Halo 5/XBO Music: A Return to Form?

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

Now full disclosure, I loved Halo 4’s soundtrack and I think Neil Davidge is an excellent replacement for Marty O’Donnell. How can tracks like Nemesis, Revival and Legacy not give that Halo feel? With that said, I really think the next OST for whatever this new Halo game will be called needs a few more shoutouts to Bungie’s Halo. That tease with the “Manly Monk” chant in the opening of the Composer level was a real kick in the nuts. And the main menu music? That didn’t really have a Halo feel to it.

As good as the Halo 4 OST was, there a lot missing that would’ve really solidified it as a standout Halo experience. Where was the energy of something like Behold a Pale Horse? Blue and Green was a sad track to mark the death of Cortana, but Heavy Price Paid has a decisively sadder tone to it that I think would’ve been more impactful. And as far as I’m concerned, ODST had the best tracks that built up the atmosphere of a Halo game, something like Overture opening in the rain and building up from there would’ve been a great sort of experience when Chief leaves the rubble of the Dawn and sees Requiem’s splendor for the first time.

I understand 343i has their own style and their own way of doing things, the music being no different. However, I do think a return to form would greatly impact things. Perhaps a few remixes would be in order, or perhaps taking high points of certain tracks and incorporating them into new, original ones would work?

What do you think?

2

Hmm… As a Composer of Music, I’m going to have to disagree with you about the Neil Davidge part. His songs seem more “dubstep” and less “Halo”

On the other hand, Kazuma Jinnouchi is the better composer, and his work seems more gives that Halo-ish vibe to it whereas Neil’s seems out of place with the scene that it plays at. Also, Kazuma is an actual 343i employee, so he has the advantage of having complete control of where is tracks are incorporated into the game.

3

Yes! This is why i have been rooting for Tom Salta for the next Halo game. He seems to have a greater understanding of Halo music than Neil does. I have tio disagree with your opinion of heavy price paid, though. It doesn’t fit the situation, being the death of Cortana…instead i find it more suitable for moments like the aftermath of war, chaos/tragedy etc, but not for the death of a loved one. Come to think of it, i would have used ‘Wake Me When You Need Me’ for that part. Good thread overall though. Totally agree with you on the underused Halo music there.

4

> Hmm… As a Composer of Music, I’m going to have to disagree with you about the Neil Davidge part. His songs seem more “dubstep” and less “Halo”

I guess it doesn’t help that the remixes of the Halo 4 OST were dubstep, eh? Still, tracks like Revival and Legacy still retained the Halo feel despite being new.

5

> Hmm… As a Composer of Music, I’m going to have to disagree with you about the Neil Davidge part. His songs seem more “dubstep” and less “Halo”
>
> On the other hand, Kazuma Jinnouchi is the better composer, and his work seems more gives that Halo-ish vibe to it whereas Neil’s seems out of place with the scene that it plays at. Also, Kazuma is an actual 343i employee, so he has the advantage of having complete control of where is tracks are incorporated into the game.

Incorrect. The placement of music is decided by the audio director, not the composer. I do agree that Kazuma did a better job with the Halo music though. There were many instances where i believed some of the music could have been utilised from CE into Halo 4…nonetheless, they were absent.

6

The problem with H4 music is that if you watched the music BTS with the limited edition soundtrack, the game and the music didn’t really work together. What I mean by this is that since they weren’t employees of 343i they had limited access to what “happens” in the game, like he knows a certain plot part in the story and tries to make a song perfect for that situation, that simply didn’t happen with Halo 4. Another problem with this factor, the music was made in Europe (London I think), and this can be a problem when the games being made in America. With Bungie, Marty worked with the game and with the rest of team to create the best music possible for the team, so I think 343i should really invest in an in house music department and studio so the game and music can WORK TOGETHER instead of separately.

7

> > Hmm… As a Composer of Music, I’m going to have to disagree with you about the Neil Davidge part. His songs seem more “dubstep” and less “Halo”
> >
> > On the other hand, Kazuma Jinnouchi is the better composer, and his work seems more gives that Halo-ish vibe to it whereas Neil’s seems out of place with the scene that it plays at. Also, Kazuma is an actual 343i employee, so he has the advantage of having complete control of where is tracks are incorporated into the game.
>
> Incorrect. The placement of music is decided by the audio director, not the composer. I do agree that Kazuma did a better job with the Halo music though. There were many instances where i believed some of the music could have been utilised from CE into Halo 4…nonetheless, they were absent.

