Inon Zur Interview at DB Forge
Posted Monday, November 18, 2002 - 17:27 CEST by Mollusken

The Dragon's Breath Forge has got a few questions with Inon Zur, the composer of the music in Icewind Dale II. You can get all the questions and answers here.

What was your background as a gamer, if any?

I almost don’t have any background as an avid gamer, although I was always attracted to video games. I just never find the time and I appreciate whoever can find the time to play these games I composed music for. I think that games are a really great form of entertainment. I came from the movie/TV area and the reason why I was attracted to games was that here you are not locked to a picture so the composition is more pure music oriented rather than picture dictated. Nevertheless I feel that my dramatic skills I developed throughout the years of composing to moving picture and my experience as a film composer are definitely a big help in composing for games. I have learnt how to create the right mood and dramatic effects and it works great in games.

Could you outline how the discussion with the design team went for a "typical" track for Icewind Dale II?

Most of the discussions I had with the developers came before I started the actual composing. Once we developed and decided on a musical concept usually there are not many discussions thereafter. However, in the instruction lead sheet they give me they write everything in their mind that could affect my composing decisions. After they listen to a cue they might submit some fixes based on how they imagine the music should be.