Harry Potter - The John Williams Soundtrack Collection 7CD boxset from La-La Land Records (2018)

[Bilbo 3,709]

6 hours ago, Incanus said:

I was thinking of Bilbo. He wants both.

 

You will do them both and in chronological order and you’ll hurry the damn hell up with both of them!! 

[Josh500 1,615]

8 hours ago, Bilbo said:

 

You will do them both and in chronological order and you’ll hurry the damn hell up with both of them!! 

 

Why you treating Inky like your very own Dobby? 😂 

[King Mark 3,631]

On 1/23/2019 at 12:11 PM, Josh500 said:

 

Indeed! 

 

LLL is a great label and they do amazing, wonderful work, but I wish they'd step up quality control! These days, you feel lucky when one of their sets arrives undamaged.... But this should be the rule rather than the exception!

I've had 3 scratched disk so far from LLL  :Lost in Space 2.c.d., JP disk 2 and HP disk 7

 

I've had zero scratched disks from other labels and store bought c.d.'s in my lifetime

 

Do the get their c.d's in a pile from the pressing plant and assemble them afterwards?

[Josh500 1,615]

On 1/25/2019 at 10:48 AM, King Mark said:

I've had 3 scratched disk so far from LLL  :Lost in Space 2.c.d., JP disk 2 and HP disk 7

 

I've had zero scratched disks from other labels and store bought c.d.'s in my lifetime

 

Do the get their c.d's in a pile from the pressing plant and assemble them afterwards?

 

You mean really bad, noticeable scratches that possibly affect the music itself? Or very light hairline scratches? 

 

Right now I don't recall ever having received scratched CDs from LLL, but plenty of broken teeth, broken cases, and crumpled, scuffed or even torn (at least the edges) booklets! 

 

I have never asked for a replacement from LLL, by the way. And I feel lucky! 

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

The final rendition of Hedwig’s theme in PoA: why does it sound like it intentionally suffers from a drop in momentum in the climax?

[King Mark 3,631]

yeah  that's the first thing I noticed, I thought it was a damaged master tape but people are saying it's recorded that way

 

(if were talking about the same thing)

[Richard Penna 3,686]

If you're referring to the bit just before the final 'stabs' come in right at the end where it feels for a mjoment like the music has stopped, I'd say it was just recorded that way. Not a performance I like much.

[Incanus 5,714]

1 minute ago, Richard Penna said:

If you're referring to the bit just before the final 'stabs' come in right at the end where it feels for a mjoment like the music has stopped, I'd say it was just recorded that way. Not a performance I like much.

Agreed. A strange orchestration/mixing decision which sort of robs part of the triumphant dazzling energy from the finale which was to be the final for Williams in the entire series.

[Holko 9,525]

Timestamp?

[Richard Penna 3,686]

6:53/54 ish.

[Holko 9,525]

Oh, that just adds a crescendo to that otherwise repetitive section, giving a new dimension to it! I like it.

[Faleel 5,346]

It makes it feel like his broomstick stopped working for five seconds.

[King Mark 3,631]

HPSS Teaser is the best recording of that bit

[Faleel 5,346]

Nah, it's too sloppy and dead there, too dry and not versatile enough.

[bollemanneke 3,342]

Totally random observation: it just struck me how freaking original The Courtyard is as a score cue. I had always thought it was source music.

[Datameister 2,042]

Fascinating to hear a different take on that HT passage, but yeah, I'm not a fan of that decision. The SS performance is a clear winner for me.

[Jurassic Shark 12,067]

Should I bother getting this set?

[Jay 37,352]

6 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

Totally random observation: it just struck me how freaking original The Courtyard is as a score cue. I had always thought it was source music.

 

It is source music.  There is a character on screen playing a recorder during the scene.

[bollemanneke 3,342]

Oh. Strange that it ended up in the score presentation in that case.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

2 hours ago, Faleel J.M. said:

It makes it feel like his broomstick stopped working for five seconds.

