How the Half-Life Credits theme was made (Vocals still unknown)

[@utc_3]

I feel like people dont talk enough about how good half-life music is

[@smolchungus5647]

i mean it's made with just stock presets lol

[@spbalance]

@@smolchungus5647 Oh you sweet summer child

[@manformerlypigbukkit]

@@smolchungus5647nobody tell him that’s 99.99% of music made after the 70s

[@pass9786]

​@@smolchungus5647just because something is made with presets doesn't mean its not good

[@zxbryc]

@@pass9786 You're right, but most of the time people who use premade loops lack skill and are looking for shortcuts. I got a love/hate relationship with it. The composer of Silent Hill also relied heavily on sample CDs, but he really made it his own. But there's so much toxic stuff out there today of producers looking for cheats hoping to go viral with trash music. Need a balanced perspective.

[@AppaBoy]

The snare roll at the start is also from mc303, F-48 preset

[@therealburneraccount5466]

Damn, I completely missed that one! nice catch

[@TheCALMInstitute]

Man hearing that opening riff gave me chills, this game made such a huge impression on me, and winning felt SO GOOD!

[@colt1n]

0:00 MY GOD, THIS SAMPLE FROM THE BEGINNING IS IN TEKKEN 5 TOO, I WAS CRAZY LOOKING FOR THIS (Tekken 5 - Streets) Or is it VERY similar

[@nezerat]

same sample :)

[@awii.neocities]

lots of stuff by Zero-G was used in games. What ties Max Payne, POSTAL, Silent Hill 2, and Half Life 2 together? They all use samples from Zero-G.

[@behelit1997]

In GTA 5 too, in one of the first chase scenes

[@Dalek22comments]

This is an amazing find, well done.

[@synchro505]

So expertly deconstructed and explained. Brilliant production of these tracks. Many thanks.

[@pinkjelly6014]

THE HALF-LIFE SOUND TRACK GOES SO HARDDD!!!

[@-._Radixerus_.-]

Really goes to show how even if you literally don't compose anything, you can still make something better than anyone could have imagined

[@vlc-cosplayer]

"how even if you literally don't compose anything" DJ Shadow's "Endtroducing.....", vaporwave, and plunderphonics in general: 👀 Picking a set of samples, and making them sound good together, is a skill in itself! It's like how photography takes a different skill set than, but has the same artistic dignity as, traditional painting.

[@pejwl_music]

nah this is composing. it's not sound design. in 90s there weren't such possibilities in electronic music as there are today. musicians had to use physical synths and samplers and had to be creative. this theme song is actually pretty simple cuz it's just some samples and presets, but that's fairly enough for a game soundtrack imo

[@pejwl_music]

​@@vlc-cosplayerback in the days yeah. doing such now... I'd say it's kinda lame and cheating. unless you do it authentically with hardware sampler

[@steveskeletonneii6336]

@@pejwl_music A nature photographer finding the perfect subject and getting the angles and framing just right, is no less than a photographer who makes everything from scratch and assembles a scene from props and actors.

[@pejwl_music]

@@steveskeletonneii6336 I wasn't talking about photographing. I don't think it's the best comparison

[@MagnetismR]

Guess this means I'll have to make more remakes. You're doing a great service. Sourcing sound samples is one of my favorite parts of the long tail.

[@ianizer1]

Thank you so much for including that Google Docs link. I finally found the sources of Disco a Go-Go from TimeSplitters: Future Perfect! I hear fragments of Disco a Go-Go everywhere so it was kinda meaningful to me lol

[@piggosalternateaccount4917]

Incredibly well presented and edited. Truly great content

[@behelit1997]

0:00 This sample was also used in one of GTA V's mission songs, probably used in the jewel heist mission's chase scene or in the gang fight mission with franklin, lamar and scretch. Sounds similar to GTA V tho

[@Hainbach]

That was wonderful, thank you for the breakdown l.

