John Williams to Begin Orchestrating Star Wars Episode 7 Score in 2 Weeks.
The genius behind the music of the first six Star Wars movies has been attached to Star Wars Episode VII since the beginning, but his involvement with the project has hardly been discussed since filming began. However, as shooting comes to a close on the newest installment of the series, word has it that John Williams will begin recording the soundtrack to the film.
From Making Star Wars:
Facebook user Chris Kowalski sent us this tidbit that Williams spoke about upcoming work on Star Wars: Episode VII last night. Here’s what Chris had to say: “Went to see John Williams conduct the Milwaukee symphony last night and he confirmed he is starting work on EP VII in 2 weeks!”
Williams’s statement that the score is about to be recorded for the film most likely means that shooting is nearly over.
Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.
Even though there has been no confirmation for Ep.VIII & IX, I believe if able, he’ll be back.
I hope they record at Abbey Road Studios to continue the tradition.
And since they’re shooting the movie on film, they might as well record the soundtrack on analog tape – seriously!
They don’t really record on analogue tape there any more, everything goes into Pro-Tools albiet through some very nice mics and analogue pre-amps. They might bounce the final master to tape to see if helps but I bet that 99.7% of people would not heard the differnce.
Tape is a thing of the past, the sound is warmer but the workflow would frustrate many involved. 🙁
Depending on how it’s used, I mean you don’t really have to edit an orchestral mix. Really the worst part of the workflow is the recording itself, beyond that everything is already in Protools (@ most studios).
I’m not sure if tape is a thing of the past yet, most bands who care about fidelity still do use it to record at least the band track. That’s what I do when I’m working on my album.
Did they really stop using Analog tape @ abbey Road?
IDK… But Analog equipment is a thing of the past. Some places may still use an old analog device in some form or another. But there hasn’t been any new Analog recording equipment produced from any of the companies in a long, long time.
I hope so too, they really do need the income. I remember a few years ago there was talk of it closing… at that point I was surprised Paul McCartney didn’t just buy the place… but maybe even he can’t afford it.
I’m sure at Abbey Road they do both tape & digital simultaneously, we actually do that at our own low budget studio. (We do that because sometimes the machine can mess up & add wow and flutter… a nasty problem that can ruin the sound. So it’s good to have “backup”).
Though I’ve got to be honest (& I say this as someone who loves tape enough to have bought a 2″ tape machine) there are new digital converters these days where the sound is close enough that it’s really splitting hairs. (Digital converters in comparison to tape machines would = all the components in the tape machine that process the sound before it leaves the tape heads to print the info onto tape itself). After hearing the comparison I’ve considered selling the machine because it’s expensive to maintain.
Though beyond that… when it comes to recording orchestras, digital *might* actually be better because of all the high frequencies an orchestra puts out. 5 years ago the same wouldn’t be true but digital recording can go to 96 & 192 khz (I think tape only goes to somewhere between 20 & 40 khz?). Humans can’t hear beyond 20 khz (I myself can’t hear beyond 18.5 khz)… but there is information that we can hear beyond that range. No one knows why but if you hear a 192 khz recording it will sound better & more “detailed” than 44 khz (cd quality). There is a lot of debate about this in the audio world but there are a lot of objective tests which have been done to indicate humans can hear the difference between 44 & 192.
In either case I hope they still do use tape & that they will choose whatever would work best to suit the film. Tape might still be best for that.
Woops I might be wrong about what resolution tape machines have… I actually don’t know. All I remember is that Bill Schnee (who recorded Steely Dan) said he liked recording piano on digital as opposed to tape due to the increase in resolution on digital.
So this is pretty interesting… I guess Burtt used OT tape SFX on the Prequels:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ogCVi0WqrQ
The foley segment/ kissing was pretty funny.
When they recorded the original 3 scores rhey often went purposely to overdrive the recording level over maximum, just to give it a additional layer of warmth. I think they did that for brass mainly.
I agree! But………
They don’t even produce any analog equipment anymore. They haven’t for a few years now (sometime in the early to mid 2000’s). So it’s sad, but true. Everything is going to digital.
The sound on analog is more warmer and fuller IMO. With digital everything is cheaper and easier to produce. And that is why every company started producing digital equipment instead of analog………
It was a sad day in the history of music, to me.
The PTs as movies aside the one constant the whole saga has going for it is the John Williams Scores. Each movie has its own theme but builds on what came before it. So we can argue about characters or their motivations or how scenes from the PT contradict what is said in the OT. However the one thing fans of Star Wars shouldn’t argue about is the music of the Saga which is nearly perfect. It pleases me greatly that John Williams is back to score Ep VII and hopefully beyond.
I have said this very thing in the past! Nearly verbatim! So *like*!
Seriously some of the scores are great in the prequels. John never let us down.
I hope he can see the NT to the end. OT and PT fans… is it possible to unite on this one thing? Help us John… you’re our only hope 😛
I am so glad there are others out there who feel like I do when it comes to the music. It reminds me of the Episode I documentary when George Lucas said “Fans are not watching the actors or special effects they are listening to the music” and its so true. A few weeks ago there was a video where someone removed the music from the ending of “A New Hope” and it just was not the same.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj-GZJhfBmI
I absolutely love this version of the throne room/medal scene, especially Chewie’s screams and groan. They need to have Chewie sound like THAT in Episode VII.
