Inon Zur Scores, Adapts, Evolves with Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved!

Those of you pining for another edition of Disney's FANTASIA only have a short wait ahead; however, the next incarnation will likely be a bit different from what you were expecting.   Shaking free of the confines of the feature-film-presentation-world, Disney has partnered with Harmonix Music Systems to bring Fantasia to the Xbox One and 360.  Most interestingly, composer INON ZUR has been brought on to work on the music ... and this will be no small challenge as he will have to adapt music from Vivaldi to Mussorgsky to Queen to Bruno Mars.  This fully interactive experience, utilizing Microsoft's Kinect controller, could be something beyond even what Walt Disney could have imagined.  While music-games such as Rock Band and the like, have taken a step back in popularity in the last couple of years, it appears Disney is betting on a revival with this release.  Now, if these experiences haven't traditionally been your thing, then, at the very least, Inon Zur's adaptations (not to mention his own original pieces) should provide some compelling, non-traditional, musical for our ears to fantasize over.

Intrigued?  Read on ...

INON ZUR TAKES THE STAGE AND PERFORMS MUSIC FEATURED IN "DISNEY FANTASIA: MUSIC EVOLVED" FOR FIRST TIME AT DISNEY's D23 EXPO

BURBANK, Calif. - (August 12, 2013) - Disney Interactive and Harmonix Music Systems have teamed up with award-winning composer Inon Zur to develop original music for the game "Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved," a breakthrough musical motion video game inspired by Walt Disney's classic animated film "Fantasia." To celebrate this announcement, Zur conducted some of the orchestral classics that will appear in "Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved" with the Disney Chamber Ensemble at Disney's D23 Expo, the ultimate Disney fan event, and Disney Interactive released 'The Evolution of Disney Fantasia' trailer that can now be viewed ...

"Working with a versatile composer like Inon Zur was critical to developing the innovative type of gameplay we are introducing with 'Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved'," said Eran Egozy, co-founder and chief technical officer of Harmonix Music Systems. "Zur's innate understanding of music's role in gaming allowed us to create original arrangements that will let players experience music like never before."

Zur composed, conducted and produced many of the original orchestral themes for the game and collaborated closely with Disney Interactive and Harmonix to produce innovative new recordings of classical symphonies by the great composers including Mussorgsky and Vivaldi. He also produced and arranged the orchestral version of Queen's iconic rock opera "Bohemian Rhapsody" for the game. Zur recently recorded these classical songs for "Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved" with the London Symphony Orchestra and The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields at Abbey Road.

"Working with Disney and Harmonix on Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved was a great adventure for me," said Inon Zur. "Recording and producing classical masterpieces, as well as writing original music that had to coexist with the works of the great classical composers presented exciting new challenges. The amazingly talented music composers and producers from Harmonix and Disney supported and guided me throughout this groundbreaking, creative process. I feel very fortunate to be a part of this world-class team and am extremely excited to share all that we've done together with you, the player."

Using Kinect™ motion control technology for Xbox One®, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft and the Xbox 360® games and entertainment system, and natural, controller-free gameplay, players will control the music flow from some of the industry's biggest acts. "Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved" gives players the creative power to change their favorite songs in real-time, combining the original recording and new remixed versions, or creating new layers of music via magical manipulators that allow them to change music in exciting and surprising new ways!

"Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved" will feature over 30 tracks from leading artists and classical composers, each featuring two unique remixes in addition to the original recording. The current announced artists and songs, including the just-announced classical track by Vivaldi, that will appear in the "Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved" video game include: 

* Antonio Vivaldi - "Four Seasons: Winter: 1st Movement"

* AVICII - "Levels"

* Bruno Mars - "Locked Out Of Heaven"

* Fun. - "Some Nights"

* Kimbra - "Settle Down"

* Modest Mussorgsky - "Night on Bald Mountain"

* Queen - "Bohemian Rhapsody"

"Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved," will be available for Xbox One®, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft and Kinect™ for Xbox 360® in 2014. "Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved" is currently not rated by the ESRB. 

