 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
At the time, only three episodes in, when the series was doing a lot of Original Series type swashbuckling, I thought it fit in fine. The music was loud then, and that particular episode was really over the top.
Nothing about that episode worked for me.
It stinks on ice, totally.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Something I'm finding interesting is the evolution of the main title/end title music. Listening to the main and end title music for "The Cage" I'm clearly hearing what I believe is a soprano (particularly in the end credits), even though I'm not finding one credited with the orchestra. It's also not as prominent as in Seasons 2 & 3. So was the soprano there in the beginning? Am I mistaking something else as being a soprano?
Pilot 1 - Soprano?, composed and conducted by Courage.
Pilot 2 - Different title music used.
Early Season 1 - Electric Violin, composed and conducted by Courage.
Later Season 1 - Cello, arranged and conducted by Steiner.
Seasons 2 & 3 - Soprano, composed and conducted by Courage.
The choice of using an electric violin at the beginning of production seems a little odd to me too, considering Roddenberry's desire to avoid the electronic music. To me, the electric violin sounds rather similar to a theremin, creating a very "sci-fi" sound.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I've just finished listening to Season One (I did cheat a little and listen to a few cues and pieces elsewhere that I've been dying to hear for ages - mainly "Metamorphosis" and the Brahms Paraphase), and I cannot get enough of "The Cage." I've always liked it, but listening to it on this set was like hearing it anew - Courage's orchestrations are always surprising and elegant, (the 'Dr. Bartender' cue is one of my favorites) and his use of the female vocalist throughout lends a throughline between the main title and the score - and the closing cues have a surprising amount of emotional weight which I couldn't remember from previous listens.
The other Courage scores are equally marvelous - he really latched onto the "strange new worlds" ethos, rather than the more open, swashbuckling Steiner scores. I find them totally engrossing. I was also a big fan of the electric violin for the theme - it may be my favorite version of it, there's something so unearthly and yet wholly identifiable about that sound - and it calls back (for me) the "Singing Sword" from Waxman's "Prince Valiant."
My other favorite so far has been Mullendore's "The Conscience of the King," which feels so totally different from most other episode scores, and yet fits in very well - the love theme is great, and the brittle psychological scoring towards the end works really well. Mullendore's (and Hatch's) library music is also really fascinating stuff, particularly how it works with the Courage theme.
It's a treasure trove of material, and I find all of the sound effect and rehearsal material eminently listenable, too! Every score is a joy to hear, and sounds incredible - looking forward to getting further into season two. Congratulations, and thanks to all involved with this set!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I've just finished listening to Season One (I did cheat a little and listen to a few cues and pieces elsewhere that I've been dying to hear for ages - mainly "Metamorphosis" and the Brahms Paraphase), and I cannot get enough of "The Cage." I've always liked it, but listening to it on this set was like hearing it anew - Courage's orchestrations are always surprising and elegant, (the 'Dr. Bartender' cue is one of my favorites) and his use of the female vocalist throughout lends a throughline between the main title and the score - and the closing cues have a surprising amount of emotional weight which I couldn't remember from previous listens.
I've seen a few people taking the approach of "I'm going to listen to everything but I'm skipping The Cage and Where No Man Has Gone Before because those were mostly complete and I've listened to them a lot." I almost took this approach as well. Like you said, big mistake. It sounds SOOOOO much better here. I've started to call this a Superman experience after the Blue Box.
I've started to think of Where No Man Has Gone Before, The Man Trap, and The Naked Time as kind of a Courage trilogy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Posted: |
Dec 17, 2012 - 9:32 AM
|
|
|
|
By: |
chriss
(Member)
|
I've just finished listening to Season One (I did cheat a little and listen to a few cues and pieces elsewhere that I've been dying to hear for ages - mainly "Metamorphosis" and the Brahms Paraphase), and I cannot get enough of "The Cage." I've always liked it, but listening to it on this set was like hearing it anew - Courage's orchestrations are always surprising and elegant, (the 'Dr. Bartender' cue is one of my favorites) and his use of the female vocalist throughout lends a throughline between the main title and the score - and the closing cues have a surprising amount of emotional weight which I couldn't remember from previous listens.
I've seen a few people taking the approach of "I'm going to listen to everything but I'm skipping The Cage and Where No Man Has Gone Before because those were mostly complete and I've listened to them a lot." I almost took this approach as well. Like you said, big mistake. It sounds SOOOOO much better here. I've started to call this a Superman experience after the Blue Box.
