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#Halo

12/18/2010 10:11:39 AM
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The Music of Halo: Reach Dissected.

[b]WARNING! WARNING! LONG, LONG, POST! DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE NOT INTERESTED IN HALO: REACH'S MUSIC![/b] [i]Foreword: This thread is basically about the music of Reach and how its themes are related to the past Halo games. If you're not interested in details and want a particular song, scroll down to the list. Also: Please tell me if you'd be interested in a thread for all of the Halo games' music.[/i] [b]Caveat: Although I find myself decently talented with music, my descriptions are not always the most technical. I apologize to those of you with more extensive musical knowledge than I and welcome corrections to my word usage.[/b] Halo: Reach's music is, on the surface, possibly the largest departure from the original style of Halo that Marty O'Donnell has made. This can seem jarring, but a Halo fan with a sharp ear will actually be able to identify that Marty isn't as detached from the original Halo themes as we may think he is. Throughout this post, I'll be going through each track in Halo: Reach and picking it apart, noting when themes are reused or established. My system: As I explain a song, I will put a number between two brackets, which will be used throughout the post as certain themes recur. The themes are notated as [#] and drumbeats are notated separately as [d#]. Themes followed by a number (e.g. [1b]) are variants of another theme. If I name a new theme without describing it, that means it's original. [b]I've provided links to simplify the experience, but you'll still need to pay a fair amount of attention here.[/b] [quote][/quote] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UB5h5YF__JA][b]Overture:[/b][/url] This piece contains only one original song. As such, I won't be notating it extensively. 0:00 - Beginning of theme [1] 0:14 - A new song. Vaguely reminiscent of Middle-Eastern style music. At 1:22, we hear a variant of theme [1] that I'll dub as theme [1b]. 2:01 - Theme [1c] 3:18 - Theme [2] 3:48 - Theme [3] [quote][/quote] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGXbwb7K_kg][b]Winter Contingency:[/b][/url] 0:00 - We hear theme [1] in its "full" form along with [d1]. Starts with the first three notes of the Halo theme, but changes as it goes into a different scale (Phrygian?). The melody with the strings at 0:58 we hear (which is arguably Reach's theme) is actually not original. It was pulled directly from the first theme Halo 3's [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLmKxAiKM2A]"Farthest Outpost."[/url] 3:09 - [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnXwhcOClbk]VGA World Premiere theme.[/url] Only difference from "Lone Wolf" is minor percussion in the initial brass opening. 5:32 - Amelodic cellos. No repetition. 6:24 - Drumbeat [d2] 7:10 - Theme [4] 8:02 - Starts out with a melody like [1b], but becomes its own. 9:38 - Theme [5] 10:36 - Theme [6] seems original, but the baseline is that of the latter half of the [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnXwhcOClbk]VGA theme.[/url] Another theme emerges for about six seconds at the end, but I'm not expanding upon it because it's theme [3]. [quote][/quote] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-tC27YCChA][b]ONI: Sword Base:[/b][/url] 0:00 - Original theme but drumbeat [d3]. 1:54 - New theme, but has the last two notes of the Arbiter's theme (Think of [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gl6JlT8AFAY]"Cortege" from Halo 2's "Sacred Icon Suite"[/url]) 2:58 - New theme, but contains the full theme from "Cortege." 4:45 - Drumbeat [d2] 5:25 - Original theme. 5:51 - A bit of theme [1] mixed with the Reach [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtCEkWWixIc]announcement trailer theme ("We're not going anywhere")[/url], which combined, I'll call theme [7]. [quote][/quote] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s07rRQqmpJc][b]Nightfall:[/b][/url] 0:00 - Original, amelodic. Interesting note is that at 2:28 you can hear a slight beat that was also used in ODST. 2:55 - Theme [4] with a little expansion. 3:58 - Theme [6] expanded. 5:15 - Them [1c] abridged. [quote][/quote] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ePw5-70JZk][b]Tip of the Spear:[/b][/url] 0:00 - A direct adaptation of the [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylLAsTNDWU8]Halo theme[/url] to Reach's scale (which I believe is Phrygian). 3:04 - Original theme. 4:13 - Original theme. 5:06 - Original theme, with the drums being used at the end of the "A Spartan Will Rise" ViDoc. [quote][/quote] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9jn2zvaqOk][b]Long Night of Solace:[/b][/url] 0:00 - Brass of [1] leading into expanded version of [1c]. 2:35 - Theme [5] brought back with drums and extra guitar work. 4:25 - Original theme. 5:36 - Theme [1] with just strings. 6:58 - Original theme. 9:15 - Original theme. 9:55 - Theme [1] with no percussion. [quote][/quote] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBsHTZYtb3A][b]Exodus:[/b][/url] 0:00 - First two notes of theme [1] leading into a slow version of [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD21I2tlEaM]"In Amber Clad"[/url] from Halo 2. 