[@nolram]

Hainbach on a video about Half-Life music? What an unexpected delight!

[@ursulmusic]

Ha, nice to find you here!

[@behelit1997]

Synth multiverse

[@snax-e3t]

0:27 GODDAMIT, WAHT A DROP

[@Basketeerr]

7\

[@FdLek]

nice pfp

[@MerlinErdogmus]

Gnarly! Never thought I'd see multiple videos that deconstruct what songs were made of. Looking right into the DNA of a track. Awesome video! Thanks man!

[@C.S.Argudo]

Finally YT algo giving me the GOOD sample breakdowns. All jokes aside thank you for looking back and making this, game music goes unrecognized

[@akis_0264]

Yo let's get more like this

[@ПётрПавловский-щ1х]

i agree!

[@AkymarsDoc]

Ooooh, so the melody sequence is a Zero-G sample, that explains why i've heard similar sounds in other soundtracks, like Tekken 5

[@stefankatic1337]

I swear Tekken 3 has this trancy techno 90s sound to it too

[@JurassicTrance]

holy shit! can't believe this video exists! Been obsessed with that track since I first heard it

[@transcendtient]

It's so weird how so much game music back in the day was just off the shelf stuff.

[@YoutubeUser2013lol]

I found tons of these sounds before and I was waiting for somebody to make a video as I didn't feel like it. Good work man!

[@AlexandrAlikin]

This is amazing, I wish there was an analysis of other songs. Btw, in the track “Self Destruction” from Episode 1, used Track 2 sample 5 from the same collection and lowered by one octave.

[@shadowrage2593]

Finest example of making the most out of what you got.

[@evernam993m8]

From music producer like myself, every soundtrack half life is genius.

[@saeby67]

zero-g is almost in every old video game music for some reason.

[@KnapfordMaster98]

There’s definitely another drum track layered under the 909, playing more notes on the kick drum.

[@LivingBreathingRedFlag]

This has been buried deep in my mind. Thank you for surfacing the treasured memory and feeling of this song.

[@sylarclark3804]

Man valve was cooking with some good stuff

[@j-nius3042]

Vocal Sample could be from another Zero-G or from a Spectrasonics sampling CD. Also sounds like a house sample

[@halfsine]

probably the best half life 1 song

[@mariocamspam72]

Holy shit this is incredible, awesome find

[@offspringfan89]

Great job finding the samples, please make more videos like this.

[@Max1m005]

Check vocal from Zero-G Vocal Lix, phrases female, beautiful eyes. I hope it will help.

[@Xthysdws]

YAS THX

[@Tracequaza]

thank you for your efforts in researching and collating this information, I'm sure it will be valuable in the future (more than it is now!)

[@ileryon4019]

clearly an acid sequence without distortion. perhaps some flanger, too. clearly has delay.

[@sonny_trinitron]

This song gives me goose bumps. I remember playing this as a kid when everything seemed so easy and innocent...

[@christopherfarrell-artist3557]

I have an MC-303 and had no idea it was used for parts of the HL music. The preset sounds are awful now, but, at the time it was released and when I got mine around 1997 it seemed pretty impressive for the price. Nowadays, it's the drum machine, arp and sequencer that are impressive when used with external gear.

[@leonidaspapu3912]

thats so cool never played the game heard loads bout it but owned the mc 303 last year till it broke. an amazing machine it is truly

[@nochan99]

Leave an empty square on the internet and it shall surely be filled....

[@VzMightyMousezV]

I love this kind of stuff, thank you!

[@ells101]

This song was also used in an episode of south park. The super sweet 16 episode with Satan. Couldn’t believe what i was hearing tbh

[@makarylli1]

That House Pattern 4 is best

[@Dave5400]

I know it's not technically made from synthesisers (samples I think), but I would very much appreciate a similar video on "Adrenaline Horror" from the original Half-Life. Man, I hear bits of samples used in that from that all over the place and it would be interesting to see how it was built up. Even better, feel free to do the whole soundtrack! As others have said, it is very underrated imo.

