One thing I have noticed from playing the Left 4 Dead series a lot is however many Infected are swarming you in a horde is the equivalent of how many instruments are being played all the way until the solo drums are the only ones left which is why I like playing these games
i love how the music is tied to the infected if there's a horde at all, the drums will always play if there's loads of infected next to you, the main instrument of that campaign joins in the game has loads of sound files for different drum and 'campaign instrument' patterns (the ones in the videos are placed in order of the file names) and those are randomly selected in the game
For sure, stems are such a cool part of game design. My intro to that was the music from Chaos Theory, which is amazing. Motifs that begin “calm” with various alternative stems that the game can grab from a bag when something happens - “panic” “attack” etc. each level has a flavor.
@@jad4693 yeah, also you can know when a special infected will show up by the music, you can hear diferent music and sounds depending of the specials infected around you.
The music for the hordes is STRONGLY tied to the game itself. Hearing the screams of the infected in the distance, and then the beats of the drums as they charge towards you makes your chest sink. Then you'll catch random bits of the songs in between the screaming and gunshots. It overwhelms your senses and spikes your adrenaline. Then suddenly, the music begins to die WITH the horde. And you're back to silence. The feeling that comes with it is unmatched
This right here ☝ listening to the music without playing the game is nothing compared to the feeling you get in the moment. I cannot even describe it because it's a very unique feeling, and this is why I think in my personal opinion that L4D2 has the best soundtrack out of any zombie game I have ever played. It's simply unmatched and like I said before, unique.
@@-kirito-steam26 yeah i actually reconstructed the horde themes and the ones for the specific campaigns from the game files its all just a million wav files some folders will have 50 segments of drums or other instruments and they play in order idk its weird
The thing I absolutely LOVE about Left 4 Dead 2 horde soundtracks is that they are doing its best to relay that "adrenaline rush" feeling that Survivor players gets when facing the Horde. The soundtracks are NOT supposed to be pleasant in any way. You were absolutely right about "mosquitos". When survivors are about to get all their crap beaten out by a horde of zombies, the music is here to add to the excitement! Normal music would be drowned in the sounds of gunfire, zombies screaming bloody murder, survivors shouting at each other or grunting in pain, Special Infected making their entrance, adding to the chaos. But Left 4 Dead games are using drums, they can be heard thumping in the backround even in the most intense Horde assault.
@@Max58183 Left 4 Dead easily has the most songs if any of valves games, separate songs for each special infected, each horde, each campaign, each saferoom, all of which are well made.
It sounds "Choppy" like that because the tempo of the horde itself changes while you're fighting. So, the music is designed to be able to change on a whim as the horde thins or grows in strength.
The horde themes really capture the essence of how uncontrolled, unorganized, and unpredictable the infection was when it started spreading and turning people. Put yourself in the shoes of someone in charge of containing the disease; How do you possibly stop an air-borne virus that kills people within 5 minutes (if the survivor's saferoom graffiti is accurate) and then turns them into a violent monster hell-bent on spreading the virus to other people? That's why in The Parish you can find bodies of uninfected individuals shot to death by the Military/CEDA. They had no idea what to do, so they just thought that killing everybody themselves would be the best possible way to ensure the infection can't spread.
For context, the bodies you see in The Parish are actually carriers killed by CEDA at the evac zones. Theres grafitti throughout the level of non carriers wondering why the military is just killing "uninfected" people meaning the military knew exactly what it was doing but civilians were unaware of the idea of carriers
@@esharayan140 He said the virus kills people within 5 minutes, which isn't true. The virus causes severe hallucinations and mutations, but the infected are still regular human beings that are _very_ sick and delirious. They are not "undead zombies".
That's funny because you can't expect someone to just know that and the fact a professional string player was fooled just proves the absolute chaos that the music is meant to convey.
21:32 Imagine he records some violin runs, record it and then someone makes a mod for the workshop that replaces one of the campaigns horde parts with his playing. Killing zombies while Lionmight is killing it with the violin.
The reason the Horde themes are so chaotic, is because you're listening to the OST version, in-game the Horde themes are more dynamic, instruments keep adding in and the rhythm of the song itself changes depends on what is going on around you, whether you're swarmed, running away, low HP, high HP, on temporary HP, caught by a Special Infected, puked by a Boomer, or just straight up murdering everything around you (which is the slower, heavier drumming) and so on as there are many other possibilities and combinations.
I always liked how the Dark Carnival theme has those whistling/siren sounds that almost glitch out, like the speakers at a carnival just replaying the same like 2 seconds of a song over and over until a ride operator notices and fixes is it.
Horde soundtracks from the first and second game could really describe the different tones of L4D1 and 2. In L4D1 it sounded intense, with lots of percussion and piano pieces depicting the horror and misery of the story, the tone was dark and serious. In L4D2 as us players got deeper into the story, we got familiar with how things work and would be more at ease. All the banjo and violin notes kept the original intensity while adding a more hilarious tune (ie a Jockey humping on your back scenario) making it a chaotic comedy action game.
acctualy it shows how much the game improved, l4d1 had pretty much the same sound for all campaings, while in l4d2 its more unique for each campaing, its a total upgrade.
