The Genius of Portal 2's Music
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- Опубликовано: 5 июл 2024
- Portal 2 has a great soundtrack, but just as important as its quality is how it's used in-game. The way Portal 2 uses music in-game is something I haven't quite seen anywhere else, even after 10 years.
Sources used:
Plogue interview with Mike Morasky: www.plogue.com/mike-morasky.html
Techniche Interview: • Techniche Interviews'1...
GamesRadar interview: www.gamesradar.com/portal-2s-...
0:00 Intro
0:25 Dynamic music
3:09 Diegetic music intro
3:48 Portal 2's use of diegetic music
5:22 Other examples
6:44 Conclusion 
Игры
Portal 2 did a dynamic soundtrack so well that I literally didn't realize it was a dynamic soundtrack.
when a job is done well no one even realise its done
4:55
Fun fact: The orange gel isn't what causes the game to play the gel music, but your horizontal speed.
So if you are bunnyhopping in a chamber with orange gel and you horizontal speed is around 300 (Wichever the Portal 2's velocity metrics are) the "fast" music still plays, and gets faster as that number increases xD
Nice catch, that does make a lot of sense from a developer perspective. Much easier to keep track of speed rather than actually checking if you're moving on orange gel.
@@Julian_H Yeah haha
by the way it doesn't actually get faster with speed
it simply fades in a randomly chosen loop, one of which tends to have a slower pace
@@Julian_H That's not the only reason! It's actually completely intentional, so the music also plays on stuff like flings. An example is the second test in Chapter 6, it has no orange gel at all but it still plays the fast music.
You can also get it by flying.
Portal's soundtrack is one of the most brilliant aspects of the game, yet I've always felt like it's so underrated. I haven't seen many games use sound like this, at least not games of which primary purpose is not sound/music. It just never ceases to amaze me.
People don’t talk about it because the level design and mechanics are also fucking fantastic.
There's that really neat detail that implies that Cara Mia Addio was actually being rehearsed by the turrets during the entirety of Portal 2. Cara Mia Addio being a real song Glados makes for Chell as she kicks her out of Aperure is a fantastic idea.
Though what I find even more interesting is the fact that the other ending song Want You Gone has no references or leitmotifs shown before it actually plays. It's probably the only non diagetic song in the entire soundtrack. And for good reason, since its meant to be a private log recorded by Glados that she doesn't want Chell to hear.
Also, for the record, I always imagined everything in Apeture canonically produces music, since Glados also adds that everything is also completely sentient.
'The friendly aerial faith plate' is a very literal title, as the plate itself is actually 'singing' to Chell in game.
Companion cubes also sing when near them
"Want You Gone" is literaly sang by the main character of the game - it can't get more diagetic than that.
@@bzqp2 diegetic means characters in the story are able to HEAR it as well as the real person watching.
I said what I said because it's one of the few songs that is only played when Chell (the person who would be hearing the diegetic audio) is objectively unable to hear it. Therefore it's non-diegetic.
Only the real person playing the real game Portal 2 hears Want You Gone, compared to the turret opera or PotatOS lament, which both Chell and the player hear.
It lacking any kind of motif 'heard' in the game also further distances it from Chell. Since we see no personality construct 'singing' it before it is actually played.
Want You Gone is explicitly written with the intent that no other character in the game would hear it. That's why Glad0s is being so candid.
If we're going by what the music composers said, sound only comes from the things inside Aperture. Want You Gone would therefore also be non-diagetic because no instruments (physical objects with personality constructs) are shown.
Not to mention. When the song “bombs for throwing at you” aka “wheatley battle” when he’s stunned his motifs straight up disappear
one thing ive realized is that due to every other aspect of this game, i never really notice how brilliant the soundtrack is.
like i've always noticed the dynamic music, but the courtesy call is literally an alarm. the fucking music is sentient in this game. it's insane.
Never cared much for this soundtrack, then I replayed portal 2. The best moment in the entire game (imo) is when Wheatley betrays you, the music getting more dramatic as Wheatleys laugh turns maniacal. Beautiful.
Your precious moon is also a good one.
I loved the feeling of hope turn into hopelessness as wheately turns evil.
