Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Ron Jones Project

[Laserschwert 475]

Yeah, I don't have much hope... ah well.

BTW, I took the liberty to create a printable PDF out of the online notes for the box set (at A5-size). You can download it here.

[Charlie Brigden 7]

It'd be nice to see McCarthy et al get a few more props than they do. This 'OMG Jones iz awesome all other TNG sucks' rubbish is insulting to the other composers who worked on the show, and who also created some nice music.

[Trent B 337]

It'd be nice to see McCarthy et al get a few more props than they do. This 'OMG Jones iz awesome all other TNG sucks' rubbish is insulting to the other composers who worked on the show, and who also created some nice music.

I agree Charlie. McCarthy and Chattaway did really good music for not only The Next Generation but for Deep Space Nine and Voyager as well. In fact I think Jay Chattaway really shined with Voyager in terms of music. He created a lot of bad ass themes for the species such as The Herogin, Species 8472 and others that were in the Delta Quadrant, even for the Borg.

[Nemesis 245]

There are alot of Star Trek scores from McCarthy I would love to have.

[Andy 4,147]

Cancelled my order. My love for this is less heartfelt and more hype-fueled. I just can't justify the cost now. I'm having more fun ordering a title here and there and not in one massive chunk like this.

I'm sure once the rave reviews pour in, my interest will peak again, but I'm kinda counting on either saving up longer for it, or picking it up used or second hand for a discount (sorry, FSM).

[Wojo 2,453]

I'm considering buying a non-signed copy to open, and sell my autographed set unopened at a premium in a few months. I just don't know what kind of sick fool would pay significantly more than $150 for a signed Ron Jones box set.

Sick fools of the world, you know where to find me.

[Charlie Brigden 7]

If it appeals to Trekkies, the world is your oyster.

[Trent B 337]

Someone over on FSM recently stated that he noticed Dark Del has their copies in for the signing this weekend.

Could it be that probably starting next week SAE will start shipping these out to everyone?

[Trent B 337]

Well I asked about this on Facebook. Lehah who's on my friends list replied stating that Lukas Kendall said it's been delayed yet another week. The sets only got on the truck from California to SAE on Monday. Man this wait is hard.

[Trent B 337]

Great news gents, SAE posted saying that they got their shipment in from the plant and now are starting to ship!

[Trent B 337]

I checked my SAE account and they delivered my set to the post office today. I should have it by the weekend.

[Wojo 2,453]

The set is in my hands, it's open, and it is beautiful. I am so afraid to hold and read the liner notes without wearing gloves for fear of smearing Mr. Jones' signature. I got a good enough photo of it for use as an album cover for some of the episodes/albums. I may have to get creative for adding artwork for all 41 episodes.

I may have to fire up the laptop to help speed up the rip process.

[Trent B 337]

I am very impressed with the set as well. Be careful when putting everything back in the box Wojo, especially the booklet. It was a bit of a pain in the ass to get back in there. I put it back in from the stapled spine and gently eased it on in.

[Wojo 2,453]

I placed the booklet in another box for the time being.

[Kendal_Ozzel 36]

Got mine Friday. Ripped it yesterday—took about 2 hours, but I organized as I went along, making playlists for every episode. I've listened to the first four episodes so far, and it's really great!

[Trent B 337]

I made a folder for each disc but then made separate sub folders for each episode. It took me about 2-3 hours since I had to tag everything by hand.

Edit: I really love the theme Ron Jones came up with for the Romulans. Very dark and threatening just like how the Romulans were in The Next Generation. In my opinion that was the best theme for them and it's a bit sad that it never surfaced again after his departure from the series.

[OneBuckFilms 324]

I unfortunately don't have the set, but I might suggest this for an organization scheme:

- Rip each disk, then separate them into Folders / Albums with the following naming conventions:

Star Trek TNG - S1E2 - Episode Name

- Change the track numbers, so each episode starts with track 1.

- If you have it, integrate GNP's The Best Of Both Worlds with the cues into the correct episode order.

- Separate Bonus and Alternates into separate Alternates albums for each episode represented:

Star Trek TNG - S1E2 - Episode Name - Alternates

- Give Each Game score it's own album / folder.

This way, you'll be able to pick the music episode-by-episode without worrying about remembering which disk it is on.

Of course, that's just me

[Wojo 2,453]

I plan on doing something similar. Once ripped, the notion of "discs" seems arbitrary, and the idea of placing the alternates in the episodes in which they belong does hold some appeal. I'll probably name the folders as "TNG 1x02 Ep Name" and so on, which will live inside a "Star Trek TNG" folder inside my Star Trek folder. The album names will be more descriptive, and will include "Star Trek" before TNG so that they appear correctly chronologically.

I am still on the fence about placing the "Star Trek: TNG: Main Title" and "End Title" into each set. I suppose I'll have to read the liner notes to know where it would go for each episode. Man that's a lot more work.

