes as a bit of a surprise to its recipients, but it is also a reminder that while the members of the London Symphony Orchestra are famous around the world for their excellence and discipline in sessions like these, they are always (and we understand them very well) concerned about their image, and particularly attentive to their working conditions... and even a tad suspicious when it comes to making sure on several occasions that we ourselves did not sneakily record the sessions from the balcony, a kind of misconduct in their eyes that would probably have resulted in us being kicked out of the studio! During lunch, some inquired about the reason for our presence while being very courteous and welcoming.
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Peter Cobbin (left), William Ross, Jérôme Leroy and Alex Kovacs (right)
Returning to his conductor's podium, William Ross was quick to reassure the musicians by promising them to limit takes as much as possible. It will only take two full and four partial takes to complete The Asteroid Field, which in principle involves adjusting the accents and dynamics. At one point, however, an error in the key indications in the sheet music was suspected. William Ross immediately comes to check, "There's no reason John did that," he then said with an amused little smile. We finally move on. Peter Cobbin then takes a few minutes to fine-tune the microphone settings for the prominent instruments of the next piece, in order to harmoniously bring out their singular sound: woodblocks (hollow pieces of struck wood) and tuned cow-bells of Parade of the Ewoks thus play their parts, alone, before participating in four takes, of which only the second will prove entirely unusable. Finally, Cloud City/Lando’s Palace brings this working day to a close. After a muddled first take, William Ross details the procedure with the string section: "from bar 534 to 538, bow. After that, everything is in pizzicato, then return to the bow at bar 543. The double basses remain in pizz!” They resume but this time there is a problem with the tempo: they come back to the click. "It's slower than you think," the composer told the musicians, ultimately deciding not to play through headphones the section that seemed to make the violins lose their strength. A little further on, when everything seems to be settling down rather well, Jérôme Leroy intervenes and asks that they immediately redo the take: "There was a wrong note in the double basses!" he signals to William Ross who, always diplomatic with the musicians he has in front of him, in turn simply tells them: "We have to redo it, there was a wrong note somewhere..."
The second session ends. The conductor thanks the musicians who are quickly and quietly leaving the studio. Back in the control room, obviously very tired but nevertheless beaming with a broad smile, he is ecstatic: "It's unbelievable, this orchestra is exceedingly good!" And to John Dennis, adding "Thank you sincerely for bringing me in on this job.” Shortly after, he decides to return to his hotel as quickly as possible to rest. “Hey, Bill!" shouts a laughing Jérôme Leroy, “there are still three hours of mixing to do!” Because for the team, it is a question of advancing the work while making the most of the Abbey Road facilities: they therefore listen to each piece again in order to determine exactly where the best takes are located according to the indications given during the recording, before editing. For our part, after having stayed a bit to follow the start of this task, we feel that it is high time to go out to take a deep breath of fresh air and enjoy a wonderful evening in the heart of the city, to cap off an absolutely exhilarating day…
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The hallways of Abbey Road Studio
A (short) night's sleep later and we are back in the St. John’s Wood neighborhood, shortly before ten o'clock. This time, we almost decide to give in to the local custom of immortalizing our presence on the famous crosswalk. However, there are many more people than the day before, no doubt to remind us that the place has become, thanks to those four trendy boys, one of the main tourist attractions in London! On a pole placed a little further, we even notice a webcam which offers streaming images that can be viewed on the ‘net for a few hours. It is a singular spectacle, moreover, to see these (often young) people parading one by one or in a group, looking to capture the perfect photograph, even if it means coming to a standstill for a few moments in the middle of the passage and, inevitably, obstructing the circulation of a rather busy street. Even more astonishing, perhaps, is that motorists and bus drivers nevertheless seem to be coping quite well with this continual and daily merry-go-round as they show themselves to be completely understanding and patient... at least that morning!
