# John Williams and Pitch Class Sets



## Dom Sewell (May 6, 2022)

Hi folks, 
I've been undertaking a long project (and will continue to do so) which is analysing John Williams's music (mainly from Star Wars) as well as a few choice other cues. I'm almost all the way through the exceptional score for The Phantom Menace. It's of course a highly problematic film in most respects but it has a rather unique musical flavour that tends to focus on some choice harmonies and angular melodic writing. Mark Richards has done an amazing job by his Action Music Cue courses which I thoroughly recommend. Not only does Williams use these choice harmonies in action cues but almost every cue in Phantom (and also in the cues I've analysed from A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back) utilise at least one pitch set combination. 

I've now done over 60 videos on The Phantom Menace analysing each cue and in most cases (particularly the latter ones) discuss my interpretation of what JW is doing and how he does it. In short, I look at the ways JW uses octatonic, hexatonic (two different six note sets - one of which is m2 m3 m2 m3 etc - the other is m2 m3 m2 M2 m2 which is derived from the Hungarian minor), five note collections, four note collections and 3 note collections. These are all in the mix of harmonic minor, harmonic major and double harmonic scales (Mode 4 of which is the Hungarian Minor). This expansion of harmony whilst not being 'new' in any sense forms the DNA of Star Wars and JW's style. 

I've done a pitch class set primer video here which hopefully explains what they are and how to interpret the pitch class set table. It was something vaguely touched upon in College but the only real world examples tended to be so-called Second Viennese School composers and certainly nothing in the realm of film music. To my mind by being able to analyse seemingly disparate and complex harmonic relationships a theme or thread emerges in JW's writing which can be followed by seeing which harmonies relate to each other: for example, polytonal or bitonal passages often emerge as a result of specific sets that are then 'planed' to and from (e.g. CM over DbM, Bm over G+, Dm over Gb+ are all derived from the same 'seed' set). I tend to steer well clear of neo-Riemannian theory as i feel it just doesn't really help with being able to actually put these ideas into action.

Feel free to have a deep dive into the work. https://www.youtube.com/c/DominicSewellMusic
and am always happy to try to answer questions and respond when I can. Happy to open discussion about pitch class sets - it's not something you see a great deal of online and I feel it's an interesting way to look at highly complex harmonic music without saying 'it's just jazz'. [Of course I fully realise that JW DOES come from a jazz background as well and there are many aspects of this that go into his writing too!]


----------



## Markrs (May 6, 2022)

Wow, amazing work Dom. I plan to dedicate some time in the future to going through all your videos. I found another YouTuber that has done a bit on Set Class Theory and even though I could understand the basics, I quickly got a bit lost as it is quite advanced theory.



Dom Sewell said:


> I tend to steer well clear of neo-Riemannian theory as i feel it just doesn't really help with being able to actually put these ideas into action.


I like the idea of neo-Riemannian theory as a way to reduce the tension/resolution of music, and so I am interested in why you don't think it helps? Is there other concepts that work better? I also like to use Chromatic Mediants as well for similar purposes.


----------



## Dom Sewell (May 6, 2022)

Markrs said:


> Wow, amazing work Dom. I plan to dedicate some time in the future to going through all your videos. I found another YouTuber that has done a bit on Set Class Theory and even though I could understand the basics, I quickly got a bit lost as it is quite advanced theory.
> 
> 
> I like the idea of neo-Riemannian theory as a way to reduce the tension/resolution of music, and so I am interested in why you don't think it helps? Is there other concepts that work better? I also like to use Chromatic Mediants as well for similar purposes.


Thanks so much - indeed. I steer clear of it as a) it's not my area of expertise and Frank Lehman and others do a much better job of it and b) it's a personal choice really (i perhaps should have made it clear that it doesn't help _me_ although I appreciate it does for others).


----------



## ed buller (May 6, 2022)

So grateful for all this Sithy dark side Bartokian tricks Dom. Your lessons and videos have been invaluable. I now have harmonic blue lightning at my fingertips !









Unlimited Power Star Wars GIF - Unlimited Power Star Wars - Discover & Share GIFs


Click to view the GIF




tenor.com





Best

ed


----------



## Dom Sewell (May 6, 2022)

ed buller said:


> So grateful for all this Sithy dark side Bartokian tricks Dom. Your lessons and videos have been invaluable. I now have harmonic blue lightning at my fingertips !
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks so much! That cue (Cybertronics) from AI is a good case in point re Bartok - he combines T2 Octatonic with T1 octatonic in a single melodic line - then T0 octatonic then combines both for some poly-octatonic chormaticism!


