The tensions between utopian dreams and dystopian anxieties permeate science fiction as a genre, and nowhere is this tension more evident than in Star Trek. This book breaks new ground by exploring music and sound within the Star Trek franchise across decades and media, offering the first sustained look at the role of music in shaping this influential series. The chapters in this edited collection consider how the aural, visual, and narrative components of Star Trek combine as it constructs and deconstructs the utopian and dystopian, shedding new light on the series’ political, cultural, and aesthetic impact.
Considering how the music of Star Trek defines and interprets religion, ideology, artificial intelligence, and more, while also considering fan interactions with the show’s audio, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of music, media studies, science fiction, and popular culture.
Author(s): Jessica Getman, Brooke McCorkle Okazaki, Evan Ware
Series: Routledge Music and Screen Media Series
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 331
City: New York
Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents
Examples
Figures
Tables
List of Abbreviations
Series Foreword
Preface
1. Introduction: Hearing Utopia in Star Trek
Studying the Music and Sound of Star Trek
Theories of Music in Multimedia
Why Now?
This Book
Notes
2. Star Trek: The Original Series, Utopian/Dystopian Spaces, and Music
"The Cage"
"The Menagerie"
Conclusion
Notes
3. The Trouble with Trebles: Orchestration and False Utopias in Star Trek: The Original Series
What Is a False Utopia?
"Shore Leave" and "This Side of Paradise"
"The Apple" and "The Paradise Syndrome"
"It's Paradise, My Friend" (Or is it?)
Notes
4. Tracks for Trek: Music in Network Ads for Star Trek: The Original Series
Television Promos of the Late 1960s
Science Fiction Television Promotion
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea Promo (1964)
Lost in Space Promo (1965)
First Season Promos for TOS
Second Season Promos
Conclusions
Notes
5. From Spock with Love: Fan Audio, Participatory Media, and Circulating the Materials of Star Trek Fan Culture
On the Materiality of Online Fan Culture
Lessons in Listening to Star Trek Fan Objects
Object Lesson One: Talking and Musical Greeting Cards
Object Lesson 2: Sound-Making "Unboxing" Videos
Object Lesson 3: Pony Trek Participatory Remixes
Epilogue: Socializing and Sharing the Sound of Star Trek Online Through Fan Objects
Notes
6. Loving Lwaxana, Trek's Sonically Disruptive Diva
The Federation: An Aseptic, Straight Utopia
Diva Disruptor
Lwaxana and Divadom
Lwaxana's Queer Utopia
Notes
7. I, Musician: Humanity, Music, and Artificial Intelligence in the Star Trek Franchise
Scoring Artificial Intelligence
Musical AIs
The Limits of Humanity
Conclusion
Notes
8. Not Logical, but Often True: The Evolving Role of Religion in Star Trek's Utopia
Religion and Spirituality in Star Trek
Primitive Religion: "Amok Time"
Ambivalent Religion: "The Circle" and "Covenant"
Transcendent Religion: The "Vulcan Reformation" Trilogy
Conclusion
Notes
9. Sinatra in Space: Music for Hope and Loss Beyond the Final Frontier
Music for Romance and Hope
Music for Loss and Consolation
Trauma, Fear and Masculinity
Race, Identity Politics and Postmodernism
The Great American Songbook as a Technology of the Self
Notes
10. Markers of Utopian Difference: Music in Deep Space Nine (1993-1999) and Voyager (1995-2001)
The Fanfare and Religious Belief in Deep Space Nine
Ethical Dilemmas in Voyager
Conclusion: Same Means, Different Ends
Notes
11. No, They're Not Gonna Change My Mind: Anti-Fandom and the Enterprise Title Cue
Title Cues, Anti-Fans, and Questions of Genre
Analysis
Space, the Final Frontier
These Are the Voyages of the Starship Enterprise
Its Continuing Mission: To Seek Out New Life, and New Civilizations
To Boldly Go Where No One Has Gone Before
Conclusion
Notes
12. Navigating Contrasting Styles in the First Three Star Trek Film Scores
Scoring Science Fiction
Electronic Tonal Elements
Modernist Orchestral Elements
Dissonant Electronic Elements
Neo-romantic Orchestral Elements
Future Utopias
Notes
13. Songs of the Final Frontier: Listening to Whales in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Section I: Singing Whales "Save the Whales"
Section II: Singing Whales "Save the Humans"
Section III: Listening to Whales
Notes
14. Days of Utopia Past: Nostalgia and the Star Trek (2009) Soundtrack
Nostalgia, Utopia, Music
Star Trek (2009): Synopsis and Nostalgia in Sound Design
Popular Music and Diegetic Nostalgia
The ST09 Main Theme: Myth and Masculinity
Scoring Spock
The Beguine and Boldly Going Backwards
Yesterday's Utopia
Notes
15. Epilogue: The Conflicted Utopias of Star Trek's Renaissance (2017-)
Discovery: Passing the Torch
Picard: Fall and Redemption
Lower Decks: Utopia Deconstructed
Conclusion
Notes
Contributors
Index
