The Force Awakens Force Awakens ABC TV Spot - CONFIRMED premiere of Williams' score!

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

We were all wrong. It's like catastrophic failure of JWFan.

[mrbellamy 6,272]

It started off well and then you and I ruined it 

 

On 11/12/2015 at 9:52 PM, Muad'Dib said:

That sounds like it could actually be Williams!

Williams or not, I really like that flute theme.

 

On 11/12/2015 at 9:54 PM, Tom said:

It was very Williamsy, both in theme and orchestration. A nice little mystery/foreboding cue.

 

On 11/12/2015 at 9:58 PM, Not Mr. Big said:

I think it's Williams.

 

On 11/12/2015 at 9:59 PM, Gruesome Son of a Bitch said:

I'm not convinced.

 

On 11/12/2015 at 10:02 PM, mrbellamy said:

Me neither.

 

[Fabulin 3,510]

.

[Sandor 796]

As you can read on one of the first pages, I confirmed it was Williams’ music long before it became fact. 

 

I checked with the same source, but he can/will not confirm it’s Williams this time. 

[Tom 4,639]

Yeah, I started that one strong, but I think later in the thread I lost confidence in my "Williams-dar." 

 

45 minutes ago, Sandor said:

I checked with the same source, but he can/will not confirm it’s Williams this time. 

 

Would your source be in a position to deny it, if it was not Williams?

[Sandor 796]

25 minutes ago, Tom said:

Would your source be in a position to deny it, if it was not Williams?

 

Probably. 

 

I think the music actually sounds very much alike the march we heard last year during the Verizon (?) commercial that turned out to be a mystery... It certainly wasn’t part of the TLJ score. Same composer?

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

4 hours ago, Sandor said:

As you can read on one of the first pages, I confirmed it was Williams’ music long before it became fact. 

 

I checked with the same source, but he can/will not confirm it’s Williams this time. 

 

How does it feel to know that no one believed you?

[Joni Wiljami 1,206]

On 11/14/2015 at 12:03 AM, hornist said:

Idiots!!

 

[Datameister 2,037]

Hey, did anyone ever figure out who arranged the music for TFA's second teaser?

 

 

Some photos of sheet music appeared online back in the day, and they look fairly legit to me, albeit definitely different from the engraved scores JKMS engraves for Williams himself: https://www.thebeardedtrio.com/2015/04/heres-sheet-music-from-force-awakens.html

 

 

[BrotherSound 2,242]

35 minutes ago, Datameister said:

Hey, did anyone ever figure out who arranged the music for TFA's second teaser?

 

It's not the most reliable source, but IMDb credits Frederick Lloyd, John Samuel Hanson, Aleksandar Dimitrijevic, Kris Dirksen, and Jacob Yoffee for TFA trailer music, which may include the TV ads as well as the theatrical trailers. We know John Williams did Teaser #1 himself, and I've seen the final trailer credited to Frederick Lloyd and John Samuel Hanson, but nothing specific for Teaser #2.

 

38 minutes ago, Datameister said:

Some photos of sheet music appeared online back in the day, and they look fairly legit to me, albeit definitely different from the engraved scores JKMS engraves for Williams himself: https://www.thebeardedtrio.com/2015/04/heres-sheet-music-from-force-awakens.html

 

I don't think sheet music even exists for typical modern trailer music: it's all done in sequencers and with samples. In any case, it would have been extremely unlikely anyone but JKMS would have handled score prep for something recorded for a Star Wars trailer. Professional sheet music is usually pretty bare bones and functional: there wouldn't be a full-color cover or use of a Star Wars font.

[Datameister 2,037]

2 hours ago, BrotherSound said:

 

It's not the most reliable source, but IMDb credits Frederick Lloyd, John Samuel Hanson, Aleksandar Dimitrijevic, Kris Dirksen, and Jacob Yoffee for TFA trailer music, which may include the TV ads as well as the theatrical trailers. We know John Williams did Teaser #1 himself, and I've seen the final trailer credited to Frederick Lloyd and John Samuel Hanson, but nothing specific for Teaser #2.

 

 

I don't think sheet music even exists for typical modern trailer music: it's all done in sequencers and with samples. In any case, it would have been extremely unlikely anyone but JKMS would have handled score prep for something recorded for a Star Wars trailer. Professional sheet music is usually pretty bare bones and functional: there wouldn't be a full-color cover or use of a Star Wars font.

 

In many cases I'd agree about sheet music for trailer music, but I'd be shocked if this one were concocted purely from sample libraries and existing recordings. Same for the final trailer that Lloyd and Hanson worked on. There are certainly electronic elements - enough to give it that trailer-y veneer - but I would be really surprised if none of it were recorded with a real orchestra.

 

That being said, I agree that the Star Wars font and the binding are suspicious. No way in hell JKMS would use the Star Wars font, and it does seem rather unlikely that the music preparation would have been done elsewhere. (The binding could have been done after the fact so I find it slightly less incriminating.) In any case, the overlarge time signatures and the measure numbers suggest that the engraver is at least familiar with what film score sheet music looks like - or they happened to find a good template, haha.