----------



## Dom Sewell (May 20, 2022)

New video up - this one is a hybrid of 6M2 (Lazer Fight), 6M3 (Take to your ships) and 6M5 (Droid Battle). 
It all goes a little crazy here. Lots of octatonic stuff but combined with hexatonic (6-z19), Hungarian minor, super locrian and even a minor Neapolitan scale! Trying to work and simply putting it together was a nightmare I have to confess! But plenty of interest...


----------



## JohnG (May 20, 2022)

Dom Sewell said:


> plenty of interest...


Yes indeed. IDK how many action cues I’ve gotten through just using one or another octatonic scales. When starting out, wrote entire scores based on them, as action was all I could lay my hands on.

Wonderful work, @Dom Sewell 

John


----------



## Dom Sewell (May 20, 2022)

JohnG said:


> Yes indeed. IDK how many action cues I’ve gotten through just using one or another octatonic scales. When starting out, wrote entire scores based on them, as action was all I could lay my hands on.
> 
> Wonderful work, @Dom Sewell
> 
> John


Thanks so much! It’s been fascinating delving into especially when half a bar of octatonic writing is then followed by a Hungarian minor or other sort of similar scale form.. its impressive what JW picked up from his own studies many years before.


----------



## AugustAuseil (May 22, 2022)

Excited to watch these videos! Do you have a recommendation for a cue that's particularly set-theory heavy?


----------



## Dom Sewell (May 22, 2022)

AugustAuseil said:


> Excited to watch these videos! Do you have a recommendation for a cue that's particularly set-theory heavy?


Thanks! Yes - I would probably say this one https://youtu.be/3PB5Gtre-VM from A New Hope - there’s plenty in there and it set the tone for all the subsequent films. For phantom quite a few of the early cues or anything slow as well - this one is very Pc set orientated


----------



## AugustAuseil (May 22, 2022)

Dom Sewell said:


> Thanks! Yes - I would probably say this one https://youtu.be/3PB5Gtre-VM from A New Hope - there’s plenty in there and it set the tone for all the subsequent films. For phantom quite a few of the early cues or anything slow as well - this one is very Pc set orientated



Thank you for this! Devouring many of your videos now.

Lately I have been on something of a bender trying to wrap my head around how favorite composers are using sets and set theory. The textbooks seem to have lost touch with how the techniques are used outside of the most cerebral of art music. 

I've also been hoping to use it to better understand cluster chords from horror and suspense writing. While it has given me great language to understand these devices, I'm not sure I've found any better strategy for creating clusters than plucking away systematically at seconds on my keyboard.


----------



## Dom Sewell (May 22, 2022)

AugustAuseil said:


> Thank you for this! Devouring many of your videos now.
> 
> Lately I have been on something of a bender trying to wrap my head around how favorite composers are using sets and set theory. The textbooks seem to have lost touch with how the techniques are used outside of the most cerebral of art music.
> 
> I've also been hoping to use it to better understand cluster chords from horror and suspense writing. While it has given me great language to understand these devices, I'm not sure I've found any better strategy for creating clusters than plucking away systematically at seconds on my keyboard.


Indeed they have - JW in particular seems to favour certain subsets that derive from larger 6 or 7 note or octatonic scales. I made a list of all the ones he uses on a regular basis. It's beyond the realm of coincidence that he uses similar pitch combinations over and over again and I guess he must have learned them all from his time with Tedesco as well as writing with the other universal music composers in the 50s and 60s.
Would be interesting to see whether your ear that favours certain clusters is consistent with certain pitch sets and sub sets? Have you ever analysed them? Improvising was clearly a main strategy for JW as it was for Stravinsky et al. It helps being an impressively good pianist that's for sure!
Currently doing the 6M5 Droid Battle cue and it's SO fast and furious particularly for the wind players and the rather deceptive scale types he gives them. (eg 1/2 octatonic then a leap then chromatic for example)
Thanks for the support too!


----------



## sathyva (May 22, 2022)

Dom Sewell said:


> Hi folks,
> I've been undertaking a long project (and will continue to do so) which is analysing John Williams's music (mainly from Star Wars) as well as a few choice other cues. I'm almost all the way through the exceptional score for The Phantom Menace. It's of course a highly problematic film in most respects but it has a rather unique musical flavour that tends to focus on some choice harmonies and angular melodic writing. Mark Richards has done an amazing job by his Action Music Cue courses which I thoroughly recommend. Not only does Williams use these choice harmonies in action cues but almost every cue in Phantom (and also in the cues I've analysed from A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back) utilise at least one pitch set combination.
> 
> I've now done over 60 videos on The Phantom Menace analysing each cue and in most cases (particularly the latter ones) discuss my interpretation of what JW is doing and how he does it. In short, I look at the ways JW uses octatonic, hexatonic (two different six note sets - one of which is m2 m3 m2 m3 etc - the other is m2 m3 m2 M2 m2 which is derived from the Hungarian minor), five note collections, four note collections and 3 note collections. These are all in the mix of harmonic minor, harmonic major and double harmonic scales (Mode 4 of which is the Hungarian Minor). This expansion of harmony whilst not being 'new' in any sense forms the DNA of Star Wars and JW's style.
> ...


