Step into the shoes of the legendary hero, Indiana Jones, in an all new epic adventure! Set in the year 1939, Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings follows the rogue archaeologist on an all new globe-trotting quest.

From San Francisco's Chinatown to the lush jungles of Panama, Indy must use his whip, fists and wits to fight through ruthless opposition as he spars with his nemesis, Magnus Völler, in a race for a relic of biblical proportions – the Staff of Moses.

Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings features completely interactive environments, where players need to call upon their wits and daring to make each spring-loaded environment a weapon in order to dispense of foes in clever and unexpected ways. Also, embark upon thrilling action sequences that remain true to the spirit established in scenes such as Indy's pursuit of the motorcade in "Raiders of the Lost Ark," the mine cart scene in "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," and the free-for-all aboard the tank in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade."

Indiana Jones and the Staff of the Kings Composer Gordy Haab

Gordy Haab's diverse music career features a wide variety of professional productions, ranging from recent theatrical films, "Good Luck Chuck" and Jet Li's "War", to VH-1's Scream Queens, and First Look's upcoming feature, "The Man Who Ran the World", to name a few.  Gordy has composed original scores for over 50 films, including Anchor Bay's rave reviewed theatrical release, "Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon" (Starring, Robert Englund and Zelda Rubenstein), "Dave Barry's Guide to Guys" (Starring, John Cleese - Directed by two-time Academy Award/Golden Globe Nominee, Jeff Arch), and "3 Below" (Starring Academy Award-Winner, Ernest Borgnine), and recently the Internet's highest regarded Star Wars fan film, "Ryan vs. Dorkman II".  Gordy joined "DP Productions" as co-head of orchestral music and original scoring. "DP Productions" is an exclusive music content provider for Lionsgate Pictures.

Gordy's honors include: First Place; The Reflections National Composers Award, The BMI/Warren International Film Composers Award, The ASCAP International Jazz Composers Award, The ASCAP Henry Mancini Composers Award, "Best Score"- Spotlight LA Film Festival, and "Best Score"- California Independent Film Festival.  Along with fellow composers Kyle Newmaster and Dave Chiappetta, Gordy co-founded the Novo Philharmonic, a 90 member rock/pop/film orchestra in Los Angeles.

M4G recently caught up with Gordy to discuss his first foray into the world of game scoring with LucasArts' upcoming Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings.

M4G: First of all please tell us about your musical background and how you got started as a composer?
Gordy Haab: I primarily work as a film composer and more often than not compose orchestral music, but my musical background is pretty diverse.  I've studied classical music composition and trombone performance for most of my life, but I also studied jazz composition in undergrad.  Upon graduation, I moved to Los Angeles to study film scoring at USC.  I've also played drums, trombone and bass guitar in 100's of rock bands for as far back as I can remember.  I've written just about every style you could imagine - everything from Broadway shows to Bluegrass, but I've had most of my success scoring films.  Specifically darker fare - horror, suspense, action and sci-fi films.  I got started as a composer by moving to LA, hitting the pavement, meeting as many people as I could, and being an advocate for my music.

M4G: How did you get involved with Indiana Jones & The Staff of Kings? What attracted you to the medium?
Gordy Haab: I've always been attracted  to the idea of scoring video games because I've been a lifelong fan of the medium, but to be quite honest I initially dismissed it, assuming that if I wanted to pursue a career that allowed me to write for full orchestra on a regular basis, then I should choose film.  Years ago, while studying at USC, a friend and classmate of mine rekindled my interest in games, suggesting that many video game scores were using orchestras.  Although until recently most of my efforts have been on scoring film, the idea of working in games has always been on my mind.  After years passed, and about 45 or so films later, I chose to reconnect with my friend from USC, Jesse Harlin, who's been very successful as a staff composer for LucasArts for the past few years.   Our conversation went something like, G: "Hey Jesse.  I'm thinking about trying to pursue games a little more." J: "Cool, want to score Indiana Jones?".  He asked me to send some music.  At the time I had just finished producing the soundtrack album for a film I scored called Behind the Mask, and had also just finished co-scoring a short film for YouTube called Ryan v.s. Dorkman II (RVD2) - which featured music in the style of John Williams.  So I sent him the Behind the Mask soundtrack, and a link to RVD2, and told him how excited I was about the prospect of doing anything Indiana Jones-related.  I also wrote a couple of pieces in the style of Indiana Jones as a demo, recorded them - and here we are, talking about my score!

