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Respawn! Inon Zur Creates Hope In Fallout 4

At this year's BAFTA Game Awards, Fallout 4received the award for overall Best Game. Set in a post-apocalyptic world around Boston, Fallout 4 from Bethesda Softworks gives us a chance to experience a surreal world centuries after a nuclear attack. Despite the ravaged landscape setting of the game, composer Inon Zurwanted to create moments of hope with his score. I talked with Inon about how he achieved this, and about his upcoming release of fantasy-inspired music in his album, "Songs From the Tavern."

It was important for Inon to create a warmer feel of the music of Fallout by using an instrument that's dear to his heart: the piano, and the unique sound of what Inon describes as the "Fallout Piano" is a thread running through the entire score.

Inon plays the theme from Fallout 4

Like many composers for video games, Inon has projects he can't talk about because they won't be released for quite a while. One project that is nearing its release though is his album, "Songs From the Tavern," inspired by the music Inon has written for fantasy games, including Dragon Age. He says it's his way of thanking fans for their love of his music. The first song, "Menelaya," is available now.

So far, Inon has received three BAFTA nominations for his soundtracks, including the one  this year for Fallout 4. When I asked him what the recognition means to him, he said, "I'm very, very grateful for all the BAFTA nominations, but I'll be honest with you: above all is my ability to connect with the player, and this is the best award of all." 

Although he can't let us in on any projects in the pipeline, he'll have many opportunities to have his music connect with players in the future.

Born in Madison, Wisconsin, Kate Remington joined WSHU in December of 2000, and she's been WSHU's Music Director since 2002.
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