J. Williams & LSO, The EMPIRE STRIKES BACK AUDIOPHILE EDITION - Restored & Remastered Score (Released) — Page 5

ABC,

Sorry if it's been discussed to death.  I obviously haven't read every post on the subject.  It was just something that became news to me right now! :)

I'm off to read the discussions right now.

Move along, move along... ;)

edit: And you explained it nicely for the alternate version in track 22.  To be honest, I didn't read about the alternate tracks when reading about the edits you're making for this version.  I was most interested in the main score itself.  It's great to read that you're including the alt. stuff as well.  This should assure that this version will be the end all be all version for the future.

edit 2: And we really need to stop editing our posts at the same time! :)

By the way, I was just checking myself the OE thread and found I already posted the LP version of the "Rebel Fleet/End Title". Beware it may not sound as good as you think...

Yeah, that's the one I compared to earlier.  I was never aware until today that different mixes existed for the Finale.  Even with your OEv3, I tend to stop or start over once it gets to the NPO tracks (I'm not a huge fan of those - not your work on them mind you, just the tracks themselves).  Needless to say, I'm going to have to give the alt. cues a listen....

Savage said:

... Even with your OEv3, I tend to stop or start over once it gets to the NPO tracks (I'm not a huge fan of those...)

These tracks are not on the AE anyway.

msycamore said:

I must say I love the alternate mix on "The Rebels Escape" with its louder layer, both are very good, but I think this one is the winner, I'm starting to see what you mean by saying CD3 is the real gem ;) Powerful & dynamic! (...)

 Ok, so here's the deal about this track (what withdraws my last thoughts about it)...

CD1 will have "The Rebel Escapes" version without the RSO LP layer.

... (Edit)

CD1 will finally have the lower layered track.

CD3 will provide the version with the louder LP layer as I've been able to render this special mix in all its... "awesomeness" ?

... If you didn't get my attention on the sample of this track I may have not noticed I posted a better version than on my actual rough CD3 (a long story...) Indeed I somehow lost the settings of the sample version. lol ! This one allowed me to verify than it could sound more natural. The last EQ's I tried on it may be even better. Let's see.

ABC said:

msycamore said:

I must say I love the alternate mix on "The Rebels Escape" with its louder layer, both are very good, but I think this one is the winner, I'm starting to see what you mean by saying CD3 is the real gem ;) Powerful & dynamic! (...)

 Ok, so here's the deal about this track (what withdraws my last thoughts about it)...

CD1 will have "The Rebel Escapes" version without the RSO LP layer.

... (Edit)

CD1 will finally have the lower layered track.

CD3 will provide the version with the louder LP layer as I've been able to render this special mix in all its... "awesomeness" ?

 

... If you didn't get my attention on the sample of this track I may have not noticed I posted a better version than on my actual rough CD3 (a long story...) Indeed I somehow lost the settings of the sample version. lol ! This one allowed me to verify than it could sound more natural. The last EQ's I tried on it may be even better. Let's see.

I've listened to them again, and I must say I love it in both renditions but I agree, CD1 version sounds more natural somehow. But I see you're on it ;)

msycamore said:

I've listened to them again, and I must say I love it in both renditions but I agree, CD1 version sounds more natural somehow. But I see you're on it ;)

 The louder layered version now sounds very good. Just I had to calm down my will to give it the more spacing sound as possible. The version without layer is indeed very natural but has a too front feeling for a cue that is played by a great number of musicians with a bunch of distant instruments. I'll post this latter unused version in he samples and will remain a collector track. :)

...

Sorry about the delay for the samples guys... I'll be late !

Burdokva said:

I must admit, ABC has got me confused... is this the final restoration, or the 2010 Optimum edition?

Ah, sorry for the confusion. Indeed the Optimum thread as dived into the dephts...

I don't know if it is THE final restoration, but it will be for me. Even if was released a brand new remastered version now, the one I'm achieving here may still be quite a valuable piece to listen for a long time.

Yet, you can take a look at post 2 and compare the remixing slate with the one on your sets (will give you a far idea).

To sum up, almost no cue sounds like the OEv.3 anymore... And remembering you're the only one who has been able to spot (and precisely)  the differences between v2 and v3 in the previous thread, I know you'll enjoy this one very much...

Burdokva said:

Thanks!

Well, final or not, I'll be sure to give it a listen - so far your work on the soundtracks has been outstanding. At the very least I have (another) excuse to put my neighbors through another round of TESB's music!

I can't tell you what it sounds like now without sounding pretentious...! :\ ;) Just be sure that I explored every possibilities I was able to find to give this score the best it can, and that it made me discovered two times more things to be fixed.

Notably accurate EQ's showed how the balance may be wrong on numerous tracks, when on the original releases you sometime can't really get it even if you know it.

I can only feel sorry for your neighbours who surely will pray for the London Symphony Orchestra to leave your living room !

The only thing I do not like at all is that I don't have a color printer... there goes the slick cover art and booklet for me! :'(

Haha ! Funny smiley with the tear. Well, I'll make at least two sets of covers, so one very simple only with the main liner notes on 6 pages approximatively (and they're black and white... Convenient !). I guess not everybody has the chance to have the facilities to assemble the booklet anyway, and even knowing how to make it it may be a headache for me too, to do it right. Haha, skilled hands required.

At least such a ESB set will have been done as it deserved, from Α to Ω .

Looking forward to this one!

Samples will be completely posted in a couple of days I hope. I'll post several comparison bunches. The first one may be ready in a few hours though...

... Check post 1. Sorry for the delay.