Wow ! 
my wife thanks you for my future sleepless nights


----------



## AugustAuseil (May 22, 2022)

Dom Sewell said:


> Indeed they have - JW in particular seems to favour certain subsets that derive from larger 6 or 7 note or octatonic scales. I made a list of all the ones he uses on a regular basis. It's beyond the realm of coincidence that he uses similar pitch combinations over and over again and I guess he must have learned them all from his time with Tedesco as well as writing with the other universal music composers in the 50s and 60s.
> Would be interesting to see whether your ear that favours certain clusters is consistent with certain pitch sets and sub sets? Have you ever analysed them? Improvising was clearly a main strategy for JW as it was for Stravinsky et al. It helps being an impressively good pianist that's for sure!
> Currently doing the 6M5 Droid Battle cue and it's SO fast and furious particularly for the wind players and the rather deceptive scale types he gives them. (eg 1/2 octatonic then a leap then chromatic for example)
> Thanks for the support too!


So far I am finding more favor in my ears for polychords when getting a horror/less-tonal sound in a piece that's still mostly tonal. The Raiders soundtrack seems to deal with this perfectly. 

Still fighting with getting actual clusters to work well.. they say the poor craftsman blames his tools, so I will refrain from saying that I can't get the right sound on VI's (even though this thought often occurs). I hope to build something of a vocabulary of my own to borrow from and aquaint my ears to the different sounds. I will keep you posted as I dig into Stravinsky, Bartok and elsewhere for a deeper palette


----------



## Dom Sewell (May 27, 2022)

Newest video up for the end third of the Phantom Menace. Action music. Some interesting sets at the end. One octatonic and one Hexatonic/Hungarian minor polychord.


----------



## Dom Sewell (Jun 4, 2022)

Latest vid up - Duel of the Fates - surprisingly, a lot in this one!


----------



## Dom Sewell (Jun 10, 2022)

Time for some Lydian Heroics (F Lehman) - here's the bit where Anakin takes to the sky...


----------



## Jotto (Jun 10, 2022)

Very interested .. but i dont understand anything. E.g 6-z44a ?? What the heck is that? And all the others


----------



## ed buller (Jun 10, 2022)

Jotto said:


> Very interested .. but i dont understand anything. E.g 6-z44a ?? What the heck is that? And all the others


Oh young padwan !...you haven't been in class have you ?









List of set classes - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org













Set theory (music) - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org







best

e


----------



## Jotto (Jun 10, 2022)

ed buller said:


> Oh young padwan !...you haven't been in class have you ?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thank you, my master


----------



## ed buller (Jun 10, 2022)

Darth Sidious Meme GIFs | Tenor


Click to view the GIF




tenor.com


----------



## Dom Sewell (Jun 10, 2022)

Jotto said:


> Thank you, my master


Ha - got there first! Hit me up again Jotto if you need!


----------



## Dom Sewell (Jun 10, 2022)

Dom Sewell said:


> Thanks! Yes - I would probably say this one https://youtu.be/3PB5Gtre-VM from A New Hope - there’s plenty in there and it set the tone for all the subsequent films. For phantom quite a few of the early cues or anything slow as well - this one is very Pc set orientated



Also any of the earlier cues from 1M3 onwards as they're all hexatonic and also based on Hungarian minor mode (double harmonic)


----------



## Dom Sewell (Jun 17, 2022)

This week's offering...

More forensic detective work with this one where this is the second of three parts for the Duel of the Fates used in the film (it is in fact, part of the 7M3 End Credits Sequence as it doesn't exist anywhere else) - some aural dictation with this too.
Items of interest are the choral chord sequences, the continuous ostinati development, interesting voicing between horns and trombones (3rd voice horn underneath voice 1 and 2 trombones), 3rds and 6ths, small changes of accompaniment and the tuplet strings in the final segment of the cue.


----------



## Dom Sewell (Jun 24, 2022)

This week: an hour long special delving into specific transition techniques as well as writing woodwind filagree using multiple scale forms - octatonic, Hungarian minor etc and how they integrate with chromatic movement. Also, note tendency to offset bass instruments to weak beats of the bar or weak part of the beat (on the off eighth-note/quaver) 

It's good to revisit the music for these films and compare with the new Kenobi series etc. Note the genesis and hints of Imperial March in the Naboo Ostinato. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JkjUTZ_D8I

This is most of 6M5 (Droid Battle) but includes the space battle etc.
Next week the rest of Duel of the Fates (taken from 7M3 the end credits)
Loads of composition exercises for anyone interested...


