Does anyone really like the music from Halo 4? Compared to any other Halo, the music is just “meh”. Halo 2 and 3 had the best music for me; Reach was one step down but 10x better than Halo 4’s could ever be
Certain songs I like, like “117” and “Belly of the Beast”…also the remix of Revival by THX and DJ Skee.
Obviously Halo 4’s music is going to be of lower quality since it wasn’t composed by Marty and that both Composers spent a minimal time at 343i’s studio in Kirkland.
If Neil and Kazuma actually spent more than a week at the studio and not returned back to their native countries to compose, then Halo 4’s music would have had a larger impact on gameplay.
Martin O’Donnel and Micheal Salvatori basically live with Bungie, so they had complete control on how their music was implemented.
Neil Davidge and Kazuma Jinnouchi are both great composers, but they had the disadvantage of not being with 343 when they did their scores.
Somewhat agreed, but overall I enjoyed the music in the game, it fit it pretty well.
Losing Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori was huge. Of course they are Bungie employees only, but their talent won’t ever be replaced for a Halo OST.
I think the problem was that when 343i put them in Halo 4 they didn’t make sure that the music popped out.Some of it was barely audible, if at all.That has a major effect in how it is perceived.Some of music was very nice, but you could barely hear it.
That is the one thing Bungie did well.They understood that music played a vital role in how section’s in a game are greatly affected by music.Which in turn made those parts of the games powerful and memorable.You cannot just simply make a random song and put it into a random section of a mission.
Examples are like in Halo:CE on level 5 Assault on the Control Room.The room near the end with a ton of sleeping grunt’s after you use the elevator to go up a level.It was calm and relaxing, somehow made you want to just calm down and relax after all the fighting.To the point where you didn’t even want to kill the sleeping grunts.The song seemingly playing to cause drowziness to keep the grunts asleep as you make your way through the room.
Another was in Halo 2 on High Charity in the throne room.Where you charge in, usually with a FRC fighting numerous high ranking elites.The song was Blow Me Away, which made your heart race and want to match the song with that FRC by blowing everything away.
These are examples as to why music is very important in a game.Which must also be very audible on any volume level, even while in heavy fighting.This is what 343i made a big mistake on.I don’t even remember one song that was even memorable and what part of the game it was in.
Only one i can recall with any clarity was the one on the last level when you were jumping from platform to platform inserting cortana into each pedestal to split herself up before reaching the cutscene with the Didact on the bridge.
The Halo 4 music is very good music, but it just isn’t Halo music.
I’m still waiting for someone to explain the criteria that makes halo music “halo”.
Personally i love the Halo 4 music. I’m always too focused on the game to actually notice/hear it playing in the background, but I usually have the soundtracks on rotation on my phone/laptop (excellent music to code to :P).
While Halo 2’s OST will always be a firm favourite (hello 1st movement of the Odyssey), Halo 4’s is right up there next to it. Some of the remixes are fantastic like green and blue and awakening, which has been my alarm tone for a few months now haha.
Comparing Halo 4’s music to the original trilogy is a tough one. This is a brand new trilogy with different themes and focus, so it’s kinda right that the music would change. I’m sure if Marti and Michael had been scoring this, they too wouldn’t have orchestrated like they did in previous installments. I think they would have tried some new elements.
If you haven’t already, check out the Composing Worlds vidoc of Neils time composing the music. It provides a really good insight into how they worked over things. Don’t have a link handy, but it’ll be out there somewhere 
I will say what I said [Here
> Marty also had the advantage of being more involved in the Story making and he was/is audio director and composer for Bungie.
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> He probably knew more what music was necessary for the game.
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> Neil just visited a couple of times and got to see parts of the game + art work.
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> But He was most of the time in the UK while the game was being made in the US.
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> For the access Neil got to the proses of making Halo 4 I’d say he did an Amazing job
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> That’s the only thing I would say to 343 for Halo 5. Have the composer(s) On-site.
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> Marty still did an Amazing job though. His soundtracks are probably 1/3 of what makes Halo Halo
I think the music in Halo 4 did the best it could.
I like the soundtracks from Halo 4
But Halo 2 will be my favorite for ever
and to say because it is not Marty so it isn’t as good is a bit weird.
Marty is good but he isn’t the best there is/will ever be.
> I’m still waiting for someone to explain the criteria that makes halo music “halo”.
what makes pirates of the Caribbean music, pirates of the Caribbean music
what makes Star wars Music, Star wars Music
The music has a fitting theme’s and can lift the game/movie on it’s own
Halo CE had the monks and the Halo theme
halo 2 had Sacred Icon suite and breaking Benjamin. + the new Guitar version of the Halo theme
Halo 3 has Finish the fight and One final effort
Halo ODST has Skyline/ Orbital Drop Shock trooper/ Prepare to drop
Halo reach has Ghosts of reach/Ashes . Horns
But these games had Much Much more music. Small themes. Stuff that only played once.
stuff that returned over the years
It’s Instantly recognizable. That’s Halo music for me
but what is is for you or the next person will always be different
Arrival… last mission… amazing
Overall, I really liked the music from Halo 4, but I’m not a really big critic about this sort of stuff. As long as it is able to set the tone and feel of the mission, I really don’t care how it sounds. The last mission with the song, arrival, blaring got my attention though.