Pax Prime 2012: Behind the Music of Blockbuster Video Games

PAX PRIME 2012: "BEHIND THE MUSIC OF BLOCKBUSTER VIDEO GAMES"

Featuring the award-winning composers of ASSASSIN'S CREED, BORDERLANDS, DEUS EX, DRAGON AGE, FALLOUT, HITMAN, MASS EFFECT, PRINCE OF PERSIA, SPLINTER CELL

Kraken Theatre, Seattle
Saturday, September 1st
10.30am - 11.30am

Ever wondered what it takes to score original music for AAA video games? Learn from four of the industry's most accomplished composers with diverse musical backgrounds as they share their experiences and discuss the craft of scoring music for some of the biggest franchises in interactive entertainment.

Featuring multiple award-winning composers Jesper Kyd (Darksiders II, Borderlands 2, Assassin's Creed I & II, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood & Revelations, Hitman 1-4); Michael McCann (Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Splinter Cell: Double Agent); Inon Zur (Dragon Age I & II, Prince of Persia, Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, RIFT); Sam Hulick (Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, Mass Effect 3).

Moderated by Emily Reese, Host & Producer of Minnesota Public Radio's "Top Score" podcast. Plus giveaways and a surprise guest!

The panel will be followed by a Meet & Greet / Signing session.

MORE INFORMATION

SoundCast Interview with Composer Inon Zur (Lord of the Rings: War in the North)

Interview:  Inon Zur (Lord of the Rings:  War in the North)

Composer Inon Zur, a devoted Tolkien and Lord of the Rings fan talks about his latest composing project:  Snowblind's LORD OF THE RINGS: WAR IN THE NORTH.  He talks about how appreciates the differing challenges that such games provide, the experience of conducting 3 live performances of his music at E3 this year, and more!

Episode Highlights

00:52 — Welcome and Intro: Inon Zur

02:35 — How were you feeling the day of the game and score release?

04:38 — conducting the live performances at E3

07:26 — What was your connection to The Lord of the Rings prior to this project?

09:33 — How did you come on to this project?

11:34 — Walking the line of making the music your own but connecting it to Shore

15:09 — Starting from scratch or buidling onto an existing musical world.

19:12 — Concluding thoughts

Music Clips (Select music clips contained in this podcast)

00:00 — "Echoes of Angmar" (Lord of the Rings: War in the North) by Inon Zur

10:43 — "Sons of Forgotten Kings" (Lord of the Rings: War in the North) by Inon Zur

19:12 — "Rivendell Exploration" (Lord of the Rings: War ine the North CE) by Inon Zur

Download the episode here

Subscribe and more info here

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North Soundtrack (Inon Zur) to be Released

Today, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and WaterTower Music are pleased to announce the November 1 release of The Lord of the Rings: War in the North - Original Video Game Score by award-winning composer Inon Zur. The soundtrack will debut day and date with the Action RPG video game, The Lord of the Rings: War in the North. After three highly acclaimed performances of the music at E3, Inon Zur has continued the tradition of iconic The Lord of the Rings music and crafted an epic and beautiful nineteen track score to the game, recorded at famed Abbey Road studios in the U.K.

"Composing the music for The Lord of the Rings: War in the North was a very inspirational, creative process," said Zur. "The story is very compelling, and this had a direct influence on my music. As a long time fan of The Lord of the Rings, I always dreamed to be a part of this franchise, and when this dream came true, I was extremely motivated to tell the emotional story of this dark heroic adventure and its captivating characters. Bringing on board the London Philharmonia Orchestra at the legendary Abbey Road studios magnified the music to new heights. I am so grateful to Warner Bros. for their support and I'm very excited to have you, the players, be a part of this musical experience and hope you will be as engaged as myself."

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North - Original Video Game Score will be available at all digital retailers and the CD will be available at Amazon.com on November 1, 2011.

The track listing is as follows:

Echoes Of Angmar
Between Hammer And Anvil
Sons Of Forgotten Kings
Nordinbad
Ghosts Of The Grey Mountains
The Savage Ettenmoors
Before The Citadel Gate
Into The Heart Of The Storm
Realm Of Ancient Kings
A Gathering Storm
The Savage Peaks
Men Of Carn Dûm
Trolls!
Beast Among The Ruins
In The Footsteps Of Kings
The Forges Of War
Halls Of Valor
Shadow On The Ettenmoors: Reprise
Against The Darkness

Inon Zur Composes and Conducts Score for Lord of the Rings: War in the North

Composer Inon Zur talks a bit about writing the original game score for the upcoming LORD OF THE RINGS: WAR IN THE NORTH, as well as conducting a performance of his score at the recent E3.

What you can hear in this video clip is quite promising as it seems to carry the same general ethos as Howard Shore's epic work for the film trilogy.

So what think ye of this?

Inon Zur Scores The Lord of the Rings: War in the North (Video Game)

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announces that award-winning composer, Inon Zur, has penned the musical score for The Lord of the Rings: War in the North video game. Zur recently conducted a full 70+ piece orchestra and the Pinewood Singers choir at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London to record the game soundtrack session.

To date, Zur has composed the music to more than 40 video games, 15 television shows, and 10 movies, as well as many movie trailers. Recipient of numerous accolades for his work within the video game space, including a Hollywood Music in Media Award for Dragon Age: Origins, Zur's score sets the stage for this upcoming Action/RPG set in the brutal, war-torn unexplored lands of northern Middle-earth.

Developed by Snowblind Studios and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, The Lord of the Rings: War in the North provides new story parallel to the Tolkien canon, exploring the only previously hinted at region to the North. Enriching the emotional storytelling, brutal combat, and epic exploration of the game, Zur's composition provides the compelling soundtrack as new territory is forged for one of the most significant entertainment properties of all time.

Inon Zur composes emotionally dynamic music for film, television, anime and video games. A graduate of the Music Academy of Tel Aviv in Israel, Inon moved to Los Angeles to study the art of film music at the Dick Grove School of Music and UCLA with such luminaries as Jack Smalley, Alan Ferguson and Henry Mancini. His scores for film and television include Au Pair, Escaflowne, Digimon, Power Rangers, State of Grace and Ghost Whisperer: The Other Side. Zur's Hollywood scoring expertise combined with his flair for powerful melodic writing is widely recognized in the world of interactive entertainment. Composing cinematic orchestral music for blockbuster franchises such as Dragon Age, RIFT, TERA, Prince of Persia, EverQuest, Lineage, Crysis and Fallout, he has received international acclaim including award nominations from the British Academy (BAFTA) and Spike TV as well as top honors at the Hollywood Music In Media Awards. Variety named Inon Zur one of the top music talents in interactive entertainment.

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North is an intense Action RPG video game based on the renowned works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Through innovative online, interdependent co-op play for up to three players who form their own Fellowship, the game breaks new ground as the first The Lord of the Rings video game to embrace the gritty and brutal reality of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. Exploring previously unseen lands, storylines and characters as well as those familiar from past feature films, gamers experience expansive co-op gameplay and upgradeable weapons, character customization and development, skills and special abilities. Gamers must play together or perish as they work to defeat Sauron's forces in the North. The Lord of the Rings: War in the North is slated to launch on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Games for Windows in 2011.

Register for The Council of the North at www.WarInTheNorth.com, and don't forget to "like" us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/lotrwitn and follow us on Twitter @WarInTheNorth.

Pre-Order The Lord of the Rings:  War in the North at Amazon.com.

G4TV Profiles Composer Inon Zur

PS3 Games - E3 2011 - Dragon Age II

Inon Zur, Florence + The Machine Provide Riveting Dragon Age II Soundtrack

BIOWARE COLLABORATES WITH FLORENCE + THE MACHINE AND INON ZUR FOR RIVETING DRAGON AGE II SOUNDTRACK

The Best in Rock, Music Composition and Gaming Collaborate to Deliver an Emotionally Powerful Soundtrack to one of the Most Anticipated Games of the Year

Lower the lights, turn up the volume and prepare for an incomparable audio sensation when you drop in Dragon Age™ II, hailed by Yahoo!, Game Informer, IGN, GameSpot and Seth Schiesel from the New York Times as one of the year's most anticipated video games. BioWare™ has teamed up with the Grammy Awards' Best New Artist nominee Florence + The Machine for an exclusive re-imagining of "I'm not calling you a liar" that you can only hear in-game in Dragon Age II. Produced by award-winning composer Inon Zur and Steve Schnur, and mixed by Jack Joseph Puig - known for his work with U2, The Rolling Stones, No Doubt and Green Day, the song appears in-game as "I'm Not Calling You A Liar (Dragon Age II: Varric's Theme)". Additionally, Zur returns to bring a wide range of dynamic music styles to Dragon Age II. From ethereal and mystical to bombastic and lyrical, his original score befits the game's dramatic story and visuals and helps drive the heart-pounding action.

