La-La Land to release 15-disc original series score set

Discussion in 'Star Trek - The Original & Animated Series' started by Harvey, Aug 11, 2012.

  1. Andy_H

    Andy_H Cadet Newbie

    Joined:
    Sep 2, 2012
    I've been watching the remastered TOS over the past months and have made it through episode 8 of Season 2. As one who is a big fan of film scores, I have to say that this set does not interest me. I was a bit surprised to hear how frequently the "ominous" music is reused episode after episode after episode. At first I thought perhaps that in season one, they were trying to save money by not re-scoring every episode. Season 2 definitely has more original music, but I still hear the re-use of prior material.

    I can't imgaine wanting to listen to 2 CDs worth (at least) of the same thematic material cut over and over for different episodes.
     
  2. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    That was standard practice in television throughout the '60s and '70s; it was only sometime in the '80s that union rules changed to require an original score in every episode.


    I don't think you quite understand. Of course this set would feature only the original use of each episode score; there'd be no reason to repeat them. There have been other CD (or before that LP) releases of scores from shows that used lots of tracked music, such as The Twilight Zone and Lost in Space, and the albums only include the original use of each score. Naturally the same would be the case here.

    There was original music written for 33 episodes of TOS -- plus Fred Steiner's arrangement of "The Star-Spangled Banner" for "The Omega Glory," the songs from "The Way to Eden," etc. That's a hell of a lot more than 2 CDs' worth of music. The amount of music written for those 33 episodes would've typically been in the vicinity of 20-30 minutes each, though some had less. That's maybe around 14-15 hours of original music, say, without any repetition of cues. Fifteen CDs would come out to 18-19 hours' of content, and we know there are a number of unused, alternate, and bonus cues being included. So it adds up pretty well.

    To put it in perspective: to date we've had 7 album or CD releases of TOS scores, plus two Best of Star Trek CD releases that included some TOS music along with other shows -- yet those albums only include music from 21 episode scores, and most of those are incomplete releases. So nearly 8 albums' worth of music only accounts for maybe 60% or less of what exists.
     
  3. OneBuckFilms

    OneBuckFilms Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Mar 7, 2008
    I believe I read that there was about 17.5 hours of material, and that a significant percentage of that was never even used in the series (library cues).

    Also, nothing from the 3rd year, such as Elan of Troyus (sp?) and The Enterprise Incident, have not been released.

    Also, some of those 7 albums mentioned above, only 3 were original recordings, the other 4 were composer-conducted rerecordings done after the fact.

    Trust me when I say this, Andy H, you will not get the same cues presented endlessly to recreate the full scores as heard in the episodes.

    You'll get each cue only once, regardless of whether is was repeated several times, tracked from the original episode score, or library music that was written with no particular scene in mind.
     
  4. Esteban

    Esteban Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2005
    Location:
    Hairclub for Men
    So, can you give us a little tease? Perhaps let on how you got those Glen Glenns in you hands?

    Just a taste...enough to wet our beaks.
     
  5. ACE

    ACE Lieutenant Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Dec 15, 2004
    Indysolo,

    Just to be clear...

    The bumper music I mentioned earlier -
    I found it with a YouTube search.

    It is a ten-second video clip from a 16mm film source. The first half is a bumper card with the Nimoy v.o. "Tonight's Star Trek will continue in a moment", followed by the second bumper card and ST fanfare music.

    Here is the link:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRalX_Fkb7Q
     
  6. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    Not the original recordings, no, but the re-recordings from Varese Sarabande included "The Empath" and the Label X ones included suite arrangements of the scores to "The Paradise Syndrome," "Is There in Truth No Beauty?," and "Spectre of the Gun" (i.e. various cues from the episode blended into a single continuous piece, sometimes with slight changes to smooth the transitions).


    Of course, but I was only using them to give a sense of the amount of Trek music that had been released so far and how much more has yet to be released. It's a damn sight more than "2 CDs" worth.

    Also, only the Sarabande ones were conducted by a TOS composer, Fred Steiner. The two Label X albums were conducted by Tony Bremner, and the suite arrangements were mostly done by Clyde Allen and/or Bremner, though they did get George Duning to do the arrangement for his own score to "Truth No Beauty?"

    Oh, also it's worth pointing out Alexander Courage's "The Menagerie: Suite," a seven-and-a-half-minute suite arrangement of music from "The Cage," which appeared on the 1990 Cincinnati Pops album Time Warp (also available on iTunes and a lot of other places).


