Mark Morgan/Game-OST Interview (February 2008)

The Maestro Behind the Fallout Scores is a 2008 interview with composer Mark Morgan about the himself and the music of Fallout and Fallout 2, conducted by Michael Naumenko staff in February 2008.

Transcript
{{transcript|text= Michael: There are rumors that you only had a couple of weeks to write the music for Planescape: Torment. Is that so? What was your time frame on Fallout and Fallout 2, and when did you start working on these projects?

Mark Morgan: Yes, on all three games I began late in the process... Planescape: Torment was a quick turnaround as you suggest. I did it in about 2 weeks. I don’t know why, but the game was pretty much completed before they decided who was to do the music. On Fallout they had another composer to begin with, but for unknown reasons, Charles Deenen called me to work on it and it too was a fast turnaround. Composing time for Fallout 2 was also truncated. I believe the game was essentially complete by the time I became involved and they were in a hurry to get it out.

Michael: While working on Fallout, did you experience any issues or restrictions? In the late 1990s, space for music in games was still limited, so it would be interesting to hear whether all compositions of yours made it into the game. For Fallout, did you have any other inspiration beside the game itself?

Mark Morgan: I don’t know about the restrictions as far as file size, but I believe most everything I wrote was used. Interplay was very specific about how long each piece of music should be and what music went where. Because of time restraints, there wasn’t really any time for rewrites or additional music. If I understand your second question correctly, my inspiration comes from anything dark, not just the game.

Michael: Some of your earlier projects such as Netstorm feature compositions that will turn up on later scores of yours, reshaped and rearranged. For example, Planescape: Torment's main theme seems to grow from a music fragment on Netstorm, and Fallout's "Follower's Credo" is a reworked version of "Thunder" from Netstorm. Was this borrowing of material due to a tight work schedule?

Mark Morgan: I was doing a lot of television at the time, so part of it could have been scheduling since I wasn’t always available. Also, the producers liked certain pieces of my existing music they had been listening to as they were working on the game, so they asked if those could be rearranged or reworked.

Michael: Some of your compositions include non-musical sounds. Were these ready-made samples from music libraries or did you create these sounds on your own?

Mark Morgan: I would say a combination of the two. I was using a Synclavier when I did those games so I did a lot of blending with traditional sources, synthesis and resampling. Then I f*cked them up as much as I could in the processing stage until they sounded good to me. The challenge to me and the fun part, especially in the Fallout games, was to blend this kind of odd ethnic and industrial sound design into something emotional and musical.

Michael: The Fallout soundtracks feature a lot of processed guitar sounds. Fallout 2's "Car" is a particular standout - is that you playing the guitar on this track?

Mark Morgan: No, I did not play guitar on that particular track.

Michael: Bethesda Softworks is currently developing Fallout 3 and is keeping silence regarding the name of the game's composer. Rumors have been running wild as to who will score Fallout 3 and many fans of the first two games consider you the only possible choice for this project. Can you give us any hint about your possible involvement with Fallout 3?

Mark Morgan: Thanks for the kind words, I would love to do that game, but I have not been asked. I’m hopeful after doing the other two Fallout games and other projects over the years that I could take Fallout 3 to another level musically.

Michael: You and Mark Snow (of The X-Files fame) have collaborated on the Special Unit 2 main theme. How did this collaboration come about and have you worked with other composers in the past? Are there any composers or performers that you would like to collaborate with one day?

Mark Morgan: Mark Snow asked if I wanted to collaborate on a main title theme for a new show. I had been a fan of Mark’s work on The X-Files, so of course I said yes. After the main title was done, he asked if I wanted to do the underscore for the show. Again I said yes. Since then, we have worked on many shows together. As I said earlier, I worked with Snuffy Walden on lots of shows including the miniseries The Stand and recently with composer Sean Callery on a CBS show called Shark. As for other composers, I would love to collaborate with Clint Mansell, Paul Haslinger or James Newton Howard. As far as performers, it would be a long time dream of mine to play with Peter Gabriel’s band and with David Sylvian. I would also love to write or perform with Lisa Gerrard. I really think she is incredible.

Michael: When doing research for this interview, we couldn't find any other interviews with you online, despite the fact that you have worked on a number of very influential games whose soundtracks still have many fans around the world. Were you aware of the impact that your music for these games has had?

Mark Morgan: I really wasn't. It wasn’t until fairly recently that I was even aware people had been just listening to those particular games. I was touched and somewhat amazed that they seemed to understand my original intent. The Fallout soundtrack, other than having to be ambient, really had no boundaries, so I didn’t know what to expect.

