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

[FrontierTrek]

We have an interview with the awesome Neil S. Bulk - one of the talented producers who worked on this set.

Plus - 5 new sample tracks hand-picked by Neil!
http://www.trekcore.com/merchandise/sttos_neilbulk.html

 

[Christopher]

Good interview, and good cue selection. I'm stunned to learn that the Act-1 opening cue to "Catspaw," which I'd always assumed was a Fried arrangement of the Courage fanfare done for that episode and is one of my favorite versions of it, is actually a library cue by Courage himself. Some interesting bits of texture to discover in the other cues as well. "Aberrated Captain" was the cue I'm the least familiar with; I don't think it was ever reused outside of the "Enterprise Incident" teaser. It's got an unusual sound for TOS; it actually reminded me a bit of Lost in Space music at some points (not surprising, perhaps, since Courage did a few scores for LiS and other Irwin Allen shows).

My main question for Neil is: How do we know that the laserdiscs were accurate to the originals in their audio mix, pitch, etc.? Or are they just the closest approximation available?

And when are we going to see the next track list? There are still six discs remaining to cover, and there are only six days left until the release.

 

[Indysolo]

The LDs were spot on as reference tracks. I had ways of confirming that. "Beyond Antares" was one of those ways.

LLL releases the track lists, not me.

The opening of "Catspaw" is tracked with the library cue. We have Fried's unused opening and closing. I think one note of his closing is used in the episode!

Neil

 

[Christopher]

Sorry, I wasn't asking that last question of you specifically. I should've put them the other way around to make that clearer.

I'm really looking forward to finding out how many of the library-only cues are pieces I know. I know there's one cue, a somber one at the end of a third-season episode with no credited original music, that's never heard anywhere else, and I've always wondered what it was from. I figure it must be a library cue. (I can't remember what episode it was, though.)

 

[Indysolo]

SEASON 2, DISC 5

I, Mudd
Music Composed and Conducted by Samuel Matlovsky
Episode #41, Recorded 9/22/67
Aired #37, 11/3/67

1. Main Title* (soprano version, second season mix; arr. Courage) 1:03
2006 Recording Conducted and Produced by Gregory Smith

2. Please*/You Listen M21/M23 1:25
3. Harry Mudd/Mudd’s Series M24/M25 1:00
4. Stella M31 0:44
5. Control Room M32 0:55
6. Eternal Beauty/Crew Gone M33/M36 0:42
7. We Are Real M40 1:12
8. A Gilded Cage/Not Programmed M41/M42 1:09
9. Mudd’s Farewell/Stella’s Reprise M43/M44 0:59
10. Alice in Wonderland M55 2:08
11. Love’s Hate M56 0:50
12. Tired of Happiness M62 1:26
13. The Last Straw M63 2:12
14. Mudd’s Detention/Stella 500 M65/M66 1:38

Total Time: 17:50

*Contains “Theme From Star Trek (TV Series)” by Alexander Courage and Gene Roddenberry

The Trouble With Tribbles
Music Composed and Conducted by Jerry Fielding
Episode #42, Recorded 10/5/67
Aired #44, 12/29/67

15. The Muzak Maker M16 0:55
16. They Quibble Over Tribble/Kirk Out M21+M21S/M31 0:58
17. The Scherzo Maker M34 0:44
18. Bartender Bit M35 0:28
19. Big Fite M36/M36A/M36B 2:15
20. A Matter of Pride/Barrel of Tribbles/Tribble Hooks Kirk/My Chicken Sandwich/Come on Spock!/Raining Tribbles M42/M43+M43S/M44/M44A+M44AS/M44B/M51/M51A+M51AS /M52/M54+M54S 4:03
21. Dead Heap!/Close That Door/Hissing Tribbles/Poor Jonesy/No Tribble at All M55/M56/M57/M63+M63S/M65 2:30

Total Time: 12:05

Second Season Library Music
Conducted by Alexander Courage
Recorded 6/16/67
Composed by Alexander Courage:

