The guitar legend Steve Vai makes a couple appearances on the soundtrack for 2004’s Halo 2, and now we have video to confirm that he did, in fact, absolutely shred in the studio.
Posted in a thread by Resetera user jambo, the video is a rip of a DVD made by Halo composer Martin O’Donnell, who seems to have simply wanted to document the event. After all, this is Steve Vai!
In a tweet, O’Donnell explained that he had not previously shared the video due to the fact that it is “dark and grainy” (which it is). Nevertheless, it’s a really great historical document that shows what a studio jam session centered around Steve Vai going very hard over a song from Halo looks like. It’s a fun time.
If you want to hear the final version, I’ve conveniently provided it here:
I love it when these bits of archival footage make it out into the world.
Comments
5 responses to “There Is Video Evidence Of Steve Vai Shredding On The Halo 2 Soundtrack”
The accuracy of Vai is just insane and other worldly. He is nailing literally everything he is trying to play.
Holy crap, he nailed it on the first take… It’s absolutely baffling that so many of those iconic riffs came out of that first groove session.
I had the same reaction when i watched the video, as a guitarist and fellow appreciator of Steve Vai i go chills when he did the opening riff!
Marty’s music was a huge part of what got me into Halo, which is ultimately what got me interested in gaming as a hobby. Vai was instrumental (if you’ll pardon the pun) in shaping my musical tastes. I must’ve listened to Mjolner Mix a thousand times… watching this, seeing how it came together, was absolutely surreal.
The other, beret-wearing dude in the video is equally legendary: Nile Rodgers!