[@lucid484]

lol it's crazy that they used an MC-303! I have an MC-505, it's much bigger brother and it's so powerful but the preset stuff can sound so cheezy! 🤣🤣

[@nikostalk5730]

MC-303 were cheap back in the days. Like - why not to take it and just play around?

[@lucid484]

@@nikostalk5730 I was making like $4.25/hr back in those days! 😂😂 I just saved up longer for the big boy! Used it for years successfully in the band I was in.

[@gameon2000]

😂 I still own both (both bought bew back then). MC 303 has more punch for live gigs (having a JV 1080 engine inside) but MC 505 has straight production quality outta box, being a XV 3080 inside (which i still have too, also bought new back then) best bread and butter sojnds, has everything from dance music to cinematic soundtracks. I would nonetheless just get a VST now, no need for hardware now, unless you have it already and your an old fart, that's used to 80s-90s old skool DAWless workflow like I am.

[@gameon2000]

​@@nikostalk5730yes, you can get a MC 303 for like $200 today, worth every penny. I'd get a MC 909 though, it's like that / mc 505 but with sampling. all in one, you will never need anything else. fullhouse studio. at least for anything dance related. don't think it has multisampling for "real" playing the instruments a.k.a. orchestral cinematic OST composition.

[@Zet237yt]

I have a 05R/W but never noticed it was that bass patch! 😱

[@meyerdamagician]

very interesting to be honest, retro games have fire OSTs and interesting productions in between

[@BigSavageG]

Best ending theme ever. Half Life best game ever

[@AvithOrtega]

nice video! I did something similar for Silent Hill, so is great to see a video like this for another one of my favorite videogame franchises

[@therealburneraccount5466]

Hey Avith! Yes I've defs seen your video, prior I've never really considered the science behind SH's soundtracks, makes sense as to why they sound so hypnotic. You really put a lot of effort and material into it and it was a great breakdown! I would want to do a Silent Hill video like this too, but there's a LOT to go through now since the time you made your video, and sadly there's been a lack of interest in the community lately (therefore not many recent finds). I'm still interested however, and sometime I'll really grind one out because it's surprising how much was found for the series

[@dan-940]

Dance and groove mr freeman

[@GeneralKenobi69420]

I know I'm obviously biased by nostalgia but man I really miss how "trancey" everything used to sound in the late 90s/early 2000s

[@dealloc]

There's cowbells in the Half-Life Closing Theme. Cowbells.

[@Nuuk_Nuke_Nook]

This is some Amadeus sort of shit

[@DespaceMan]

Brings back memories, loved Half-Life back in the days & Counter Strike, 90's was fun times.

[@DR-54]

you could invert some of the known sources and apply it in phase and in amplitude to the song to help eliminate some of the sounds and thus identify less obvious sounds and also help identify where the vocals come from

[@MsZsc]

great work dude

[@MrThecoolman]

Don’t wake me until triage at dawn has been looked over.

[@grapesoda8145]

such a cool channel. subbed

[@EEEEEE1337]

this is just awesome, great work with this video

[@MidnightDubstep]

I have a similar sound for the vocals. The vocals are from Best Service Vocal Spectral Vol 1, those samples were everywhere in the 90s and early 2000s video games. I maybe wrong about this so dont come at me but there are some in there that sound like from some Half Life 1 songs. As a musician and composer its fun to do stuff like this but if you want ill be happy to send you the folder containing the samples or just a long mp3 or wav file. =}

[@djcactus]

The 303 so important in culture

[@sponduli]

The vocals sound like someone wheezing

[@mirabile1221]

i havent seen a better comparison than this

[@asherwilson9746]

This is probably one of the most triumphant endings to a videogame in all of videogame history

[@FatherMcKenzie66]

This is absolutely amazing

[@ChiroTheSkunk]

even listening to the instruments i still vibe to it lol

[@disectormusic]

This is so specific (and special) hahah

[@NympoGaming]

The very moment I got my first polyphonic cell phone I downloaded "Tracking Device" and set it as my ringtone.

