ESB 4: Snowspeeder Macroharmony

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
Written By Chrysanthe Tan

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 

Timestamps:

  • 00:00 - Hello there!

  • 04:15 - Interaction between music and sound design.

  • 06:54 - How Ben Burtt crafted the snowspeeder and snow sounds.

  • 14:07 - Mechanical-sounding perpetual motion with triumphant trumpet flourishes on top.

  • 22:58 - Weird, angular oboe melody and a massive texture shift.

  • 27:54 - No music during the impassionate kiss.

  • 32:10 - Fuzzball, nerfherder.

  • 35:10 - How Ben Burtt made the Imperial Probe Droid explosion sound.

  • 37:38 - Using math to analyze harmony, intro to macroharmony.

  • 45:16 - How would you define harmony? Harmony (abstract) and sonority

  • 48:15 - Spectograms and discrete Fourier transform (DFT). (Visual demonstration of these Star Wars minutes viewed through the spectogram)

  • 1:02:38 - Quick Tip: Orchestral listening challenge.

  • 1:06:54 - Why does knowing the harmonic landscape of something matter?

  • 1:12:45 - 12-tone scale, interval ratios, imperfect reality of intonation.

  • 1:21:20 - Dialogue causing changes in the structure of the speeder music.

  • 1:27:40 - Imperial March sounds steady but doesn't have the same motor. Accents. Why does the Imperial March sound almost... human?

  • 1:45:59 - SWMM Questionnaire

Things Mentioned:

Check out Dominic Sewell's analysis of these cues!

Musical Themes:

  • 16b. Dark Side (Ostinato)

  • 24) Imperial March Vamp

  • 10a. Imperial March (Theme)

Cues:

  • Very end of 2M2 "Ben's Instructions"

  • 2M3 "Luke's Rescue"

  • 2M4 "The Probe Scanner"

Where are we in the soundtrack?:

  • "The Wampa's Lair/Vision of Obi-Wan/Snowspeeders Take Flight"

  • "Rescue from Cloud City/Hyperspace"

  • "The Imperial Probe/Aboard the Executor"

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STAR WARS MUSIC MINUTE QUESTIONNAIRE:

1. In exactly 3 words, what does Star Wars sound like?

  • Adventure. Nostalgia. Romance.

2. What's something related to Star Wars music or sound that you want to learn more about?

  • The sound design and its coordination with the score.

3. What's a score or soundtrack you're fond of besides anything Star Wars?

  • Lord of the Rings (by Howard Shore)

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Guest: Dr. Jenn Harding

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Where else to find SWMM:

Chrysanthe Tan

Composer / Violinist

www.chrysanthetan.com
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ESB 5: Weeds of the Reeds
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ESB 3: Snowy Spectralism