"With the band's full blessings and enthusiasm, we isolated Florence's original vocals from one of their most unique songs and completely 'Dragon-Aged' it," said Steve Schnur, Worldwide Executive of Music and Marketing for EA as well as the track's co-producer. "What was originally a powerfully stark, acoustic-based song has been reborn with all-new instrumentation and full orchestration. The results are an epic anthem for the next stage of the Dragon Age legend."

Part one of the Dragon Age II soundtrack* will be available for purchase on March 8, 2011 at all digital music service providers worldwide for $3.99.

The following tracks will be included:

· Dragon Age II Main Theme
· Hawke Family Theme
· Qunari On The Rise
· Templars
· Love Scene
· Arishok
· Tavern Music
· Viscount
· Mages
· Fenris Theme
· Kirkwall Nights
· Rogue Heart

To hear a small sampling of the soundrack, "Hawke Family Theme" and "Qunari on the Rise," please visit http://soundcloud.com/nettwerkmusicgroup/sets/inon-zur-dragon-age-2/.

In addition to being nominated for a 2010 Grammy Award, Florence + the Machine's debut album "Lungs" spent 65 consecutive weeks on the top 40 chart in the United Kingdom and won the 2010 BRIT Mastercard British Album Award. Inon Zur's score for Dragon Age: Origins also won Best Original Video Game Score at the Movie Music UK Awards and Best Original Song at the Hollywood Music In Media Awards.

Additional tracks from the Dragon Age II soundtrack will be available for purchase on April 12 and May 10. Dragon Age II will be in stores in North America on March 8, 2011 on the Xbox 360™ computer and videogame system, PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system, PC and Mac®. Gamers who want to get a small taste of the game and exclusive new music can download the Dragon Age II demo available now on Xbox LIVE®, PlayStation® Network and PC. For more information on Dragon Age II, please visit http://dragonage.bioware.com/, "like" us at http://www.facebook.com/dragonageorigins or follow us at http://twitter.com/dragonage.

*Those who pre-ordered the Dragon Age II BioWare Signature Edition will receive the full soundtrack at no additional cost.

Composer Inon Zur in Fallout New Vegas Developer Diary.

Video Games | Fallout: New Vegas | The Tech & Sound Design Diary HD

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Attention Inon Zur fans!

The venerable game composer, INON ZUR, appears briefly towards the conclusion of this interesting developers diary regarding the upcoming FALLOUT NEW VEGAS.  Sounds like we get the tiniest of glimpses into what Zur may have in store for us.

The game is looking like some real post-apocalyptic fun to be had, too!

Variety Spotlights Composers: Garry Schyman, Wataru Hokoyama, Inon Zur and Jason Graves

Once again Variety.com gives some love to the world of video game music. This time Jon Burlingame puts the spotlight on three names that have worked on recent, big name projects like: Bioshock, Afrika, Fallout 3 and Dead Space.

In the brief article, Steve Schnur (Worldwide exec of music/marketing for Electronic Arts) says, "I hear the term 'videogame composer' a lot. I reject that. Great composers are great composers and, musically speaking, the technology should not lead the way. We try to recognize true talent, whether young talent or established talent."

You can read the full article here

New York Times's Article on Video Game Music

This great article was published by the NEW YORK TIMES back in late December. The article mentions a handful of well-known composers and recent game projects ranging from MIKAEL KARLSSON'S BATTLEFIELD: BAD COMPANY, to GARRY SCHYMANN'S BIOSHOCK, to INON ZUR's PRINCE OF PERSIA. The article focuses on how music for video games has become a very serious undertaking; demanding some of the most talented composers and performers the world has to offer. It goes on to talk about how gamers are taking note of a games' score has on them. It's a great read. Here are a few excerpts:

The increasingly nuanced scores reflect “the growing maturity of the games industry, which is getting better at storytelling” and weaving moral dilemmas into game plots, said Sean Decker, general manager at DICE, the division of Electronic Arts that created Battlefield. The main challenge for composers is switching from a linear to an interactive medium in which the music has to reflect several possible outcomes at each stage of the game. Different music is needed, for example, depending on whether a gamer perishes or emerges victorious from a tussle with a venomous monster.