 

Yes. 

[Wojo 2,453]

2 hours ago, Faleel J.M. said:

It makes it feel like his broomstick stopped working for five seconds.

 

I hate it when that happens. 

[bollemanneke 3,342]

32 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Should I bother getting this set?

YES!

[Jurassic Shark 12,067]

There's too much music!

[Datameister 2,042]

1 hour ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Should I bother getting this set?

 

It's so freaking good...

[Jurassic Shark 12,067]

11 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

There's too much music!

 

...to paraphrase Thor.

[Brundlefly 2,385]

The dynamic range of this set is truly above average, I'd say. Were the leaked sessions even more extreme?

[Holko 9,525]

HPPS was pretty quiet overall.

[Once 605]

On 2/11/2019 at 9:24 PM, bollemanneke said:

Oh. Strange that it ended up in the score presentation in that case.

'Cast a Christmas Spell', 'Fluffy's Harp Lullaby' and 'Double Trouble' are also source music. Personally, I prefer it in the score presentation If it fits into the body of the score. I've placed 'A Winter's Spell' after 'The Snowball Fight', it fits perfect to me.

[bollemanneke 3,342]

Oh, agreed, I put all the HP3 source music in the main program as well. Never understood why one should make a distinction between score and source music for this score, especially when it's done inconsistently.

[crumbs 14,308]

59 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

Oh, agreed, I put all the HP3 source music in the main program as well. Never understood why one should make a distinction between score and source music for this score, especially when it's done inconsistently.

 

Did you need to edit tracks to achieve this?

 

I agree though. Unlike with most Williams scores, the 3 source tracks after the end credits are noticeably incongruous. POA is such an eccentric blend of diegetic and non-diegetic music that relegating a selection of source to the bonuses doesn't sit right; I can totally understand how mixing the source into the score would enhance the presentation rather than distract.

 

It's inconsistently applied anyway; the flute source was included in the film presentation, the shawm source was omitted entirely, the music box was relegated to the extras despite an equivalent track being included in the film presentation for PS, etc.

[bollemanneke 3,342]

Yes, making a chronological presentation does require some editing and unfortunately, a few cues don't have clean openings (this doesn't apply to the source music).

 

I couldn't agree more with everything you said about the presentation. I wish we'd know which of these choices were MM's or JW's.

[Jurassic Shark 12,067]

Does it matter as long as JW approved the whole presentation?

[crumbs 14,308]

It's safe to say omitting shawm was a Williams directive, considering 'insignificant' cues like That's A Lie! were included.

 

And yeah, I figured editing would be required for the POA source. I can imagine the music box source would actually work really well sandwiched between the alternate Up the Stairs and The Snowball Fight (no editing required there, as the alternate is already placed at the end of Walk in the Woods and Bird's Flight, and it's chronological for Williams' original intentions). A Winter's Spell sandwiched between The Snowball Fight and The Three Broomsticks would work pretty well, I reckon. Certainly better than inserting it halfway through the latter track via editing.

 

Placing the three source cues from The Wizards' Consort would be the trickiest. Not necessarily the first cue but rather the latter two. They can't be inserted cleanly anywhere as Matessino sadly crossfaded the two cues comprising The Three Broomsticks.

 

9 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Does it matter as long as JW approved the whole presentation?

 

Well, he approved the first LLL expansion of Hook and, in hindsight, that release is a bit of a mess (arguably more for technical reasons than 'creative' ones).

[bollemanneke 3,342]

I solved the Three Broomsticks problem by having UTS fade out and TTB fade in. Sure, you don't really have complete openings and endings, but it's much better than nothing.

[Holko 9,525]

I just placed Wizard's Consort between Winter's Spell and 3 Broomsticks. Apart from the cues around DT being too memorable in film order, I love all cue combinations, and even those I pretty much understand.

[crumbs 14,308]

Yeah, despite thinking some of those combinations would annoy me, I haven't actually gone back and changed anything yet (not even the editing mistake at the end of Saving Buckbeak).

