Parody of Giacchiono's Star Trek theme music.

[Phanatic]

I wonder, what's your (Mike's) opinion of film composers like Philip Glass, or Michael Nyman. Or, for that matter, Andriessen, Stockhausen or any other number of composers whose music reduces the complexity of one, some, or all of the elements of music to allow a listener to greater appreciate what's left. Steve Reich's early music, for example, sounds incredible not because of what was played, but because of what wasn't.

I see this score as a decent execution of compositional minimalism in film. A few very effective melodic motifs which essentially contain the main themes of the film (the growth of Kirk, the growth of Spock, and the vengence of Nero), upon which the instrumental arrangements can organically grow. And in this, the score is incredibly successful. While there are points that don't particularly appeal to me (the one scene that particularly comes to mind is the choral execution of the Kirk theme when the Jellyfish collides with the Narada), these moments are relatively few - and even then, they reinforce my points.

Unlike yourself, I'm not a full time film composer (though of the forty full-time staff in the company that I'm Director of, more than half, including myself, have Bachelor or Masters degrees in Music Composition), so my criticisms and comments are somewhat academic. Still, I believe that in practice, this score works incredibly effectively. It might be my minimalist bias, but I feel that its compositional foundations are incredibly, and refreshingly strong, and that the score brilliantly complements and enhances the story.

 

[El Maestro]

I work in music education and music industry and I am confident that by attaching his name to this the author of this parody will be limiting his potential career development as a composer. He might be good and he may be successful, but the business is so political that I guarantee people will not call him for a gig because he did this.

This does not even take into account the fact that it's a shame such an admittedly accomplished composer as this gentleman couldn't reason out more criticism than "it's simple" and "it's loud."

 

[Jeri]

Wow, career suicide; it's like admitting he saw a UFO...

 

[El Maestro]

Not complete suicide. As I said, I'm sure he will do fine and continue his success, but I think there will be some jobs he won't get because of it.

 

[Anticitizen]

I work in music education and music industry and I am confident that by attaching his name to this the author of this parody will be limiting his potential career development as a composer. He might be good and he may be successful, but the business is so political that I guarantee people will not call him for a gig because he did this.

This does not even take into account the fact that it's a shame such an admittedly accomplished composer as this gentleman couldn't reason out more criticism than "it's simple" and "it's loud."

Mmm, if they were TrekBBS members, maybe, maybe not. As it is, producers and directors will never know this took place.

If so, though, I could see it going down the opposite way - 'oh yeah? you think you're better? let's hear YOUR stuff then! hmm... well, actually I do prefer it...'

That's contingent on the fact of it being better of course.