Jesse Harlin, music supervisor at LucasArts (which uses scores by John Williams, among others, for its Star Wars games) is swamped with demos from composers. He encourages them to write music that reflects what is happening to the gamer in the story and to avoid loop-based scores that can result in listener fatigue.

Some systems, like the Xbox 360, allow gamers to create custom soundtracks using MP3s. But many players (even the youngest) appreciate the attention software companies dedicate to music. In the Virgin Megastore in Union Square in Manhattan, Atticus Wakefield, 10, said, “Music and the sound really give the game more depth and make it much better to play.”


You can read the full article here

Interview with Prince of Persia Composers Inon Zur and Stuart Chatwood

The two names behind the musical voice of the PRINCE OF PERSIA game franchise come together to score the new, next-gen console version of the game which is set to hit store-shelves in just a few days. Both INON ZUR and STUART CHATWOOD share about their histories in the franchise, the unique challenges provided by this iteration of the game, and their process for working together.

Here is an excerpt:

CC: You two have both been a part of the Prince of Persia franchise for sometime. How have your earlier involvement and experiences with this world and characters influenced your writing for this project?

Inon Zur: It is very important to be immersed in the whole world of PRINCE OF PERSIA, to know the history and to evolve with it. It gives the music the same depth as the rest of the components of the game. We integrated some previous themes to connect the player with the previous games, and it helps evoke the feeling of “something new is emerging from something that we already know.”

Stuart Chatwood: The prep work I did prior to the first games played a great role with regards to my workflow and writing process on this title. When I was approached to score the first PRINCE OF PERSIA: SANDS OF TIME, I went about expanding my world music CD Library that I had been building up over the prior years. I am a big believer in information absorption on a subconscious level, so in addition to my CD collection, I often found my radio fixed to Radio Darvish on the Internet. When I worked on this title about 6 years ago, a big issue was the lack of good world music sample libraries, so I went about augmenting these with my own sampled instruments. From a character perspective, being around the Prince all these years has helped me with context, and how individual cues fit into the grand scheme of the franchise.

CC: Stuart, you've also worked on PRINCE OF PERSIA scores on other platforms (Nintendo DS and PSP) Do you try to bring over some of the more subtle ideas established in those games to this game?

Stuart Chatwood: Most of these games involve implementation of the original music form the console titles, so most often a bit rate reduced version of the original game soundtrack is repurposed for the handheld versions. In addition to this, midi translations of my cues are utilized.


Read the full interview here (includes 3 tracks from the original score!)

New Prince of Persia Game Score by Inon Zur and Stuart Chatwood

Composer Inon Zur's busy game schedule continues...Following close on the heals of the recent release of the high anticipated FALLOUT 3 (you can read our review of the 5 track Fallout 3 sampler here), INON ZUR teams up with composer STUART CHATWOOD for yet another much-salivated-over-title, PRINCE OF PERSIA. While no official soundtrack release has been announced, those who pre-order the limited-edition of game will receive the soundtrack! (By pre-ordering the regular edition, you will be auto-upgraded to the limited edition).

Below is the official presser:


MEDIA RELEASE
PRINCE OF PERSIA SOUNDTRACK COMPOSED
BY INON ZUR AND STUART CHATWOOD


Veteran Composers Create Emotionally Complex and Musically Diverse
Adaptive Music Score For Franchise Debut on Next-Generation Consoles

Los Angeles – October 30th, 2008 – Award winning composer Inon Zur (Prince of Persia The Two Thrones®, Prince of Persia Warrior Within®) and celebrated musician Stuart Chatwood (Prince of Persia®: The Sands of Time, Prince of Persia Warrior Within®, Prince of Persia The Two Thrones®) have created a compelling and epic original score for Ubisoft’s new Prince of Persia video game. Developed by Ubisoft’s Montreal studio, the game opens an entirely new chapter in the Prince of Persia universe in addition to introducing a fresh illustrative art style, evolved combat system, and open world structure. Prince of Persia is scheduled to release December 2, 2008.

The new Prince of Persia score features eastern ethnic instrumentation blended with a cinematic orchestral approach, combined with a different musical treatment for each of the game’s four lands. Lead composer Inon Zur contributes dramatic and majestic orchestral music performed by the Northwest Sinfonia and recorded with Arabic flutes and duduk. Zur’s compositions, which include the Main Theme, capture the complex emotional evolution of the characters as well as immersing players during gameplay and in select locations.