    I don't remember there being any library music to speak of in TOS... except maybe one time. There was a third-season episode, I forget which one now, that had no original score of its own but closed with a Couragey-sounding cue that was never used in any prior episode. Other than that, just about every recycled TOS music cue has an identifiable source in one of those 33 original scores.
     
  7. Indysolo

    Indysolo Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Mar 19, 2001
    Location:
    Sunny California
    Christopher, this set will be ear opening for you in regards to library music for Trek.

    ACE, I know about that YouTube clip. No bumper material was found on our tapes. I suspect they were recorded at different sessions, and not the episode scoring sessions.

    And my quote about season three music (which gets misinterpreted all the time) was "no original season 3 music beyond the main title has ever been released". It's true, we've had re-recordings but never the actual recordings used in the show.

    Andy H, we don't duplicate episodes that had tracked scores (episodes that didn't have original scores written and thus used previously composed music). If you're hearing music multiple times in shows, chances are it's a tracked episode. We'll have the music on our set, but it will only be heard in the episode for which it was written and as intended by the composer.

    Neil
     
  8. OneBuckFilms

    OneBuckFilms Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Mar 7, 2008
    I'm aware of the re-recordings, and they are quite good (I really enjoy the Corbomite Maneuver, really powerful writing, IMHO).

    But they are somewhat different from the original recordings, as you already know. :)
     
  9. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    I think the re-recordings and suites are worth having as alternative takes on the music, and they have some nice bits that are uniquely theirs. But it will definitely be good to have the original versions at last. There are some bits that I definitely prefer in their original form.

    Indysolo, how much diegetic music will be on the set? I think you did confirm earlier that the "Way to Eden" songs (mostly) would be included, but what about things like the lounge music from a couple of early episodes, Uhura's singing and Spock's lyre playing from "Charlie X," "Beyond Antares," the harpsichord music from "Squire of Gothos," and the Brahms paraphrase from "Requiem for Methuselah?"
     
  10. OneBuckFilms

    OneBuckFilms Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Mar 7, 2008
    I suspect it's on there. If so, even better. :)
     
  11. Indysolo

    Indysolo Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Mar 19, 2001
    Location:
    Sunny California
    Don't forget "Space Radio" from Mudd's Women and the two unused "Trouble With Tribbles" cues, though they were already released.

    Neil
     
  12. OneBuckFilms

    OneBuckFilms Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Mar 7, 2008
    I'll take that as confirmation. :)
     
  13. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    I think "Space Radio" is the "lounge music" I was talking about.
     
  14. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 8, 2005
    The superlative book, "The Music of Star Trek," indicated that when music was tracked from previous seasons (i.e. when the funny music from "Shore Leave" was used any time during seasons two and three) it had to be re-recorded. Do any of these re-recorded cues differ significantly from the original, and, if so, will any of them be on the set?
     
  15. OneBuckFilms

    OneBuckFilms Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Mar 7, 2008
    From my understanding (from the FSM boards, I think) they will be included.

    Can't talk as to how they differ from the original recordings, of course.
     
  16. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    I have a Lost in Space CD that includes third-season re-recordings of first-season music which is available on other CDs. They're basically just different performances of the same pieces, with the only differences being slight variations in how they were conducted/performed/mixed, the sort of thing you have to be pretty familiar with the cues to pick up on. Things like slight differences in timing, or different relative loudness of two instruments playing at the same time, or the lack/addition of some slight imperfection or flourish in a musician's performance. I'd imagine the TOS re-recordings are much the same, since I know that show's music better than any other music I've ever heard, and I've never picked up on any blatant differences.
     
  17. Indysolo

    Indysolo Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Mar 19, 2001
    Location:
    Sunny California
    The most significant change you'll hear are the re-recordings from The Man Trap for season 3. The electric violin was replaced with a vocalist. This can be heard in "That Which Survives". And yes, the library versions are on this set.

    Neil
     
  18. TOSalltheway

    TOSalltheway Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Jun 27, 2011
    Location:
    Canada
    $ 225.00 are they nuts ! I`d love to have this CD but forget it !
     
  19. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    ^It's not one CD, it's 15 CDs. That works out to $15 per CD, which is close to a typical price range for CDs, and quite a bargain for a collector's item like this, particularly given the work that must've gone into creating it.
     
  20. Warped9

    Warped9 Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 3, 2003
    Location:
    Brockville, Ontario, Canada
    Great question! I'd love to have recordings of those as well. :techman: