Frank Klepacki

Frank Klepacki, born on May 25, 1974, is a celebrated American musician, renowned as a video game music composer and sound director. He is most famous for his contributions to the iconic Command & Conquer series. He began playing drums in his childhood and joined Westwood Studios at the young age of 17 as a composer. During his time there, he created musical scores for various games, including the Lands of Lore series, the Dune games, The Legend of Kyrandia series, Blade Runner, and, notably, the Command & Conquer series. His work on Command & Conquer: Red Alert was recognized with two prestigious awards.

Currently, Klepacki holds the position of audio director at Petroglyph games, where he composed the music for Star Wars: Empire at War and its expansion. He was approached to create the score for Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, but he declined the offer, citing his commitments to Petroglyph as the reason, and chose not to elaborate further on the proposition.

Biography

Petroglyph's debut title, Star Wars: Empire at War, was his initial project, where he also assisted in selecting voice talent. As an avid enthusiast of the Star Wars universe, Klepacki relished the opportunity to complement John Williams's musical style while incorporating sound effects from the films. He collaborated closely with programmers to ensure flawless audio integration. While John Williams composed the majority of the game's soundtrack, Klepacki estimates that he contributed around 20% of original compositions. Aside from the main theme, he aimed to minimize his alterations to preserve the classic Star Wars sound. He primarily focused on composing music for the new areas of the Star Wars universe exclusive to Empire at War. He considers his work on the game to be "the peak of my career," feeling that his entire professional journey had prepared him for that particular soundtrack. One of the perks of his composing role was a visit to Skywalker Ranch and Industrial Light & Magic, and he was proud to have his name associated with an official Star Wars product.

Frank Klepacki at his Petroglyph office

For the Forces of Corruption expansion, he embraced greater artistic freedom with the Star Wars atmosphere by crafting an original theme for the new criminal organization. During the composition process, he developed several preliminary musical ideas that were later incorporated into the game's battle themes. He composed a total of six pieces for the expansion, including the final theme. Reflecting the game's criminal theme, Klepacki drew inspiration and recreated the atmosphere from scenes involving Jabba the Hutt in Return of the Jedi. His score for the expansion pack was approved by LucasArts upon its initial submission. As Petroglyph's audio director, he also oversaw the selection of sound effects, which proved challenging due to the need to make the criminal faction's sounds "a little different, without straying too much from the original signature sounds." Klepacki collaborated with LucasArts to cast voice actors and also lent his own voice 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 forum reached one thousand registered members.

Sources

  • Star Wars: Empire at War
  • Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption

Notes and references

External links

Appearances