How Frank Klepacki changed soundtracks and created a new genre. History of C&C and Red Alert music

Red Alert and Command & Conquer soundtracks are a separate genre. And these are not empty words or bytes. Today I will tell you how a seemingly unviable attempt to cross beats, electric guitar and trance allows you to write some of the most significant compositions in the history of gaming music. How samples taken from teen comedy, the movie Top Gun, 80s compositions and dictator speeches give an unusual sound. And how a new musical style emerged that forever changed not just video game soundtracks, but all music in general. This is a story dedicated to Frank Klepacki.

What influenced the formation of Frank Klepacki’s musical taste?.

There is no doubt that as a composer, Frank Klepacki has his own signature style. You only need to listen to his tracks once and subsequently this sound can be easily identified. But what exactly is Klepaka’s corporate style?? How does the composer manage to be so recognizable?? Let’s try to get this recipe out.

At first glance, the most important thing is hard rock cuts. Which is not surprising, since the formation of Frank’s musical taste began in the 70s. The time when rock music was perhaps at its peak. In many ways, young Klepacki was influenced by AC/DC, Iron Maiden and Depeche Mode. However, if you listen to his compositions, then unlike rock music, where, as a rule, the rhythm is set by the drums, in Klepaka’s melodies sometimes the beats are responsible for this. Sometimes just as hard, fast, but the beats that came here straight from hip-hop. As an example, some compositions from the very first Command & Conquer, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Mr. Klepacki’s idea of ​​setting the rhythm with beats was, by his own admission, inspired by his passion for another popular group, namely Afrika Bambaataa. However, something else is important: where did this admixture of industrial come from in Klepaka’s compositions?? After all, if you start to think about what elements his tracks are made of, then it seems like an incompatible mishmash of styles.

In addition, Frank often records (and has always recorded) most of the instruments himself. He is fluent in guitar, bass, drums and keyboards. And he had to learn to play on all this, because otherwise he could not convey his thoughts to the friends with whom he played in bands.

Being originally a drummer, I couldn’t discuss ideas I had for new songs with other band members. I didn’t know musical notation, so I couldn’t really explain how they should play the songs I composed. That’s why I taught myself to play musical instruments, and then record my first demos.

Frank Klepacki

For now, he writes these demos mostly for himself, to give vent to his creativity and learn how to work with sound. However, it is they who will soon give Frank the way into life.

For some reason, it turns out that often the passion for video games among teenagers of those years does not occur without a passion for programming. So Frank Klepacki, at the end of the 80s, began to study Basic on a Tandy 1000 computer. At the same time, he is trying to get a job as a software tester and is even accepted into one of the places. But he didn’t really have time to test anything. One day over lunch, talking with one of the sound engineers, Klepacki told him about his musical experiments and handed him that very cassette with demo recordings. After this, Frank was transferred to another department, where he wrote music for a port of one of the company’s games. History has not preserved the name of that person, but it perfectly remembers the name of the studio. Westwood.

Getting Started at Westwood.

The ability to play conventional instruments was not enough for Frank in his new place. After all, the first games for which he worked on the soundtrack were a port of Dragon Strike for NES and Eye of the Beholder II for PC. All of them were written using MIDI synthesizers. At the same time, sometimes you can catch a combination of different genres here, for example, in the compositions Eye of the Beholder II.

Eye of the Beholder II OST

Dragon Strike (NES) OST

Here he is! Another building block of Klepaka’s unique style: the electronic component. From that moment on, various kinds of samplers became an integral part of his soundtracks. In 1992, Westwood released a game in a genre that would cement it as one of the best strategy developers. The legendary Dune II is coming out.

Highly recommended for fans of vintage soundtracks from the MS-DOS era

It is noteworthy that another distinctive feature of Klepaki as a composer emerges here. When working with someone else’s score, he doesn’t just copy it, trying to imitate the original, he tries to rethink what he heard. Introduce new contexts, look from a different angle, while leaving the most important thing, the essence of the soundtrack, unchanged. In the case of Dune II, it helped that the soundtrack to the David Lynch film, to which the game was referred, was written by David Paich, keyboardist and vocalist of the rock band Toto.