I personally don’t think any of the star wars movies would be able to stand on their own without John Williams score. Thats how critical he is to the saga.
More than one year to prepare, compose, orchestrate, record and mix the score. Oh, what luxury!
Yes. When i read hes gonna record the score, does that mean the music is already written? 1 year to complete the score is really a long time for movies. Lets hope Mr Williams is able to pull out creativity out of that pressure, i mean loose timespace. I hope he will have some good material to pull ou strong thematic works!
John Williams you need a cameo in this film you complete and utter genius
I so can’t wait to hear the new takes on all the different themes in Episode 7.
A new take on Luke’s theme,
A new take on Leia’s theme,
and a new take on the Imperial march…
This is a great time for Star Wars fans !m!
Wait… recording, or orchestrating starts in two weeks? Sounds to me like orchestrating. I heard an interview with someone who mixes film soundtracks (sound & music all together), it’s shocking how little time they get to prepare for films. Often they get something like a week or two, and mixing is done right up until the release of the film pretty much. Even for big budget releases. Sadly that’s one of the main reasons we don’t see more high profile ATMOS titles in theaters… though I’ve heard Star Wars VII will be mixed in ATMOS.
You can clearly see the great power of Williams OT music listening the final scene of Revenge of the Sith.
We all know PT is not as good as OT but the melodies of OT in Revenge of the Sith finale gives a beautiful force on the images and we can compare it with any scene of OT.
I can’t wait to hear this new instalment.
A true genius. I’m really looking forward to hearing what he’s conjuring up for us!
Doesn’t Williams always like to see a rough cut of the film before beginning to work on a score? Seems a little too early for that, doesn’t it?
Well they usually all gather together to watch a cut of the film to work out where the music should be, what it should do, etc etc. I have no idea how you can write a score for the film without knowing where the ques are. Maybe shooting is done? Who knows.
A rough cut for the film is being put together now for John and Disney, J.J. has been editing scenes while on-set.
I think Williams is a weak choice, he is at least 20 years past his creative peak. PT has some good moments, but a lot of it just sound generic. A lot of his music sounds the same. I really hoped a new director and creative team also meant a new composer. Well, maybe for the next two… at least for the spinoffs.
Weak choice? 20 years past his creative peak? In the past 20 years hes been nominated for an academy award 18 times.. For the past 3 years he’s been nominated every time.. Oh dear, they’re using talented people. What a tragedy.
Star Wars is not Star Wars without John Williams music. He’s a goddamn genius, and I cannot wait to hear the score.
Yeah I’ve got to say I disagree as well. I wasn’t as big a fan of the PT music but Harry Potter had fantastic scores… he nailed that. Duel of fates is the only theme I recall really well from the PT. I think if Williams receives the right kind of inspiration he can still be at his peak.
Actually my favorite musical moment from the PT might not even have been williams. The scene where Anakin & Palpatine meet @ the “theater” in Episode III & is told about Pleaguis the wise there is this gragorian chant kind of thing going on in the background… that scene gives me the chills.
Wasn’t it Williams that created the music for that scene? I’ve always loved that part of the score aswell.
Dude, Williams wrote that music too. He wrote the whole movie!!
Really, some of the best SW music is from prequel movies.
John Williams – Duel of the Fates( my all time favorite )
http://youtu.be/Q5ZY8Fz9GGU
And
John Williams – Across the Stars ( i love this )
http://youtu.be/qM_ZWnD40aA
Star wars without John Williams is not star wars.
Really? Some of the best SW music is from prequel movies.
John Williams – Duel of the Fates ( my all time favorite )
http://youtu.be/Q5ZY8Fz9GGU
And
John Williams – Across the Stars ( I love this )
http://youtu.be/qM_ZWnD40aA
Star wars in not star wars without John Williams.
What possible reason would anyone have to anyone other than Williams . And a genius dosnt loose them ability to create music just because he gets old.
By weak I meant safe – it is a safe choice. Williams is talented and I like a lot of his work, but it would have been more exciting using someone else, maybe someone a bit more experimental. With Williams you know what you get, no chances taken.
Awards don’t mean much, they are popularity contests and not compasses for taste. Awards do not dictate what I’m listening too or watching.
Well it’s a safe choice because he’s arguably the best in the business.. and sorry but your claim about him not being experimental enough is rather inane. His range of creative choices is one of his strengths compared to other composers. Oh and ignoring ackowledgments and awards on achievements and talent is just plain ignorant and shows you are only being subjective.
get your lingo right: he starts /spotting/ in two weeks, followed by composing, then orchestrating.
Better a real composer like Williams than a techno dj Zimmer.
