James Horner's BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS (1980) - 2023 2-CD Intrada

[blondheim 1,157]

Yeah I was under the understanding it was pitch correction. If not, I would feel differently. I would like a definitive answer. Hopefully there’s a podcast or something

 

I don’t mind splicing in other takes because at least they came from a performance. Just dialing a note up is what I don’t want happening

[Faleel 5,355]

6 minutes ago, blondheim said:

Yeah I was under the understanding it was pitch correction. If not, I would feel differently. I would like a definitive answer. Hopefully there’s a podcast or something

 

I don’t mind splicing in other takes because at least they came from a performance. Just dialing a note up is what I don’t want happening

Matessino kind of did something similar to that with a cue from Ben-Hur (Panem Et Circenses [Complete Version]), but it was to recreate a unrecorded/damaged section.

[Yavar Moradi 2,599]

9 minutes ago, blondheim said:

Yeah I was under the understanding it was pitch correction. If not, I would feel differently. I would like a definitive answer. Hopefully there’s a podcast or something

Alas I don’t think there will be. Why are you under the impression that pitch correction was used?

 

Yavar

[blondheim 1,157]

29 minutes ago, Yavar Moradi said:

Alas I don’t think there will be. Why are you under the impression that pitch correction was used?

 

Yavar

The line “used to fix errant notes especially in the high trumpet parts” makes it seem like they are specifically fixing the note or trumpet part and not splicing in a whole section of a different take to fix it.

[Alan 689]

This is on Tidal in high-res now

 

https://tidal.com/album/332309805

[Yavar Moradi 2,599]

33 minutes ago, blondheim said:

The line “used to fix errant notes especially in the high trumpet parts” makes it seem like they are specifically fixing the note or trumpet part and not splicing in a whole section of a different take to fix it.

How would you word it if the situation is this:

1) there are “errant notes especially in the high trumpet parts”

2) different takes of the cues didn’t have those errant notes in the high trumpet parts, and they are spliced in

?

 

Yavar

[blondheim 1,157]

I would word it exactly how it was done. This wording sounds like specifically bad notes are being fixed and not bad takes. I’d have used the word take certainly and not “notes”

 

I would have said “Due to many errant notes in a lot of the takes, modern technology allowed us to splice in better takes where necessary to create a more seamless performance without jarring mistakes” or something like that

[Faleel 5,355]

Quote

The performance on the original release was less than perfect, but with current state-of-the-art technology, engineers ... were able to meticulously address some of the errant notes, particularly in the high trumpet parts.

 

Quote

The performance on the original release was less than perfect, but with meticulous editing of alternate takes, engineers ... were able to address some of the errant notes, particularly in the high trumpet parts.

 

On 14/11/2023 at 11:23 AM, Jay said:

Roger:

 

While the performance of the original recording wasn't perfect, Intrada has been able to address some errors by leveraging different takes to improve the overall performances. Following the complete score program is the newly remastered original album, preserving those edits made for the LP program as well as the album mix with which collectors have become familiar.

Turns out, Roger already cleared it up

13 minutes ago, blondheim said:

I would word it exactly how it was done. This wording sounds like specifically bad notes are being fixed and not bad takes. I’d have used the word take certainly and not “notes”

 

I would have said “Due to many errant notes in a lot of the takes, modern technology allowed us to splice in better takes where necessary to create a more seamless performance without jarring mistakes” or something like that

 

[Martin B. 16]

Listened to the expanded today, and blimey, if that's what it's like after they fixed what was it like before....

Still plenty of wrong & bad notes exist in the complete score.

 

But what a glorious release this is.

 

Had hoped to place an order along with McArthur which I will probably still do, along with possibly some of Quartet's final releases for '23, but I guess Intrada underestimated the demand for this one as it's now out of stock until January so will have a long wait for anything to ship now.

First batch sold out in a couple of weeks - don't see that very often these days.

[A. A. Ron 1,742]

Yeah this is nice to have for sure. I’d still welcome a fresh recording though.

[blondheim 1,157]

41 minutes ago, Presto said:

 

 

Turns out, Roger already cleared it up

 

Thanks. Yeah I was just re-reading it to see if I missed anything because a lot of people seem to have the other impression. 
 

like I said I don’t mind if another performance was spliced in, because even if they only take a few seconds, those seconds were performed as part of an organic take. I was just concerned that they were fixing specifically one wrong note or two through pitch manipulation. It wasn’t a deal breaker by any means but it just stuck out to me as something to ask about.

[Yavar Moradi 2,599]

If they were using pitch manipulation they would have corrected more. They corrected what they could with alternate takes.

 

Yavar

[blondheim 1,157]

52 minutes ago, Yavar Moradi said:

If they were using pitch manipulation they would have corrected more. They corrected what they could with alternate takes.

