Martin O'Donnell
Encyclopedia
Martin "Marty" O'Donnell (born May 1, 1955) is an American
composer
known for his work on video game developer Bungie
's series, such as Myth, Oni, and Halo
. O'Donnell collaborates with his musical colleague Michael Salvatori
for many of the scores; he has also directed voice talent and sound design
for the Halo trilogy, and is currently Bungie's Audio Lead.
O'Donnell began his music career writing television and radio jingles as well as scoring for radio and film. O'Donnell moved to composing video game music when his company, TotalAudio, did the sound design for the 1997 title Riven
. After producing the music for Myth II
, Bungie contracted O'Donnell to work on their other projects, including Oni and the code-named project that would become Halo: Combat Evolved
. O'Donnell ended up joining the Bungie staff only ten days before the studio was bought by Microsoft, and has been the audio director for all Bungie projects since.
O'Donnell's score to the Halo trilogy has been called iconic, earning him several awards, and the commercial soundtrack release of the music to Halo 2 became the best-selling video game soundtrack of all time in the United States. His most recently released work is the music for Halo: Reach
, released digitally on September 14, 2010 and disc
on September 28, 2010.
and fusion rock, O'Donnell studied the classical component of music and composition at Wheaton College Conservatory of Music
and received his Masters of Music Degree in composition with honors from the University of Southern California
in the early 1980s.
After getting his degree, O'Donnell moved to Chicago, where he expected that he would teach at the American Conservatory of Music. The job fell through, and instead he worked as a grip in the film and television business. O'Donnell began his musical career in the field after one of his colleagues who knew of his music background approached him to write for his film. O'Donnell talked to his friend Michael Salvatori
, who had his own recording studio, and offered to split the profits from the job with him; the two became constant partners.
After completing a film score and a few commercials, the two decided to quit their day jobs and produce music in Chicago; they founded a production company, TotalAudio. O'Donnell wrote the jingles for Mr. Clean
and Flintstones Vitamins. After fifteen years of composing for TV and radio commercials, he decided that he wanted to work on game soundtracks and move on from commercial-sounding music. "I was hoping to find some other medium that would be new and cutting-edge and sort of the Wild West," he recalled.
who were making a game O'Donnell had never heard of called Myst
. In hearing the theme music to the game, O'Donnell realized that the game industry was making great strides in creating "legitimate music" that contained dramatic elements. O'Donnell became acquainted with the game's developers, including brothers Rand
and Robyn Miller
, and was hired four years later as a sound designer for Mysts sequel, Riven
. Among the games Rivens developers would play in their downtime was a title called Marathon
, created by Chicago-based Bungie Studios
. On returning to Chicago O'Donnell emailed a Bungie staffer and pursued them for a job.
TotalAudio produced the music for Bungie
's Myth: The Fallen Lords the same year. The company later composed the music for Valkyrie Studio's Septerra Core: Legacy of the Creator
, during which O'Donnell met Steve Downes
, whom he would later recommend as the voice actor for the Master Chief
. O'Donnell described the work for Septerra Core as his most difficult assignment; during the production the TotalAudio studio burned to the ground and O'Donnell had to be hoisted through a window in order to save some 20 hours of recordings.
Soon after producing the music for Myth II, Bungie contracted O'Donnell for several of Bungie's other projects, including the third-person game Oni. In 1999, Bungie wanted to re-negotiate the contracts for Oni, and the negotiations resulted in O'Donnell joining the Bungie team, only ten days before the company was bought by Microsoft
. O'Donnell is one of only a handful of Bungie employees who remain working at the company since then. While O'Donnell worked at Bungie, Salvatori handled the business side of TotalAudio.