@@gabrielandy9272 Left 4 Dead 1's campaigns are more down to earth compared to 2, but I wouldn't say that's a negative. It just makes the game more thematically consistent.
@@zaccorpseman7366 that would make more sense if you had to play the first game before the second one, but the games can be played in any order so your reasoning falls flat quickly
I don't think that was their intention. The instruments used are very obviously linked to USA's southern states, and all campaigns take place in those states. They wanted to make every track sound themed and interesting compared to the generic track of the first game.
I can already imagine listening to this while running and either pretending to be a common infected running towards the survivors in a horde or pretend to be the survivor and running from the horde itself. Either way it would probably give me a major adrenaline boost just off the horde scream alone.
The fact that there are multiple videos dedicated to left 4 dead show that valve knew what they were doing with gameplay, music and story Valve games are timeless classics
Something i absolutely love about L4D2 is hearing the different instruments taking the centre of every map and setting the atmosphere for every one to be totally unique, all horde themes giving you chaos and a clear message to start running.
The thing I love about it is that in L4D2 the music is based off where you are for example the Parish has the Trumpets because you’re in New Orleans a city known for its use of brass instruments. In Dark Carnival you get the sounds of the whistling like most carnivals have and then you get the fiddle for Swamp Fever because you’re in the Deep South swamps
It might have been said already but the violin in the swamp fever part is a bow being used on a banjo. When i learned that it blew me away and makes sense when you think about the setting of swamp fever taking place in a "hillbilly" swamp town for the most part
The horde things are dynamic, which is neat. The Director detects how "overwhelmed" you are, and increases the intensity as it goes up, and decreases it as the horde thins. The high pitched with the quickened instruments part plays when the director believes you are "completely overrun" and barely holding your ground
21:32 Oh my lord!!! You are KILLING it on that instrument, it sounds like it was in the game itself! Did you freestyle this or planned it out beforehand?
@@BoxedBurgers super interesting to hear your take on it! definitely themes meant to evoke chaos - i think hearing the music in battle gives it another element, because you’re seeing the music in action while being mobbed by the horde! great work!
@@LionmightOfficial Could you listen to Black Mesa soundtrack? The music is really amazing you should definitely give it a listen. Soundtracks I recommend: Forget about freeman, Surface Tension 1+2+3, Blast pit 3, Anomalous Materials, Mind games, Ascension V2, Shadows of death (V2), Internal conflict, Resonance, The Hunting V2. they're all THE BEST.
You're right about the layers @Lionmight . The music in Left 4 Dead is made up of multiple short loops and layers. There's a lot of layering per in game chapter, all of which works together with the "horde slayer" (the high pitched "alarm" sound, and the deep, electric murky saw), with "danger" tracks (like the banjo, dobro and fiddle) layered on top of *that* . The mixes on TH-cam are a little misleading though, because a lot of the sounds like the banjo, dobros, electric saws and musical saws you hear don't play all over the place in game like that, but based on what happens in game. Most of these videos are just loops endlessly looped and thrown together at random, which isn't really how it works in the game. There's a reason the programmers at Valve programmed a whole system to handle music and sound effects dynamically!
The thing I love about left 4 dead’s horde themes, is the dynamic music. First it’s those simple drums. Then you start shooting and the main thingy kicks in, they get close. The “alarm” noise comes in. I love it
You're actually right about the composition of the Horde theme On the first Left 4 Dead the theme was a single composition, but on the second game there's multiple loops, all of them around 3-5 seconds that change depending how "inside" the horde you're in, the most intense sections of course played when you're surrounded and your screen is red to all the punches you're receiving
Ahh, what a treat! LOVE the horde themes from L4D2. I must applaud you for your take of the Horde theme, I would love to listen to a full version of it!
I've never really been one to look into music outside of enjoying "the feel" but this dude really kinda opened my eyes in a simple but profound way to the complexity and formulas behind this music. Earned a sub, looking forward to seeing your future content!
I love how the music sounds and feels so overwhelming especially during a horde, you and three other survivors mowing down zombies with the gun fire being loud, hearing the angry sounds of zombies and the sounds that special infected make everything feels chaotic and fast. It adds into the adrenaline like feeling you get, especially when you play on the harder difficulties.
I've always loved how Valve more or less pioneered the whole "dynamic soundtrack" thing that you hear in Left 4 Dead 1, 2 and Portal 2. It's so good when done right. Valve invented and perfected it and a lot of other studios and composers ended up copying it later, which is amazing. Makes me wish more games had dynamic soundtracks like these.
The general gist of the music from Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 is pure chaos, everything overlaps into a massive mess like a horde of zombies getting mowed down by four survivors, it's crazy, it's fast, it's hectic. And we love it for that reason.
Dead Center: I love it it gives some boost. Dark Carnival: I don't like it. I hate clowns. Swamp Fever: It gives you a disorienting vibes. Hard Rain: Cowboy chilling with his cigar box guitar. The Parish: RUN FOR YOUR LIFE. Your cover: Adrenaline rush
I'm glad he's covering all the aspects of the music! I hope he plays the game and gets to experience the soundtrack the way it's supposed to be played out
as a person who loves percussion and bass in all music and always thinks there should be more of it these horde themes are great to me! especially the swamp one cause like you pointed out it got quite fiddly and that is always quite fun to listen to! that being said hard rain was also so good because I tend to like twangy instruments as well and those instruments sounded great! a great way to end this series!
