New Starfield video takes closer look at game's music and sound design

Waxing lyrical.

News by Victoria Kennedy News Reporter

Published on April 26, 2022

Bethesda has released another video ahead of Starfield's approaching release date, this time focusing on the game's music and sound design.

In this video, entitled "The Sound of Adventure", audio director Mark Lampert and Starfield composer Inon Zur chat more about what music means to them, and why it is important for the overall gameplay experience.

"I always say, music is the fourth dimension. It is the emotional dimension," Zur explains. "In order to create this, you have to ask these questions - where are you going? What is your motivation? What is your story? What is really pushing us?" It is these questions, that Zur says are "as big as space", that drove the compressor forward with his work on the game.

Lampert reiterates the importance of music within a game. "The main theme sets the tone for everything else we do," he states.

In addition to this, some more of Starfield's concept art was also revealed within the video. These pictures give fans a small taster of some of the worlds they will be visiting on the game's release, but they also played a key part in helping the musicians' compositions grow.

Zur revealed that seeing some of the artwork for the game left him "inspired". He wanted his music for Starfield to have a "circular" motion, with a sense of going out, adventuring and discovering and then returning once more. "There is always this drive to go back home... we want to complete our mission; we want to complete our journey."

The composer used different sections of the orchestra to portray different parts of the world, likening the woodwind section to particles in space. Meanwhile Zur explained how the string section will play long chords and crescendos to create a "blanket" around the waves of space, and the brass section acts as a beacon calling out to the player.