ABC,

I was just taking a look at the tracklist again for disc three.  At first I though this was going to be a straight up re-release of the RSO double LP, just scrubbed, cleaned, and hit with some ABC polish.  Which, by the way, would be a fantastic release as well.  However, you're obviously going a different route and the final product appears to be an "improved" RSO listening experience.  Certainly, I'm looking forward to sitting down for 80 minutes and digesting that!

Do you have any plans on releasing a restored RSO LP?  This is something, to my knowledge, not yet done.  I'd love to have a clean as clean can be copy of the album, rather than the LP rips out there; sourced from the best tracks released to this day with all the sonic improvements you're able to do on all your releases.  And, yes, I'd like it to be just like the original release, wacky arrangements and all (Mynock cave at the end of the Main Title? Wha???).  Anyway, it may make a nice "disc four" to the set, to complete the audiophile experience!

Just a thought.  Looking forward to those samples!

Savage,

considering the new material provided by the current set your wishes may be easy to fix for yourself, even if you're new with sound. I just don't see the interest of such a disc four for myself... Changes don't mean improvements.

The RSO LP has been edited has this to provide a vinyl listening experience = splitted in four sides. It was not meant to be experienced in one stroke. That's one of the reason why they spread the tracks as they did. ;)

RE: the ABC RSO reconstruction.  Perhaps improvements wasn't the best choice of words. The arrangement and excision of tracks in a new engaging musical progression will be very interesting to hear in any event.

RE: the original RSO double LP:  What I was referring to was a listening experience speed and pitch corrected, eliminating most of the inherent background noise found on the flac encoded RSO LP on the net (i.e. vinyl pops and hiss), while keeping the original album tracks and arrangements as they were presented.  Basically, a remastered original RSO double LP compiled from the best sources you have.

Nostalgia is a big thing for me.  I played that double LP more times than I can remember when I was a kid.  To have a cleaned up version of that exact album for posterity's sake would be something great to have in the vault, in addition to all the fine work you've done on your own version and the complete score as well.  Would it become my defacto ESB album?  Probably not.  But it would certainly bear quite a few listens when I need to get transported back to 1980/81.

Again, it's something I'd love to have, but this is and always has been your project.  If you want to make the album, great!  If not, I'm sure I'll live.  But I hope it's something you'll consider, if not for this project, maybe for something as an aside.

Anyway, keep up the great work!

edit: and again you beat me to the post with your own edit! ;)

Yeah, I probably could arrange it myself, and the vinyl rip out there is sufficient enough as is.  I may actually consider doing this once you release the AE.  Again, it was just a thought and I'm definitely more than pleased with what you're doing here.

A well thought thematic revisitation of the score would be far more interesting to me. Notably as it has been especially composed to allow that.

But my only plan about ESB for the future is to be able to sit and listen with nothing to ask from it anymore... And I'm within an ace of such a set: a matter of days.

Enjoy these last few days of work, my friend!  And then a much deserved rest, I'm sure.... :)

Being happy with it yourself is most important. I hope you are able to be fully satisfied with it someday. ;)

Ripplin said:

Being happy with it yourself is most important. I hope you are able to be fully satisfied with it someday. ;)

 Thanks ! You know how this is, when you are entirely in the action and can't visualise the end result before the final touch, following your first idea like a blind man and can only "see" - and only parts of the whole - when you stop. And then, what a reward indeed when it comes to match with the idea that you had forgotten since a while !... The idea beeing here two different "at the top" listening experiences, from both assemblage and temper point of views.

I have a load of tiny corrections (editing and light balance rectifications) that only the equipment I'm working with is currently slowing down (two computers, one on wich I can't hear a damn thing and an old one wich has too few free memory but sounds ace, what forces me to juggle to death between them), not mentionning that I don't want to put entirely my free time in it anymore.

Excepted that, all my settings are now fixed and the definitive assembled panel go beyond my expectations or at least fully match with those, really. Just so you know that "someday" has happened. ;)

ABC, would you ever look into working on the Shadows of the Empire soundtrack. It was really good, but the sound wasn't very Star Warsy. Maybe some of your equalization could bring it to the top.

... I don't think so. However, and of course if the sound is the same on all the album, just send me two tracks: one quiet + one swashbuckling (or rich). Then I may send you back good settings to fix it... only if I have time.

Good idea with the samples ABC, makes for an easy comparison. Have you managed to get some good results from the Murphy remixed Musical journey DVD tracks?

msycamore said:

Good idea with the samples ABC, makes for an easy comparison.

I think it will make things more interesting, giving a concrete idea of what's hidding behind rough recordings (mostly Antho) as in processed ones (mostly SE)... And the analog recordings.

It will show too that no processings of any kind other than good EQ's, plus a few creativity, are required for such a restoration (A few tracks mostly on CD2 have a corrupted signal but I finally found the most fitting EQ's ever: their relationship with the better tracks is now quite obvious).

I don't know but I think you'll witness the first restoration of such a specie in the soundtracks history (?)... :)

Have you managed to get some good results from the Murphy remixed Musical journey DVD tracks?

Only one interested me (Asteroïd Field) and fortunately it has only two short dialogues. I narrowed and re-equilized separately the two stereo channels, kept the two mono tracks (EQ's on the main center one, lowered the bass one), and the assemblage is quite surprising next to the 5.1 surround mix. I'd say it is not bad... Not bad at all. (Sounds closer to the RSO version, though it smells to have been processed with some compression or so...).

Funny, I saw your post ten minutes after I listened to the result.

---

Edit: btw, sorry again for the wait guys. I won't tell you I'll post the samples in two days this time... But let's say in 48 hours !

First sample bunch added. See my sign...

!!! :)

Going to have to give the samples a listen tonight! Thanks, ABC!