From Star vs. the Forces of Evil - Bon Bon the Birthday Clown.

I wrote much of this episode in one marathon session. The score in the episode’s final act is basically wall-to-wall, and I wanted to make sure that the whole sequence in the graveyard had a big arc while still being cohesive and sounding like one big cue, instead of a bunch of little ones.

0:00 Jarco Interrupted – Yes this is a Blood Moon Ball reference. Yes I know the ship names. Yes I prefer Jarco to Mackie.

0:18 Graveyard Battle – I uploaded a version of this cue that was not used for broadcast. It was like 30% too busy and clashed with the huge amount of spells in this scene, and it was butting up against dialogue. So the version in the episode is more streamlined, with more emphasis on the rhythm and bass than melody. But I really dig this version I uploaded, because you can hear Star’s theme in a new context – bigger, more danger – and there are a lot of funky dissonances going on.

1:35 The Portal Turns – Bad stuff going down. Star’s emotions have made the portal turn, giving Ludo the upper hand. I think this section is a good place to trace the path of the show’s score since the first episode. Partway through this cue you hear Ludo’s theme being played on a prepared piano, an instrument we associated with Ludo’s evolution in Ludo in the Wild. And we introduced this melody in the first episode, Star Comes to Earth, but it was originally played on a kind of tongue-in-cheek theremin sound, with some plinky small percussion. Not anymore. 

2:47 Save Star – Great scene to score. I decided to hit the big emotional melody as soon as Marco turns around to help Star, which is a change in the music I could have done later after we see Ludo flying away, but there was something more epic and sad about scoring Ludo’s exit from the point of view of our heroes, and not from his own. And I love that wide shot of all four friends holding hands to save each other, so I was happy to get the opportunity to write something soaring.

Hope you enjoy!