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STAR WARS - Live To Projection Concerts


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21 hours ago, hornist said:

 

They chose.... wisely!! Hired the best for this concert!! ME.  Can't wait. 

 

Awesome! Congratulations!

 

Will you be playing the Binary Sunset solo?

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Question: the blue ray Empire Strikes Back has some awful music edits that are clear drop ins and change the flow of the scene.  Does the live to project concert feature these edits as if they were originally scored that way or they use the better original version?  For example when Vader says "take me to my ship" and they have an insert of his imperial cruiser going to the star destroyer with the imperial march from another scene.

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18 minutes ago, karelm said:

Question: the blue ray Empire Strikes Back has some awful music edits that are clear drop ins and change the flow of the scene.  Does the live to project concert feature these edits as if they were originally scored that way or the the original better version?  For example when Vader says "take me to my ship" and they have an insert of his imperial cruiser going to the star destroyer with the imperial march from another scene.

 

Every last bit of editing/tracking/looping the final films did is replicated live by the orchestra. No unused music is restored.

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On 8/10/2018 at 1:52 PM, Mr. Breathmask said:

 

Awesome! Congratulations!

 

Will you be playing the Binary Sunset solo?

 

Unfortunately not the solo horn. But I think I will enjoy this even more as a tutti horn. Not too much pressure and when the dream of my childhood will become true. 

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  • 1 month later...
On ‎8‎/‎17‎/‎2018 at 10:44 AM, Jay said:

 

Every last bit of editing/tracking/looping the final films did is replicated live by the orchestra. 

 

Seeing A New Hope this weekend here with the Baltimore Symphony.  Does the orchestra perform the loop in the End Credits that was done in the Special Edition? I hope not, but I have a feeling that they will.

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On 9/25/2018 at 10:14 AM, MrScratch said:

 

Seeing A New Hope this weekend here with the Baltimore Symphony.  Does the orchestra perform the loop in the End Credits that was done in the Special Edition? I hope not, but I have a feeling that they will.

Have a great time.  I hear the Jabba scene is in the film so this is probably the special edition.  Report back! 

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9 hours ago, karelm said:

I hear the Jabba scene is in the film so this is probably the special edition.

I'm betting it's the Blu-Ray version, to be specific.

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7 hours ago, Manakin Skywalker said:

I'm betting it's the Blu-Ray version, to be specific.

 

It was when it was performed in Amsterdam.

 

On 8/17/2018 at 4:44 PM, Jay said:

 

Every last bit of editing/tracking/looping the final films did is replicated live by the orchestra. No unused music is restored.

 

I guess I'll never get to hear the unused approach of the AT-AT walkers live. :(

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3 minutes ago, Mr. Breathmask said:

I guess I'll never get to hear the unused approach of the AT-AT walkers live. :(

Well, at least it's not the theatrical one where a ton of the unique and interesting Imperial March variations were tracked over with other ones. But it also has the destroyed Hyperspace, I guess. :( 

 

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18 hours ago, karelm said:

Have a great time.  I hear the Jabba scene is in the film so this is probably the special edition.  Report back! 

 

On 9/19/2017 at 7:42 PM, Jay said:

The concert Friday evening was wonderful!

I'm not familiar with the intricate details of the minute differences between all the various versions of Star Wars that have existed post-1997 SE, so to me this seemed like the Blu Ray cut - it featured the full 20th Century Fox logo in the beginning (which the orchestra played, which was great), and the better CGI Jabba as opposed to the first CGI Jabba from '97.

 

The intermission was oddly placed, I thought.  It was in the middle of The Death Star cue, as the Millennium Falcon is being pulled into The Death Star.  Basically on the wide shot of the Falcon approaching the screen, it just faded out, and the music kind of faded away (I can't recall exactly how they handled it).  Upon returning from intermission, they replayed the loud glorious Rebel Fanfare from the cue to a black screen, as the same shot we had already seen of the Falcon being pulled faded in during the music, and the film and cue continued from there.

 

As far as I could tell, everything they played matched the final cut of the film exactly.  This means Dianoga ("The Water Snake" ) and the music dialed out of The Walls Converge was not restored, and of course the sections trimmed from The Dune Sea Of Tatooine ("Desert Song") and Chasm Crossfire ("The Swashbucklers") are still gone.  This also means the 1997 SE alterations had to be recreated, ie the extended "Look Sir, Droids!" scene, and the extended arrival at Mos Eisley.  Honestly, though, when performed live both sections sounded COMPLETELY fine, nothing un-musical about them at all -- and hey, we get to hear most of Dianoga this way!  More annoying was the Jabba The Hutt scene, since it was all ROTJ music, and always seems out of place (they did play it perfectly fine, though!)

