What flubs / missed notes / other problems are there in the original LSO recordings?

[Fabulin 3,510]

This might seem like a strange question, but I've read some time ago that the playing of LSO was "borderline unprofessional" on some of the Williams scores. I was rather surprised by such opinion, but considering that I grew up on these recordings, whatever they sounded like became the norm to me. Maybe I am biased.

 

I seem to recall someone saying that there are mistakes in the horns in Mynock Cave in Empire.

 

Any other examples?

[Datameister 2,037]

There are plenty of spots that get a little messy. I think it's a charming sort of messiness, though, because it's still relatively subtle and it sounds more like the result of excessive enthusiasm than lack of skill or effort.

[Manakin Skywalker 4,891]

They're particular prominent in the early TPM takes we have from some of the older video games, those are the best examples I can think of. After a few runs they were of course able to fix most if not all of the issues.

 

The brass part in The Mynock Cave always stuck out to me as well.

[Steve 589]

In the Main Title of A New Hope there is s trumpet flub in the very beginning right before Luke's theme starts. I always wondered why they used this take.

[karelm 2,903]

There are many, but consider that JW prefers a take that is musically more satisfying than note perfect.  Sometimes the perfectly played take lacks magic, so the one with a flub might be preferred.  Don Williams mentioned if there is a mistake or something in a JW session, you never stop playing till he cuts it off.  A player once stopped after there was stage noise (like a dropped pencil) resulting in ruining the take and I understood that was a rookie mistake that performer made once because he wasn't in subsequent sessions.  The point being, of course JW heard the noise, but his focus was on the musicality and its possible something special would have happened in that take and that would have been the one released.  I remember hearing quite a bit a flubs and stage noises in the OT (things like poor entrances or ensemble not playing together) but it really starts getting confusing with the different releases over the years if that was a previously unreleased take or an edit that introduced a mistake we never heard previously, etc., but we have it on good authority it wouldn't have created too much concern for JW either who was looking for the best performance, not necessarily the most accurate one.

[oierem 151]

One example is at 2:55-3:05 of the opening track of Empire ("Main Title/The Ice Planet of Hoth" in the RCA release): the flute/piano/oboe descening line, the instruments are never together, each going at a different speed.

 

 

[Joni Wiljami 1,206]

JwFan.com at its best, finding flubs and errors. There are also some in Vienna concert... 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[bored 306]

I always remember The Battle of Endor III in ROTJ for the sour notes in the brass when reprising the Rebel Fanfare at 0:18 and 0:49. 

 

[Remco 685]

In general, the strings often don’t sound so good, often out of tune. Level of playing (and/or sight-reading?) had increased a lot by the time the prequels came around. And editing as well, I guess.

 

I think it may sound a bit ‘unprofessional’ at times if these were well-rehearsed recordings of classical pieces, but of course the circumstances were different.

 

I might have said something about it at one point because I think they get glorified a bit in comparison to the current LA players.

[Quintus 5,399]

Isn't the pitch wrong in the opening march of Superman? 

[Remco 685]

Lol I always used to think the Rebel Fanfare at 0:49 was some kind of variation... doesn't sound so bad.

[SilverTrumpet 638]

On 2/13/2021 at 10:57 AM, superultramegaa said:

I always remember The Battle of Endor III in ROTJ for the sour notes in the brass when reprising the Rebel Fanfare at 0:18 and 0:49. 

 

 

Always my first thought. Even as a kid it stood out.