 

The original imgur album appears to be empty now, but it was archived 4/24/15. https://web.archive.org/web/20150424094715/http://imgur.com/a/EboMq So if it was indeed done by a fan, they didn't waste much time!

 

EDIT: I did find this: https://jacobyoffeemusic.com/trailers/star-wars-the-force-awakens/

[King Mark 3,625]

Sounds too synthy to be Williams. I guess we'll know for sure when the movie comes out

[Datameister 2,037]

Hardy har.

[Manakin Skywalker 4,891]

It's not synth (at least not entirely), because I have the synth mockup of the trailer #2 music, and it sounds a lot less real than what is in the final trailer. I know some of the orchestral parts were recorded at AIR Studios, I just don't know who arranged it. Another composer I know did arrangements for a couple of the trailers is Mike Rubino, who does a lot of the orchestral stuff for X-Ray Dog and Immediate Music trailers, and it sounds like it could be him, although that's just pure speculation.

 

Most of the composers that @BrotherSound listed from IMDB only do electronic/percussion work, although one or two of them I am not familiar with.

 

EDIT: I also remembered that Frederick Lloyd also did the D3 trailer for TROS, and the music sounds very, very similar. So it could be him. Someone should ask him on Twitter.

[tee_oh 20]

I didn't know where to ask this, but since this thread was revived I thought it was fitting. 

 

I've always wanted to find an isolated version of the force Awakens teaser #1 music with no sfx. Does that exist anywhere? 

[BrotherSound 2,242]

24 minutes ago, tee_oh said:

I didn't know where to ask this, but since this thread was revived I thought it was fitting. 

 

I've always wanted to find an isolated version of the force Awakens teaser #1 music with no sfx. Does that exist anywhere? 

The best I’ve been able to find is this version, which at least doesn’t have dialog and the sound effects at least aren’t too obnoxiously loud: 

 

By the way, @Falstaft, do I hear a bit of the Finn/chase motif in there (well, the rhythm anyway)? It wasn’t really clear enough to make out much in that section before.

 

[Jay 37,287]

Woah you're right, from 0:17-0:31 is like a trailerized version of it!

[karelm 2,903]

On 11/6/2020 at 11:56 AM, Datameister said:

 

In many cases I'd agree about sheet music for trailer music, but I'd be shocked if this one were concocted purely from sample libraries and existing recordings. Same for the final trailer that Lloyd and Hanson worked on. There are certainly electronic elements - enough to give it that trailer-y veneer - but I would be really surprised if none of it were recorded with a real orchestra.

 

That being said, I agree that the Star Wars font and the binding are suspicious. No way in hell JKMS would use the Star Wars font, and it does seem rather unlikely that the music preparation would have been done elsewhere. (The binding could have been done after the fact so I find it slightly less incriminating.) In any case, the overlarge time signatures and the measure numbers suggest that the engraver is at least familiar with what film score sheet music looks like - or they happened to find a good template, haha.

 

The original imgur album appears to be empty now, but it was archived 4/24/15. https://web.archive.org/web/20150424094715/http://imgur.com/a/EboMq So if it was indeed done by a fan, they didn't waste much time!

 

EDIT: I did find this: https://jacobyoffeemusic.com/trailers/star-wars-the-force-awakens/

 

That score is definitely not pro quality, it's a fan transcription (someone transcribed it because they wanted to either sell it or study it).  Evidence: It's a tabloid print and bound at FedEx Kinkos (notice the spiral bounding and it's two 11 inch spirals since Kinkos doesn't have larger coil binds they put two together resulting in a clumsy bind.  The trumpet staves say 1 & 2, and 2 & 3 with 4 trumpets playing, an amateur mistake.  Harp notation for "ad lib" is a squiggly line that JAKMS would definitely not use.  Other inconsistencies like a hairpin on only one staff but all others have the same dynamics and gestures.  Lots of other examples but you get the point. JW is their VIP client, they wouldn't produce something this amateurish for him especially not a brand new star wars score where this would be the first hint of new music. 

[Jay 37,287]

Fascinating analysis!

[Datameister 2,037]

1 hour ago, karelm said:

 

That score is definitely not pro quality, it's a fan transcription (someone transcribed it because they wanted to either sell it or study it).  Evidence: It's a tabloid print and bound at FedEx Kinkos (notice the spiral bounding and it's two 11 inch spirals since Kinkos doesn't have larger coil binds they put two together resulting in a clumsy bind.  The trumpet staves say 1 & 2, and 2 & 3 with 4 trumpets playing, an amateur mistake.  Harp notation for "ad lib" is a squiggly line that JAKMS would definitely not use.  Other inconsistencies like a hairpin on only one staff but all others have the same dynamics and gestures.  Lots of other examples but you get the point. JW is their VIP client, they wouldn't produce something this amateurish for him especially not a brand new star wars score where this would be the first hint of new music. 

 

You're totally right. At this point I have no doubt it was a fan transcription.