Music of Half Life

[-HP-]

Loved this random video I found about the games music! The nostalgia is real.

 

[Radu]

Gotta say I've never heard in all these years someone to match Kelly Bailey despite all the mods and people trying to replicate the music.

Edited December 20, 2020 by Radu

[Buddy]

Dude has a dope name too, liam TRIFORCE

[blackdog]

22 hours ago, ┌HP┘ said:

Loved this random video I found about the games music! The nostalgia is real.

Interesting angle, hadn't seen this kind of analysis before.
Pity the guy spoils the ending of Alyx without any fucking warning! 

Talking about the content though, I feel this Liam guy is reversing the production pipeline... correct me if I'm wrong, the pacing of a map is not based around a music track: it comes through the narrative and gameplay beats, so is the result of the work of writers and level designers.

Also, way too much artistic appreciation is given to silence. I don't want to take anything away from Bailey, but I would guess the stretches of silence were due to budget limitations rather than artistic choice... except the choice of not going for looping themes that is. The analysis suggests the silences are carefully studied and paced, but the way soundscapes are setup don't support that theory for me.

Personally, I always found HL lacking in the sound department, with the tracks triggering too suddenly to punctuate certain events, breaking immersion in a sense, rather than pushing me further in... they would clearly inform you that "something is gonna happen now".

This especially around the time HL2 came out (2004), as other games evolved in either direction, layering looping soundtracks (Splinter Cell, 2005) or accentuating the environment (Doom 3, 2004).
It is only with the HL2 Episodes delivered what HL2 should have from the start, and we kinda have the proof of that straight from the mouth of the devs, because it's when they were working on the Episodes that all the talk about "peaks and valleys" came about, as everybody recognised HL2 had been stretched out in terms of levels.

 

20 hours ago, Radu said:

Gotta say I've never heard in all these years someone to match Kelly Bailey despite all the mods and people trying to replicate the music.

figure my surprise when I read in the comments that some tracks are mostly made of samples from packs.

[Lizard]

1 hour ago, blackdog said:

Interesting angle, hadn't seen this kind of analysis before.
Pity the guy spoils the ending of Alyx without any fucking warning! 

Talking about the content though, I feel this Liam guy is reversing the production pipeline... correct me if I'm wrong, the pacing of a map is not based around a music track: it comes through the narrative and gameplay beats, so is the result of the work of writers and level designers.

Also, way too much artistic appreciation is given to silence. I don't want to take anything away from Bailey, but I would guess the stretches of silence were due to budget limitations rather than artistic choice... except the choice of not going for looping themes that is. The analysis suggests the silences are carefully studied and paced, but the way soundscapes are setup don't support that theory for me.

Personally, I always found HL lacking in the sound department, with the tracks triggering too suddenly to punctuate certain events, breaking immersion in a sense, rather than pushing me further in... they would clearly inform you that "something is gonna happen now".

This especially around the time HL2 came out (2004), as other games evolved in either direction, layering looping soundtracks (Splinter Cell, 2005) or accentuating the environment (Doom 3, 2004).
It is only with the HL2 Episodes delivered what HL2 should have from the start, and we kinda have the proof of that straight from the mouth of the devs, because it's when they were working on the Episodes that all the talk about "peaks and valleys" came about, as everybody recognised HL2 had been stretched out in terms of levels.

 

figure my surprise when I read in the comments that some tracks are mostly made of samples from packs.

Yeah I think there is some audio voodoo in his video. He talked about this track that plays when you are on the bridge on your way to nova prospect and how the low bit rate or some shit is adding to the eerie feeling of the environment. I bet someone at valve selected wrong preset when exporting audio

I talked with @Radu about this video today and I had the same feeling. Some parts seems a bit stretched for sure but... I think its the same way for all the level design gurus on twitter where they draw some lines on the screenshots screaming " LEADING LINES". Maybe the original creator didn't put this there intentionally but if you feel like this red cable pushed you into right direction then thats cool. I think its the same way with audio and music. Sure some parts are crafted exactly to invoke some emotions but sometimes it is just a happy accident. 

[Buddy]

10 hours ago, blackdog said:

figure my surprise when I read in the comments that some tracks are mostly made of samples from packs.

Yeah, I've heard bits of HL1 tracks in movies and other content. Must've been a stock pack that was popular at that time.

Edited December 22, 2020 by Buddy

[Pampers]

2 hours ago, Buddy said:

Yeah, I've heard bits of HL1 tracks in movies and other content. Must've been a stock pack that was popular at that time.

pretty sure The Witcher 3 is using the same sample pack as Heroes of Might and Magic 4

[-HP-]

Yeah, dude there's this sound that's used in Max Payne 1, it's a open / close door sound, and I swear that every other movie from the early 2000s uses the exact same clip, ahah. 

[Pampers]

18 minutes ago, ┌HP┘ said:

Yeah, dude there's this sound that's used in Max Payne 1, it's a open / close door sound, and I swear that every other movie from the early 2000s uses the exact same clip, ahah. 

is it this one? timestamped

[Radu]

Oh yeah, is anyone going to post some hl sfx videos? Ok

 

 

 

[Radu]

 

[Radu]