A few other Horde Themes within the roster are L4D1's "The Last Stand Horde Theme", L4D2's "The Passing Horde Theme", L4D2's "The Parish Beta Horde Theme", and L4D2's "Cold Stream Unused Horde Theme". It would be cool to see you check those out too, as for the most part, each of them is another unique spin on the Horde.
Nuevo suscriptor Hispano, y sinceramente este canal me encanta mucho por la crítica de este joven, y más cuando se abarca al detalle de cada sonido de la música, que eso me gustó bastante este canal, exitos y que te vaya bien en tu dia a día
Not too long ago I looked up if you reviewed the L4D2 Horde Themes cause I really wanted you to react to Swamp Fever as it's my favorite horde theme and I'm so happy to see you finally did!
Honestly, seeing you experience the L4D2 ost for the first time and dissecting it actually makes me appreciate hearing it again. Playing the game as a kid and getting used to hearing the ost, it's easy to miss the small details that go into it. Thank you for helping me appreciate the game more!
That first song will always get me going, I can feel the adrenaline want to build and I focus in a bit, makes me feel excited about a fight ahead. Been played l4d forever now, since i was a kid, and it has left its mark.
the zombie roar is what you hear before a horde gets there. like a warning. and i'm not sure if this is true but the drums supposedly are meant to represent the footsteps of all the zombies approaching
@@LionmightOfficial What he meant was, different tracks and sections from the horde theme play depending on how many zombies are surrounding the player, and not all at once like the video. They all change in intensity and amount of instruments. From about no zombies to about half a dozen zombies (only drums, also only the first L4D2 horde theme) to almost a hundred zombies (many instruments at the same time, this is where the horde theme from the campaigns come in), but you've already reacted to them all here. This is just the context, in the game when a horde spawns, it plays the nightmarish screams at the beginning, then it randomly loops a 4 or 5 second section from the video (which is why the "solo" sounds a bit choppy every 4 or 5 seconds, you even mentioned this at 5:33). Thank you for the reaction!
Awesome to get a musicians perspective on these! 👍 You are correct in your assumption that most of these are dynamic, they rise and fall based on what's going on, respond to the size of the hordes, teammates needing your help, tie into gameplay crescendo's, etc. Valve (even with the upkeep costs that must be massive for their Steam platform) is generally accepted to be doing extremely well financially & this has been the case for a while now, they hire actual orchestra's for their game music. Those people may then be asked to make midi (fairly sure they did this for the final credit songs of their Portal series games?) but 95% or more of the time its real instruments being played.
These themes are dynamic and play differently depending on circumstances, like the density of the horde, whether they're still arriving or not, whether the player is killing zombies and etc.
The tracks had been developed alongside with the game's director as extremely nuanced dynamic music and i'm happy you explained/noticed that with some of the baselines. It shows because 1. few of these are ever meant to be atmospheric or listened to on it's own aside from interlude tracks that you'd hear while survivors talk or when no infected are around whatsoever, rather something you experience live in-game. 2. it's meant to simulate or even stimulate your actual nerves and response to a situation like this. This is the sound of someone fighting off an increasingly/decreasingly sized horde with differing intensities. These are the sounds of someone fighting for their life. One of many VGM tracks that enamored me and had me hooked.
The way the music works is actually the other way from how you say it in the beginning. A music ai checks how many zeds are around the characters, how close they're getting and all that, and applies an appropriate intensity segment of the horde tracks to play, getting a buildup as they spawn and approach, and then settling as the horde dies out.
There was a special infected that was cut from the original game called the “Screamer” It was a special infected that was intended to scream and cause a horde if it was disturbed (much like the witch). However since this special infected was cut from the game they actually gave the hunter its scream which is the hunter noises we all know today. I have a theory about the screamer, and I believe it is actually still in the game! If you listen closely every time a horde is triggered in both games by the way … there is a very disturbing initial singular scream that goes off before the rest of the zombies start screaming along with him. My theory is that’s actually the screamer, he’s always there just somewhere you can’t see him but they see you. Listen closely 0:39
As far as I'm aware, all of the orchestral soundtracks are performed by Valve's own Valve Studio Orchestra. In addition, Left 4 Dead 2 primarily takes place in the southern USA like Orleans and Louisiana, so the style and instrumental picks are related to the campaign you play- a shopping mall for Dead Center, a carnival for Dark Carnival, a swamp for- you guessed it, a flooded suburb in Hard Rain and the streets of New Orleans during a parade in The Parish.
Left 4 dead’s music is what gives the game so much depth. Since they’re going for a more “film” kind of deal, the music makes you feel like you’re in a movie which is awesome
i never realized this till i heard you play your own horde theme, but from what i remember, the parish's beta horde theme was supposed to use a violin or a fiddle, and not gonna lie i remember listening to that and wanting someone to mod it in the game 😅
These themes are so well done. The zombies are running at you, you’re running, and the music really ties together the gameplay of fighting off enemies from all directions
To actually hear just the music playing and nothing else? It really is fantastic. Completely adds to the stress and desperation to keep fighting all the zombies. And ultimately reach the next safe house or escape vehicle.
