Berman really had a stupid idea on music
- Thread starter TEH BABA
- Start date
^ Of all the bad calls Berman made over the years, canning Ron Jones is certainly among the bottom 3.
Jones' music was simply gorgeous, and his wonderful scores perfectly captured the 24th century utopian mood of TNG.
Dennis McCarthy's scores - while reaching great heights from time to time (DS9's The Visitor comes to mind) - always were much more bland, and those by Jay Chattaway (Jones' replacement) even more so.
Although I have to say that Chattaway's very first episode (TNG's Tin Man) had very exciting, very rousing music. I always thought he his curbed his creativity after that one, just in fear over getting canned. He sold out.
I'm surprised that Berman kept on David Bell and Paul Baillargeon for so long. Both composed music that was very noticeable, Bell's in a very good way (so many great DS9 and VOY scores...), and Baillargeon's in a spectacularly bad and unmelodic way (see DS9's Shakaar, among others).
Jones' music was simply gorgeous, and his wonderful scores perfectly captured the 24th century utopian mood of TNG.
Dennis McCarthy's scores - while reaching great heights from time to time (DS9's The Visitor comes to mind) - always were much more bland, and those by Jay Chattaway (Jones' replacement) even more so.
Although I have to say that Chattaway's very first episode (TNG's Tin Man) had very exciting, very rousing music. I always thought he his curbed his creativity after that one, just in fear over getting canned. He sold out.
I'm surprised that Berman kept on David Bell and Paul Baillargeon for so long. Both composed music that was very noticeable, Bell's in a very good way (so many great DS9 and VOY scores...), and Baillargeon's in a spectacularly bad and unmelodic way (see DS9's Shakaar, among others).
True. When original and melodic scores started to re-appear on Trek after ten years through Enterprise the effect was VERY noticeable.
number6
Vice Admiral
The music for TNG was embarrasingly bad and horribly dated during the first two years. That being said, the prevailing trend in Hollywood at that time was for television scores to be less intrusive. That wasn't just Berman but across the board.
Ron Jones was fired with cause. His scores (and Chattaway's) were pretty dreadful. Jones was fired because his scores took too long and he was difficult. How you keep a job greatly depends on how you get along with your employer. Musicians tend to be "prickly" if they feel their creative juices are being mis-squeezed. Some people have the ego to accept changes and criticism and some don't. It didn't seem like Ron and Rick were a good fit and he was let go. His stuff for Family Guy is perfect and who knows?? Maybe he would have never gotten the gig if he were still involved with Trek beyond year three.
Ron Jones was fired with cause. His scores (and Chattaway's) were pretty dreadful. Jones was fired because his scores took too long and he was difficult. How you keep a job greatly depends on how you get along with your employer. Musicians tend to be "prickly" if they feel their creative juices are being mis-squeezed. Some people have the ego to accept changes and criticism and some don't. It didn't seem like Ron and Rick were a good fit and he was let go. His stuff for Family Guy is perfect and who knows?? Maybe he would have never gotten the gig if he were still involved with Trek beyond year three.
The music in Trek often doesn't affect me much, probably because of the reasons cited. Berman apparently actively fought against 'intrusive' music scores in his shows? Doesn't he know that sound and music is incredibly important to film-making?
Can you imagine Janet Leigh driving down that nighttime highway in Psycho without Bernard Herrmann's chilling violin score? Or the Imperial Star Destroyer sweeping majestically across the surface of Tatooine without being accompanied by John Williams' inimitable fanfare?
Music is key to storytelling in the film medium.
Most Trek music is unfortunately quite bland and unmemorable. With a few exceptions.
Can you imagine Janet Leigh driving down that nighttime highway in Psycho without Bernard Herrmann's chilling violin score? Or the Imperial Star Destroyer sweeping majestically across the surface of Tatooine without being accompanied by John Williams' inimitable fanfare?
Music is key to storytelling in the film medium.
Most Trek music is unfortunately quite bland and unmemorable. With a few exceptions.
^ I know! His work on Lost, The Incredibles and Ratatouille was wonderful, can't wait what he'll do with Trek.
Sadly, the movies are pretty much the only exceptions there. Can you imagine STII without the crazed French horns or STIII without "Stealing the Enterprise"? Yeah, for the TV series, music was vastly underutilized.
number6
Vice Admiral
I prefer the non rock version of that myself.
I have no problem with "Faith of the Heart." Much less so than when the show first aired. I prefer the first two seasons over the peppier "Dave Matthews" version. The indiviual music scores for ENT were certainly more interesting.
It's not so much about a tin ear. Most producers don't think about things like that. That's what they have people for. Berman's musical taste was certainly in line with the prevailing trends in music scoring for television. The musical scores in the first two seasons of TNG were horrible, though, and if it was, in fact, Berman's decision to move away from the horribly cheesy synths and go back to the wall of french horns, my hat is off to him.
trevanian
Rear Admiral
I'm sure plenty of folks here can defend Jones, so let me focus on Chattaway. His TIN MAN score is probably about as good as the music ever got on TNG, and that is the one that almost ended his tenure as soon as it started. The fact they couldn't recognize good bold scoring ... well, we're talking berman/lauritson here. nuf said.
trevanian
Rear Admiral
His endtitle music for CLOVERFIELD was friggin' incredible, as was THE INCREDIBLES
trevanian
Rear Admiral
Only ModernTrek; TOS had tremendous scores, moving and well done and effective (except the dated sexy stuff.)
Anyone else enjoy when the people who actually worked for Berman criticize him? I love it, frankly. It makes all those endless years of we, the fans, complaining, somehow suddenly seem much more legitimate and worthwhile. I mean, it's one thing for people like out, outside of the process, to criticize. It's another when those involved in such step-by-step do the same exact thing, thus confirming what we always said and validating our opinions, even semi-changing those opinions to facts by doing so.
Yep, I enjoy it too. Sometimes ya just have to call a spade a spade, and Berman was just not a good creative force in Star Trek, period.
You call TOS an "exception" to Star Trek??
Some of the music in TOS was quite cheesy. A lot of it was quite good, though, and enjoyable on CD. The main detracting point with that series, though, is the rampant re-use of music. I'd have to check Star Trek Soundtracks to be sure, but weren't at least half the episodes scored with tracked music? I know it was the norm in the 1960s, but that doesn't make it any less of a bad move.
EDIT: 43 episodes used music tracked from other episodes scores, by my count.
As for Berman's choice of sonic wallpaper music, I echo the sentiments of others that it was a bad one. Didn't he almost strike down the music in Siege of AR-558 for being too melodic? Thank the Gods he had a change of heart (or perhaps Braga convinced him?) to go with more thematic and melodic material on Enterprise. At least for most of it. Chattaway and McCarthy spent some time adjusting to the new creative freedom, reflected in the somewhat less interesting scores they wrote in early season one.
EDIT: 43 episodes used music tracked from other episodes scores, by my count.
As for Berman's choice of sonic wallpaper music, I echo the sentiments of others that it was a bad one. Didn't he almost strike down the music in Siege of AR-558 for being too melodic? Thank the Gods he had a change of heart (or perhaps Braga convinced him?) to go with more thematic and melodic material on Enterprise. At least for most of it. Chattaway and McCarthy spent some time adjusting to the new creative freedom, reflected in the somewhat less interesting scores they wrote in early season one.