, O'Donnell decided the music needed to be "big, exciting, and unusual with a classical orchestra touch to give it some weight and stature. We also wanted it to have some sort of 'ancient' feel to it." O'Donnell came up with the idea of opening the piece with gregorian chant
and jotted down the melody in his car. Because he did not know how long the presentation would be, O'Donnell created "smushy" opening and closing sections that could be expanded or cut as time required to back up a rhythmic middle section. The music was recorded and sent to New York the same night the piece was finished; the resulting music became the basis for the Halo series
' "highly recognizable" signature sound, and what has been called one of the best-known video game themes. The use of chant in the main theme has been credited with contributing to popular interest in the genre. Halos music used an interactive engine to change music in response to player's actions; this non-linear method has since become widespread. The scores for Halo and its sequel Halo 2 garnered awards such as The Game Developer's Choice Award and Best Original Video Game Soundtrack from Rolling Stone.
The music for Halo 3 contained refinements and revisions to previous themes heard in the series, as O'Donnell stressed the importance of using previous motifs in the final installment of the trilogy; the composer wanted to "blow out" the epic sounds from the first game. O'Donnell also introduced a distinctive piano theme which had never been heard before, and first made its appearance in the Halo 3 announcement teaser. In an interview, O'Donnell stated that he has always approached music from the keyboard, and that at the Electronic Entertainment Expo—where the trailer would first be shown—he had a feeling that, "no [other announcement] would start with a piano." O'Donnell planned on composing the music "at the last minute", saying he had no intention of producing a large amount of music that would never be used. "It drives everyone crazy but it worked for me in the past and it works for the game in the best way. Writing music before the end just doesn't work for me," he said.
For Halo 3: ODST, a planned expansion
to Halo 3 that became a full game, O'Donnell and Salvatori abandoned all previous Halo themes and started anew. Due to ODSTs shift to a new protagonist, O'Donnell created new music that was evocative of past Halo but branched in a different direction. Since Bungie was aiming for a smaller, detective story feel, O'Donnell felt that a jazz-influenced approach worked best in echoing the film noir
atmosphere.
In creating music for Halo: Reach
, a prequel to Combat Evolved, O'Donnell wanted to create music with a "grittier" feel because of the dark nature of the story.
Reach was Bungie's last Halo project. O'Donnell called the prospect of writing new music both a challenge and a relief to step away from the iconic themes of Halo. O'Donnell's current work includes an unnamed project.
sold over 40,000 copies, and was followed by two different releases of the music to Halo 2. The two volumes of the Halo 2 Original Soundtrack
were produced by Nile Rodgers
, with the first album being released in sync with the video game in 2004 and became the best-selling game soundtrack of all time in the United States. The second album was released more than a year after the soundtrack had been mixed and mastered.
The Halo 3 Original Soundtrack
was released in November 2007, and featured a fan contribution that was the select winner from a pool of entries judged by O'Donnell, Rodgers, and others. All of O'Donnell's work on the series was repackaged as Halo Trilogy—The Complete Original Soundtracks in December 2008, alongside preview tracks written by Halo Wars
composer Stephen Rippy
. The music to ODST was released as a two-disc set to coincide with the game's release on September 22, 2009. Reachs soundtrack was available in digital formats the same day as the game's release on September 14; the physical two-disc soundtrack was released September 28.
O'Donnell said in an interview that he feels that one problem with games is those that play music non-stop, which he feels detract from the overall impact. Composers are forced to either write ambient music, he says, or very light music that is not emotionally driven, which he said is a detriment. The composer prefers to write music towards the end of the development cycle, because he would rather score the final timing for things like cinematics and gameplay changes. O'Donnell credits part of the success of the Halo theme to his background writing jingles. For that music, O'Donnell had to make sure he could write music that would "get in people's heads" after 15 to 30 seconds. O'Donnell pushed Bungie to spend money on hiring singers and musicians to record the theme before Macworld as a way to present a strong showing.
Among the video game composers O'Donnell admires are Jeremy Soule
, Jason Hayes, Koji Kondo
, and Nobuo Uematsu
, but he notes that he is older than most fellow game composers and that he was not directly influenced by them. Instead classic music by Beethoven, Brahms
, and Barber
and progressive rock groups like Jethro Tull
and Genesis
informed O'Donnell's taste and works.
