Awesome Frank Klepacki Q&A

[Coolrock]

Hey guys! Frank got back to me, and answered every question (even Testament's questions!). I hope you guys enjoy, and I'm waiting to hear back from him about getting in contact with Joe Kucan (Kane)!

NodGuy: Out of every track you've created for Command and Conquer, which is your favourite? 

- I have several favorites, too many to just have one!  Hell March, Prepare for Battle, Stomp, Brain Freeze, Dog Fight, Mud, Mad Rap, I could keep going.  So many. 

Dadud: What equipment/programs did you use to create music in the early days? How long did it take to record/produce a song on average?

- Ensinonq Asr10, Roland s760, roland jv990, 1080, 2080, Korg triton among others.  Would take me anywhere between a day or a few days to complete a track depending on how in the zone I was.  

ganein14: Were there any tracks you wish could've been implemented into the games you developed them for, but were cut for various reasons?

- Well, there’s a few instances where songs were cut or repurposed for later projects.  For example it’s no secret there were songs left out of the original C&C but were still buried in the files of the game which people extracted and wondered why.  I believe they were meant to be removed but just werent.  One of which was called C&C 80s mix - which was an experimental track that probably didn’t fit but was redone as a heavier song for Renegade later.  There’s another one called Die which is a cool heavy tune I wished was included but perhaps was a little too theashy.  Stomp was written for Tiberian sun and was featured in an early trailer but then was cut and then also used for Renegade.  A track I wrote on my own called defunkt i brought in to try for Renegade cause I thought it might fit well, but we switched producers mid way through and it got dropped - so I put it on my first solo album instead.  

Raap:  Some of Frank's solo albums have a lot of similarities with his work on C&C titles, specifically Morphscape, Rocktronic and Infiltrator have a number of tracks that sound like they would fit perfectly in the earlier Red Alert C&C games. Were these tracks at some point intended for these games, or is it purely just a matter of your music style preference? Bonus question: Any chance W3DHub projects could get non-profit, non-direct distribution rights to the mentioned albums, for inclusion within the W3D games (the music files would be stored inside game data, and used exclusively as level background music using the built-in music playlists where authors of music get full credit)?

I mirrored my studio setup I had at work at my own studio, so that I could always compose when inspired and then go back and forth.  Some ideas I did at home such as defunct I would bring in to see if it worked or not.  Other times I would just get ideas out and save them for later to see if I could make them better.  When it came to my solo albums, morphscape was a collection of songs that built up over time that I just didn’t find a place for.  Ricktronic was a more cohesive effort written in the same time period and very much in the vein of my C&C style.  Beyond that I just wrote whatever I felt like at the given time.  Though I will say much of what wrote for infiltrator were ideas I kicked out during the time I worked in Red Alert 3, as I hoped to have contributed more than 3 songs for it.  Regarding the other question, that’s a separate email

Catting: so early on red alert was not in the past it was still gdi and Nod , any info on that? how was ra development? has joe kucan been a influence on the music, were you a influence on him? about retaliation what happend?, is there any memories of note?, did you meet the actors?   I enjoyed beatnuckle. did it or your time there inflence cnc? 

- We’ll to be honest, I had assumed the next C&C after the covert ops expansion would be the next sequel and I wrote Hell March with that in mind.  But when I played the song for the president he explained it was to be a prequel instead but that he wanted me to expand on the style we’d already established for the first C&C - and that Hell March would be a perfect main theme for the new game.  

-Joe Kucans character of Kane was great, and I wrote No Mercy with his portrayal Kane in mind.  Lots of memories - I remember being shocked the first time he makes his entrance after offing Seth.  We played the game after hours during development because it was so fun.  We knew it would be special, just didn’t know It would be as successful as it was!

-Beat knuckle we’re friends of mine and I produced their album, and did a couple remixes of their tunes influenced by the stuff I was doing at the time with C&C.

