In 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture,' legendary composer Jerry Goldsmith needed a sound that felt truly alien and massive for the entity V'ger. He utilized the Blaster Beam, an experimental instrument consisting of a 15-foot aluminum beam with steel strings stretched across it. It is played by striking or sliding a large artillery shell or metal pipe along the strings, which are then processed through electronic pickups. The result is a low-frequency, thunderous 'whomp' that can vibrate an entire cinema. The instrument was created by Craig Huxley, who ironically appeared as a child actor in the original Star Trek series. This massive instrument became a legend in the sci-fi community, later being used in scores like '10 Cloverfield Lane' and 'Arrival' to denote scale and cosmic dread that traditional orchestral percussion simply couldn't reach.