So, his love for the rock music genre, style of performance and passion for keyboard instruments allowed Frank, carefully handling the original, to add brightness to the music. Moreover, it was here that, albeit in MIDI format, the electronic component of Klepaka’s works began to be traced much more clearly.

And literally right away, Frank continues to knock out combos from working on adaptations of cult works. After Lynch’s Dune, he was invited to work on the soundtrack for the game based on the cartoon The Lion King

For me personally it was a revelation!

At the same time, together with other musicians involved in the project, he could listen to the music of the animated film long before its release, so that the vector of their musical vision coincided with that of the composer of the film. By the way, he was Hans Zimmer, and for the soundtrack to “The Lion King” he received the first Oscar in his career. And Zimmer spoke very warmly about Klepacki’s work on the adaptation. It’s funny that Zimmer will receive his second Oscar for writing the music for Denis Villeneuve’s Dune in 2022.

Mr. Klepacki, meanwhile, was also moving toward his first award for a video game soundtrack. And, having worked on the third part of the point-and-click adventure game The Legend of Kyrandia with the subtitle Malcolm’s Revenge, which he, by the way, has been familiar with since 1992, as he wrote soundtracks for the entire series, where he honed his skills in working with various music samplers.

Not that it deserves attention, but here Klepacki clearly experimented heavily with samplers

In general, after this came an era that finally secured Frank Klepacki’s status as one of the most recognizable composers. And music in the style he created became his calling card. In 1995, the first part of Command & Conquer was released.

Command & Conquer Soundtrack.

It all starts with understanding why I write music. Is it the battle theme, or main theme, ambient music, or whatever. Then I figure out what type of mood and style suits best. Next, you need to choose the right tools, and then the writing process begins. It can start with anything: a guitar riff, a horn melody, a drum beat, or a bass line. So I keep alternating instruments, track by track, recording one part at a time, until I have something that sounds full and captures the essence I’m going for.

Frank Klepacki

To prepare for the soundtrack, Frank Klepacki was inspired by bands such as Ministry, White Zombie, from which the legendary Rob Zombie would later split, and Nine Inch Nails. I also stocked up on excellent equipment: ASR-10 and Roland S760 samplers in combination with the Roland JD 990 synthesizer module. Maybe these names won’t tell you anything, and I understand that what is important is the master working with the instrument, and not the instrument itself, however, forgive the tautology, these electronic instruments are practically a legend today. After all, such performers as worked with them:

And I just scratched the surface!

If you listened to this track in school, it’s time to feel old

But even here a very talented person took on the equipment. Another distinctive feature of Frank Klepacki’s music is that the rhythm changes once every four measures. This achieves an interesting effect. Music is constantly evolving. It follows the main motif, but is constantly changing. Moreover, often at a certain moment the motive itself can break, but these transitions look so natural and impressive that sometimes the melody that has changed beyond recognition by the end is perceived holistically and does not get boring. The most textbook example is the track Iron Fist from the soundtrack of the first Command & Conquer.

This is where Frank Klepacki’s talent as a creator of dance music manifests itself, because most of his tracks are pure groove. Groove is that feeling that makes the listener stomp/clap/dance to the beat of the music due to rhythms masterfully superimposed on each other. Make a slight mistake and the “magic” won’t work. It sounds complicated, but I’m sure everyone has experienced this feeling at least once and understands what it’s about.

The soundtrack of the first C&C is extremely diverse. There is a sharp switch from metallic sound to allusions to Castlevania in Prepare to Battle. And an homage to the 80s and Jan Hammer soundtracks. I generally consider him one of the most influential composers, and if this video were not dedicated to music from C&C, a huge article could be made about Ian (and it seems to me that sooner or later I will get to that). Indeed, in many ways, without him, at a minimum, there would be no synthwave in the form in which we know it, and therefore no Hotline: Miami soundtrack. And the legendary Vice City opening wouldn’t exist either!

The track was written under inspiration, it seems to me

A track clearly written under inspiration

I apologize for going aside, I just couldn’t help but mention it. Back to C&C. The musical accompaniment of this game is memorable not only for its rhythmic, but also quite calm and somewhat even suspenseful tracks like On the Prowl, as well as lyrical melodies like Air Strike.