I'm happy as hell to see the intro be the Swamp Fever horde theme. Months back I am 99% sure I commented preaching that it's insanely good, and while just starting the video, it seems like it was a hit lol Also wanna quickly edit in, if it WASN'T done yet, I'd love to see you do a review/reaction to the in game band, "Midnight Riders" as Valve actually did like a full album of songs for them. I think only 1 or 2, MAYBE 3 of them, are even in the game. I genuinely think it's pretty good music and I find it interesting it's entirely just to world build, as 2 of the playable L4D2 survivors (Ellis and Coach) bond over them a bit at the start of Dark Carnival's 2nd map, and their would be stage is where we get our evac from at the end of that map.
What i love both L4D is the theme difference, because the first game is about the horror of a Zombie Apocalypse (death, fear, lose of hope, destruction of humanity) meanwhile L4D2 is quite the opposite, like the action type of Zombie movie. The one that you can go and have free will, being able to help others and prosper to be a survivor on a lost world. Which also can be reflected on how both games protagonists are different in many ways, how the soundtrack is more intensive than first one and a lot of different details.
Merry Christmas to you and all of your family man I hope you have a great holidays and a very Happy New Year very happy I found your channel the first one I watched was your reaction to bury the light
no one cares abt ur reaction, only people who feel the need to be validated. cringe
Wow you got pinned not long ago.
lmao
@@ShidsRage shut up
pin of shame
Ah so we like talking about ourselves I see
One thing I have noticed from playing the Left 4 Dead series a lot is however many Infected are swarming you in a horde is the equivalent of how many instruments are being played all the way until the solo drums are the only ones left which is why I like playing these games
I've never noticed that, I thought it was random xD
i love how the music is tied to the infected
if there's a horde at all, the drums will always play
if there's loads of infected next to you, the main instrument of that campaign joins in
the game has loads of sound files for different drum and 'campaign instrument' patterns (the ones in the videos are placed in order of the file names) and those are randomly selected in the game
For sure, stems are such a cool part of game design.
My intro to that was the music from Chaos Theory, which is amazing. Motifs that begin “calm” with various alternative stems that the game can grab from a bag when something happens - “panic” “attack” etc. each level has a flavor.
@@jad4693 yeah, also you can know when a special infected will show up by the music, you can hear diferent music and sounds depending of the specials infected around you.
@ i also remember in l4d2 only, those musical cues are disabled in versus for whatever reason
The music for the hordes is STRONGLY tied to the game itself. Hearing the screams of the infected in the distance, and then the beats of the drums as they charge towards you makes your chest sink. Then you'll catch random bits of the songs in between the screaming and gunshots. It overwhelms your senses and spikes your adrenaline. Then suddenly, the music begins to die WITH the horde. And you're back to silence. The feeling that comes with it is unmatched
@@itsmrbigsmoke862 fr
This right here ☝ listening to the music without playing the game is nothing compared to the feeling you get in the moment. I cannot even describe it because it's a very unique feeling, and this is why I think in my personal opinion that L4D2 has the best soundtrack out of any zombie game I have ever played. It's simply unmatched and like I said before, unique.
The drummer was working overtime! His rent was due. 😂
Son varias grabaciones pequeñas que juntas hacen parecer que la están haciendo de uno solo. Buen trabajo de los ingenieros de sonido
The power of monster and bcaa powder
@@-kirito-steam26 its a joke bud
😂😂😂
@@-kirito-steam26 yeah i actually reconstructed the horde themes and the ones for the specific campaigns from the game files its all just a million wav files
some folders will have 50 segments of drums or other instruments and they play in order
idk its weird
The thing I absolutely LOVE about Left 4 Dead 2 horde soundtracks is that they are doing its best to relay that "adrenaline rush" feeling that Survivor players gets when facing the Horde. The soundtracks are NOT supposed to be pleasant in any way.
You were absolutely right about "mosquitos". When survivors are about to get all their crap beaten out by a horde of zombies, the music is here to add to the excitement! Normal music would be drowned in the sounds of gunfire, zombies screaming bloody murder, survivors shouting at each other or grunting in pain, Special Infected making their entrance, adding to the chaos. But Left 4 Dead games are using drums, they can be heard thumping in the backround even in the most intense Horde assault.
@@Max58183 Left 4 Dead easily has the most songs if any of valves games, separate songs for each special infected, each horde, each campaign, each saferoom, all of which are well made.
exactly, the drums sound frighteningly similar to a frantic heartbeat
Imagine the adrenaline of fighting a horde in expert+realism mode
It sounds "Choppy" like that because the tempo of the horde itself changes while you're fighting. So, the music is designed to be able to change on a whim as the horde thins or grows in strength.
@@MrFancyPantsMan It’s probably repeated in those snippets and looped in-game and progression
Ah yes, my favourite style of music, the "I'm fighting for my f-cking life"
@@Ye-Hu that’s so true😂
@@Ye-Hu shoutout for the I DIDN'T SIGNED UP FOR THIS SHIT!
Definetively one of my favorite genres.