1:29 - Original theme leading to drumbeat [d4]. 2:32 - Theme that I'll call [9]. 3:15 - Theme [7] 5:42 - Drumbeat [d5] with a direct adaptation of the music played at the end of [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w_gLF45HTM&feature=player_detailpage#t=254s]"The Menagerie" from ODST[/url]; just a little less melodic. 6:44 - Theme [7] [quote][/quote] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrQkfzgiwnc][b]New Alexandria:[/b][/url] 0:00 - Theme [2] is very reminiscent of the progression of musical ideas and repetition as [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHAhf0F868Y]"Epilogue"[/url] from Halo 2. 2:41 - Theme [4] abridged. 3:22 - An evolution of the beginning of the [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXMbLLLyuCs]Mausoleum Suite[/url] from Halo 2. 4:56 - Original theme. 5:54 - Original theme. 7:08 - Theme [3] [quote][/quote] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2WwMXbdPJA][b]The Package:[/b][/url] 0:00 - Theme [8]. Side note: Reminiscent at one point of part of [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz0b4STz1lo&feature=player_detailpage#t=174s]"Jupiter"[/url] from Holst's "The Planets." Not Halo related but still. 0:57 - Reminiscent of parts of [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=GLmKxAiKM2A#t=124s]"Farthest Outpost"[/url] from Halo 3. 1:56 - Original theme with bass line reminiscent of [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnXwhcOClbk]"Lone Wolf"[/url] from the VGA World Premiere trailer. 3:06 - Original theme with the beginnings of the drums from [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnXwhcOClbk]"Lone Wolf."[/url] 3:31 - Original theme but at 4:27 it has bits of theme [1c]. 5:22 - Original until 5:43 when it becomes the beginning of Cortana's [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFJW9YdSGPA]"Keep What You Steal"[/url] from Halo 3. [quote][/quote] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvbfN_wPzBY][b]Pillar of Autumn:[/b][/url] 0:00 - Theme [1] with no percussion and a little more edge. 1:31 - Drumbeat [d4] with an evolution of theme [1]. 3:18 - Theme [9] with brass. 4:58 - Original theme. 6:12 - The cello parts of the second half of [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnXwhcOClbk]"Lone Wolf"[/url] leading into drumbeat [d1]. 8:58 - Drumbeat [d5] with glissando. [quote][/quote] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZViMbs_wrE][b]Epilogue:[/b][/url] 0:00 - Theme [8] in piano form. 0:55 - Amelodic but original. 2:07 - Theme [2] [quote][/quote] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E5qCuBq0ko][b]From the Vault:[/b][/url] It truly is from the vault; these themes are from all Halo games. 0:00 - This whole part (minus the drums which are Reach-specific) is from Halo 3's [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLmKxAiKM2A]"Farthest Outpost"[/url] but also should make you think of theme [1] because of Farthest Outpost being theme [1]'s progenitor. 1:13 - From [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGqS1okHH60&feature=player_detailpage#t=45s]"Impend"[/url] from Halo 2. 2:11 - From [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUF17cd8mKk]"The Maw"[/url] from Halo 1. 2:39 - From [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa306R6JaHA&feature=player_detailpage#t=74s]"Ghosts of Reach"[/url] from Halo 2. 3:25 - From the end of [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAcEfmC3-OA&feature=player_detailpage#t=235s]"Behold a Pale Horse"[/url] from Halo 3. [quote][/quote] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EHt7k-vT1U][b]Ashes:[/b][/url] The whole song is an extended theme [3]. [quote][/quote] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FAIWdjipw0][b]Fortress:[/b][/url] Original. [quote][/quote] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtCEkWWixIc][b]We're Not Going Anywhere:[/b][/url] Announcement trailer music. [quote][/quote] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mu6eOO-q59M][b]At Any Cost:[/b][/url] Original, but uses drumbeat [d3] from ONI: Sword Base. [quote][/quote] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGO36c3JI3g][b]Both Ways (Remix):[/b][/url] This is a remix of the remix of a piece from ODST's [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=GL3UmzvmL2E#t=150s]"The Office of Naval Intelligence."[/url] [quote][/quote] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQyLgmNgl5Q][b]Walking Away:[/b][/url] Reach's throwback to [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t97u9qmgwN0]"A Walk in the Woods"[/url] from Halo 1 and [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9SbzVbpgMA]"Heretic, Hero"[/url] from Halo 2. [quote][/quote] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QDl2XTAPvE][b]Ghosts and Glass:[/b][/url] Theme [8] extended. [quote][/quote] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXgXgsTYV2Y][b]We Remember:[/b][/url] Theme [2] with electric guitar added.
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  • I did notice this when listening to the soundtrack. However, it is a great soundtrack and a great dissection. I followed the music through with your notes. Not too complex, not too simple.

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