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Post by vcautokid on Dec 4, 2014 19:13:27 GMT -5
One of the most misunderstood Star Trek movies. Star Trek The Motion picture employed an instrument called the Blaster Beam. Craig Huxley invented it. Basically a long, large low frequency harp like instrument. Could easily hit 20hz no problem.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 5, 2014 2:41:56 GMT -5
One of the most misunderstood Star Trek movies. Star Trek The Motion picture employed an instrument called the Blaster Beam. Craig Huxley invented it. Basically a long, large low frequency harp like instrument. Could easily hit 20hz no problem. Thanks for clearing that one up - Live long and prosper. |
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Post by eurorom on Jan 13, 2015 15:06:24 GMT -5
Anyone remember the movie "Earthquake"? It debuted "Sensuround", which promised to make you feel as well as hear sound. (I was very disappointed with the movie - I didn't feel a thing.) There seem to be some strange effects with very low frequency sounds: news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3087674.stmGet a cerwin vega earthquake subwoofer and an emo mono block amp and you will shake the foundation of your home! |
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Post by Bonzo on Jan 13, 2015 15:36:28 GMT -5
One of the most misunderstood Star Trek movies. Star Trek The Motion picture employed an instrument called the Blaster Beam. Craig Huxley invented it. Basically a long, large low frequency harp like instrument. Could easily hit 20hz no problem. Misunderstood? I would use the word "worst". Terrible movie. 1, 3, 5, & 10, bad. 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 good. The instrument you refer to is known by a few names. Blaster Beam, Cosmic Beam, and most simply, The Beam. I am familiar with it from Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead. I had never heard/felt such low notes in my life until a Dead concert in Detroit 1994. Heart stopping low. WOW low. According to this video, it was actually invented by Jonathan W. Lazell. youtu.be/0h8o-1IQ5G0?list=PLvW6rvW_2lZCdX88iOcymAzX6CHkul8M0Well, wik says it also. Huxley made his own refined version and patented it. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaster_BeamThe Blaster Beam is a concept electronic musical instrument consisting of a 12 to 18-foot (5.5 m) long metal beam strung with numerous tensed wires under which are mounted electric guitar pickups which can be moved to alter the sound produced. The instrument is played by striking or plucking the strings with fingers, sticks, pipes or even large objects such as artillery shell casings. The instrument produces a very distinctive bass tone, the sound of which is often described as 'dark' or 'sinister'. The Beam was designed by John Lazelle in the early 1970s, and was first widely used by Francisco Lupica who built several out of iron. American child actor turned musician, Craig Huxley, created his own refined version of the Beam out of aluminum which was brought to fame in the soundtrack for Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) in which composer Jerry Goldsmith used the instrument to create the signature V'ger sound. The instrument was also used by composer James Horner for several of his early soundtracks, including Battle Beyond the Stars (1980) and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), Michael Stearns for his score to the IMAX film Chronos, and in David Shire's soundtrack to 2010 (1984), which was co-written by Huxley. Huxley also played the instrument on the Quincy Jones song, "Ai No Corrida." Huxley successfully patented his design of the Beam in 1984. The instrument has since been used to create dark unnatural sounds in other movie soundtracks in the late 1970s and early 1980s including the films The Black Hole, Forbidden World, and Meteor, in the last of which it was used during shots of the giant looming meteorite as it approached Earth. It has also been used by new age artists including Kitaro, Stearns and Huxley. The Blaster Beam was also used for the seismic charge sound used by Jango Fett, in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Some more unexpected attention came in the early nineties when several women attending a music concert in New York's Central Park claimed to have been sexually stimulated by the sound created by a Blaster Beam being used in the performance. This prompted Australian radio station 2SER-FM to conduct an experiment in which they played a continuous loop of a Blaster Beam performance and asked their female listeners to report any stimulation they experienced. On this occasion none of the show's listeners reported any arousal whatsoever. Some info about the Dead from here..... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Apocalypse_Now_SessionsAnother unusual percussion instrument built for the sessions, variants of which have been built and later used in Grateful Dead concerts and Mickey Hart's solo touring bands, was The Beam. This is a large aluminum I-beam (actually a "C" shaped beam facing down with the strings across the flat outside-top surface) strung with 13 bass piano strings all tuned to the note of D (a Pythagorean mono-chord at various octaves). The Beam has a heavy-duty bridge and string anchor at one end and a nut with tuning hardware at the other end. It has a movable magnetic pickup block to facilitate capture and transmission of various tonal qualities. The pickup block feeds a volume pedal and various audio effects units, which route the signals through an amplifier or sound system. The Beam generates a large variety of low frequency primary tones and harmonic overtones, and is played by hitting the strings with a percussion mallet, plucking the strings by hand or with a plectrum, scraping them with various implements (fingernails, plectrums, metal bars), or by pounding on the beam frame itself to induce a bell-like resonance of all the strings simultaneously.[4][6] |
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Post by vcautokid on Jan 13, 2015 19:02:34 GMT -5
One thing to remember Bonzo, without ST1. The others never would have happened. Also this is Paramount's screw up as usual in how they manage, or fail to manage their business. I know. Worked for,them for,over 10 years as a contractor. It is amazing after Gulf and Western days they can even make movies. Also this was supposed to be Star Trek Phase 2 originally. But ended up the movie instead. It is like making The Brady's show relaunch, but you have movies instead. Cool facts about the Blaster Beam though. But I still like Trek 1 because everyone else hates it. Has to be a pocket veto in the bunch. Keeping it real! Peace!
