Discussion Will John Williams cheat on the Star Wars theme again?

Ok like a gazillion people have heard the Star Wars theme a gazillion time.... but did you listen carefully?

The main theme as changed over time. I mean the main portion, not the fluff that opens up the set up scene. I mean the crawl music.

After years of listening to the music i finally noticed a big difference out of the blue....

In ANH Williams used big bombastic drums to give that tempo beat to the opening i do not know the exact name of these drums but you probably know what i mean. But in ESB he cheated. I dont know if these guys were on strike at the time of the recording but he used marching band drums...the big drums are still there but they are buried by those marching drums.

I was like woah....that cant be right....if you crank out the sound and listen to at least these 2 intros you will hear a big difference now.

Personally i like the ANH intro better because it has ton of musical weight over the ESB intro.

ROTJ those big bad awesome drums were back on again!



Prequel:
TPM:

Marching band drums are back on again!

AOTC

Marching drums again.

ROTS

marching band drums and those big drums are almost equal....

Please John do it like you did in ANH.

 

I am pretty sure they used the crawl music recorded for TPM for the other two prequels. I dont believe the recorded it again for AOTC and ROTS, but I could be wrong.

 

yeah, he reused the TPM recording for the AOTC and ROTS opening crawls. i understand why it was done, but i think creatively it would have been more interesting to give each prequel crawl a slight variation. i think he also used the same method for the iris out end credits fanfare, but don't even get me started on those.

anyway, i'm hoping for a new recording for the E7 crawl that matches the timpani- and brass-heavy grandeur of the ANH opening, something that truly declares star wars is back.

 

I never noticed that it was the same. Oh well.

 

LOL, nothing wrong with the theme being different!

 

The marching drums are there in ESB and the PT because the Empire or Palpatine (who creates the Empire) 'win' those movies. It represents the Empires gigantic army, crushing anything in their path. The good guys win in ANH and ROTJ so no marching drums.

 

One doesn't simply question JW's creative genius. His scores for the prequels were beyond words.

 

HookLineAndSinker needs to post here

 

http://boards.theforce.net/threads/john-williams-music.50005801/
or
http://boards.theforce.net/threads/john-williams-wants-to-score-sequel-trilogy.50009662/
or
http://boards.theforce.net/threads/likelihood-of-williams-scoring-debate.50007625/
or
http://boards.theforce.net/threads/the-music-of-star-wars-episode-vii.50004881/

 

How is making variations on a theme "cheating"? I don't get it.

 

The CD of Star Wars saga music in my car has the ANH theme on it for a reason. The "boomboomboomboom" drums get to me every time. I thought I was the only one alone on this. It really gets me fired up when I'm watching ANH.

 

I never noticed that really, I'll have to re-listen next time!

For me, as long as that music is there and John Williams is involved, I'll be happy!

 

you're assuming he is actually composing Episode VII...

 

Oh hush.

Despite John Williams composing so many themes before and after Star Wars, he will never cheat on his one true beloved. John Williams and The Star Wars Theme's love is eternal.

There were accusations of cheating before; I think he and music from Fiddler on the Roof had a brief fling, but The Star Wars Theme Song didn't accuse John Williams of cheating on her.

 

He very likely is, as he's come out and announced his interest in returning. He'll at least write the score.

 

Hmmm...difficult to see...always in motion the future is...Micheal Giacchino prefers does Abrams

 

Perhaps this is blasphemy, BUT...John Williams is not the composer he used to be. The music for the Prequels was weak compared to the OT and his other classic 70s and 80s stuff

 

Yeah I'd go with that. But the music in the PT was the LEAST of my worries frankly where their concerned.

 

It will have more cowbell.

 

I couldn't disagree more. The music for the prequels was possibly the single best thing about them.

 

lol...i dont quite see how this is "cheating"

 

The "boom boom boom boom" drums are timpani-or they may be a combination of Timpani and bass drums. I did notice what you were saying, although I believe it is a subtle difference. Good ear! I kind of like the fact that such tiny subtle differences are there- it almost gives the episode its own flavor...

but the other thing to keep in mind is that other Things may affect how clearly certain percussion instruments come through: it could be there, but the microphones that recorded that particular instrument or instruments were simply mixed too low or muted completely. I would imagine he may have even recorded them all the same, but during the editing and mixing process, something might've been left out-Especially if there was somebody else mixing it other than himself. That can often happen. Especially with things that were recorded On analog equipment before the digital age, like these were.

But being a percussionist myself, I must agree that I preferred the timpani sound Over the concert snare version-it being my favorite Orchestral percussion instrument Which I Always preferred playing myself...it gave the score so much more power in that section!

 

Right, I believe what I said was "compared to the OT and his classic 70s/80s movie scores, the music for the prequels was weak". Unless you think the love theme from Clones struck more of a chord with people than Han and Leia's theme from Empire? The Trade Federation theme/battle droids theme from Menace was better than The Imperial March? Not even close. I think his time came and went as a relevant composer. Comparing the musical motifs/themes of the Sequels to the Prequels, the Prequels come out sounding weak. I was making no comment on what was the best or worst part of the Prequels.[/quote]