TROS 24: Dubstep Lightning (with James Waterman and Justin Scheid)

THE RISE OF SKYWALKER
Written By Chrysanthe Tan

In minutes 116-120 of The Rise of Skywalker, Palpatine unleashes Force lightning on the Resistance fleet, Rey gets a boost from the voices of Jedi past, Sidious declares that he is all the Sith, and Rey retorts that she is all the Jedi. Oh, and Palpatine has a really bad time as he disintegrates from his own Force lightning. 😬 Joining me today are Justin Scheid and James Waterman from The Band Batch! We discuss Palpatine's seismic energy bolt, blowing out speakers, how to make risers, and more!

Timestamps:

  • 0:00 - Hello there!

  • 8:31 - Really Bad Feeling/Final Countdown

  • 18:34 - Palpatheme into Sith Whispers (Darth Maul throwback).

  • 23:34 - Which Kylo Ren theme is this?

  • 30:43 - Do film composers pre-write functional transitional music?

  • 34:22 - Breaking down the elements that can contribute to a musical "riser."

  • 43:54 - Analyzing Palpatine's big lightning bolt/seismic energy sound thingy

  • 48:47 - Sonic visualizer demonstration, spectral frequency.

  • 1:00:46 - J.J. Abrams, Dave Acord, and Matt Wood on the Force lightning sound.

  • 1:02:43 - Soulja Boy, car bass, blowing out your speakers.

  • 1:17:11 - Tragic, Star Wars-y, 4-3 suspensions.

  • 1:21:31 - Inverted pedal point, Rey's Chimes theme, voices of the past Jedi.

  • 1:35:13 - Hearing the lightsabers before we see them. Seamless orchestration/sound design.

  • 1:40:56 - Chord goes sour.

  • 1:47:13 - Palpatine's vocal fry.

  • 1:56:42 - Demonstrating power through psychological warfare vs. brute force.

  • 2:08:59 - They shot this Sith auditorium sequence at Bad Robot in LA.

  • 2:19:47 - SWMM Questionnaire.

  • 2:29:46 - Justin's top 3 droids.

Things to Check Out:

Musical Themes:

  • 110) Really Bad Feeling

  • 1b. Main Theme (B Section)

  • 1a. Main Theme (A Section)

  • 17. Emperor

  • 45) Sith Whispers

  • 41a. Kylo Ren A (Aggressive)

  • 41b. Kylo Ren 1.5 (Redeemed)

  • 46a. Rey B (Chimes)

  • 45a. Rey A (Theme A-Phrase)

  • 3. Force

Where are we in the soundtrack?:

  • OST 15. "The Force Is with You"

  • FYC 20. "Seeing Sights"

---------------

STAR WARS MUSIC MINUTE QUESTIONNAIRE:

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

  • Justin:

    • New answer: Epic, sweeping, grandiose.

    • ESB season: Nar. Ra. Tive.

    • SOLO season: Grandiose, sweeping, futuristic.

    • ANH season: Pew pew pew.

  • James:

    • New answer: Peace and promise.

    • ESB season: Pew. Vrooppf. Rrrrrr.

    • SOLO season: Bum bum bum.

    • ANH season: The Band Batch.

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

  • Justin:

    • New answer: I'd love to see the sound library of Star Wars--every Star Wars-approved sound that the artists get to pick from, the tree of folders, etc. Also, how many sounds are created and not used? Also, what's the process of thinking about droid sounds?

    • ESB season: Who makes the decision to replace dialogue?

    • SOLO/ANH season: How is all the foley done?

  • James:

    • New answer: How does the timing at scoring sessions work out (especially knowing that John Williams didn't tend to use a click track)?

    • ESB season: When original voice actors are replaced by new people, what are those industry conversations like? Is there something in the actors' contracts about the possibility of being replaced? What about SAG, legal specifics, etc?

    • SOLO season: What is on-set sound like?

    • ANH season: What is John Williams's writing process like?

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

  • Justin:

    • New answer: Hook (John Williams), War of the Worlds (John Williams), It Follows (DisasterPeace), Smile (Cristobal Tapia de Veer), I Saw the TV Glow.

    • ESB season: It Follows (DisasterPeace).

    • SOLO season: Stranger Things (Kyle Dixon/Michael Stein), War of the Worlds (John William)

    • ANH season: The Village (James Newton Howard).

  • James:

    • New answer: The Darjeeling Limited soundtrack, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou soundtrack.

    • ESB answer: The Shining (Wendy Carlos).

    • SOLO answer: Untitled (David Lang)

    • ANH answer: Hereditary (Colin Stetson).

---------------

Guests: Justin Scheid and James Waterman

------------------

⭐️ Join the Discord server by becoming a patron at any level! https://patreon.com/chrysanthetan

Leave a voice message, and I might play it on the show...   https://starwarsmusicminute.com/comlink

Where else to find SWMM:

Chrysanthe Tan

Composer / Violinist

www.chrysanthetan.com
Previous

TROS 25: Inverse Immolation Scene (with Ender Smith)
Next

TROS 23: Mufasa Is Dead (with Christina Ward)