Bombs For Throwing At You is still my fav boss battle music
Wheatley Laboratories soundtracks tho
Most of them are actually alarm bells which ties in to him being absolutely horrible at keeping a facility running
the portal 2 music is severely underrated and forgotten about seemingly just because the game is "old" and "a dead meme". I've never heard anything like it before or since, and it was so unique and good that at the time, in my concept of music, it was literally the second "biggest", most important, type and concept and kind of music to me. in my mind it was literally the vast monolith of tsfh style "epic" "fantasy" music, the only slightly smaller vast monolith of "scifi technology electronics computer sounds thing whatever basically just scifi(aka portal style specifically with vibes of a 2000's dark scifi future digital portrait of a very specific long-forgotten indescribable kind that at the time i may have described as vaguely pseudo-cyberpunk in a starkly realistic and by current standards fairly restrained yet also edged with a surreal nightmarishness way but the meaning of the word cyberpunk in the popular consciousness has drifted so far from what i understood it as by now that there now no longer is any word to refer to it nor any direct memory to draw upon) music", and everything else miles and miles below as singular tiny points not worth mentioning or thinking of in the background. those were THE two main genres that music could be to me.
portal 2's soundtrack absolutely belongs on those "top 1000 videogame soundtracks of all time" lists, right up there with mario galaxy in my book (which to this day i consider gaming's best example of orchestral "epic" fantasy type music of all time). especially pieces like the courtesy call, science is fun, don't do it, i am not a moron, music of the spheres 1&2, turret wife serenade, potatos lament, reconstructing more science, the part where he kills you, bombs for throwing at you & your precious moon, i could go on listing portal music all day. even the less listen-for-listenings-sake-able, more ambient songs on the soundtrack are still massively underrated for how incredibly well they do their job of *fitting, accenting, and enhancing the atmosphere of the scene*, yet the only thing anyone ever remembers about portal music anymore, if they remember literally anything at all, is that "still alive/want you gone" are a dead meme.
maybe people just don't think about portal music anymore because the intense vibes that it spoke to aren't part of the collective cultural unconscious anymore, and no one including me really remembers what they were or really even that they existed and weren't like what's in our minds now, so when we hear it now so many long years later some part of us just feels empty and we don't know why.
I loooove Portal 2’s soundtrack! Great video on what makes it so great 🥰 Not enough people talk about it
Portal 2 does dynamic music SO well. SO WELL. Fuck that's so cool
I've been playing Portal 2 and looking for an essay just like this one! From the moment I started the game I loved the music. I also love how almost every element in the test chambers are musical in some way (I especially like the synth-y sounds that play when you walk or jump on hard light bridges and the lasers in the video). You put my thoughts into words so well!
Cool video! Always paid attention to the fact that some things do change music, but surprisingly didn't notice it with gels.
And in case with gels it is not even that hard to make, but fits in nicely. Inspires me to try this muself
Mike Morasky is incredible composer.
Its been almost 12 years since I first played the game and I’m still growing in my love for it lol
Portal 2's soundtrack is hands down the best video game soundtrack in history. Period.
Portal 2 is also the best game in history.
Notice the pattern, every single movie that is considered to be one of the best ALWAYS has the best soundtrack or has won awards for it. The common denominator has always been sound. Portal 2 hits it in both spots by not only having a wonderful soundtrack but also wonderful voice acting. The rest is just the Valve magic that they are known for. :D
Nice video! There's an interview out there that Mike Morasky did with Podcast 17 about his work, which you might find interesting (if you haven't already heard it, ofc).
when I played this game for the first time I had this big stupid smile on my face when I heard the music lol
Finally somebody that made a video on this.
Since everything in aperature outside of the regular walls is sentient, I can see them all just humming along their day and you randomly catching glimpses of it
I Saw a Deer Today has to be one of my favorite songs from Portal 2 but I did not realize it had that many layers
I got crazy chills, I've always admired the osts for portals because they're so ambient and robotic and awesome, but actually understanding how they work just made me that much more impressed and in love with that game. Genius engineering! Game of the century ❤
This is a very well done video, I'd love a longer version delving deeper into the inner workings of Portal's music.
Awesome video. Keep up the good work. I never thought that it would be the devices in aperture creating the sound.
Really neat video, I think I might try to cite parts of it in an essay for school. I've always heard people talk about Portal 2's soundtrack and it certainly left an impression on me when I played the game, but seeing and hearing someone qualify what makes the soundtrack so special in a video essay is just really cool. Cheers!