Having made our own souvenir snapshot (there is no harm in having fun), we reach the studios as quickly as possible. When entering, we are also aware that we will have to make the most of this final stretch of our stay. We should also point out that we are very far from having been able to discover the Abbey Road complex in its entirety, something which in itself would certainly deserve an in-depth visit of several hours as it seems that there are hardly any spaces here which have no use whatsoever: too bad for the third studio, for example, whose mixing console is apparently even more imposing than the one we have seen, and thus for the innumerable pieces devoted to various artistic tasks and techniques implied by studios of such a scale, which are, above all, of course, a (superb) place to work. Studio Two is currently inaccessible because it was taken over by another team.
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The scores as arranged by Jérôme Leroy
As the hour approaches, we take our seats, this time directly in the control room. There are still seven selections to record and everyone is getting ready in a good communicative mood. This is also something that really struck us during these two days: certainly we were wrong to assume that a job of this kind, where almost every minute counts, wouldn’t be so devoid of any stress... If the atmosphere is indeed the most serious and there is no time for anyone to indulge in idle behavior, there is a very real sense of ease between the various participants, even in the case of conflicts which are met with witty remarks, little jokes, and laughter... Everyone does their part while remaining attentive to the others, and any problem that arises is overcome collectively with the same concern for pragmatism and efficiency, a positive attitude which, let's face it bluntly, is nice to see for those who are only spectators.
From the start of the third session, and this Princess Leia's Theme so "magnificently orchestrated" according to Jérôme Leroy, who never misses any opportunity to express his admiration for music he loves deeply, a crucial question arises practically from the start: the piece, strictly limited to the two minutes and ten seconds planned, seems too quickly executed to allow the strings to fully express the original softness and tenderness. Very concerned by this kind of detail, John Dennis intervenes quickly and proposes, as if the solution were obvious: “Forget the click, Bill! Play it the way you want!" “But that will be a few more seconds!" the composer immediately worries. “No big deal,” the Imagineering music manager replies, “the animators will work with what you do.” On the next track, Luke & Leia’s Theme, after two takes a mistake in the score is suspected. Uncertain, Jérôme Leroy first asks Alex Kovacs to find the corresponding original manuscript, kept in the form of a computer file. Then, after isolating the offending bars, someone is tasked with checking whether the two scores are identical and conform to what the musicians have in front of them. The recording of this selection is thus postponed.
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Checking scores before a new take
"There are plenty of errors in the orchestrations as they were originally notated" Jérôme Leroy previously told us. "You look at the score, you listen to the audio and you say to yourself, 'This is not the same thing!’ In fact, when John Williams recorded, there were a lot of changes during the sessions, but no one carried them over to the original score. It is therefore necessary to really know the music to be able to spot them. And sometimes these are pretty big changes. This is why John Williams created the ‘signature edition’ scores for which they checked bar by bar the orchestration and the notes. These are the only authenticated Williams scores, while the rest are considered arrangements. We have worked from these ‘signature editions,’ but some do not exist. For Han Solo and the Princess, we couldn't find the sheet music. We think that Charles Gerhardt rewrote it a bit for his own re-recording, that he adapted, rearranged, and re-orchestrated it. What he did was not entirely approved by John Williams. We asked him if he wrote a suite for it, and he said no. It was impossible to find. So we started with the handwritten score of The Empire Strikes Back, the End Credits, then Gerhardt's recording, then the cue Rebels Escape… The theme never fully appears in the original films, so we had to draw from several cues and put it together. We also had to listen to and transcribe by ear the six or seven bars that were missing. I asked Bill to take care of it, and since he knows the style it was okay. I made the transitions and connections. Originally, Bill was supposed to do them, but he didn't have the time."
Things are picking up speed: For Training of a Jedi Knight, a horn solo is once again a problem, consistently sounding out of tune with every take. They end up recording one take entirely without him, which will serve as a basis for the editing. Again, it was decided to come back to the problem later with the instrumentalist himself. Indeed, it is absolutely necessary to take advantage of the allotted time to complete the work which involves the orchestra as a whole, and the minutes go by inexorably. Landspeeder is then completed in four small takes, the Jar Jar Binks Theme in just three. It is then that we ourselves decide that it is time to go up to the balcony again, so that we can enjoy the last selections in live audio and soak up one last time the raw sound of the London Symphony Orchestra in the acoustics of Studio One. During the first take of a second version of Parade of the Ewoks (aka ‘B Side’), William Ross squarely turns to the musicians to sort out the details simultaneously. The third looks good, but in the booth Peter Cobbin nonetheless suggests that the ensemble record a new take, which will effectively serve as the basis for the final cut.
