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I was delighted when asked by the producers of STAR TREK: VOYAGER if I would be interested in scoring the premiere episode. However, if I accepted the job, I needed to present some banjo music the next day for approval. I had to wonder if this was some kind of joke—banjo music in space. I had not yet read the script for the show but followed up on the request and went into the studio the following day with an assortment of original banjo tunes and styles. Thus began the music for STAR TREK: VOYAGER.
I became part of the STAR TREK family in an interesting way. I had been a veteran of the record industry, having served as director of jazz A&R for Columbia Records and producing and arranging for many talented jazz artists. In fact the first hit record I produced (Maynard Ferguson's Conquistador) contained the theme to the original STAR TREK series. My involvement with jazz artists lead me to Gato Barbieri who had done the score for LAST TANGO IN PARIS. I produced and arranged several albums for Gato, and he asked me to collaborate with him on a score for a Sophia Loren picture FIREPOWER. My first film experience was conducting the London Symphony Orchestra with Gato playing sax by my side. I was hooked and decided to spend the rest of my musical career developing music for film.
This was not an easy task as I soon discovered. Most of the film scoring activity was in California, and I was still living on the East Coast continuing with the record business. I met an enthusiastic film director named William Lusting who was looking for someone to score his graphic horror film MANIAC. I took a look at the film and was frightened, yet I was so impressed with Bill's enthusiasm and extensive knowledge of film music that I decided to give it a shot. We used a very small and eclectic group of musicians and combined electronics with acoustic music in a pioneering way. For example, the main melody was played on a fretless electric bass. This film, through very graphic, was quite successful, and soon we were doing similar films with still more chance to experiment. Another New York film director, Joseph Zito, heard my work and asked me to do his action picture with Chuck Norris. This was the hit film MISSING IN ACTION. I have enjoyed my relationship with these directors and continue to work with them whenever possible. An editor friend of mine, Daniel Loewenthal, who worked with both of these directors, was given the opportunity to work on STEPHEN KING'S SILVER BULLET. (I got a call from Dino DeLaurentis' office saying that Dan had put some of my music in the film. They liked it, and would I be interested in working with them?) Of course I was on the plane the next day. This project afforded even more experimentation with electronics. Pete Levin (who later played the whales on my first STAR TREK session "Tin Man") did an amazing job of sequencing the electronic music. We added a sampled wolf choir and large orchestra. One of the more interesting things about this score was the strange use of bells that we created to help the werewolf motif. I sat with Mr. DeLaurentis at the screening, and his comments were: "Jay, I hate the bells. Bells are for weddings. Get rid of the bells." So, back to the studio we went.
In addition to these early films, I had strong interest in documentaries. The music editor who worked with me on my early projects was Jack Tillar, who was in charge of the music for the National Geographic Specials. He insisted that I do a special for National Geographic Television. I ended up doing eight specials of some of the most amazing film footage ever shot. Recently that culminated in the two-hour special which I scored called “30 Years of National Geographic Television.” I also became involved with the Coustea Society during this time and was able to combine my love of the sea with their images on many projects. One of my undersea adventures with sharks garnered an Emmy nomination.
A young film music executive, David Grossman, was presented with some of this music through Carol Faith, my agent. He was impressed enough to call me in for a meeting. We got along well. David is also a fine musician, and we were able to discuss in detail some of the techniques I was using. Several years went by, and although David and I hadn't worked together, we stayed in touch. He knew of an upcoming guest appearance on STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION. He suggested to the producers that they listen to my tape even though my scoring of television series was practically non-existent. Rick Berman, who also has a background in the documentary field, was impressed enough to give me a shot. I was called in for a meeting with Rick, Peter Lauritson, Wendy Neuss and music editor Gerry Sackman. I was impressed by the fact that they knew music well enough to single out moments on my tape and say, “now this would be good for this section of the film” etc. The first episode of STAR TREK I scored was “Tin Man,” and although I had watched the show, I wasn’t aware of some of the restrictions that were in place. I just wrote what I thought an epic space adventure should sound like. Most of it actually got in the show with the exception of my Romulan theme which did not make it off the cutting room floor. I even used whales and dijeridoos to help give the Tin Man a more organic personality. The fans loves this approach, and the producers actually called me back to score several episodes before making me a regular at the end of the fourth season. Scoring STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION was great because by this time the show was a major hit, and all the elements were in place for it to continue. Some of my favorite episodes were “Darmok”, “Relics” (where Scotty returns), and “The Inner Light” (directed by Peter Lauritson, which won the 1993 Hugo Award). Picard’s flute theme has come to be very popular among the fans, and I'm promised it will be on my next album.
