The Gun Pointed at the Head of the Universe

The Gun Pointed at the Head of the Universe
Album:	Halo: Original Soundtrack
Composer(s):	Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori
Length:	2:26
Previous:	Ambient Wonder
Next:	Trace Amounts

The Gun Pointed at the Head of the Universe is the eighth track in Halo: Original Soundtrack.

Overview

It is composed nearly entirely of percussion, only having a deep bass note towards the middle of the piece and some vocals at the end of the piece. The rest of the sound is produced by a combination of drums, auxiliary percussion and hand-clapping, which is usually unheard of in many tracks written for Halo.

The piece was primarily written by Michael Salvatori with additions from Martin O'Donnell.

Appearances

The track can be heard:

• In the level Halo (Choir version), when John-117 finds the last group of Marines in the Forerunner structures.
• In the level The Silent Cartographer, when John-117 comes to the Cartographer building for the first time.
• In the level Assault on the Control Room, briefly when John first commandeers an M808B Scorpion before encountering the tunnel entrance guarded by two Zurdo-pattern Wraiths (The full choir version plays if John progresses to the tunnel without commandeering the M808B Scorpion), and when he battles the Okarda'phaa-pattern plasma rifle-wielding Sangheili Zealot.
• In the level 343 Guilty Spark, when John and the Marines are leaving the Flood containment facility.
• In the level Keyes (Choir version), when Captain Keyes orders John and Cortana to pull out.
• In the level The Maw, after John destroys the first fusion reactor in engineering of the UNSC Pillar of Autumn.

Arrangements

The track has been arranged into the following:

• Into the Breach of More Than His Share as a remix in the Halo 3: ODST Original Soundtrack.
• Unless You Mean to Shoot in the Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Original Soundtrack.

Production notes

• The percussion in this track is similar to a rhythm motif that reoccurs in the soundtracks for Myth and Myth II, including The Watcher, Into The Breach (which coincidentally, is also the name of a Halo 3: ODST track), A Murder Of Crows and The Wall.
• The continuing rhythm which plays for the entire length of the track is based on an onboard factory audition sequence from the E-MU Protozoa expansion for the Proteus 2000 synthesizer.
• The track uses the following instruments and patches/samples:
  • E-MU Proteus 2000:
    • Protozoa ROM - 008-3 P3/Percussion 1 (Ethnic percussion)
  • Kurzweil K2500X
    • 118 Cathedral Choir
• The name of the soundtrack is most likely in reference to the Halo Array, as its near activation can be interpreted as a "Gun Pointed at the Head of the Universe". The phrase is also that of the first chapter title of the level Two Betrayals.
• Martin O'Donnell produced a variation of the piece utilizing hip-hop beats, but the piece was cut from the game. The piece was retroactively named "Seriously?", and O'Donnell later implied that the piece did not survive the test of time.