At the same time, Klepaki stocked up on all the above-described equipment for a reason. This is where he begins to experiment with samples with all his might. For example, in the track No Mercy, a phrase from the main villain Chuck De Nomolos from the film “Bill and Ted’s New Adventures” is used. "In Trouble" quotes Top Gun, as well as a track by heavy metal band Queensrÿche.

Original phrase at 0:13

Phrase in the track at 2:56

Original phrase at 0:56

Phrase in the track at 0:00

Original phrase at 0:34

Phrase in the track at 1:52

And such sampling options in every work by Klepaki: a carriage and a small cart. If I mention each one, the article will grow to some indecent size. By the way, you can write your own examples of samples that you managed to discover in the comments. I’ll be happy to read it. I will focus on the most, in my opinion, interesting.

In general, even after almost 20 years, the Command & Conquer soundtrack has hardly aged well. It still remains interesting and diverse music. However, Frank Klepacki did not even think about stopping there. Almost immediately after the game’s release, it became clear that it was doomed to be continued, so Klepacki began writing, as he then thought, another composition for the company of the NOD brotherhood.

Red Alert Soundtrack.

After the release of C&C, we wasted no time in releasing the Covert Ops expansion. I wrote a few more ambient themes and then started working on this heavy metal song. When Brett Sperry, the president of Westwood, came into my office, he asked, “Do you have anything new??». And I answered: “Yes, I have this track, I’ll call it “Hell March”. We sat and listened to the song, and then Brett exclaimed: “Oh my God, this has to be the main theme of the next game.”. I was surprised: “It’s true.”? Okay, that’s cool!“ Initially, I didn’t even know that Red Alert would be a prequel, I thought it would be a continuation of the original story.

Frank Klepacki

Highly https://fancyreelscasino.uk/mobile-app/ recommended listening!

Even though Red Alert regarding the first C&C took place long before its events, Klepacki didn’t want the music to sound outdated. Of course, it should have its own face, its own intonation, but it was decided not to abandon industrial music. Hell March has become the hallmark of the entire Red Alert series and is now simply not perceived in isolation. Energetic drumming combined with sharp and ruthless guitars immediately set the right atmosphere. Experiments in sampling continued here as well.

For example, in the track Radio, Klepacki uses Gregorian chants, interweaving them with an industrial sound. The same track uses a piece of the work of the New York R&B duo D Train called Misunderstanding. Next here we have a rhythm taken from the British New Wave group Art of Noise. And let me remind you, we are still talking about the Radio track, a crowd chanting, I think, the name of a German dictator of the mid-20th century.

The composition Workmen uses a track from the already mentioned White Zombie team. And Terminate features a significantly reworked sample from the Roland S760 library. By the way, you can also hear him in one of the Gorillaz songs called Ghost Train. I’m telling you: this sampler is a cult thing!

Original audio at 4:20

He is in the track at 0:08, and at 1:18 the Gregorian choir enters (the original source could not be found)

Original sound at 0:00

He’s in the track at 1:55, at 2:57 the crowd starts chanting (the original source could not be found)

Original sound at 0:00

He’s in the track at 0:19

Original Roland S760 sampler sound

He’s in the track at 0:00

He’s also in the Gorillaz track at 0:00

If you move away from analyzing samples and look at the melodies as a whole, then in Mud the slow groove gradually changes over time, in Face the Enemy it even approaches an orchestral sound. These seemingly bizarre combinations of several styles and sampling are what makes Frank Klepacki’s work fascinating. Even after listening multiple times.

Soundtrack Tiberian Sun.

Doubtful, but ok!

After working on Red Alert, Westwood Studios attempted to take the series in a new direction with Tiberian Sun. The returning Frank Klepacki, paired with Jarryd Mendelsohn, decided to slightly change the musical direction. First let’s start with the beginner. Jarryd decided to bring something new to the score, while still paying homage to previous projects.

