The atmosphere in Looking Glass Studios’ Thief game was unparalleled. Everyone who contributed to their soundscape, including Eric Brosius, blew it away. Echoing tunnels, religious chants, distant industrial hums, electric coils whining, inexplicable hums in the darkness, and those thumping DJ Shadow-esque tunes that ring out when you enter the Downwind Guild. It’s all perfect.
And now I discovered it’s all on YouTube and looped. Some videos are short. Cutscene music from intro to assassin level (opens in new tab) Of Thief: The Dark Project, Garrett usually narrates and loops before that part so that it can be heard separately from the narration. It’s only two and a half minutes. If you like the atmosphere of Thief 2, here are two audio files of him with atmosphere. s01mel1.wav and s01mel2.wav, 1 hour loop (opens in new tab).
Of course, YouTubers do more than that. That’s why I’ve spent so much time today listening to brooding tunes. 10 Hour Loop of the Horn of Quintus (opens in new tab) From Down in the Bonehorde.
If you’re unfamiliar with the 10-hour trend, when YouTube first extended its video length limit in 2011, the internet briefly went wild with 10-hour Nyan Cat loops. You can listen for hours and hours. Portal radio version of Still Alive (opens in new tab)and the Diablo’s Tristram’s Theme (opens in new tab).
I am easily distracted and have ringing in my ears, so I often play musical instruments at work.I haven’t heard my copy of Les Revenants’ Mogwai score today. 1 hour loop of loloop2.wav (opens in new tab)which is the noise of a Tesla coil generator in the haunted mines below Cragthleft Prison, a 10 hour loop of Ambient Sound and Tweet Guard (opens in new tab) From the Running Interference mission in Thief 2.
I’m a little concerned about the potential long-term side effects of this.
YouTube is also useful if you want to learn more practical things about Thief audio. The Python Blue channel has unearthed some of its sources, discovering the origins of the various noises sampled in Thief: The Dark Project. Virtual Studio Technology software presets for the KORG M1 synthesizer (opens in new tab),and Earshot SFX sound effects library and other sources (opens in new tab)including Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki Starbat Martell (opens in new tab), which provided some choral chants and a haunting track from 2001: A Space Odyssey called Lux ââAeterna. Not surprisingly, on YouTube you can find him an hour long loop.
