The music of TRON

[subsonic]

I grew up with TRON. Just like EPCOT and the beginning era of personal computers I was right in my prime to absorb technology and innovation. Without a doubt I have been influenced by all of the above. I am now a full time software engineer developing websites. I'm a geek. I love technology. But, this isn't about that. This is about the music of TRON.

I have watched TRON countless times over the years. I played the arcade game every visit to Disneyland. And I have listened to the soundtrack even more. While not a very complex score, the composer, Wendy Carlos, captured an electronic feel very well. The use of synthetic instruments made it feel like users were really in a computer.

We all know about the upcoming release of TRON:Legacy. Disney's been marketing TRON:Legacy like mad. From the mass trailers and billboards, to elecTRONica, to World of Color. I'm sure most members of Subsonic Radio know that Daft Punk has composed the music for TRON:Legacy. I have a read a few articles stating that the group are huge fans of the original TRON movie and will be sure to encapsulate the feeling of the original. Recently, Disney released the soundtrack and, I have to say, I'm disappointed. For the most part the music is electronic feeling but it's a little too slow and dark for what I expect of TRON. Worst of all, I was expecting the original music by Wendy Carlos to be remixed (after all, they are DJ's) and/or interwoven into this newer soundtrack. I recall movies like Mission:Impossible or Lost In Space which have had their music updated. I love stuff like this when done well.

Today, doing my daily Google Reader I came across a post on EPCOT 82 titled, "Music of 'The Grid'". I was pleasantly surprised by what I found. A little gem that I had forgotten in another TRON item that I have touched. A first person shooter game called TRON:2.0. I played through this entire game and recall that the soundtrack is exactly what I was expecting. Joshua was so very kind to spend his valuable time to convert the game media into mp3 format and upload the entire soundtrack. I was delighted to listen to this soundtrack and it's what inspired me to write this post.

So, head on over to Joshua's site and get the soundtrack to realize what the heck I'm talking about
http://epcot1982.blogspot.com/2010/12/w ... -wars.html

[Wizzard419]

Ah, I actually really liked the Daft Punk soundtrack. I do disagree that it feels slow in comparison to Wendy Carlo's moog work. I actually felt that the DP work mixed with the full symphony was able to add more depth than pure synch work on it's own, but that's just two opinions.

I would say I am a little surprised that they didn't use any of her work but at the same time I heard that Carlos and Disney did not part ways on the best of terms so they might not have been able to use it.

Also, Tron 2.0 was a highly underated game with consumers, it was a shame that they didn't sell enough to merit any further content. I am pretty sure the pilfered half the script to make the movie.

[subsonic]

I didn't state it well enough then. I DO like the music. It's just not what I expected and was disappointed that there was no homage to the original. The stuff in 2.0 does that well.

I was discussing with another friend and, you know, with the homage thing, imagine if Indiana Jones or Star Wars didn't have music from the first ones.

[Future Guy]

I got this the day it came out. This guy is awesome! Someone needs to track him down and give him a bunch of money so he keeps doing what he's doing.

[subsonic]

Yeah, it's awesome to see. Oh, and nice posts future guy

[Wizzard419]

I didn't state it well enough then. I DO like the music. It's just not what I expected and was disappointed that there was no homage to the original. The stuff in 2.0 does that well.

I was discussing with another friend and, you know, with the homage thing, imagine if Indiana Jones or Star Wars didn't have music from the first ones.

Oh, I got that you do like it (well love it ) They are all epic scores.

To be fair, the entire movie is a love letter to the original considering that a few of the charcters have legacy versions of themselves. While it may not be in the soundtrack CD, I can tell you that there are musical references in the film to the original.

[Future Guy]

Thanks, Sub

[elizabethswann]

I LOVE the Daft Punk soundtrack. Granted I didn't listen to them much aside from Robot Rock but I thought they did a great job with capturing the feel and suspense of Tron. While it's not like the original, it still has its moments. Then again I don't know if there was a soundtrack for the original Tron so I don't have much of a say here.

[Wizzard419]

There actually was a full one released, you can still pick it up on amazon I think, the Wendy Carlos song and the 1990's theme are good but that "Only Solutions" song by Journey makes little sense in the grand scheme of the movie.

[mindflipper]

Actually, with all TRON marketing that's out, I'm surprised they haven't re-released the Wendy Carlos score to the first film, but update it to the current sound quality and the complete soundtrack. I notice that many of the soundtrack scores from back in the 80's and 90's - such as Back To The Future and some of the Star Trek films - are being released with the full expanded scores (record albums were less than 30 minutes of music) with today's sound quality. It has surprised me to see the original TRON film soundtrack score has yet to receive this treatment, especially as the sequel is coming out.

[Wizzard419]

The bulk of the throwback stuff is merch and it's only various icons such as the original lightcycles. There is a rumor flying about that the reason you cannot find a copy of the original movie or soundtrack anywhere is that disney opted not to make more of the 20th anniversary stuff from 2002 as it might actually turn potential fans off since it was so dated. I have a feeling they are just holding off till 2012 so they can sell the exact same product as a 30th anniversary edition, or next year as a combo pack with the release of the present movie.

Lord help me if they greenlight the new movie for the trilogy, which appears likely, then I will end up with multiple copies of the 4 movies.