I don’t normally have ambient tracks on my playlist, but it was not an unenjoyable 50 minutes listening to the soundtrack. I’ll go through it again after playing the mod and see if I want any on my normal playlist, since there are a few ambient tracks in there somewhere.
The VBR mp3s bounce between 128 and 320. (which is basically the equivalent of encoding it at a constant bit rate of 320) I use the lame mp3 encoder, to ensure the best quality of the VBR mp3.
That being said, I will release a flac version of the soundtrack in a few weeks for all you audiophiles. 
Man, Joel, this soundtrack is just great. I love the End Credits Part 2, the violin is just amazing. The On A Rail tracks, Questionable Ethics 1, and Forget About Freeman are also really cool.
I really can’t wait to see the exact parts all of the tracks are used, and how they play into the action and all that.
And I would’ve donated 5 dollars, but PayPal doesn’t like pre-paid gift cards from American Express. Really pisses me off.
I really love surface tension 2 and end credits part 1 now that i’ve really listened to them, though I have to play the mod to see how I feel about them being in BM, because they sound pretty far from Kelly Bailey’s style.
When Black Mesa comes out, do I replace On A Rail 1 with the track from the leaked video, or On A Rail 2 with the track from the leaked video? Because I really want that track in the mod.
^ I’d like to know the answer to this to. I’m listening to that track right now lol
Also what the fuck, after the buildup in Surface Tension 2, the guitar sounds so much like something I heard before, but I can’t put my finger on it.
I really like Residue Processing, i can tell it will just fit the level so well. End Credits 2 is amazing, and I kind of like the quirkiness of Lambda Core’s track.
It was in the second post of this thread
https://www.joelnielsen.com/music/Joel%20Nielsen%20-%20BMS%20-%20On%20a%20Rail%20(old).mp3
herp derp
One thing your covers are missing, is the phrase in the bottom “Music composed by Joel Nielsen”. Joel’s name should be there, as it is on every proferssional movie soundtrack released these days
I seriously don’t like the guitar parts.
And I :freeman:ukin love them
The guitar parts/songs really reminds me of Half-Life songs such a:
Vortal Combat
Last Legs
Diabolical Adrenaline Guitar
On another note, I guess “On a Rail 2” is the replacement of the OAR gameplay song? I think it’s great as well. Sounds like a darker Half-Life 2, like the version we see in Raising the Bar.
God, why didn’t Valve go with that vision of Half-Life instead?!
Yeah, your speaking out of my heart. I think there’s a bit too much guitar and drum driven tracks, I liked the ambient pieces of HL more… but I’ll wait how they fit into BM, maybe they serve their purpose better than HL’s original score
Question – why don’t the songs have ordering numbers at them to keep them in the right order? It’s a bit strange to have Apprehension as the second song, right after Anomalous Materials. Or am I missing something?
The Mesa Remix version of the Black Mesa theme sounds very Portal 1 inspired to me. To Nielson, I just gotta know if you took inspiration from the Portal series. Because it sounds great the way it is, and it helps to kinda show that Aperture and Black Mesa are part of the same world.
Don’t you fucking dare.
Keep on finding myself going back to listen again. There’s always more there to find, which is a great sign for any music. I attempt a bit of music-making myself so I can imagine both Joel’s nervousness at releasing this and listening back, being immensely pleased with himself! There’s some fantastic, intricate constructions in there. Can’t wait to hear them in-game. The soundtrack definitely shows the benefits of allowing different people their labour of love on the corner of a project they’re working on.
Couple of my favourites:
Lambda Core, which is WAAY too short. I want that to turn into a full-on NIN 7 minute bender. (Do a NIN as well, release the tracks, get some re-mixes done!)
Surface Tension 1: starts all terminator II but does something really original with the idea and - I’m a big fan of people doing this - doesn’t shy away from pushing that idea right up front. I might, by the way, be talking sh1te. But it’s a tricky thing to do if you’re not confident about it - too easy to make mush.
Anyhoo I’ll stop wiffling. Fine work!
WOOHOO!! Thanks!
[COLOR=‘DarkRed’]n00b question alert: Joel - was all the music actually recorded live? or did you use a program to create it / parts of it?
I’d love to have a go at this sort of thing (but don’t have access to actual musicians or a recording studio…)