The Robe
Are we sure it was on The Robe? How To Marry A Millionare was in fact the first CinemaScope film, but not having seen it, I'm not sure if it uses the fanfare. .... 09:10, 24 February 2007 (UTC)
Consider retitling and moving the page to “20th Century Studios Fanfare”.
I think you should consider retitling and moving the page to “20th Century Studios Fanfare”. The reason for this is because the “Fox” name has disappeared from the logo and Fox is now a separate company. AdamDeanHall (talk) 18:56, October 17, 2020 (UTC)
Versions
The current text says that the version John Williams created for The Empire Strikes Back was used in all the other Star Wars films. Then it immediately contradicts that by saying that The Phantom Menace Ultimate Edition (which is a soundtrack album) and "the original" Return of the Jedi (what, the album? 1983 film? special edition film?) utilize a different, even newer version.
I haven't checked anything but the original trilogy, but as far as I can tell...
- Star Wars (1977) used the Alfred Newman Cinemascope version, as first heard in 1954.
- The Empire Strikes Back (1980) used a new recording by John Williams & the LSO.
- Return of the Jedi (1983) used the same Williams recording, remastered and possibly remixed.
That's based on the Despecialized editions, since I can't travel back in time; I have to assume they're correct.
It seems the film prints used for the Despecialized editions have a narrow stereo image and a significant amount of harmonic distortion which makes the sound more dense but also somewhat "smeared". This could be a result of sloppy transfers or the deliberate application of reverb; neither would surprise me. But they do sound authentic, to my ears, so I'm considering them canon.
In the Empire film recording, the bass frequency response is especially weak, and the bass drum hit on the last note is inaudible, to the point where I think it may have been specially mixed that way. All of these flaws were addressed in the version used in Return of the Jedi.
The original trilogy soundtrack CDs which include the theme (the 1993 Anthology 4xCD, the 1997 2xCD releases on RCA/BMG, and the 2004/2007/2015 Sony reissues thereof) use better sources than the film prints. The sound on them is much less smeared than in the films, and they are remastered with wider stereo and strong bass. The bass drum at the end of the Williams/LSO version is always audible, so none of them are the authentic Empire film version. They're closer to the Jedi version, although none of them are an exact match.
On the 1993 Anthology 4xCD:
- Disc 1 (Star Wars) has the Williams/LSO version with relatively narrow stereo (but wider than the films). The bass drum hit at the end is audible.
- Disc 2 (The Empire Strikes Back) has the Williams/LSO version remastered or remixed with louder reverb and stereo processing to make it sound "bigger", but it has phase/polarity problems, especially on the last note.
- Disc 3 (Return of the Jedi) is the same as on disc 1 (ignoring leading/trailing silence), but fades out a fraction of a second later.
- Disc 4's version is very similar to discs 1 & 3, but has slightly wider stereo, and is EQ'd slightly differently.
On all four discs, if you listen carefully to the right channel, at 12 seconds from the beginning, just before the first high note in the "Cinemascope extension", you'll hear a buzzing sound which oscillates in pitch. This is harmonic distortion associated with the strings, and yet isn't consistent like in the horn parts, and it's only in these recordings. Combined with the other differences mentioned above, the evidence suggests these are all basically derivations of a tape which was never used as a source for the audio in the films.
On the 1997/2004/2007/2015 2xCD releases:
- Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope disc 1 has the 1954 Alfred Newman version, but with better frequency response and less distortion than on the film prints.
- Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back disc 1 has a previously unheard mix of the Williams/LSO version. It has unique instrument positions & levels (e.g. kettle drums almost completely replace the snares on the last note), much less reverb, no distortion, and narrower stereo, and the last note is held for 1.5 seconds instead of 2.5 seconds, though this could be an edit. I'm inclined to think it's a remixed alternate take. In any case, it's not authentic to the original films. Maybe it was used in the 1997 Special Edition release of the films, though?
- Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi disc 1 is identical to the one on Empire, just 0.8 dB quieter.
My analysis here does not take into account what was used on the home video releases, nor the prequel & sequel trilogies. Someone else will have to tackle that.
How to work this original research into the article is also an exercise for someone else. —Mjb2022 (talk) 18:03, 18 February 2022 (UTC)