Personally, this is the way i would rate Halo 4 to prev. OSTs:
Halo CE - Great start, really can’t beat the original. 9/10
Halo 2 - So-So 6/10
Halo 3 - Another so-so 7/10
Halo 3: ODST - The best out of all of them, hands down 10/10
Halo Wars - It really wasn’t what i expected. 5/10
Halo: Reach - Okay there were some good one, and there were some bad ones 7.5/10
Halo 4 - TOO NOSTALGIC. Did not even come close to Marty’s level, b/c it seems the music flow in Halo 4 was slow even on certain fast levels. If you look back to Tip of the Spear, its has fast paced music, and basically aligned with the level itself since it was intense. If you look back at Broadsword Trench Run, music was slow. Personally, it should’ve had a similar flow to Warthog Run, IMO. 3/10
That’s pretty much it. Usually, when i hear certain tracks, i try to align its pace with the level. If the level is fast and intense, the music should be fast. If the level is slow, then the music should be slow. Not to mention, and i pretty much agree with everyone, the music during the campaign was way too low, and i could barely hear it. Although, i had background music from prev. titles playing while playing Campaign.
> Obviously Halo 4’s music is going to be of lower quality since it wasn’t composed by Marty and that both Composers spent a minimal time at 343i’s studio in Kirkland.
>
> If Neil and Kazuma actually spent more than a week at the studio and not returned back to their native countries to compose, then Halo 4’s music would have had a larger impact on gameplay.
>
> Martin O’Donnel and Micheal Salvatori basically live with Bungie, so they had complete control on how their music was implemented.
>
> Neil Davidge and Kazuma Jinnouchi are both great composers, but they had the disadvantage of not being with 343 when they did their scores.
Essentially, this.
The fundamental difference between Bungie and 343i is that Bungie’s efforts revolved around telling the story, and using the game as the primary storytelling medium. The person(s) scoring your story need to believe in it as much as you do. Given the breakneck pace of the action in Halo:CE one could easily ignore the “religious” aspect of the game, yet Mr O’Donnel starts us off with the monk chant. Now that monk chant is Halo.
What I really, really like about Mr. O’Donnel is that he seems to know what drums are for. When their time comes, they absolutely sing(especially in ODST), which is important when your story is about battle and the military. In Halo 4 the drums are just… there (kind of like the SPARTAN IVs).
In my opinion there are only two scores in Halo 4 that appear to have had any real effort. Forgive me for not knowing the names as I have only recently bought the soundtrack, but I am speaking of the music you hear when you start Halo 4, and the music you hear when you head to the MM lobby (although you should be aware that it’s a loop of part of the music and you’re not hearing the whole thing). The rest sounds as slapped together as the game itself (speaking strictly of online game. Campaign was just fine in my opinion).
> Obviously Halo 4’s music is going to be of lower quality since it wasn’t composed by Marty and that both Composers spent a minimal time at 343i’s studio in Kirkland.
>
> <mark>If Neil and Kazuma actually spent more than a week at the studio and not returned back to their native countries to compose</mark>, then Halo 4’s music would have had a larger impact on gameplay.
>
> Martin O’Donnel and Micheal Salvatori basically live with Bungie, so they had complete control on how their music was implemented.
>
> Neil Davidge and Kazuma Jinnouchi are both great composers, but they had the disadvantage of not being with 343 when they did their scores.
While it’s true that Neil spent a little bit of time at 343 and returned to Abbey Road to compose the music, it isn’t the same for Kazuma, since he is a 343 employee and also their in-house composer, much like Marty was for Bungie’s music.
I prefer most of Halo 4’s music compared to the originals, I like CE’s full soundtrack, that’s the only soundtrack from the original I like, Halo 2’s was ruined by the rock and metal, 3 I just didn’t like except the Warthog Run and Leonidas Returns
They’re quite good pieces. Solace and green and blue as well as Lasky’s theme are ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. It’s just the implementation really.
Sometimes I play this memory-distorted version of belly of the beast on my piano.
Noob please
Halo 4 > than all other halos combined.
i used the halo 4 music on different franchise on books and comics for an example i use Revival for this comic.
I hold the original and reclaimer trilogies’ soundtracks on equal ground. They’re both good, fantastic at some moments, but not to the point where I was starring at my TV with my jaw on the floor. Now if only Keiki Kobayashi from Project Aces could assist in making Halo’s soundtrack…
But in the end, it’s all personal preference