 

The orchestra played tremendously, and flawlessly from what I could tell!  The strings and brass especially nailed everything throughout the evening, really only the percussion sounded different from the original recordings - and it wasn't BAD, just DIFFERENT.  Whoever was in control of the cymbals was particularly aggressive, making some really loud crashes happen at times, which was kind of funny!

 

David Newman didn't say a word before or after the performance which I thought was a bit odd, though he did return to the stage TWICE after departing after the end credits.  I thought he was going to do an encore of Princess Leia's Theme or something when he came out a second time!

 

I've seen this film countless times, so everytime the orchestra was playing I found myself watching them exclusively, and only really watched the film in between orchestral cues. Both Cantina Band cues came from the speakers, they were not performed live, which I wasn't expecting them to be (it would be kinda weird if they did; I noticed this time while watching the film that the second Cantina Band cue actually loops for a long while due to the Greedo scene!)

 

The audio mix for the evening was perfect, IMO.  Every time the orchestra was playing, it was the loudest part of the mix, which is perfect - it's why you're there!  This occasionally meant some dialogue got drowned up completely, which is fine by me! (others might take issue with it).  I did notice after it was pointed out to me that the left and right channels seemed to mostly be not playing - since most of the dialogue and sound effects come from the center channel this was't a big issue, and I did notice the surround channels were working at some points, there was other points when it was obvious the other channels weren't doing much.  Again this wasn't an issue for me, since I've seen the film countless times and I'm there for the music - and the music was always mixed PERFECTLY.

 

Overall a very successful evening, because the score is THAT good; one of my favorites of all time, and a pure pleasure to hear live.  This had to have been the first time the Force Theme has been played for a live audience this many times... forever!  There are too many musical highlights to mention, but really the entire concert is a treat.


Yes, it is indeed a bummer that it's the SE cut of the film and not the original, but that is truly about the only negative thing I can say about the whole experience.  The music still shines, and even the SE-altered music isn't an abomination to the experience.

 

I hope I get the chance to see TESB, ROTJ, and TFA in this setting as well!

 

 

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What Jay said!  The Intermission is definitely oddly placed.

 

The orchestra nailed it.  I attended two performances of this, the Friday night and the Sunday afternoon.  At the Friday show, the conductor did not address the audience before starting the movie and no one cheered at the movie apart from the Main Title and End Credits.  At Sunday's show, the conductor enthusiastically addressed the audience before the movie and invited everyone to cheer and applause during the movie - which they very much did.  People cheered and laughed at every character's first appearance, every line of classic recitable dialogue and every iconic moment.

 

It's too bad there isn't a sound mix prepared specifically to accompany the live score concerts.  It would be nice if most sound effects were completely eliminated or dialed down while still retaining all the dialogue.

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Wow, that's pretty interesting how different atmospheres two performances in the same venue had in the same weekend!

 

I think most live to projection concerts handle the sound mix pretty well.  People on film score focused forums tend to complain the dialogue and sound effects were too loud, but the majority of the people in the room were probably paying more attention to the movie itself than the orchestra unfortunately.

 

I do remember in NYC, though, that during some of the louder action scenes, the dialogue was almost complete drowned out by the orchestra, which I was completely fine with since I've seen the film a million times and was there to hear the music

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11 hours ago, Stefancos said:

Its the last version of the SE Lucas signed off on. There's no reason right not to ever expect any other version to be screened.

That's the one in the blue ray box set right?  Maybe after Ep IX, they'll have a new box set with revised SE.

 

For those interested, a buddy of mine who played brass in the concert said the stamina demands were not bad and in fact it was easier to play than Raiders live to film (which I'll be seeing sometime this month...forgot when).  They used no click.

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4 minutes ago, karelm said:

That's the one in the blue ray box set right? 

 

On 9/19/2017 at 7:42 PM, Jay said:

so to me this seemed like the Blu Ray cut

 

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50 minutes ago, MrScratch said:

It's too bad there isn't a sound mix prepared specifically to accompany the live score concerts.  It would be nice if most sound effects were completely eliminated or dialed down while still retaining all the dialogue.

 

But the sound effects are very iconic too!  Hard to imagine the Star Wars experience without Ben Burtt's significant contribution with the ship sounds, wa-wa light sabers, etc.

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Yea, it would be a bad idea to complete remove any sound effects.  Really you want someone there doing live mixing to make sure you can still hear everything, but with the music more front and center than in the normal film.

