Jump to content

My re-mastered Empire Strikes Back score


GoodMusician

Recommended Posts

Well, as most of you know, I've been working on a remastered hook, but because of some finds I've put it off for a bit until I can get all those sources collected.

In the interum, I decided to put together a nice little set for Empire Strikes Back.

I've never listened to the score much, and I always hated how the SE was mixed so poorly, so I've gone back and put together a set taking from the Anthology and fixing the SE.

I've taken all the tracks and played with how they were mixed, made them more present and widened the sound field to be more like how it was originally intended. I also brightened the sound a bit to make it a bit more realistic as it did suffer from some dead sound.

I was also very meticulous about how I mixed things unlike the SE people. I payed attention to how things were mixed in the film as a sort of guideline for how cues should sound... such as "Wampa Lair" on the SE is has the synth far too present... or the choir in "City in the Clouds" is too present on the SE.

Anyways, I'd also like to know if anyone had anything that they think might be nice to add to this set before I upload it. I can't seem to find many things. I'm looking for concert arrangements, besides what I have listed... maybe an interview with JW or something along those lines.

I'm pretty happy with the set and how it came out.

Anyways, here's the current track list:

Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back Definitive Edition [2:39:45]

Disc 1 (1:08:51)

01) 20th Century Fox Fanfare - [0:27]

02) Main Title - [1:40]

03) Probe Droid (Original) - Echo Base - [6:33]

04) Wampa's Ice Lair - [3:35]

05) Visions of Obi-Wan - [3:34]

06) Snowspeeder's Take Flight - [1:51]

07) Aboard the Executor - [3:14]

08) Attack Positions - [2:11]

09) Ion Cannon - [1:56]

10) Imperial Walkers - [9:41]

11) Beneath the AT-AT - [4:18]

12) Escape in the Millennium Falcon - [3:06]

13) The Asteroid Field - [4:21]

14) Arrival at Dagobah - [3:38]

15) Setting up Camp - [1:21]

16) Luke's Nocturnal Visitor - [2:39]

17) Hans Solo and the Princes - [3:32]

18) Jedi Master Revealed - Mynock Cave - [5:48]

19) Training of a Jedi Knight - [1:43]

20) The Magic Tree - [3:38]

Disc 2 (55:34)

01) Attacking a Star Destroyer - [3:09]

02) Yoda and the Force - [4:06]

03) Imperial Starfleet Deployed - [1:17]

04) City in the Clouds - [4:51]

05) Lando's Palace - [3:57]

06) Luke leaves Dagobah - [1:00]

07) Betrayal at Bespin - [1:49]

08) Putting 3P0 Together - [1:06]

09) Deal with the Dark Lord - [2:40]

10) Carbon Freeze/ Vader's Trap/ Boba's Departure - [11:17] (God I wish there were some clean endings/intros to this. I'd love to break it apart cue by cue lol)

11) Clash of the Lightsabers - [4:14]

12) Rescue from Cloud City - [5:25]

13) Hyperspace - [4:08]

14) Rebel Fleet - [1:52]

15) End Credits - [4:28]

Disc 3 (42:37)

01) Probe Droid (Film Alternate) - [1:15]

02) Imperial March - [2:59]

03) The Asteroid Filed (Boston Pops) - [4:16]

04) Han Solo and the Princess (City of Prague Orchestra) - [4:08]

05) Yoda's Theme - [3:25]

06) City in the Clouds (Alternate Take) - [2:18]

07) End Credits (Film) - [4:28]

08) MECO Darth Vader/ Yoda's Theme - [4:18]

09) MECO The Battle in the Snow - [4:14]

10) MECO The Force Theme - [4:42]

11) MECO The Asteroid Field/Finale - [6:30]

So yea... this is where I am now. If No one knows of any interviews or such that I could put on the set or some nice suites or anything, then I'm going to be done and upload it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 159
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

I've never listened to the score much, and I always hated how the SE was mixed so poorly, so I've gone back and put together a set taking from the Anthology and fixing the SE.

The Anthology set does not really sound any different to the SE.

I've taken all the tracks and played with how they were mixed, made them more present and widened the sound field to be more like how it was originally intended.

How the hell do you know how it was originally intended.

I find that to be very very insulting comment towards Nick Redman, Michael Matessino, Dan Hersh etc...etc...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

well, then feel insulted.

If you listen to the SE, the music is mixed way too narrowly... Compare say... Imperial march on the Anthology to how it's heard on the SE.

Then look on the SE and see how certain cues have the harp mixed far too close to the center. If they knew John Williams music, they'd know he almost NEVER EVER puts the harp in the center.