Testament: If you could abort anyone from the history of the earth, who would it be? Did you ever pick up any chicks from the tracks you've composed? Your band was super hardcore. Where should I get my grub on in Las Vegas that isn't a cheap, cigarette laden buffet? Would you consider composing a short, cervine/deer or (PLECOSTOMUS) related track for Expansive Civilian Warfare's loading screen? I'd pay you in COMBO snacks and rye whisky. If you could, how would you destroy contemporary country music?

-Intetesting questions lol.  1. Anyone who brought about mass harm to innocent people. 2. Yep.  3. Vegas has so many great restaurants it depends what you like.  4. Seeing as this is how I pay my bills, I prefer compensation that I can use for that. 5. Hasn’t it already destroyed itself?  Lol 

dblaney1: What projects can we expect to see from you in the future? Can we have a high quality stereo version of Act on Instinct without the lyrics. The official soundtrack only came with the lyric version if I recall correctly.

- I just released my latest album “Transform”, latest game that recently launched officially after early access is “Forged Battalion.”  My next album will be 100% Metal.  The real deal, all live instruments, organically recorded and not edited to sound unnaturally perfect.  \m/

-It’d be up to EA to release an alt version soundtrack.  The one that’s avail is the same one that released when the original game released back in the day.  But the reason there are extra vocal clips on it is because that’s the way they were originally written before they were taken out for the in-game versions.  And that was fine because we felt it competed too much with the unit responses.  

des1206: Favorite C&C Game, and favorite C&C unit?

-Too tough to answer.  Again several I could list.  Mammoth tanks, commando, mechs, conscripts, ufos, what’s not to like? 

Killing_You: What is your favorite non-C&C game that you've done music for?

-Star Wars Empire at War.

Fraydo:  1) Did you ever think joining Westwood Studios as a composer way back then would have left such a legacy on the gaming community, particularly the community surrounding the Command & Conquer series? 2) It's amazing to see that you are still creating new music to this day! Are you already working on the next album? 3) Any prominent video game composers catching your interest these days? If so, any chance of music collaboration with them?

- 1. I had no idea that would be a thing.  I was still in denial until Red Alert came out and the response we received from that, then it really felt like it was a lot bigger deal than I thought.  2. Yep, as answered earlier above.  3. Sure I respect quite a few other composers I’d enjoy  collaborating with at some point.  Would depend on circumstances I’m sure for all involved but you never know.  

Kicken: Do you enjoy any games yourself? If so, or despite that, have any other game soundtracks caught your ears?

- Of course!  Lately I’ve been ridiculously addicted to Conan Exiles.  Plenty of soundtracks I’ve really enjoyed over the years, I tend to enjoy soundtracks that deviate from the norm or are just super well done and pull me in to the world, or get my adrenaline going as that is my preference as a composer in general.  

Kaskins : I am always curious where does the sound technology is going, we see improve graphics, better monitors with higher resolution and in-game engine with almost realistic rendering. Where would you think of the sound technology is going in the next 10 years time? Have we reach the limits of sound technology that we can hear? 

- Its come a long way for sure, it’s more about the budgets that are available nowadays though.  The quality is largely going to be dictated by that.  Whether there’s enough to hire an orchestra, or top tier actors, or sound design field recordings from scratch, time to craft, edit, and cleverly implement audio with the advanced tool sets available today - all of that goes into it.  At the end of the day though none of that means anything if the game is not fun!  That is always the most important thing,  then it’s about how audio and graphic that best serve that experience.  

OWA: When I used to work with Andre Arsenault, he once told me a story about when you played him one of his voice lines from Tiberian Sun: Firestorm as he entered a room once, (something about a "cool beverage"?). My question is, what's your favourite piece of obscure dialogue from any C&C game?

- “That was left-handed!”

