Star Trek Recording Sessions

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[@sguinn91]

I don't think Jerry Goldsmith realized this at the time, but he was about to record his most iconic science fiction theme that would pretty much define Star Trek and is just as iconic as John Williams theme for Star Wars.

[@BrianBellia]

And to think that he composed the score for Alien in the very same year.

[@BrianBellia]

Oh, you really should see it - it has a very interesting storyline. First-rate science fiction writing. 👍

[@Schiggstaaa]

@@BrianBelliawow!

[@Piratebreadstick]

Seriously, who comes here to dislike this?! What, you didn't like the first run through?? What a wonderful piece of history. I played synthesiser on Jerry's score for Warlock back in 1987. I was in my 20s, in awe of him, and addressed him has Mr. Goldsmith, to which he responded " Mr. Goldsmith is my father, call me Jerry."

[@chrisdigitalartist]

That is cool! Thank you for sharing that! Do you remember what synth you played? From my research, looks like Jerry Goldsmith was fond of the Yamaha DX7...as well as usuing other synths...but you of course you would know all that. :)

[@Piratebreadstick]

@@chrisdigitalartist I don't remember the one that I used for the opening of the film. i think it was a sample of an Ophicleide and I'd never seen the synth they provided for me. Other than that, he used the Roland D50 a lot, especially with a timed delayed effect. it was the new toy at the time :) So, you'd play a chord once, and it would keep repeating for a few bars. The problem was you had to be so accurate, because if you weren't, within a few bars, it would start to get slightly out of sync etc.

[@chrisdigitalartist]

@@Piratebreadstick Oh wow! Thanks for the reply!

[@sguinn91]

@@Piratebreadstick That is awesome! Was this the only time you ever got to work with him or did you have more opportunities to work with him?

[@PeterSmith-go9ef]

I love `Warlock` one of his underrated gems. Thank you for sharing your memories with us.

[@SlayerSantiago]

Jerry Goldsmith literally setting the bar for all sci-fi television and movie scores with this one piece.

[@boneeatingsilicate580]

I stopped taking the Oscar's seriously when 'A Little Romance' beat this score for the award.

[@MiloDC]

Word. I stopped a year later, when _Fame_ (deservedly forgotten today) beat _The Empire Strikes Back_ (now a timelessly classic score).

[@reidmason2551]

If memory serves, John Williams' *Superman* -- which was originally intended to be scored by Goldsmith until production delays led otherwise -- lost Best Score to *Midnight Express.* Nothing against Georgio Moroder, who's extremely talented in his own right, but the two scores really aren't comparable.

[@jeffcharlton9660]

Mr. Goldsmith hit a grand slam with this score.

[@GreatClips99]

So cool to hear this! I'll never forget opening night of this film. Hundreds of fans who had been waiting a decade for this - and when this music started, I got tears in my eyes. I still do.

[@jorgezarco9269]

This is filled with warm, fuzzy 1970's nostalgia. I bought Star Trek The Motion Picture on VHS in 1993. I watched it 80-90 times. I patiently sat through slow paced scenes. Goldsmith's music for the film was superb.

[@chrisking6707]

I remember going to the Cine Capri at The Biltmore in Phoenix, Arizona (the largest indoor theater at the time) on opening night. It got eerily quiet as the last few people enters and the lights went down and Ilia’s Theme begin to play. It was pitch black in the theater and you could hear a pin drip. When the title theme abruptly started, people were startled and jumped in their seats. 😂 The soundtrack to the film is still one of the most iconic ever. 👍🖖

[@markythelarky6948]

What a cool memory to have. I would often sit in the dark and listen to that very part of the movie wondering what it must have been like to see experience this on the big screen. Thanks for sharing.

[@mem1701movies]

I hated it as a kid because it was NOTHING like the TV show that I loved.

[@Captain-Cosmo]

I grew up in my dad's movie theatre and your opening night experience mirrors what I saw. Our print was delivered via secure courier just an hour before the film started. The first show was actually a few minutes late starting because of assembly. The audience cheered that opening prelude, the title, the first appearance of both Kirk and Spock, and the final warp jump. Successive audiences were less enthusiastic, of course, but the opening night was truly an "experience", and Goldsmith's score deserves much credit.

[@billthomas2652]

Did it play at the Capri? Lucky! I saw it at Christown (the indoor one with the escalator). The only Star Trek I got to see at the Capri was First Contact. I saw IV and V at the Kachina.

[@justinedwards1309]

I still get goosebumps every time I hear this.

[@theriocassius4338]

I love how Jerry taps the baton on the stand everytime to get people to be quiet.

[@JohnColtrane2000]

Lionel Newman conducted this one. Goldsmith was in the booth supervising the mix, especially with the blaster beam and whatnot. Plus Newman was head of music at Fox and insisted, as with many others from that era. Goldsmith's voice can be heard at 1:02, commenting about the click.

[@LarryLeeMoniz]

My Middle School Band Teacher, Ms. Elliot, did the same thing!

[@soundtreks]

When I took conducting class in university, apparently tapping the stand with a baton was a no-no. It was considered disrespectful to the orchestra. At least in the concert world. Might be different in Hollywood and film scoring.