Michael: In an interview, Timothy Cain [creator of the Fallout series] said that he likes dark gloomy music and is a big fan of Aphex Twin. Some Fallout compositions are quite similar to work by Aphex Twin - were you influenced by Timothy's tastes?

Mark: When Interplay was thinking of using me for the game, they sent over some music that they liked and wanted me to do something similar as a demo. The CD they sent me had no titles or artists’ names, just a few pieces of unidentified music. I gave Interplay what they wanted and I think they must have used some of my demo in the final game. At the time, I wasn’t familiar with the work of Aphex Twin. To me, it was just my interpretation of what Interplay asked for.

Michael: Fallout 3's website greets visitors with some concept art and quite an energetic symphonic music track. This is quite a surprise, since the Fallout games have always been associated with a mix of dark ambient and world music. How do you imagine Fallout 3's soundtrack? Did you and Timothy Cain [creator of the Fallout series} ever plan to make Fallout's music more symphonic?

Mark Morgan: Like I said earlier, I would take Fallout 3 to a much more modern place, while honoring a lot of the elements of the earlier games. Maybe heavier, more ethnic, more rhythmic, it could be a hybrid with some orchestral elements. Just nothing traditional. As I recall, Tim and I never discussed anything orchestral. Now that you’ve brought this to my attention, it would be exciting to be involved with the new game.

Michael: There have been no commercial soundtrack releases for the Fallout games and Planescape: Torment, while it's a bit easier to get a hold of Giants: Citizen Kabuto's music. Have you ever thought about releasing this music officially?

Mark Morgan: Vladislav [Isaev] has been asking me about this, but I can’t seem to locate many of the original tracks. The games were being written and formatted to the games in short time frames, so I don’t know where some of the original masters went. I’m hoping they are in some of my older files, and I am definitely trying to locate them. I will let you know because I would like to make them available.

Michael: You’re going to launch your own website soon. Will it have any new music samples of yours available for download?

Mark Morgan: I hope so.

Michael: Tell us about your studio and the hard- and software that you use.

Mark Morgan: I just built a house in which my father, who is an architect, designed to include a studio. The interior layout was developed by well-known studio consultants, Studio Bauton. I always admired their work. They have a very modern sensibility, which works with the style of the house, and they have an incredible knowledge of acoustic spaces. When the website is up, I’m planning on having photos of the studio there. As for equipment, my basic set-up is 2 Mac G5’s, Mackie Universal Pro control and 2 extenders as the control surface. I use a CME keyboard controller, Quested VS2108 speakers, Presonus central station for monitoring, Motu and Hammerfall cards for I/O.

Michael: You haven't worked on any game project for years now. What is the reason for this?

Mark Morgan: Over the last few years, I have taken a slight detour getting involved in television, but always with the hope I would return to games. Because of the television projects, I am looking at music from a new perspective and hopefully, that will make me a better game composer.

Michael: Have you listened to works by other game composers and if so, can you highlight any favorites of yours?

Mark Morgan: I am not familiar with any particular game composers, but I’m sure there are some great ones out there.

Michael: Do you have any plans to record a solo album at some stage?

Mark Morgan: I have been thinking very seriously of doing some sort of solo album, maybe including some collaborations. We’ll see what the future holds.

Michael: Where do you see the game music industry going in the future? Will there be a place for talented independent artists, or will the symphonic, "Hollywood"-style of orchestral music prevail?

Mark Morgan: It seems to me that the game music industry is wide open and has an amazing future. I don’t do well at predictions, but as an observation, I hope there will room for both. It seems there will always be a place for the large orchestral score, but the more experimental scores seems to be the ones I gravitate toward. Having said that, I wish I would have been able to use a large orchestra on Planescape: Torment to create more texture and sonic mass.

Michael: Can you give any advice to aspiring composers?

Mark Morgan: This is a tough one because there are no concrete answers. If you love it, do it. If it’s something you “have” to do, you will find the way. There is no one way to make it happen.

Michael: You now have a unique opportunity to say “Hello” to Ruskies - all the bearded men here with AK-74s in every hand, stunningly wonderful women and tamed KGB bears, all sitting at Red Square among dozens of nuclear warheads and drinking vodka together under a thick blanket of snow :)

Mark: Amazing that you have such a good picture of how most Americans picture Russia and its inhabitants. As for me, I think it would be great to hang out with you guys, drink some vodka and talk music. Maybe we’ll be able to do that in the not too distant future. I really appreciate all the kind words and feel honored you asked me to do this interview. }}