Wednesday 12 June 2013

Into Darkness Catch-Up Part 2: Music

Welcome to the second part of my catch up of all things Into Darkness. Working in reverse production order, this time I've got some music related stuff to share. First up two behind the scenes videos from the scoring of the soundtrack. The first, released by Paramount, includes some very pleasing footage of Michael Giacchino playing the start of Harrison's theme on a cool little instrument (which despite a background in percussion, I fail to identify):



The second video, from Soundworks Collection, gives us a another, longer, look at the soundtrack recordings, this time guided by Music Conductor and Orchestrator, Tim Simonec:



Now for a slightly different flavour of music. Did you know the music in the scene with Scotty and Keenser in the bar is slightly different depending where in the world you saw Into Darkness? The instrumentation is the same everywhere, but there are five different songs sung over the top of it. Continue after the break for samples form each, as well as news of the next Star Trek music concert, and tracks from the Star Trek: The Video Game soundtrack.

So, in the US you get "The Growl", by an artist called Conway. I posted a clip of that scene in my previous catch-up article, so check that our for a sample of the song too.

Meanwhile if you're in the UK you'll have heard "The Rage That's In Us All", by Bo Bruce. Here's a little behind the scenes video about her track:



In Australia you get Penelope Austin's "The Dark Collide". There's a video about her take on it too:



Possibly my favourite is the Spanish version from Mexico, "Noches Estridentes", by Roxana. She's got a full blown music video for her track!



And finally in Brazil, where Into Darkness hasn't actually come out yet (two days to go), there is "Flashback 92", by Céu. Here's a clip from the film with that track playing:



In the US and UK at least, the MP3 versions of the soundtracks come with the local version of this track as a bonus track. I'm not sure if other regions also have similar localised variations. It would be nice if the complete soundtrack I'm sure we're all itching for, included all five tracks...

Something else that should be on the complete soundtrack, and is criminally left out from the album version, is the beautiful theme for Harrison, "Odo to Harrison". You might recall that theme was first revealed to the world in the Star Trek Live to Projection shows; screenings of the first nuTrek film, with music played by a live orchestra, which took place in Switzerland earlier this year (listen to recordings from the show in my previous report). I was sad not to be able to enjoy the show myself at the time, but I need not be frustrated much longer, as Star Trek Live is coming to the Royal Albert Hall in London next year! I've booked my tickets, there are a handful left if any of my fellow Brits wish to go and enjoy it too.

Finally, something else very much deserving of a soundtrack release is Star Trek: The Video Game. The music was composed, not as I've previously reported, by Michael Giacchino, but by one of his colleagues, Chad Seiter; who has written a bit about his work on the game, and posted photos from the soundtrack recording, on his website. If we never get a proper soundtrack release, we can at least enjoy some of the music, as Seiter has released seven tracks online as well. It's more percussive than the other nuTrek music, but draws upon many of the same themes, while establishing a few of its own. Enjoy:



For more on the Into Darkness soundtrack, see my previous reports on the cover art and track listings, and interviews with Giacchino, including several sample tracks. While for anything else relating to Into Darkness, check out my Into Darkness guide page.



3 comments:

Anonymous said...

He's playing a log drum, sometimes called a tongue drum, IIRC.
Nice sound, ain't it?

Eric Tan said...

Any idea when we might get an extended, special edition of the score? There's tons of music missing from the current release. In this day and age, when music releases are no longer limited by the physical size and memory constraints of a CD, there's no excuse for such a "short" release. It's ridiculous.

8of5 said...

Love that log drum sound Darth!

Eric, the last film's full soundtrack came out a year after the film! I doubt very much it has anything to do with technology though, it's more likely due to marketing: A lot of people will be content with edited highlights presented in the album version, indeed if it's not a soundtrack you're Really into you might not want to have every single bit of music, so the album version caters to a different market. At the same time the more obsessive of us will surely buy the album version until a more complete edition comes along, so Paramount gets those extra sales too.

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