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October: Music of Star Wars - 30th Anniversary Collector's Edition


DigitalfreakNYC

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I don't think pointing out the mixing flaws in Empire Strikes Back and missing Laptin Nek versions in Return of the Jedi helps at all.What's the friggen obsession with Lapti Nek some people have?I've listened to this track exactly once on the 1983 OST.It's also one of the worst Williams compositions of all time .Return of the Jedi needs a complete remastering not just flipping horns around in one cue.

What we need is Attack of the clones and Revenge of the Sith expanded,that's the least they could do

Yeah, I agree. I've never been to picky when it comes to sound quality.

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Well,there is a problem with the RotJ sound quality overall,it is very muddy,but I just don't pay attention to proper instrument placement.And I just don't care the missing Sail Barge music.

ESB can stay as it is IMO

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Well,there is a problem with the RotJ sound quality overall,it is very muddy,but I just don't pay attention to proper instrument placement.And I just don't care the missing Sail Barge music.

ESB can stay as it is IMO

Yeah, the list was a little much. Now they think people are just bitching to bitch.

What we should be doing is concerting efforts first and foremost on complete Prequel Scores. We can always fight for better quality OT scores later on. Who knows, maybe these ones are fixed.

But the bottom line is, let's focus on the demand for the PT first, instead of yet another OT release.

EDIT: Think of it this way, would you rather have a few version of Lapti Nek or complete PT scores?

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Well,there is a problem with the RotJ sound quality overall,it is very muddy,but I just don't pay attention to proper instrument placement.And I just don't care the missing Sail Barge music.

ESB can stay as it is IMO

Yeah, the list was a little much. Now they think people are just bitching to bitch.

What we should be doing is concerting efforts first and foremost on complete Prequel Scores. We can always fight for better quality OT scores later on. Who knows, maybe these ones are fixed.

But the bottom line is, let's focus on the demand for the PT first, instead of yet another OT release.

EDIT: Think of it this way, would you rather have a few version of Lapti Nek or complete PT scores?

I would much prefer AotC or RotS complete score over PT complete score. If they released the proper PT score, I don't think I'd buy it, just because I've already spent so much $ on PT OS and UE, and I really don't have much of a desire for PT complete.

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bitching to bitch...

When you market something as Complete Score... it better be... or close to it... not some DVD Isolated Score.

When you market something as the "Definitive Edition," it better be... not some mixing job done in 6 hours (which it was if I read the FSM article right).

It was a list to show the person reading that there are more errors than many people realize and the cause for there to be a corrected release is justified.

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apparently you have to subscribe and go look, but I'll post a blurb of Michael Matession's article here:

"If it weren't enough, while searching for paperwork, Ron had opened the right closet door and found, under 15 years of dust, a set of 35mm mags of Star Wars music and five reels of 24-track Empire music! It was assumed or hoped that the Star Wars reels were an edited but pre-dolby score copy, but as it turned out, they contained the same session masters with which we had been working. Re-Editing would still be required, but playing them on the North mixing stage at the Zanuck Theatre was a revelation-the sound was unbelievable! With the new discovery and the best possible plan for re-editing the score, it looked like the Star Wars music was going to sound better than it ever had.

Two days were spent at Zanuck working with the new material. Digital transfer needed to happen right away because before long Independence Day was set to completely commandeer the Fox sound department. Working with Brian Risner, Nick's usual mag re-mixer and a Sound of Music alumnus, we began by transferring Star Wars. Lucasfilm was absolutely thrilled by our find and requested that we preserve the music in the 3-track domain in case they elected to use it for the Special Edition. A few reels were missing and a few takes were unmanageably deteriorated, but at least 3/4 of our CD's could be taken from the new source.

Working on Empire was a different animal. The original intention was to procure only those cues or sections that we needed for one reason or another, but listening to the reels, Nick decided that we just couldn't ignore the huge increase in quality that they offered. Brian [Risner] was now called upon for the daunting task of re-balancing about half the Empire score in six hours. I stood over his shoulder, again relying on my memory to achieve the correct result. The intense schedule forced us to let a few things go, but overall we ended up with a phenomenal sound. Cues like "The Asteroid Field" and "Imperial Walkers" were particularly impressive, especially when opened up to full volume on that huge mixing stage. We knew we had a true gem when mixers from the next stage came over wondering what the great sounding music was. As "Imperial March" played as it never played before, picture a bunch of jaded engineers standing in the back of the room smiling and tapping their feet! They hung around for the "End Title" and when the LSO crashed to a hault, there were audible gasps. Obviously it had been too long since a score this good had passed through these walls."

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Interesting article thanks for posting that. Though it's painly obvious the mixes for ESB and ROTJ sound worse on the SE sets than they do the Anthology sets... What the hell were they thinking? :baaa:

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Hmm that's probably why it sounds like crap.. it was a rush job... same for ESB. I'm sure if they were able to have more time on the sets they probably could have mixed them properly instead of giving us what they did.

