ANH 8: Royal Oboe to Rebel Orchestra (Minutes 36-40)

This episode is about music and sound heard in minutes 36-40 of Star Wars: A New Hope. Obi-Wan finally hears Princess Leia's message, Luke isn't ready to go to Alderaan, and Vader finds Admiral Motti's lack of faith disturbing. Today, Elizabeth Lain joins me in a discussion about oboes, Death Star sound design, sonic screen wipes, and more! Highlights: 00:00 - Hello there! 01:53 - How sonically lean A New Hope is. 06:18 - Start of chronological breakdown. 07:45 - Leia's theme on oboe. Oboe vs. English horn vs. flute. 15:45 - Grassroots Leia theme? 17:41 - Luke and Obi-Wan reaction shots while the music fades out. 20:23 - Is Obi-Wan trying to "Jedi mind trick" Luke? 23:04 - Hero's call to action and refusal of the call (a la Joseph Campbell). 24:49 - This cue of music is so...! Where else have we heard it? For one, it sounds a lot like Jyn's theme in Rogue One. But both of those could also be interpreted as plays on Dies Irae. 27:43 - Hologram as a metaphor. 28:53 - "How am I every going to explain this?" "Learn about the Force, Luke" Cue Force theme. 32:18 - "I can take you as far as Anchorhead." 33:11 - Death Star motif accompanying the exterior shot of space/Star Destroyer. But before that, we hear what Elizabeth calls a "sonic screen wipe." 35:27 - The silent Death Star conference room. 37:33 - Jk, it's totally not silent. This is Ben Burtt's time to shine. 39:49 - How Ben Burtt designed the Death Star sounds. 44:35 - How Ben Burtt designed the ambient electronic, telemetry sounds. 46:43 - "Until this battle station is fully operational, we are vulnerable." 48:09 - What if there were music in this part? What makes the Death Star feel scary. 49:27 - Power dynamics between Vader and Tarkin. 56:04 - What keeps Xanthe up at night with regard to Vader. 1:01:40 - Back on Tatooine as Luke, Ben, and the droids discover the remains of an attack. 1:01:58 - Solo trumpet leads us into the next cue, and it builds gradually. The worldbuilding that occurs in this scene. 1:08:44 - Tempo picks up as Luke rushes to his landspeeder. 1:13:11 - A pretty bad pun, sorry. 1:13:33 - Interesting sound design thing Elizabeth noticed with the speeder on screen. 1:15:38 - SWMM Questionnaire 1:19:06 - Rundown of musical themes and soundtrack stuff from these minutes. 1:19:49 - Where to find Elizabeth, upcoming stuff, goodbyes. Musical Themes: 4. Leia 3. Force 5. Death Star Note: For consistency, I use the theme names and numbers established in Frank Lehman's Complete Catalogue of the Musical Themes of Star Wars. You can download it free at his website: https://franklehman.com/starwars/. Where we are in the soundtrack album: "Tales Of A Jedi Knight/Learn About The Force" by John Williams "Burning Homestead" "The Return Home" References: telemetry: the in situ collection of measurements or other data at remote points and their automatic transmission to receiving equipment (telecommunication) for monitoring. pedal (tone, point): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedal_point Opening trumpet part of "Pictures at an Exhibition (Promenade Part 1)" by Modest Mussorgsky - https://youtu.be/_5r8sa863Ts Rogue One/A New Hope music: https://youtu.be/DKheYfOl7hQ Complete Catalogue of the Musical Themes of Star Wars (Frank Lehman): https://franklehman.com/starwars/ ------------- STAR WARS MUSIC MINUTE QUESTIONNAIRE: 1. In exactly 3 words, what does Star Wars sound like? John Fucking Williams. 2. What's something related to Star Wars music or sound that you want to learn more about? A super detailed deep dive on C-3PO's voice; like, the very, very specifics of specifics, including which effects units they put on it, what the raw recordings sound like, what microphones they use, etc. 3. What's a score or soundtrack you're fond of besides anything Star Wars? Chernobyl (miniseries) composed by Hildur Guðnadóttir ------------- Follow Elizabeth Lain! Bandcamp: https://elizabethlain.bandcamp.com/ Website: https://elizabethlain.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/lizarde