I can use a playlist to play all of the albums in chronological sequence, rather than be interrupted after each short chunk of music. I stopped ripping at the Data disc.

I am not sure how I want to assign cover art to each "album," since each episode will become its own album. Listing 42 albums all with the same signed photo of the D is ok, but I may want to use each character's disc art as the cover...which would omit the signed photo. Both options would take less work than using an iconic picture from each episode as the cover art, although I am sure there are some episodes I don't remember by name.

I find that if I actually watched the show, then the breakdown of TV episodes are important to me. I may want to listen to a specific TV episode of TNG after I watch it on BBC America. But I wouldn't break up shows like Amazing Stories and Lost in Space into an "album" for each episode because I never saw those shows and am thus not familiar enough with them to want to jump to a particular episode. For those shows, the episode name goes into the track title, and as long as I know the artist of each episode, I am content.

I did appreciate while ripping to WAV (using FreeRIP Basic) to notice that many of the albums automatically detected the track info which was uploaded to the CD databases. The only thing that bugged me was that the Gymnopedie tracks and Mozart medley assigned a different artist other than just "Ron Jones," which meant the ripper put those tracks into different folders, so I misplaced them for a while. I usually just make one person the artist for albums like this, and put the contributing artist into the title in (). That way I don't have a bunch of "Ron Jones & other guy" artists cluttering up my collection.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

Can I just say Hedji missed out.

[Trent B 337]

I agree Hedji missed out on it big time. You should reget it but next month if you can Hedji. It's worth the price, trust us on this one. If you don't get it you'll end up kicking yourself in the ass after it sells out.

[Andy 4,147]

It's good, eh? Crap, my two hobbies are colliding in a magnificent cascade of big ticket expenses. I'm trying to come up with the cash to buy the high end TIE Fighter replica, and it's costing me an arm and a leg. I may ask for this for Christmas. Oh wait, we kinda stopped giving gifts to each other 7 years ago when the kid was born. Fudge.

[Trent B 337]

It's good, eh? Crap, my two hobbies are colliding in a magnificent cascade of big ticket expenses. I'm trying to come up with the cash to buy the high end TIE Fighter replica, and it's costing me an arm and a leg. I may ask for this for Christmas. Oh wait, we kinda stopped giving gifts to each other 7 years ago when the kid was born. Fudge.

Ya it's good. You know efk has that payment plan you can do so you don't have to shell out the full price all at once. Or if anything wait until next month to "purchase" it then make payments to efk. I'm sure that Tie Fighter will be around for a while.

[Andy 4,147]

Yeah, they have a payment plan, which I plan to use, but the preorder window only goes until Nov. 7. It's a sickness, but I'm feeling like my Star Wars collection is close to being "complete".

[Wojo 2,453]

I found it bizarre but fortuitous that as I was ripping the Ron Jones project, many of the discs already contained the track information. When I ripped these discs, I was not online so it was not possible for the CDs to access freedb or any other online library of tags. But all the same, FreeRIP detected the track and artist info for easily over half of the discs.

It's a good thing that both FreeFlac and the MP3 encoder I use (name eludes me) put the outputted files into the same folders as the WAVs, instead of one common output folder, or I would have a mess when I go to convert damn near 70 albums of WAV to compressed formats.

[Ollie 1,059]

Yeah, they have a payment plan, which I plan to use, but the preorder window only goes until Nov. 7. It's a sickness, but I'm feeling like my Star Wars collection is close to being "complete".

I know how you feel, my model railroading is starting to bump heads with my film score collecting.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

I'm only 4 discs in but I have to say, I am amazed at how gracefully aged Ron Jones' music is.

When I ordered the soundtrack, I thought it would be the synths that would sound dated. Ironically, I find that on the rare occasion the music sounds dated...most jarring/dated music is the DUN DUN DUN pure orchestra bits, that harken back to Ye Olde Golden Age days.

Overall though, this man is really an unsung genius. I always considered him the best of the Star Trek television composers. And having had the opportunity to listen to his work so far uninterrupted...wow.

If you've ever seen the Navy/Swimmer t-shirts that read "Everything the Army/Runner Does, Except While Holding Our Breaths/Underwater" That applies to Ron Jones. Everything John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith do...except on a budget and in 12 days.

[Wojo 2,453]

Is that why one side of each jewel case uses the FSM Silver Age logo? The music is that reminiscent of old-style orchestral writing? Or does FSM's Silver Age line just extend into the mid 90s?

[Ollie 1,059]

Yes.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

What the new co-dictator said.

[Ollie 1,059]

This is why file sharing is bad.

http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=72941&forumID=1&archive=0

I hope no member here has partaken in this disgusting act.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Yikes. First MV, now Lukas.

