SW 2 and HP questions

[s.mess 0]

I know I'm probably not the first to ask these questions, so if there are answers on these boards, feel free to direct me to those threads.

1.)Did JW compose a different opening to SW Ep 2 than was heard in the actual movie. I find it hard to believe that he reused the opening from The Phantom Menace. I always loved how each SW opened differently, so EP 2 was a real dissapointment.

2.) Has JW ever commented on using EPisode 1 music in the Geonosis Arena scene

3.)Has anyone ever noticed that the music at the end of the Quidditch match in HP and the Chamber of Secrets is almost exactly the same as the Speeder chase scene in SW Ep 2. (Does JW have a little too much on his plate that he has to quote himself that exactly?)

4.) Does anyone share my dissapointment in the sound quality of the Episode 1 and 2 recordings vs 4,5 and 6. The OT soundtracks were so much more "live" and vibrant sounding. It just seems that they don't mic the instruments the same way that they used to.

Thanks.

[Henry B 50]

1.) Oh, the "reused" opening is only a few seconds long, then it segues into something new.

2.) Episode I music was used as substitution because Williams' hadn't had time to write an original piece for that scene and others.

3.) It seems like he grabbed the sheet music from "The Chase Through Coruscant" in a fit of desperation and gave it to his orchestrators to see what they could do with it. Chamber of Secrets was a very rushed score.

4.) Yeah, both seem pretty dull, Episode II especially. Hopefully Episode III will be an improvement (the mixing on the latest two Williams albums was quite good).

Check the Star Wars News section for more information.

[King Mark 3,631]

The TPM Ultimate Edition sounds awsome.

K.M.

[Henry B 50]

Yes, it is pretty good...I think the instruments still sound a little distant. On the other hand, A New Hope (don't correct me, that IS the name of the latest remastering) is TOO clear - it's sort of like turning the sharpness on your TV all the way up when it should be at, like, 75%. The Empire Strikes Back is my favorite sound mix (save for the remixed cues). As for Return of the Jedi, apparently they decided to go for the "recorded in a trash can" mix, it's too bad.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Star Wars: A New Hope - sounds all right, about as good as the Rhino Superman release.

The Empire Strikes Back - Excellent. The only better analog re-master I've heard is E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial.

Return of the Jedi - First disc is good. Majority of the second disc is terrible. Way too muffled for anyone's liking.

The Phantom Menace - All round excellent.

Attack of the Clones - Not bad, but I've heard untouched, un-remastered 80's recordings with less background "hiss" than this!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

1.) Oh, the "reused" opening is only a few seconds long, then it segues into something new.

Wrong the entire Star Wars Main Title is lifted from TPM, exact same recording.

[John Crichton 4]

The TPM UE sounds superb. Too bad about the edting.

AOTC just sounds, I don't know, flat. It's one of the weakest mixes I've ever heard for a Williams score.

[John Crichton 4]

3.) It seems like he grabbed the sheet music from "The Chase Through Coruscant" in a fit of desperation and gave it to his orchestrators to see what they could do with it. Chamber of Secrets was a very rushed score.

This isn't the only link. Lucious Malfoy's motif is a near carbon copy of the Seperatist Theme from AOTC.

[Jay 37,370]

The commercial release of AOTC is quite hissy indeed. The promo that leaked a few weeks beforehand, however, was not.

[Henry B 50]

Wrong the entire Star Wars Main Title is lifted from TPM, exact same recording.

Yeah, I thought he was referring to that reused bit after the title. My mistake.

[Indiana 0]

Hi, I am new here but never the less a big williams fan,

I totally agree with you on the sound front,

I feel the best recorded SW sound tracks are the original TESB(both the double vinyl which is absolutely awesome) and ROTJ.

I feel that the first two episodes luck zest and energy. The main theme is nowhere near as powerful when it comes down to performance. But I think it goes a bit deeper than that. The orchestrations vary a lot and if you play the soundtracks from the different eras you will probably notice the huge difference in orchestration that as the result alters the sound of the score.

Obviously the Shawn Murphy sound is a lot more roomy and I loved that in other Willams scores but not on the SW albums.

Also for some weird reason there is a lot of hiss on AOTC, weird

[s.mess 0]

Could the difference be due to the fact that the older recordings were done analog and the newer done digitally. One other thought..perhaps they are placing the microphones differently these days than in the late 70's. I mean, when you hear the clarity of the violins in that section of Episode IV where they view the docked Millenium Falcon (right before Leia says, "you came in that thing, you're braver than I thought"), nothing in the new movies can compare (not talking about the musical composition itself,although I do have issues with that as well, just the clarity of the instruments in the symphony)

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

TMP UE sounds brilliant, one of the best recordings I have ever heard.

The original trilogy scores sound like crap compared to it.