Also, Exile Vilify by The National
I never noticed this and ive replayed portal 2 so much. This videos great, lots of work put into this i bet and i like it. Subbed
both half life and portal had some really interesting musics, with somehow similar style, but clearly distinct mood.
half life had some adrenaline in the game and the music fit it very nicely, but i prefer portal.
with its deep story and feelings, without any humans or combat but just science and weird atmosphere, its just so overwhelming.
maybe thats the reason why it has always been taking a little storage in my music folder, and i couldnt delete it. now i know i wont, forever. lol
I aspire to one day make a soundtrack with dynamic music this good, portal is genius. Your explanation of why certain mechanics have a sound for a reason like upwards arpeggios on the bounce gel made me appreciate it even more
This game is genuinely perfect, even the soundtrack is masterfully done. Amazing work covering it in this video, dude :)
Brilliant video mate
Excellent breakdown of this facet of the soundtrack! It´s nice to think that Aperture is one big orchestra.
Most of portal 2's diagetic soundtrack (eg rattmam's rambles when you are near a wall) can be attributed to the fact that almost everything in aperture is sentient
Frankenturrets / TEST is one of my favorite pieces in this game.
the atmosphere is so beautiful
Orange gel just is much more fun with the music.
I always liked that moving platform that made that space song from the ending, some of it is different between that and the space song but they sound similar.
And there's The Part Where He Kills You, which, aside from giant naming joke, is actually synced with the game
i wish you could eat music im gonna take a bite out of the entire portal ost
Mike Morasky did really good job making dynamic music in HLA as well. The only thing I can think of counting for diagetic music is the puzzle solving OST which is really good, and I wish there were more maybe I just can't remember any since it's been awhile since Ive played the game
Some of the stuff in chapter 11 blends really well with the sound effects, especially the music while approaching the inner vault.
@@Julian_H Ah yeah all the vault stuff is fantastic, hearing him talk about designing the music in the vault is very insightful and great too. That entire section of the game is so memorable
Essa foi a forma mais simples de eles mostrarem a tecnologia no universo de Portal. Sou apaixonado por esse jogo
the only thing holding this game back is the loading screens, imagine a seamless playthrough with the game's soundscape never stopping
INSIDE does this really well, they made the audio system persist through loads so even if you die the music continues, and even transitions seamlessly to where it was at the last checkpoint.
Everybody gangsta until PotatOS Lament
The light bridges also play a song when you get near them!
it's called "Hard Sunshine"
Wow, i didn't even notice!
I think one of the few non-diagetic gameplay tracks is "Your Precious Moon" and "Don't Do It"
great video
if portal 2s music is supposed to be entirely diegetic i wonder where the choir comes from
Great vid
Could you make a video about Dying Light 2's implementation of music in-game with a similar concept? It would be neat as you have a great understanding of dynamic music used in games, and Dying Light 2 is a game that makes use of it in gratifying and complex ways.
Even GlaDOS’s and the turrets’ dialogues sound musical specially in portal 1
This is the main element that's missing from Portal 2 mods, amazing as they may otherwise be
Chamber 16 (ricochet) is probably my favorite. Hell, I used GCFscape to extract the audio files just to experiment with them.
bro i aint gonna lie i had no idea you didnt know shit about music theory this is really good
in my opinion, the best music is a song or soundtrack that can tell what is going on the screen or to tell a story, or sometimes to implement emotions into a set or atmosphere, like the loneliness of portal 1, either that or if it is a banger lol.
If all of the music in the game is diagetic, then who the hell is playing the orchestral part at the beginning of "Bombs For Throwing At You"?
The orchestra music is actually all synthesized for the soundtrack, and I can't find it right now but I think Mike Morasky said in an interview that the reason was because it's all supposed to be diagetic.
@@Julian_H Ah ok thank you
When the game is so great just it’s music needs a whole video for itself
valve can literally beat the shit out of a printer and turn it into music.
also, how is the percussion just as memorable as the melodies?
Portal music got me beggin for 3
This game is so good try playing ur own maps and fucking around with the bridges and lasers. Music to my ears
As for me, Valve did not even understand that they created one of the best, the best - Portal 2
aaggrreedd
all the music and sounds of this game just makes me think that the whole place is being ran by musical tones
I always found the ratman's theme creepy
I love that one that goes
da da DOD does ada dad and did sa dsadada faraday do d dada dad dad da da da d a da
Ricochet's music is underrated
Good soundtrack, because of one reason, the printer sounds
It’s kinda funny how valve went from being quite bad at music implementation to this.
haha
hey man cool video and all but i have to say your gameplay looks rushed, i get it that when you were playing it probably didnt felt that way but in the video it does
but at the same time you got to be careful not to be a slow and boring footage, for reference look up Krzyhau's videos (great videos btw) his gameplay manages to be engaging and smooth without being slow
Good point, I tend to just naturally play games like this so I didn't really think about it. In the future if I make something similar I'll keep it in mind though.