Thoughts on the Destiny Soundtrack

It's here if you want to check it out. $10 bucks for a 44-track soundtrack is pretty nice. :)

I'm about half-way through the OST and so far, Guardians Lost is my favorite track. Reminds me a lot of Marty's work on Halo: Combat Evolved and ODST with the more eerie tracks evoking a sense of wonder and mysterious in the nighttime settings. The Collective seems inspired a lot by some Halo 2 and Halo 3 tracks for Flood and Forerunner spaces. Not bad at all! Loving the drums on Siege Dancers. It's pretty easy to realize what that track is trying to imitate to a certain degree.

Most of it, however, doesn't seem like anything special. It's all the sort of typical stuff you'd find in really any video game soundtrack. Don't get me wrong, it's exciting to listen to in the heat of battle and fulfills its purpose to set the mood. However, only a few tracks stand out as truly great standalone pieces that only need itself, and not gameplay, to warrant casual listening.

What do you think?

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I really want to buy it, but I don't want to buy it on itunes.

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I really want to buy it, but I don't want to buy it on itunes.

:(

Why not? It's DRM free and it's actually on sale right now. According to Bungie employee $9.99 is the introductory price.

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Why not? It's DRM free and it's actually on sale right now. According to Bungie employee $9.99 is the introductory price.

I have an Android phone and there isn't an iTunes app.

I don't want to install iTunes on my PC just to buy one album.

Amazon MP3 fixes both of those problems for me. I'll wait.

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Why not? It's DRM free and it's actually on sale right now. According to Bungie employee $9.99 is the introductory price.

I have an Android phone and there isn't an iTunes app.

I don't want to install iTunes on my PC just to buy one album.

Amazon MP3 fixes both of those problems for me. I'll wait.

Yeah, that makes sense, didn't think of that :)

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Why wouldn't you use iTunes for Windows? After the files are downloaded you can put them on any device.

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Why wouldn't you use iTunes for Windows? After the files are downloaded you can put them on any device.

...or I can just download them directly to all of my devices through Amazon.

I used iTunes back when I had an iPod, but if you're not tied to that ecosystem there are better programs for Windows.

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I'm loving "Excerpt from the Union" because of that flute trill at the beginning and the fact that the song is 100000x more exciting than the gameplay section in which it is used.

It's amazing.

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Any idea how much of it Marty worked on? I suppose there might not be liner notes for a digital album...

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Any idea how much of it Marty worked on? I suppose there might not be liner notes for a digital album...

Thats what I want to know too, from the looks of it he was credited last when usually with the Halo soundtracks he was credited first. either Bungie is still ticked off over that whole ordeal or Marty didn't do much for this soundtrack.

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Any idea how much of it Marty worked on? I suppose there might not be liner notes for a digital album...

Thats what I want to know too, from the looks of it he was credited last when usually with the Halo soundtracks he was credited first. either Bungie is still ticked off over that whole ordeal or Marty didn't do much for this soundtrack.

It wouldn't surprise me if he didn't, because while there are some tracks that sound like his work to me (title screen, orbit, stuff from the Tower, and some more), there are plenty of others that don't. I suppose he could have just been trying something new, but that's the sense I get. I still really, really want to know what happened. I just get this feeling like there was a general exodus because of something about development on this project. But I guess it will probably be a long time before any details can come out on that.

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Any idea how much of it Marty worked on? I suppose there might not be liner notes for a digital album...

Thats what I want to know too, from the looks of it he was credited last when usually with the Halo soundtracks he was credited first. either Bungie is still ticked off over that whole ordeal or Marty didn't do much for this soundtrack.

Or neither. Didn't Pete Parsons say that the music was basically complete around the time that Marty left? I suspect this is merely a reflection of the pecking order now. Salvatori is their lead composer, and C. Paul Johnson has seniority, duh. Paul McCartney has the traditional placement of a special guest star. And yes, there may be (and probably is) some ill will between Marty and some person or persons at Bungie, but the ordering of the credits could just be a reflection of an awkward situation.

BTW, I'm enjoying the superior AAC files from iTunes. ;) Still want the CD and/or vinyl, though.

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Any idea how much of it Marty worked on? I suppose there might not be liner notes for a digital album...

Thats what I want to know too, from the looks of it he was credited last when usually with the Halo soundtracks he was credited first. either Bungie is still ticked off over that whole ordeal or Marty didn't do much for this soundtrack.

Or neither. Didn't Pete Parsons say that the music was basically complete around the time that Marty left? I suspect this is merely a reflection of the pecking order now. Salvatori is their lead composer, and C. Paul Johnson has seniority, duh. Paul McCartney has the traditional placement of a special guest star. And yes, there may be (and probably is) some ill will between Marty and some person or persons at Bungie, but the ordering of the credits could just be a reflection of an awkward situation.