22. Ship in Orbit* (Big) LM6 0:39
23. Sad and Thoughtful on Captain’s Theme LM8 2:29
24. Captain Playoff No. 1 (Heavy) LM2 0:07
25. Smooth Neutral Ship Theme* LM7 0:39
26. Playoff on M.T. Theme LM1 0:21
27. Fight on Captain’s Theme LM5/LM5A 1:44
28. Captain Playoff No. 2 (Neutral—Slightly Ominous) LM3 0:07
29. Stingers LM17A/LM17B/LM17C/LM17D 0:50
30. New Sexy Exotic LM9 2:16
31. Captain Playoff No. 3 (Sad and Alone) LM4 0:19
32. Prime Specimen (“The Cage” M21–30) LM19 3:14
33. Monster Illusion (“The Cage” M42) LM18 2:33
34. Mr. Spock (“Captain’s Wig” From “The Naked Time” M54–61) LM16 3:26
35. The Big Go (“The Naked Time” M62) LM15 2:29

Composed by Fred Steiner:

36. Mudd’s Perfidy (“Mudd’s Women” M43) LM10A/LM10 0:33
37. Zap the Cap (“Charlie X” M53) LM11 1:33
38. Zap the Cap (“Charlie X” M53) LM11A tk 1 0:08
39. Zap the Cap (“Charlie X” M53) LM11A tk 2 0:05
40. Zap the Spaceship (“Charlie X” M54) LM12 1:28
41. Zap the Spaceship (“Charlie X” M54) LM12A 0:33
42. Zap the Spaceship (“Charlie X” M54) LM12B 0:07
43. Ruk Attacks (“What Are Little Girls Made Of?” M43A) LM13 1:40

Composed by Gerald Fried:

44. 2nd Ruth (“Shore Leave” M31A, orch. Gus Levene) LM14 2:35

Total Time (22–44): 30:43

Second Season Alternates and Outtakes

45. Neck Pinch Sweetener (“Catspaw” M61A) (Fried) 0:04
46. More Soup* (“Amok Time” M26–30/M26–30A) (Fried) 1:52
47. Resignation* (“Amok Time” M61A) (Fried) 0:08
48. Approach of the Enterprise* (“The Doomsday Machine” M11A) (Kaplan) 0:23
49. Approach of the Enterprise* (“The Doomsday Machine” M11A/M11S) (Kaplan, with Fred Steiner brass sweetener) 0:24
50. One’s Enough* (“The Doomsday Machine” M63A/M63) (Kaplan) 0:24
51. Shuttle Helpless (“Metamorphosis” M12A) (Duning) 0:38
52. Starship* (“Metamorphosis” M41 tk 2) (Duning) 0:14
53. Nancy Sobs* (“Metamorphosis” M51A) (Duning) 0:19
54. Nancy Sobs* (“Metamorphosis” M51B) (Duning) 0:10
55. You Loved Me (“Metamorphosis” M61A) (Duning) 0:20
56. Cochrane’s Decision* (“Metamorphosis” M62B) (Duning) 0:13
57. We Are Real (“I, Mudd” M40A) (Matlovsky) 1:11
58. No Tribble at All (“The Trouble With Tribbles” M65A) (Fielding) 0:13
59. Poor Jonesy (“The Trouble With Tribbles” M63, orchestra only) (Fielding) 0:29
60. Poor Jonesy (“The Trouble With Tribbles” M63S, trombone sweetener at recorded speed) (Fielding) 0:53
61. Tribbles FX (unused) (Matlovsky) 0:52

Total Time: 9:23

Amok Time
Source Music and Outtake
Composed and Conducted by Gerald Fried

62. Vulcan Lyre M25 0:06
63. Gong FX 0:12
64. Bells 0:22
65. Wind Chimes 0:36
66. Contrary Order (Gerald Fried rehearsal) M16–20 1:37

Total Time: 3:03

Total Disc Time: 73:26

 

[Tallguy]

LLL releases the track lists, not me.

Hmmmmmm.

I didn't think there was any way that this could be better than I imagined.

Actually, I was thinking "Yes, I love the movie scores. And I certainly listen to the TOS scores I have. But do I really want ALL of it? Sure I want all of Where No Man Has Gone Before. And Charlie X, yes. But seriously, 17 hours?"