Then compare Wampa Ice Lair or City in the Clouds. You can't hear the synth in Wampa Ice Lair as Luke reaches for his saber... it's barely present. Same with one the Anthology.

Then listen on the SE. It's so loud it actually causes some strange warbling digitial sound.

Then listen on the SE to "City in the Clouds," and tell me that the choir isn't louder than heard in the film mix or on any other release.

And if you don't think that they were a sloppy, then listen to how they flipped several cue's horn tracks... then listen to how narrowly mixed half the tracks are.

To me, it shows that they both didn't understand John Williams mixing style, and that they didn't check it against other releases and simply mixed it how they wanted to.

I'd never heard the synth part in Wampa Ice Lair until I listened to the SE. I actually freaked out and checked the film and the Anthology and found it had been there , but buried in the mix...

Then you have things like... in "Main Title" the horn track is flipped.

Then you have the mixing of the harp in the center of many many of the tracks, when if you listen to any other release or the film, it's obvious it's not meant to be there... let alone Williams almost NEVER places a harp in the center of the mix. It's almost ALWAYS far left and/or right.

Perhaps one of the most GREVIOUS errors is "Imperial Walkers." If you read about the concert piece, in the performance notes it actually says "the more pianos the better."

In the film recording, they used two. One on the right, one on the left.

You wouldn't know that if you listened to the SE. everything but the horn and percussion tracks are mixed so narrowly in the opening it sounds like a SINGLE paino! BUT IT'S NOT! It's two! They just mixed it sooo narrowly it sounds like a single piano...

And the irony is, like I said, the performance notes say the more pianos the better! ...

That's how I knew what I was doing was intended... at least more accurate than the SE.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, the main differences are that I replace a lot of the tracks on the SE with the Anthology tracks because they are better mixed. It meant less work for me especially on certain things I can't change... lol

I took the anthology tracks, played with them a bit to make sure the sound was wide enough and present enough to be accurate. I also brightened the sound a bit, it added negligible amounts of hiss but it did brighten the sound and make it far more livelier.

I took the direction trying to keep a lot of the cues separate unlike the SE. This is just a personal thing I do. You can always re-edit them after, simply layering.

The tracks I did get from the SE, I played with the mixing a lot. I found that if I widened the sound, and raised the left channels volume, it helped restore a lot of the balance. Unlike the two sets, none of the cues on my set have their channels flipped.

Some of the problems with the SE were horn channels were flipped which I can't fix. On the Anthology, a few of the cues were right/left flipped which is a simple fix.

For the most part that's all I did. I did this project because I knew it would be a simple and fast one to do. It was just making sure I was meticulous at the same time. I compared a lot of the cues to the film to make sure that the horn channels were correct in a few cases and also to check where the harp was or how mixed certain elements were.

Cues like "Luke's Nocturnal Visitor" on the SE have the harp mixed into the center and so I had to make sure I didn't use that.

For the most part I simply added back a the higher registers and played with the overall balance to make it sound better balanced and clearer sounding.

They could have done so much more with the digitized masters than what they did, and I kinda am sad about that... putting them into digital format allowed them to do so much but they didn't take full advantage of it unfortunately.

This is mostly all I did. In separating the tracks, I also tried to preserve as much material as possible, keeping the complete endings and such which normally are lost under the layering.

So the difference between this set and the anthology is that it's complete hehe and sounds a bit better... especially on tracks like "Imperial March." Comparing the Imperial Marches on the sets you get a feeling for what's changed.

I also made sure to fix little things like how on the Anthology, the volume seems to fluctuate on tracks like The Imperial March, and at the end, the sound seems to fade to the right, or on the SE to the left. I fixed it and made sure it went out evenly.

Like with the Imperial March:

The Anthology sounds nice but it's a bit heavy.

The SE is far too narrow and has no bass really... not to mention the strings sound HORRID.

Then you have mine which I feel is a good balance between the two. It has the mix of the Anthology but is brighter like the SE but without the loss of the bass, and the strings sound great.

So yea... it was mostly simple fixes... but the end result is worth it I felt.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I took the direction trying to keep a lot of the cues separate unlike the SE. This is just a personal thing I do. You can always re-edit them after, simply layering.

I personally dont mind the long tracks, but this reminds me. I've downloaded your EPIII edit, but dont really know how to join the tracks up together. For example, Boys into Battle and Boys into Battle II dont sound quite right in separate tracks. Is it supposed to be like that or am I supposed to stitch em up? :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No. You have the option of downloading in MP3 320 or I also have many available in FLAC as well.At the moment I'm going to be taking down a lot of what's up and replacing it as there were some problems with a few of the uploaded files. so if you're trying to download anything and have trouble, be aware of that.

Does anyone know of any interviews or anything that might be worth putting on the set?

EDIT: That's how those two were recorded so lol... it's just my attempt to present all the material available whether or not it is "accurate" in that case is hard to say... but it's how they were recorded. That was mostly because Lord Skylark, who provided a lot of the game rips I used and such had specifically asked that I try to present all the material available... I kind of prefer it in a way because it's kinda like what you'd hear if you were there recording it and it's almost like having the raw masters in a way... but it's what was available.Intended? I don't think it was intended. But that's why on disc 3 I include the whole thing stitched together for you ;-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's an alternate to Carbon Freeze somewhere inside the cue. Check the Original music resource thread, I think.

My bonus section goes like this, for your insight:

Main Title/The Imperial Probe (Film Version) 2.47

Imperial March

Han Solo and the princess (Concert Suite)

Yoda's Theme

Carbon Freeze (Alternate) / Darth Vader's Trap / Boba Fett 11.00

The Rebel Fleet / End Title 6.15

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been having a lot of personal troubles as of late with money and my card and I havn't been able to sign up and pay the money to read the issue. Frankly I was quite meticulous with this so I'm not sure what much more there is to be told. If I've missed something let me know... otherwise I'll have to wait until i can get that article and can make any changes then that are required.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest macrea

I listened to the original LP and the levels of synth in "Wampa's Lair" ("The Heroics of Luke and Han") and the choir in "City in the Clouds" is comparable to the SE. Seems to me that those levels (not overall mixes - the latter track is clearly diffferent) would be more representative of what Williams intended and it sounds like in the case of the wampa cue they may have even used the original album master for that section. The film mix is sometimes tweaked by the the sound people and in this case probably reflects what Lucas and Ben Burtt wanted; they dropped the synth and the choir the same way they dropped most of the voices from "Victory Celebration" in Return of the Jedi. The Emperor scene from Empire is also different on the LP than it is on the SE and anthology.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

well, I have a rip of the LP and have compared them... I know that the levels in what I have were not quite as strong as heard in the SE... in fact, I hadn't even noticed the synth until I listened on the SE much latter.

As for the choir, I just felt that it sounded bad on the SE... the mix seemed wrong compared to what's heard on the Anthology.

Either way, I feel this more accurately represents what was intended... but I suppose that's up to you to decide.

And please dont' think I'm not listening to you all. I've taken what you've all said to heart. I was unaware that other people had broken down the score as diligently as they had. I'm looking over and double checking everything I've done to what you all have done and using it to make this as good as possible so please... thank you all for your comments and help. I do hope that by the end of this , when you all listen, you will see it as worth it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not entirely sure I know what you're talking about. I'm listening to Imperial March and I hear no "disappearing cymbal."

If you're talking about the edit around 2:43, both the SE and the Anthology have this edit and I'm not sure how I could do anything besides leave it...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, then I will be sure to... it seems strange that they would use the incorrect take for something like that?

Past that I'm done. I've made some minor adjustments to the track list. I've split some and fixed a few things.

I'll post it latter tonight when I get a chance.

I'm still waiting for your Hook re-mastering. :|

Before you go off making faces, read the first post in this thread. not to be rude but that seemed really ungrateful...

I'm waiting on the newly ripped material from a higher quality DVD than the normal kind which will have spectacular sound. I'm also in the midst of something I can't talk too much about, but if it pans out, the wait will be well worth it...

so keep your pantyhose on....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not sure one would be needed...? I'm not too familiar with the films/score... I was under the impression the release had everything... although as I type this, I do recall downloading a bootleg that had a few more cues...

I know there were some film errors. I remember some talks back when... about how in the main title and end credits there were pitch shifts or something...

Are you talking about just cleaning up the recordings?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You should save your talent for something else, GM. Superman got a great release from Rhino seven years ago. Yes, they found better-sounding masters after the release, but I can't complain about how the actual set sounds.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest macrea

Don't take this the wrong way, GM, but please don't do anything with Superman. I've heard some of ROTJ now and while you've succeeded in bringing some things out of the mud, in my opinion the overall result is not very pleasant. I appreciate what you're trying to do but a real improvement would require some more attention, such as dynamic EQ to eliminate hiss on the quieter tracks. A prime example is "Levitation" which sounds pumped and now has so much hiss you'd think Abbey Road was located in a steam cleaners. A lot of the rest of it is very bassy and pinched sounding even though there are some instruments you can now hear that were buried before. Again more to do with the source, but compared to this Superman sounds fine. There are some private collection things out there which could use far more attention.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Don't take this the wrong way, GM, but please don't do anything with Superman. I've heard some of ROTJ now and while you've succeeded in bringing some things out of the mud, in my opinion the overall result is not very pleasant. I appreciate what you're trying to do but a real improvement would require some more attention, such as dynamic EQ to eliminate hiss on the quieter tracks. A prime example is "Levitation" which sounds pumped and now has so much hiss you'd think Abbey Road was located in a steam cleaners. A lot of the rest of it is very bassy and pinched sounding even though there are some instruments you can now hear that were buried before. Again more to do with the source, but compared to this Superman sounds fine. There are some private collection things out there which could use far more attention.