Regardless of whether or not the Composer get’s control of where the tracks are incorporated, Kazuma played an integral part within the studio’s audio team and I believe that he is also the Audio Director for 343i as well.

8

I agree with something like having the Halo theme back, I didn’t like the title screen music too much (until it becomes Green and Blue or Requiem), maybe a few pieces which sound like the Halo trilogy but I really don’t want any remixes (it felt like the whole Halo 3 soundtrack was remixes)

For energy, yup, more energetic tracks are needed, Convoy is pretty energetic and parts of 117 are, but that’s about it

I don’t really like Heavy Price Paid (maybe because of my dislike of Halo 2) and don’t think it would of fit well in Cortana’s death scene

Agree so much with the ODST part, I do think Wreckage did set the atmosphere rather well though

My only issue with the soundtrack is the lack of a real theme, I mean 117 and To Galaxy seem to be the two contenders for it, but I don’t know which one is the main one :confused:

Otherwise I think they did a great job making the music and I do like how characters have themes which seem to suit them

117 suits Chief

Green and Blue fits Cortana then Immaterial fits her rampant side

Revival fits the Ur-Didact

Solace for Halsey/Librarian

Lasky’s Theme for Lasky

I can’t say I’ve felt in previous Halo’s the characters have had a song which defines them.

I love Halo’s music, I’d like pieces to be reminiscent of the original trilogy, but the Reclaimer saga needs to have music that defines it

(And also use this song)

9

Honestly, I think its a problem on343i side as well for picking the right music, because the audio director is the one who chooses it for the game, there’s a lot of music in the bts video you get with the limited edition soundtrack that you never here in the game, and it sounds amazing.

10

> > > Hmm… As a Composer of Music, I’m going to have to disagree with you about the Neil Davidge part. His songs seem more “dubstep” and less “Halo”
> > >
> > > On the other hand, Kazuma Jinnouchi is the better composer, and his work seems more gives that Halo-ish vibe to it whereas Neil’s seems out of place with the scene that it plays at. Also, Kazuma is an actual 343i employee, so he has the advantage of having complete control of where is tracks are incorporated into the game.
> >
> > Incorrect. The placement of music is decided by the audio director, not the composer. I do agree that Kazuma did a better job with the Halo music though. There were many instances where i believed some of the music could have been utilised from CE into Halo 4…nonetheless, they were absent.
>
> Regardless of whether or not the Composer get’s control of where the tracks are incorporated, Kazuma played an integral part within the studio’s audio team and I believe that he is also the Audio Director for 343i as well.

No he’s not, Sotaro Tojima is. Though i am not sure how long that is gonna last after the heavy criticism that 343 received about the audio direction (aka music implementation). But as i said, i do agree with your previous point about the music.

11

> > > > Hmm… As a Composer of Music, I’m going to have to disagree with you about the Neil Davidge part. His songs seem more “dubstep” and less “Halo”
> > > >
> > > > On the other hand, Kazuma Jinnouchi is the better composer, and his work seems more gives that Halo-ish vibe to it whereas Neil’s seems out of place with the scene that it plays at. Also, Kazuma is an actual 343i employee, so he has the advantage of having complete control of where is tracks are incorporated into the game.
> > >
> > > Incorrect. The placement of music is decided by the audio director, not the composer. I do agree that Kazuma did a better job with the Halo music though. There were many instances where i believed some of the music could have been utilised from CE into Halo 4…nonetheless, they were absent.
> >
> > Regardless of whether or not the Composer get’s control of where the tracks are incorporated, Kazuma played an integral part within the studio’s audio team and I believe that he is also the Audio Director for 343i as well.
>
> <mark>No he’s not, Sotaro Tojima is</mark>. Though i am not sure how long that is gonna last after the heavy criticism that 343 received about the audio direction (aka music implementation). But as i said, i do agree with your previous point about the music.