The horde themes really capture the essence of how uncontrolled, unorganized, and unpredictable the infection was when it started spreading and turning people. Put yourself in the shoes of someone in charge of containing the disease; How do you possibly stop an air-borne virus that kills people within 5 minutes (if the survivor's saferoom graffiti is accurate) and then turns them into a violent monster hell-bent on spreading the virus to other people? That's why in The Parish you can find bodies of uninfected individuals shot to death by the Military/CEDA. They had no idea what to do, so they just thought that killing everybody themselves would be the best possible way to ensure the infection can't spread.
For context, the bodies you see in The Parish are actually carriers killed by CEDA at the evac zones. Theres grafitti throughout the level of non carriers wondering why the military is just killing "uninfected" people meaning the military knew exactly what it was doing but civilians were unaware of the idea of carriers
Homie, the infected are not undead. They still cry, suffer hunger pains and dehydration, void bowels, vomit, breathe etc.
Nice seeing you again
@@sbraypaynt I don't think he said anything like that
@@esharayan140 He said the virus kills people within 5 minutes, which isn't true. The virus causes severe hallucinations and mutations, but the infected are still regular human beings that are _very_ sick and delirious. They are not "undead zombies".
14:27 its crazy how the sound its not a violin, it’s a bow being used on a banjo XD
That's funny because you can't expect someone to just know that and the fact a professional string player was fooled just proves the absolute chaos that the music is meant to convey.
I hope lion field sees this
Oh, she did
Buena foto de perfil.
Calla cagada :vvv
21:32 Imagine he records some violin runs, record it and then someone makes a mod for the workshop that replaces one of the campaigns horde parts with his playing. Killing zombies while Lionmight is killing it with the violin.
@@SohaldSpike we need that now gotta get someone to do it
@@AcedUpLolTTV They've done it already with his renditions of the witch and tank themes, they're in the workshop ^^
This might fit in Hard Rain since there are too many witches there
@@canadiandemo9073 link?
God I wish I knew how to make mods, cuz I'd make that mod in a heartbeat.
Lionmight's horde theme at 21:33 is awesome. I can imagine it will be used on some kind of wrecked Cruise Ship on an island resort.
The reason the Horde themes are so chaotic, is because you're listening to the OST version, in-game the Horde themes are more dynamic, instruments keep adding in and the rhythm of the song itself changes depends on what is going on around you, whether you're swarmed, running away, low HP, high HP, on temporary HP, caught by a Special Infected, puked by a Boomer, or just straight up murdering everything around you (which is the slower, heavier drumming) and so on as there are many other possibilities and combinations.
I always liked how the Dark Carnival theme has those whistling/siren sounds that almost glitch out, like the speakers at a carnival just replaying the same like 2 seconds of a song over and over until a ride operator notices and fixes is it.
Horde soundtracks from the first and second game could really describe the different tones of L4D1 and 2.
In L4D1 it sounded intense, with lots of percussion and piano pieces depicting the horror and misery of the story, the tone was dark and serious.
In L4D2 as us players got deeper into the story, we got familiar with how things work and would be more at ease. All the banjo and violin notes kept the original intensity while adding a more hilarious tune (ie a Jockey humping on your back scenario) making it a chaotic comedy action game.
acctualy it shows how much the game improved, l4d1 had pretty much the same sound for all campaings, while in l4d2 its more unique for each campaing, its a total upgrade.
@@gabrielandy9272 Left 4 Dead 1's campaigns are more down to earth compared to 2, but I wouldn't say that's a negative. It just makes the game more thematically consistent.
@@zaccorpseman7366 that would make more sense if you had to play the first game before the second one, but the games can be played in any order so your reasoning falls flat quickly
I don't think that was their intention. The instruments used are very obviously linked to USA's southern states, and all campaigns take place in those states. They wanted to make every track sound themed and interesting compared to the generic track of the first game.
@@gabrielandy9272 The horde themes in 2 from what I see match the opening scene of them
I mix some of it in my "running" playlist and the results are incredible.
@@jianng7795 Run and Shoot man!
running to l4d2 music sounds wild. can already imagine you jumping while trying to strafe irl.
@@jianng7795 i need that playlist bro sound really cool
@@MNYQaabhopping in real life
I can already imagine listening to this while running and either pretending to be a common infected running towards the survivors in a horde or pretend to be the survivor and running from the horde itself.
Either way it would probably give me a major adrenaline boost just off the horde scream alone.
The fact that there are multiple videos dedicated to left 4 dead show that valve knew what they were doing with gameplay, music and story
Valve games are timeless classics
I mean they hired several psychologists, among other notable professions to make these games. Valve means business and pride.
21:39 you absolutely killed it, that was amazing
i loved his piece in this, i would like this as a mod to the game sounds so good lol it fits the swamp fever biome.
A bow being used on a banjo along with a professional on a violin
@@gabrielandy9272 agreed, I can prob do that
Something i absolutely love about L4D2 is hearing the different instruments taking the centre of every map and setting the atmosphere for every one to be totally unique, all horde themes giving you chaos and a clear message to start running.