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I don't want sound effects completely removed, but some sound effects just don't need to be there in a live score presentation such as this.  One example I can think of is during the medal ceremony.  The clinking sound that the medals make as they are being handed to Leia and as she gives them Luke and Han is VERY audible.  That is an incidental sound effect that could just be removed in a LTP presentation of the movie/score. 

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  • 1 month later...

Brilliant performance of Star Wars by the LSO tonight at the Royal Albert Hall. Not sure if this is part of the standard Live-to-Projection programme, but the Fox Fanfare was played live together with the Fox logo immediately before the "A long time ago..." title.

 

Edit: Ah, apparently it is.

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For those in Melbourne, Australia (sorry Florida) the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra are performing Empire Strikes Back in a couple of weeks:

 

Tickets and details are here!

 

We'll also be doing an Art of the Score before each and every concert.

 

On top of that we've got a few things in the foyer that people might enjoy like a "life-size" X-Wing you can get into and get photos with etc. Come up and say hi if you come to the talk!

 

 

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I was meant to be attending the saturday afternoon concert, but am currently sat here in my bed at 3:20am unable to sleep because of sickness. It started yesterday when I had another concert that I had to miss called 'Spielberg in Concert.'  I am utterly devastated that I wont be able to go to the LSO Star Wars concert. I haven't been ill all bloody year, and I fall ill exactly the weekend of two huge concerts. I guess life hates me.

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Great concert! I think I watched about half of the movie, as when the orchestra was playing, I was too occupied watching them to pay much attention to e proceedings on the screen... I'm still fascinated by the inner workings of these things, how the conductor navigates the sync, how the players react and phrase the music... They really did give it their all and played with a lot of heart and enthusiusm, so much so that it was hard at times not to forget that this was not the OST recording, performance-wise.

The after-concert drinks where a nice way to wind down the evening!

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14 hours ago, crocodile said:

Oh wow! That was one of the better concerts. The brass, man! And percussion too! It also helps that this is the least meddled with score in the series and it is allowed to really shine. And boy, it certainly did last night! I hope LSO does Empire too.

 

I also surprisingly enjoyed watched the film itself. It has been a while and it was never my favourite. But by having experienced it with enthusiastic audience at the RAH with LSO playing made it really special. I can now sort of understand why people went crazy about it when it first came out 41 years ago.

 

Oh and it was great to see @Marian Schedenig @ChrisAfonso and @Bilbo for a couple of drinks as well. And @Jim Ware briefly as well. :)

 

Karol

The Brass were incredible tonight also at The Royal Albert Hall!!!! Especially the trumpets! ❤️

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On 11/17/2018 at 3:19 AM, leeallen01 said:

I was meant to be attending the saturday afternoon concert, but am currently sat here in my bed at 3:20am unable to sleep because of sickness. It started yesterday when I had another concert that I had to miss called 'Spielberg in Concert.'  I am utterly devastated that I wont be able to go to the LSO Star Wars concert. I haven't been ill all bloody year, and I fall ill exactly the weekend of two huge concerts. I guess life hates me.

Dude I feel for you :(

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On 10/1/2018 at 9:37 AM, MrScratch said:

The orchestra nailed it.  I attended two performances of this, the Friday night and the Sunday afternoon.  At the Friday show, the conductor did not address the audience before starting the movie and no one cheered at the movie apart from the Main Title and End Credits.  At Sunday's show, the conductor enthusiastically addressed the audience before the movie and invited everyone to cheer and applause during the movie - which they very much did.  People cheered and laughed at every character's first appearance, every line of classic recitable dialogue and every iconic moment.

 

I attended the Saturday afternoon show of that concert with The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. 

 

Conductor Jack Everly greeted the audience before the show where he said:

“Good afternoon, fellow members of the Resistance”

It got a laugh.

In Maestro Everly’s defense, there was an audience member that was in a Rey costume--a bandaged face with goggles over the eyes.

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21 hours ago, SyncMan said:

 

I attended the Saturday afternoon show of that concert with The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. 

 

Conductor Jack Everly greeted the audience before the show where he said:

“Good afternoon, fellow members of the Resistance”

It got a laugh.

In Maestro Everly’s defense, there was an audience member that was in a Rey costume--a bandaged face with goggles over the eyes.

 

There was a Kylo Ren at the Friday night performance.  Overall there weren't as many costumed audience members as I'd anticipated, especially since going on that same weekend was the Baltimore Comic-Con.

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My report on the Star Wars-ANH concert with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra at Prudential Hall, Newark, NJ:

I had high hopes for this because of the program’s conductor Constantine Kitsopoulos.  I was in San Francisco on Nov. 3rd when he led the SF Symphony for Jurassic Park and the brass playing was great. 