[@DukeofDarkCorners]

@@soundtreks Hangover from the past, I suspect, when conductors (of whatever genre) were frequently autocratic, even tyrannical in their approach to conducting. There are references to for example Toscanini preceding his performances with a rap of the baton: "He enters carrying his baton under his right arm, like a riding crop...While waiting a few seconds for listeners and players to settle themselves he rests his baton against his right shoulder, like a sword. Then the sharp rap. The Maestro closes his eyes. Another rap, sharper than the first. Oppressive, electrical silence. He lifts the baton as if saluting the orchestra. The concert begins." Willem Mengelberg habitually preceded concert performances with a brisk "tat-TAT" of his baton on his stand: it can be heard in live recordings he made in the 30s and 40s. And baton tapping also turns up in the Marx Brothers' "A Night at the Opera" - the implication being that they were referencing something the audience would recognise. As for tapping in rehearsals, there are enough sources of different kinds from the 19th and 20th century to confirm that baton tapping was a frequent occurrence. Like a lot of the more unattractive aspects of music-making of that era, tapping has no doubt been reduced or eliminated altogether (I can't offhand recall ever encountering it). But as recently as 2014, the Spanish (classical) conductor Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos was still tapping his baton on the stand to get the orchestra's attention: it was described as indicative of him being an "old school" conductor. www.slso.org/blog/index.php/2014/03/tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap/

[@dwightwilliams5892]

The Starfleet March. That's my name for it. Now and evermore.

[@thetruthchannel349]

Man that 2 inch tape sounds incredible. Loves the horns and the low perc.

[@marcellee2524]

This was one of the first digital recordings in the US.

[@animatedcreeper7991]

Why was I not expecting it to sound perfect? I thought they would have to edit it a little bit and re record som parts, but this just amasing

[@ewaf88]

A phenomenal piece of composing which I never get tired of listening too

[@PeterSmith-go9ef]

Arguably The Master`s greatest score. Magnificent!

[@beangrff]

I love the musicians chatting in the beginning lol "How many free plates have I got?!" "Anything 'ya want! It's free!" "I want my cup'a coffee!"

[@bratton79]

Jerry constantly stops the music and shouts “Not my fucking tempo”. LOL

[@joshuamadelung8525]

My favorite Trek theme!

[@CyrusB1]

and a next generation of dreaming was born... thanks for this

[@johndorch2333]

I agree it is iconic. The other one that no one plays anymore is the end title for "Men into Space" written by David Rose. His chord progressions are literally out of this world. He was a very underrated Hollywood composer.

[@stephenkissane4268]

Jerry did this and Alien in the Same year

[@reidmason2551]

And the *Alien* score was chopped to pieces and supplemented by Goldsmith music from other films for the final cut, which put a rift between Goldsmith and Ridley Scott. Their falling out on *Legend* just made things worse.

[@cbspock1701]

The 3 CD set is so worth getting for things like this

[@JohnNelson75025]

AT the end I always think of the Paramount TV ending. Da DA dadaa!

[@Alphabytes2022]

I saw this opening day and my brother saw it with me. He also saw it earlier in the day with some of his friends

[@dsh5564]

This is the best st movie theme ever. Love it so much ❤️

[@AndrewManson]

THIS IS AMAZING

[@BILLY-pu7cc]

Incredible!

[@BrianBellia]

Wow! Would love to have the vision of this as well. And to think that Jerry composed this the very same year he did Alien.

[@carlo645]

thank you so mutch

[@PCCphoenix]

4:03--Something must have happened to the trumpet on that one.

[@chrisdigitalartist]

Not to discount what James Horner and other composers brought to Star Trek, but it is too bad they didn't use this theme for all Star Trek films. Only in this movie, 5th movie, then end credits on First Contact and the other later TNG films. Always seemed odd to me. It's like...can you imagine Star Wars with a different theme in the sequels?

[@reidmason2551]

In Horner's case, he was instructed not to use Goldsmith's music and just start fresh. Paramount wanted a clean break from *The Motion Picture.* So it wasn't really his call. But both he and Nicholas Meyer took it as an opportunity to give *Wrath of Khan* its own musical identity, which was ultimately for the best.

[@chrisdigitalartist]

@@reidmason2551 I figured it was to have a fresh new start...but yes, Horner's music is great too. 👍

[@terryrulestheworld2]

AND PICARD SEASON 3

[@PCCphoenix]

6:23--Chimes came in late

[@BanthaPooDoo64]

If anyone stops here to hear this and down thumbs it ,isn’t a STAR TREK FAN

[@anthonydecarvalho652]

It's magnificent! Thank goodness the director didn't like his first rendering.

[@johnvictor1682]

Did he make rough demo on piano????????

[@paulm.newitt3246]

This is the theme that they should include for the new, upcoming CBS Access Star Trek series. Sure to bring fans back (with some tears of joy for original Trek, too!)….

[@Idazmi7]

I'm glad they didn't: It would have tainted the theme.

[@Schiggstaaa]

👍🏼

[@ArmyJames]

🖖

[@StevenOBrien]

How on Earth did you get these?!?! Do you have any more apart from the four already uploaded?

[@cliffedward]

They're from a 3cd set called "Star Trek The Motion Picture: The Original Soundtrack". You can get it from www.lalalandrecords.com/

[@scottstrang1583]

Amazing, simply amazing. Was the 2" analog a backup recording? I thought the soundtrack was a digital recording.

[@darkridge]

No, the 2" was the actual recording. Only a handful of cues were recorded digitally. It seems the members of the orchestra believed that recording them digitally was going to put them out of work. I know it seems ridiculous nowadays, but back then, computers were mysterious and could potentially do _anything._

[@dustinparker9456]

They had digital in 1977?

[@haysgoodman8068]

@@darkridge w Would you happen to know which digital recorder was used? Initially I thought Mitsubishi X-80, but I believe that came out a couple years later.

[@supersonictumbleweed]

Actually we have remasters of episodes available today only because they were recorded on analog tape, and are quality matching today's blu ray. There's enough information there to actually make blu ray from the original tapes.

[@sunspot42]

@@dustinparker9456 1979.

[@hsumjames]

geektyrant.com bought me here