In Pharotek, after an ambient introduction, an exotic mix appears, combining Arabic brass with killer techno beats. Many of the styles and instruments here are new to the series, but the retained tight rhythm and commanding marching sound effects on the one hand refer to Red Alert and the work of Klepacka, and on the other add variety.

The use of soundscapes is also new to the series. That is, the use of environmental sounds as part of a musical composition. In this sense, Lone Trooper and Dusk Hour are excellent examples of this approach. Throughout the entire track Lone Trooper there is a feeling of emptiness and detachment. A lingering feeling of loneliness. And for good reason, because the composition plays during escort missions, where there is no place for fierce battles and tank rush.

Dusk Hour, on the other hand, consists of layering rhythms and melodies with a sci-fi twist. Hard electronic percussion, sounds of electronic instruments, distorted and as if turned inside out synthesizer parts create a feeling of almost physical discomfort. Some tracks refer to the very first game in the series. For example, Valves with the industrial sound of working factories and some mechanisms. However, they are filled with a new experimental sound, which not all fans of Frank Klepacki liked. So it was decided to go back to basics.

Red Alert 2 Soundtrack.

Okay! There’s no doubt about it!

Westwood began development of the second part of Red Alert, and Frank decided to be inspired by something no less iconic than before. Currently, Rage Against the Machine is a mainstay on the soundtrack. The most indicative, it seems to me, is the track Blow It Up from Red Alert 2. Almost a literal homage to the work of American rockers.

Klepakov in the Red Alert 2 soundtrack torments the bass and electric guitar even more intensely, laying them on top of a powerful drum line. In music there are generally more contexts and subtle details from which the whole picture is built. For example, the light synth rhythm in Probing that appears briefly, dilutes the melody, and then disappears forever. Or Junk – a mixture of industrial and hardcore electronics of the “classic” Klepaki, in which riffs and background are constantly changing, and at some point the rhythm of the composition breaks down completely.

Frank Klepacki, when writing music for Red Alert 2, again goes for an experiment, but this time, experimenting, he does not betray himself and his style. For example, C&C in the House mixes house and hard rock. And 200 Meters gives off an atmosphere of mystery, espionage, secret operations and government conspiracies. In general, "Metal Gear".

Well, “Hell March” has not gone away, which, like the game, received the number 2 in the name and became even more interestingly tailored. According to Klepacki himself, he likes this composition so much that he can endlessly rewrite and improve it. It seems to me that it was in Red Alert 2 that the real author’s style of Frank Klepacki was finally formed. This is not ambient or pure electronica, this is not hardcore or rock. It’s something that has absorbed a little bit of everything. This truly new style of music, a new direction. A little later, this genre will be called Rocktronic, and they will try to copy its pioneer, Frank Klepacki. It’s no wonder that Frank will receive the “Best Soundtrack of the Year” award for writing the music for Red Alert 2.

"Blade Runner" from Frank Klepacki and "Dune" again.

Just as cool as Vangelis

And, before moving on to the last game of the C&C series, for which Klepacki wrote the entire score, we need to return to important projects that had to be put aside for various reasons, but which also largely influenced the formation of his musical development. You haven’t forgotten that Klepacki did an excellent job of translating the soundtracks to Lynch’s The Lion King and Dune onto video game tracks? Almost immediately after the release of the first Red Alert, he had the opportunity to work with an equally iconic work. Westwood is producing a game based on Blade Runner.

And here’s what’s interesting. Despite the fact that it was possible to use Vangelis’s original score during development, access to studio demos and unmixed recordings was not allowed. So Klepacki had to recreate the themes of the film by ear. The developers were surprised by the attention to detail, believing that the “copies” of the Klepaks sounded clearer than the original. Thus, Frank acquired another important skill that will be useful to him in the future: the ability not only to write adapted music, but to structurally understand its structure and how the author created it.

A little later, Klepacki composed the music for Dune 2000, where he not only tried to update the music from Dune II. But again, at a new level of technology development and with much more experience, he paid tribute to the original musical style created by Toto. It’s funny that Dune 2000 was criticized quite often by critics for various aspects, but not for the music. For the most part, everyone liked her. And, it seems to me, well deserved.

