Halo Original Soundtrack
Encyclopedia
The Halo Original Soundtrack is a soundtrack
for the video game Halo: Combat Evolved
. Composed and produced by Martin O'Donnell
and Michael Salvatori
for Bungie Studios, the soundtrack was released on June 11, 2002. Most of the music from Halo: Combat Evolved is present on the CD, although some songs have been remixed by O'Donnell in medley form for "more enjoyable" listening. The first piece O'Donnell wrote, known as "Halo", became the basis for Halo
s "signature sound" which has been heard in the other games of the main trilogy.
The soundtrack features a wide range of musical styles, including chanting, string orchestra, and percussion. Upon release, the soundtrack was well received by critics. Some complimented the wide range of musical styles, while most agreed that playing the game is not required to enjoy the soundtrack. A special edition of the soundtrack was released on October 28, 2003, featuring a DVD
with a trailer, demo movie, and high quality music for Halo 2
.
, Martin O'Donnell
was tasked with writing the music for Halo: Combat Evolved. He had scored previous Bungie projects, including Myth: The Fallen Lords, while working for his audio company, TotalAudio, along with Michael Salvatori
. O'Donnell was nervous about the project, saying he approached it, "with fear and trepidation". O'Donnell stated his main influences were music he liked—"a little Samuel Barber
meets Giorgio Moroder
". Bungie's Director of cinematics, Joseph Staten
told O'Donnell, "the music should give a feeling of importance, weight, and sense of the 'ancient' to the visuals of Halo".
O'Donnell's first piece of music, "Halo", which would become "the signature theme for Halo", was written and recorded in three days. O'Donnell recruited Salvatori and three other colleagues he had recorded jingles with—Robert Bowker, Jeffrey Morrow, and Rob Trow—to produce the "chanting monks" that open the piece. Originally, he had intended the Qawwali
accents to be sung by one of the professionals, but after singing an example of what he wanted, the others suggested using O'Donnell's own rendition instead. The theme premiered at the 1999 Macworld Conference & Expo demonstration of Halo: Combat Evolved.
The remaining themes were simultaneously written, recorded, and produced from July to September 1999. The music was written with a variety of equipment including, "keyboards, synths, and samplers as well as digital recording equipment controlled by computers". Live instrumentations, from members of the Chicago Symphony and Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra, were added where needed. The soundtrack features a wide range of sounds, O'Donnell described it as, "Gregorian chant
, string orchestra, percussion and just a bit of a 'Qawwali voice'". Working closely with level designers, O'Donnell divided the music "into chunks". Based on these "chunks", "[Halo' s] audio engine could play [the music] back dynamically based on the player's actions". For the soundtrack release, O'Donnell rearranged the music featured in the game in order to make listening to the soundtrack "more enjoyable".
Bungie had previously released soundtracks for their games due to fan request, but Microsoft was hesitant to commit to producing a soundtrack for Halo; at the time most video games did not get a commercial soundtrack release. The publisher finally relented after pressure from O'Donnell and the outside solicitation of musician Nile Rodgers
.
praised the soundtrack for its wide use of instruments stating, "Where other videogame scores tend to miss their mark when combining electronic and organic elements, O'Donnell and Salvatori seem to have found a rather stable balance between the two divergent sounds." Adding, overall, the soundtrack is "one of the better videogame oriented musical experiences out there" and playing the game is not required to find enjoyment within the score. Reviewing for Monsters At Play, Michael Johnson called the soundtrack "66 minutes of orchestral goodness" citing the wide range of music covered as a strong point. Nuketown gave the soundtrack 9 out of 10, stating, "the soundtrack is a welcome and invigorating reminder of good times had blasting unstoppable alien hordes". The release went on to sell over 40,000 copies.
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
for the video game Halo: Combat Evolved
Halo: Combat Evolved
Halo: Combat Evolved, frequently referred to as Halo: CE, or Halo 1, is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The first game of the Halo franchise, it was released on November 15, 2001 as a launch title for the Xbox gaming system, and is...