[@Caleb-fv5fp]

This is the most 90s thing I’ve ever heard, and it came from valve!

[@KLK01]

Zero-G is life.

[@katiebarber407]

i recently got all 3 datafile from zerog and now i just learned theres more.. i need them

[@ics_de]

my dad owns an mc-303 and i was so shocked when i heard half-life ost drums coming from the factory presets lmao

[@preyday115]

Also used in tekken 5 - streets and street wise asura remix

[@AltShad0w]

Great founding

[@OtakuBK]

This sounds like Tekken

[@JuneEmpireOfficial]

Долой Штолле!

[@TR-707]

vocals = Gabe Newell

[@TransistorBased]

I tend to forget how long Roland's been trying to ride the coattails of the 303 with boxes that aren't 303s Behringer is eating your lunch because you refuse to make analog anymore lmao

[@TTV_TOMTISM]

i feel like this song would sometimes play when you were loading into a new map on sven coop or something.

[@itsicearmour]

Absolute BANGER.

[@katiebarber407]

the vocals remind me of something from sonic adventure 2 for dreamcast

[@ja-kidnb6416]

TIL Half-Life had a soundtrack.

[@alex3709a]

The unknown half-rack up there most probably is Mackie otto-1604 midi automation control module

[@therealburneraccount5466]

hey it was! good catch

[@bharatmadho3742]

Holy shit how did i not know this!

[@pass9786]

you should try to find out how the synth in lab practicum was made

[@therealburneraccount5466]

we actually did! that's coming soon

[@pass9786]

@@therealburneraccount5466 THANK YOU SO MUCH

[@LouisSerieusement]

amazing work ! Thank you

[@harpernicholson1]

Kinda makes me sad that the whole thing is just made of samples

[@aza3ful1]

Great work

[@drifter402]

DAMN it's right there

[@Sanker1]

That's pretty cool actually

[@giberic]

Wait wait wait is synth music just literally exactly like the Club Penguin DJ minigame??

[@fran7947]

Nice work! Subscribed

[@LetsSmiley]

I want to thank Tommy Tallarico for being the first half person.

[@Mole-In-The-Wall]

Deus Ex needs one badly I feel like. where did the samples in the tracker music come from?

[@therealburneraccount5466]

I know a bit about it, the samples are mainly from other songs and tracker modules (some reused from previous Epic titles), but also some CDs and synths too. There's research on it here: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JJBlHHDc65fhZmKUGLrDTLCm6rfUU83-kbuD8Y0zU0o/edit#gid=1747501736&range=A1060

[@Mole-In-The-Wall]

Thanks I knew I heard some EM-U samples in there, I'm not going crazy. @@therealburneraccount5466

[@TheGaryHughes]

pretty interesting! nice work

[@kaiopai87]

Great work!! :D

[@Real_Boye]

this is def me while driving

[@BigSavageG]

Same synth was used in Tekken V. Video on my channel

[@ぜに公です]

入

[@racer927]

Have you done a video for the synth patches used in "Klaxon Beat"? I'm curious because right as the song fades out, it changes to a different beat.

[@therealburneraccount5466]

yea the rhythms are from the MC-303 as well, that will be covered in a new video

[@racer927]

@@therealburneraccount5466 Would love to see more videos of this subject!

[@JC20XX]

​@@therealburneraccount5466notifications on 🔔 😂

[@R3troguy]

it was from a sample pack THE WHOLE TIME??

[@KaelVictor]

I love the song, but as my brother said, the only original thing in this track is the woman's voice. I listen when I play as Tinker in Dota 2, loop.

[@forbiddentictactoe1734]

This should have more views wuuuut