Thank you for correcting me there - that was information that I could not locate on Halopedia.

If 343i does remove Sotaro Tojima from his role as the Audio Director, I really think that Kazuma should fill his place. That’s what Marty did, he had complete control over the soundtrack, and look how good the OST’s of the original games where.

12

> > > > > Hmm… As a Composer of Music, I’m going to have to disagree with you about the Neil Davidge part. His songs seem more “dubstep” and less “Halo”
> > > > >
> > > > > On the other hand, Kazuma Jinnouchi is the better composer, and his work seems more gives that Halo-ish vibe to it whereas Neil’s seems out of place with the scene that it plays at. Also, Kazuma is an actual 343i employee, so he has the advantage of having complete control of where is tracks are incorporated into the game.
> > > >
> > > > Incorrect. The placement of music is decided by the audio director, not the composer. I do agree that Kazuma did a better job with the Halo music though. There were many instances where i believed some of the music could have been utilised from CE into Halo 4…nonetheless, they were absent.
> > >
> > > Regardless of whether or not the Composer get’s control of where the tracks are incorporated, Kazuma played an integral part within the studio’s audio team and I believe that he is also the Audio Director for 343i as well.
> >
> > <mark>No he’s not, Sotaro Tojima is</mark>. Though i am not sure how long that is gonna last after the heavy criticism that 343 received about the audio direction (aka music implementation). But as i said, i do agree with your previous point about the music.
>
> Thank you for correcting me there - that was information that I could not locate on Halopedia.
>
> If 343i does remove Sotaro Tojima from his role as the Audio Director, I really think that Kazuma should fill his place. That’s what Marty did, he had complete control over the soundtrack, and look how good the OST’s of the original games where.

No probs. But thats my point. The reason why the music was so successful is because Marty knew exactly where he wanted to put the music for whichever scenes he thought were appropriate and at the volume he wanted it in, which proved to be very effective. 343i can either get a new audio director who can do a better job with song choice or just get Kazuma to do it, as you suggested…but wouldn’t they have done that from the start if that was the case?
NOTE: Halopedia has alot of flaws in its info, so just for next time try ‘Halo Nation - The official Halo wiki’. Its alot more accurate.

13

> Hmm… As a Composer of Music, I’m going to have to disagree with you about the Neil Davidge part. His songs seem more “dubstep” and less “Halo”

facedesk

There is no dubstep in Halo 4’s soundtrack. Electronc textures =/= dubstep, as a composer of music you should be fully aware of that. Dubstep is largely based on the use of bass and drum, compared to other Halo OSTs, Halo 4 has very little emphasis on these instruments.

This is dubstep, this is not and this is not.

The fanwank over Marty’s work and the incessant whining of people who think that Halo’s music can only have the “Halo feel” (which I’m still yet to see a definition of) if every track plays the nostalgia fiddle for them is sickening to me.

343 and the music team don’t need to pander to anybody, they’re going to produce music that fits the atmospheric and emotional tone of the direction the series is going because that’s the most important thing the music has to do. That’s exactly what ODST did by completely overhauling the style of music Halo is known for and subverting a few of the original tunes - oh, but Marty did it so it’s immediately at god-tier status, god forbid anybody else do it for the same reasons because “it’s just not Halo” then!

When it comes to Halo 's music, the past 9 months have shown just how extraordinarily fickle some Halo fans can be…

14

> That’s exactly what ODST did by completely overhauling the style of music Halo is known for and subverting a few of the original tunes - oh, but Marty did it so it’s immediately at god-tier status, god forbid anybody else do it for the same reasons because “it’s just not Halo” then!

Maybe because the ODST soundtrack fit the game to a tooth, was extremely appealing to listen to and set the bar for future Halo music to a new level?

15

> > Hmm… As a Composer of Music, I’m going to have to disagree with you about the Neil Davidge part. His songs seem more “dubstep” and less “Halo”
>
> facedesk
>
> There is no dubstep in Halo 4’s soundtrack. Electronc textures =/= dubstep, as a composer of music you should be fully aware of that. Dubstep is largely based on the use of bass and drum, compared to other Halo OSTs, Halo 4 has very little emphasis on these instruments.
>
> This is dubstep, this is not and this is not.