“A Fistful of Datas” afforded me the opportunity of actually combining western elements with STAR TREK elements, thus creating a score that was unique and entertaining right up to the Enterprise flying off into the sunset. “Sub Rosa” was a hauntingly romantic piece about Beverly Crusher’s involvement with a lovelorn spirit. This episode was directed by Jonathan Frakes, and he came to the scoring session to help cheer us on. Soon after this, STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE was launched, and I was again asked to contribute and alternate episodes with my friend, Dennis McCarthy. This program takes place in a deeper, darker part of the universe, so a darker approach to the music was taken. My favorite scoring experience in this series have been the orb sequences which have enabled me to use the talents of my electronic performer, Steve Croes. Steve and I have done much work together on my features and documentaries, including SPACE AGE. He has a Synclavier system on which we can do elaborate electronic paintings to picture. We then bring those elements to the scoring stage on a digital multitrack and mix in the elements with the orchestra. My other favorite episode of the series was “Equilibrium,” where Dax was reliving part of her former host’s personality traits. Her former temporary host was a composer, so she kept hearing this tune in her head. I wrote the songs she was hearing. I helped teach her to play and sing it, and then was able to weave it into the score. Working on both series has been terrific for continuity reasons as well. I did the original episodes of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION called “The Host”, so I understood the symbiont concept.
When considering music for STAR TREK: VOYAGER, I brought up some ideas at our initial music spotting about the general design of the music and that I would like to take a slightly different approach, since this was a different show. The producers all seemed quite in agreement and have encouraged me to try unique things that are present in this collection. The actual rhythmic motif that opens the episode “Caretaker” and the CD is something which I sand to the producers at the meeting. About halfway through spotting the show Rick asked me to sing that motif again, and I did. He said, “yes, I think that would work well in here.”
The strangely dissonant “Tetryon Motif” appears in several cues to help convey the fact that the Maquis ship and Voyager are drawn to the array by the same force. I used the same theme on the Caretaker to bring a dramatic closure. There is considerably more action/adventure in the pilot, and as a result, the music has a more aggressive posture. There is more use of percussion, heavier brass and electronics than in some of my earlier scores. The combining elements of banjo and orchestra are quite unique. In the Ocampa scenes, I used imitative electronics to help represent the Ocampa conversations (the Ocampa speak telepathically). These were realized by Steve Croes on Synclavier and Rick Ruttenberg on a mighty MIDI rig. The interesting space/ethnic sounds during the escape from the Ocampa underground were produced by Fred Selden sampling a dijeridoo, adding lots of other strange creatures, and then triggering the whole battery with an electronic wind instrument. The other “chiffy” flutelike sounds were produced by Brice Martin blowing on his amazing collection of PVC pies and other plumbing fixtures. We used voices again in a more subtle way when the Caretaker was melting down. Some of the low drum sounds were actual soundboards of a grand piano.
My interest in space and space exploration goes back to my childhood. I can remember my mother reading a book about the harmony of the spheres, and my dad would help me build spaceships in the basement. When I was in high school, I had a band called the “Astronotes.” I have studies the stars and their positions for courses in celestial navigation, and I still remember the one singular event that helped me decided to pursue a career in music. I attended a concert when I was sixteen years old with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. It was held at the Civic Arena which had a portion of the roof that would open. The guest conductor that night was Henry Mancini, and this was the event which triggered my desire to pursue music. I was able to share this story with Hank shortly before his death. He remembered the concert and commented that it was one of the few indoor concerts in his memory that could be played “under the stars.” — Jay Chattaway
Jerry Goldsmith is certainly no stranger to the world of STAR TREK. Back in 1979 when the first STAR TREK feature film was being developed, Goldsmith was approached to write the score. The result was a booming, grandiose fanfare which now ranks next to Alexander Courage’s theme for the classic series as the most identified signature for STAR TREK, having been used for two features and as the theme for the long-running series STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION. Now, with the main theme to the new STAR TREK series VOYAGER, Jerry once more ascends the podium at Paramount Studios Scoring Stage M to conduct 51 musicians as they perform a regal, sweeping signature for a lost Federation starship.
Jerry Goldmsith’s reputation certainly stretches beyond STAR TREK. His science fiction and horror genre scores have included PLANET OF THE APES, ALIEN, TOTAL RECALL, THE OMEN TRILOGY, POLTERGEIST, RUNAWAY, LOGAN’S RUN, TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE, STAR TREK V: THE FINAL FRONTIER, and GREMLINS I and II as well as OUTLAND and CAPRICORN ONE (available as GNPD 8035). His earlier television work has included THRILLER, THE TWILIGHT ZONE, THE MAN FROM UNCLE and GUNSMOKE.
He has been nominated sixteen times for the Academy Award, winning for his haunting choral and orchestral score to THE OMEN. The Academy of Science Fiction recognized him with nominations for THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL, MAGIC (1978), STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE (1979), LINK and POLTERGEIST II (1986). He received their Saturn Award for GREMLINS (1984). His more recent films have included THE RIVER WILD, THE SHADOW, I.Q. and CONGO. In addition to his composing career Goldsmith teaches a graduate course in music composition for films at the USC School of Music. He lives in Beverly Hills with his wife Carol and their young son Aaron.
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