Emperor: Battle for Dune appeared just after the release of Red Alert 2. And Klepacki worked on it again in collaboration with Jarryd Mendelsohn. In general, Frank considers the soundtracks of these two Dunes to be more meaningful and complete, because when working on Dune II there were still many technical limitations when writing music.

Another composer, David Arkenstone, actually worked on Battle for Dune. In collaboration with Klepacki, they added a lot of orchestral motifs to the soundtrack. And David himself a little later became practically a full-time composer for World of Warcraft, writing music for almost all of its add-ons.

Command & Conquer: Renegade Soundtrack.

Westwood, meanwhile, having completed work on Red Alert 2 and the Yuri’s Revenge expansion, decided to return to C&C again. Renegade was a bold experiment in changing genre and perspective. We were no longer a commander hovering over the battlefield. We were direct participants in the events. We had equipment, different classes of soldiers, and resource extraction at our disposal. In general, all the elements of strategy, but with a first-person view.

In terms of musical accompaniment, Klepacki again offers a hard mixture of rock, electronics and techno. It’s funny that the very first opening track Stomp was used in the very first C&C. Apparently this was necessary to show the continuity of such different games also through music. And Klepacki creates amazing energy in this game, mixing guitar riffs and techno rhythms.

More melodic pieces are also present, but retain the harsh hardcore sound that most associate with classics such as “Hell March”. It is Klepacka’s sense of rhythm that makes his music so attractive and effective. The guitar riffs and melody that make up Got A Present For Ya are pretty simple themselves, but they’re put together in a way that still sounds cool to this day.

In The Line Of Fire, due to its constant development, perfectly conveys the intensity of passions during combat in first person. And more ambient themes such as “Sneak Attack” and “Sniper” are also not far behind. Although they are built on overlaying motifs on top of each other, they do not look like a jumble of sounds, setting the desired tone and atmosphere. Purely percussive themes like Move In and Industrial Ambient perfectly convey the atmosphere of the surrounding space.

In my opinion, Renegade and Red Alert 2 are Frank Klepacki at the peak of his form of those years. All the music here is exciting, memorable and, if one of the authors begins to try to write something in this style, we will invariably hear Frank Klepacki in these works. In fact, that’s exactly what happened..

Command & Conquer: Generals Soundtrack

Not Klepaki, but worthy

A year after the release of Renegade, Westwood closed, some of the employees moved to EA, and some formed Petroglyph Games, where Klepacki also left. But more on that later. The first series the new team took on was C&C with the subtitle Generals. Frank Klepacki’s place was taken by Hollywood composers Bill Brown and Mikael Sandgren. And this is noticeable, because the soundtrack has become much closer to a film score.

However, the desire of new authors to preserve the roots of the series can be traced. The main theme is an interesting attempt to combine the cinematic approach of Hollywood and the fiery rhythms of C&C. Frank Klepacki-inspired guitar riffs are heard throughout the soundtrack. Especially in the Zero Hour expansion.

However, much of the soundtrack remains close to standard Hollywood sound while adding ethnic elements. And, in my opinion, this is not that critical. Still, Generals was a more realistic game than the cartoonish Red Alert or the futuristic Tiberian Sun. Overall, the original Command & Conquers Generals soundtrack is a worthy attempt to give the changed series a new face while maintaining Klepacki’s legacy.

Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars Soundtrack

EA decided to return to the Tiberium saga with the third part of C&C. The very first trailer, like Renegade, decided to show continuity with musical accompaniment. Stomp was again used as a background composition, and although Klepacki went to Petroglyph, he was not prohibited from working with other studios.

When I found out that the third part of S&S was being developed, I tried to contact Electronic Arts. I wanted to write music for the sequel and even sent them some ideas. But they didn’t even answer me.

Frank Klepacki

Instead of Klepacka, it was decided to bring in Trevor Morris and Steve Jablonski. Both of them had previously mainly written music for films, and in terms of game soundtracks, Trevor had NFS Caarbon and one of the parts of SimCity under his belt, and I partially touched on Steve in my last blog about the music of the Prince of Persia series. But Steve still had this work ahead of him. Now these authors needed to work with the legacy of Frank Klepacki.