GraYaSDF: Hi there again, Frank! I of course have two new questions since our last conversation: 1) Which style did you choose for your next solo album? Does it sound like something between Static-X, Metallica, and/or Bon Jovi, or is it something completely new and incredible? 2) Do you plan to record your voice for upcoming metal album?
 

- The Metal album will be across between many of my influences old school Metallica, anthrax, Kings x, with a touch of disturbed, and 
Armored Saint, half will be instrumental with some guitar hero friends of mine shredding, and the other half will be vocals of myself and and some guest vocalists.  

VERTi60: Would you like to do a custom soundtrack forAPB, AR and Reborn?

-Happy to be commissioned for any soundtrack

Nexiuz: Do you have unfinished or unreleased tracks for C&C? Any chance we could use some for our projects here at W3D Hub?

-Answered this earlier, it wouldn’t be up to me though.  

Coolrock: Greatest achievement in your career? Favorite cereal?

- Star Wars games I worked on.  I don’t eat cereal.  I go straight to lunch.  

Pandarock: Why a music composer? What inspires you when making music?  

- Music is the soundtrack to our lives.  It will always bring us back to memories of times, places, people were reminded of, and experiences, whether you realize it or not.  I chose to be a professional drummer early in life and every new skill I attained was because of a need of some sort.  Most of which was to be able to communicate ideas of songs to band mates, or communicate what I wanted recordings to sound like to engineers.  I was passionate about all of it and motivated me to do it all, and that all is needed when being a composer.  At first I thought it would just be fun temporary job until I hit it big with a touring band and making albums.  But as it turned out, it became my main career.  

Thank you again for taking the time to answer! We really appreciate it!

- You’re welcome!  Keep rockin everyone![blurb]We asked Frank Klepacki some questions from the community. Check it out![/blurb][thumb]thumb_apb.7.png[/thumb]

[Raap]

So now you'd have to figure out his fee for a custom track set. 

Problem is he would probably charge more than most of us could afford for a completely new album. The ideas of 'licensing' his solo albums came to my mind as this should theoretically be cheaper.

[Testament]

Frank is an absolute unit. Gotta give him credit for answering my deranged questions.

[VERTi60]

 

On 9/13/2018 at 4:41 AM, Coolrock said:

VERTi60: Would you like to do a custom soundtrack forAPB, AR and Reborn?

-Happy to be commissioned for any soundtrack

On 9/13/2018 at 1:14 PM, Raap said:

So now you'd have to figure out his fee for a custom track set. 

Problem is he would probably charge more than most of us could afford for a completely new album. The ideas of 'licensing' his solo albums came to my mind as this should theoretically be cheaper.

 

 

[Coolrock]

I'll have to contact him to see. Had a lot on my plate recently, but I'll get to it soon!

[GraYaSDF]

On 9/13/2018 at 5:41 AM, Coolrock said:

GraYaSDF: Hi there again, Frank! I of course have two new questions since our last conversation: 1) Which style did you choose for your next solo album? Does it sound like something between Static-X, Metallica, and/or Bon Jovi, or is it something completely new and incredible? 2) Do you plan to record your voice for upcoming metal album?

- The Metal album will be across between many of my influences old school Metallica, anthrax, Kings x, with a touch of disturbed, and 
Armored Saint, half will be instrumental with some guitar hero friends of mine shredding, and the other half will be vocals of myself and and some guest vocalists.  [blurb]We asked Frank Klepacki some questions from the community. Check it out![/blurb][thumb]thumb_apb.7.png[/thumb]

Me again going to say thanks to Frank in Facebook! Thanks for the interview, @Coolrock, I will read the full text later. The previous interview about one of his solo albums can be found here: http://download.ccassault.com/museum/articles/frank_interview_2/index.html

Still listening to Digital Frontiers and Transform. I think it is the best part of what Frank Klepacki did for a wide range of listeners. The best is that he even inspired me to create and finally release my own album (which is Imaginary Frontiers, of course) and I have to say... this is very good to have such a person! 👍