I’m sorry but this comment is complete nonesense. “Safe choice” ? Yeah like having mark Hamill play luke is a “safe” choice. They could have nicolous cage play luke that would be “experimental”. It would also be stupid
Everything about the pt was complete and utter crap with one exception. Williams score was brilliant as usual
While I have always praised Williams’ PT scores, I have recently come to conclude that a lot of it just doesn’t feel like Star Wars. A good portion of it is too wonderfully majestic (like “Across the Stars”, which I still love). I miss hearing the OT’s style of catchy, edge-of-your-seat music and powerful and memorable villainous scores.
The music reflects the movies, so I wish they had more action in between the character moments (How much action was there in I and II besides the climaxes?) and some solid villainous scores to complement the non-silly battle droids and Darth Maul, who would now stick around until III.
Shut up! Shut up! Just shut the fuck up! If you don’t, I promise you’ll get hurt1
LOL. Talk about an overreaction…
Well, as someone who works in Film & TV, I can tell you that if he starts working on it, you can be 99% certain there’s a cut of all of the production footage mixed in with some Pre-vis material. This means that principle photography must be nearly, if not already over and that somewhere on this planet is a rough cut of the next Star Wars movie. Exciting times! 🙂
So that means the filming is done is two weeks? Because he sees clips of the scenes when he does the music. What he did with 1-6…
If it isn’t finished, it should be nearly finished. I imagine that several sequences are already complete, with post-production effects to be added in later. That ought to provide the music team enough context to know what kind of tone the soundtrack needs to utilize for a given scene.
I wonder if there will be source music, like the Cantina Band or Lapti Nek scenes.
I could listen to a whole album by Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes!
With any luck, we won’t have any “spoiler titles” on the track list like we did with Episode one and “Qui-Gon’s Noble End”. That was upsetting knowing that he died before the movie even came out.
That’s a point.
Under any circumstances we don’t have to read the track list.
😉
i think the only score of his ive liked in the last few years has been from “catch me if you can” …. most of the stuff i liked in the pt was stuff that had already been written except for the end of the pod race bit, that was cool.
I thing this information must be a bit wrong. It is still too early to start working on the score. I think they are still filming and then they will have to add space sequences, edit the movie and so on. I remember that he started working on the last Indiana Jones a few months before the movie was released. There is still more than a year for this one to come out!!!!!!
More time means work in good conditions.
Good conditions means good work.
Good work has no frontiers.
😉
It’s never too early to start orchestrating the soundtrack. The storyboards are done. The musical themes for each character could be (and maybe even should be) started now. Finishing touches, the interplay between character themes, can be written based on the storyboards. As the release date nears and John Williams can tinker with the timing to adjust his score to the action on screen.
And if John Williams is anything like us, he’s claiming he needs the extra time just to get a glimpse of the next Star Wars movie!
Yes, and probably he will score the new Spielberg film in 2015 too. So, let’s get to work!
I really hope he will be around to make 8 and 9, but what about the spin off´s? Will they have the title and opening score? Or will it be more like Clone Wars?
What I am expecting for score…
Main theme. Which is in each one!
Imperial march or some form of it.
Rebel victory or some form of it.
Binary sunset or some form of it.
Cantina band of some form (You just know JJ is going to have a cantina scene).
Chase music?
Battle music of some forms (this is given).
Anyone else got ideas?
I really want ”Duel of the fates” in VII.
My favorite SW score.
I guess this means filming is over in 2 weeks. Cool!
People who worked on the film will be more likely to spill gossip when they no longer have to go into work and look JJ in the eye every day…
—-> http://www.pastebin.com/zHQtakm8 <—-
SWR03
Aras-
you are correct as usual – and this site makes mistakes as usual- it hard to take this site seriously when they make mistakes like this- Every Star Wars fan should have a general idea when the film is actually scored, the timetable is very widely documented- They usually score about 2 months before release- Recording before then would be a waste of time as they would have to record so many cues once the edit was a lock.
He can orchestrate for a year before he records the score- that makes perfect sense.
John Williams scored the PT perfectly, you’re problem is that you (like me) didn’t like the Prequels style, but that’s what Williams was stuck with. He had to match the style of the movie, it’s his job.
BTW there’s a comment somewhere here saying Hans Zimmer is a stupid techno dj, which is semi accurate. But he’s just integrating new technology, the same way they did in Blade Runner. I like Hans Zimmer when he doesn’t go overboard with the volume, I thought the music in Dark Knight was awesome. I also like John Williams work in the OT trilogy + Duel o’ Fates.
They’re both good music guys for different reasons.
I just hope the mf will b around to finish the damn trilogy.
What’s he like, 100-years-old or something?
Who the hell are they getting to do the spinoffs? Just one guy, or someone different for each?
Tell him to keep his conducting arm away from the Millennium Falcon…
I think the only problem with the prequel music is context, the music was really great but the scenes were all terrible so it made the music less memorable. my personal favourite piece of music is “Yoda and the force” from Empire, every time I hear it makes me cry. I hope the new films are great I’m sure Williams will not disappoint.
He probably starts writing in a couple of weeks, not orchestrating. It would be unusual for him to have written an entire score before the movie even wrapped. Not that he couldnt do it ( this is a guy who scored 4 films in 2005, after all), its just the ample schedule doesn’t warrant it).
That being said, JWilliams isn’t allowed to die now. At least not until 2019 or so.