Star Wars Music Minute

Film music PhD researcher Conor Power joins me for a discussion about The Empire Strikes Back minutes 31-35. We're finishing up the Battle of Hoth along with some shrill piccolos, rollicking pianos, an "extra minor" Luke theme, and a brass line that we both fancy for reasons we try to figure out. As the episode title suggests, the music in this cue seems to act like a referee keeping score between...

We're getting deep into the Battle of Hoth today! This is minutes 26-30 of The Empire Strikes Back with composer/orchestrator Dominic Sewell. The quickie topic is a primer on the anatomy and function of a score.  To follow along with the visuals in this episode, I recommend checking out the video version (or just spot checking the areas you want to see): https://youtu.be/oOvHkaciOVk   Timestamps:...

In minutes 21-25 of The Empire Strikes Back, Vader sets course for the Hoth system while the Rebels prepare to defend their base. Joining me today is Stephanie Manning, a bassoonist, writer, and 2022 Fellow of the Rubin Institute for Music Criticism. We talk about the Imperial March, the contrast between Rebel and Empire music, and the bassoon's role in the orchestra. Sidenote: Stephanie is the fi...

Music theorist Dr. Jenn Harding joins Xanthe for an analysis of minutes 16-20 of The Empire Strikes Back. We talk about textural shifts, snowspeeder sound design, macroharmony, musical structure, spectrograms, math, intonation, the Leia-Han-Luke love triangle (and what the music has to say about it), and more!  This episode is also on YouTube (with spectogram visuals): https://youtu.be/nnflnU9iecM...

This episode is about minutes 11-15 of The Empire Strikes Back with my guest Jake Jahiel -- a musicologist, Baroque music specialist, and 2022 Fellow of the Rubin Institute for Music Criticism. Today, we're talking about the Spectralist-adjacent music of Hoth, the Force theme that sprang from the petri dish, Wagner's influence, and the music that John Williams originally wrote that got cut from th...

This episode is about minutes 6-10 of The Empire Strikes Back, and composer-artist Christina Ward returns to the show to discuss! The YouTube version of this episode is here: https://youtu.be/xHuhO51iYuc   Timestamps: 00:00 - Hello there! 02:15 - Listening to the beginning of these minutes. 08:17 - Assessing the feelings behind Han and Leia's dialogue. 12:28 - Slow, awkward waltz. 16:41 - Threepio...

This episode is an introduction to the music of The Empire Strikes Back, with a special emphasis on minutes 1-5. Welcome to THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK SEASON of Star Wars Music Minute! 🎉 (No guest today; just Xanthe.) Timestamps: 00:00 - Hello there! 01:06 - References & resources 03:31 - Intro to THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK 04:46 - Scoring process 08:52 - Recording process 22:50 - Soundtrack hullab...

Baraka May has recording vocals on over 500 films, TV shows, video games, commercials, and albums. Today, we're discussing her work on "Chicken In the Pot" in Solo: A Star Wars Story! 🐔 Baraka reflects on the recording process, talks about how she approached the Huttese dialect, and talks about how she and John Powell experimented with pitch and speed-shifting in order to land on the unique "Chic...

Iain Farrington played piano and celeste for the Solo: A Star Wars Story soundtrack! In this episode, we listen to some of our favorite piano moments from the Solo soundtrack, and Iain talks about what it was like to record those cues. He also shares stories from the recording sessions and gives us insight into how he approaches different types of piano cues. Timestamps: 00:00 - Hello there! 00:39...

Xanthe wraps up coverage of Solo: A Star Wars Story (minutes 131-135) by taking a closer look at the music and sound credits. What do sound editors, music editors, orchestra contractors, and re-recording mixers do? We'll also review the nine new leitmotifs that Solo added to the Star Wars oeuvre. Timestamps: 00:00 - Hello there! 01:27 - Music and sound end credits and what the various roles do. 1:...

Today, we're obsessing over the transition to the end credits in Solo: A Star Wars Story. Pete and Alex from Star Wars Minute are here to join me! (Ring theory.) We compare the Solo credits to The Empire Strikes Back, The Phantom Menace, and more. Timestamps: 00:00 - Hello there! 05:26 - How Solo transitions to the end credits. 17:46 - End credits transitions in saga films vs. Star Wars Story film...

In minutes 121-125 of Solo: A Star Wars Story, Beckett dies, Qi'ra leaves, and we reunite with Lando the Raconteur in his fancy jungle room. Star Wars Lawyer (Kris) returns to the show for a discussion about solemn death music, Lando's themes, Lando cosplay, and more! Timestamps: 00:00 - Hello there! 07:17 - How do you feel about Han and Qi'ra's romance? 10:26 - Death and solemnity in Star Wars. 1...

Maul's entire sound situation in minutes 116-120 of SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY is absolute wildness. James Waterman and Justin Scheid (from The Band Batch) are here with Xanthe to discuss! Timestamps: 00:00 - Hello there! 01:31 - Our extremely cute matching outfits. 08:04 - Analog sword fighting. 11:00 - Space pirate polyrhythms + a tangent about notating polyrhythms. 20:26 - Cool accents on beat 2 d...