In addition to composition, O'Donnell also arranges his work. He created a special arrangement that was used for a Halo 3 segment of Video Games Live
in London, after which O'Donnell appeared. He has also appeared with and without Salvatori at other shows featuring his music, including later Video Games Live tours and Play! A Video Game Symphony
.
commercials. His father did voice work for Myth as the "Surly Dwarf".
He interacts with his fans on his official fan group on Bungie.net, dubbed "The Marty Army". O'Donnell is a self-described political conservative, and his fellow coworkers at Bungie described him as the most right-leaning employee at the company. Despite his extensive work with Bungie, O'Donnell remains co-owner and president of TotalAudio, although the company has not done any non-Halo work since 2001.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
known for his work on video game developer Bungie
Bungie
Bungie, Inc is an American video game developer currently located in Bellevue, Washington, USA. The company was established in May 1991 by University of Chicago undergraduate student Alex Seropian, who later brought in programmer Jason Jones after publishing Jones' game Minotaur: The Labyrinths of...
's series, such as Myth, Oni, and Halo
Halo (series)
Halo is a multi-million dollar science fiction video game franchise created by Bungie and now managed by 343 Industries and owned by Microsoft Studios. The series centers on an interstellar war between humanity and a theocratic alliance of aliens known as the Covenant...
. O'Donnell collaborates with his musical colleague Michael Salvatori
Michael Salvatori
Michael Salvatori is an American composer, best known for his collaboration with colleague Martin O'Donnell for the soundtracks to the Halo video game series. Salvatori became friends with O'Donnell in college; when O'Donnell was given a job offer to score a colleague's film, Salvatori and...
for many of the scores; he has also directed voice talent and sound design
Sound design
Sound design is the process of specifying, acquiring, manipulating or generating audio elements. It is employed in a variety of disciplines including filmmaking, television production, theatre, sound recording and reproduction, live performance, sound art, post-production and video game software...
for the Halo trilogy, and is currently Bungie's Audio Lead.
O'Donnell began his music career writing television and radio jingles as well as scoring for radio and film. O'Donnell moved to composing video game music when his company, TotalAudio, did the sound design for the 1997 title Riven
Riven
Riven is a puzzle adventure game and the sequel to Myst. Developed by Cyan Worlds, it was initially published by Brøderbund. Riven was distributed on five compact discs and released on October 29, 1997, in North America; it was later released on a single DVD-ROM, with improved audio and a...
. After producing the music for Myth II
Myth II: Soulblighter
Myth II: Soulblighter is a 1998 real-time tactics computer game for the PC and Macintosh developed by Bungie. It is a sequel to Myth: The Fallen Lords and the second game in the Myth series.-Gameplay:...
, Bungie contracted O'Donnell to work on their other projects, including Oni and the code-named project that would become Halo: Combat Evolved
Halo: Combat Evolved
Halo: Combat Evolved, frequently referred to as Halo: CE, or Halo 1, is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The first game of the Halo franchise, it was released on November 15, 2001 as a launch title for the Xbox gaming system, and is...
. O'Donnell ended up joining the Bungie staff only ten days before the studio was bought by Microsoft, and has been the audio director for all Bungie projects since.
O'Donnell's score to the Halo trilogy has been called iconic, earning him several awards, and the commercial soundtrack release of the music to Halo 2 became the best-selling video game soundtrack of all time in the United States. His most recently released work is the music for Halo: Reach
Halo: Reach
Halo: Reach is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360 console. Reach was released in North America, Australia, and Europe on September 14, 2010. The game takes place in the year 2552, where humanity is locked in a war with the...
, released digitally on September 14, 2010 and disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
on September 28, 2010.
Early life and career
O'Donnell described his upbringing as "typical"; he received piano lessons and wanted to start a rock band when he reached junior high school. His father made films while his mother taught piano. Despite his interest in progressiveProgressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
and fusion rock, O'Donnell studied the classical component of music and composition at Wheaton College Conservatory of Music
Wheaton College Conservatory of Music
The Conservatory of Music at Wheaton College is a music conservatory located in Wheaton, Illinois. It is both a department and professional school of Wheaton College. It currently has 21 full-time faculty members and approximately 200 undergraduate music majors, and is fully accredited by the...
and received his Masters of Music Degree in composition with honors from the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
in the early 1980s.
After getting his degree, O'Donnell moved to Chicago, where he expected that he would teach at the American Conservatory of Music. The job fell through, and instead he worked as a grip in the film and television business. O'Donnell began his musical career in the field after one of his colleagues who knew of his music background approached him to write for his film. O'Donnell talked to his friend Michael Salvatori
Michael Salvatori
Michael Salvatori is an American composer, best known for his collaboration with colleague Martin O'Donnell for the soundtracks to the Halo video game series. Salvatori became friends with O'Donnell in college; when O'Donnell was given a job offer to score a colleague's film, Salvatori and...
, who had his own recording studio, and offered to split the profits from the job with him; the two became constant partners.
After completing a film score and a few commercials, the two decided to quit their day jobs and produce music in Chicago; they founded a production company, TotalAudio. O'Donnell wrote the jingles for Mr. Clean
Mr. Clean
Mr. Clean is a brand name fully owned by Procter & Gamble. It is used for a cleaning solution and related products, and as "Mr. Clean Magic Eraser", for a melamine foam cleaner.-History:...
and Flintstones Vitamins. After fifteen years of composing for TV and radio commercials, he decided that he wanted to work on game soundtracks and move on from commercial-sounding music. "I was hoping to find some other medium that would be new and cutting-edge and sort of the Wild West," he recalled.
Video games
In 1993, Dick Staub, a Chicago radio personality and friend of O'Donnell's, asked if his eighteen-year-old son Josh could visit O'Donnell's studio, as he was interested in computer games and audio. O'Donnell agreed, and in talking with Josh learned that he had friends in Spokane, WashingtonSpokane, Washington
Spokane is a city located in the Northwestern United States in the state of Washington. It is the largest city of Spokane County of which it is also the county seat, and the metropolitan center of the Inland Northwest region...
who were making a game O'Donnell had never heard of called Myst
Myst
Myst is a graphic adventure video game designed and directed by the brothers Robyn and Rand Miller. It was developed by Cyan , a Spokane, Washington––based studio, and published and distributed by Brøderbund. The Millers began working on Myst in and released it for the Mac OS computer on September...
. In hearing the theme music to the game, O'Donnell realized that the game industry was making great strides in creating "legitimate music" that contained dramatic elements. O'Donnell became acquainted with the game's developers, including brothers Rand
Rand Miller
Rand Miller co-founded Cyan with brother Robyn Miller and became famous from the unexpected success of their computer game Myst, which remained the number one-selling game for the remainder of the 1990s...
and Robyn Miller
Robyn Miller
Robyn Charles Miller co-founded Cyan Worlds with brother Rand Miller. After releasing a number of children's adventure "worlds", the brothers finally hit on a success with the computer game Myst, which remained the number one-selling game for the remainder of the 1990s...
, and was hired four years later as a sound designer for Mysts sequel, Riven
Riven
Riven is a puzzle adventure game and the sequel to Myst. Developed by Cyan Worlds, it was initially published by Brøderbund. Riven was distributed on five compact discs and released on October 29, 1997, in North America; it was later released on a single DVD-ROM, with improved audio and a...
. Among the games Rivens developers would play in their downtime was a title called Marathon
Marathon (video game)
Marathon is a first-person shooter video game with a science fiction theme developed and published by Bungie released in December 1994 for the Apple Macintosh. The game was Bungie's second foray into the emerging genre of games with a first-person perspective, the first being Pathways into...
, created by Chicago-based Bungie Studios
Bungie
Bungie, Inc is an American video game developer currently located in Bellevue, Washington, USA. The company was established in May 1991 by University of Chicago undergraduate student Alex Seropian, who later brought in programmer Jason Jones after publishing Jones' game Minotaur: The Labyrinths of...
. On returning to Chicago O'Donnell emailed a Bungie staffer and pursued them for a job.
TotalAudio produced the music for Bungie
Bungie
Bungie, Inc is an American video game developer currently located in Bellevue, Washington, USA. The company was established in May 1991 by University of Chicago undergraduate student Alex Seropian, who later brought in programmer Jason Jones after publishing Jones' game Minotaur: The Labyrinths of...
's Myth: The Fallen Lords the same year. The company later composed the music for Valkyrie Studio's Septerra Core: Legacy of the Creator
Septerra Core
Septerra Core: Legacy of the Creator is a computer role-playing game developed by Valkyrie Studios and published by Monolith Productions. The game takes an unusual approach at the genre, by using elements most commonly associated with console video games, such as the Final Fantasy series...
, during which O'Donnell met Steve Downes
Steve Downes
Steve Downes is an American DJ and voice actor. He is best known for his work as the voice of Master Chief in the popular Halo video game series. He worked as a disc jockey at Los Angeles, California, Album-oriented Rock radio stations KWST , KEZY-AM and KLSX , but is best remembered working...
, whom he would later recommend as the voice actor for the Master Chief
Master Chief (Halo)
Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 is a fictional character and protagonist of the Halo fictional universe, created by Bungie. Master Chief is a player character in the trilogy of science fiction first-person shooter video games Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and Halo 3 and will appear in the...
. O'Donnell described the work for Septerra Core as his most difficult assignment; during the production the TotalAudio studio burned to the ground and O'Donnell had to be hoisted through a window in order to save some 20 hours of recordings.
Soon after producing the music for Myth II, Bungie contracted O'Donnell for several of Bungie's other projects, including the third-person game Oni. In 1999, Bungie wanted to re-negotiate the contracts for Oni, and the negotiations resulted in O'Donnell joining the Bungie team, only ten days before the company was bought by Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
. O'Donnell is one of only a handful of Bungie employees who remain working at the company since then. While O'Donnell worked at Bungie, Salvatori handled the business side of TotalAudio.
Halo series
After producing the music for Oni, O'Donnell was tasked with composing the music for Bungie's next project, which would be unveiled at E3 2000. After talking with Joseph StatenJoseph Staten
Joseph Staten is a bestselling American writer born in San Francisco, California. The son of a theologian, Staten originally planned on becoming an actor, but dropped the idea in college...
, O'Donnell decided the music needed to be "big, exciting, and unusual with a classical orchestra touch to give it some weight and stature. We also wanted it to have some sort of 'ancient' feel to it." O'Donnell came up with the idea of opening the piece with gregorian chant
Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical music within Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services...
and jotted down the melody in his car. Because he did not know how long the presentation would be, O'Donnell created "smushy" opening and closing sections that could be expanded or cut as time required to back up a rhythmic middle section. The music was recorded and sent to New York the same night the piece was finished; the resulting music became the basis for the Halo series
Halo (series)
Halo is a multi-million dollar science fiction video game franchise created by Bungie and now managed by 343 Industries and owned by Microsoft Studios. The series centers on an interstellar war between humanity and a theocratic alliance of aliens known as the Covenant...
' "highly recognizable" signature sound, and what has been called one of the best-known video game themes. The use of chant in the main theme has been credited with contributing to popular interest in the genre. Halos music used an interactive engine to change music in response to player's actions; this non-linear method has since become widespread. The scores for Halo and its sequel Halo 2 garnered awards such as The Game Developer's Choice Award and Best Original Video Game Soundtrack from Rolling Stone.
