There used to be a full soundtrack video a few years ago, but when it got deleted I feared it was gone forever; you're a real hero for bringing this back to us
I hadn't even heard of this game until watching that Mandaloregaming review. This sounds great even now. I'm really surprised how tidy and clean it all sounds: every note and instrument is only there if it needs to be. The fact that some segments are just a single instrument stabbing a single chord over and over yet still sounds dramatic is really impressive.
Such an excellent OST. Will always remember it for as long as I live. Shame they didn't include a soundtrack for Marathon 2 or Infinity - although, the ambient approach is fantastic. Main Theme's coincidentally rock!
Thanks! I doubt it’s a placebo; I think it’s probably a result of the stereo separation on this version. Because the two mixes are frequently slightly out of phase with each other, there’s a sensation of depth here that can’t be present in a mono mix. I could have done more to correct the phase issues (iZotope’s azimuth filter has an adaptive channel alignment function that can vary over different parts of the same track) but I liked the phasing effects created by the slight misalignment, so I left it. Perhaps I’ll try it if I go for a third pass at this mix, though - I doubt it’d get rid of the stereo effects entirely.
Now listening on a decent pair of headphones. This is really nice. This is what the soundtrack might have sounded like if released a year later, if not just plain prerecorded audio, like the hidden M1 CD songs.
Thank you for doing this. The game sounded so off when Apple released that upgrade to the QT 3.0 MIDI Synthesizer. I actually downgraded back to QT 2.5 JUST because of what it did to Marathon's music. No amount of tweaking of the Music file could ever get it to sound like the 2.0/2.5 versions.
100%, it was jarring. Some people who upload the music now that don't use the synth tools available at the time make the soundtrack sound so lifeless, it's a shame they don't seem to realize you need the proper synth tools to emulate what it really sounded like.
It’s wonderful to finally have a way to listen to all the original tracks! I wanted to hear what it sounded like since watching Mandalore’s videos on the franchise
Finished my time playing Marathon 1994 and the soundtrack immediately stood out to me. There's a lot of stuff I like about the game, and the beautiful alien ambience contrasts with the metal I'm used to listening in DOOM or Quake. Thanks for uploading this, your edits also make the OST more enjoyable to listen to!
Thanks! This OST has also had a shocking number of remixes - I’ve been personally responsible for several myself, including a new arrangement album just this year. See ruclips.net/p/PLoysJW6pXQ6k_kl8cGB7Tr6g2O4OxlPHB for several completed sets of remixes and soundtracks to several fan mods (which I strongly recommend once you finish the trilogy - several are high-quality enough that they could be commercial boomer shooters).
…also, another link with a few more soundtracks I haven’t put on RUclips yet (including a few I may never put on here, as I’d want permission from the creators, whom I haven’t managed to contact), plus direct downloads for all of them: aaronfreed.github.io/aaronfreed/soundtracks.html enjoy!
Only the title music, unfortunately, though at least it was a banger. I get why they went with the "atmospheric ambient sound" approach for gameplay, and to be fair, the active-panning stereo was revolutionary for 1995, so I get why they wanted to draw attention to it. I don't understand why they couldn't have gone the "both music and sound" approach like most modern scenarios do, though. But yeah, M1's music contributed a ton to its unique and mysterious atmosphere, and it's spawned tons of awesome remixes over the years. Hard to imagine the game without it.
@@MarathonVidmaster I think they were still figuring out the genre, it would be until 2001 that bungie would do both ambient and banger music, which seems so obvious now.
@@MarathonVidmaster Call me crazy but my memories of 2 and Infinity were that the ambient sound without music grounded the games in place quite nicely. Maybe I'd feel differently if I was replaying today but at the time the lack of music tracks didn't bother me at all.