----------



## ed buller (Jun 24, 2022)

ahh.....Proper Star Wars Music......what this week has been missing. 

Best

e


----------



## Dom Sewell (Jun 24, 2022)

ed buller said:


> ahh.....Proper Star Wars Music......what this week has been missing.
> 
> Best
> 
> e


Thanks Ed - the next task after this will be putting it all in to practice - Might do a crib sheet about typical musical material incl. the usual SW pitch sets, polychords etc then typical rhythms, linking passages, modulations, wodwind filagree, bass off beats etc and then look forward to how this style can be adapted going forward...


----------



## Dom Sewell (Jul 1, 2022)

This #PhantomMenaceFriday The final Duel of the Fates segment until the credits (this is the replacement to the 6M7 Great Duel cue which only used a small amount at the end of the cue subsequently. 
Still lessons to learn by constantly and consistently varying ostinato figurations to avoid monotony and energy stagnation. One glorious pitch class set tuplet-y brass fanfare in here too!


----------



## Dom Sewell (Jul 8, 2022)

Action Music cue alert… This is the one which I’d pick if there was any one cue that demonstrated all of JW’s traits 



Octatonic combinations (different transpositions), hexatonic melodies and chords (either 6-20 m2 m3 etc or 6-Z19B (Hungarian Minor), double harmonic scales, block chordal harmonisation, tightly controlled motivic development, hints of other themes, short-long bass stabs, off beat bass, delayed tonics after a chord change, pitch class set heaven… 
Enjoy and feel free to ask me anything about it!


----------



## Dom Sewell (Jul 15, 2022)

This week's offering - we're nearing the end! 

This week is the next track in the film - 6M7 The Great Duel. Track 61 Part 2 The Gungan's Retreat and the Queen Surrenders. 

Not a huge one this week as last week was a beast.

Thanks so much to all my patrons on http://www.patreon.com/DominicSewellMusic

NEXT WEEK: 6M8-6M9 Qui Gon's Noble End. A wonderfully impassioned cue
after that...
it's 6M10 Blow Ups and the Death of Darth Maul
- The Queen confronts Nute and Rune (3M2 and 7M1)
- Qui Gon's funeral 
- The Parade 
- End Credits! 

Not far to go!!!


----------



## Tanarri (Jul 15, 2022)

I've been following your channel for quite some time now. Incredibly helpful stuff!

If it was up to me, it would be mandatory for every guy making music these days to watch these. 😄 It makes you realize how rich musical compositions can be, gives you ideas one would probably never come up with. Always blows my mind how much new stuff I learn from your videos. Thank you!


----------



## Dom Sewell (Jul 15, 2022)

Tanarri said:


> I've been following your channel for quite some time now. Incredibly helpful stuff!
> 
> If it was up to me, it would be mandatory for every guy making music these days to watch these. 😄 It makes you realize how rich musical compositions can be, gives you ideas one would probably never come up with. Always blows my mind how much new stuff I learn from your videos. Thank you!


Thanks so much! I really appreciate that. It's been such a learning curve from when I first started doing these. Gradually as you go through you get to know this sort of modular style , for example, there's two bars of octatonic pitches then a bar of block chordal brass then a bass short long, all combined with a really strong sense of melody construction (even if that doesn't mean an entire 'theme'). Again, thank you.


----------



## ChrisHarrison (Jul 15, 2022)

Holy crap! This is insane dude. Thank you so much for this. 

Maybe you’d poke at the Harry Potter series? 

I can’t wait to take this epic masterclass here. Sitting at the airport right now and I’m about to dig deep. Thank you again for this amazing study!


----------



## Dom Sewell (Jul 15, 2022)

ChrisHarrison said:


> Holy crap! This is insane dude. Thank you so much for this.
> 
> Maybe you’d poke at the Harry Potter series?
> 
> I can’t wait to take this epic masterclass here. Sitting at the airport right now and I’m about to dig deep. Thank you again for this amazing study!


I will indeed do some Harry Potter cues yes! Especially Azkaban I feel. Thanks so much for your message and appreciation - means a great deal!
Whilst you're waiting this is a really short HP one I did https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-Acn9O1wU8 

No commentary as yet but will probably do ones for any that don't have them once Phantom is finished!


----------



## Dom Sewell (Jul 22, 2022)

It's Phantom Menace Friday again and this one is Qui-Gon's Noble End. 
6M8-M9 - So lots of pitch sets in this one interspersed with the 'usual' octatonic and Hungarian minors. Some useful little techniques in this - eg major 7ths from 6-z19b being used as filagree (15:15 to 17:00 or so). 