Okay, maybe Dubstep wasn’t the right word for it. The point that I was saying was that Halo 4’s music (Neil’s in particular) had a large emphasis on fake electronic sounds, which really shatters the “Halo feel” that it could have had. Ascendancy, Nemesis, Faithless, and Revival all use those annoying electronic sounds.

> The fanwank over Marty’s work and the incessant whining of people who think that Halo’s music can only have the “Halo feel” (which I’m still yet to see a definition of) if every track plays the nostalgia fiddle for them is sickening to me.

Halo Feel: When a particular song uses instruments such as monk choirs, strings, piano, and celtic drums to portray a thematic feel of wonder, emotion, or ambition.

While I have nothing against Neil as a composer, Green and Blue was a truly beautiful song, his music strayed away from what one would have expected in a Halo game. None of Neil’s tracks really gave me the goosebumps like how Kazuma’s or Marty’s did, and me expressing my dislike of Neil’s work isn’t whining and it certainly isn’t incessant!

> 343 and the music team don’t need to pander to anybody, they’re going to produce music that fits the atmospheric and emotional tone of the direction the series is going because that’s the most important thing the music has to do. That’s exactly what ODST did by completely overhauling the style of music Halo is known for and subverting a few of the original tunes - oh, but Marty did it so it’s immediately at god-tier status, god forbid anybody else do it for the same reasons because “it’s just not Halo” then!

343 and their team is going to have to pander to me if they want me to buy their soundtracks, and if they have an entire ocean between their studio and lead composer again - they’re going to fail at correctly implementing the tracks into the game again.

ODST didn’t overhaul the style of music as much as Halo 4 did. ODST still adhered to the Halo feel while adding it’s own niche to it. Halo 4 just turned it into a generic sci-fi soundtrack with all of the Electronic sounds, and the songs themselves were terribly implemented.

If I were criticizing Halo 4’s sountrack because of not being “Marty’s god-tier status” then I certainly wouldn’t be praising Kazuma for doing a better job than Neil.

> When it comes to Halo 's music, the past 9 months have shown just how extraordinarily fickle some Halo fans can be…

Expressing your disagreement with my views was something that I respected, but how you just insulted the Halo Community right there was disgusting.

16

> The <mark>fanwank</mark> over Marty’s work and the <mark>incessant whining</mark> of people who think that Halo’s music can only have the “Halo feel” (which I’m still yet to see a definition of) if every track plays the <mark>nostalgia fiddle</mark> for them is sickening to me.
>
> 343 and the music team don’t need to pander to anybody, they’re going to produce music that fits the atmospheric and emotional tone of the direction the series is going because that’s the most important thing the music has to do. That’s exactly what ODST did by completely overhauling the style of music Halo is known for and subverting a few of the original tunes - oh, but Marty did it so it’s immediately at god-tier status, god forbid anybody else do it for the same reasons because “it’s just not Halo” then!
>
> When it comes to Halo 's music, the past 9 months have shown just how extraordinarily fickle some Halo fans can be…

Get off your high-horse and cut that out. You will not garner any respect on these forums with an attitude like that.

Those that like Marty’s work more than Neil Davidge do so because they actually like it more. Is that surprising? There is no “fanwank,” the “incessant whining” is wrongfully-named consumer feedback, and what about a “nostalgia fiddle?” Let me get out my tiny bigot violin and play that for you instead.

I largely dislike the views of those who assume that anybody who has an appreciation for past work is neck-deep in nostalgia. This is simply not true. Now while there is no pure definition for what gives music a “Halo feel,” there are recognizable elements in a lot of Marty’s older work that contribute to that feel. Monk choir vocals, driving drum beats, strings, etc. I’ll even go as far as to say that certain chord scales used in the tracks had a certain Halo feel to them.

In my personal opinion, “electronic textures” don’t really fit with Halo.