I wouldn't doubt it if Lucasfilm has a perfect mixed versions of the scores for ANH, ESB and ROTJ in their vaults...it's pretty evident from the Musical Journey DVD after all.

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interesting to note however is that we know that some of the ROTJ tracks were taken from the masters for the previous releases.

Things like the concert suites which were recorded at a latter Album Recording Session, those masters cannot be located. That's why Jabba the Hutt's concert suite hasn't been released is that it was recorded at a latter date along with the Forest Battle Concert Suite, Luke and Leia, Sail Barge Assault (Alternate).

Also, not having had the best masters at the time was another reason for the problems they had sound wise. With the correct masters found now... they should be able to release a much better sounding complete score.

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Hmmmm well maybe it's a stupid question, but what's the big deal?

I don't get it ... has there been an official announcement i missed?

Alls I think we know is, that it will contain 8CDs for three movies, and ok some really useless stickers..

So, you are comlaining and sending them mails about something we don't know anything precise about.

Maybe they did remaster it from a better source and it sounds perfect, maybe it contains cues that never have been - or for a long time not have been - available.. we'll find out in a few weeks.

But I can't wait to get information on that one :baaa: so I'll send them an e-mail to like you did.. at least they should know that people are interested

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Actually, I'd rather see Williams' Harry Potter scores expanded than the prequels'.

Give me a complete Prisoner Of Azkaban, and I'll happily wait another 10 yeears for ROTS.

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What's the friggen obsession with Lapti Nek some people have?

For me, I played Lapti Nek in marching band every Friday night in the stands at football games for five years (8-12th grade). It was pep band music before I got there and remained in the band's repertoire long after I graduated. It holds a VERY special place in my heart.

With relation to the films, consider that Lapti Nek is an actual John Williams song, compared to that creative abortion dubbed "Jedi Rocks" which was written by some other dude who is NOT John Williams. If the soundtracks are a celebration of John Williams' music, then his original song is what deserves to be restored. The crappy new song is merely a footnote.

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Well like I keep telling everyone I'll be the guinea pig with this and buy the set to see what it's fully about when it's released.

Well, by then it'll just tell us what it's about, so you should probably save your cash.

This set is just absurd. It's like they're going out of their way to make sure we never get complete scores instead of just not thinking about it.

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Empire - Disc 1/Track 9 - Mixed by Risner (" ") Harp is incorrectly in the center

Empire - Disc 1/Track 10 - Jedi Master Revealed mixed by Risner (" ") Harp incorrectly in Center

Empire - Disc 1/Track 11 - Mixed by Risner (" ") Harp in center as is the celesta

:)

Does having the harp in the middle really make it that different? Jesus Christ you guys are picky. No wonder Sony feels like they shouldn't even bother releasing scores if people are going to nitpick the stupidest things.

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GM, what are you talking about the "film version" of "Sail Barge Assault" (formerly called "Return of the Jedi")? What's on the album is what's heard in the film, only the film takes that piece and cuts it all apart and re-sequences it. Clearly it was a troubled sequence, with the music being re-written and the scene re-cut. It foreshadows the prequels.

Neil

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lol

You're getting Sail Barge Assaults mixed up hehe

There was a first edit. John Williams saw the first edit, wrote what we know as the Sail Barge Assault (Alternate) *not the one heard edited in the film

Then there was another edit of the sequence. John Williams saw this, and wrote the Sail Barge Assault *the one in chronological order on the 2CD and the one heard edited in the film, which was recorded latter at the Album Recording Sessions.

The scene was further edited, and Williams was no longer available to arrange a new version, and so they used what they had and edited it.

What you read I've realized I misspoke so I've adjusted it. sorry heh

Empire - Disc 1/Track 9 - Mixed by Risner (" ") Harp is incorrectly in the center

Empire - Disc 1/Track 10 - Jedi Master Revealed mixed by Risner (" ") Harp incorrectly in Center

Empire - Disc 1/Track 11 - Mixed by Risner (" ") Harp in center as is the celesta

:)

Does having the harp in the middle really make it that different? Jesus Christ you guys are picky. No wonder Sony feels like they shouldn't even bother releasing scores if people are going to nitpick the stupidest things.

And by that argument, you may as well not even bother arguing for anything. Does it make a difference to have the entire score? I mean jeeze...whats a few missing cues...

Or whats the point in even trying to improve the sound quality from analog to digital ...I mean... there's no point really becuase does it really make THAT much of a difference?

Or Why bother getting the original people to do it... you know... does their knowledge about how they mixed it... how they recorded it... matter? Does it make THAT much of a difference?

