In order to make a correct edit of the Empire Strikes Back’s score from all the available editions, one must take into consideration some specific particularities on each of those:
1. The SE’s have a lot of tracks with a narrow or spoiled stereo.
2. The Anthology has two tracks (segments more precisely) with the stereo channels inverted (thanks GooMusician ;) )
3. The Anthology is entirely inverted (the frequencies have their head down, which can be an issue once you have to edit a track with the SE or the RSO).
4. The RSO 1st CD edition, behind the lack of care about the mixing, is awesome.
5. General: to notice the score is composed with a lot of material from the recording sessions wich edited together may sound different.
After that, only a careful listen after having managed the abuse (or not) of EQ’s on each of those can let you decide wich version shows the best for each track.
On this edit, all have been remixed separately (originally edited segments from a same cue), to obtain the most accurate volumes and equalizations settings before editing.
Here’s the detail this edit so far:
CD1:
1. Main Titles / The Ice Planet
· 0’00” - 1’31” | RSO CD
· 1’31” - 2’29” | RSO CD
· 2’29” - 2’45” | SE
· 2’45” - 2’54” | Anthology
· 2’54” - 3’15” | RSO CD
· 3’15” - 3’31” | RSO CD
· 3’31” - 3’45” | RSO CD
· 3’45” - 8’12” | Anthology
2. The Wampa’s Lair
· SE (+ Anthology clean fade out)
3. Vision of Obi-Wan
· 0’00” - 0’15” | SE (“Rebel Base” insert originally outro of “Probe Droid”)
· 0’15” - 3’35” | SE
4. Snowspeeders
· Anthology
· layered with RSO LP transfer (at corrected speed) for better depth and percussions details.
5. Aboard The Executor
· SE
6. Drawing The Battle Lines
· 0’00” – 2’01” | SE
· 2’01” – 2’40” | SE
· 2’40” – 4’04” | Anthology
· Stereo recentered (each part)
7. The Battle In The Snow
· RSO CD
· restored lack of volume from 1’43” to 1’50” (RSO only)
· rearranged the clumsy original cut (a repetition) at 2’28”
8. Luke’s First Crash
· Anthology
9. The Rebels Escape
· Anthology
· RSO LP transfer from 2'05 to 2'07 (missing bit)
10. The Asteroid Field
· RSO CD
11. Crash Landing On Dagobah
· 0’00” – 2’37” | SE
· 2’37” – 3’30” | SE
· 3’30” – 3’35” | Anthology fade out
12. A Familiar Place
· SE
13. Luke’s Nocturnal Visitor
· 0’00” – 1’37” | RSO CD
· 1’37” – 1’47” | Anthology (missing bit)
· 1’47” – end | RSO CD
14. Han And Leia / Vader And The Emperor
· 0’00” – 1’31” | RSO CD, restored hiss on 1 or 2sec at 1’19” with the SE
· 1’31” – End | RSO CD
Two “big” hisses remain unrestored… but this version is irreplaceable.
15. Jedi Master Revealed / Mynock Cave
· SE, fully reedited. The end of “Jedi Master Revealed” has been composed to match the beginning of mynock Cave – before they edit the Vader fanfare on the SE like it is in the film. Also, the repetition of the thrilling part in “Mynock Cave” in the complete score is ‘imo’, a wrong add. It is far more natural that way. ‘Don’t mind if it doesn’t make a “complete” score anymore :).
16. The Magic Tree
· Anthology
· RSO LP transfer for synth part layer (1’58” – 2’16”) at corrected speed
17. Attack Position
· Anthology
· Three electrical noises/dropouts restored with the SE
· Stereo recentered
18. Yoda And The Force
· RSO CD, unrestored weird synth noise on the end fanfare, but it’s your only chance to listen this ending in its full power, as to have the original sequence untouched. They’ve only cut it on later releases, so they haven’t restored it.