The new team decided to maintain the musical direction of Tiberian Sun, but it seems to me that the ambient themes, for the most part, have become completely uninteresting. Against the backdrop of the same Valves, Crystalline with its smoothly mixed combination of electronic rhythms, ethnic percussion and strings, does not create any specific images. It sounds more like background music collected from free libraries than written ambient music. At the same time, earlier, if you remember, even pulling out entire samples from other works was played up by Frank Klepacki. There’s nothing like it here.

Most of the tunes have some sort of quirk to them, like the erratic rhythms of "Black Dawn" or the electric guitar surges of "Blue Control.". But these are just background elements, which are not enough to color the compositions as needed. Some tracks try to be Frank Klepacki-style, but their structure isn’t that complex. Still, it seems to me that such an approach is not so easy to copy.

But if you think that Jablonski and Morris are some kind of incompetents, then you are in vain. These are capable musicians, their playing style just doesn’t fit into the C&C universe. However, even here there are interesting orchestral parts like Morning Hour. Or the urban Crimson City, where after a long ambient intro there is a sharp transition to a harsh guitar part. Or the woodwinds in Aftermath, as if referring to the second part of C&C.

But new authors are still a little lacking in creativity. The musical accompaniment as a whole turned out to be more boring than its predecessors from Westwood and the reinterpretation represented by Generals. So it was impossible to screw up the next game.

Red Alert 3 Soundtrack.

Listen to him, comrade!

Electronic Arts is making the right move. Frank Klepacki gets back to work on music. It’s funny that many players today associate Red Alert with the track Soviet March, to which Klepaki has virtually nothing to do with. Being busy with current projects allowed him to write only a few tracks and advise series newcomers Tim Wynne and James Hannigan.

The resulting soundtrack is probably the most diverse in the series. For the third time Klepacki rewrites Hell March and it’s great again. This is perhaps the most original performance of the iconic theme, combining orchestral, choral and electronic elements with Frank’s guitar rocker cuts. Grinder 2 – complete transformation of the Red Alert 2 melody. If there voice samples were combined with electronic beats, then here orchestral and ethnic elements are added to everything else in the form of a Russian choir. Or The Red Menace – a merciless electric guitar solo, complemented by choral singing. A combination that destroys everything in its path.

Unlike the composers of the C&C 3 soundtrack, Wynn and Hannigan know what they’re doing. All the tracks are terribly stereotypical, but that’s what Red Alert has always been about. Now the atmosphere of cranberry (at least the name of the song Battleground for Bear is worth it), beatenness and madness is complemented by music. Russian Retreat is a brutal depiction of the Soviet faction, dominated by hard guitar riffs no worse than Klepaki himself. Most of the songs here were not written by him at all, but if you don’t know about it, it’s as if it’s not noticeable. This is the same sound of Klepaka. This is the corporate style. When we hear music inspired by a composer, the association leads us to the original source, even if he did not write this music.

But not Klepaki alone. If the Soviet side gravitates towards the old games in the series, then the allies are designed in a slightly different vein. Something, in my opinion, close to punk rock. For example, Shock and Awe. I consider Wynne and Hannigan to be the best composers of the series after Klepacki himself. After all, they came up with a simple and elegant solution: “Since the game is based on Rocktronic, we will simply mix different genres of rock music with electronics.”. So, starting from the origins, the USSR received standard hard compositions for the series. The USA personified a semblance of punk rock and country, and the Empire of the Rising Sun, the third party to the conflict, got… that’s right. J-Rock.

Well, I can’t help but mention James Hannigan’s Soviet March again. The track contrasts perfectly with the “Hell March”, but the melody with an admixture of national flavor, bright and colorful orchestration, sounds very similar to the anthem. But his caricatured version. What the series needs.

The collaboration between all the composers clearly worked, as everyone contributed something different to the score. Klepacki creates the most striking versions of two of his classic themes and curates the rest, Hannigan stunningly combines oriental instruments with traditional orchestral and rock influences, and Tim Wynn mixes such a cocktail of styles that the whole thing sounds surprisingly fresh and complete. Klepacki not only created a new style, he taught it to other composers and handed the series into the capable hands of Wynn and Hannigan, who were able not only to musically complete the Red Alert story with dignity, but also to correct the mistakes of the C&C 3 soundtrack, because they were the ones who were involved in the fourth part.

