ABSTRACT
Sound defines the Star Trek experience. Through their continued use, musical themes like the fanfare that opens Star Trek: The Original Series (1966—69) and sound effects like Trek’s transporter beam operate as learned texts. This chapter examines how the soundscapes crafted in Star Trek 2009 diverged from conventions established in previous Trek installments. It also draws examples from Into Darkness and Beyond, which retained composer Michael Giacchino and most of the same sound department crew. In its pivot toward contemporary action film, the latest permutations of Star Trek neither replicate nor fully alter the franchise’s legacy. From this perspective, Star Trek 2009 becomes representative of the work franchises perform in the contemporary cultural landscape. The constructed iconicity of musical themes like the fanfare and technological sound effects such as The Original Series computer beeps cloak the shifts in Trek’s orientation.