. Composed and produced by Martin O'Donnell
Martin O'Donnell
Martin "Marty" O'Donnell is an American composer known for his work on video game developer Bungie's series, such as Myth, Oni, and Halo...
and Michael Salvatori
Michael Salvatori
Michael Salvatori is an American composer, best known for his collaboration with colleague Martin O'Donnell for the soundtracks to the Halo video game series. Salvatori became friends with O'Donnell in college; when O'Donnell was given a job offer to score a colleague's film, Salvatori and...
for Bungie Studios, the soundtrack was released on June 11, 2002. Most of the music from Halo: Combat Evolved is present on the CD, although some songs have been remixed by O'Donnell in medley form for "more enjoyable" listening. The first piece O'Donnell wrote, known as "Halo", became the basis for Halo
Halo (series)
Halo is a multi-million dollar science fiction video game franchise created by Bungie and now managed by 343 Industries and owned by Microsoft Studios. The series centers on an interstellar war between humanity and a theocratic alliance of aliens known as the Covenant...
s "signature sound" which has been heard in the other games of the main trilogy.
The soundtrack features a wide range of musical styles, including chanting, string orchestra, and percussion. Upon release, the soundtrack was well received by critics. Some complimented the wide range of musical styles, while most agreed that playing the game is not required to enjoy the soundtrack. A special edition of the soundtrack was released on October 28, 2003, featuring a DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
with a trailer, demo movie, and high quality music for Halo 2
Halo 2
Halo 2 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie Studios. Released for the Xbox video game console on November 9, 2004, the game is the second installment in the Halo franchise and the sequel to 2001's critically acclaimed Halo: Combat Evolved...
.
Background
As the audio director for BungieBungie
Bungie, Inc is an American video game developer currently located in Bellevue, Washington, USA. The company was established in May 1991 by University of Chicago undergraduate student Alex Seropian, who later brought in programmer Jason Jones after publishing Jones' game Minotaur: The Labyrinths of...
, Martin O'Donnell
Martin O'Donnell
Martin "Marty" O'Donnell is an American composer known for his work on video game developer Bungie's series, such as Myth, Oni, and Halo...
was tasked with writing the music for Halo: Combat Evolved. He had scored previous Bungie projects, including Myth: The Fallen Lords, while working for his audio company, TotalAudio, along with Michael Salvatori
Michael Salvatori
Michael Salvatori is an American composer, best known for his collaboration with colleague Martin O'Donnell for the soundtracks to the Halo video game series. Salvatori became friends with O'Donnell in college; when O'Donnell was given a job offer to score a colleague's film, Salvatori and...
. O'Donnell was nervous about the project, saying he approached it, "with fear and trepidation". O'Donnell stated his main influences were music he liked—"a little Samuel Barber
Samuel Barber
Samuel Osborne Barber II was an American composer of orchestral, opera, choral, and piano music. His Adagio for Strings is his most popular composition and widely considered a masterpiece of modern classical music...
meets Giorgio Moroder
Giorgio Moroder
Hansjörg "Giorgio" Moroder is an Italian record producer, songwriter and performer based in Los Angeles. When in Munich in the 1970s, he started his own record label called Oasis Records, which several years later became a subdivision of Casablanca Records...
". Bungie's Director of cinematics, Joseph Staten
Joseph Staten
Joseph Staten is a bestselling American writer born in San Francisco, California. The son of a theologian, Staten originally planned on becoming an actor, but dropped the idea in college...
told O'Donnell, "the music should give a feeling of importance, weight, and sense of the 'ancient' to the visuals of Halo".
O'Donnell's first piece of music, "Halo", which would become "the signature theme for Halo", was written and recorded in three days. O'Donnell recruited Salvatori and three other colleagues he had recorded jingles with—Robert Bowker, Jeffrey Morrow, and Rob Trow—to produce the "chanting monks" that open the piece. Originally, he had intended the Qawwali
Qawwali
Qawwali is a form of Sufi devotional music popular in South Asia, particularly in the Punjab and Sindh regions of Pakistan, Hyderabad, Delhi, and other parts of northern India...
accents to be sung by one of the professionals, but after singing an example of what he wanted, the others suggested using O'Donnell's own rendition instead. The theme premiered at the 1999 Macworld Conference & Expo demonstration of Halo: Combat Evolved.
