Theme for a Star Trek podcast

Hi to all!

I've recently been asked to write a theme for an unofficial Star Trek podcast.

Obviously I'm not allowed to quote any of the original themes, but the brief was: James Horner!

Its supposed to evoke "Star Trek", without actually quoting any copyright material.
So this is what I came up with.

Think my percussion needs a bit of finessing (especially at the end), and I still have some work to do on the balance of the mix, and the mastering.

(Sorry about the score: it's designed for midi rendition only, as I don't expect this will ever be played by real life musicians!)

Newer versions of the mp3 and score will be added lower down the thread.

Hi @Alex Weidmann,

For me it sounds fitted to a space related podcast! Will the podcast take the first few seconds pr the whole duration of the track? Two minutes seem too long for the theme I guess? Thx for sharing!

Henry

6 minutes ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

Will the podcast take the first few seconds pr the whole duration of the track?

Hi Henry, thanks for listening.

They asked for 90 seconds: so I've given them an extra 20 seconds as a bonus!

Hopefully they won't be too strict about it.

The latest comment from the client is that this piece is too treble-heavy. So any ideas on how to enhance the bass-line would be very helpful.

One thought I had was to just push up the faders on the low strings and low brass; but maybe that's a lazy solution!

Also could duplicate the double-bass an octave lower on a bass synth, and add some parallel compression on the bass drum and tomtoms? 

After I'd written it, I noticed I've ended on a rather odd chord. It resembles E major, without the tonic, and with an added second. To me it sounds fine; but maybe I should change it?

Here's an updated version of the work, with stereo-panning, and added counter-melody near the end.

Hopefully an improvement?

HI Alex,

I really didn't have any problem(s) with your lower voices.  I really do like your theme ...it reminds a bit of the theme from The Last Star Fighter.  My only suggestion, is I wonder, if you could incorporate the theme or segments of the theme in the ending.  For me the ending loses a bit of energy.  By doing so the arc of the work in my opinion will feel more complete.

Mark

It's a great movie if you haven't seen it!

Thanks Mark.

The reference material I listened to, before composing this, was actually "Battle Beyond The Stars" (1980) and "Wrath Of Khan" (1982).

My composition tutor also suggested reprising the theme at the end, or adding a snatch of theme as a coda (as they did in "Star Trek: Voyager").

Hey @Alex Weidmann!

I listened to the most recent update (#32).  The main theme has the makings of a great feel-good space western!  But, I do have to say that in my opinion, the key modulations in the piece (especially the last one at the very end) sound out of place and unnecessary, like you're changing the key just for it's own sake without really any real musical reason guiding that decision.  Also, I like how the piece starts very underwhelmingly with really soft high strings and slowly builds up to the main theme first on trumpets and then scored more fully with strings on the main theme.  But then, the arc kinda doesn't know what to do with itself after 1:07 because it feels like the climax of the piece has already been reached and the music doesn't know whether it wants to keep growing to an even bigger climax or die back down to a whisper.  Those are my immediate perceptions of the piece.  Thanks for sharing and let us know if your music ends up getting featured!