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Woodblocks and various percussions
Another great moment for us is when the valiant trumpets of a glorious Here They Comesound about a minute long. What a sound! What an orchestra! Then we come back to the Luke & Leia’s Theme that had been left out before. No transcription error having been detected, three more takes are made, this time officially closing the last recording session proper. William Ross thanks the musicians, and they, through one of their spokespersons, express their satisfaction, stressing how dear this music is to them and that it holds a special place in their hearts. Shortly after, they left the scene one by one and finally three additional takes are made with the horn player responsible for the solo part of Training of a Jedi Knight face to face with the composer in the big studio.
At the end of this final recording, everyone in the control room, John Dennis in the lead, seems quite satisfied and delighted. "It's a magnificent job," says Jérôme Leroy, "I find it almost annoying that it is shown in a park. You might think it was made for a movie but the truth is it's not even for the attraction itself, it's for the waiting room! Imagine that!” (laughs). In the end, eighteen selections were recorded, lasting between a minimum of 50 seconds and a maximum of 2 minutes 43 seconds, or three times ten minutes of music for a total of nearly a hundred takes. "This represents the heart of Star Wars," Jérôme Leroy had said to us the previous Monday, "we have not forgotten anything. The only thing we wanted to do besides was the Cantina Band. We didn’t do it because originally the song was only meant to be played in the background. When we realized what this project was going to be, it became clear that it couldn't work."
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Studio One seen from the balcony
For Jérôme Leroy and Alex Kovacs, now is the time to relax. Of course, for part of the team, the work is still far from being completed: the rest of the day will consist of fine-tuning the mix and editing each selection correctly to obtain the final version. “Normally,” Jérôme continues, “we record everything, we go back to Los Angeles and we take five or six days to mix: we have time to change a lot of things, to see what is too loud, what is not enough. We can really work on the sound rendering. There, we only have seven hours to mix thirty minutes of music. In theory it would take three days! Hence the idea that it sounds perfectly straightforward, so you don't have to touch up too much afterwards. The good thing about John Williams’s orchestrations is that everything is already well equalized in terms of the balance of power, and there isn't a whole lot of work to be done after the fact. There will always be the possibility of boosting a microphone of course, that's not a problem, but we won't be able to go into detail."
For us too, who are witnessing the start of this intense work, the celebrations are not entirely over: despite the fatigue, William Ross has agreed to speak with us for more than an hour. At the start of the afternoon, we therefore moved into one of the isolation booths adjoining the studio. This is the occasion, in particular, to hear the composer's impressions of these two days spent with the London Symphony Orchestra: "It was wonderful, I could not be happier! We usually say that the Star Wars musical universe is the DNA of LSO, this orchestra helped make Star Wars what it is today. It's an honor and a joy for me to be here, to play this music with them, and it's so interesting to see them say the same thing, how much they appreciate this relationship with the music of John Williams. Their enthusiasm was visible. It is obvious that they were happy to be involved in this project (...). When I'm on the podium, I always try to treat music and musicians with the utmost respect. I think they appreciate anyone who wants to do things right and are able to accommodate whoever they have in front of them, no matter how talented they are at leading them, as long as there is that attitude of respect... that they are not disparaged. We have a great relationship. I have done several projects with them and it has always been great."