And lastly... why bother asking for something that's done right. Does it make that much of a difference?

When it comes to art, yes, it does. You don't scan a picture of picasso, throw out the original, and play with the color mixing so that all the reds look green and then say "This is the definitive edition."

It's that defeatist attitude which allows them to think they can pump out crap over and over and over.... You realize this is the THIRD...

Count that... 1 2 3...

THIRD TIME... they have released this set... and not fixed anything...

They had the ability when they released it in 2004... when they did the DSD... they had the ability now..

Not to say they might not have... it's possible... unlikely... but possible...

But three times...

When has THAT been done before? Is there any president for that? Maybe if enough people had spoken up before about the errors, they might have fixed the problem sooner... who's to tell... but whats the pain in trying.

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Actually, I'd rather see Williams' Harry Potter scores expanded than the prequels'.

Give me a complete Prisoner Of Azkaban, and I'll happily wait another 10 yeears for ROTS.

I agree. I can't belive they didn't have a note of Peter Pettigrew's theme in the OS!!

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And by that argument, you may as well not even bother arguing for anything. Does it make a difference to have the entire score? I mean jeeze...whats a few missing cues...

Not true. We just don't want to ruin our chances at two brand new CD releases by raising hell for a slightly altered version of music we already have. I'm not saying all that extra stuff you want wouldn't be cool, but it's not going to change the listening experience so much as to make it more valuable than hours of unreleased music (note: not a terrible song written by John Williams fourteen different times).

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The eight discs will comprise of the 2-disc sets of the three Star Wars scores, "The Corellian Edition" and "Inside Star Trek".

Neil

ROTFLMAO

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Heads up!

http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/board/post...1&archive=0

From Musictap.com:

Sony Classical will celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Star Wars by releasing several versions of a Star Wars Anniversary collection that includes a single-disc John Williams ‘best of’ grouping of 13 tracks from all 6 Star Wars films and will be called Star Wars: The Corellian Edition. The other version is a Box set containing 8CDs of Star Wars scores including 2CD Expanded Editions of A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and The Return of the Jedi. Each episode CD will be contained in a gate-fold mini-jackets that are exact replicas of the original LP sleeves. The 30th Anniversary Collector’s Edition 8CD Box will also contain a fold-out poster created specifically for this set, historical notes of the creation of the soundtracks, and 4”x4” four-colour stickers. Whatever your desire is, the Star Wars collection is coming to a galaxy near you (sorry I said that.) The Box arrives on October 8 whilst the single disc Corellian Edition arrives on October 2.

WTF?! Nothing from the prequels? This bites.

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WTF?! Nothing from the prequels? This bites.

If this has nothing from the prequels, it will make me that much more hopeful that they're preparing a similar but separate set for them.

If they're packaging in the Corellian edition, that's pretty silly though. Any one of us can make a rip of our favorite tracks and put them on a greatest hits collection. I did this ages ago, and even created some custom themes for Lando and The Emperor by splicing together a couple of cues each.

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And by that argument, you may as well not even bother arguing for anything. Does it make a difference to have the entire score? I mean jeeze...whats a few missing cues...

That's insane.

Having the harp in the centre instead of left channel sure is just as bad as not having complete releases of all three scores ...

Who the hell would refuse a complete score because "the harp in the center is not correct"?

I'm sorry, but these "complaints" about some percussion having the wrong spot in the stereo field is nothing but insane. It doesn't even qualify as an "alternate version". In fact, it's not even worth fixing, should anyone ever do another goddamn re-re-re-release of the Star Wars Special Editions.

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Wait you guys, that article says it's released Oct 8. Perhaps their information was wrong? I guess I'm hoping against hope, but maybe they have bad info? After all, they didn't mention what was on the other two discs.

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And by that argument, you may as well not even bother arguing for anything. Does it make a difference to have the entire score? I mean jeeze...whats a few missing cues...

That's insane.

Having the harp in the centre instead of left channel sure is just as bad as not having complete releases of all three scores ...

Who the hell would refuse a complete score because "the harp in the center is not correct"?

I'm sorry, but these "complaints" about some percussion having the wrong spot in the stereo field is nothing but insane. It doesn't even qualify as an "alternate version". In fact, it's not even worth fixing, should anyone ever do another goddamn re-re-re-release of the Star Wars Special Editions.

Brought to you by somebody who likely doesn't think that correct grammar and punctuation matter when writing, or that a mathematical answer can be "close enough" when calculating.

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Does anybody actually read before posting?

Obviously not or that other Trent clone wouldn't have asked that.

And by that argument, you may as well not even bother arguing for anything. Does it make a difference to have the entire score? I mean jeeze...whats a few missing cues...

That's insane.

Having the harp in the centre instead of left channel sure is just as bad as not having complete releases of all three scores ...