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Post by AudioHTIT on Jan 13, 2015 19:43:30 GMT -5
One of the most misunderstood Star Trek movies. Star Trek The Motion picture employed an instrument called the Blaster Beam. Craig Huxley invented it. Basically a long, large low frequency harp like instrument. Could easily hit 20hz no problem. I didn't hate it, but they got much better. I did love the Vger sound though, and created a few sound effects with it in mind. |
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Post by Porscheguy on Jan 13, 2015 20:10:21 GMT -5
My sub goes way deeper than that.. In fact, it goes all the way to the "bottom"
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Post by Priapulus on Jan 13, 2015 22:21:16 GMT -5
> Some more unexpected attention came in the early nineties when several women attending a music concert in New York's Central Park claimed to have been sexually stimulated by the sound created by a Blaster Beam being used in the performance. This prompted Australian radio station 2SER-FM to conduct an experiment in which they played a continuous loop of a Blaster Beam performance and asked their female listeners to report any stimulation they experienced. On this occasion none of the show's listeners reported any arousal whatsoever.
This may not be a failure of "The Beam"; perhaps the lack of female tweeting was due to the FM station's limited bandwidth. We should test it out at home, thru our own woofers... Get out those Startrek V'ger soundtracks!
/b
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Post by Bonzo on Jan 14, 2015 9:41:17 GMT -5
One thing to remember Bonzo, without ST1. The others never would have happened. Also this is Paramount's screw up as usual in how they manage, or fail to manage their business. I know. Worked for,them for,over 10 years as a contractor. It is amazing after Gulf and Western days they can even make movies. Also this was supposed to be Star Trek Phase 2 originally. But ended up the movie instead. It is like making The Brady's show relaunch, but you have movies instead. Cool facts about the Blaster Beam though. But I still like Trek 1 because everyone else hates it. Has to be a pocket veto in the bunch. Keeping it real! Peace! The problem for me about the movie was really only two things, the directing and cinematography. The entire movie is shot as if every single scene is some climatic grandiose overture. It's over blown, overly dramatic, long winded and boring. Cheezy as hell. For example, near the beginning when they are just showing the Enterprise, it takes what seems like 15 minutes of screen time to slowly pan around every inch of the ship. When Mel Brooks made Space Balls there is a scene where he does his version of the famous opening scene from Star Wars where the Star Destroyer flies overhead. While the idea comes from Star Wars, he parodies Star Trek The Motion Picture by making the ship go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on. That single scene sums up the entire problem with the movie. Did you catch that the Beam was also used for the sound of Jango Fett's explosive bomb in Star Wars II. youtu.be/yAEoZ-dJjZ4 |
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Post by Bonzo on Jan 14, 2015 9:43:31 GMT -5
> Some more unexpected attention came in the early nineties when several women attending a music concert in New York's Central Park claimed to have been sexually stimulated by the sound created by a Blaster Beam being used in the performance. This prompted Australian radio station 2SER-FM to conduct an experiment in which they played a continuous loop of a Blaster Beam performance and asked their female listeners to report any stimulation they experienced. On this occasion none of the show's listeners reported any arousal whatsoever. This may not be a failure of "The Beam"; perhaps the lack of female tweeting was due to the FM station's limited bandwidth. We should test it out at home, thru our own woofers... Get out those Startrek V'ger soundtracks! /b  I have no doubt in real life it could do that. I've never had anything make me feel like the Beam inside. I felt like my heart was being massaged. Since females like being vibrated, there is no doubt the Beam could do it. |
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Post by vcautokid on Jan 14, 2015 10:04:56 GMT -5
One thing to remember Bonzo, without ST1. The others never would have happened. Also this is Paramount's screw up as usual in how they manage, or fail to manage their business. I know. Worked for,them for,over 10 years as a contractor. It is amazing after Gulf and Western days they can even make movies. Also this was supposed to be Star Trek Phase 2 originally. But ended up the movie instead. It is like making The Brady's show relaunch, but you have movies instead. Cool facts about the Blaster Beam though. But I still like Trek 1 because everyone else hates it. Has to be a pocket veto in the bunch. Keeping it real! Peace! The problem for me about the movie was really only two things, the directing and cinematography. The entire movie is shot as if every single scene is some climatic grandiose overture. It's over blown, overly dramatic, long winded and boring. Cheezy as hell. For example, near the beginning when they are just showing the Enterprise, it takes what seems like 15 minutes of screen time to slowly pan around every inch of the ship. When Mel Brooks made Space Balls there is a scene where he does his version of the famous opening scene from Star Wars where the Star Destroyer flies overhead. While the idea comes from Star Wars, he parodies Star Trek The Motion Picture by making the ship go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on. That single scene sums up the entire problem with the movie. Did you catch that the Beam was also used for the sound of Jango Fett's explosive bomb in Star Wars II. youtu.be/yAEoZ-dJjZ4Okay Bonzo I get it. I have seen the Blaster used in other applications too. I am done talking about Trek 1. On to newer things. The up and coming Star Wars look like fun. Recommended so far. Different deal, same idea. |
