Behind Fallout 4’s Score with Inon Zur

Judging from the strange sounds coming from the yard next door, Inon Zur’s neighbors would be forgiven for thinking their neighbor’s half-mad.

“I walk in my garden and basically hammer on things,” Zur says. He’s also been known to use a cello bow on a garden chair – which, he tells us, produces a sound that’s “shrill as hell.” If those same neighbors happen to peek into Zur’s house, they might even catch the composer at the piano - but it won’t be like any recital they’ve ever seen. “I cruelly exploit the piano by hitting the strings with open hands and even biting the strings,” Zur laughs.

It’s all in a day’s work for the multi-award-winning composer. Having written and produced the scores for the Fallout series starting with Fallout Tactics, Zur’s unique and evocative sounds carried with him up to Fallout 4, and even on to Fallout 76. With each entry, Zur does whatever it takes to create the distinctive soundscapes that are integral to the Fallout experience…even if it means occasionally disturbing the neighbors.

Warming Up

Keep in mind that Zur isn’t just seeking inspiration from his patio furniture. The combination of non-traditional instruments with traditional melodic orchestrations has become a signature element of the Fallout score.

While there are recognizable melodies – including the main theme (more on that in a bit) – Fallout 4 is more about adventuring through soundscapes, Zur explains. Back when he was working with Bethesda Games Studios on the game’s score, Zur crafted unique soundscapes to fit the different environments. “In this way, we provided a different musical experience that is not necessarily very thematic, but is something very memorable,” Zur says. In other words, it’s about signaling to the player where they are, why they’re there and helping reinforce the emotional dimensions of Fallout 4’s story.

From his first meeting with Audio Director Mark Lampert and Game Director Todd Howard, Zur felt that Fallout 4 – more than any previous Fallout at the time – was a very personal story. Zur suggested having the piano play a prominent role in Fallout 4’s score, as he felt the piano could capture the game’s more personal nature.

“I have a very nice grand piano at home and I recorded myself playing the main theme,” Zur says. Todd’s first reaction was mixed: He liked the idea of the piano but he found the actual sound to be too bright, bordering on harsh. Todd and Mark wanted something warmer.

“So, I created a combination between a real piano and an electric piano sound,” Zur says. “A sound that is really round and not bright at all, but very lush.” When Zur played this for Todd and Mark, both of them immediately knew this was what they wanted. “So following that lead on, there are multiple times that I use this,” Zur says. “You also hear it first in the main theme. This is not a mistake or just a random choice. The piano will stay with us throughout the whole score.”

Sense of Place

A uniquely modified piano sound is all well and good, but what about that shrill-as-hell garden chair along with all the other banging around? It’s just one of the three major elements that constitute the soundscapes of Fallout: classical instruments; electronic instruments; and a non-musical or even primitive instrument. The goal, Zur explains, is for players to hear a particular combination of these instruments and know where they are. “For example, in some parts of the game we decided that the right feel would be more orchestral, but the lead instrument is low accordion,” Zur says. “Other areas, I sampled myself playing this unusual improvised ocarina, which gives all this airiness and shrillness.”

Back up a second, an accordion? Yep. It was an idea that came directly from Lampert. “Mark always has these…thoughts,” Zur says. “Sometimes he’d ask for an instrument that I wouldn’t even think about.” Having worked together for a long time, though, the two of them have developed a deep and trusting relationship – one in which Zur was able to deliver the music he thinks works best based on Lampert’s general direction, and one in which any feedback or fine-tuning is met with open arms. So, when Lampert suggested the accordion to help define the sound of a particular area, Zur was willing to give it a try.

“It was really funny,” Zur recalls. “I mean, we’re talking very serious music here. We’re talking the Commonwealth. Some of the cues have English and Irish elements to capture the color of the Commonwealth. The accordion, though, is a French and Eastern European instrument that to many sounds happy and almost quirky. But guess what? This unique, low accordion sound became one of the signature points of the score. So you never know! It just takes trust.”

From Despair to Hope

Speaking of trust, one of the most recognizable elements of the Fallout score is the main theme itself. Which had us wondering: what makes it such a power and effective way to bring people into the Fallout world?

“I originally composed the main theme for Fallout 3,” Zur says. “We basically use two chords. That’s to reflect the dualism in Fallout: the despair of war – but also the hope for the future. In Fallout, we’re always torn between the despair and the darkness and all the dangers that are lurking in the world, and the hope to build a better one.”

To capture this duality, Zur took two keys and combined them together. “What we’re getting basically is this minor chord leading to a major chord, or a major chord that almost acts like a minor chord leading to a major chord. These two chords combined – always the minor and the major together – give us this bittersweet Fallout feel.” It’s this dualism, the somber sounds of a minor chord leading the bright optimism of a major chord, that defines the Fallout theme. “It’s the signature of Fallout,” Zur says. “You start from the bleak and you go to the hopeful. Very simplistic, but works like a charm every time.”

The Journey Ahead

“For me, again, the most important things are: where are we in the story, and where do we really want to take the player during this journey? We can definitely create a lot of emotion, and emotional twists. We can definitely influence the player, in order to support the story, with music. But we’re mainly talking about feel. We try to attach a soundscape that will support the emotional aspects of an area.”

That’s why the unique combination of instruments is so important to Fallout 4’s score. “I wanted to create something that sounds fresh,” Zur says. “Something that sounds like the beginning.” When players first emerge from the Vault, they begin a new journey. They see a world that’s been destroyed – which is represented by the percussive “non-instruments.” But as players explore the open world, they also see nature all around them – represented by the more musical but primitive instruments. Meanwhile, the emotional aspects of the game are supported by the orchestral sounds.

It’s all about the joy of discovery during a long journey ahead. Which is exactly what Zur has been up to with his latest endeavour: composing the score for Starfield, Bethesda Games Studios’ upcoming role-playing game set in the far-reaching frontiers of outer space. An exciting time for Zur, we bet…After all, how often does one get a chance to find inspiration with an all-new universe that spans an entire galaxy?