@@estefencosta1835 It worked for the mid-’90s, but one of the most common recurring complaints from new players is the lack of in-game music, and frankly, after playing through MCC last year, I get why. Halo’s combination of ambient sound and music enabled an emotional impact that you simply cannot possibly hope to accomplish with sound effects alone. Of course, the dynamic music controls and sound quality available to Marty and Mike were leagues beyond anything that would’ve been possible in 1995-1996 (as another example, _Ocarina of Time_ wouldn’t come out until two years after _Marathon Infinity_ - Hyrule Field was a landmark in dynamic music that few composers to this day would be able to match). But even putting that aside, there’s something about _Marathon 1_ that feels missing in the other two games; even though overall, I think they’re much better games, it feels like something’s missing without the music. Reaching the Pfhor ship in _M1_ for the first time wouldn’t have half the impact it does without the soundtrack. _M2_ and _Infinity_ do manage to be very atmospheric at times in levels like “Kill Your Television”, “Ne cede malis”, and “Son of Grendel” - it helps that many of the ambient sounds have fairly musical qualities to them. But it’s not quite the same. The ambient sounds feel like a sidegrade to the _M1_ “music without ambient sounds” approach. The _Halo_ “ambient sounds + music” approach _actually_ feels like an upgrade (and it helps that Marty and Mike understand that not every moment of a game actually _needs_ music - I could also point to Joe Hisaishi’s remark to the extent that Americans are afraid of silence here). Basically every major scenario in the past 20 years has opted to use a soundtrack. There’s a reason for that.
@@MarathonVidmaster Well point being it worked in the mid 90's. It's funny you mention Son of Grendel, that's specifically one of the levels I was thinking of. If someone were to mix a soundtrack for Marathon 2 or Infinity I can't even imagine what that would sound like since the ambient sound, the noises of the enemies, the Bobs chattering... Those are the things that sonically define the games for me. A game that I feel really mixed ambient sound, silence and music extremely well was Dark Souls. There were periods where the silence really emphasized how small you were moving through such a large, broken and fading away land but could also burst into incredible music at the drop of a hat, or the relaxation of hub music like Firelink Shrine or Mejula in the sequel. I find most games don't bother trying to incorporate silence or ambience nearly enough. Maybe a game like Limbo.
Some of them don't make for an amazing listening experience, but some of them are so unique and kind of odd (Aliens Again, Flippant, Guardians, and Rushing) that to me they make the whole experience kind of sublime and change the tone of the whole game - they're not really badass tracks, and it makes me feel less like an action hero when I play, and more as a pawn struggling to survive in some greater game of fate. OSTs like this don't really get made anymore, in my opinion.
I always especially liked the Pfhor ship ones like New Pacific and Rapture, but I think Rushing is my favorite. Leela and Landing are also great. I guess I generally agree the slower paced tracks are a bit better but nothing really feels out of place. Splash gives strong final level vibes and along with Rushing is my favorite of the faster tempo tracks.
@@estefencosta1835 The theory (possibly confirmed recently by Alex? I can't remember) is that "Splash" was supposed to be the main title song and was intended to play when the game started up (ie the "splash screen"). Instead of the eerie quite white noise effects. I quite like how creepy the M1 splash and menu screens are, but I do wonder if it was unintentional, given Bungie went with those bangers for M2 and M∞.
![The Witcher 3 - Winter at Kaer Morhen [Ambience / Music]](/img/1.gif)
There used to be a full soundtrack video a few years ago, but when it got deleted I feared it was gone forever; you're a real hero for bringing this back to us
I hadn't even heard of this game until watching that Mandaloregaming review. This sounds great even now. I'm really surprised how tidy and clean it all sounds: every note and instrument is only there if it needs to be. The fact that some segments are just a single instrument stabbing a single chord over and over yet still sounds dramatic is really impressive.
Such an excellent OST. Will always remember it for as long as I live.
Shame they didn't include a soundtrack for Marathon 2 or Infinity - although, the ambient approach is fantastic. Main Theme's coincidentally rock!
I can’t tell if it’s just a placebo but this genuinely sounds better than the stock OST.