Alex Ludwig AKA the Dies Irae Guru AKA  @Film Music Tropes  is back to discuss minutes 111-115 of Solo: A Star Wars Story! Spoiler: Alex and Xanthe noticed one Dies Irae reference each in these minutes, but they were completely different spots... In this episode, we also discuss "Jason Bourne in Space," fawn over the Secrets motif progression, and give John Powell a retrospective A on his voice le...

Suzen Tekla Kruglnska is here with me to discuss minutes 106-110 of Solo: A Star Wars Story! We talk about auditory illusions, the coaxium motif, John Powell's flowing scene transitions, and a potentially awkward music edit. Timestamps: 00:00 - Hello there! 04:13 - Beckett's "wheel spinning" music. 08:33 - Cliche or trope? In the ear of the beholder. 16:36 - Is there an abrupt edit here? 26:53 - P...

The "Secrets" theme can be easy to miss, but not in minutes 101-105 of Solo: A Star Wars Story! The veil of secrecy is lifted as the "Secrets" motif cycles through a progression of revelatory chords leading to Crimson Dawn. This is one of Xanthe's favorite musical moments in the film. Alex Cunningham returns to the show to nerd out about it! Timestamps: 00:00 - Hello there! 03:14 - Visual preview...

The music and sound design truly form a symbiotic circle in minutes 96-100 of Solo: A Star Wars Story! John Hoey (from The Resistance Broadcast and #MakeSolo2Happen) joins Xanthe in a discussion about the striking soundscapes of Savareen. Timestamps: 00:00 - Hello there! 05:06 - Taking a listen to the beginning of these minutes. 10:31 - Lack of music leaves us guessing. 12:16 - Comparing Savareen...

Talking about the music and sound in minutes 91-95 of Solo: A Star Wars Story with Jon Solomon! This set of minutes features a giant space tentacle monster, which, in part, is brought to life by the score and sound design. We talk about tension-building, our perceptions of musical "fastness," and a mysterious howling sound that Xanthe and Jon are now mildly obsessed with. Timestamps: 00:00 - Hello...

Jeremy Sawruk returns to the show to talk minutes 86-90 of Solo: A Star Wars Story. Today, we're getting into the Kessel Run, which features familiar themes from the Asteroid Field, Here They Come, and more. On the soundtrack, you'll find this cue in "Reminiscence Therapy" and "Kessel Run in Less Than 12 Parsecs." Timestamps: 00:00 - Hello there! 07:17 - Listening to the beginning of these minutes...

Lacey Gilleran from Resistance Broadcast is here to talk about the music in Solo minutes 81-85! We discuss the tragic scoring of L3's death, the gravitational pull of pedal points, musical depth of field, and, of course, #MakeSolo2Happen. Timestamps: 00:00 - Hello there! 00:54 - MakeSolo2Happen 09:50 - Swashbuckling adventures. 15:53 - Young Han Solo's Searching theme, ascending 21:40 - Music as a...

L3 starts a revolution, Han moves coaxium containers, and the (perky, contrapuntal) music is the Force that binds us all together. Also worth considering: Is L3 a big ol' boom box? Newly minted Star Wars writer Riley Silverman is back on the show to discuss Solo Minutes 76-80 of Solo! Timestamps: 00:00 - Hello there! 04:45 - Riley's theory of droids in Star Wars 11:06 - Didactic & diegetic 14:...

Composer Christina Ward joins Xanthe for a detailed listen and analysis of minutes 71-75 of Solo: A Star Wars Story, which starts with the crew landing on Kessel and ends with L3 liberating a droid. Timestamps: 00:00 - Hello there! 05:39 - All roads lead back to the Empire. 11:15 - Where the music abruptly changes, Baroque vibes, Enigma Variations, Britten, large interval leaps, unified instrument...

"Lando's Closet" is the horniest cue on the Solo soundtrack, Y/N? Crystal Beth joins me today for a discussion about minutes 66-70 of Solo: A Star Wars Story! Timestamps: 00:00 - Hello there! 02:32 - Cue naming conventions. 10:02 - Secrets theme 6x buildup. 12:43 - Horniness of this cue. Roller coaster. 14:38 - Narrating the roller coaster of the full cue. 17:16 - Buzzkill version in the film. 22:...

Dan Golding is back, and ahhh OKAY, we need to talk about the fact that Luke's theme plays like a pop anthem when Han lays eyes on the Millennium Falcon (!!!) In this episode, we examine the musical devices that contribute to that epic reveal, discuss John Powell's internal logic, evaluate Powell's underscore, talk about nostalgia in the Star Wars franchise, and more. Turns out there are lots of g...

Why does the music in the sabacc scene sound like a romantic comedy? What does a cortical homunculus have to do with Solo? How does The Lodge compare to the other watering holes of Star Wars? Tony Thaxton returns to the show to talk about all of this and more in minutes 56-60 of Solo: A Star Wars Story! Timestamps: 00:00 - Hello there! 03:27 - Musical playfulness of a romantic comedy. 10:36 - Do y...