Hello and welcome to this week's installment of Cue by Cue.
Today we're going to be listening to 6m5-7m1 The Magic Tree.
This cue is 80 bars long and was orchestrated by Herbert Spencer.
Here's the tops of the sketch and orchestrated score:
A note before listening: This is another of those cues from this score for which there exist synth elements that were written and recorded with the cue, but which ended up mixed out in some releases. Due to some remnants of the synth even in the no-synth versions, I believe that it was recorded with the orchestra, but on a separate mic; and it was likely kept as a separate stem from the LCR mix so that it could be dialed out without requiring a ground-up remix.
The film uses the synth as intended, but I opted to also include the no-synth version as a bonus so you can compare them. Unlike some of the previous ones which were more subtle, the difference here is super obvious.
With that out of the way, let's listen to the cue together:
Synth (intended and film) version:
No Synth version:
At 0:00 the cue begins with some mysterious woodwinds and strings as Luke approaches the cave. Curiously, the sketch notes seem to imply that some of the lines were re-dubbed or re-ordered, because the sync mark at 0:04 is "I Feel Cold", yet Luke actually says that line at 0:10. Despite that discrepancy, the rest of the sync marks all line up and the music seems to match the final cut perfectly so I didn't alter any of the footage here.
A horn line joins in at 0:09, descending when Yoda points at the cave. Again, a minor dialogue tweak is implied by the sketch - the final cut says "that place" instead of "that tree".
The woodwinds pull back a bit at 0:24 for a rest with some strings. The string then play an ominous version of Luke's theme when he steps forward at 0:33, joined by a flute ostinato.
More ominous woodwinds as he enters the cave. These are followed by one last round of the flute ostinato for the shot of R2 at 0:56.
Some dark brass and strings at 1:06 as Luke climbs down, which get increasingly ominous the further he enters the cave. Some woodwinds return for the reptile shot at 1:38.
A short rest for the closeup of Luke at 1:48, before a final woodwind lead-in to the brass and synth that scores the sudden appearance of Darth Vader. This synth element is missing from the no-synth version.
The brass gets more pronounced when Luke raises his sword at 2:16, and some swirling synths accompany most of the lightsaber battle in the synth version.
Some staccato piano after Vader's head is removed at 2:33, followed by some timpani for the head roll.
Some more woodwinds for Luke looking, followed by some ominous brass for the reveal of Luke's face inside Vader's mask.
Then a subtle hint of Yoda's theme at 3:05 for the shot of him looking disappointed.
One final Imperial March line for the transition to the fleet at 3:15. Thus, the cue ends...
The 1980 BBC documentary includes footage of this cue being orchestrated. Technically I already posted this video two weeks ago because it features audio of John Williams working on 6m3 This Is Not A Cave on his piano in a different room, but the visual footage shows Herbert Spencer orchestrating 6m5-7m1 The Magic Tree.
Again it's pretty cool to be able to compare the in progress page shown in the documentary to the final scan, here's the bottom of page 17 as seen at 0:16
I mentioned earlier that some of the dialogue towards the start of the cue appears to have been redubbed or reordered between scoring and the final cut. The only other change that appears to have been made was the deletion of 5 seconds of footage at 2:46, presumably this was more footage of Luke's reaction and perhaps a longer hold on the helmet before it exploded.
These music changes resulted in some music edits in the final cut, and there was an additional music change made because the filmmakers didn't like part of the cue. More specifically, the transition to the Imperial fleet in the final cut was completely replaced with some tracked material from the concert suite. Frankly I have no idea why this was done, I think the final cut's edit sounds substantially worse than the intended music here.
In the final theatrical cut:
0:00-2:22 = 6m5-7m1 The Magic Tree 0:00-2:22
2:22-2:41 = 6m5-7m1 The Magic Tree 2:24-2:42
2:41-3:09 = 6m5-7m1 The Magic Tree 2:48-3:16
3:09-3:13 = Darth Vader's Theme 0:00-0:04
3:13-end = 2m4 The Probe Scanner 2:57-end
For the Special Edition, I think George Lucas realized how awful the theatrical cut's edits to the Imperial fleet transition were because they were completely undone.
So in the Special Edition:
0:00-2:22 = 6m5-7m1 The Magic Tree 0:00-2:22
2:22-2:41 = 6m5-7m1 The Magic Tree 2:24-2:42
2:41-end = 6m5-7m1 The Magic Tree 2:48-end
This is one of the very few Special Edition changes that actually makes the film closer to its rough cut rather than a further revision.
Since I don't have a recording log I'm unsure what day this cue was recorded, but based on the take numbers written in the sketch it was likely recorded in early January. I'm also unsure how many takes were recorded, but according to the sketch the performance edit uses takes 116, 118, and 122.
This cue has been officially released on four different albums:
1) In 1980 on RSO Records' OST album
2) In 1993 on Arista Records' 4-CD Anthology box set
3) In 1997 on RCA Victor's 2-CD Special Edition set
4) In 2018 on Walt Disney Records' Remastered album (remastered OST rebuilt from scratch from the session masters)
More specifically, 6m5-7m1 The Magic Tree can be heard:
From 0:00-end of track 15 "The Magic Tree" on the 1980/2018 albums
From 0:00-end of disc 2 track 13 "The Magic Tree" on the 1993 album
From 1:40-end of disc 1 track 11 "The Training of a Jedi Knight/The Magic Tree" on the 1997 album.
All albums have the clean ending, and all albums except for the 1997 have the clean opening. Every release is remixed except for the 1993 set.
Additionally, most releases of this cue play at the wrong pitch/speed, although this can easily be corrected in an audio editor:
1980: has to be sped up by 0.310 to match film
1993: has to be slowed down by -0.349 to match film
1997: has to be sped up by 0.025 to match film
2018: has to be slowed down by -0.490 to match film
For the synth version I used a speed corrected copy of the 1993 set. For the non-synth version, I used the 1993 set for the parts that normally don't contain synth, and for the rest I spliced in a stereo downmix of the 2023 ATMOS release which accidentally didn't include the synth layer for this cue. Technically the 2023 release is remixed, but given this is meant to show off a mixing alternate anyway I figured that wasn't a big deal.
That's all I have for today, thanks for reading! Feel free to leave any comments or questions.
Next week we'll be listening to 7m2 Attack Position. See you then!