I mentioned the brass section because I attended the Kennedy Center for two Star Wars concerts by the National Symphony Orchestra, under Steven Reineke—ANH and ESB—and the brass playing was very poor on both programs.  They were not pronouncing the notes as sharply as they should be. I blame both the brass section for their playing and Maestro Reineke for letting the brass section get away with it.  I have tickets for the NSO concert of RotJ by the NSO, under Reineke, and I’m dreading on going. The NSO’s brass section were better on other programs I’ve witnessed such as Jaws and Casino Royale, both conducted by Emil de Cou.

 

 

Back to the NJSO program.  When Maestro Kitsopoulos arrived on stage, he did greet the audience and encourage them to cheer, laugh, and applaud at their favorites characters—for which they did.  A few of the audience members, actually, applauded at the end of the Binary Sunset cue.  I’m happy to say that the brass section sounded great—not a lazy tongue in the bunch.  And Prudential Hall in Newark with its surrounding wood surfaces gave the orchestra—especially the brass section—a crisp sounding quality that was very pleasing to the ear when the orchestra’s reading is well done. For me, it is the best sounding performance of SW:ANH I’ve heard in a concert setting.  I think I’ll end my SW:ANH concert going, here, having gone to three, already.   

 

Now, I’m excited to go back to Newark for ESB this January.

I hope that the orchestra can do RoTJ and TFA next season.

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Just returned from Star Wars LTP at Manchester Arena.

 

HIGHS: The conductor did a fantastic job, the orchestra were tight and the cues were satisfyingly on point...the Death Star explosion got a clap! I enjoyed the sound presentation of the film, actually, having only seen it at the cinema in 1997- the deep bass was satsfying. Brass and violins carried really well, and getting a live mix of instrumentation helped bring out layers of the score I was less familiar with.

 

LOWS: The orchestra were on a flat stage, far away, and not lit. Sometimes I had to remind myself they were there! Worse, the low registers didn't carry in the poor acoustics of the Arena - double bass and timpani could only be heard well on their own, not among the rest of the orchestra. Finally, the horn solo flubbed two notes during the Binary Sunset!

 

Still, a great event and worth seeing, probably my peak of my concerting after Giacchino's 50th, a full Star Wars selection concert and An Evening Without John Williams in the past year. Oh, and my costume went down well, got a few shots with the characters who were hanging around before and during the intermission. Should I join Rebel Legion?

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I have a chance to attend the LTP concerts of ROTJ and TFA in Washington, DC in 2019 and I need to know this:

What point in each of these 2 films does it split into 2 acts?

 

Thanks,

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I went up to Eugene, OR this last weekend to see Star Wars LTP.  For the Fox Fanfare and beginnng of the Main Title, the bass sounded amplified.  Didn’t notice it later, so I guess someone was actually working the mixing board.  Overall, quite pleased.  A couple of hits felt off, but that may be my memory.  (How long has it been since I’ve seen the whole movie and have I ever listened that intently to the music?). Couldn't believe the nerve of the people behind me who thought it was okay to talk through the closing credits.  A well placed “Hey!” From me shut them up.  Sometimes being 6’5” is a good thing.

 

No Princess Leia’s Theme — boo!

 

Dozens of children there — Yeah!

 

Texted my best friend, “Wish you were here.”  And, I texted a few others, “You wish you were here!”

 

If they do another (cough Empire cough), I’ll be there.

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  • 4 weeks later...

The first two of the four concerts I'll be attending are this Friday (ANH) and Saturday (ESB), can't wait :)

 

https://philharmoniedeparis.fr/en/agenda-selection/19417 19416 19526 19527/all/all/all

 

It will be this orchestra (which is great) : http://www.orchestre-ile.com/site.php?type=P&id=209

 

I might also attend some of the conferences around this I don't know. Strangely enough, it's TFA that I'm the most curious to hear live :) But taht'll be in march.

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What at a great performance, not that I had any doubts :) Doing these concert not amplified in the philharmonie de paris was a great choice ! Really like the acoustic. The film mix was delivered through speakers of course and it was a tad too present for my tast but the Ochestre National d’Ile de France was top notch.

 

One cool fact I managed to take a picture during the standing ovation. After the second time the conductor returned on stage, he took the score and showed it to the crowd and it drew even more applause.

 

Fun fact at the end I heard a woman saying « The music is considerably more interesting than the story itself » which I agree :) 

I found myself looking at the orchestra many times :) 

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I wonder when The Last Jedi performances will be announced? If the Force Awakens concerts are any indication, they'll start performing around December before Episode IX is released.

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