After 5 years of working on this lullaby album, I'm so excited to share my arrangements of relaxing renditions of Star Wars tunes from across all 9 films of the Skywalker Saga, all composed by John Williams!
I was initially inspired when my friend Jennifer Landa, a fellow Star Wars fan who played the part of Princess Jasmine in my Star Wars Musical, posted an adorable photo of her newborn daughter in a shirt that read, "I am a Jedi like my mother before me." So for fun, I created a lullaby arrangement of Princess Leia's theme and sent it over to her. Thus began this album that I slowly worked on whenever I had time between projects.
Most lullaby albums are created with cheap sounding bell and synth sounds aimed at babies, which doesn’t make for an interesting listen to an older and more discerning audience. I wanted to create versions of my favorite Star Wars music that I could listen and relax to. I wanted to keep the integrity of the compositions by John Williams, finding ways to translate the complex textures and countermelodies in the original orchestrations, while taming the big climactic swells in the music to create an even and calming listening experience.
The biggest challenge was to make lullabies out of “Duel of the Fates” and “Battle of the Heroes,” which I hadn’t initially considered turning into lullabies. The original orchestrations from some of Star Wars’ most epic lightsaber scenes, are full of rhythmic drive. So how do you turn that into a calming piece of music? I knew I wanted to have a theme from each of the 9 films in the Skywalker Saga, so I decided to accept the challenge. Eventually I found an approach that involved slowing the tempo, and transposing low menacing melodies into the high tinkly range of piano and bells.
It was especially a blessing to work on this relaxing music during the anxiety ridden Covid-19 pandemic. It kept me grounded and brought me much needed joy and calm as I put on the finishing touches during such a tough year as 2020.
It’s an album worthy of all younglings, padawans, and even Jedi masters to sit back, clear your mind, and feel the force flow through you. Please take a listen, and I would love your help to share it with other fans of Star Wars music. Please tell others about it, share it on social media, and write reviews on iTunes, Amazon, Reddit, on the Galactic Holonet, or anywhere else you can think. Here's a link with shortcuts to the album on all the major streaming services and stores.
I want to give my thanks to the wonderful contributors to the album. The incredible artistry of the musicians who really breathed life into the music: Julee Kim Walker (Flute), Albert Chang (Violin), and Eru Matsumoto (Cello). My beautiful wife, Rancy Wang who came up with the concept for the album cover art and did some of the lettering. Trilina Mai, who did the incredible artwork that I absolutely adore!
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