I love the music of Star Wars jjust as much as any other fan and like hearing from time to time, but managing to play the cantina theme and the Imperial March with a pencil is something that seems above and beyond for any self-respecting nerd. It’s definitely something you have to listen for intently, I had to watch the cantina clip more than once just to understand what I was hearing what I thought I’d heard. Listen as the pencil’s moving and you’ll hear it in the scratches as the pencil is moving from right to left and then back again to the rhythm of the song. It’s hard to pick up at first since when you think about music you think about instruments and possible vocals but you certainly don’t think about scratches and quick movements that make the sounds you’re expecting.
How someone came to this conclusion is somewhat confusing but it’s still kind of impressive since it takes a very different mind to notice. Now that you’ve heard it you might have that song stuck in your head for awhile since it’s one of those pervasive tunes that doesn’t just go away when you stop thinking about it for a minute or so. I kind of wonder if that equation is even real or if it was just concocted in order to give rise to the tune that’s being emulated. It’s hard to know since I’m not a math major and can’t even stand the subject despite being able to do at least some higher math.
The Imperial March is much easier to pick out, especially after hearing the first clip. It might still take a couple times of listening to really get it down but it’s at least easy enough to pick out which scratches are which and how the tune is supposed to go. Of course when you look at it any equation or word or really anything done with a pencil could be used to replicate the songs since it’s all a matter of the cadence and how closely on follows it. There are some forms of writing that wouldn’t allow this to flow as it does in these two clips but more or less a lot of different writings could be used to produce this kind of effect. It’s just a matter of the timing and the speed with which a person writes. Obviously the person in the clips has to be somewhat quick since each song moves quickly and doesn’t afford for a lot of lengthy pauses.
Star Wars music has been replicated using a wide variety of methods and I wouldn’t be too surprised to find people seeking out more and more as the years go by. We’ll have to wait and see if there’s any new music to the upcoming Han Solo movie or if it will be a lot of the same. With Rogue One there were a few new pieces so it might be that Solo gets some of his own as well.
Also, here’s the Imperial March:
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