The thing I love about it is that in L4D2 the music is based off where you are for example the Parish has the Trumpets because you’re in New Orleans a city known for its use of brass instruments. In Dark Carnival you get the sounds of the whistling like most carnivals have and then you get the fiddle for Swamp Fever because you’re in the Deep South swamps
It might have been said already but the violin in the swamp fever part is a bow being used on a banjo. When i learned that it blew me away and makes sense when you think about the setting of swamp fever taking place in a "hillbilly" swamp town for the most part
The horde things are dynamic, which is neat. The Director detects how "overwhelmed" you are, and increases the intensity as it goes up, and decreases it as the horde thins. The high pitched with the quickened instruments part plays when the director believes you are "completely overrun" and barely holding your ground
Valve: *Hires the musicians*
Musicians: How chaotic do you want it?
Valve: Yes
21:32 Oh my lord!!! You are KILLING it on that instrument, it sounds like it was in the game itself! Did you freestyle this or planned it out beforehand?
Thank you! It was freestyled at first, then improved later on.
@@BoxedBurgers super interesting to hear your take on it! definitely themes meant to evoke chaos - i think hearing the music in battle gives it another element, because you’re seeing the music in action while being mobbed by the horde!
great work!
You should use this type of overwhelming music in your game
rare red snow sighting wtf
@@LionmightOfficial Could you listen to Black Mesa soundtrack? The music is really amazing you should definitely give it a listen.
Soundtracks I recommend:
Forget about freeman, Surface Tension 1+2+3, Blast pit 3, Anomalous Materials, Mind games, Ascension V2, Shadows of death (V2), Internal conflict, Resonance, The Hunting V2.
they're all THE BEST.
Perfect timing! Right as i got done playing l4d2 lol x3
How many times u got kicked for missing a charger instkill
@@lexkit9438 were you playing multiplayer? Or campaign?
Which campaign
@@rickydelbosque780 average l4d2 pub lobby experience
@@B0TFUNGUS fr u cant have fun in versus people are so sweaty bunny hoping is a must otherwise you're losing evergame
The Hoard theme playinh right after the scream is just iconic
You start looking for choke points and where you need to go the second that sounds
@@ironboy3245 Don't forget to crouch too.
You're right about the layers @Lionmight . The music in Left 4 Dead is made up of multiple short loops and layers. There's a lot of layering per in game chapter, all of which works together with the "horde slayer" (the high pitched "alarm" sound, and the deep, electric murky saw), with "danger" tracks (like the banjo, dobro and fiddle) layered on top of *that* .
The mixes on TH-cam are a little misleading though, because a lot of the sounds like the banjo, dobros, electric saws and musical saws you hear don't play all over the place in game like that, but based on what happens in game. Most of these videos are just loops endlessly looped and thrown together at random, which isn't really how it works in the game.
There's a reason the programmers at Valve programmed a whole system to handle music and sound effects dynamically!
Coach: "Here they come!"
The thing I love about left 4 dead’s horde themes, is the dynamic music. First it’s those simple drums. Then you start shooting and the main thingy kicks in, they get close. The “alarm” noise comes in. I love it
You're actually right about the composition of the Horde theme
On the first Left 4 Dead the theme was a single composition, but on the second game there's multiple loops, all of them around 3-5 seconds that change depending how "inside" the horde you're in, the most intense sections of course played when you're surrounded and your screen is red to all the punches you're receiving
Ahh, what a treat! LOVE the horde themes from L4D2. I must applaud you for your take of the Horde theme, I would love to listen to a full version of it!
I've never really been one to look into music outside of enjoying "the feel" but this dude really kinda opened my eyes in a simple but profound way to the complexity and formulas behind this music. Earned a sub, looking forward to seeing your future content!
I love how the music sounds and feels so overwhelming especially during a horde, you and three other survivors mowing down zombies with the gun fire being loud, hearing the angry sounds of zombies and the sounds that special infected make everything feels chaotic and fast. It adds into the adrenaline like feeling you get, especially when you play on the harder difficulties.
I've always loved how Valve more or less pioneered the whole "dynamic soundtrack" thing that you hear in Left 4 Dead 1, 2 and Portal 2. It's so good when done right. Valve invented and perfected it and a lot of other studios and composers ended up copying it later, which is amazing. Makes me wish more games had dynamic soundtracks like these.
If valve ever needs a profesional violinist for L4D3 we know who to call 📞
The general gist of the music from Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 is pure chaos, everything overlaps into a massive mess like a horde of zombies getting mowed down by four survivors, it's crazy, it's fast, it's hectic.
And we love it for that reason.
I will forever love the L4D series, and I wish this sequel can make a come back.
Dead Center: I love it it gives some boost.
Dark Carnival: I don't like it. I hate clowns.
Swamp Fever: It gives you a disorienting vibes.
Hard Rain: Cowboy chilling with his cigar box guitar.
The Parish: RUN FOR YOUR LIFE.
Your cover: Adrenaline rush
Clowns had an own theme.
the amount of love that went into l4d2 is actually insane
Thanks lionmight for reacting again to left 4 dead topics, you are great and you are very detailed my friend, keep it up man ❤
i just can't get enough of The Parish's Horde theme, i love the trumpeter playing it like crazy, knowing how to show the chaos that is at the moment
That’s also true in the story, carriers infecting the normal survivors in NOLA, military shooting everybody, chaos everywhere.
as a l4d player, i get chills whenever i hear these songs, i can just feel the zombies coming right for me.