Command & Conquer 4: Tiberium Twilight Soundtrack.

A little different, but still cool!

Klepaki no longer participated in composing music; an equally talented guy was appointed to replace him. The author of the Dead Space soundtrack, Jason Graves, as well as the entire London Philharmonic Orchestra, which in itself sounds strong.

Hannigan, when writing the main theme of the game, is clearly inspired not by Frank Klepacki, but by Jerry Goldsmith’s music for the 1979 film Star Trek.

C&C 4’s main theme, To Save Humanity, evolves from a wistful dance intro to a march, fully demonstrating that an orchestra can bring something new to a soundtrack. The composition provides a strong thematic foundation for the entire score.

Many of Jason Graves’ works featured in the G campaign.D.I., give, not surprisingly, Dead Space. Perhaps it’s the rhythm, or the rougher tones, or the more dissonant lines, I can’t put my finger on what, but there’s always something dangerously attractive about Graves’ work.

Tim Winn combines orchestral, ethnic and modern elements in the NOD brotherhood campaign. Things Fall Apart offers a completely different aesthetic, highlighting ethereal ethnic vocals, looping percussion samples and Arabic instruments played by an orchestra.

But the main star here is still Hannigan. His The Prophet’s Ascension, almost 11 and a half minutes long, covers a huge range. The composition begins with a slow string rhythm, gradually weaving in brass and electronic instruments. Adding brass fanfare. At the same time, when layering instruments, the same sequence of chords is preserved, a single rhythm is preserved. But that’s not all. Hannigan perfectly completes the series, combining the stylistic features of all the authors who worked on the project and puts, as they say, a final point in this story with the composition The End of All Things.

Star Wars: Empire at War Soundtrack.

Despite the fact that the C&C series was over, Frank Klepacki continued to create outside of it. Perhaps the most important event for him as an author occurred precisely after the collapse of Westwood. Petroglyph Games’ debut game with Klepacki as the main composer was Star Wars Empire at War. Another famous film franchise, the game incarnation of which Klepacki had a hand in. It seems that all of his previous work on live-action film adaptations led him to this moment.

Being a passionate fan of Star Wars, even while working on the Tiberium Saga, he wrote with wild delight the musical accompaniment for the scenes with the participation of James Earl Johnson. In C&C he played the role of General James Solomon, and in Star Wars, if you don’t know, he is the voice of Darth Vader. In Empire at War, Klepacki had to work with the score of the brilliant John Williams and he tried to handle his work as carefully as he could.

I tried to keep changes to the tracks to a minimum to maintain the classic Star Wars sound. I primarily composed music for new areas of the Star Wars universe, working closely with the sound effects team to provide a cohesive sound experience for the game’s world. Now I think that working on Empire at War is the best thing I’ve ever done.

Frank Klepacki

Klepacki took a lot of creative liberties with Forces of Corruption. Keeping the spirit of the saga, he wrote an original theme for the new criminal faction. In keeping with the game’s criminal theme, Klepacki borrowed motifs and recreated the mood of Jabba the Hutt’s scenes in Return of the Jedi. The development of the game was supervised by LucasArts, so all ideas had to be approved by them. Klepaki’s ideas were approved the first time.

As Petroglyph’s sound designer, I also selected sound effects – this is a difficult process, because new sounds are always “a little different” from what we are used to. And you need to maintain the style, bring something new, without deviating too much from the original.

Frank Klepacki

Soundtracks Universe at War, End of Nations and Gray Goo.

After Star Wars, Klepacki seemed ready for anything. And he was always not about marking time, but about development. In his next game, Universe at War, he showcases more of a traditional electronic sound, but with a darker and less playful edge.

For an alien race, I created an "unnatural" aesthetic using an arsenal of distorted noises. For example, a combination of sounds of heavy cranes recorded with amplified impacts to give faction units a menacing machine sound. I also invented the language of this race to record various vocal elements.