The music for Halo 3 contained refinements and revisions to previous themes heard in the series, as O'Donnell stressed the importance of using previous motifs in the final installment of the trilogy; the composer wanted to "blow out" the epic sounds from the first game. O'Donnell also introduced a distinctive piano theme which had never been heard before, and first made its appearance in the Halo 3 announcement teaser. In an interview, O'Donnell stated that he has always approached music from the keyboard, and that at the Electronic Entertainment Expo—where the trailer would first be shown—he had a feeling that, "no [other announcement] would start with a piano." O'Donnell planned on composing the music "at the last minute", saying he had no intention of producing a large amount of music that would never be used. "It drives everyone crazy but it worked for me in the past and it works for the game in the best way. Writing music before the end just doesn't work for me," he said.
For Halo 3: ODST, a planned expansion
Expansion pack
An expansion pack, expansion set, or supplement is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game or video game. These add-ons usually add new game areas, weapons, objects, and/or an extended storyline to a complete and already released game...
to Halo 3 that became a full game, O'Donnell and Salvatori abandoned all previous Halo themes and started anew. Due to ODSTs shift to a new protagonist, O'Donnell created new music that was evocative of past Halo but branched in a different direction. Since Bungie was aiming for a smaller, detective story feel, O'Donnell felt that a jazz-influenced approach worked best in echoing the film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
atmosphere.
In creating music for Halo: Reach
Halo: Reach
Halo: Reach is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360 console. Reach was released in North America, Australia, and Europe on September 14, 2010. The game takes place in the year 2552, where humanity is locked in a war with the...
, a prequel to Combat Evolved, O'Donnell wanted to create music with a "grittier" feel because of the dark nature of the story.
Reach was Bungie's last Halo project. O'Donnell called the prospect of writing new music both a challenge and a relief to step away from the iconic themes of Halo. O'Donnell's current work includes an unnamed project.
Collections
O'Donnell's music has been packaged into several soundtrack collections. For Halos music, O'Donnell created "frozen" arrangements that represented an approximation of a play-through of the games. The Halo Original SoundtrackHalo Original Soundtrack
The Halo Original Soundtrack is a soundtrack for the video game Halo: Combat Evolved. Composed and produced by Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori for Bungie Studios, the soundtrack was released on June 11, 2002. Most of the music from Halo: Combat Evolved is present on the CD, although some...
sold over 40,000 copies, and was followed by two different releases of the music to Halo 2. The two volumes of the Halo 2 Original Soundtrack
Halo 2 Original Soundtrack
The Halo 2 Original Soundtrack is the soundtrack for Bungie's 2004 video game Halo 2. The soundtrack was released as two separate volumes, released almost two years apart...
were produced by Nile Rodgers
Nile Rodgers
Nile Gregory Rodgers is an American musician, producer, composer, arranger, and guitarist.-Biography:...
, with the first album being released in sync with the video game in 2004 and became the best-selling game soundtrack of all time in the United States. The second album was released more than a year after the soundtrack had been mixed and mastered.
The Halo 3 Original Soundtrack
Halo 3 Original Soundtrack
The Halo 3 Original Soundtrack is the official soundtrack to Bungie Studios' first-person shooter video game Halo 3. Most of the original music was composed by Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori, but also includes a bonus track, "LvUrFR3NZ", which was the winning entry in a contest held before...
was released in November 2007, and featured a fan contribution that was the select winner from a pool of entries judged by O'Donnell, Rodgers, and others. All of O'Donnell's work on the series was repackaged as Halo Trilogy—The Complete Original Soundtracks in December 2008, alongside preview tracks written by Halo Wars
Halo Wars
Halo Wars is a real-time strategy video game developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360 video game console. It was released in Japan and Australia on February 26, 2009, in PAL territories on February 27, and in North America on March 3...
composer Stephen Rippy
Stephen Rippy
-Life and career:Rippy grew up in the Spring area of Harris County, Texas and now resides in Plano, Texas, near Dallas. Making video game music was not Rippy's original career goal...
. The music to ODST was released as a two-disc set to coincide with the game's release on September 22, 2009. Reachs soundtrack was available in digital formats the same day as the game's release on September 14; the physical two-disc soundtrack was released September 28.