Thanks! I doubt it’s a placebo; I think it’s probably a result of the stereo separation on this version. Because the two mixes are frequently slightly out of phase with each other, there’s a sensation of depth here that can’t be present in a mono mix. I could have done more to correct the phase issues (iZotope’s azimuth filter has an adaptive channel alignment function that can vary over different parts of the same track) but I liked the phasing effects created by the slight misalignment, so I left it. Perhaps I’ll try it if I go for a third pass at this mix, though - I doubt it’d get rid of the stereo effects entirely.
Landing still gives me goosebumps. Really helped set the spooky atmosphere of the game.
Now listening on a decent pair of headphones. This is really nice. This is what the soundtrack might have sounded like if released a year later, if not just plain prerecorded audio, like the hidden M1 CD songs.
Awesome. I was expecting screeching until I remembered that was QT3.
Wow, this sounds amazing. I always liked the first game a lot for its music. Marathon 2 and 3 felt oddly quiet at times. Frog blast the vent core!
Thank you for doing this. The game sounded so off when Apple released that upgrade to the QT 3.0 MIDI Synthesizer. I actually downgraded back to QT 2.5 JUST because of what it did to Marathon's music.
No amount of tweaking of the Music file could ever get it to sound like the 2.0/2.5 versions.
100%, it was jarring.
Some people who upload the music now that don't use the synth tools available at the time make the soundtrack sound so lifeless, it's a shame they don't seem to realize you need the proper synth tools to emulate what it really sounded like.
Aliens Again is just such a banger
It’s wonderful to finally have a way to listen to all the original tracks! I wanted to hear what it sounded like since watching Mandalore’s videos on the franchise
Honestly the soundtrack alone is a good enough reason for this to get a full remake, not even mentioning the great story
new pacific and reprise, i still can see these dark pulsating alien corridors, those levels were BEAUTIFUL
As much as I loved all the bright colors and textures of Marathon 2, I really missed those dark and creepy vibes from the Pfhor levels of Marathon 1.
ALL A DREAM THIS GAME!! PLAYNG IT SINCE 1995...NOW MARATHON PHOENIX AND APHOTEOSIS ARE RAD!!!
I'm asking myself how well this tracks will fit on Halo because I can see some of them being played at some moments of the game
Finished my time playing Marathon 1994 and the soundtrack immediately stood out to me. There's a lot of stuff I like about the game, and the beautiful alien ambience contrasts with the metal I'm used to listening in DOOM or Quake. Thanks for uploading this, your edits also make the OST more enjoyable to listen to!
Thanks! This OST has also had a shocking number of remixes - I’ve been personally responsible for several myself, including a new arrangement album just this year. See ruclips.net/p/PLoysJW6pXQ6k_kl8cGB7Tr6g2O4OxlPHB for several completed sets of remixes and soundtracks to several fan mods (which I strongly recommend once you finish the trilogy - several are high-quality enough that they could be commercial boomer shooters).
…also, another link with a few more soundtracks I haven’t put on RUclips yet (including a few I may never put on here, as I’d want permission from the creators, whom I haven’t managed to contact), plus direct downloads for all of them: aaronfreed.github.io/aaronfreed/soundtracks.html
enjoy!
@@MarathonVidmasterI appreciate the recommendations, I'll be sure to check out all those soundtracks you linked as well as future fan mods!
I cant remember if there was music for Marathon 2, but this makes me wish there was.
Only the title music, unfortunately, though at least it was a banger. I get why they went with the "atmospheric ambient sound" approach for gameplay, and to be fair, the active-panning stereo was revolutionary for 1995, so I get why they wanted to draw attention to it. I don't understand why they couldn't have gone the "both music and sound" approach like most modern scenarios do, though.
But yeah, M1's music contributed a ton to its unique and mysterious atmosphere, and it's spawned tons of awesome remixes over the years. Hard to imagine the game without it.
@@MarathonVidmaster I think they were still figuring out the genre, it would be until 2001 that bungie would do both ambient and banger music, which seems so obvious now.