Gotta agree here. GM your so called remastering dosen't stand up at all to the boasting you say you do for it. As macrea said you've made ROTJ sound practically worse than before. Your edits too for a lot of cues are pretty jarring in most spots and the separation for cues say in ROTS are unnecessary and isn't how it's supposed to be IE: Boys Into Battle. I know you don't like negative criticism here but hey we're just telling the truth and you need to do what Neil suggested about that FSM article. I mean if you can't afford it now then pay for it when you can.

I myself have re-edited all three scores of the Original Trilogy using mostly the Anthology cues because they simply sound better for the most part...however I did not alter or in your term "remaster" them, they sounded fine with their natural sound and left em' as is. Grant some material for the Special Editions that weren't available on the Anthology did sound pretty much the same and the music flowed nicely from one to the other...You should save your talent for something else, GM.

Superman got a great release from Rhino seven years ago. Yes, they found better-sounding masters after the release, but I can't complain about how the actual set sounds.

A lot of people here will complain about the sound for Superman, including myself. If you compare the Rhino/Warner release with the 2000 DVD Director's Cut (I think?) which has an isolated score that actually has a remastered score. Because Warner was able to find the masters for the score and remaster it properly for the DVD isolated score. However the DVD isolated score is just as chopped up as you hear it in the film. I too would love to have another legit release of Superman's full score with the remastered sound.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Home made remastering jobs never really work in my opinion.

Like trying to turn lead into gold, it just doesn't work.

It's like those equalizer settings you have on most stereo's these days, like rock, jazz, classical etc...etc...

You might try em out once, but in the end it comes of sounding a bit forced.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I admit ROTJ didn't come out as I'd hoped. Some of the tracks sound good but a lot of it suffers from things I couldn't fix and when I tried got a different, perhaps worse result...

This is actually coming out a lot better than ROTJ...

it's a learning curve.

I've kind of decided to try something different since I started this thread. I'm going back and trying something with all the tracks... I had an idea that should allow for proper mixing, but also clean quality sound.

I'll keep you all posted. It's sounding good.

OH! And I fixed Imperial March... and while I was at it I played with Yoda's Theme as well... some strange mixing on the DVD but nice sound at least...

Looking back on some of my edits, I find that I'm not pleased with them... the thought of redoing them is something I flirt with a lot...

Mostly the big ones... Episode III would be something to redo... but again, it all depends on the quality of the material you get.

I don't understand how any of you can stand ESB on the SE. It's so narrowly mixed. Yes,it's bright. Yes it has that nice digital clearness... but the mixing is all wrong!

The harp is in the center?

The strings are nearly non-existent on a lot of cues.

The horn channels being flipped?

Maybe it's just because I'm a string player and because I've been in orchestras and know how they should sound and the SE for ESB is NOT how they should sound!

They had a great deal of work to do... but once they had them transfered correctly onto a digital format... I don't understand what was so hard about getting the mixing right...

You can tell that they preffered the right channel to the left. THe Left channel is mixed into the center and lowered in Volume to the point it's almost not there.

I find that with a lost of the SE tracks, you need but widen the sound and raise the volume in the left channel and you've pretty much fixed it... but on a lot of them, they mix the percussion in where they shouldn't be. Things like glocs and such... or the Harp as well, are mixed to the center rather to their correct sides.

And I don't understand why the opening to Imperial Walkers sounds like there is just a single piano... in the center.

To me, it sounds like the people who did this are not use to how JW mix's his music... and they just took a lot of guesses based on how many other people mix things. Whenever there is a specialty instrument, it's usually put to the center... piano, harp, gloc... or synth... they make it seem like it's the lead... when in actuality, JW uses these sounds not as singular sounds, but in conjuncture with other sounds.

To me, that is the BIGGEST failing of the SE and why I say it is NOT how JW wanted things to sound. I say that because it separates those sounds from what they're suppose to be mixing with... From where thy're suppose to be sounding... and puts them in the front center... which they were never intended for...

The ROTJ, I dont' think I even have to speak about how poor that sounds...