*Nick has alerted the horde!*
*Kick player: Nick?*
*F1 F1 F1*
@@parapun1516 "Dont touch that car!"
Nick :
Plot Twist: It was the crescendo event
@Loolilol "your mom's car"
I do that exact same thing
"BITCH" player has been kicked from the game
I'm glad he's covering all the aspects of the music! I hope he plays the game and gets to experience the soundtrack the way it's supposed to be played out
as a person who loves percussion and bass in all music and always thinks there should be more of it these horde themes are great to me! especially the swamp one cause like you pointed out it got quite fiddly and that is always quite fun to listen to! that being said hard rain was also so good because I tend to like twangy instruments as well and those instruments sounded great! a great way to end this series!
A few other Horde Themes within the roster are L4D1's "The Last Stand Horde Theme", L4D2's "The Passing Horde Theme", L4D2's "The Parish Beta Horde Theme", and L4D2's "Cold Stream Unused Horde Theme". It would be cool to see you check those out too, as for the most part, each of them is another unique spin on the Horde.
Bro's hearing soundtracks I've rarely heard while playing the game hahaha but also spectacular sounds! Love your content. Really happy you exist hshs
Well, thank you, Lionmight, for giving us a NEW Horde Theme at the end!
Nuevo suscriptor Hispano, y sinceramente este canal me encanta mucho por la crítica de este joven, y más cuando se abarca al detalle de cada sonido de la música, que eso me gustó bastante este canal, exitos y que te vaya bien en tu dia a día
Goated video as always Lion.
The “whiplash” movie but hes gotta play the l4d2 horde themes.
Holy crap you're still active :O
Dude I remember your left 4 dead rips, awesome stuff, thank you for uploading those!
@ ah no problem at all, thanks for watching!
Finally I've been waiting for this soooo long do the 2 part soon please
Not too long ago I looked up if you reviewed the L4D2 Horde Themes cause I really wanted you to react to Swamp Fever as it's my favorite horde theme and I'm so happy to see you finally did!
I really liked your cover at the end, well done
I love seeing people react and point out things I never noticed before and makes me love the music even more and the meanings behind them
Honestly, seeing you experience the L4D2 ost for the first time and dissecting it actually makes me appreciate hearing it again. Playing the game as a kid and getting used to hearing the ost, it's easy to miss the small details that go into it. Thank you for helping me appreciate the game more!
That first song will always get me going, I can feel the adrenaline want to build and I focus in a bit, makes me feel excited about a fight ahead. Been played l4d forever now, since i was a kid, and it has left its mark.
You are so underrated, you need to keep it up!! Looking forward to ultrakill and Risk of rain!!!
the zombie roar is what you hear before a horde gets there. like a warning. and i'm not sure if this is true but the drums supposedly are meant to represent the footsteps of all the zombies approaching
That's how I've always interpreted it; it sounds like the thundering footsteps of a charging crowd
Lowkey bringing L4D2 back to life, glad to see someone finally appreciating the music too lol
Oh I've been waiting for the horde themes!! 💜 Thank you for delivering :D
Great video. Gotta love the Horde music, and love your reaction/analysis of the music.
Do the PVZ soundtrack too
yeah!
good idea
Fill up the form
Day lawn, night lawn, day pool, night/fog pool, and rooftop.
Sh*tton of good music there
3:38 the sounds of the shooting and growling plus the drums makes it so much more better
you should react to the scenarios that these sounds come from just to give an idea on what happens
Not interested
@@LionmightOfficial Rip
@@LionmightOfficial What he meant was, different tracks and sections from the horde theme play depending on how many zombies are surrounding the player, and not all at once like the video. They all change in intensity and amount of instruments. From about no zombies to about half a dozen zombies (only drums, also only the first L4D2 horde theme) to almost a hundred zombies (many instruments at the same time, this is where the horde theme from the campaigns come in), but you've already reacted to them all here. This is just the context, in the game when a horde spawns, it plays the nightmarish screams at the beginning, then it randomly loops a 4 or 5 second section from the video (which is why the "solo" sounds a bit choppy every 4 or 5 seconds, you even mentioned this at 5:33). Thank you for the reaction!
Why do you keep trying to pressure him to react to the actual game. I’ve seen u comment on the same thing before but in different wording lol
@@Will-cq9lg i literally just asked as in like a little query, i’m lucky he even responded so what’s your point?
I luv how every song makes you feel like a fight or flight scenario were its either FIGHT or D1e
Omg I've been waiting for you to cover the horde themes for so long! They are so good
*Nick has alerted the horde!*
You KNOW it's bout to go down.
Awesome to get a musicians perspective on these! 👍
You are correct in your assumption that most of these are dynamic, they rise and fall based on what's going on, respond to the size of the hordes, teammates needing your help, tie into gameplay crescendo's, etc.
Valve (even with the upkeep costs that must be massive for their Steam platform) is generally accepted to be doing extremely well financially & this has been the case for a while now, they hire actual orchestra's for their game music. Those people may then be asked to make midi (fairly sure they did this for the final credit songs of their Portal series games?) but 95% or more of the time its real instruments being played.