The remaining themes were simultaneously written, recorded, and produced from July to September 1999. The music was written with a variety of equipment including, "keyboards, synths, and samplers as well as digital recording equipment controlled by computers". Live instrumentations, from members of the Chicago Symphony and Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra, were added where needed. The soundtrack features a wide range of sounds, O'Donnell described it as, "Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical music within Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services...
, string orchestra, percussion and just a bit of a 'Qawwali voice'". Working closely with level designers, O'Donnell divided the music "into chunks". Based on these "chunks", "[Halo
Bungie had previously released soundtracks for their games due to fan request, but Microsoft was hesitant to commit to producing a soundtrack for Halo; at the time most video games did not get a commercial soundtrack release. The publisher finally relented after pressure from O'Donnell and the outside solicitation of musician Nile Rodgers
Nile Rodgers
Nile Gregory Rodgers is an American musician, producer, composer, arranger, and guitarist.-Biography:...
.
Reception
Reception of the soundtrack was generally positive from critics. IGNIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
praised the soundtrack for its wide use of instruments stating, "Where other videogame scores tend to miss their mark when combining electronic and organic elements, O'Donnell and Salvatori seem to have found a rather stable balance between the two divergent sounds." Adding, overall, the soundtrack is "one of the better videogame oriented musical experiences out there" and playing the game is not required to find enjoyment within the score. Reviewing for Monsters At Play, Michael Johnson called the soundtrack "66 minutes of orchestral goodness" citing the wide range of music covered as a strong point. Nuketown gave the soundtrack 9 out of 10, stating, "the soundtrack is a welcome and invigorating reminder of good times had blasting unstoppable alien hordes". The release went on to sell over 40,000 copies.
Track listing
All music was written and composed by Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori.- "Opening Suite" – 3:33
- "Truth and Reconciliation Suite" – 8:25
- "Brothers in Arms" – 1:29
- "Enough Dead Heroes" – 3:00
- "Perilous Journey" – 2:26
- "A Walk in the Woods" – 1:52
- "Ambient Wonder" – 1:57
- "The Gun Pointed at the Head of the Universe" – 2:26
- "Trace Amounts" – 1:51
- "Under Cover of Night" – 3:41
- "What Once Was Lost" – 1:40
- "Lament for Pvt. Jenkins" – 1:14
- "Devils... Monsters..." – 1:30
- "Covenant Dance" – 1:57
- "Alien Corridors" – 1:48
- "Rock Anthem for Saving the World" – 1:17
- "The Maw" – 1:06
- "Drumrun" – 1:01
- "On a Pale Horse" – 1:35
- "Perchance to Dream" – 1:00
- "Library Suite" – 6:47
- "The Long Run" – 2:12
- "Suite Autumn" – 4:22
- "Shadows" – 0:59
- "Dust and Echoes" – 2:49
- "Halo" – 4:22
Personnel
All information is taken from the CD credits.- Martin O'DonnellMartin O'DonnellMartin "Marty" O'Donnell is an American composer known for his work on video game developer Bungie's series, such as Myth, Oni, and Halo...
(ASCAP) – Writer, composer, musician, and singer - Michael SalvatoriMichael SalvatoriMichael Salvatori is an American composer, best known for his collaboration with colleague Martin O'Donnell for the soundtracks to the Halo video game series. Salvatori became friends with O'Donnell in college; when O'Donnell was given a job offer to score a colleague's film, Salvatori and...
(ASCAP) - Writer, composer, musician, and singer - Harry Hmura - musician
- Arnie RothArnie RothArnold "Arnie" Roth is an American, Chicago-based Grammy Award-winning conductor, composer, and record producer, best known for conducting numerous video game concerts. He is also a classically-trained violinist and a member of the Grammy Award-winning music group Mannheim Steamroller...
- musician - Peter Labella - musician
- Everett Zlatoff-Mirsky - musician
- Elliott Golub - musician
- Niasanne Howell - musician
- Marylou Johnston - musician
- Kevin Case - musician
- Barbara Haffner - musician
- Larry Glazier - musician
- Judy Stone - musician
- Robert Bowker - singer
- Jeffrey Morrow - singer
- Rob Trow - singer