Now I'm thinking "This isn't coming FAST enough!!" The library cues alone are killing me! And those samples on TrekCore sound better than they do in the episodes.

 

[JimZipCode]

SEASON 2, DISC 5
Total Disc Time: 73:26

Awesome. Thanks again for posting these.

That's interesting, that we get the 2006 re-recording of the main title in this set. You guys weren't kidding when you said it would be everything. :-)

What's a "sweetener"? as in "brass sweetener" & "trombone sweetener"

Very interested to hear the Fried rehearsal.

Now that the listings of Steiner's music for By Any Other name and Fielding's music for Tribbles have both been posted, what cue is in By Any Other Name during the scene when Scotty & the Kelvan are drunk together?

 

[Indysolo]

That's interesting, that we get the 2006 re-recording of the main title in this set. You guys weren't kidding when you said it would be everything. :-)

The 2006 re-recording is also on disc 5 of season 1. You can figure out where it will be on season 3.

What's a "sweetener"? as in "brass sweetener" & "trombone sweetener"

An additional overlay, recorded separately and dubbed in later. In the case of the "trombone sweetener" from Tribbles, they were an effect recorded in real time with the intention of being sped up to get a unique sound. We had the original real time takes and presented one of them on here as a bonus. If you know the score, it's really wild hearing it at the recorded speed.

Now that the listings of Steiner's music for By Any Other name and Fielding's music for Tribbles have both been posted, what cue is in By Any Other Name during the scene when Scotty & the Kelvan are drunk together?

"A Matter of Pride".

Neil

 

[Christopher]

Both the scores on Disc 5 have had versions released before. A suite arrangement of cues from "I, Mudd" was on Label X's Star Trek Volume 2, arranged by Clyde Allen & Tony Bremner and conducted by Bremner. Cues that have not previously had a version released are:

Please*/You Listen
Harry Mudd
Control Room
Eternal Beauty/Crew Gone
We Are Real
A Gilded Cage/Not Programmed
Mudd’s Farewell/Stella’s Reprise
Love’s Hate
Mudd’s Detention

There have been two prior releases of music from "The Trouble With Tribbles." The second volume of Steiner-conducted re-recordings from Varese Sarabande included new performances of "A Matter of Pride," "No Tribble at All," and "Big Fite" (spelled "Big Fight"), and GNP's Best of Star Trek Vol. 1 featured 11-odd minutes from the original score. The only previously unreleased tracks from "Tribbles" are:

My Chicken Sandwich
Raining Tribbles
Close That Door

The GNP album did contain "The Muzak Maker" and "The Scherzo Maker" even though those were not included in the episode.

Typos on the GNP track list: "They Quibble Over Quibble" for "...Over Tribble"; "Barrel of Trouble" for "Barrel of Tribbles"; no exclamation point on "Come On Spock" or "Dead Heap."

Second Season Library Music
Conducted by Alexander Courage
Recorded 6/16/67
Composed by Alexander Courage:

22. Ship in Orbit* (Big) LM6 0:39
23. Sad and Thoughtful on Captain’s Theme LM8 2:29
24. Captain Playoff No. 1 (Heavy) LM2 0:07
25. Smooth Neutral Ship Theme* LM7 0:39
26. Playoff on M.T. Theme LM1 0:21
27. Fight on Captain’s Theme LM5/LM5A 1:44
28. Captain Playoff No. 2 (Neutral—Slightly Ominous) LM3 0:07
29. Stingers LM17A/LM17B/LM17C/LM17D 0:50
30. New Sexy Exotic LM9 2:16
31. Captain Playoff No. 3 (Sad and Alone) LM4 0:19

These should be interesting. Let's see, we know from the sample released today that "Ship in Orbit" is the Act 1 opening for "Catspaw." "Sad and Thoughtful on Captain's Theme" is probably the music that plays under Kirk's climactic speech in "Mirror, Mirror." "Fight on Captain's Theme" is a cue that I believe is also in MM (and maybe "Journey to Babel" when Thelev attacks Kirk?). I look forward to discovering what the others are.

