Vienna Symphonic Library Forum
Forum Statistics

202,804 users have contributed to 43,310 threads and 259,522 posts.

In the past 24 hours, we have 5 new thread(s), 32 new post(s) and 64 new user(s).

  1. Home
  2. General & Hardware
  3. Blaster Beam (As used in many sci-fi film scores)
  • C
    C
    My bad. Just saw some literature on it.

    Clark
  • H
    H
    Damn.
    All this time i thought it was a much reverbed recording of someone belting the diagonal steel tensioning cable on the end of a row of telegraph poles!

    My life has ended,

    Alex!
  • M
    M
    last edited
    last edited

    @hermitage59 said:

    Damn.
    All this time i thought it was a much reverbed recording of someone belting the diagonal steel tensioning cable on the end of a row of telegraph poles!

    My life has ended,

    Alex!


    Well I may be wrong here but I think that doing what you mentioned is how Ben Burtt created the sound of lasers firing for Star Wars! (He hit the cabling with a wrench as I recall...)

    OK, so it's not the blaster beam (the blaster cable maybe [[;)]] )...

    I was watching the "Film Music Masters: Jerry Goldsmith" DVD the other day and it had a quick clip of the guy that invented the blaster beam playing it. Such a cool bit of kit...

    Martin
  • DietzD
    VSL Team
    DietzD
    last edited
    last edited

    @hermitage59 said:

    Damn.
    All this time i thought it was a much reverbed recording of someone belting the diagonal steel tensioning cable on the end of a row of telegraph poles!

    My life has ended,

    Alex!


    Well I may be wrong here but I think that doing what you mentioned is how Ben Burtt created the sound of lasers firing for Star Wars! (He hit the cabling with a wrench as I recall...)

    OK, so it's not the blaster beam (the blaster cable maybe [[;)]] )...

    [...]

    That' s what I remember reading about it, too.

    ***

    Many of those classic old "Sweep/Swoosh/Shriek"SciFi-sounds can be found on the legendary Hanna Barbara - SFX Library - although only in mono, most of the time.
    /Dietz - Vienna Symphonic Library
  • H
    H
    Some interesting comments.

    The blaster Beam itself was created by Craig Huxley (AKA Hundley) and it's description is baffling. On the ST;TMP 20th aniversary CD it describes a 15 foot pole with bass piano wires running the length of it. Motorized pickups relay the sound. And it is played with hollowed, brass, artillery shell, that it striked with a hammer.

    It's funny but I also thought it was a synth intrument of some sort. I can genreate a similar sound using a very low key Drone sound (Near C1) and a low piano sound (Also near C1), with thee correct reverb sounds good.

    But thee Beam can be played in soooo many ways. Melodically, a-toneally. Percussively. James Horner used it quite alot in Battle beyond the stars, and in his score for ST:II. Also John Barry used it in The Black hole score.

    Damn I'd love to have a real one, but if anyone can sample it and do it justice... it's got to be VSL.

    Hetoreyn
  • U
    U
    I work occasionally with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra here in Los Angeles, and few summers ago they played a 20-minute suite from Star Trek the Motion Picture (with Jerry Goldsmith and Robert Wise (director) in attendance). The suite was made of clips from the original score, and that was played in sync with the corresponding scenes from the movie. What an incredible experience to see that!

    Anyway, they had "The Beam" in the percussion section, and I had an opportunity to look at it up close. The concept is really similar to a slide guitar, where the artillery shell serves as a big slide to change the pitch across the strings. I have no idea how the orchestra arranged to have it, but I'm sure it is a very expensive rental!

    Sorry I can't contribute any ideas on how to get samples of it... have a nice day!

    Best,
    Kristopher
  • H
    H
    Wow, that's amazing that you got to work with them and see Mr. Goldsmith himself. I was quite proud be attend the last eve London Sympony Jerry Goldsmith concert (Cos unfortunately he died a few months later), and have always reggretted never being able to see him in action, conducting. (He was too ill to travel to London).

    And you got to see 'The Beam'.. GRRR I hate you ;D

    But that's cool for adding morre description. I think thee only I'll ever get one is to make one, so the more people tell me about it the better.

    Cheers

    Hetoreyn
  • M
    M
    I went to that concert as well - it was such a shame that Jerry couldn't make it - especially so as it was his 75th birthday concert. I was lucky enough to see him conducting the LSO on quite a few occasions, and I particularly used to enjoy the anecdotes he would tell between the pieces of music.

    Anyway - before I get too off-topic...

    http://www.mosso.co.uk/blasterbeam.htm">http://www.mosso.co.uk/blasterbeam.htm

    Here's a picture of the Blaster Beam and Craig Huxley for you. I took it from the DVD I mentioned in my earlier post. As well as striking and sliding the shell casing on the strings, the shell casing - whilst being held down onto the strings - can also be struck (inside and out) by the mallet you can see Craig holding.

    Hope you find this useful in some way...

    Martin
  • H
    H
    Excellent...bloody excellent.

    This is the first pi I've ever seen of this thing. It explians much.

    Where did you get that DVD, I could seriously use a copy. Any idea where I might buy it.

    Hetoreyn
  • M
    M
    Glad you find the pic useful!

    You can buy the DVD from http://www.musicfromthemovies.com/">http://www.musicfromthemovies.com/, but please aware that the clip with the Blaster Beam isn't very long at all. On the whole the DVD is excellent though!

    Martin