Composition
O'Donnell currently uses an Apple Macintosh computer for composition. In an interview O'Donnell wished that his software would easily upgrade to newer revisions; "for the last twenty years of technology, every time a 'new' version of something comes out, the old version gets trashed and I find myself unable to do something that I used to depend on," he said. O'Donnell remains involved in the implementation of his music as well as the composition, and is currently Bungie's Audio lead. He composes at Bungie from a sound-proofed room in the corner of Bungie's office, dubbed the "Ivory Tower".O'Donnell said in an interview that he feels that one problem with games is those that play music non-stop, which he feels detract from the overall impact. Composers are forced to either write ambient music, he says, or very light music that is not emotionally driven, which he said is a detriment. The composer prefers to write music towards the end of the development cycle, because he would rather score the final timing for things like cinematics and gameplay changes. O'Donnell credits part of the success of the Halo theme to his background writing jingles. For that music, O'Donnell had to make sure he could write music that would "get in people's heads" after 15 to 30 seconds. O'Donnell pushed Bungie to spend money on hiring singers and musicians to record the theme before Macworld as a way to present a strong showing.
Among the video game composers O'Donnell admires are Jeremy Soule
Jeremy Soule
Jeremy Soule is an American composer of soundtracks for film, television and video games. He has won multiple awards and has been described as the "John Williams of video game music" and "a model of success" for Western composers. He has composed soundtracks for over 60 games and over a dozen...
, Jason Hayes, Koji Kondo
Koji Kondo
is a Japanese video game composer and sound director who has been employed at Nintendo since 1984. He is best known for scoring numerous titles in the Mario and The Legend of Zelda series.-Early life:...
, and Nobuo Uematsu
Nobuo Uematsu
is a Japanese video game composer, best known for scoring the majority of titles in the Final Fantasy series. He is considered as one of the most famous and respected composers in the video game community...
, but he notes that he is older than most fellow game composers and that he was not directly influenced by them. Instead classic music by Beethoven, Brahms
Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
, and Barber
Samuel Barber
Samuel Osborne Barber II was an American composer of orchestral, opera, choral, and piano music. His Adagio for Strings is his most popular composition and widely considered a masterpiece of modern classical music...
and progressive rock groups like Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull (band)
Jethro Tull are a British rock group formed in 1967. Their music is characterised by the vocals, acoustic guitar, and flute playing of Ian Anderson, who has led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre, who has been with the band since 1969.Initially playing blues rock with...
and Genesis
Genesis (band)
Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
informed O'Donnell's taste and works.
In addition to composition, O'Donnell also arranges his work. He created a special arrangement that was used for a Halo 3 segment of Video Games Live
Video Games Live
Video Games Live is a concert series created and produced by industry veterans and video game composers Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall. The concerts consist of segments of video game music performed by a live orchestra with video footage and synchronized lighting and effects, as well as several...
in London, after which O'Donnell appeared. He has also appeared with and without Salvatori at other shows featuring his music, including later Video Games Live tours and Play! A Video Game Symphony
Play! A Video Game Symphony
PLAY! A Video Game Symphony is a concert series that features music from video games performed by a live orchestra. The concerts from 2006 to 2010 were conducted by Arnie Roth...
.
Personal life
O'Donnell has been married for more than 30 years to his wife, Marcie, and has two married daughters, Alison and Christine. His children were part of a singing choir for the Flintstones Chewable VitaminsFlintstones Chewable Vitamins
-History:Flintstones Chewable Vitamins are supplemental multivitamins for children based on the animated sitcom The Flintstones. They were introduced in 1968 by Miles Laboratories and taste faintly like candy. Miles Laboratories was acquired by Bayer in 1979.The vitamins are one of the most...
commercials. His father did voice work for Myth as the "Surly Dwarf".
He interacts with his fans on his official fan group on Bungie.net, dubbed "The Marty Army". O'Donnell is a self-described political conservative, and his fellow coworkers at Bungie described him as the most right-leaning employee at the company. Despite his extensive work with Bungie, O'Donnell remains co-owner and president of TotalAudio, although the company has not done any non-Halo work since 2001.