GDN’s Alex Ramirez recently sat down with Inon Zur, a composer who is known for being involved with many different video games most recently, Fallout 3 and Prince of Persia. We cover his switch from television to video games, dealing with different genres, and advice for aspiring composers.

GDN: Before you started composing music for video games you did it for television, what is the major difference between the two forms?

Inon: Music for TV, movies and any other visual media is linked directly to the given picture. The music is locked and needs to follow every bit of the picture in combination with the time. This is a linear process of scoring.  In games, the music is acting more as atmosphere and as an emotional enhancer and it is not locked to the picture. This gives the composer more freedom in writing, but it also presents a challenge as to how you make the music appear like it is following the action and the player, every step of the way, yet without the capacity to be locked in real time. This is non-linear scoring and the techniques and process is different than the linear approach to scoring.

GDN: You did a lot of Sci-fi (Star Trek, Power Rangers, Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel) was it difficult to transfer over from that genre to the fantasy genre?

Inon: From my general background in composing, I worked with a large array of musical styles, so I can shift quite easily from one genre to the other. What is really important is the role of the music in the game, and what kind of palette will support the game the best. I also like to experiment with new sounds and styles, so this also helps me to maintain creativity in composing.