As ever a MASSIVE thanks to my patrons! 
http://www.patreon.com/DominicSewellMusic 

Not many more cues to go now!


----------



## Dom Sewell (Jul 29, 2022)

The final action cue in the Phantom Menace today 
6M10 Blow Ups Track 63 from the Ultimate Edition soundtrack

Lots of pitch sets - octatonic, 6-z19B combinations, 3-3, usual suspects of 4-17 alpha chords, 4-18 and 4-19s. B minor asymetrical martial ostinato (F Lehman) with Duel of the Fates and the Force theme when Anakin blows up the control ship from the inside. 

Looking ahead:

Next week: 6M11 End of Darth Maul (New) Track 63 Part 2 - a calm cue that starts with material from 3M3 Watto's Deal (bb 9-15) then 6M11 from b8 - lots of aleatoric writing, Force Theme, Qui-Gon's theme. 

Then: 7M1 (which has 3M2 Are you a Jedi tagged on the start) Yoda's Theme fragment and the Imperial March fragments. 
7M1A: Qui Gon's Funeral 
7M2 Augie's Great Municipal Band / The Great Parade 
7M3 End Credits Star Wars main theme, incl Duel of the Fates complete, and Anakin's theme etc


----------



## Dom Sewell (Aug 5, 2022)

A track that starts with 3M2 Are you A Jedi which segues into bar 21 from 7M1 After the Victory. Lots of suspended chords here/quartal style and modal harmony which then goes into Yoda's Theme (snippet) then the Imperial March and finally ends on an upward octatonic scale - reminiscent of the same harmony (octatonic) from Return of the Jedi when Darth Vader dies.


----------



## Dom Sewell (Aug 12, 2022)

Here's this week's offering. 

Live today 7M1A Qui-Gon's funeral. Short but oh so sweet with some amazing sus4 progressions. Just a few more to go for the film and then we will have finished The Phantom Menace!


----------



## Dom Sewell (Aug 19, 2022)

Three more Phantom Fridays to go - this is the first - 

7M2 Augie's Great Municipal Band and the 7M3 End Credits Part 1 (End Titles). The final cue of the film and the first part of the credits before The Duel of the Fates (7M3 Part 2)


----------



## Dom Sewell (Aug 26, 2022)

It’s the penultimate Phantom Friday today with 7M2 Duel of the Fates (End Credits part 2). This just amalgamated the previous analyses for Reel 6 with a couple of extra bits. Layered ostinati, amazing choral writing dominates along with trumpet fanfares…


----------



## Dom Sewell (Sep 2, 2022)

Here’s the final cue for The Phantom Menace and it’s a good one ! Anakin’s theme 
Star Wars - The Phantom Menace 7M3 Part 3 - Anakin's Theme


This brings to an end the analysis of the whole film. It’s been an incredible journey of discovery. Now it’s about putting all of this into practice and memorising the hundreds of techniques that go into the production of this sort of score. It’s taken 18 months to bring it to the public but here it is! 

Next week: a short cue from a New Hope ! The Desert 1M5 and then it’s on to The empire strikes back!


----------



## Dom Sewell (Sep 9, 2022)

Here’s an interesting one - 1M5 The Desert from Star Wars IV - A New Hope. The first chord (well second quaver of the first beat) appears to have been a misprint in the orchestrators score that got recorded. The pitch set should almost have certainly been 6-z19B (two minor triads a semitone apart). It’s one of the most widely used chords/sets in JW’s Star Wars music.


----------



## Dom Sewell (Sep 16, 2022)

This one I take a little look at 6-z19B and its origins and uses!


----------



## Dom Sewell (Sep 23, 2022)

Today is 1M5 Once in a Vial from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. An incredibly intricate action music cue which exemplifies all of JW's stylistic traits from the 1980s. Pitch class sets galore, octatonic and Hungarian minor harmonies and melodies sometimes at the same time. Extraordinary superimposition of jazz dance band (Cole Porter) whilst the orchestra plays. 

One of the most complex cues to reduced and analyse...follows on from the work done last week by @NoamL on the Idol Switch from Raiders. This one took absolutely ages to do (17 pages just of the reduction) - I've done a publicly available copy of the reduction for study purposes (link in YT description). Would be interested in hearing any comments. 
D


----------



## Dom Sewell (Sep 23, 2022)

Part 2 here


----------



## NoamL (Sep 23, 2022)

Wow, I don't think there's any other composer in the world who could do that Cole Porter / octatonic action cue mashup.


----------



## Dom Sewell (Sep 23, 2022)

NoamL said:


> Wow, I don't think there's any other composer in the world who could do that Cole Porter / octatonic action cue mashup.


