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The Halldorophone on Battlefield 2042

Battlefield 2042 is a first-person shooter developed by DICE and published by EA Games, released in November 2021. The official soundtrack was composed by Hildur Guðnadóttir and Sam Slater — their first video game score together — and released on September 10, 2021.

The Score

Guðnadóttir and Slater composed the Battlefield 2042 score using on-location recording techniques and algorithmic processing. The 14-track album is built from drone textures, processed percussion, and sustained string sounds consistent with Guðnadóttir's approach across her film scores and solo work.

Guðnadóttir and Slater had previously collaborated on the scores for Joker (2019) and Chernobyl (2019), both of which featured the halldorophone prominently.

The Instrument

The halldorophone is an electroacoustic string instrument built around the deliberate use of audio feedback. It was designed and built by Halldór Úlfarsson, who first developed it as his MFA graduation piece at what is now Aalto University in Helsinki in 2008.

The instrument has eight strings: four main strings played with a bow and four sympathetic strings that resonate through the feedback system. Each string has a dedicated pickup. The signals are fed back through a speaker mounted inside the body of the instrument, creating a closed loop of mechanical vibration that the player shapes through bow technique and gain control.

The drone textures and sustained string sounds throughout the Battlefield 2042 soundtrack are consistent with the halldorophone's characteristic output, though the instrument is not individually credited on the official release.

Tracklist

  • Orbital
  • The Observation of Beautiful Forms
  • Irreversible
  • Between the Bows
  • Wall Jazz
  • Load Bearing
  • When does a country stop being a country?
  • 5 Degrees of Warming
  • Hauled Over the Coals
  • Wet Bulb
  • Hourglass
  • Shipping Forecast
  • Tipping Points
  • Battlefield 2042

Credits

  • Hildur Guðnadóttir — composer
  • Sam Slater — composer
  • Released September 10, 2021

Further Reading

  • Battlefield 2042 — Wikipedia
  • Halldorophone — Wikipedia
  • Bela Blog Interview with Halldór Úlfarsson (2025)

Also on Halldorophone.info

  • The Halldorophone in Joker and Chernobyl — Hildur Guðnadóttir
  • The Halldorophone in the Arrival Soundtrack — Jóhann Jóhannsson
  • The Halldorophone on Sunn O)))'s Life Metal
  • Martina Bertoni — Electroacoustic Works for Halldorophone
  • The Halldorophone on The Knife's Tomorrow, in a Year