I just have to say, I love watching you react to these songs. You're very expressive.
hearing all of these bring me back so many memories.
These themes are dynamic and play differently depending on circumstances, like the density of the horde, whether they're still arriving or not, whether the player is killing zombies and etc.
The tracks had been developed alongside with the game's director as extremely nuanced dynamic music and i'm happy you explained/noticed that with some of the baselines. It shows because 1. few of these are ever meant to be atmospheric or listened to on it's own aside from interlude tracks that you'd hear while survivors talk or when no infected are around whatsoever, rather something you experience live in-game. 2. it's meant to simulate or even stimulate your actual nerves and response to a situation like this. This is the sound of someone fighting off an increasingly/decreasingly sized horde with differing intensities. These are the sounds of someone fighting for their life.
One of many VGM tracks that enamored me and had me hooked.
ive been waiting for this video oh my god
I love your left4dead 2 content so much, thanks for putting this up
The way the music works is actually the other way from how you say it in the beginning. A music ai checks how many zeds are around the characters, how close they're getting and all that, and applies an appropriate intensity segment of the horde tracks to play, getting a buildup as they spawn and approach, and then settling as the horde dies out.
Hey lionmight, I love your reactions
Woohoo yes been waiting 4 this
The instruments when they recording the horde themes: "I'm tired boss.."
I never knew that the L4D1 included Taiko drums. I love it!
There was a special infected that was cut from the original game called the “Screamer” It was a special infected that was intended to scream and cause a horde if it was disturbed (much like the witch). However since this special infected was cut from the game they actually gave the hunter its scream which is the hunter noises we all know today. I have a theory about the screamer, and I believe it is actually still in the game!
If you listen closely every time a horde is triggered in both games by the way … there is a very disturbing initial singular scream that goes off before the rest of the zombies start screaming along with him. My theory is that’s actually the screamer, he’s always there just somewhere you can’t see him but they see you.
Listen closely 0:39
FINALLY, HE HEARD IT
I love the horde themes, they will never crease to make me feel pumped up and ready to run
As far as I'm aware, all of the orchestral soundtracks are performed by Valve's own Valve Studio Orchestra. In addition, Left 4 Dead 2 primarily takes place in the southern USA like Orleans and Louisiana, so the style and instrumental picks are related to the campaign you play- a shopping mall for Dead Center, a carnival for Dark Carnival, a swamp for- you guessed it, a flooded suburb in Hard Rain and the streets of New Orleans during a parade in The Parish.
Left 4 dead’s music is what gives the game so much depth. Since they’re going for a more “film” kind of deal, the music makes you feel like you’re in a movie which is awesome
i never realized this till i heard you play your own horde theme, but from what i remember, the parish's beta horde theme was supposed to use a violin or a fiddle, and not gonna lie i remember listening to that and wanting someone to mod it in the game 😅
These themes are so well done. The zombies are running at you, you’re running, and the music really ties together the gameplay of fighting off enemies from all directions
To actually hear just the music playing and nothing else? It really is fantastic. Completely adds to the stress and desperation to keep fighting all the zombies. And ultimately reach the next safe house or escape vehicle.
i love how the horde sound effect always wakes him up like smelling salts
Glad I'm still playing Left 4 Dead for now on
Bro, now I need a full Swamp Fever theme with u playing the violin, frfr.
I'm happy as hell to see the intro be the Swamp Fever horde theme.
Months back I am 99% sure I commented preaching that it's insanely good, and while just starting the video, it seems like it was a hit lol
Also wanna quickly edit in, if it WASN'T done yet, I'd love to see you do a review/reaction to the in game band, "Midnight Riders" as Valve actually did like a full album of songs for them. I think only 1 or 2, MAYBE 3 of them, are even in the game. I genuinely think it's pretty good music and I find it interesting it's entirely just to world build, as 2 of the playable L4D2 survivors (Ellis and Coach) bond over them a bit at the start of Dark Carnival's 2nd map, and their would be stage is where we get our evac from at the end of that map.
ur freestyles on the beat r my fav part
What i love both L4D is the theme difference, because the first game is about the horror of a Zombie Apocalypse (death, fear, lose of hope, destruction of humanity) meanwhile L4D2 is quite the opposite, like the action type of Zombie movie. The one that you can go and have free will, being able to help others and prosper to be a survivor on a lost world.
Which also can be reflected on how both games protagonists are different in many ways, how the soundtrack is more intensive than first one and a lot of different details.
Dark Carnival is played by saw, the one used for cutting trees or making planks.
The music starts playing out of nowhere when you open pack of chips in the school:
Finally I’ve been waiting for you to react to the swamp horde theme
I'm glad you finally reacted to the Horde themes :D
Ok when bro popped off on the violin at the end I was like I don’t remember this in l4d blended in too perfectly
Merry Christmas to you and all of your family man I hope you have a great holidays and a very Happy New Year very happy I found your channel the first one I watched was your reaction to bury the light
Sooo glad I found this channel. Great vid n breakdown of each piece. ❤😊🍻🙇♂️🙇♂️🙇♂️