ANH 4: Lars Family Ties

A NEW HOPE
Written By Chrysanthe Tan

The Jawa ice-cream truck parks in front of the Lars homestead, and Uncle Owen gets a translator droid that speaks Bocce. Today, Mat from Blue Bantha Milk Co. is here to help us dive into the music and sound of Star Wars: A New Hope! Minutes 16-20 correspond to timecode 00:15:01-00:20:00 of the film.

Timestamps:

  • 0:00:00 - Hello there

  • 0:02:11 - Remembering dialogue through phonetics and pitch

  • 0:10:22 - Sound design of the Sandcrawler

  • 0:17:11 - Stormtroopers, Imperials Motif, dewbacks, special edition changes

  • 0:20:56 - A New Hope soundtrack, various editions, what do we seek in a soundtrack album?

  • 0:33:00 - Precursor to the Imperial March

  • 0:36:50 - Have you ever watched Star Wars for the first time with someone who's never seen it?

  • 0:42:39 - Jawa oom-pahs, Ewoks, Oopma Loompas, scoring cuteness and levity.

  • 0:51:00 - Ice-cream (droid) truck stops at the Lars homestead

  • 0:54:20 - Guess the dialogue in this sound clip (quiz)

  • 0:57:02 - Homespun main theme

  • 0:59:39 - Dies Irae

  • 1:11:00 - Uncle Owen, wannabe haggler

  • 1:24:05 - Threepio goes in for his bath.

  • 1:27:42 - Anakin-bomb

  • 1:28:33 - Blue Bantha Milk Co. using AI to help generate Star Wars fan-fiction

  • 1:42:00 - SWMM Questionnaire

  • 1:51:48 - Themes, soundtrack info

Musical Themes (leitmotifs and incidental motifs):

  • 6a. Imperials (Motif)

  • 9) Diminutive Creatures (incidental)

  • 7. Jawas

  • 7) Sandcrawler (incidental)

  • 3. Force

  • 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:

  • "The Dune Sea Of Tatooine/Jawa Sandcrawler"

  • "The Little People Work"

  • "Mouse Robot/Blasting Off"

  • "The Desert And The Robot Auction"

  • "The Moisture Farm"

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STAR WARS MUSIC MINUTE QUESTIONNAIRE:

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

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

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

  • Tenet (composed by Ludwig Göransson)

  • Horizon Zero Dawn (video game) (composed by Joris de Man, and The Flight)

  • The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (composed by Ennio Morricone)

  • Inception (composed by Hans Zimmer)

  • Interstellar (composed by Hans Zimmer)

  • Loki (series) (composed by Natalie Holt)

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Star Wars Music Minute:

Xanthe:

Chrysanthe Tan

Composer / Violinist

www.chrysanthetan.com
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ANH 5: Hologram Opera
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ANH 3: Droid Musicality