I've started to think of Where No Man Has Gone Before, The Man Trap, and The Naked Time as kind of a Courage trilogy.
I am grown up with this music and I like them all but I still prefer the early Courage scores over the later "swashbuckling" material. The Courage scores have this eerie, experimental music for the exploration of outer space, almost like Twilight Zone or Outer Limits scores.
I also would like to say that having the two Fielding scores in its original recordings is really a revelation. They are so marvelous, done with the same care like his movie scoring. I've yet to hear a bad score by Fielding. He was a true master and a genius and always gave his best for all his projects, he had so much integrity!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Doomsday Machine still sounds better than the GNP release, which wasn't that bad to begin with. It's just such an amazing, complex score, and it would be nice to hear the detail without some of the distortion (although you do get the highlights in Fred Steiner's rerecording).
I prefer the original version in the new collection. While Steiner's rerecording is a better quality recording, I would rate the performance lower. It sounds to me that it is being played for clarity of each detail with resulting minor tempo variations. Some aspects of the orchestration are also apparently different. The final loud horn blow at the climax of "Goodbye M. Decker" which is also repeated a bit softer at the climax of "Kirk Does It Again" is an example. Anyone know how this was accomplished? Perhaps some type of mute, flutter tongue or growl? However it was done, I think it is very effective in representing the effect of entering the planet killer. On the Steiner performance it sounds as if this is replaced with a high pitch woodwind rapidly alternating between two notes on "Goodbye M. Decker", and a combination of instruments attempting to recreate a similar sound on "Kirk Does It Again" neither of which are as effective as the original. In my opinion the original version was also performed with greater intensity.
I really enjoy both of Steiner's albums and how well they recreate the original sound of Star Trek with modern stereo recordings. The Doomsday Machine track, in my opinion, is the low point of that. I've wondered if Steiner duplicated what would have been generally typical for orchestration and performance during the original Star Trek recording sessions, where Sol Kaplan did not.
While I agree it would be nice to hear the detail with zero distortion, I'm really enjoying hearing the original performance in the quality presented on the soundtrack collection. I really don't find the minor distortion that distracting. I'm glad it survived in as good of quality as it did.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I've listened to nothing else for 2 weeks straight, and I'm still not tired of this awesome set!
I really enjoy listening to the Library cues. I wonder why they didn't re-record any of the Sol Kaplan material for the library. They obviously liked the music and reused it often.
|
|
|
|
|
|
My work schedule, etc., has been so busy lately that I've barely had any time to get into my set. I sampled "The Conscience of the King" and could only just start "The Paradise Syndrome" in the time I had the other day, which was very frustrating.
I played "Elaan of Troyius" this morning in my one chance so far to hear a whole score, and it was fantastic. I was already revved up to hear the red alert and battle cues, but I was surprised at how good the love theme is outside the episode. Steiner deserved a lot more recognition in life than he got.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Greetings all. I am finally into the season three box and I must say I have seldom been brought to tears at listening to some of the finest music ever done for anything. Christmas really came early this year for everybody.
Now, having said that, I do have a question. Some folks have pointed out distortion in "Doomsday Machine" ( which I could not hear as it sounded beautiful to me ), but I was wondering if anyone has noticed what sounds like an acoustic distortion in Track 16 on Disc 2 of the season 3 box for about the first two minutes. I have played the track through three different systems, and it's less pronounced in the cheaper stereo, but it sounds, to my ears at least, like the music is played so powerfully that it creates a hissing echo ( my best description ) at certain intervals that nearly overpowers the music. Is this just my disc that has this or is it some anomaly inherent to the age of the tapes? Thanks in advance for any insight into this.
Regardless, it is an AWESOME set. Many thanks to everyone who made this 40 plus year dream a reality.
We've addressed that cue elsewhere. The day that cue was recorded they were clearly having tech problems. I looked at earlier takes (it was take 3) and they were either incomplete or featured the same issue. We also looked at the library dub down roll, but that noted "static" as well and sure enough it had the same issue. That's just how it was recorded.
The cue also isn't used in Spock's Brain, possibly for this reason, but I heard it tracked into "Wink of an Eye" and you guessed it, the distortion is there as well.
Neil
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