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William Ross
Asked how he viewed his work for Star Tours, he clarified: “The idea was really to be a kind of steward, to adapt and completely rework the music in the way they wanted for this new Star Tours experience. My job was to make sure that this spectacular music was used correctly. We did demos to show how we wanted to do this and I sent them to John Williams. I never got any real approval from him, but I can tell you that the words I received from him showed he was happy. This music has been played all over the world with varying degrees of attention to detail, and I think it must be difficult for John to see it treated in such diverse ways. He is a man of incredible generosity, and it must be hard for him to see what happens to all these beautiful themes that are his children! (laughs) So I know he always appreciates someone who approaches things with real respect.” How does he command this confidence of John Williams? “Ah!” he replies with a slightly embarrassed smile, "I don't allow myself to think… well I would like to think that I have John's confidence. He's been incredibly supportive, very courteous to me for everything I've done, whether it's Harry Potter or in this case the music from Star Wars. It’s an absolute honor: John Williams, to me, is the Mount Everest of composers, of our profession (…) and knowing that someone like him can say, ‘Yes, go ahead Bill!’ is quite incredible in my eyes..." And when we shared our surprise with him at the relaxation that reigned in the control room, specifying that we were expecting something much more tense, he almost sweeps this remark away with a simple phrase: "It's a cliché!" The more attention you pay to detail, to preparation, to make sure there are no errors on the scores, that the tempos are right, that the click is appropriate, you save a lot of time, and the reward for all these efforts, this energy, these precautions, are quiet sessions. It’s for the benefit of everyone! There should be no stress, and that means taking a lot of time to plan and check everything beforehand."
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The conductor's podium
When the interview is over, the inevitable moment comes for us to seriously consider it is time to take our guests' leave definitively... We hang around a little longer, take time for a few photos, no doubt to give ourselves a last chance to soak up the place, of this now completely deserted Studio One whose walls still seem to vibrate notes of John Williams: an almost ecstatic experience for us, one more simply for this magical place which has seen (and will certainly see) many others ...
This concludes our stay at Abbey Road Studios. One last glance outside and, luggage on our shoulders, we calmly return to the station where the Eurostar will be waiting for us, which will take us back to France. Our heads full of memories for eyes and ears, we are undeniably happy, but there is also a small pang in the heart, like two students from Hogwarts who, at the end of the year, return home… But there is also, above all, this feeling of having experienced a privileged, exceptional, unique and perhaps unsurpassable event in our lives as fans.
Infinite gratitude to Jérôme Leroy and William Ross, as well as all the staff of Abbey Road and the London Symphony Orchestra
Photos: Olivier Desbrosses and Florent Groult
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Two posts from Olivier Desbrosses’ Facebook page, November 2012
Excerpt from David Yeh interview of William Ross for EndorExpress, 19 July 2013
EE: One of the more recent projects you worked on is for the updated Star Tours in Tokyo Disneyland that just opened up. How did that land on your lap?
Bill: I had done a couple things for Disney Imagineering before. One of those was Mickey’s PhilharMagic. John Dennis head of music production for Walt Disney Imagineering called me with the Star Tours project and asked if I was interested. I met with him and I loved the idea of what he wanted to do. I told him that if I got involved however, that I would want the music to be as authentic and true to the original scores as possible. I believe those scores are so iconic and so wonderful. The orchestrations are brilliant. I felt that the music was so familiar that doing it in its original context would help support the idea that the audience was entering the Star Wars universe. I told John Dennis that with that caveat understood, I would love to be involved. He assured me that Disney wanted the same authenticity for the project and that making sure John Williams was “on board” with what was going to be done with the music was a crucial part of the project.
So right away things were moving in what I felt was the appropriate direction. It wasn’t going to be little knock off arrangements of synthesized things. I suggested that we use the London Symphony and, fortunately, the timing worked out wonderfully. I get goose bumps just thinking about the sound of those sessions. We created a kind of 40 minute “suite” of music from the 6 films. We ran it by John Williams and got his approval. I believe everyone involved was happy with the result. I think the “pedigree” of the end product is exactly what it needed to be. I was very happy with how things turned out.
EE: That sounds amazing. Where can this 40-minute chunk of music be heard?
Bill: The way the venue is structured in Tokyo is that there’s a large room like an airport terminal and that’s the first place you enter. It’s different than the Star Tours in Walt Disney World or in Anaheim. It’s a much bigger room and the creators of the ride felt that a 40-minute loop of Star Wars music should cover the most amount of time someone would spend in that initial terminal. When someone leaves the terminal, they go into the Droid Room and then into the ride itself. About a year prior to the Star Tours project, I had put together a 10 to 12 minute loop of John’s music for the Droid Room part of the Star Tours for the Orlando and Anaheim attraction updates. It was a different type of music... not as bombastic (droids, ewoks, etc.) for where the droids are scanning luggage.
