Michael Giacchino's Star Trek

[Maxxie 1]

I'll post this before anyone else does -

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but whips and chains excite me.

Same 'ere.

I was actually being sarcastic anyway.

[Wojo 2,453]

RotS is about 1000X more interesting than this Star Trek score

Is this a number you arrived at scientifically, or is it made up like all of your superbly crafted insults at everything that isn't John Williams?

[King Mark 3,631]

it's directed at the "fake" JWfans of this board

[Maxxie 1]

it's directed at the "fake" JWfans of this board

You mean everybody but you?

[Wojo 2,453]

So because I lost interest in a generally unimpressive score, I'm a fake JWfan? I never professed to be the greatest fan ever, or actually made the attempt to seek out every note the man ever put on a page.

You can cue the Spanish Inquisition to come and take away my JWfan.com membership. I expect it.

[bruckhorn 105]

But no one expects the Spanish Inquisition.

[fommes 153]

Their prime weapon is fear. And fear leads to suffering!

[Ollie 1,059]

But no one expects the Spanish Inquisition.

[Wojo 2,453]

Oh yes. I fully expect them this time.

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

You can cue the Spanish Inquisition to come and take away my JWfan.com membership. I expect it.

I have these phone numbers on my desk, dont bait me

[Jay 37,368]

Let's keep this thread on topic please!

[Diego 21]

Looks like you've done a great job, but I'm afraid to read it in detail because of spoilers. It seems it's going to open here the first week of June after the swine flu delay. I look forward to watching the movie and then reading your analysis.

[Jay 37,368]

Hey gang,

Check out the first post again

I meant to get through the second half of the film tonight, but I ended up going through the album instead, and made a list of where all the themes play in it. I then went through the first half of the film again, and updated pretty much all the entries in the complete cue analysis to reflect new discoveries and make some corrections. I also added more cues to the end, I'm up through Kirk's banishment to Delta Vega now.

I discovered a new theme in the process, which I dubbed the Danger Motif. I don't know if it plays again beyond the two instances I found it, but I'll be listening for it in the second half of the film.

The score really grows on me every time I listen to it. I had never noticed how prominent Spock's Theme had been before, not just on the OST but in a large amount of unreleased cues as well. There's a lot of great cues missing from the OST, with Distress Call, Red Matter / Pike's Plan, Drill Platform Fight, and The Drill Retracts being the highlights. Also, Enterprising Young Men is such an amazing cue. Even though its only 2 1/2 minutes, in contains EVERY theme in Giachhino's pallette (with the exception of the two themes associated with Nero). Awesome

Anyway, please feel free to post any corrections, I'm sure I didn't get every single placement of the themes on the OST for example.

[TownerFan 4,983]

The score is growing on me after each listen (and especially after seeing the movie). It's still not my favourite Giacchino, but it's a damn good work, pretty much above most of the current Hollywood blockbuster scores.

Can't wait for Up and Land of the Lost.

PS: I want the "Drill Platform Fight" cue!

[Delorean90 42]

Agreed. Another one I've liked a lot in watching the film is the "Red Matter/Pike's Plan" cue. I love the music that plays as Pike's shuttle leaves the Enterprise and heads into the Narada.

[Maxxie 1]

Saw the film last night. AMAZING!!!

[Diego 21]

Great job you did with themes and the track they appear in. I honestly can't get this score out of my head, I find mysef humming the main theme all day. Haven't enjoyed a new score so much since 2005.

[Maxxie 1]

Great job you did with themes and the track they appear in. I honestly can't get this score out of my head, I find mysef humming the main theme all day. Haven't enjoyed a new score so much since 2005.

Ditto, except maybe the 2005 bit.

[Delorean90 42]

I've found another recurring motif, this one connected to Spock Prime, and later his ship (I don't know if this material is utilized at all in the "Spock Prime's Arrival" cue, but it may well be). It constitutes much of the "Federation Outpost" cue in a setting that is very closely followed two other times on OST-released cues. It is essentially based on a descending minor second, and while occasionally going elsewhere, it mostly utilizes the two notes it begins with.