19. Imperial Starfleet Deployed
· SE
20. City In The Clouds
· 0’00” – 0’09” | Anthology
· 0’09” – 0’35” | RSO LP transfer
· 0’35” – 1’26” | Anthology
· 1’26” – 2’29” | SE
· 2’29” – 3’40” | RSO LP transfer
· 3’40” – End | Anthology
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
CD2 (76:56):
1. Lando's Palace / Luke's Promise
· 0’00” - 1’21” | Anthology (+LP layer on 4sec from 1'13" for better percussion depht)
· 1’21” - 2’24” | Anthology
· 2’24” - 3’51” | Anthology
+ Stereo balance corrected
2. Leia's Worries
· 0’00” - 0'14” | SE
· 0’14” - 1'00” | SE
3. Lando And Han
· SE (... quite a corrupted track)
4. Betrayal At Bespin
· SE
5. Captives
· SE
6. Deal With The Dark Lord
· 0’00” – 0'48” | SE
· 0'48” – 2’34” | SE (... Hard to deal with, indeed).
7. Carbon Freeze
· 0’00” - 0'23” | Anthology
· 0'23” - 1'16” | Anthology
· 1'16” - 1'34” | Anthology
· 1'34” - 2'38” | Anthology
8. Darth Vader's Trap / Departure Of Boba Fett
(Darth Vader's Trap)
· 0'00” - 0'55” | Anthology
· 0'55” - 1'30” | Anthology
· 1'30” - 2'06” | Anthology
· 2'06” - 3'30” | Anthology
· 3'30” - 3'49” | Anthology
· 3'49” - 4'51” | Anthology + Noise restoration at 7'37" on 1 sec.
(Departure Of Boba Fett)
· 4'51” - 4'57” | SE (for correct stereo junction, and better roll on the drum)
· 4'57” - 7'27” | Anthology + LP layer for the flutes (8'41" - 9'12")
· 7'27” - 8'26” | Anthology + wrong cut rearrangement at 10'47
(+ Stereo balance corrected on Carbon Freeze and Departure Of Boba Fett)
9. The Duel
· 0’00” - 0'27” | Anthology
· 0'27” - 1'33” | RSO CD
· 1'33” - 2'49” | RSO CD
· 2'49” - 4'06” | RSO CD
10. The Revelation / Escape From Bespin
· Anthology + Stereo balance corrected
11. Hyperspace
· Anthology (sped up at LP speed) + Stereo balance corrected
· Layered with RSO LP transfer
12. The Rebel Fleet / Finale
(The Rebel Fleet)
· 0’00” - 1'47” | RSO CD (base remix)
· 1'47” - 1'57” | RSO CD (saturation correction re-EQ)
(Finale)
· 1'57” - 2'06” | RSO CD (saturation correction re-EQ)
· 2'06” - 3'42” | RSO CD (base remix) + "tape crash" restoration at 3'08" with Anthology
· 3'42” - 3'51” | RSO CD (re-EQ)
· 3'51” - 4'28” | RSO CD - from the "Imperial March" track
· 4'28” - 4'37” | Anthology - from the "Film Version" bonus track (saturation correction re-EQ)
· 4'37” - 5'47” | RSO CD (saturation correction re-EQ)
· 4'47” - 6'25” | RSO CD (base remix)
+ Stereo balance corrected for all the track
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK MUSIC SUITE
(Tracks 13 to 16 written and adapted by John Williams for concert performance)
13. The Imperial March
· RSO CD + Stereo balance corrected
14. Yoda's Theme
· RSO CD + Stereo balance corrected
15. The Asteroid Field*
16. Han Solo And The Princess*
17. The Magic Tree*
ALTERNATE / UNUSED MATERIAL
18. Main Title / Probe Droid Overture (Film Version)
· RSO CD | SE | Anthology
19. Snowspeeders (Film Version)
· Anthology
Multi-segment edit from "Hyperspace" and "Snowspeeders"
20. Trapped In Carbonite (Unused)
· SE
Alternate composition for the beginning of "Darth Vader's Trap"
21. Departure Of Boba Fett
· Anthology + RSO LP flutes layer
Multi-segment edit from this cue
22. Training Of A Jedi Knight (Unused)
· 0'00” - 0'44” | RSO CD
· 0'44” - 1'38” | SE
23. The Rebel Fleet / Finale (Film Version)
· Same as track 12, expended with intro from "Yoda And The Force", the "Imperial March" is replaced here with its alternate from the film version End Titles (Anthology bonus track).
... Thanks msycamore for the info about that one ! ;)
* Performed by the National Philarmonic Orchestra conducted by Charles Gerhardt (1980). I personnaly find the sound of this recording unbearable when its quality is at the top, so these tracks have been remixed too.
NOTE: All is 100% lossless, including the NPO tracks.