"I will stand by my statement that I still don't hear a real
orchestra."

You can stand by it all you want, and certainly what you hear is
subjective, and varies. But you're still wrong.

The music varies, depending on what is needed for the scene. Some of
it is synth'd, but a LOT of it is indeed performed by the Berlin Symphonic
Film Orchestra, Franke's creation. We don't give credit on-screen to
entities we don't use, sorry. I've seen this in action. So you can argue
and disagree until your face turns blue...you're simply, flatly wrong.

And personally, I love the music, as do the majority of the people I
talk to. What you may be reacting to is that we add sounds that you don't
generally see used in SF series, where it's just one more over-wrought,
over-blown, bloated, self-indulgent John Williams ripoff. We *do* use
electronics from time to time and some sampling, for effect. Maybe you
don't like it, that's your choice. But it is not "cheap," and not in
lieu of using real instruments for other elements.

I've heard before from some ST "purists" who think there shouldn't be
any electronic instruments in SF-television scores...just one more attempt
to make every SF series look and sound just like Star Trek. Sorry, not
interested.

As to your allegation that Franke "sampled" (another term for stole)
a piece off the Aliens soundtrack...1) I own that soundtrack, and have
Franke's piece, and they're *not* comparable, 2) this allegation is so
far beneath contempt that it doesn't merit response.

Chris is the most original, hard-working and dedicated composer and
musician I've ever worked with. And as far as the music goes...I was
surprised the other day to get a gift from Chris...a CD with 50 continuous
minutes of music from our first season, orchestrated into a one long and
very beautiful piece. (This isn't a commercial thing; he did it on his
own, making custom covers with my name on my copy.) I've played it to
the point where I'd be worried about wearing it out if it were a standard
record. It's gorgeous, rich and full.

Your subjective tastes have nothing to do with objective reality.
You were simply 100% wrong on one issue, and insulting in the other.

jms