Yep - it's the combination of the stability of a bass line (especially with repeated notes) and a sort of chromatic flight of fancy over the top of it - what's boggling is when the bass line changes with the harmonic rhythm and STILL works with the same scale transposition above it. Masterful.


----------



## Dom Sewell (Sep 30, 2022)

This week - hardly a pitch class set exercise but one of the most poignant cues in the franchise - lots of careful dissonance treatment which is definitely worth trying out in ones own work... 

https://youtu.be/33yzGuKFqEo

Today: 5M3 Lament (the Order 66 music) from Revenge of the Sith.


----------



## Dom Sewell (Oct 7, 2022)

And today's offering is a work in progress video so you can see the complexity of referencing multiple source material (I didn't use audio in the video but I invariably reference that too)

I finished the cue (3M3 Snow Battle from The Empire Strikes Back) yesterday (took about 2.5-3days to do) but it segue's immediately into Luke's crash https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8bXdkjcwEA
Not quite sure how useful it is really but the commentary should be reasonably interesting and I play the cue as it stood at the end of the video...


----------



## Dom Sewell (Oct 14, 2022)

Final segment of Leia's Instructions (3M2) from TESB this week. Of course a lot of this work has already been done by Brad Frey at #filmscoreanalysis and @fmlehman (twitter) in his amazingly concise Thematic Catalogue but hope that I offer some additional useful information in terms of pitch sets used and original orchestration (FIVE oboes!!)


----------



## Dom Sewell (Oct 14, 2022)

Dom Sewell said:


> Final segment of Leia's Instructions (3M2) from TESB this week. Of course a lot of this work has already been done by Brad Frey at #filmscoreanalysis and @fmlehman (twitter) in his amazingly concise Thematic Catalogue but hope that I offer some additional useful information in terms of pitch sets used and original orchestration (FIVE oboes!!)



Will go into forensic detail about the Snow Battle next week 3M3


----------



## Dom Sewell (Oct 21, 2022)

Pitch Class set galore + the whole action music cue - reduced and analysed in forensic detail. The Snow Battle 3M3 from The Empire Strikes Back (film version) 

So - Set 5-32 - that's the pitch set - 2 minor triaids a m3 apart (one note shared), and it works because it's an alpha chord type built from the octatonic scale. See Mark Richards' course for a thorough deep dive into that chord. https://filmmusicnotes.com/action-music-harmony-1-3/

Hope this is useful for everyone and the modular nature of the various themes is really interesting too!


----------



## Dom Sewell (Oct 28, 2022)

The Hoth battle hots up (?) with Luke's First Crash - you might be able to follow along with the film at 00:29:28 on Disney+. Anyway here's the extended reduction/analysis 

Lots of orchestration tips here and lots of pitch class set galore and quite a bit of Hungarian minors. Some superb themes as well - Vader/Imperial March/ Luke's/Main theme and the Force theme along with all the cross referenced thematic material in Frank Lehman's Thematic Catalogue. Link provided in YT descriptor. 

Ends around 00:33:37 with the power generator being blown up.


----------



## ChrisHarrison (Oct 30, 2022)

Dom Sewell said:


> The Hoth battle hots up (?) with Luke's First Crash - you might be able to follow along with the film at 00:29:28 on Disney+. Anyway here's the extended reduction/analysis
> 
> Lots of orchestration tips here and lots of pitch class set galore and quite a bit of Hungarian minors. Some superb themes as well - Vader/Imperial March/ Luke's/Main theme and the Force theme along with all the cross referenced thematic material in Frank Lehman's Thematic Catalogue. Link provided in YT descriptor.
> 
> Ends around 00:33:37 with the power generator being blown up.



Bro, you are going in on this so hard. Really really really impressive. Do you transcribe this all by ear?!?


----------



## Dom Sewell (Oct 31, 2022)

ChrisHarrison said:


> Bro, you are going in on this so hard. Really really really impressive. Do you transcribe this all by ear?!?


Ha! Thanks. Nope - I've got access to various written sources but sometimes they're not accurate either so there is always a manual by-ear check before I settle on something. I've deliberately done sightly expanded versions as I feel it's helpful to delineate wind, brass and strings wherever possible. It tells a you a lot about how it's orchestrated (which is very different from traditional classical orchestration of piano to orch). Cheers buddy!


----------



## Dom Sewell (Nov 4, 2022)

Today - the iconic Alfred Newman 20th C Fox Fanfare and the Main Title to The Empire Strikes Back. Lots to discuss on today's episode. The quartal chord Fm7sus4 (4-23), interval relationships (P4 and m7) between the initial brass fanfare and the Main/Luke's theme, rhythmic counterpoint, voicing and harmony. 

 

As ever - a huge thanks to my amazing patrons ! 

if you feel able to support my work then please consider doing so on http://www.patreon.com/DominicSewellMusic 

I've made today's reductions available to the public for studying. Follow the Dropbox link in the YouTube descriptor.