EE: It would be great to be able to hear this music somehow on CD or something...
Bill: I think it would be wonderful. It’s a beautifully recorded piece of music... Abbey Road, the London Symphony Orchestra playing that iconic music! The Star Wars music is in their DNA and they were very happy with it. I think there’s a wonderful degree of integrity to the music and personally believe it would make a wonderful CD... but who knows.
Star Tours Tokyo Concourse Loop
1A The Throne Room (SACUL Industries Group)
1B Main Title (SACUL Industries Group)
2A Parade of the Ewoks (Star Tours/Moon of Endor)
2B Training of a Jedi Knight (Star Tours/Yavin 4)
3A Panaka and the Queen’s Protectors/Hail to the Winner, Anakin Skywalker (Planets)
3B The Imperial March (The Empire Wants You)
4A Princess Leia’s Theme (Naboo Spacelines/Romantic, Idyllic Naboo)
4B Jar Jar Binks Theme (Naboo Spacelines/Exotic Naboo)
5A Yoda’s Theme (Space Port 1138)
5B Parade of the Ewoks (Space Port 1138)
6A Han Solo and the Princess (Bespin Direct/Cloud City)
6B Lando’s Place (Bespin Direct/Hoth)
7A(1A) The Throne Room (SACUL Industries Group)
7B(1B) Main Title (SACUL Industries Group)
8A Luke and Leia (Air Alderaan/Alderaan)
8B Here They Come (Air Alderaan/Coruscant)
9A(3A) Panaka and the Queen’s Protectors/Hail to the Winner, Anakin Skywalker (Planets)
9B(3B) The Imperial March (The Empire Wants You)
10A The Asteroid Field (Dantooine Express/Volcanoes of Mustafar)
10B End Title (Dantooine Express/Hoth)
11A(5A) Yoda’s Theme (Space Port 1138)
11B(5B) Parade of the Ewoks (Space Port 1138)
12A The Flag Parade (Tatooine Transit)
12B Landspeeder
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The Star Tours Spaceport arrival hall at Tokyo Disneyland
Additional notes: the complete loop runs 39 minutes, but includes several repeated cues totaling about 9 minutes. The loop also played in Star Wars Launch Bay at Walt Disney World's Hollywood Studios.
There were new recordings made of the Star Wars music (1-6) using the London Symphony Orchestra in Abbey Road Studio 1 in 2013, conducted by William Ross.
Confirmed what was recorded in this article: https://www.endorexpress.net/parks/disneyparks/tokyo-disneyland/2013/07/williamross/
Highlights;
"We created a kind of 40 minute “suite” of music from the 6 films. We ran it by John Williams and got his approval." - William Ross
"It would be great to be able to hear this music somehow on CD or something…" - Interviewer
Ross' reply, "I think that would be wonderful. It’s a beautifully recorded piece of music…Abbey Road, the London Symphony Orchestra playing that iconic music! The Star Wars music is in their DNA and they were very happy with it. I think there’s a wonderful degree of integrity to the music and personally believe it would make a wonderful CD…but who knows."
So the question is, where the hell is the audio for this and can we have it!!!?
You can hear a little of The Imperial March in this phone video at the beggining (It sounds so fresh!!!)
There were new recordings made of the Star Wars music (1-6) using the London Symphony Orchestra in Abbey Road Studio 1 in 2013, conducted by William Ross.
Confirmed what was recorded in this article: https://www.endorexpress.net/parks/disneyparks/tokyo-disneyland/2013/07/williamross/
Highlights;
"We created a kind of 40 minute “suite” of music from the 6 films. We ran it by John Williams and got his approval." - William Ross
"It would be great to be able to hear this music somehow on CD or something…" - Interviewer
Ross' reply, "I think that would be wonderful. It’s a beautifully recorded piece of music…Abbey Road, the London Symphony Orchestra playing that iconic music! The Star Wars music is in their DNA and they were very happy with it. I think there’s a wonderful degree of integrity to the music and personally believe it would make a wonderful CD…but who knows."