 

All in good time though After all, a wizard is never late. He edits his scores precisely when he means to.

[bollemanneke 3,342]

I don't have a problem with Saving Buckbeak at all. I agree that most of the combinations work brilliantly as a music-only experience, they just don't work when you think about the movie while listening.

[crumbs 14,308]

There's a tiny editing flub right before the transition to the insert Bats revision. Once you've heard it, it can't be unheard.

[Holko 9,525]

Take something like Three Broomsticks or Portrait Gallery: if you didn't know, would you be able to tell they're a combination or partly an alternate of the neighbouring cue? I don't think so.

Oh yeah, maybe the repetition in Boggarts bothers me, too.

[Jurassic Shark 12,067]

7 minutes ago, crumbs said:

editing mistake at the end of Saving Buckbeak

 

What mistake is that?

[crumbs 14,308]

9 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

What mistake is that?

 

For some weird reason, about 5 'frames' of music are repeated before the revised Bats insert begins, around 9:28.

 

The alternate (original version in the bonus section) is unaffected though, so it's easy enough to fix.

[Jurassic Shark 12,067]

It seems MM hit CTRL+V one time too many.

[Holko 9,525]

I still struggle to notice it, so it's not like horrific and un-musical.

[Jurassic Shark 12,067]

Yeah, let's listen to the music, not for the faults.

[bollemanneke 3,342]

Surprised this hasn't been posted here yet:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2306363829428720&id=111384242260034&refid=17&_ft_=mf_story_key.2306363829428720%3Atop_level_post_id.2306363829428720%3Atl_objid.2306363829428720%3Acontent_owner_id_new.111384242260034%3Athrowback_story_fbid.2306363829428720%3Acall_to_action_type.MESSAGE_PAGE%3Apage_id.111384242260034%3Aphoto_id.2306363636095406%3Astory_location.4%3Astory_attachment_style.photo%3Apage_insights.{"111384242260034"%3A{"role"%3A1%2C"page_id"%3A111384242260034%2C"post_context"%3A{"story_fbid"%3A2306363829428720%2C"publish_time"%3A1550770202%2C"story_name"%3A"EntStatusCreationStory"%2C"object_fbtype"%3A266}%2C"actor_id"%3A111384242260034%2C"psn"%3A"EntStatusCreationStory"%2C"sl"%3A4%2C"dm"%3A{"isShare"%3A0%2C"originalPostOwnerID"%3A0}%2C"targets"%3A[{"page_id"%3A111384242260034%2C"actor_id"%3A111384242260034%2C"role"%3A1%2C"post_id"%3A2306363829428720%2C"share_id"%3A0}]}}%3Athid.111384242260034%3A306061129499414%3A2%3A0%3A1551427199%3A2413785215346152820&__tn__=*W-RCongratulations to Jay, MM and everyone else involved. Still amazing to have it on my shelf.

[Jay 37,352]

It has been posted already, of course.

 

http://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?/topic/29229-2018-ifmca-award-nominations-update-winners-announced/&do=findComment&comment=1585689

But thank you very much!

[Dr. Rick 1,157]

Was there ever a doubt that it would win? 

[bollemanneke 3,342]

FSM just reviewed this set: ***** .

[Holko 9,525]

As far as sequencing and inclusion goes, I have only developed some dislike for the Diagon Alley track: as cool and interesting as the full, original, bigger, unleaked reveal is, its playoff completely overpowers the first few seconds of the Alley material. I'm not sure how I would've handled it, possibly including the first, imperfect leaked take for curiosity's sake and to show the final intent after the new segment was presumably discarded - looking at the other two sets, different takes have been included for much less obvious or "good" reasons. It's not even the track itself I dislike, just the fact that there is no alternative included that presents a segment of it much better, as comprehensive as this collection is.

[Jay 37,352]

I proposed including that cue again on disc 3 without the Reveal Insert edited in, but it didn't happen.