Star Wars Music Minute

In minutes 26-30 of The Rise of Skywalker, Lando tells Rey, Finn, Poe, and the gang about Ochi of Bestoon, and our heroes encounter flying stormtroopers. Film music researcher Conor Power returns to the show to discuss "style topics," the Heroics themes, and John Williams' original cue for the speeder chase. Timestamps: 0:00 - Hello there! 3:09 - Musical scorekeeping, motifs. 5:49 - Style topics (...

In minutes 21-25 of The Rise of Skywalker, Kylo Ren debuts his newly repaired mask, our heroes make it to Pasaana in time for the Aki Aki Festival of the Ancestors, and we get our first piece of source music in the film. Alex Cunningham returns to the show to discuss Kylo's helmet voice, First Order dialects, stabby punctuation, and the use of diegetic music on Pasaana. Timestamps: 0:00 - Hello th...

Palpatine has returned, and author Katharine Coldiron joins me to discuss minutes 16-20 of The Rise of Skywalker. We talk about the logic of leitmotifs, songs vs. performances, Bugs, the storytelling matrix, conveying information through image vs. sound, and more.  Timestamps: 0:00 - Hello there! 4:51 - Microphone speculation. 13:55 - "Somehow, Palpatine returned." 21:34 - The logic of leitmotifs....

In minutes 11-15 of The Rise of Skywalker, we see Rey training in the jungle of Ajan Kloss under the light guidance of General Leia Organa; Kylo and Rey have their first Force chat of the film; and Rey reunites with Poe and Finn. Star Wars author and Rey aficionado Riley Silverman is here with me to discuss Rey's epic "training suite" theme, Leia's as a "lowercase j" jedi, shortcuts in music and f...

In minutes 6-10 of The Rise of Skywalker, Palpatine has a chat with Kylo Ren, Poe and Finn lose a game of Dejarik to Chewie, a spy gives the Resistance information, and the Falcon lightspeed skips to evade TIE fighters. Klaudia Amenábar of RuPalp's Podrace returns to the show to discuss the Resistance polycule, octatonic brass, Exegol sound design, and more! Timestamps: 0:00 - Hello there! 3:43 -...

This is an introduction to the music of The Rise of Skywalker with an emphasis on the first 5 minutes. In the episode, I also go over my aims for this season of Star Wars Music Minute, talk about balancing meta-commentary and media-commentary, and share my favorite thing about the TROS score. Timestamps: 0:00 - Hello there! 0:50 - What to expect from this episode. 1:40 - Part 1: The first 5 minute...

Mastering engineer and film music restoration expert Chris Malone joins Xanthe for the season finale to talk about all things Empire Strikes Back soundtrack. We cover a ton of ground, from analog recording technology and methodology to the unique issues affecting The Empire Strikes Back releases. This episode contains many visuals, including spectogram displays that allow us to see tangible differ...

Chrysanthe covers minutes 121-125, answers listener questions, and shares their 30 takeaways, trends, surprises, and highlights from The Empire Strikes Back season of Star Wars Music Minute. This is part 1 of a 2-part season finale! 📹 YouTube version of this episode: https://youtu.be/RoEzVlLUFt8   ⭐️ Patreon/Discord server: https://patreon.com/chrysanthetan   ----------- Timestamps: 0:00 - Hello...

Justin Leo Kennedy is back for another sound design deep-dive! 🎉 Today, it's all about R2-D2. Using a virtual ARP 2600 synth emulator and a recording of his baby crying, Justin attempts to reverse-engineer Ben Burtt's iconic Artoo beepspeak, teaching us a lot about sound synthesis along the way.  We also discuss minutes 116-120 of The Empire Strikes Back, which feature two of Justin's other favor...

If you play The Empire Strikes Back backwards, will you hear the wind whispering "Luke?" Are the gentle climaxes on Cloud City byproducts of calculated sensory deprivation? How does John Williams convey Luke's emotional state and connect Leia to the Force? Today's guest is Camila Quiñones -- writer, host of Beings of the Galaxy podcast, and one of my favorite people to talk Star Wars with. This is...

Dan Golding is here to discuss minutes 106-110 of The Empire Strikes Back! We talk about Ben Burtt's frustrations, intense pedal points, a nasal brass canon, free fanfares, Empire being an "editor's film," and how the music is "meanwhile" (sounds strange, but it'll make sense when you listen to the episode). 😅 Timestamps: 0:00 - Hello there! 7:05 - Ben Burtt's frustrations, Irvin Kershner's on-se...

Minutes 101-105 of The Empire Strikes Back feature extraordinary drama, peril, romance, and even some lightly comedic underscore. Takeo Rivera (English professor, playwright, performance studies specialist) returns to the show to discuss the score's function as a "warm blanket," Threepio's crush on Lando, the film's romantic aesthetics, and more. This episode is also on YouTube:  https://youtu.be/...