 

Yavar

I would hope not. That’s the point: I’m not sure I’m in favor of pitch manipulation 😉

 

I found the wording a little confusing was all. I looked through the thread again and on FSM and it seems I wasn’t the only one who thought that might be the case. I’m glad it’s not. I’d still appreciate a podcast or interview to know more about this release. I’m a big James Horner fan, always interested in hearing more about the preservation of his work.

 

I think it was just the specificity of language in the blurb mentioning the errant notes and high trumpet parts they needed to replace made it sound like they were replacing those specifically. (I would have saved that information for the liner notes and just said the bit about alternate takes personally. But I’m not “reading” the paragraph because I had a hard time reading the paragraph. Just stating why I think I was confused. Glad it’s not pitch manipulation.)

 

Broadway albums have stated using auto-tune and we’ve seen it in movie soundtracks for a long time now. The last thing I need is for my orchestral performances to be getting pitch-shifted too.

[Faleel 5,355]

31 minutes ago, blondheim said:

The last thing I need is for my orchestral performances to be getting pitch-shifted too.

Too late, Trouble with Tribbles

[paleo 63]

Had completely forgotten about this release, and just placed my annual Christmas order of CDs... But: I saw that it's also available as a download. While I prefer CDs I am tempted to buy the download version in order to avoid the additional 15 to 20 € shipping costs.

[crocodile 8,017]

I got this today. Some of the performance shortcomings aside, this score is so much fun. It's enthusiasm is infectious.

 

Karol

[Yavar Moradi 2,599]

On 02/12/2023 at 11:01 AM, blondheim said:

Yeah I was under the understanding it was pitch correction. If not, I would feel differently. I would like a definitive answer. Hopefully there’s a podcast or something

I don’t mind splicing in other takes because at least they came from a performance. Just dialing a note up is what I don’t want happening

 

So... just because the timing really worked out, and I had both Doug Fake and Chris Malone in a Zoom "room" with me when we were recording our podcast on the new 2CD release of MacArthur, I went ahead and asked this question for you, specifically. If you don't want to listen to the rest of the podcast you can skip about 1 hr 10 minutes into this, for details:

https://goldsmithodyssey.buzzsprout.com/159614/14140529-odyssey-soundtrack-spotlight-macarthur-1977

 

In short: no pitch correction was used. I asked that question specifically and while I was even asking it, Chris was shaking his head "no" (obviously that's not preserved in an audio-only podcast, but he also confirms verbally in a response to my inquiry whether they used any pitch correction).

 

Yavar

[Chris Malone 49]

Thanks Yavar. I pinned a comment to this video that goes into a bit more detail.

 

One of James Horner's Best? Battle Beyond the Stars!

https://youtu.be/kR7qig-YamI

 

Chris

[Yavar Moradi 2,599]

Thanks so much for chiming in Chris! I look forward to checking out your video.

 

Yavar

[blondheim 1,157]

That’s amazing, thanks! I’ll definitely be purchasing this in my next Intrada bundle!

[OneBuckFilms 323]

I have to say Chris, this release is absolutely fantastic. All of your work on this is amazing.

[Yavar Moradi 2,599]

Really enjoyed your video @Chris Malone! Subscribed to your channel too since it looks like there’s other good stuff to check out.

 

But the pinned note you referenced was the real gold, answering any questions one could have on this matter.  

 

Yavar

[Jay 37,369]

Lukas Kendall wrote a blog post about this score

 

https://www.lukaskendall.com/post/battle-beyond-the-stars

[Tallguy 3,398]

It's funny how many people (me) start their review / description of this score with all the reasons we shouldn't like it. Like a disclaimer. Then the dismissal of the disclaimer: "We don't care. It's great!"

 

People are weird.

[GerateWohl 4,370]

The love theme is somehow like a fragment of the love theme from Krull, isn't it?

[Tallguy 3,398]

6 hours ago, GerateWohl said:

The love theme is somehow like a fragment of the love theme from Krull, isn't it?

 

It's a Horner love theme. The opening intro is the most similar. Actually it's closer to the main Krull theme / the Wrath of Khan B theme than to the love theme. But yes, it's all in that early 80's Horner melange. With a little more Williams than usual.

[Yavar Moradi 2,599]

3 hours ago, Tallguy said:

 

It's a Horner love theme. The opening intro is the most similar. Actually it's closer to the main Krull theme / the Wrath of Khan B theme than to the love theme. But yes, it's all in that early 80's Horner melange. With a little more Williams than usual.

And Goldsmith, of course…

[1977 1,743]

19 hours ago, Jay said:

Lukas Kendall wrote a blog post about this score

 

https://www.lukaskendall.com/post/battle-beyond-the-stars

 

"And thanks to Sara Horner who had the tapes and was cool with their release, and accepting the inevitably nosy blog posts like this one!"

 

Cool indeed!

 

If only Mrs Barry was so accommodating.