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Post #347166

Author
yotsuya
Parent topic
Blade Runner: The Complete Music Collection (work-in-progress)
Link to post in topic
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/347166/action/topic#347166
Date created
1-Mar-2009, 4:28 PM

Just to remind you (and in it is particularly evident with "Unveiled Twinkling Space" and how it appears on the soundtrack vs how it appears in the film) the sound editors on a movie frequently adjust the music and other sounds to match the final edit of a scene. What you hear in the movie is doubtfully how the original track sounded on the tapes that Vangelis delivered.

And also a reminder that the technology at that time was usually audio tape. To adjust the length of a track meant that you adjusted the speed and therefore the pitch. While it is true that digital audio was available (Star Trek: The Motion Picture was the first movie to be shot and edited with digital sound in 1979), it was still very expensive and high tech. Also, according to the codes on the Vangelis' albums from the 80's, he was using analog tape for his recordings at least through 1986 when he recorded Invisible Connections.

So when you consider how best to present Vangelis' music for Blade Runner, it is best to match the Soundtrack releases as they are at the speed he intended them to be when they were recorded. The change in pitch is just a cutting room edit like cutting the length or adding distortion to make the music sound like it is in the background.

Focuspuller is trying to give us a recreation of the original studio recordings which means reversing all the edits the sound editors made to the music. Not an easy thing for some of the music.