So the question is, where the hell is the audio for this and can we have it!!!?
You can hear a little of The Imperial March in this phone video at the beggining (It sounds so fresh!!!)
I joined back in May 2002. I remember talking about Wlliams' Scores (Mainly Star Wars Music) with people from school and everyone thought I was insane. I came onto JWFAN where people understood and we're more accepting... a place where we could all be insane together!
There were new recordings made of the Star Wars music (1-6) using the London Symphony Orchestra in Abbey Road Studio 1 in 2013, conducted by William Ross.
Confirmed what was recorded in this article: https://www.endorexpress.net/parks/disneyparks/tokyo-disneyland/2013/07/williamross/
Highlights;
"We created a kind of 40 minute “suite” of music from the 6 films. We ran it by John Williams and got his approval." - William Ross
"It would be great to be able to hear this music somehow on CD or something…" - Interviewer
Ross' reply, "I think that would be wonderful. It’s a beautifully recorded piece of music…Abbey Road, the London Symphony Orchestra playing that iconic music! The Star Wars music is in their DNA and they were very happy with it. I think there’s a wonderful degree of integrity to the music and personally believe it would make a wonderful CD…but who knows."
So the question is, where the hell is the audio for this and can we have it!!!?
You can hear a little of The Imperial March in this phone video at the beggining (It sounds so fresh!!!)
There were new recordings made of the Star Wars music (1-6) using the London Symphony Orchestra in Abbey Road Studio 1 in 2013, conducted by William Ross.
Confirmed what was recorded in this article: https://www.endorexpress.net/parks/disneyparks/tokyo-disneyland/2013/07/williamross/
Highlights;
"We created a kind of 40 minute “suite” of music from the 6 films. We ran it by John Williams and got his approval." - William Ross
"It would be great to be able to hear this music somehow on CD or something…" - Interviewer
Ross' reply, "I think that would be wonderful. It’s a beautifully recorded piece of music…Abbey Road, the London Symphony Orchestra playing that iconic music! The Star Wars music is in their DNA and they were very happy with it. I think there’s a wonderful degree of integrity to the music and personally believe it would make a wonderful CD…but who knows."
So the question is, where the hell is the audio for this and can we have it!!!?
You can hear a little of The Imperial March in this phone video at the beggining (It sounds so fresh!!!)
There were new recordings made of the Star Wars music (1-6) using the London Symphony Orchestra in Abbey Road Studio 1 in 2013, conducted by William Ross.
Confirmed what was recorded in this article: https://www.endorexpress.net/parks/disneyparks/tokyo-disneyland/2013/07/williamross/
Highlights;
"We created a kind of 40 minute “suite” of music from the 6 films. We ran it by John Williams and got his approval." - William Ross
"It would be great to be able to hear this music somehow on CD or something…" - Interviewer
Ross' reply, "I think that would be wonderful. It’s a beautifully recorded piece of music…Abbey Road, the London Symphony Orchestra playing that iconic music! The Star Wars music is in their DNA and they were very happy with it. I think there’s a wonderful degree of integrity to the music and personally believe it would make a wonderful CD…but who knows."
So the question is, where the hell is the audio for this and can we have it!!!?
You can hear a little of The Imperial March in this phone video at the beggining (It sounds so fresh!!!)
Social media can be many things but one thing JWFan is certainly not: a network you can say 'no' to.
It was the excitement in anticipation of "The Force Awakens" that made me transform from a long-term forum lurker (since 2002) to an active forum member (since 2015). Amazing what has happened over these years (Boston, Vienna, Berlin, Milano).
Happy 25th Anniversary and thank you to all who make this platform possible, informative and rewarding for fans world-wide!
I joined back in May 2002. I remember talking about Wlliams' Scores (Mainly Star Wars Music) with people from school and everyone thought I was insane. I came onto JWFAN where people understood and we're more accepting... a place where we could all be insane together!
