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The music of Halo: Combat Evolved is the musical score to Halo: Combat Evolved.

Development
The musical composition for Halo began with the Halo Theme in July of 1999. The now iconic theme was composed by Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori, who were co-partners at the freelance production company TotalAudio. Together they had composed commercial jingles as well as music for previous Bungie games, including Myth: The Fallen Lords, Myth II: Soulblighter, and Oni. In 1999, Director of Cinematics Joseph Staten asked O'Donnell and Salvatori to compose a backing track for the Halo MacWorld demo, five days prior to the presentation. Staten told O'Donnell that the theme needed to evoke the game's "ancient, epic and mysterious" atmosphere. To best convey this impression, O'Donnell drew inspiration from his studies on Middle Ages music and incorporated Gregorian chant into the theme. The theme was also influenced by the first verse of The Beatles' song "Yesterday", which inspired the same four-phrase structure of the Gregorian chant. O'Donnell has stated that he laid down the core melody of the theme in about 30 minutes during the drive to the studio at Salvatori’s house. Recording one day prior to the MacWorld presentation, the theme was performed by an orchestra composed of six string instruments: four violins and two cellos. The theme has since become a staple of the series.

Following the presentation at MacWorld, Microsoft purchased Bungie in May 2000, and the platform for Halo moved from the PC/Mac to the Xbox. O'Donnell and Salvatori encountered some obstacles in the project, having to take into account the music implementation system specific to the audio specifications on the Xbox. O'Donnell and Salvatori completed the rest of the soundtrack over the course of 2001, with the time period between July and September being described as a "hellish blur". O'Donnell, having joined Bungie before Microsoft's acquisition to work on Oni and Halo, moved to Seattle with the rest of Bungie, while Salvatori remained at Chicago to run TotalAudio. The two sent their music to each other for feedback and suggestions. Different aspects of the Halo Theme, including the Gregorian chant and string melody, were adapted into other musical pieces in the game. O'Donnel described the style of the soundtrack as "a little Samuel Barber meets Giorgio Moroder".

Since a fire had burnt down their studio in 1999, O'Donnell and Salvatori purchased new equipment during production, granting themselves the benefits of producing the music in 5.1 Surround Sound and making digital, hard disk based recordings. Numerous soundtracks featured patches and samples from their instruments, including the Proteus 2000 and the Kurzweil K2500X synthesizers. The finalized tracks frequently employed MIDI recordings, featuring keyboards, synths, and samplers as well as digital recording equipment controlled by computers. Certain tracks featured live instrumental performances alongside the MIDI recordings, while other tracks only featured the live performance adapted from the MIDI recordings. The music was cut and edited into chunks, so that the audio engine played interactive music dynamically based on the player's actions.

O'Donnell and Salvatori worked closely with the level designers, learning to match the audio design to where the different points of tension and release within each level. If the designers did not think the music fit, the composers made changes according to their feedback. While working with the level designer of Assault on the Control Room, O'Donnell added an Easter egg, in which players could listen to Siege of Madrigal — a track from the Myth: The Fallen Lords — if they reached the top of the control room structure in the level. Siege of Madrigal was then featured in the official soundtrack as a bonus track following the Halo Theme, and became a recurring Easter egg in all of the Bungie Halo games. At one point in development, Director of Cinematics Joseph Staten wanted to license and play "Paint it Black" by the Rolling Stones in the mid-level cinematic of 343 Guilty Spark, during the Pelican ride with Sergeant Avery Johnson and the Marines. In the end, however, the in-universe flip music was represented by Shreddin', a track composed specifically for the cinematic.

Several pieces of music did not pass the sketch phase of composition, while alternate versions of released tracks were cut from the game. These tracks were later made available for download on Bungie.net:
 * Halo Love Theme Sketch: A variation of the Halo Theme, featuring a solo piano and an alternative ending.
 * Rhythm Sketch Variant: A high strings variation of the heavy strings from the Halo Theme melody.
 * String Sketch: A variation of the Halo Theme, featuring strings.
 * Fast Sketch: A short sketch featuring the piano.
 * Battle Sketch: An early version of Brothers In Arms featuring the piano.
 * Club: A sketch that drew inspiration from the music of American rock band Devo, which used synthesizers. The track was arranged into How to Get Ahead in War for Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary.
 * Seriously: A slow percussive beat joined by horns playing the bass melody of The Gun Pointed at the Head of the Universe.
 * What?: The Halo Theme accompanied by slow beats.
 * Tron: A sketch that was inspired by 1980s electronica. The synth melody in the second half was repurposed for the second half of the "reveal theme" from Truth and Reconciliation Suite, while the track itself was arranged into Heretic Machine for Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary.

Influence on the franchise
Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori adapted the motifs from Halo Theme into various tracks in Halo: Combat Evolved, and continued to do so when composing other Halo music. As a composition approach to create what O'Donnell refers to as "emotional equity", a sense of familiarity would be felt by players when themes are being repurposed, remixed, and reused throughout the series. This would become a tradition followed by future composers in the franchise; for example, the space theme from Opening Suite would appear in Halo 2, Halo Legends, Halo: Reach, Halo 4, and Halo 5: Guardians, all of which featured the motif being used as a backing track for a scene set in outer space.

The iconic Halo Theme would appear in every piece of Halo media. While only a few tracks other than the Halo Theme were given new renditions in Halo 2, many more pieces from Halo: Combat Evolved reappeared in Halo 3. The entire Halo: Combat Evolved soundtrack was arranged and orchestrated for the remastered release of Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary.

Musicians

 * Martin O'Donnell
 * Michael Salvatori
 * Harry Hmura
 * Arnold Roth
 * Peter Labella
 * Everett Zlatoff-Mirsky
 * Elliott Golub
 * Nisanne Howell
 * Marylou Johnston
 * Kevin Case
 * Barbara Haffner
 * Larry Glazier
 * Judy Stone

Singers

 * Martin O'Donnell
 * Michael Salvatori
 * Robert Bowker
 * Jeffrey Morrow
 * Rob Trow

Myth: Total Soundtrack
In 1999, the Myth: Total Soundtrack was released. Although the album was intended to be a compilation of the soundtracks of Myth: The Fallen Lords and Myth II: Soulblighter, the fortieth and final bonus track in the album was the Halo Theme from the E3 1999 trailer.

2002 Release
In an interview held after the release of the Halo E3 2000 trailer, Martin O'Donnell expressed interest in the soundtrack being sold. After the game's release, O'Donnell was approached by Nile Rodgers who founded the recording label Sumthing Else Music Works for distributing video game soundtracks. The official soundtrack featured all of the music from the game, except for the track that would be known as The Lost Song, which was later released on Bungie.net with music cut from the game.

2003 Special Edition
After the Halo 2 E3 demo, a special edition of the soundtrack was released with bonus features on the Halo 2 demo, including previews of two Halo 2 soundtracks, The Last Spartan and Ghosts of Reach.

Halo Trilogy: The Complete Original Soundtracks
In 2008, after the release of Halo 3, a box set was released, featuring the Halo: Original Soundtrack, the Halo 2: Original Soundtrack, Volume 2, and the Halo 3: Original Soundtrack.