17

> > > > > > Hmm… As a Composer of Music, I’m going to have to disagree with you about the Neil Davidge part. His songs seem more “dubstep” and less “Halo”
> > > > > >
> > > > > > On the other hand, Kazuma Jinnouchi is the better composer, and his work seems more gives that Halo-ish vibe to it whereas Neil’s seems out of place with the scene that it plays at. Also, Kazuma is an actual 343i employee, so he has the advantage of having complete control of where is tracks are incorporated into the game.
> > > > >
> > > > > Incorrect. The placement of music is decided by the audio director, not the composer. I do agree that Kazuma did a better job with the Halo music though. There were many instances where i believed some of the music could have been utilised from CE into Halo 4…nonetheless, they were absent.
> > > >
> > > > Regardless of whether or not the Composer get’s control of where the tracks are incorporated, Kazuma played an integral part within the studio’s audio team and I believe that he is also the Audio Director for 343i as well.
> > >
> > > <mark>No he’s not, Sotaro Tojima is</mark>. Though i am not sure how long that is gonna last after the heavy criticism that 343 received about the audio direction (aka music implementation). But as i said, i do agree with your previous point about the music.
> >
> > Thank you for correcting me there - that was information that I could not locate on Halopedia.
> >
> > If 343i does remove Sotaro Tojima from his role as the Audio Director, I really think that Kazuma should fill his place. That’s what Marty did, he had complete control over the soundtrack, and look how good the OST’s of the original games where.
>
> No probs. But thats my point. The reason why the music was so successful is because Marty knew exactly where he wanted to put the music for whichever scenes he thought were appropriate and at the volume he wanted it in, which proved to be very effective. 343i can either get a new audio director who can do a better job with song choice or just get Kazuma to do it, as you suggested…but wouldn’t they have done that from the start if that was the case?
> NOTE: Halopedia has alot of flaws in its info, so just for next time try <mark>‘Halo Nation - The official Halo wiki’. Its alot more accurate.</mark>

Not to get off topic or anything, but I have to warn you of the truth behind Halo Nation…

A few years ago, Halopedia had to change it’s URL from Halo.wikia.com to Halopedia.org. This was because of some issue with Wikia restricting some of their freedom as a webpage so they left Wikia and became their own independant site. With Halopedia leaving Halo.Wikia.com, Halo Nation was it’s replacement.

Because of this, while you might think that Halo Nation is the “proper” Halo wiki because of it’s URL, that’s actually not true. Halopedia is not only proven to be more credible, but it actually predates Halo Nation and has been widely accepted as the “Official Halo Wiki” long before Halo Nation even existed.

Also, Halopedia isn’t ad-ridden like how Halo Nation is, and it’s structure is more “formal” and more akin to Wikipedia.

18

> > > > > > Hmm… As a Composer of Music, I’m going to have to disagree with you about the Neil Davidge part. His songs seem more “dubstep” and less “Halo”
> > > > > >
> > > > > > On the other hand, Kazuma Jinnouchi is the better composer, and his work seems more gives that Halo-ish vibe to it whereas Neil’s seems out of place with the scene that it plays at. Also, Kazuma is an actual 343i employee, so he has the advantage of having complete control of where is tracks are incorporated into the game.
> > > > >
> > > > > Incorrect. The placement of music is decided by the audio director, not the composer. I do agree that Kazuma did a better job with the Halo music though. There were many instances where i believed some of the music could have been utilised from CE into Halo 4…nonetheless, they were absent.
> > > >
> > > > Regardless of whether or not the Composer get’s control of where the tracks are incorporated, Kazuma played an integral part within the studio’s audio team and I believe that he is also the Audio Director for 343i as well.
> > >
> > > <mark>No he’s not, Sotaro Tojima is</mark>. Though i am not sure how long that is gonna last after the heavy criticism that 343 received about the audio direction (aka music implementation). But as i said, i do agree with your previous point about the music.
> >
> > Thank you for correcting me there - that was information that I could not locate on Halopedia.
> >
> > If 343i does remove Sotaro Tojima from his role as the Audio Director, I really think that Kazuma should fill his place. That’s what Marty did, he had complete control over the soundtrack, and look how good the OST’s of the original games where.
>
> No probs. But thats my point. The reason why the music was so successful is because Marty knew exactly where he wanted to put the music for whichever scenes he thought were appropriate and at the volume he wanted it in, which proved to be very effective. 343i can either get a new audio director who can do a better job with song choice or just get Kazuma to do it, as you suggested…but wouldn’t they have done that from the start if that was the case?
> NOTE: Halopedia has alot of flaws in its info, so just for next time try ‘Halo Nation- The official Halo wiki’. Its alot more accurate.