----------



## Dom Sewell (Nov 11, 2022)

Head over to another thread for today's release https://vi-control.net/community/th...ugh-from-classical-piano-to-orchestra.132167/


----------



## swinkler (Nov 16, 2022)

@Dom Sewell quick question on the set calculator. How do I interpret the results of a superset?


----------



## Dom Sewell (Nov 17, 2022)

swinkler said:


> @Dom Sewell quick question on the set calculator. How do I interpret the results of a superset?


With these supersets, they don’t fall into a regular scale type. You can try 6 note sets at 8 note just to see. But it looks ‘atonal’ . 7-1 is a full chromatic set which is interesting - could be therefore serial based with a 7 note row?


----------



## AudioXpression (Nov 17, 2022)

Thank you very much!
Excellent study material...


----------



## Dom Sewell (Nov 17, 2022)

AudioXpression said:


> Thank you very much!
> Excellent study material...


Thanks so much!
D


----------



## swinkler (Nov 17, 2022)

Dom Sewell said:


> With these supersets, they don’t fall into a regular scale type. You can try 6 note sets at 8 note just to see. But it looks ‘atonal’ . 7-1 is a full chromatic set which is interesting - could be therefore serial based with a 7 note row?


Ok. So what does the '1' after '7-1:' mean? Here's the whole screenshot for better context. I was looking at 6-z4.


----------



## Dom Sewell (Nov 17, 2022)

Ah yes! The right hand number is somewhat arbitrary as it’s a numbering system that Forte used originally whereby lower numbers have smaller interval content - so the smallest interval content being a semitone will generally have small right hand numbers. That’s why 7-1 is just all semitones. The larger the right number simply indicates that it has more interval content eg 3 minor 2nds, 4 major 2nds, 3 m3rds etc


----------



## Dom Sewell (Nov 17, 2022)

Dom Sewell said:


> Ah yes! The right hand number is somewhat arbitrary as it’s a numbering system that Forte used originally whereby lower numbers have smaller interval content - so the smallest interval content being a semitone will generally have small right hand numbers. That’s why 7-1 is just all semitones. The larger the right number simply indicates that it has more interval content eg 3 minor 2nds, 4 major 2nds, 3 m3rds etc


Also - having this chart is essential as it tells you if the set is a specifically 'recognised' mode/scale/chord structure... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_set_classes


----------



## swinkler (Nov 17, 2022)

Dom Sewell said:


> Also - having this chart is essential as it tells you if the set is a specifically 'recognised' mode/scale/chord structure... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_set_classes


Yeah I have both open and go back and forth quite a bit. But thank you for the explanation. I think I get it now.


----------



## Dom Sewell (Nov 17, 2022)

swinkler said:


> Yeah I have both open and go back and forth quite a bit. But thank you for the explanation. I think I get it now.


Coooool!


----------



## Dom Sewell (Nov 18, 2022)

Here’s this week’s offering . Next week Ben’s Instructions will be more gnarly 
Star Wars - The Empire Strikes Back 1m3/2m1 Luke's Escape


----------



## Dom Sewell (Nov 25, 2022)

Today is 2m2 Ben’s Instructions from Empire. Lots of Hungarian minor with usual chord types and subsets as well as some lush string writing and gnarl!


----------



## swinkler (Nov 25, 2022)

Dom Sewell said:


> Today is 2m2 Ben’s Instructions from Empire. Lots of Hungarian minor with usual chord types and subsets as well as some lush string writing and gnarl!



Great as usual. Very enlightening and thank you for producing these


----------



## Dom Sewell (Nov 26, 2022)

swinkler said:


> Great as usual. Very enlightening and thank you for producing these


You’re most welcome! Thanks so much!


----------



## synthetic (Dec 1, 2022)

I love these. I need to dedicate some time for serious study soon. So much content, thanks for doing this.


----------



## Dom Sewell (Dec 2, 2022)

synthetic said:


> I love these. I need to dedicate some time for serious study soon. So much content, thanks for doing this.


You're so welcome!


----------



## Dom Sewell (Dec 2, 2022)

Luke's Rescue (The Empire Strikes Back)


An amalgamation of 12M2 To Hyperspace, the orginal 2M3 cue and a little bit of 1m3/2m1 Luke's Escape.
Ostinati and glorious trumpets in root position triads along with some angular up/down melodic writing in the strings and a flashback to the Wampa as Luke floats in the Bacta tank. I always feel sorry for Rogue 2 (Zev Senesca) who later cops it from an AT-AT.

