hairy_hen said:
... Particularly for Jedi, I expect a lot of improvement comes simply from using the superior Anthology as a source; but that's not to downplay the importance of his EQ changes, which work wonders in giving a better sound.
To notice, sound engineer Eric Tomlinson used to record these scores through each parts of the orchestra (the famous 24-track tapes), and in the same time used to make a more overall recording: a "live mix" through 8-track tapes. The Anthology provides a lot of these live mixes using final 2-track edited or pre-edited tapes.
That's a good clue to know what to search in those recordings to work on- I didn't know when I worked on it, though the live ambiance was easy to notice here and there. Surely a reason why most of you are so impressed with the sound. I've gone a bit too far in "loud" and "highs" *imo*.
I still prefer my '77 Star Wars rendition, It was only a first draft (a first cleaning through equalization) and I didn't dare touching it further so it was good to listen. the tracks from the Anthology are the film mix, the SE are 24-track tapes remixes, but reduced DRange with processings.
On the original album, a little half of the tracks are missed mixes, and a big half are successful and awesome ones wich are the best to be found. Most of the pitches are wrong so there may be a lot of work there again to get that back.
Anyway I think the salvage version of "Jedi" is the best for discovery, the SW is the best for appreciation, and ESB... Pfff... Well, just keep it for the car.
Btw, the quieter tracks are very good I think on the Skywalker Symphony disc!