Ah… no.
Halopedia is more reliable than Halo Nation.

On topic: I think the problem with Halo 4’s music was not the music itself, but the implementation. It wasn’t implemented very good, save for a few tracks.

For me, thats what made Halo 3’s music+campaign combo so memorable, it was implemented extremely well. Those areas seemed like they were made for the track there, or vice versa.
Farthest Outpost playing as they appear over the Ark, Heroes also Fall during Truth’s speech, Halo Reborn playing as they reach the new Halo. Those tracks fit well and boosted the memorability.

Halo 4 didn’t do that as well. There were some good spots, Haven going up the lift on Requiem, Revival playing during the Didact’s Cometh, Arrival during the end of Midnight, 117 at the Broadsword Run. Otherwise, cutscenes seemed almost bare, or the volume was turned down. Gameplay didn’t have many exciting tracks, and if there were some they either didn’t use the good parts or just didn’t put them in well.

As some have mentioned, having a composer that works directly with the team is probably the best way to accomplish this. They know more about what the scene and environment is supposed to feel like, and they can better adapt a score to fit it and place it perfectly. Doing this should also give more of a “Halo Feel” if the people setting up the scene do their jobs right. Epic will go along with epic. Sad will go along with sad. Combat does not go along with ground-breaking reveal.

19

> Halo 4’s music (Neil’s in particular) had a large emphasis on fake electronic sounds, which really shatters the “Halo feel” that it could have had.

All the Halo OSTs have tracks which have an emphasis on “fake electronic sounds”, it doesn’t shatter the “Halo feel” at all because there is no such thing.

> Halo Feel: When a particular song uses instruments such as monk choirs, strings, piano, and celtic drums to portray a thematic feel of wonder, emotion, or ambition.

Translation: Anything that Marty has made.

You don’t need monks, strings, the piano or drumbeats to convey “wonder, emotion, or ambition”. And even then, Halo 4 does plenty of that - Legacy, Solace, Haven, Requiem, Atonement, Aliens, Lasky’s Theme, Foreshadow, Sacrifice and Majestic all use some combination of the things you’ve just said…

> his music strayed away from what one would have expected in a Halo game.

Because the story is thematically changing to accommodate a completely different atmosphere than the original trilogy and throwbacks to Halo CE-3 are made in the music when contextually necessary. The feeling of exploration and awe-inspiring vistas, ancient technology, mourning and discovery are all present at the start of the game and then begin to be subverted and change as the once inert Forerunner tehnology comes alive - something we’ve never seen before which the music has to adapt to.

> None of Neil’s tracks really gave me the goosebumps like how Kazuma’s or Marty’s did

I have no idea how you can listen to something like Belly of the Beast, Arrival, Awakening or Revival and be completely unaffected by it…

> and me expressing my dislike of Neil’s work isn’t whining and it certainly isn’t incessant!

I didn’t specifically call you out on that, i was referring to anybody who hates on Halo 4’s OST simply because it didn’t try to copy everything Marty did.

> 343 and their team is going to have to pander to me if they want me to buy their soundtracks

That’s the most childish, one-dimensional and self-indulgent thing you’ve said so far.

> and if they have an entire ocean between their studio and lead composer again - they’re going to fail at correctly implementing the tracks into the game again.

Neil being away from the studio wasn’t what resulted in the music being implemented poorly, it was the fact that the music was either quiet to the point of it being inaudible over the sounds of gameplay or not being present at all.

> ODST didn’t overhaul the style of music as much as Halo 4 did.

Yes it did considering that it was the first time the music had broken away significantly from CE-3’s themes and the majority of tracks were nothing like those that had come before.

> ODST still adhered to the Halo feel while adding it’s own niche to it. Halo 4 just turned it into a generic sci-fi soundtrack with all of the Electronic sounds, and the songs themselves were terribly implemented.