BTW, I'm enjoying the superior AAC files from iTunes. ;) Still want the CD and/or vinyl, though.

shouldn't matter that Marty left. ethically, if he was the lead when it was written, he should get 1st credit. From a creative standpoint, this is a big deal.

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Any idea how much of it Marty worked on? I suppose there might not be liner notes for a digital album...

Thats what I want to know too, from the looks of it he was credited last when usually with the Halo soundtracks he was credited first. either Bungie is still ticked off over that whole ordeal or Marty didn't do much for this soundtrack.

Or neither. Didn't Pete Parsons say that the music was basically complete around the time that Marty left? I suspect this is merely a reflection of the pecking order now. Salvatori is their lead composer, and C. Paul Johnson has seniority, duh. Paul McCartney has the traditional placement of a special guest star. And yes, there may be (and probably is) some ill will between Marty and some person or persons at Bungie, but the ordering of the credits could just be a reflection of an awkward situation.

BTW, I'm enjoying the superior AAC files from iTunes. ;) Still want the CD and/or vinyl, though.

shouldn't matter that Marty left. ethically, if he was the lead when it was written, he should get 1st credit. From a creative standpoint, this is a big deal.

True enough. From a political perspective, though, I understand why it is the way it is. Didn't surprise me. I'm not saying I approve.

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Most of it, however, doesn't seem like anything special. It's all the sort of typical stuff you'd find in really any video game soundtrack. Don't get me wrong, it's exciting to listen to in the heat of battle and fulfills its purpose to set the mood. However, only a few tracks stand out as truly great standalone pieces that only need itself, and not gameplay, to warrant casual listening.

What do you think?

Soundtracks usually have music which is meant to support the visuals. Very rarely are they good on their own, and when they are, they are usually distracting and overpowering of the image.

It's one of the reasons why a good friend of mine, who is a classical composer, has refused to do movie scores despite many lucrative offers: he wants the music to be able to stand on its own, not be subservient to the visuals.

For Destiny's to be this way is not surprising. I think in game though, it does a fantastic job. Better than any of the Halo games in my opinion.

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For Destiny's to be this way is not surprising. I think in game though, it does a fantastic job. Better than any of the Halo games in my opinion.

Have to disagree with that, but personal taste has a lot to do with it. For me, the soundtracks for ODST and Reach were really hitting their stride; maybe partly just the sort of thing I like, but also very consistent and on point in tone. I've always liked Marty's penchant for the orchestral, and along with the use of drums, the sound really set Halo apart from everything else I hear in games.

I like some of the music in Destiny a lot, but I don't sense the same level of consistency, such that it often feels like individual tracks, as opposed to a single score that ties everything together. I do like the different feels for each race and planet they've established, though. I think it would all gel better if they stuck with the same instrumentation throughout, and then changed keys and themes when necessary. The use of more electronic sounds for the Vex makes sense, but it could be layered on top of the existing lineup. I'm just rambling, now. Destiny has also had a lot less time to find it's sound, obviously, so I wonder if they will be able to maintain a memorable theme throughout the series the way Halo did. Without Marty around, I have my doubts about that.

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For Destiny's to be this way is not surprising. I think in game though, it does a fantastic job. Better than any of the Halo games in my opinion.

Have to disagree with that, but personal taste has a lot to do with it. For me, the soundtracks for ODST and Reach were really hitting their stride; maybe partly just the sort of thing I like, but also very consistent and on point in tone. I've always liked Marty's penchant for the orchestral, and along with the use of drums, the sound really set Halo apart from everything else I hear in games.

I like some of the music in Destiny a lot, but I don't sense the same level of consistency, such that it often feels like individual tracks, as opposed to a single score that ties everything together. I do like the different feels for each race and planet they've established, though. I think it would all gel better if they stuck with the same instrumentation throughout, and then changed keys and themes when necessary. The use of more electronic sounds for the Vex makes sense, but it could be layered on top of the existing lineup. I'm just rambling, now. Destiny has also had a lot less time to find it's sound, obviously, so I wonder if they will be able to maintain a memorable theme throughout the series the way Halo did. Without Marty around, I have my doubts about that.

Maybe, but as I said in another post, they said the majority of the music was done at the time Marty left.

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Maybe, but as I said in another post, they said the majority of the music was done at the time Marty left.

Yeah, he may have done a lot of it, and if so I just like his work on Halo better. Sounds like it was also a collaboration, so that could be part of it.

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For Destiny's to be this way is not surprising. I think in game though, it does a fantastic job. Better than any of the Halo games in my opinion.

I think it's doing a better job more of the time, at least in part because the emotional high points they're trying to hit are being made during gameplay-- specifically during boss battles or similar encounters, rather than saving them for cutscenes.

Another reason why I think the disjointed nature of Destiny's cutscene collection is at least in part intentional.

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Thoughts on the Destiny Soundtrack (Destiny)