“Inon’s music underlines sumptuously the dramatic and the cinematic qualities of the story,” said Simon Landry, Music Supervisor for Prince of Persia. “Bringing together, in a video game perspective, tragedy, humor, violent confrontations, romance and moral dilemmas is a huge challenge but the new Prince of Persia soundtrack makes it happen, reaching new artistic heights and emotional depth.”

Stuart Chatwood, a member of the renowned Canadian rock band The Tea Party, brings his distinct rhythmic style and unique palette of world music instruments that draws upon the cultural sounds of Persia. In addition to augmenting world music library sounds and mixing his own recordings of multiple instruments from his travels worldwide, including Santoors, Sarods, Sitar, Zournas, and Tamboura, Chatwood performs ethnic instruments such as the Oud, Zourna and snake charmer flutes. The intricately layered music mechanism playing musical variations by both composers enhances the gameplay in such a way that is totally adaptive and embraces the gamer’s performance, as if the composers were scoring in real-time, following the player’s action.

“The musical challenge for the Prince of Persia soundtrack was to further push the interactivity, the diversity and the emotional complexity,” adds Landry. “The colossal achievement of Inon and Stuart’s work is to have composed such a powerful and impressive interactive musical odyssey. The complementary approach of these two skilled composers pushes musical boundaries and creates a fascinating and authentic world.”


About the Prince of Persia video game

Set in a land rooted in ancient Persian mythology, the Prince finds himself caught in an epic battle between the primal forces of light and darkness: the God of Light, Ormazd versus his brother Ahriman, the destructive God of Darkness. The Prince arrives just in time to witness the destruction of the legendary Tree of Life – an act which threatens to plunge the entire world into eternal darkness. Manifested in the form of the Corruption, a dark substance that physically contaminates the land and the skies, the Prince must partner with Elika, a deadly companion, to heal the world from the evil Corruption.

Gametrailers TV Interviews Composer Inon Zur

Gametrailers TV takes a couple of seconds to interview composer INON ZUR regarding his score for the upcoming FALLOUT 3 and PRINCE OF PERSIA. Zur shares about his development process for the FALLOUT 3 score as well as the challenges posed by PRINCE OF PERSIA.


Watch the high def version here

Fallout 3 Sampler Soundtrack by Inon Zur

A Taste of Capital Apocalypse
Review by Christopher Coleman

In the ever-growing process of pre-release hype (ie. marketing), Bethesda Softworks offered a special sampler soundtrack in its $5.00 pre-order package. Included inside the standard DVD, snap-box comes a FALLOUT 3 poster and this sampler CD. Roaming an alternative timeline of post-apocalyptic Washington D.C., your highly customizable player will see familiar monuments and vistas of "the district," but complete with post-nuclear holocaust "renovations." Additionally, there are some true baddies that also roam the lands. No, not politicians, but mutants, and ghouls, and other monstrosities. Gaming insiders are saying that FALLOUT 3 promises to be one of the most anticipated action-rpgs for the Xbox 360 and PC since OBLIVION (also from Bethesda).

What helps to define the FALLOUT franchise is it's setting. Marked by the quirky and somewhat misguided worldviews of the 1950s and certainly by the visual design style of the era, the environment of FALLOUT is an odd juxtaposition of idealism and destruction. Fortifying this very feeling are the musical choices for the game. On the one hand, music from the 40s and 50s is again integrated into the game experience and on the other, composer INON ZUR provides an uneasily mournful, but powerful score - at least as measured by the two tracks released here.

Read the full review here

Fallout 3 (Video Game Score) Composed by Inon Zur

One of the busiest composers in the world of video games is INON ZUR. Having already written score for popular franchises such as CRYSIS, LINEAGE, PRINCE OF PERSIA, and EVERQUEST, the composer is now attached to yet another famous game franchise - Fallout. The official game site now offers 3 streaming tracks from the score. Check them out here. Below is the official press release.


MEDIA RELEASE


FALLOUT 3® TO FEATURE ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK
BY AWARD-WINNING COMPOSER INON ZUR


May 7, 2008 (Rockville, MD) -- Bethesda Softworks®, a ZeniMax Media company, announced today that Inon Zur has created the original musical score for Bethesda Softworks’ highly anticipated post-apocalyptic video game, Fallout® 3. Zur, an award-winning composer, has created numerous scores for films, television, and new media.