Who the hell would refuse a complete score because "the harp in the center is not correct"?

I'm sorry, but these "complaints" about some percussion having the wrong spot in the stereo field is nothing but insane. It doesn't even qualify as an "alternate version". In fact, it's not even worth fixing, should anyone ever do another goddamn re-re-re-release of the Star Wars Special Editions.

I'm not that very picky when it comes to what channel a freaking harp is in...but I would perfer properly mixed versions of the Original Trilogy scores where french horns, and all other instruments are supposed to come out of the left channel and trumpets , etc out of the right channel instead of french horns and trumpets coming out of the same channel.

I will agree that some complaints are kind of nit picky and not worth complaining about. I also would rather have a full intended version of The Phantom Menace score and AOTC and ROTS instead of hacked up isolated scores.

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Brought to you by somebody who likely doesn't think that correct grammar and punctuation matter when writing, or that a mathematical answer can be "close enough" when calculating.

What does that mean?

Of course all instruments should be in the proper place, that's what I would call a conditio sine qua non, but to write a letter to Sony, to point out in which tracks some harp or celesta is in the wrong spot, with a pledge to please remix the entire score because of that ... well, don't you see how absurd that is?

And to put "I don't care whether the harp plays in the center or the left" on the same level as "I don't care whether complete scores are released or not" is just beyond any good reason and judgement.

gkgyver- who thinks his grammar and punctuation is generally in good shape

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What does that mean?

Of course all words and punctuation marks should be in the proper place, that's what I would call a conditio sine qua non, but to write a letter to a publisher, to point out on which pages some word or punctuation mark is in the wrong spot, with a request to please ensure the next printing be corrected ... well, don't you see how SENSIBLE that is?

By using your own words, I hope my analogy is becoming more clear.

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It wasn't exactly to be mistaken in the first place.

But to have a good analogy, both examples should be of equal importance. In this case, however, the level of importance is, in comparison, a tad askew.

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Guys... lets not argue...

As invalid as your point is gkgyver, It is your opinion and you are allowed to have such.

Next time you buy something that's overpriced and under packaged, and it turns out to be a slip-shod collection of hodgepodge pieces all done incorrectly and sound/look like a 4th grader did it, remember not to tell the manufacturer about it. Just feel worthy they felt generous enough to let you buy it three times for far more than its worth.

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Next time you buy something that's overpriced and under packaged, and it turns out to be a slip-shod collection of hodgepodge pieces all done incorrectly and sound/look like a 4th grader did it, remember not to tell the manufacturer about it.

Holy makerel, talk about blowing things out of proportion!

You are talking about those great Star Wars Special Editions released some years ago, don't you?

I don't know about you, but generally I inform myself about a product before I buy a "slip-shod collection of hodgepodge pieces all done incorrectly and sound/look like a 4th grader did it".

Not buying is better than writing absurd letters listing every instrument not panned correctly.

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The people at Sony probably don't care where the harp is located. The problem is they'll read that about the harp and throw it in the fanboy-trashcan (as in: 5 people on earth worry about the harp; so that's not where the money is).

What we should do is mail:

- Star Wars is fine, thank you very much.

- The Empire Strikes Back suffers from a few bad mixes (eg Hyperspace), and could they please remaster the correct mixes.

- Return of the Jedi has horrible sound quality. Again, could they remaster it from sources that are available now.

(And add a few cues left off perhaps.)

Stuff they'll understand. If these things are fixed, then the 'mass' film music population will buy again. Not if they just repackage it.

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The people at Sony probably don't care where the harp is located. The problem is they'll read that about the harp and throw it in the fanboy-trashcan (as in: 5 people on earth worry about the harp; so that's not where the money is).

What we should do is mail:

- Star Wars is fine, thank you very much.

- The Empire Strikes Back suffers from a few bad mixes (eg Hyperspace), and could they please remaster the correct mixes.

- Return of the Jedi has horrible sound quality. Again, could they remaster it from sources that are available now.

(And add a few cues left off perhaps.)

Stuff they'll understand. If these things are fixed, then the 'mass' film music population will buy again. Not if they just repackage it.

i agree

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The people at Sony probably don't care where the harp is located. The problem is they'll read that about the harp and throw it in the fanboy-trashcan (as in: 5 people on earth worry about the harp; so that's not where the money is).

What we should do is mail:

- Star Wars is fine, thank you very much.

- The Empire Strikes Back suffers from a few bad mixes (eg Hyperspace), and could they please remaster the correct mixes.

- Return of the Jedi has horrible sound quality. Again, could they remaster it from sources that are available now.

(And add a few cues left off perhaps.)

Stuff they'll understand. If these things are fixed, then the 'mass' film music population will buy again. Not if they just repackage it.

More pressing than these OT-related matters, though, is the desire for good complete releases of the prequel scores, including TPM.

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