BY CHRISTOPHER LEON (CUTCOMMON’S GLOBAL EDITOR) FOR LEVEL AND GAIN
As an Emmy Award-winning composer and the musical mind behind some of gaming’s most iconic themes, Inon Zur epitomises what it means to be a modern video games composer. His scores for the Fallout, Syberia, Prince of Persia, and Dragon Age series are but a few of the credits the Israeli-American composer has accumulated throughout his impressive career scoring for games.
In this interview, Inon reveals the origins of the Fallout sonic palette, how he became involved in scoring for games, and his experiences working with Bethesda Game Studios.
You have scored almost exclusively for video games. Why have you chosen this as your creative medium?
I would say the industry has chosen me.
After working on a lot of TV shows during the ‘90s, I had the opportunity to score my first game, Klingon Academy. I really enjoyed the whole process; the freedom of composing, the interaction between the composer and developer. Everything seemed more creative and more genuine to me, and I just felt that I could share my musicality and ideas in a more effective way. I immediately connected with the medium.
Your video game compositions feature many memorable themes. What is your creative process when scoring for games packed with adventure, where there are so many elements the player interacts with?
When the game is full of action and so much to take in, I usually try to keep the main themes as simple as I can, which also helps in creating a musical identity.
If you try to cover everything that is going on in the game with music, then you will end up competing with the game rather than supporting it. So my approach, when the game is very robust in content, is to go in the other direction with the music; to keep it simple with short motifs. The way the music is composed and orchestrated is very simple.
That helps with how the gamer connects to the experience — especially these open-worlds set on a massive scale.
Is there any piece of equipment, or element of your creative process, you can’t go without when composing a new soundtrack?
I have a very specific set-up here in my studio. So if I didn’t have my studio, which I’ve built up over the years, I would still be able to compose the soundtracks, but not as effectively and quickly in producing such a variety of sounds and rich atmospheres.
Also, this set-up that I’ve established has become almost essential in order for me to create what audiences may perceive as the ‘Inon Zur sound’.
Read the full story right here on Level and Gain, a new screen music publication from the creative team behind CutCommon.
Images supplied.