[Ollie 1,059]

No, MV is still releasing CDs. He's just not posting at message boards unless he has an announcement. If Lukas decides to quit we are going to be deprived of a ton of great music and I'm afraid other labels will follow.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Yeah I understand that. It's a serious situation, but honestly nothing can be done about it. If the site gets taken down, that's great. Tons of people already have it illegally though, and a new site will pop up in time. It's a part of the business. If the someone robs the bank, they don't close down the bank (well, maybe sometimes).

[Kendal_Ozzel 36]

Well, I'm sure all the flaming and spamming will solve everything.

[Ollie 1,059]

It appears Lukas may have found the true identity of the person who runs the site so hopefully that will lead to something positive.

[Jay 37,374]

I certainly empathize with Lukas, and would probably feel the same way if something I worked so hard on for so long was being distributed illegally.... but he is over-reacting a bit, imho.

Every single CD ever made gets leaked to the internet and people download it. Period. Every single one. There is no recent album, film score or mainstream, that I can't find a link to download in under 5 minutes, between using just the power of google, and the various torrent and download link sharing message boards out there.

Its my opinion that this actually helps CD sales. I've certainly bought CDs that I wouldn't have bought otherwise, but since I was able to listen to the entire CD ahead of time and enjoyed it, I went out and bought a copy. Without the "preview", I would have remained forever ignorant about it, unless I happened to be hanging out with somebody who owned it and played it for me. But I can listen to a lifetime's more music at home than I can at friend's places randomly.

I dunno. Its still a sucky situation for Lukas. I certainly haven't downloaded the TNG box. I also have no interest in that music.

[fommes 153]

To be honest I kind of fail to see why this is different than Napster etc.; this kind of thing has existed for a gazillion years. Occasionally it just moves from 'location'. Why would it be the end of limited edition labels now, and not before?

If there's anything that will kill it, it's those 1000-dollar box sets that are popping up here and there

Oh yeah, and this:

Its my opinion that this actually helps CD sales. I've certainly bought CDs that I wouldn't have bought otherwise, but since I was able to listen to the entire CD ahead of time and enjoyed it, I went out and bought a copy. Without the "preview", I would have remained forever ignorant about it, unless I happened to be hanging out with somebody who owned it and played it for me. But I can listen to a lifetime's more music at home than I can at friend's places randomly.

Most of the people who download this stuff only illegally, will just not buy these CDs legally, and I think even if they couldn't find it on the Internet at all. They just weren't customers in the first place.

[Trent B 337]

I too can sympathize with Lukas. Hopefully the owner of Shrine will make it a rule not to have FSM CD's published on there like how Varèse CD's can't be posted there either.

If Lukas ends up shutting down FSM over something like this he will seriously be depriving a lot of people us in the great releases that they've had.

All though this is why I really hate uploading any in print items like this. Lukas has even said on FSM that the haven't made the money back on the Ron Jones set yet and he believes this is why. All though the price it goes for I guess a lot of people simply can't afford it.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

I can understand Lukas' anger.

[Richard Penna 3,696]

FFShrine tears at me. It's a great resource for stuff that's out of print, rare, unobtainable, etc.

But I agree that most who post there aren't potential customers; they just want regular releases for free. That's the problem that needs stamping out.

Previewing the latest LE to see if it's for you before purchasing is ok in my book (even if you don't shout it from the rooftops at the labels' owners) but downloading and keeping an entire box that Lukas has risked thousands of $ on? That ain't right, and I echo - I hope no one here does it.

[Taikomochi 1,136]

I too can sympathize with Lukas. Hopefully the owner of Shrine will make it a rule not to have FSM CD's published on there like how Varèse CD's can't be posted there either.

They made the rule.

I certainly empathize with Lukas, and would probably feel the same way if something I worked so hard on for so long was being distributed illegally.... but he is over-reacting a bit, imho.

Every single CD ever made gets leaked to the internet and people download it. Period. Every single one. There is no recent album, film score or mainstream, that I can't find a link to download in under 5 minutes, between using just the power of google, and the various torrent and download link sharing message boards out there.

Its my opinion that this actually helps CD sales. I've certainly bought CDs that I wouldn't have bought otherwise, but since I was able to listen to the entire CD ahead of time and enjoyed it, I went out and bought a copy. Without the "preview", I would have remained forever ignorant about it, unless I happened to be hanging out with somebody who owned it and played it for me. But I can listen to a lifetime's more music at home than I can at friend's places randomly.

Absolutely! Almost every CD I buy, I have listened to it before buying it. I wouldn't feel inclined to buy a CD unless I really enjoyed it since I don't have the money to buy every CD or set that catches my interest.

And I definitely think he is overreacting. That is really childish to try to incite a flame war. "OMG U GAIZ!!!1111 FLAMEZ THEM! DOES IT NOW!!111"

With something like the TNG set, the people who are going to buy probably were going to buy it regardless of online availability. It's such a big set that most of the people who downloaded would probably not have planned to buy it anyways.

[steb74 53]

Previewing the latest LE to see if it's for you before purchasing is ok in my book (even if you don't shout it from the rooftops at the labels' owners) but downloading and keeping an entire box that Lukas has risked thousands of $ on? That ain't right, and I echo - I hope no one here does it.

So how about someone who wants to preview the boxset before purchasing it just to decide if it's for them or not.

If they don't like it and then delete it, is that ok in your book?

This isn't aimed at you rich but it seems ........Begun, the Hypocrisy War has.

[Richard Penna 3,696]

Umm, you just described the first part of my quote... maybe I worded it badly.

You can download temporarily, listen to a selection, then either like and buy, or dislike and delete. I think that's ok. I do it rather a lot actually - I rarely buy anything without trying it first. In fact I have 4 regular releases in my 'incoming' folder right now. When I eventually get round to listening, I'll make a buy or delete decision. Simple as that.

That's different to just downloading and keeping without paying, which isn't ok.

[steb74 53]

By the way I don't want you to think I'm singling you out or making an attack, etc, it was just an observation.

However, if you do feel the way you just described, would you be willing to post that for example in the FSM thread you not long posted in?

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure the majority of posters in that thread have got plenty of 'less than legal' items, including LK.

I just find so much hypocrisy lately linked to downloading, I'm not saying I think downloading is bad, I jumped on the HP sessions but they're surely illegal aren't they?

Seriously though man, I don't want you to think I'm having a go at you or something, I'm really not ....just a bit of midnight banter.

[Trent B 337]

Absolutely! Almost every CD I buy, I have listened to it before buying it.

I think all of us have done this. I know I've downloaded CD's that I have purchased before they arrived to me, simply because I couldn't wait to hear them.

There's no harm in listening to something before hand that you bought.

[ST-321 4]

I have not downloaded nor have I looked for this set. I am certainly on the fence about it though. I am going through the samples on the FSM website again to try to make up my mind.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Absolutely! Almost every CD I buy, I have listened to it before buying it.

I think all of us have done this. I know I've downloaded CD's that I have purchased before they arrived to me, simply because I couldn't wait to hear them.

There's no harm in listening to something before hand that you bought.

See I disagree. By downloading, you are keeping the fire burning. Downloading a pirated film to watch a scene or two and then going to see it in theaters is not okay. You're still illegally obtaining something. Whether you delete it or not or have good intentions is irrelevant, because the downloading still took place. I've got hundreds of links stored on my Megaupload account from my trading days. It tells me how many times each one has been download, when it was uploaded, etc. It amazes me to see how much a link can get passed around.

I uploaded a foreign film score by Nick Glennie-Smith on January 1, 2008. It has been downloaded 98 times! I sent it to one person. So for the people who thrive on the amount of downloads or site hits, you are fueling their fire.

EDIT

Wow, just skimmed through the thread, There's a shit storm over on FFShrine. Lukas even found out all personal details for the site leader/leaker of the box set. Her life is about to be over. Music copyright lawsuits aren't pretty.

[TownerFan 4,983]

I'm a huge supporter of the specialty labels and whenever I wanted one of their CDs I payed with my own hard-earned cash.

But, frankly, I find quite surprising that people "in the biz" are discovering only now that there's a huge pirate underground on the web where people exchange this kind of music. This is going on since years. The fact there's an embargo about talking about bootlegs on the FSM forums probably prevented this matter from being discussed publicly before, but this is clearly a case of wagging the dog.

I'm sorry Lukas feels betrayed and robbed, but it's useless to call his supporters for a witch hunt. He surely must defend his company and his work with all the legal tools he can, but I find quite disgusting to see FSM board members starting proscription lists and doing self-made legal inquiry. Too many Cinderellas over there, imho.

The illegal download of music, movies, books, software is clearly a matter that has to be solved. But I don't believe in authoritarian actions just to threat people. It's a huge problem and it's tied very closely on how the internet is managed. Do you know that more than a half of the total worldwide bandwidth is occupied by illegal download/streaming? Huge internet companies (Google, Yahoo, Microsoft) and internet providers around the world are NOT interested in putting too many restrictions on it.

[Ollie 1,059]

I'm sure Lukas is well aware of what's going on as far as illegal file sharing sites but the Ron Jones set was more of a personal project for him so I can understand his anger and actions.

Lukas has gone after illegal operations before.

[Wojo 2,453]

The people who operate that FFS site are probably mostly college-age kids who feel entitled to how much they can get for free just because they can. I know the feeling. I remember the day that band made my Napster stop working.

Just wait for the sh1tstorm that will erupt when that thumb drive of Danny Elfman MP3s goes live.