| Frank Klepacki |
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| american composers | |
| video game composers | |
| westwood studios | |
| 1974 births | |
| living people | |
| polish-americans | |
Frank Klepacki (born '' won two awards. He lives in Las Vegas , where he has shaped a solo career and played and produced for several local bands.12 His personal and band work touches upon several genres, including Orchestra l, Rock Music , Hip Hop Music , Soul Music , and Funk . He has dubbed the style of music he writes as "Rocktronic".3 His work has appeared in various media, including the Spike TV program '' The Ultimate Fighter ''. Klepacki is currently the audio director of '' by Sega and Petroglyph. His most recent solo CD is entitled ''Awakening of Aggression''. EARLY LIFE AND CAREER Frank Klepacki was raised by a family of musicians of Polish descent who played on the Las Vegas strip.7 He drew art as a hobby, but music prevailed in his early interests.8 He received his first Drumset at age 8 and began performing professionally by age 11.9 Among his early influences were Electronica bands and Heavy Metal groups, including Depeche Mode , Afrika Bambaataa , AC/DC , and Iron Maiden .10 Seeking to master Guitar , Bass , and Keyboard s, he formed local bands and created a Demo Tape of original material by age 17. His impetus for diversifying his instrumental abilities was "not being able to communicate with other band members on ideas...for original songs."11 After learning to program BASIC on a Tandy 1000 and becoming interested in Computer And Video Games , he applied for a job as a Game Tester at Westwood studios. He submitted his demo tape to the company's audio director. The growing company enlisted him as a composer for the NES port of '' DragonStrike '' and the computer game '' Eye Of The Beholder II ''. He later composed with MIDI sequencing for several other '' Dungeons & Dragons '' games.12 In 1992, he helmed the audio of '' Dune II '', attempting to complement the music of the original '' Dune ''.13 He later noted that he pushed the sequencing program on his Amiga to the limit while scoring the game.14 While working on '' Disney's The Lion King '' in 1994, he and the Westwood team were shown sketches of the unfinished feature film.15 Film composer Hans Zimmer later praised Klepacki for reworking his scores.16 After finishing '' The Legend Of Kyrandia III '', Frank Klepacki met with Westwood leaders to discuss the upcoming game '' Command & Conquer ''—the first in a series which would bring him wider fame and critical acclaim. Command and Conquer series In 1994, Frank Klepacki met with Westwood Studios developers to discuss the soundtrack of the company's next project—''Command & Conquer''. To define the game's style, Klepacki listened to a number of bands, including '' for the Global Defense Initiative . Conversely, the Brotherhood Of Nod ending used the song ''Destructible Times'' written by Klepacki's local band, I AM . Developers requested the song because it "reflected the war aspect and bad-ass vibe of {Link without Title} side." The ''C&C'' expansion pack ''Covert Operations'' featured new Ambient pieces. Though the soundtrack was not released through retail, Westwood sold it by special order through its website and in game catalogues.17 in a '''' cut scene]] While working on ''Covert Operations'', Frank Klepacki composed ''Hell March''. Upon listening, director and an Allied commander in the Cut Scene s of ''Red Alert''. He previously appeared as a Nod soldier and the voice of the commando in ''Command & Conquer'' and would voice bit parts in future Westwood games.19 After completing ''Red Alert'', he took a short break to review his work. He concluded that some songs could be enhanced, but ''Red Alert'' had already gone '' and ''Gameslice ''magazines, defeating Trent Reznor 's score for '' Quake ''. Reviewers called it "fun to listen to" and "second to none."2021 As of 2005, ''Red Alert'' was listed in the '' Guinness Book Of World Records '' for selling several million units, bringing Klepacki his widest audience.22 He wrote additional music for the game's Expansion Pack s, ''Counterstrike'' and ''Aftermath''. He attributed the success of ''Red Alert'' to an infusion of modern styles not found in other games.23 LATER WESTWOOD GAMES In 1997, Frank Klepacki scored a ''''. Klepacki defined ''Red Alert 2'' Klepacki maintained the energetic style in ''Red Alert 2'' PETROGLYPH GAMES Klepacki took a brief hiatus to work on solo albums, then joined '', Petroglyph's launch title; he also helped select voice actors.33 A die-hard fan of the '' Star Wars '' franchise, Klepacki enjoyed complementing John Williams 's style as he worked with sound effects used in the feature films. He worked closely with programmers to ensure perfect aural functionality. Though most the game's score is John Williams's work, Klepacki estimates that he contributed 20% original material. Apart from the main theme, he aimed to minimize his editing in order to retain the classic ''Star Wars'' sound. He chiefly composed for new areas of the ''Star Wars'' universe only found in ''Empire at War''. He calls his work on the game "the peak of my career," and felt he had spent his entire life grooming his abilities for that soundtrack. As a perk of composing, he visited Skywalker Ranch and Industrial Light And Magic , and took pride in having his name associated with an official ''Star Wars'' product.3435 For the ''Forces of Corruption'' expansion pack, he took greater creative liberty with the ''Star Wars'' feel by writing an original theme for the new criminal faction. In attempting to compose this piece, he wrote several preliminary hooks that were later integrated into the game's battle themes.36 He composed six pieces for the expansion total, including the finale theme. In line with the criminal theme of the game, Klepacki borrowed motifs and recreated the mood from scenes involving Jabba The Hutt in '' Return Of The Jedi ''.37 His score for the expansion pack was accepted upon first submission to Lucasarts . As Petrogylph's audio director, he also selected sound effects—a tricky process due to the issue of making the criminal faction's sounds a "little different, without straying too much from the original signature sounds." Klepacki worked with LucasArts to select voice actors, and contributed his own talents to the role of IG-88 and other minor characters. A Blooper reel of his voice acting was released on Petroglyph's forums after the one-thousandth member registered.38 |
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