Sigh…

And here we have it at last, the same thing everybody who hates on Halo 4’s OST comes out with. Electronic sounds DO NOT instantly make a soundtrak generic, by the very definition of the word generic then every Halo ost is “generic sci-fi” because they all pertain to a single group or genre.

ODST did not “adhere to the Halo feel”, primarily because there is no “Halo feel”, but so few tracks had any throwbacks or similarities to any of the previous Halo scores.

> how you just insulted the Halo Community right there was disgusting.

No it wasn’t. The Halo community is by far one of the most frustratingly fickle, one-dimensional, immovably stubborn and conservative communities I’ve ever been a part of. Ever since 2004 things have just got worse and worse… The Halo community, along with the vast majority of video game fanbases, deserves every insult it gets.

> Get off your high-horse and cut that out. You will not garner any respect on these forums with an attitude like that.

Given that I’ve been here for almost 3 years and am more than familiar with this community I neither need nor feel any desire to win anybody’s “respect”. The amount of people who I have seen cast aside Halo 4’s OST simply because it took a different direction to Marty’s scores is ridiculous so I feel that my contempt towards those people is well justified.

> Those that like Marty’s work more than Neil Davidge do so because they actually like it more. Is that surprising?

Obviously not because music taste is entirely subjective, though you’re making just as great a generalisation as you’re accusing me of by referring to an entire group of people as universally having the same thought process.

> There is no “fanwank,”

Oh yes there is! You can’t have been around much if you honestly think that.

> the “incessant whining” is wrongfully-named consumer feedback, and what about a “nostalgia fiddle?”

The nostalgia fiddle speaks for itself… it refers to the point I was making about those who hate on Davidge’s score simply because it doesn’t sound exactly like Marty’s scores.

> Let me get out my tiny bigot violin and play that for you instead.

I’m not sure you understand what a bigot is. I’m perfectly tolerant of people who have an opinion different to mine, but when they fail to give said opinion any substance and hate something simply because it’s different then I’m going to call them out on that.

That’s not bigotry…

> I largely dislike the views of those who assume that anybody who has an appreciation for past work is neck-deep in nostalgia.

It’s funny because I never said that anybody and everybody who likes Marty’s scores over Neil’s is “neck-deep in nostalgia”.

> This is simply not true.

Precisely why I didn’t say it…

> Now while there is no pure definition for what gives music a “Halo feel,” there are recognizable elements in a lot of Marty’s older work that contribute to that feel. Monk choir vocals, driving drum beats, strings, etc. I’ll even go as far as to say that certain chord scales used in the tracks had a certain Halo feel to them.
>
> In my personal opinion, “electronic textures” don’t really fit with Halo.

Ok, but they have been a part of the “Halo sound” for a long time before Halo 4.

20

In my personal opinion, “electronic textures” don’t really fit with Halo.
[/quote]
Ok, but they have been a part of the “Halo sound” for a long time before Halo 4.
[/quote]
Any many people argued that those songs didn’t fit Halo, also there’s no problem with the guitar in halo music as long as its used properly. The problem with Halo 4’smusic is that there’s too much Fake electronic sounds almost like dub step. If you watched the music BTS that you get with the limited edition soundtrack, you would know, as a lot of the sounds and music was made in FL Studio, a program primarily used to make electronic music and dub step, and most of the backbeats for about 90% of the pop and rap songs you hear on the radio today. There IS a Halo feel to music, do you think bands such as mega death should do the music for Halo, if there’s no Halo feel, how about Eminem? How do you think a fan can distinguish Halo fan made music, from star wars fan made music.

This is the kind of electronic nonsense were trying to tell you of.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oDCPnNgG10&list=UUQnfW5NV1Qx61b9zE43AjMg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4GMYnK-8Tw&list=UUQnfW5NV1Qx61b9zE43AjMg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsKK3X9-5B8&list=UUQnfW5NV1Qx61b9zE43AjMg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-gKDnNzyAs&list=UUQnfW5NV1Qx61b9zE43AjMg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCHVpjQ5n_E&list=UUQnfW5NV1Qx61b9zE43AjMg