“We’ve wanted to work with Inon for a long time,” said Todd Howard executive producer of Fallout 3. “He brings so much to the table, in terms of his talent, background, and the music that’s influenced him. He’s created a score that has epic sweep; from the lonely ambience of the wasteland to dramatic fights for survival.”

Fallout 3 features one of the most realized game worlds ever created. Create any kind of character you want and explore the open wastes of post-apocalyptic Washington, D.C. Every minute is a fight for survival as you encounter Super Mutants, Ghouls, Raiders, and other dangers of the Wasteland.

“Fallout 3 is one of the most engaging and demanding projects I've scored,” said Inon Zur. “It was very rewarding to put all my creative energy into supporting Bethesda's vision for the game. I’m very proud of the outcome, and look forward to sharing the music with the players."

In addition to scoring a number of best-selling video games, Zur’s music has been featured in many high-profile projects including Hollywood film trailers, network television productions, CGI movies, and symphony concerts. Most recently, Zur has composed music for CBS’ ‘Ghost Whisperer: The Other Side’ TV webisode series as well as the Marvel Kids webisodes for ‘IRON MAN’.

Currently under development at Bethesda Game Studios – creators of award-winning The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion®, the 2006 Game of the Year – Fallout 3 is slated for release this Fall on Xbox 360®video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, and Games for Windows.

Fallout® 3 has not yet been rated by the ESRB. For more information on Fallout 3, visit http://fallout.bethsoft.com.

For more information on Inon Zur visit http://www.inonzur.com/.

Crysis Soundtrack by Inon Zur released by Sumthing Else Records

One of 2007's most popular games (almost single-handedly re-invigorating the PC gaming market), was EA's CRYSIS. Ok...maybe that's a little over the top, but it is the first game that has actually made me miss PC gaming since becoming a console-convert.

The pulsating score for CRYSIS was composed by veteran game composer, INON ZUR. Good news folks, the release is less than a week away. Herewith the official press release...

MEDIA RELEASE
SUMTHING ELSE MUSIC WORKS ANNOUNCES
RELEASE OF THE CRYSIS ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK

Inon Zur's Original Music Score From Groundbreaking Video Game

Available in Stores on CD and for Digital Download on January 29th

New York – January 24th, 2008 – Sumthing Else Music Works, Inc., through a licensing relationship with Crytek, proudly presents CRYSIS Original Soundtrack. The soundtrack from the next-generation PC first-person shooter is released on January 29th, 2008 to retail outlets worldwide through Nile Rodgers’ Sumthing Else Music Works record label www.sumthing.com, and for digital download at www.sumthingdigital.com and iTunes®.

The CRYSIS Original Soundtrack features over an hour of original orchestral music written and conducted by award-winning film, television and video game composer Inon Zur and performed by the Northwest Sinfonia Orchestra. Renowned for composing emotionally dynamic orchestral music, Inon Zur was commissioned by Crytek to produce a modern cinematic score that heightens the impact of the dramatic storyline, realistic environments and highly-evolved gameplay.

Inon Zur’s compositions feature sweeping themes, immersive setup pieces, intense action music, and “otherworldly” musical soundscapes performed by the orchestra to invoke the alien influences in the game.

Zur’s previous video game credits include Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, Men of Valor, Champions of Norrath: Realms of EverQuest, SOCOM II, Baldur’s Gate II: Throne of Bhaal. For more information on the composer please visit www.inonzur.com.

Sumthing Else Music Works and Sumthing Distribution logos are copyright of their respective companies. All other names of products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Listen to Music from Crysis by Inon Zur

A little bit of game music and game music new for you today...

First off, have a listen to INON ZUR's trailer music for the hit game CRYSIS. If you didn't buy the collectors edition of the game, then you've likely been waiting to hear about a possible soundtrack release for the non-collectors out there. Well, good news! The official soundtrack from CRYSIS will be released by Sumthing Else in January or February of 2008.

And more game soundtrack release news...Jesper Kyd's score for ASSASSIN'S CREED is slated for release to coincide with the PC release of the game in March 2008.

For now...enjoy the tracks here (right column and scroll down)