Merrick here...


A few days ago I posted an article linking out to THIS audio interview with composer Brian Tyler.

In the interview, Brian discusses how a portion of his CHILDREN OF DUNE score was re-recorded for use in a trailer for the new STAR TREK movie.

I erroneously indicated that the music he was discussing could be found in the THIRD (most recent theatrical) trailer for the film. This was incorrect - the music in the third trailer is not the music Tyler was referring to in his interview. I was mistaken, pure and simple. The music he's talking about was used in the second trailer for the film.

Alas, matters turned out to be not that simple. The following explains why the initial article was suspended, and why further explanation was delayed until now.

Shortly after the posting, a few (now deleted) Talkbacks indicated that none of the trailers for J.J. Abrams' new STAR TREK movie have featured Tyler's music - specifically stating that music used in the second and third trailers was created by (and the property of) a trailer music company called Two Steps From Hell (website ). This assertion was also put forth via a few unnecessarily hostile e-mails.

After ascertaining which Tyler-composed piece was supposedly repurposed for the second STAR TREK trailer, I started digging around the Net and found that the cue in question..."War Begins" from Tyler's CHILDREN OF DUNE score...was often, but not always, attributed to Two Steps From Hell rather than CHILDREN OF DUNE.

Hunh?

So...I asked myself: how can music which clearly sounds like Brian Tyler's "War Begins" from CHILDREN OF DUNE not be "War Begins" from CHILDREN OF DUNE?

And, if CHILDREN OF DUNE was repurposed for a STAR TREK trailer, why does the Two Steps From Hell website display the following ownership statements?

This Star Trek Trailer features the custom score 'Down With The Enterprise' and the musical theme begins after the boy says "My name is "James...Kirk"

(seen HERE)

"Custom Score" says nothing about Tyler. "Down With the Enterprise" is the CHILDREN OF DUNE piece Tyler is referring to in the trailer, although no reference to "Down With Enterprise" cannibalizing CHILDREN is made on the Two Steps website.

Another (apparently) all-encompassing ownership statement appears on one of the Two Steps site's front pages:

All compositions are written by Thomas Bergersen and Nick Phoenix in solar powered studios.

(seen HERE

Which also doesn't credit Tyler/CHILDREN OF DUNE. There is another example of All Cues Written by Nick Phoenix & Thomas J.Bergersen - Published by Two Steps From Hell (ASCAP)

(seen HERE).

So, the question was apparent: how exactly did Brian Tyler fit into this equation? And why isn't Tyler's music being credited on the Two Steps website - leading many to the erroneous conclusion that a piece from CHILDREN OF DUNE is actually composed by someone else, for something else, altogether?

In the hopes of clearing things up, my man ScoreKeeper - godlike and ever-connected - promptly & efficiently reached out to Brain Tyler, who quickly sent back this reply:

It is 100% true that my music was licensed for the second Star Trek trailer (not the third trailer). Paramount Pictures licensed my track called "War Begins" from the "Children of Dune" soundtrack. As you can hear in the trailer, the original version of "War Begins" from my 2003 CD is used - but also the company "Two Steps From Hell" recorded an extension of my piece "War Begins" to fill the length of the trailer which was edited together with my original cue. That re-recorded part was done last year which, obviously, was 5 years after I originally recorded the piece for "Children of Dune."

So there you have Brian's view on the matter. I really appreciate ScoreKeeper reaching out to him. Hopefully, this note will resolve some online confusion regarding where the music in TREK trailer #2 came from (see the Two Steps statement below for further details).

In the interest of equal opportunity and fair play, we reached out to Two Steps from Hell asking why Tyler isn't credited on their site. We received this reply from Nick Phoenix - one of the company's composers/overlords.

Brian Tyler is supposed to also be credited on our site. It should be fixed now. Star Trek Trailer #2 features "War Begins" by Brian Tyler and "Down With The Enterprise" by Two Steps From Hell. "Down With The Enterprise" is a new arrangement of "War Begins", but does contain a new section of music not based on "War Begins". which was used heavily in the trailer. -Nick

As of this article's publication, the oversight has not been corrected on Two Steps' site.

So, for all of those who've been wondering what happened to the original Tyler/TREK article - why it was disappeared, etc. - this is what went down.

The issue wasn't as simple as my apologizing for fingering the wrong TREK trailer - the matter morphed into a very different (and somewhat unrelated) issue:

1) we had to allow time for the dust from this crediting issue to settle before following up on our initial posting - lest we credit the wrong people for the wrong reasons, etc,.

2) We had to round up statements from Brian and Nick.

3) Deal with public confusion re: the origin of the piece...

4) Etc.

So, to summarize...

1) In the original article, I erroneously specified Tyler's music appeared in the third TREK trailer. Brian's music actually appears in the second TREK trailer.

2) Some of the music used in the second trailer is reworked from a Brian Tyler track called "War Begins" from the soundtrack of the CHILDREN OF DUNE miniseries.
Other music is also used in that trailer.

3) When online, if you run across any embeds of "Down With The Enterprise" credited to Two Steps from Hell (one embed shows an orchestra performing the piece) - realize the music is not exclusively a Two Steps composition & utilizes rearranged music composed by Brian Tyler.

4) If you believed "Down With The Enterprise" was exclusively a Two Steps composition, this is likely because of (what is presumably) a clerical error on the Two Steps website; said error omitted Tyler's credit. When TREK fans/score fans went to check the Two Steps site - misunderstanding erupted. In theory, the crediting issue on the Two Steps site should be corrected shortly.

**WHEW**

I think this makes sense. I hope this makes sense. Strange how such a simple matter can transform into such a wicked, bitchy hydra.

Which brings us back to where we started:

There's an interesting audio interview with Brian Tyler online over at ScoreNotes. In the piece, Tyler discusses how the new TREK movie was temp tracked with his CHILDREN OF DUNE score, the surprisingly adult nature of the new FAST & FURIOUS movie, and how BATTLE: LOS ANGELES may be the most bad ass alien invasion film ever.

Hear it all at...

www.scorenotes.com!!!