Editing Bohemian Rhapsody (section)

===Opera (3:05–4:07)===
{{Listen
|filename = QueenBohemianRhapsody_Opera.ogg
|title = "Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the fandango?"
|description = The operatic segment enters immediately as May's solo abruptly concludes. This vast shift in style is just one example of how the song rapidly changes throughout its running time.
}}
A rapid series of rhythmic and harmonic changes introduces a pseudo-operatic midsection, which contains the bulk of the elaborate vocal multi-tracking, depicting the narrator's descent into hell. While the underlying pulse of the song is maintained, the dynamics vary greatly from bar to bar, from only Mercury's voice accompanied by a piano to a multi-voice choir supported by drums, bass, piano, and [[timpani]]. The choir effect was created by having May, Mercury, and Taylor repeatedly sing their vocal parts, resulting in 180 separate overdubs. These overdubs were then combined into successive submixes. According to Roger Taylor, the voices of May, Mercury, and himself combined created a wide vocal range: "Brian could get down quite low, Freddie had a powerful voice through the middle, and I was good at the high stuff." The band wanted to create "a [[wall of sound]], that starts down and goes all the way up".{{sfn|BBC|2004b}} The band used the [[bell effect]] for lyrics "Magnifico" and "let me go". Also, on "let him go", Taylor singing the top section carries his note on further after the rest of the "choir" have stopped singing.

Lyrical references in this passage include [[Scaramouche]], the [[fandango]], [[Galileo Galilei]], [[The Barber of Seville (play)|Figaro]], and [[Beelzebub]], with cries of "''[[Basmala|Bismillah]]''! [Arabic: "In the name of God!"] We will not let you go!", as rival factions fight over his soul, some wishing to "let [him] go" and "spare him his life from this monstrosity", with others sending him "thunderbolts and lightning – very, very frightening [to him]". In ''Freddie Mercury: The Definitive Biography'', [[Lesley-Ann Jones]] theorises that it is also a figurative representation of the four members: Mercury, May, Taylor, and Deacon respectively. The section concludes with a full choral treatment of the lyric "Beelzebub has a [[devil]] put aside for me!", on a block [[B-flat major|B{{Music|flat}} major]] chord. Roger Taylor tops the final chord with a [[falsetto]] B{{Music|flat}} in the [[scientific pitch notation|fifth octave]] (B{{Music|flat}}5).

Using the 24-track technology available at the time, the "opera" section took about three weeks to finish.{{sfn|Chiu|2005}} Baker said, "Every time Freddie came up with another ''Galileo'', I would add another piece of tape to the reel."{{sfn|Cunningham|1995}} Baker recalls that they kept wearing out the tape, which meant having to do transfers.{{Sfn|Chiu|2005}}