Amok Time
Source Music and Outtake
Composed and Conducted by Gerald Fried

62. Vulcan Lyre M25 0:06
63. Gong FX 0:12
64. Bells 0:22
65. Wind Chimes 0:36
66. Contrary Order (Gerald Fried rehearsal) M16–20 1:37

Great Bird of the Galaxy, you guys are thorough! It never even occurred to me to think of those as source music. And rehearsal audio? Interesting. Might we hear the composer's voice?

On to season 3! Given that there was less new music in that season, it should be interesting to see what fills out the set.

 

[Joe_Atari]

"Aberrated Captain" was the cue I'm the least familiar with; I don't think it was ever reused outside of the "Enterprise Incident" teaser.

It was definitely reused in "The Way To Eden" (right between the "jam session" and the Enterprise veering off course to Eden. It may have been reused another time; I thought maybe "Plato's Stepchildren" but that was a scored episode so I'm not sure...

 

[Christopher]

^Hmm, okay, but that would've just been a small part of the whole cue. Those cues that were only used once are harder to get to know well than the oft-repeated ones. Luckily now we'll be able to repeat them as much as we want!

 

[JimZipCode]

In the case of the "trombone sweetener" from Tribbles, they were an effect recorded in real time with the intention of being sped up to get a unique sound. We had the original real time takes and presented one of them on here as a bonus. If you know the score, it's really wild hearing it at the recorded speed.

Oh! Were those trombones sped up to make the, uh, "mewling kittens" sound that we hear in the score when there are a ton of tribbles in the scene? Not sure how to describe that sound any better.

 

[Christopher]

Oh! Were those trombones sped up to make the, uh, "mewling kittens" sound that we hear in the score when there are a ton of tribbles in the scene? Not sure how to describe that sound any better.

Exactly. A technical way to describe the sound might be a downward glissando, or more accurately portamento -- one note sliding down to another, as a trombone can do.

 

[Indysolo]

That's the sound!

Neil

 

[Tallguy]

We have an interview with the awesome Neil S. Bulk - one of the talented producers who worked on this set.

Plus - 5 new sample tracks hand-picked by Neil!
http://www.trekcore.com/merchandise/sttos_neilbulk.html

Wow, those sound terrific. Thank you!

Does this mean we get another, um, 27 tracks? (Yes, yes, in another week or so I'll have HUNDREDS of more tracks.)

 

[OneBuckFilms]

I love the new sample tracks with that interview.

It's amazing how every cue brings back memories. Probably some of the most evocative score in TV history.

 

[Christopher]

True, but I wonder how much of that is really due to the music and how much is due to us growing up hearing it a million times in endless reruns. Not that the music isn't great, but there was other great music being done in TV then too, often by the same composers. But it's these episodes that we got to know so intimately in syndication.

 

[OneBuckFilms]

You have a point, good sir.

I'll be listening quite intently when I pick it up Monday night.

 

[Indysolo]

Jon Burlingame wrote an article about the box set for todays issue of Variety: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118062812

Neil

 

[22 Stars]

Sounds like great fun, and reminds me of projects I did with the first home computers, painting images one pixel at a time to reproduce iconic Trek images.

In high school in the '80s, my chemistry teacher had a poster on his wall that was a 1973 "computer transcription image" of Mr. Spock printed by the Princeton University Computer Center, made up entirely of alphanumeric symbols printed out onto the paper -- with the darker bits being made of multiple letters/numbers/symbols typed on top of each other, something you couldn't do with ASCII text art today. He let me have it when I graduated and I still have it today, though the paper's very yellowed and brittle now and I damaged it a bit just taking it out of the tube to look at it. (EDIT: And a big split just formed in the paper when I tried to roll it up and put it back in the tube. Rats.)

I found the image online at this page:

http://sturgeon.css.psu.edu/~mloewen/Oldtech/ASCII/

Turns out what I have is just the top left quadrant of the full image.

That is awesome, sorry to hear about the damage to the paper. I remember those images fondly, and have the regular Spock holding the Enterprise model poster still, but this ASCII work is just brilliant!