Looking back there are a few edits I've done that I think were mistakes. some of the tracks from ROTJ I've considered simply replacing with whats on the SE (like Levitation).

But This is different. When I listen to this, I honestly feel much better about how it sounds that I did with the others. I have much better quality things to work with than on Episode III or with ROTJ, and much more clean material.

If you guys don't want it you're not obligated to download it... but I'm going to do this anyways...and I thank you all for your help and input...

This set would have suffered without your help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with what Stefan said about these sort of home-made remastering projects.

Still, I aprreciate the effort, and if you don't like what you hear on GM's efforts, you can always just chuck it in your rubbish bin. It's not like you're being made to pay for them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As Stefan said (more or less), it's called "remastering" when you actually take the *master*. That's where you have all the possibilities for preserving as much quality as possible - before it's been lost by bad mixing.

Damn Tomlinson!

I love the sound of Flesh+Blood (though hissy) and Night Crossing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

well, seeing as there is no word for what I'm doing that adequately describes it besides "mastering" something, which is derived from the word "master" but is not limited to the act of using that master... I've decided to call it that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

as was I until they spoke up... haven't listened yet...and don't have the DVD to get the ISO score if I wanted but... they're peaking my interest lol

::hits head:: hook...hook... hook first lol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I did want to give an update... I've been working on this set now and I think I finally have disc 1 finalized... I was playing with the mixes and everything.

I have to admit, I didn't give the SE enough credit, but I still stand by my statement that if it came to it, I'd prefer to listen to a properly mixed score that I could clean up to sound almost as good as a good sounding score that's mixed horribly.

It's been give and take... trying to find a good balance. I've allowed the harp to go a little bit closer to the center than i'd like, but not as much as it had been before. I've always managed to restore some of the room sound that the digital recording seemed to completely strip away.

Not much in track wise has changed... mostly cue lengths have changed... but I did want to post that disc 1 is finalized and what it will look like.

So anyways, here's the track list for disc 1

Disc 1 (58:55)

01) 20th Century Fox Fanfare - [0:27]

02) Main Title - [1:35]

03) Probe Droid - Echo Base - [6:42]

04) Wampa Ice Lair - [3:35]

05) Visions of Obi-Wan - [3:30]

06) Speeders Take Flight - [1:51]

07) Probe Droid Reconnaissance - Aboard the Executor - [3:09]

08) Attack Positions - [2:08]

09) Ion Cannon - [1:57]

10) Imperial Walkers - [3:43]

11) Beneath the AT-AT - [4:15]

12) Escape in the Millennium Falcon - [3:05]

13) Asteroid Field - [4:16]

14) Arrival at Dagobah - [3:38]

15) Setting Up Camp - [1:21]

16) Luke's Nocturnal Visitor - [2:31]

17) Han Solo and the Princess - [3:28]

18) Jedi Master Revealed - Mynock Cave - [5:44]

19) The Training of a Jedi Knight - [1:43]

20) The Magic Tree - [3:36]

I'll update you on Disc 2 soon... if anyone would like to hear some of disc 1 to compare, let me know.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't complain about how the actual set sounds.

I can.

Me too. Just listen to the CD vs. the iso score on the DVD and the difference is remarkable.

Indeed. The DVD sounds like it was recorded yesterday, with too much reverb, and that pitch shift included.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest macrea
Why do you (and anyone else involved) care about the harp's placement?

Because it's accepted that the harp is either hard left or hard right (or both if there are two) in orchestral stereo mixing. The exception is if the instrument is featured as a solo, as in certain tracks of E.T.

The mixes on many of the original LP album tracks on Empire are misguided on the SE, both in separation and lack of accepted spatiality. There's no question about it but if it doesn't bother you, then fine. It simply means you're not as tuned in as others to the standards of stereo mixing and the layout of the orchestra. To each his own. I do not fault GM for his unhappiness with them and with Jedi I'm glad that he at least realizes that he is on a learning curve with this. Unfortunately I think that there he's trying to get blood from a stone.

And the proper word for what he's doing, by the way, is "sweetening."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wonder if John Williams himself cares how the mixing goes GoodMusician?

Me just thinking about it...I mean if John Williams had a problem with how mixing sounded like on the recording for SE Empire Strikes Back woudn't he say something to people who was doing the mixers and all that and get fixed up right???

I mean it look like only one person or a few people here who who complaining how the mixing goes and out of rest of other people in the world who like listening to John Williams music doesn't seem care or mind how mixing sounded like it.

And you going out of way with your best intentional effort to remastered John Williams music using your own skills ina way you want it to sound like...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Guidelines.