Huge thanks to my patrons on http://www.patreon.com/DominicSewellMusic


----------



## Dom Sewell (Dec 7, 2022)

Dom Sewell said:


> Luke's Rescue (The Empire Strikes Back)
> 
> 
> An amalgamation of 12M2 To Hyperspace, the orginal 2M3 cue and a little bit of 1m3/2m1 Luke's Escape.
> ...



Just re-uploaded as the last one had some audio issues!


----------



## swinkler (Dec 7, 2022)

Dom Sewell said:


> Just re-uploaded as the last one had some audio issues!


Excellent. I‘lol give it another listen tomorrow.


----------



## Dom Sewell (Dec 9, 2022)

Here's the next one in the series before Hoth takes over! 
The intrigue here is that the original 2M4 was cut in favour of the concert version. At some point I'll do the original. 
Biggest discovery is the #4 in Ebm chord (set 4-18). An intriguing Hungarian minor reference which I didn't get before but which is one of JW's stock chords in SW often in 3rd inversion (6/4/2)


----------



## synthetic (Dec 9, 2022)

More people need to join his Patreon page. Or if you're there you need to comment. This stuff is amazing. I'm starting from the top of Empire. https://www.patreon.com/DominicSewellMusic


----------



## Dom Sewell (Dec 9, 2022)

thanks Jeff! Much appreciated!


----------



## Dom Sewell (Dec 16, 2022)

Today on The Empire Strikes Back we delve into 
3M1 into 3M2 Drawing the Battle Lines (Part 1)
Then this should coincide well with Xanthe's podcast on Monday from 12pm GMT (see https://www.youtube.com/@StarWarsMusicMinute)


----------



## Dom Sewell (Dec 23, 2022)

This weeks offering 

Here's one of the most iconic cues in the film/franchise. We get to hear a wonderful version of Han and Leia's theme towards the end interspersed with the Imperial March/Vader. Superb writing. Lots of gnarl. mostly octatonic but flits between that and Hungarian minor as well as more 'standard' chord progressions which don't need pitch set analysis. Lots of his usual chords and a good example of both orchestral differentiation /blends.


----------



## swinkler (Dec 23, 2022)

Merry Christmas to us! Thank you @Dom Sewell


----------



## Dom Sewell (Dec 23, 2022)

MERRY CHRISTMAS- EVERY ONE!


----------



## Dom Sewell (Dec 23, 2022)

Here's a little snippet of a cue I was working on (unfinished) of a Clone Wars episode. Ashoka has been brought before the Jedi Council and Anakin is supporting her (reltuctantly) - used themes by JW and Kevin Kiner in this - rendered by Simon Passmore


----------



## Dom Sewell (Dec 28, 2022)

A little Quick Tip today (#8) 
a) JW descending planed trumpets minor chord descending by chromatic pitches
b) Oom cha - Bass Drum followed by Cymbals
c) Set 3-3 and why it's important


----------



## Dom Sewell (Dec 28, 2022)

Dom Sewell said:


> Here's a little snippet of a cue I was working on (unfinished) of a Clone Wars episode. Ashoka has been brought before the Jedi Council and Anakin is supporting her (reltuctantly) - used themes by JW and Kevin Kiner in this - rendered by Simon Passmore



I'll do a 'how did I write this' video on Friday!


----------



## Dom Sewell (Dec 30, 2022)

This week's offering is
How to write convincing traditional Star Wars Music - the start of a series demoing various techniques of composition and orchestration


----------



## swinkler (Dec 31, 2022)

Dom Sewell said:


> This week's offering is
> How to write convincing traditional Star Wars Music - the start of a series demoing various techniques of composition and orchestration



I checked this one out yesterday and it's brilliant! For those who haven't seen it it's putting into practice all the analysis @Dom Sewell has done to date.


----------



## Dom Sewell (Dec 31, 2022)

swinkler said:


> I checked this one out yesterday and it's brilliant! For those who haven't seen it it's putting into practice all the analysis @Dom Sewell has done to date.


Thanks so much!!


----------



## Dom Sewell (Jan 1, 2023)

The one you've all been waiting for - 4M3 The Asteroid Field 
Huge amounts in this one.


----------



## Dom Sewell (Jan 6, 2023)

Today on Star Wars Music Fridays we have 5M1 Crash Landing
Atonality, combined octatonic tranpositions, the Force theme, Droid theme for R2, Imperial March, Semitonal slip and the Ominous knell at the end as Vader goes back to his Sith meditation sphere!


----------



## Dom Sewell (Today at 3:05 AM)

A series of slightly shorter cues coming up - this week 
A lot of Ravel/Debussy in this cue. Hungarian minor based chords (Em over Fm) and some lovely melodic chromatic invention with ornamented celeste. Pieces to compare with Debussy La Mer, Ravel Daphnes et Chloe, Enfant et les Sortileges etc


----------

