Tech Talk From The Producer…
This premiere release of Ron Goodwin’s bright and action-filled score for Disney's
Unidentified Flying Oddball was made possible by the discovery of the original stereo session mixes, surviving on ¼ ̋ two-track tape (albeit at the slower speed of 7½ IPS). Happily, the rolls of tape were in very good condition and included everything that Goodwin recorded for the film. This allowed us to present his entire score as intended, including a handful of cues recorded but ultimately not used: “Take-Off Is Delayed,” “Stinger,” “A Boring Tale” and “Tom Protests.”
The stereo mixes themselves, engineered by Eric Tomlinson at the time of the recording sessions in 1979, divide into two categories: 1) those containing the traditional set-up of violins on the left, violas in the center and cellos and basses to the right, and 2) those containing the strings on the left and center, with woodwinds centered, brass to the right, and harps, percussion and other effects spread across the stage. All of the mixes are genuine stereo, with Goodwin and Tomlinson trading between the traditional orchestra layout and one that spotlighted the strings. The stereo image is crisp throughout, with the profuse action sequences for brass in the latter part of the score being especially vibrant.
So go back a few years to 1979, hop on the space craft of your choice (ensure that it has a CD player) and travel back even further in time to those days of chivalry, knights in shining armor, King Arthur and the legendary “Excalibur”—all the while enjoying the rousing and energetic music of Ron Goodwin.
—Douglass Fake