These are the OST times:

Nice to Meld You 2:43-3:00 (used for Spock Prime seeing Vulcan's destruction in the mind meld; one of the most melodically varied statements)

Run and Shoot Offense 1:08-1:26 (this statement is interesting because it utilizes the Spock Prime motif in the orchestrational trappings of Spock's theme, using the erhu for this statement as Spock melds with the fallen Romulan to find out where the ship is; the variation ends with a string statement of this variation--which is also a bit melodically different from the more basic statements in its grand form--as it transitions to 1:26-1:45 for the first of the two OST-released statements of the grand setting from "Federation Outpost"--in this case, it is also an ascending variation, alternating between the standard back-and-forth of the minor second, to a minor third back-and-forth, and then back to the minor second relationship)

Does It Still McFly? 0:07-0:18 (the last statement of the Spock Prime motif in the grand setting as Kirk and Spock find the ship)/0:18-0:30 (immediately following first variation as they enter ship, the motif is now played in softer woodwind statements, first a flute, and then--I believe--a bassoon)

Nero Death Experience 3:32-3:48 (statement for choir, strings and brass as Spock faces the probability of his death here)

Now, the music at 5:16-5:23 may be a variation, and if so, it would be the most advanced variation, going into a more positive, though not necessarily happy variation as the ship crashes into the Narada (one of my favorite moments in the score). It seems like it deals with the same pitch relationships as the ascending grand statement of the motif, but I'm not sure if it could technically be called a variation. It does seem like it would be appropriate as the last statement. Any of the more advanced music students wanna take a crack at this passage?

[ChrisAfonso 186]

You've got some good observations there! I listened to those passages again... there's another interesting bit in "Does it still McFly?": At 0:44-0:48 and 0:52-0:55 respectively, we hear the chords that underlie the first and second part of Spock's theme (the erhu theme, not Spock Prime's). Following the first two chords (0:44-0:48) of this (at 0:48), a variation of Spock Prime's motif (in cello and oboe) starts with its first two notes (in an augmented fashion, a whole tone up instead of a half tone down - The short-long signature rythm helps distinguish the motiv here, even though the first note is different), and its second half (the original falling half tone) coincides with the second half of (young) Spock's theme's chords (0:52-0:55). Finishing the passage is again the whole note augmentation of the falling old Spock motiv.

(Yellow: Young Spock chords, Green: Old Spock motiv)

I hope that wasn't confusing, in a nutshell we have a counterpoint of old Spock's motiv with young Spock's harmonies , fitting for a scene where young Spock first gets a glimpse of something from his older self.

However, I don't think 5:16-5:23 in "Nero Death Experience" is a variation of the motiv, the connection is much too vague, if there at all; It's just a triumphant fanfare-like moment

----

edit: BTW, the half-tone falling motiv already begins right at the start of track 9 (not just at 0:07), although it's a bit hard to hear

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

We look for things....to make us go!

[Jay 37,368]

Delorean, good find! I've added it to the main post!

What's the "Federation Outpost cue" ?

What's an erhu?

[King Mark 3,631]

good lord...who cares

[Nick Parker 3,040]

A lot of people other than you, that much is evident.

[Jay 37,368]

king mark, please don't post in this thread if you have nothing relevant to contribute. Thanks.

Also, I can't hear the Spock Prime theme in the "Spock Prime's Arrival" cue.... there's a lot of sound effects though, so its hard to say for sure.

[Henry B 50]

What's an erhu?

A Chinese stringed instrument.

[Delorean90 42]

Delorean, good find! I've added it to the main post!

What's the "Federation Outpost cue" ?

Thanks. "Federation Outpost" is number 34 in your complete cue list. I'm assuming that's the cue for Kirk and Spock Prime hiking to and arriving at the outpost?

[John Crichton 4]

What's an erhu?

A Chinese stringed instrument.

I thought it was Japanese?

[Henry B 50]

You thought wrong!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

You are flawed...and imperfect!

[John Crichton 4]

"I am perfect!"

[Datameister 2,044]

I must say...once the DVD comes out, I'm gonna have a fun time putting together a complete soundtrack and coming up with Giacchino-esque names for the unreleased tracks. Normally, I keep my own track names pretty direct and simple, but I don't think that'd work well in this case, so I'm gonna go all-out and try to come up with some really punny names in Giacchino's style. I've already got a few perfectly bad ones in mind: "Fire Drill," "Delta Vegabond," "A Spockward Romance," "There's Always a Bigger Fish," "Oh, Chute!"...and I really want to throw "Nero Miss" in there somewhere, but I'm not sure there'll be a good spot for it. And then, of course, there'll be a few more straightlaced ones like "Nothin' But My Bones" and so forth.