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Post by Bonzo on Jan 14, 2015 11:32:03 GMT -5
Okay Bonzo I get it. I have seen the Blaster used in other applications too. I am done talking about Trek 1. On to newer things. The up and coming Star Wars look like fun. Recommended so far. Different deal, same idea. I agree. I am already excited about it. The trailer was perfect. Best trailer I ever saw was for Terminator 2. Just a black screen, slow fade in of the Terminator music from none, to quiet, to loud, to super loud, then BAM, a big silver metallic T2 in the center of the screen. No trailer has ever gotten me more excited to see a movie. Back to musical bass, from general memory I think the 2 lowest things I might have in my collection are Bela Fleck & The Flecktones Flight of the Cosmic Hippo CD and Lang Lang’s Rachmaninov: Rhapsody On A Theme By Paganini, Op.43 Variation 24 SACD. Both these really get my powered woofers going “feel it” deep. Flight of the Cosmic Hippo youtu.be/1iYgf6PWYK8Rachmaninov: Rhapsody On A Theme By Paganini, Op.43 - Variation 24 youtu.be/X5GoIxEMHTg |
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Post by leonski on Jan 17, 2015 0:13:26 GMT -5
Saint Sans: Symphony #3 With Organ has a 16hz FUNDAMENTAL pedal tone. Every loose object in my HOUSE rattles in sympathy with this note. You can see reflections in the WINDOWS waver, too. I do NOT turn it up very loud as I think I'll DAMAGE something.
The Bosendorfer Imperial Grand Piano has an EXTRA OCTAVE of low bass keys. Normal piano has 88 keys, the Bosendorfer has 97. And while I can't think of ANY Piano music which scores those notes, the extra resonance of them adds richness. I have a TELARC recording on CD which is BRUTAL. If I ever hear of a concert in which that instrument will be used, I'm buying tickets, even if they are $$$
As for movies? I still LOVE the T-Rex steps in the first Jurassic Park.
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Post by Jim on Jan 17, 2015 7:46:34 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2015 7:55:39 GMT -5
Try this one. Will test any system. JS Bach redone on a Synclavier.  |
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Post by leonski on Jan 17, 2015 21:53:24 GMT -5
I'm a BIG fan of Telarc, and even may still have some VINYL in storage.
But, one question? What Exactly does a Synclavier SOUND like? What is my reference?
I don't doubt it goes LOW, but I can get that in several really neat movies, from 'Forbidden Planet' (1956. 'Tonalitiess' soundtrack is famous)
for example, which is UNIQUE and hasn't much of a 'natural' reference. Music of the Krell!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 18, 2015 0:08:38 GMT -5
The Synclavier was a bit of a unique animal, as it wasn't so much an instrument, but an integrated system, with an extremely high end tone generator and synthesizer for the time, a sequencer with outboard computer software (very primitive compared to today's standards), with a keyboard controller. The result was very crisp, dynamic, and 'clean' sounds. Nothing could touch it at the time (ca 1980). Of course it was extremely expensive, so it was usually only found in a few recording studios and production houses. Unfortunately there's really no reference, as the sound is totally unique, even today's instruments really don't have that kind of quality. I highly recommend this cd. I think you can find it on Amazon. Even if you don't like classical, the approach is such that anyone can appreciate it. Might want to turn the sub down a notch though. Attachments:
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Post by Deleted on Jan 18, 2015 0:26:04 GMT -5
Here's the rest of it.  |
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Post by leonski on Jan 18, 2015 18:46:30 GMT -5
What this tells me is i will have NO natural reference as to what it actually sounds like. Fidelity is now a total creation of the stereo / system and room with listener interaction tossed in for good measure.
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Forbidden Planet with its totally unique sound track. I bought 'Switched On Back' (Walter……PRE Wendy! Carlos) I enjoyed it. Just curious as to what it IS I'm supposed to
get out of it.
In any event, neat machine. And yes, I love classical music.
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Post by jutta on Jan 19, 2015 4:05:31 GMT -5
I have a couple of Subwoofer test tracks that move most things in the room. It's funny seeing the blinds shimmering !!!!!! But I've no measurements to know just how low they go
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