@@MarathonVidmaster Call me crazy but my memories of 2 and Infinity were that the ambient sound without music grounded the games in place quite nicely. Maybe I'd feel differently if I was replaying today but at the time the lack of music tracks didn't bother me at all.
@@estefencosta1835 It worked for the mid-’90s, but one of the most common recurring complaints from new players is the lack of in-game music, and frankly, after playing through MCC last year, I get why. Halo’s combination of ambient sound and music enabled an emotional impact that you simply cannot possibly hope to accomplish with sound effects alone.
Of course, the dynamic music controls and sound quality available to Marty and Mike were leagues beyond anything that would’ve been possible in 1995-1996 (as another example, _Ocarina of Time_ wouldn’t come out until two years after _Marathon Infinity_ - Hyrule Field was a landmark in dynamic music that few composers to this day would be able to match).
But even putting that aside, there’s something about _Marathon 1_ that feels missing in the other two games; even though overall, I think they’re much better games, it feels like something’s missing without the music. Reaching the Pfhor ship in _M1_ for the first time wouldn’t have half the impact it does without the soundtrack. _M2_ and _Infinity_ do manage to be very atmospheric at times in levels like “Kill Your Television”, “Ne cede malis”, and “Son of Grendel” - it helps that many of the ambient sounds have fairly musical qualities to them. But it’s not quite the same.
The ambient sounds feel like a sidegrade to the _M1_ “music without ambient sounds” approach. The _Halo_ “ambient sounds + music” approach _actually_ feels like an upgrade (and it helps that Marty and Mike understand that not every moment of a game actually _needs_ music - I could also point to Joe Hisaishi’s remark to the extent that Americans are afraid of silence here). Basically every major scenario in the past 20 years has opted to use a soundtrack. There’s a reason for that.
@@MarathonVidmaster Well point being it worked in the mid 90's. It's funny you mention Son of Grendel, that's specifically one of the levels I was thinking of.
If someone were to mix a soundtrack for Marathon 2 or Infinity I can't even imagine what that would sound like since the ambient sound, the noises of the enemies, the Bobs chattering... Those are the things that sonically define the games for me.
A game that I feel really mixed ambient sound, silence and music extremely well was Dark Souls. There were periods where the silence really emphasized how small you were moving through such a large, broken and fading away land but could also burst into incredible music at the drop of a hat, or the relaxation of hub music like Firelink Shrine or Mejula in the sequel.
I find most games don't bother trying to incorporate silence or ambience nearly enough. Maybe a game like Limbo.
Some of the songs sound weird when you have mono sound activated on your phone.
Is it possible to get the QuickTime 2.0 or 2.5 instruments used here as a soundfont or something similar? I can't find a download for it anywhere
Yes: simplici7y.com/items/project-sc-qma/
I always had mixed feelings about this ost. I think the calm ones are true masterpieces (especially Swirls) but the action ones are quite silly
I tend to agree that some of the songs sound a lil goofy but it adds to the charm of the game. It makes the already fun romp even more so.
Some of them don't make for an amazing listening experience, but some of them are so unique and kind of odd (Aliens Again, Flippant, Guardians, and Rushing) that to me they make the whole experience kind of sublime and change the tone of the whole game - they're not really badass tracks, and it makes me feel less like an action hero when I play, and more as a pawn struggling to survive in some greater game of fate. OSTs like this don't really get made anymore, in my opinion.
All the tracks work really well in game
I always especially liked the Pfhor ship ones like New Pacific and Rapture, but I think Rushing is my favorite. Leela and Landing are also great. I guess I generally agree the slower paced tracks are a bit better but nothing really feels out of place. Splash gives strong final level vibes and along with Rushing is my favorite of the faster tempo tracks.
@@estefencosta1835 The theory (possibly confirmed recently by Alex? I can't remember) is that "Splash" was supposed to be the main title song and was intended to play when the game started up (ie the "splash screen"). Instead of the eerie quite white noise effects. I quite like how creepy the M1 splash and menu screens are, but I do wonder if it was unintentional, given Bungie went with those bangers for M2 and M∞.