[Delorean90 42]

I dunno. I like the Giacchino puns, but I wasn't so thrilled about them in the context of a Trek score.

[Ollie 1,059]

Well he could have went the simple Bernard Herrmann route:

Titles

The Kelvin

The Collision and The Birth

The Bar

The Ship

The Attack

The Meld

The Narada

The Jellyfish

The Fight

The Destruction

The Black Hole

The Conversation

The End

End Credits.

What's an erhu?

A Chinese stringed instrument.

I thought it was Japanese?

Idiot!

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

Are Jason and I the only ones who noticed-cared about a posible quotation of ilia's theme in the finale?

I would like to hear insight from other members too....

[Ollie 1,059]

I've heard it, probably just a coincidence.

[Delorean90 42]

It's just a variation of Spock's Theme. It doesn't really sound that much like Ilia's Theme--some of the harmonies/chords are the same/similar, but that's about it.

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

I didnt knew it was spock's theme...

Maybe giacchino wanted to make the spock theme sound familiar.

So the coincidence is ironically more or less intentional.

thanks for the contributions guys, more are welcome please <_<

[Datameister 2,044]

I definitely hear the similarity, but I'm guessing it wasn't intentional. If it were, it seems like he would have gone a little further with the melody instead of dwelling just on one fragment the whole time.

I dunno. I like the Giacchino puns, but I wasn't so thrilled about them in the context of a Trek score.

There are almost no contexts in which I prefer his puns over the more serious titles...but I think I'd rather try to match his style in this case than either do a bunch of serious titles that don't match or change his titles to serious titles so they match my serious titles.

[Ollie 1,059]

Look at it this way, there's no real spoilers.

[Datameister 2,044]

Actually, that thought had occurred to me. It is one definite upside to the track names for this particular album, though some of his albums do manage to have spoilers in the track titles nonetheless.

[Wojo 2,453]

Look at it this way, there's no real spoilers.

That's because there were no noble deaths.

[Jay 37,368]

<_<

[Damien F 1,742]

As there's no harm in trying, I send an email to Varese about the unreleased cues:

Hi There,

Firstly, let me express many thanks for all the fantastic film scores your label has released.

However, like most films score fans, I am rather disappointed by the length of the new Star Trek album. There is a great amount of excellent music omitted from the release. Indeed, the music during the drilling platform fight and Spock's rescue of the elder Vulcans has become one of the most missed cues from scores so far this year.

There is clearly a demand for Giachinno's music, as proved by the fact that the soundtrack reached number one on itunes. Therefore, do Varese have any plans to release other cues from Star Trek in near future.

I thank you for your consideration.

Regards,

Damien.

THEIR REPLY

Thank you for your note, kind words and suggestion.

MY RESPONSE

Hi There,

Many thanks for replying to my email, but like the CD release, you're answer is disappointingly short.

There are many Star Trek, Giachinno and film score fans who feel that some great cues have been omitted from the CD, and are very disappointed by the release.

Do Varese have any plans to release any more music from Star Trek? I appreciate that in these tough economic times, it may not be financially feasible to distribute another CD. Therefore, may I suggest releasing the extra music on iTunes only, or perhaps an expanded CD as part of your Soundtrack Club. Given the demand for this music, high sales are guarenteed.

Thanks for reading,

Damien.

I'll keep you posted if I get another reply, although I'd be very surprised if they do actually release any more cues.

[Ollie 1,059]

That's probably the only answer you will get.

It was recorded in L.A. with a 107 piece orchestra, the re-use fees on extra music would be extremely high.

[Richard Penna 3,694]

I wouldn't hold your breath. I e-mailed Varese about something unrelated and the answer, while not one-line, was along the lines of 'sorry, but it's unlikely this music will ever be released.'

It's understandable with older scores, but with newer ones it's got to be mainly reuse fees.

God, I f****g hate those unions.

[Maxxie 1]

God, I f****g hate those unions.

Ditto.

[Joe Brausam 214]

As a member of the union I'm afraid I can't agree with you...

It's nice to be guaranteed to be paid for your services and to be part of an organization that helps you get work.

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

burn the witch!

[Joe Brausam 214]