Frank Klepacki

Doom of the Aliens conveys a dark atmosphere every second to the accompaniment of guitar, drums and strings. Atmospheric tracks like Schematic are interesting and creepy at the same time. And Anticipating actually seems to be inspired by the cult group Morphine.

Another highlight is the choir singing in Display of Power, where Frank addresses the grandiose, heroic theme that he has featured in many of his past soundtracks. Therefore, in the subsequent project End of Nations, he writes music for almost 3 hours entirely with the participation of an orchestra.

Thanks to Klepacka’s vast experience, his main theme for End of Nations is a powerful military overture with outstanding trumpet solos and beautiful guitar parts. For me, this is one of Klepaka’s most unexpected soundtracks. Dense, varied, with new shades, but at the same time not forgetting about the roots. March of the Order, Gun It and Imposing Will are a combination of orchestra, choir and rock just like in the good old days. Creeper Presence takes the opposite approach, placing a clear emphasis on modern orchestral elements while the guitars fade into the background. On Russian Grounds – a hybrid of West and East. An extremely good combination. The density and complexity of this soundtrack cannot be expressed in words or in such short inserts. This applies in general to all of Klepacka’s music. You need to listen to it yourself to fully understand it.

Take, for example, the soundtrack of another Petroglyph game, Gray Goo. Without acquaintance, even if only superficially, with Klepaka’s work, it is impossible to feel the full coolness of the tracks Beta Formation and Wall Defense. The last one is pure Red Alert.

There are a lot of shades in this game. From the soothing chill-out sounds of Exploration to the colorful techno-pop compositions of Increase Production and the deeper sci-fi vibes of Materialize. And, of course, the main theme conveys the immensity of deep space with its powerful orchestral and choral sound.

For so many years, Klepaki not only hasn’t lost his enthusiasm. In addition to this, he acquired a lot of skills as a composer, as a sound producer, as a performer on the big stage. Stop. Performer on stage? Oh yes, there is another interesting story connected with this.

Frank Klepacki and The Tiberian Sons.

One of the best live performances I’ve seen!

After finishing work on Red Alert, Klepacki received a letter from a guy named Tony Dickinson.

He wrote his own completely insane symphonic version of "Hell March" for some competition. And I thought, who better to turn to than the original composer for advice on how this can be improved? So he contacted me and asked what I thought about it.

Frank Klepacki

Klepaki really liked what he heard, he gave the guy a couple of tips on mixing and in the end Tony won his competition. After that they kept in touch for many years. Tony became a professional musician and remained a fan of Frank Klepacki’s work. Tony Dickinson put together a musical group and called it Tiberian Sons, whose members remixed many of Frank’s works.

In the mid-tenths, Klepacki decided to perform at the MAGFest festival. By that time, in addition to games, he had several solo albums under his belt, and he contacted the organizers of the event just to play. As a result, the Klepaks allocated a whole slot for a large group with a proposal to perform a set based on Command & Conquer. With a live band. On stage. For the first time in history.

I immediately called Tony and said, “They gave me one of the headlining slots.”. I need a band for a concert to play music from my games. You’re in?»

Frank Klepacki

Naturally he was in action. Tony Dickinson, who once asked Klepacki for advice, performs on the same stage with him. And this union is called Frank Klepacki and Tiberian Sons.

Frank Klepacki is the man who created a new genre of music and forced a change in the soundtrack for strategy games in general. Inspiring people with his melodies and unique style. Because music is inseparable from its creator. So now, when we hear the soundtrack of Red Alert, C&C or just industrial, seasoned with marching motifs and electric guitars, we hear Frank Klepacki. And the rhythms of this music force us to listen to it over and over again, to experience emotions, because music becomes inseparable from us. After all, now it is part of our life.

The irony is that my original goal was to play in a famous band, tour the world and sell millions of albums. Instead of playing in a famous band, I gained popularity in the industry as a video game composer. Instead of touring the world, I get fan mail from all over the world. Instead of selling millions of albums, my music is in millions of video games! So in the end I got something even more meaningful.

Frank Klepacki