How wonderful would it be to get an album of JW's Star Wars music written or adapted for the parks? You could include:
Star Tours 2.0 queue (Ross)
Star Tours 2.0 queue (Giacchino)
Original Star Tours ride music (Bellis)
Original Star Tours exit music (Bellis)
Hyperspace Mountain (Ross)
Galaxy's Edge (JW's suite)
Galaxy's Edge lightsaber building music (Ross)
Galaxy's Edge entrance music (Kerber)
Any other Galaxy's Edge recordings by Ross (e.g. for the rides and show moments)
Disneyland Band SW medley
There's got to be more. Maybe the main theme excerpt as recorded for Remember...Dreams Come True?
There were new recordings made of the Star Wars music (1-6) using the London Symphony Orchestra in Abbey Road Studio 1 in 2013, conducted by William Ross.
Confirmed what was recorded in this article: https://www.endorexpress.net/parks/disneyparks/tokyo-disneyland/2013/07/williamross/
Highlights;
"We created a kind of 40 minute “suite” of music from the 6 films. We ran it by John Williams and got his approval." - William Ross
"It would be great to be able to hear this music somehow on CD or something…" - Interviewer
Ross' reply, "I think that would be wonderful. It’s a beautifully recorded piece of music…Abbey Road, the London Symphony Orchestra playing that iconic music! The Star Wars music is in their DNA and they were very happy with it. I think there’s a wonderful degree of integrity to the music and personally believe it would make a wonderful CD…but who knows."
So the question is, where the hell is the audio for this and can we have it!!!?
You can hear a little of The Imperial March in this phone video at the beggining (It sounds so fresh!!!)
There were new recordings made of the Star Wars music (1-6) using the London Symphony Orchestra in Abbey Road Studio 1 in 2013, conducted by William Ross.
Confirmed what was recorded in this article: https://www.endorexpress.net/parks/disneyparks/tokyo-disneyland/2013/07/williamross/
Highlights;
"We created a kind of 40 minute “suite” of music from the 6 films. We ran it by John Williams and got his approval." - William Ross
"It would be great to be able to hear this music somehow on CD or something…" - Interviewer
Ross' reply, "I think that would be wonderful. It’s a beautifully recorded piece of music…Abbey Road, the London Symphony Orchestra playing that iconic music! The Star Wars music is in their DNA and they were very happy with it. I think there’s a wonderful degree of integrity to the music and personally believe it would make a wonderful CD…but who knows."
So the question is, where the hell is the audio for this and can we have it!!!?
You can hear a little of The Imperial March in this phone video at the beggining (It sounds so fresh!!!)
I joined back in May 2002. I remember talking about Wlliams' Scores (Mainly Star Wars Music) with people from school and everyone thought I was insane. I came onto JWFAN where people understood and we're more accepting... a place where we could all be insane together!
I joined back in May 2002. I remember talking about Wlliams' Scores (Mainly Star Wars Music) with people from school and everyone thought I was insane. I came onto JWFAN where people understood and we're more accepting... a place where we could all be insane together!
Hard to imagine back then that the site would still be up and running two and a half decades later, let alone that the Maestro would still be active after having composed nearly thirty more film scores and a similar number of concert works, as well as conducting over 200 concerts including Vienna, Berlin, Milan and Japan!
Dozens of his film scores have received perfect releases during all this time, providing fans with the confidence that many more will come in the future, while maintaining and further enhancing the collective appreciation and admiration for the music we all love and which will remain with us for the rest of our lives.
The analysis and discussion of his work has reached such level of comprehensiveness and detail, that our forums have become an essential reference for fans and scholars, while fomenting the creation of fascinating projects that expand and deepen the study of the Maestro’s oeuvre and contribute to increasing its appreciation by future generations who, without doubt, will continue to ensure that his name is in the place it deserves in the history of music and cinema.
Thank you, Mr. Williams, and thanks to all those who have contributed during this time to make the site such a wonderful place. Here’s to 25 more!
PS. The following quoted post, written for this thread 10 years ago, provides a short summary of the origins of the site: