Nice recap. I am looking forward to your plans for the next year. I noticed how the video on Alexander Courage was less detailed, and revisiting his individual scores is something I look forward to - I think I mentioned elsewhere, I've often had trouble in identifying his tracked cues from The Man Trap, The Naked Time and Where No Man Has Gone Before later in the season. The one exception is The Cage - ironically, I said elsewhere that all the music from that first pilot sounds better when it resurfaces in other episodes! And indeed, now that I know what leitmotif means, am I right in thinking that that particularly memorable melodic theme from that episode is a specific theme for Vina in its (and her) various guises? Fred Steiner would be another one worth revisiting in greater detail. The Corbomite Maneuver is one of the best scores of the whole series, and Charlie X is probably the Catspaw of season 1, not that great an episode but the music from it resurfaced in so many other episodes. The "Charlie zaps" cues I think appeared in Arena and The Alternative Factor if memory serves, I last watched the show in 2021. The combat music special does sound like an interesting idea. You used an excerpt from The Doomsday Machine in your vid, although I don't recall hearing that one tracked much in season 2 - but then I guess when you've got Gerald Fried's famous piece from Amok Time as your go-to for combat music, even Sol Kaplan isn't going to get much of a look-in. Off the top of my head, the other obvious one is from George Duning's score for Is There In Truth No Beauty? And your mother-in-law's saying reminds me of a song called "Years" by Beth Nielsen Chapman, there's a line "they take so long and they go so fast". Oh, and Gretchen Peters' "Arguing With Ghosts", there's a line "the years go by like days, sometimes the days go by like years". Both artists I covered during lockdown, although not those songs. - Liam.
Thanks Liam. Great comments as usual. Courage's themes were the brick-and-mortar support for so many situations and episodes. Vina's theme is never referred to as that, but it occurs first in the cue "Survivors" when we first meet Vina, and pops-up several places as you say in "various guises" throughout the drama, including the percussion-driven "Vina's Dance" and perhaps most poignantly in the cue "Max's Factor" - when Vina's true appearance is revealed to Capt. Pike - "A lump of flesh dying in the wreckage.." Because it is heard only when Vina is on camera, you're exactly right in calling that theme the leitmotif for Vina.
@@davidpage9355 thanks for confirming that. Even though I have been an original Star Trek fan for 30yrs, and had much of the incidental music stuck in my head for a lot of that time, I'm still learning things about it. Now that I do know that piece is a theme for Vina, I'm hearing it in a whole new light. I'll admit that I didn't spot it in the Orion dance scene, but picturing it in my head I can now. Thinking about how the Talosians are presenting her to Pike, trying to get him to fall in love with her for their own purposes, I can hear something both erotic and sinister in that theme, which is absolutely perfect for the story. In light of that, I feel I should qualify my comment about the music from The Cage sounding better in other episodes, as realising that the problem with The Cage is that it doesn't work as a standalone pilot. Maybe if it had been given the green light and we'd seen some other episodes before it (maybe even including one where they went to Rigel VII), it would have worked. But seeing Captain Pike saying he's tired of it all when we haven't seen anything happening to him yet to make him tired just doesn't make any sense.
That's terrific Dave - keep up the great work. Look forward to your analysis of TOS S3 music -- some fantastic scores like "The Empath" and "Is There in Truth No Beauty?" and "The Paradise Syndrome" etc. TOS music is the best -- I listen to it while driving and while working out!
This comment has nothing to do with the music, but I always mention a small point of historical interest whenever a UA-camr shows the fight scene from "The Doomsday Machine", which your video clips at 8:31. That fight scene was filmed in June of 1967. The Green Hornet television series (with martial arts star Bruce Lee) was broadcast from September of 1966 to July of 1967. The influence of Bruce Lee's fighting style can be seen in the exotic fight choreography in "The Doomsday Machine".
Thought this video was going to be a "season two" review. Oops. Good luck on continuing to make videos on Star Trek music and getting fans to find your channel! (Not sarcasm!)
In the 1960s "Risk is our business" was the philosophy of Star Trek and NASA. In the 1980s it was patrolling Federation space, and going round and round in low-Earth orbit, respectively. SIGH. Apollo ended in 1972 (with Skylab 1973-4 and Apollo-Soyuz 1975) and the first Space Shuttle was launched in 1981. Voyagers were launched in 1977, and Galileo mission to Jupiter was delayed until 1989. So we lost about 10 years in space on both sides, manned and unmanned.
I’m confused about the term, tracking. Did they edit the scores together, and then record the new edit. Or, did they edit pre-recorded music tracks together?
It was the latter. At the start of each production season, composers were hired to write for several new episodes - but not all 26 episodes in the season. That wasn't needed because once the new compositions were recorded, these recordings were retained as library cues that, according to musician union contract, could be re-used in that same production season. So the production team included a Music Editor who would be in charge of all this and, in consultation with the show producer, would make decisions as to what library cues were appropriate for the "tracked" show in question. See my earlier video about "Tracking at Desilu Studios" for more details. The practice of tracking (one of my subscribers calls it "recycling" - ha ha!) was commonplace in that era of TV. Not only was it an economical bonus, but I argue that reusing music gave the viewer a sense of familiarity - the sets, costumes, hair, lighting, graphics and so many other aspects were re-used show after show - why not the music too? Tracking came to an end in the early 1980's when musician union rules changed, and producers could no longer re-use previously recorded music. Hope that answered your question!
Grats on the new subs. Original Trek music nothing short of astounding.
Thanks again David. So glad you met such great connections! Carry on.
Thank you - I've learned so much.
🖖
All that and no annoying commercial interruptions! 👍
Thank you for all of your hard work and sharing your passion for the wonderful composers of the original Star Trek series. Peace! ♫
Ditto, looking forward to the next season
@@funkjunky2 thanks both of you!
We TOS score-living life forms will BE here for another year of your analysis and insights 🖖
Nice recap. I am looking forward to your plans for the next year. I noticed how the video on Alexander Courage was less detailed, and revisiting his individual scores is something I look forward to - I think I mentioned elsewhere, I've often had trouble in identifying his tracked cues from The Man Trap, The Naked Time and Where No Man Has Gone Before later in the season. The one exception is The Cage - ironically, I said elsewhere that all the music from that first pilot sounds better when it resurfaces in other episodes! And indeed, now that I know what leitmotif means, am I right in thinking that that particularly memorable melodic theme from that episode is a specific theme for Vina in its (and her) various guises?
Fred Steiner would be another one worth revisiting in greater detail. The Corbomite Maneuver is one of the best scores of the whole series, and Charlie X is probably the Catspaw of season 1, not that great an episode but the music from it resurfaced in so many other episodes. The "Charlie zaps" cues I think appeared in Arena and The Alternative Factor if memory serves, I last watched the show in 2021.
The combat music special does sound like an interesting idea. You used an excerpt from The Doomsday Machine in your vid, although I don't recall hearing that one tracked much in season 2 - but then I guess when you've got Gerald Fried's famous piece from Amok Time as your go-to for combat music, even Sol Kaplan isn't going to get much of a look-in. Off the top of my head, the other obvious one is from George Duning's score for Is There In Truth No Beauty?
And your mother-in-law's saying reminds me of a song called "Years" by Beth Nielsen Chapman, there's a line "they take so long and they go so fast". Oh, and Gretchen Peters' "Arguing With Ghosts", there's a line "the years go by like days, sometimes the days go by like years". Both artists I covered during lockdown, although not those songs.
- Liam.
Thanks Liam. Great comments as usual. Courage's themes were the brick-and-mortar support for so many situations and episodes. Vina's theme is never referred to as that, but it occurs first in the cue "Survivors" when we first meet Vina, and pops-up several places as you say in "various guises" throughout the drama, including the percussion-driven "Vina's Dance" and perhaps most poignantly in the cue "Max's Factor" - when Vina's true appearance is revealed to Capt. Pike - "A lump of flesh dying in the wreckage.." Because it is heard only when Vina is on camera, you're exactly right in calling that theme the leitmotif for Vina.
@@davidpage9355 thanks for confirming that. Even though I have been an original Star Trek fan for 30yrs, and had much of the incidental music stuck in my head for a lot of that time, I'm still learning things about it.
Now that I do know that piece is a theme for Vina, I'm hearing it in a whole new light. I'll admit that I didn't spot it in the Orion dance scene, but picturing it in my head I can now. Thinking about how the Talosians are presenting her to Pike, trying to get him to fall in love with her for their own purposes, I can hear something both erotic and sinister in that theme, which is absolutely perfect for the story.
In light of that, I feel I should qualify my comment about the music from The Cage sounding better in other episodes, as realising that the problem with The Cage is that it doesn't work as a standalone pilot. Maybe if it had been given the green light and we'd seen some other episodes before it (maybe even including one where they went to Rigel VII), it would have worked. But seeing Captain Pike saying he's tired of it all when we haven't seen anything happening to him yet to make him tired just doesn't make any sense.
That's terrific Dave - keep up the great work. Look forward to your analysis of TOS S3 music -- some fantastic scores like "The Empath" and "Is There in Truth No Beauty?" and "The Paradise Syndrome" etc. TOS music is the best -- I listen to it while driving and while working out!
Thank you! I'm getting closer to S3 all the time and looking forward to those episodes especially!
This comment has nothing to do with the music, but I always mention a small point of historical interest whenever a UA-camr shows the fight scene from "The Doomsday Machine", which your video clips at 8:31. That fight scene was filmed in June of 1967. The Green Hornet television series (with martial arts star Bruce Lee) was broadcast from September of 1966 to July of 1967. The influence of Bruce Lee's fighting style can be seen in the exotic fight choreography in "The Doomsday Machine".
Thought this video was going to be a "season two" review. Oops. Good luck on continuing to make videos on Star Trek music and getting fans to find your channel! (Not sarcasm!)
In the 1960s "Risk is our business" was the philosophy of Star Trek and NASA. In the 1980s it was patrolling Federation space, and going round and round in low-Earth orbit, respectively. SIGH.
Apollo ended in 1972 (with Skylab 1973-4 and Apollo-Soyuz 1975) and the first Space Shuttle was launched in 1981. Voyagers were launched in 1977, and Galileo mission to Jupiter was delayed until 1989. So we lost about 10 years in space on both sides, manned and unmanned.
I’m confused about the term, tracking. Did they edit the scores together, and then record the new edit. Or, did they edit pre-recorded music tracks together?
It was the latter. At the start of each production season, composers were hired to write for several new episodes - but not all 26 episodes in the season. That wasn't needed because once the new compositions were recorded, these recordings were retained as library cues that, according to musician union contract, could be re-used in that same production season. So the production team included a Music Editor who would be in charge of all this and, in consultation with the show producer, would make decisions as to what library cues were appropriate for the "tracked" show in question. See my earlier video about "Tracking at Desilu Studios" for more details.
The practice of tracking (one of my subscribers calls it "recycling" - ha ha!) was commonplace in that era of TV. Not only was it an economical bonus, but I argue that reusing music gave the viewer a sense of familiarity - the sets, costumes, hair, lighting, graphics and so many other aspects were re-used show after show - why not the music too?
Tracking came to an end in the early 1980's when musician union rules changed, and producers could no longer re-use previously recorded music. Hope that answered your question!
563 subscribers, to be exact 🤨
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