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I don't think I've ever seen a photo of the blaster beam. Anybody?
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I recently caught up with Craig when working on the Star Trek II soundtrack (he loaned his master tapes for "Genesis Project") and I asked him about the beam. The actual instrument he used in all those scores is still in his possession and comes out for the occasional concert or session. We had it at the Hollywood Bowl in 2001 when 20 minutes of Star Trek: The Motion Picture were performed and watching it in action, along with all the other percussion (especially during "Spock Walk") was a real treat. Unfortunately it's very easy to simulate that kind of sound electronically now, so the fun of hitting something with a baseball bat or artillery shell is gone!
Mike
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Thanks for the picture, Mark. It's large. Keeping it around the house must be a pain.
I recently caught up with Craig when working on the Star Trek II soundtrack (he loaned his master tapes for "Genesis Project") and I asked him about the beam. The actual instrument he used in all those scores is still in his possession and comes out for the occasional concert or session. We had it at the Hollywood Bowl in 2001 when 20 minutes of Star Trek: The Motion Picture were performed and watching it in action, along with all the other percussion (especially during "Spock Walk") was a real treat. Unfortunately it's very easy to simulate that kind of sound electronically now, so the fun of hitting something with a baseball bat or artillery shell is gone!
Mike
Mike's comment reminds me of when Bear McCreary needed to preserve the sound of a particular out-of-tune piano on GALACTICA. He "sampled" every key into a computer. Later, he could play "that piano" on a synthesizer keyboard. Maybe Craig should consider doing that and donating the instrument to the Smithsonian. They'll take anything connected to STAR TREK. That plan would get it out of the living room, Craig could still perform Blaster Beam sounds via synth, and there'd be a nice tax deduction for him.
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Lupica was the first guy I saw using it...before STTMP & Huxley. Maybe it's a case of one guy originally made one and then through word of mouth, others made their own. Constance Demby uses it on some of her CDs also. Theoretically you could get almost the same sounds from guitar strings by pitch shifting the sound one or 2 octaves down with tape speed or a harmonizer. The Beam is essentially a huge guitar concept.
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this from wikipedia on Stearns-
In his earlier albums, he often used the Serge Modular synthesizer, giving his music a twinkling and "cosmic" sound. In 1982, he built "The Beam", a twelve-foot long acoustic instrument strung with 24 piano strings,[1] designed by John Lazelle and built with the help of Paul Abell.[2] He has since used it in many albums (solo or collaboration) as well as in concert and film scores
so if built in 1982 it was way after ST and Huxley (who played with Stearns years earlier as "Hundley") so I would guess that Lupica perhaps originated it....maybe Stearns & his buddies refined it with more strings...like a gigantic pedal steel.
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The liner notes for the latest 'Bionic Woman' episode CD from JoeHarnell.com say that Harnell used this is 1978 for 'The Martians Are Coming, The Martians Are Coming' (as the motif for the fake flying saucer).
I say the 'Blaster got plenty of exposure for an instrument with this specific of a sound.
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The liner notes for the latest 'Bionic Woman' episode CD from JoeHarnell.com say that Harnell used this is 1978 for 'The Martians Are Coming, The Martians Are Coming' (as the motif for the fake flying saucer).
I love hearing it in the "Helm's Deep" cue of Rosenman's "Lord of the Rings" score. I think it adds some really powerful orchestral color.
It was used in LORD OF THE RINGS? And THE BIONIC WOMAN? Amazing. I always thought that its first appearance in a film score was ST: TMP.
It was also used by John Morris in Mel Brooks' High Anxiety the year before ST:TMP.
Mike
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