Pete the Retailer and Alex Robinson from Star Wars Minute join me to discuss the music and sound in minutes 96-100 of The Empire Strikes Back. Han gets frozen in carbonite! John Williams's dramatic, emotional score moves us through the action. In this episode, we also listen to the original footage from the carbonite freezing scene before music was added. This episode is also on YouTube: https://y...

James Waterman and Justin Scheid from The Band Batch are here for minutes 91-95 of The Empire Strikes Back. We talk about Threepio's analog rejuvenation, the timpani doom roll, and what happens when Star Wars voice actors are overdubbed in later editions (like how Jason Wingreen was replaced by Temura Morrison). We also get to hear Justin's favorite sound and what James considers the funniest line...

As Yoda says, "There is another." Today's guest is my brother, Nic Tan! We delve into minutes 86-90 of The Empire Strikes Back, which naturally begs discussion about the toys, Boba Fett, Yoda's golden nuggets, cloud cars, negative musical space, changes to film scoring over the decades, how Lando's theme diverges from John Williams's traditional hero themes, questionably un-porcine ugnaught sound...

Musicologist Alex Ludwig (Dies Irae guru) returns to the show to discuss minutes 81-85 of The Empire Strikes Back! We talk about the form, orchestration, and rhythm of the Lando's Palace cue, the stern parenting of Yoda and Obi-Wan, and how the music paints the text. Video version of this episode is here:  https://youtu.be/tdJUdPsUQBQ   Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro. 10:30 - Meeting Lando with some exh...

Opulent violins and sci-fi vocals can only mean one thing: We're approaching Cloud City! Composer/music technologist Jeremy Sawruk returns to the show to discuss minutes 76-80 of The Empire Strikes Back. Timestamps: 0:00 - Hello there! 5:49 - Voice removal. 12:38 - Background "Morse code" sound. 16:34 - Errant horn entrance or sound design? 19:08 - Envelopes! (ADSR.) 26:25 - Open chord sound. 33:5...

In The Empire Strikes Back Minutes 71-75, Yoda raises the ship while Luke looks on in disbelief. Oboist Trevor Mowry and Father David Mowry return to SWMM to talk about this emotional cue (complete with the best E Maj7 chord ever), the "Peter and Wolf"-like instrumentation (are you team French horn or team trumpet?), the expansiveness of Yoda's theme, and the tactility of Star Wars sound design. W...

Music theorist Dr. Lauren Crosby is here to help us take a closer look at the original Boba Fett theme. We compare the pitch material of John Williams's theme to Ludwig Göransson's Boba Fett theme (which debuted in The Book Of Boba Fett), theorize about the relationship between them, and discuss other things from this action-packed set of minutes too! Timestamps: 0:00 - Hello there! 10:53 - When d...

Talking cave visions, glissando lizards, synthesizers, The Magic Tree, magnets, and more with Ender Smith (of AurekFonts)! This is The Empire Strikes Back minutes 61-65. Video version of this episode (with visuals): https://youtu.be/gYGV9Vy_wDs   Timestamps: 0:00 - Hello there! 2:36 - Cue 6M3 "This Is Not A Cave." 5:42 - Demonstrating planing chords on guitar. 11:46 - Mishearing Leia's line. 12:27...

Suzen Tekla Kruglnska returns to the show to discuss the humorous horror and philosophical twists in The Empire Strikes Back minutes 56-60! We talk about Kubrick musical connections, Yoda's necklace/instrument, mynock sound design, and the visceral extended techniques used to elicit fear. Timestamps: 0:00 - Hello there! 5:36 - Connections to The Shining and The Muppet Show. 10:00 - Zigzagging betw...

In The Empire Strikes Back minutes 51-55, Han and Leia share their first kiss and we meet the Emperor for the first time. Joining me (for the 4th time!) is music theorist/film musicologist Frank Lehman. We discuss the lineage of musical love themes, John Williams's distinctive Lydian signature, the strange proto-Emperor cue, and he gives us a sneak peek of the major updates he's making to the Star...

It's finally time to meet Yoda! Joining me today is writer, producer, and Muppet aficionado Ken Plume. We break down Frank Oz's fantastic performance, including his speech syntax and the vocal qualities that define Yoda vs. Miss Piggy vs. Grover vs. Fozzie vs. Bert and Frank Oz's other classic characters. The music takes a backseat in this scene, giving the audience a chance to really meet and hea...

Flutist & Star Wars music researcher Samantha Tripp returns to the show to talk about the rich sonic environment of Dagobah! This is EMPIRE STRIKES BACK Minutes 41-45. Timestamps: 0:00 - Hello there! 4:27 - How do you feel about the Asteroid Field concert arrangement? 16:15 - Violin articial harmonics at the end of the Asteroid Field. 20:12 - Flute harmonics. 29:20 - Semitonal Slip. 36:22 - Mu...

We're getting into the Asteroid Field with Thundercat pianist Dennis Hamm! In this episode, we explore the complex harmony, emotion, and triumph in this cue that John Williams once called "a ballet of flying spaceships and asteroids colliding." Dennis also administers a fun listening test toward the end that you'll want to stick around for (there are no wrong answers). This is The Empire Strikes B...