M4G: What were the main challenges for you working on your first video game score? How does the process compare to film and television?
Gordy Haab:  The biggest challenge was not having a visual reference.  I had seen some stills online, but mostly I was working on verbal direction from Jesse at LucasArts.  This was however also liberating because I didn't have to time my music to "hit" things, which allowed me to just write what I was hearing.    Another challenge was writing so the music could loop as seamlessly as possible.  The even deeper challenge here was writing music in this style that could loop.  It's a little easier when writing in one key or tempo, to transition from the end to the beginning, but in order to stay true to the original scores, this music is never in one key for more than 3 seconds.  I just made sure that I found a way to end in the key I started, if that makes sense.

M4G: How much original music have you composed for Indiana Jones & The Staff of Kings and how long did the process take from writing, recording, mixing?
Gordy Haab:   I wrote 12 cues, equaling 30 minutes of music which I believe is a little more than half of the original music in the game.  My assignment was to write all of the action music: the exciting chases, fights, battles, etc. I know they used music from other sources as well for other various moods, including previously unreleased material from the Indy films and the Young Indiana Jones television show.

In order to allow time to record and mix, I composed, orchestrated and prepped the score for recording in two and a half weeks.  I conducted and recorded it in 3 separate, 3-hour recording sessions.  Then we edited the audio for about a week.  Surprisingly, mixing took the longest, likely because I mixed it myself  and was very picky about the "sound" of the orchestra.  This took about a cumulative 3 weeks.  So the whole process was about 6-7 weeks.

M4G: Were you familiar with Clint Bajakian’s award-winning score for the video game Indiana Jones & The Emperor’s Tomb? Were there any cues from the Indy films that LucasArts referenced for The Staff of Kings?
Gordy Haab:   I was not familiar with his score.  And I made a point to keep it that way until I was finished, so I wouldn't be influenced.  I'll check it out though!  More than referencing musical moments, LucasArts referenced specific scenes from the films.  They also left it up to me whether or not to use the themes from the films.  I chose to write new themes but made a point to write in a way that would make them "familiar" to the fans of the original scores.  As a fan myself, I chose to approach the score from an audience perspective.  And I know I'd want the score to feel like Indiana Jones, but would also want to hear something new.

M4G: What kinds of musical styles are featured in the score? Did you take a thematic approach at all?
Gordy Haab: There are many styles of music in my score, all wrapped up in an orchestral package.  This was a challenge because I was writing all of the action music, which lends itself to a specific set of sounds.  The challenge was to write exciting action music, but to craft it in a way that also characterized the setting and level of seriousness.  So when we're in Chinatown, the music is Asian-influenced, Istanbul, Turkish-influenced, etc.  When a fight is serious, (usually involving Nazis) it was typically darker in nature and very heavy versus the lighter, more playful music I wrote for some of the other chases.  I took a very thematic approach.  All of my themes are original, but again each try to reference something from the original scores to make it familiar.  For instance, for the Nazi's theme, I use the first 3 notes from the Nazi theme in Last Crusade, but immediately take it somewhere completely different.  But just those 3 notes are enough for listeners to say, "oh that sounds like.....".  I never (in any obvious way) use Indy's theme.  But there are many "easter eggs" throughout the score where I used it as a small counterline or some other secondary musical device.  Thought it would be fun to see if the true Indy fans could find them!

M4G: Did you get to add your own identity to the music? How much direction were you provided by LucasArts?
Gordy Haab: Yes!  In ways I've never been able to do before.  I knew when I was 6 years old, when Darth Vader blasted through the door in his first appearance to the sound of a gong crash, that I wanted to write musical scores.  So without question John Williams has been a part of my musical upbringing.  But my many musical experiences have taken me in all sorts of directions.  In this score I applied my sound and orchestration, but also got to explore that music from my childhood, which is undoubtedly a part of my identity as well.  LucasArts gave me a perfect balance of direction and freedom.  For each cue they described the scene, referenced similar scenes from the films, but then let me run with it.

M4G: When, where and with whom did you record the orchestral score? How was this experience compared to other scoring assignments?
Gordy Haab:   Recording it with an orchestra was actually optional.  But I knew from the beginning that if I was to write music for Indiana Jones, that it had to be orchestral.  So I chose to record and produce it myself.  We recorded it in June of 2008, at Entourage Studios in Los Angeles.   The session differed in a few ways.  First and most obvious, there was no picture to sync to.  But I did use a click track, which is normally used in a film scoring session to help sync to picture correctly.  (A click track is metronome, programmed by the composer, that clicks the tempo in players' headphones.)  I did this because instead of recording the entire orchestra at the same time, I recorded in sections;  i.e. brass in one session, strings and woodwinds in one, and percussion in a separate session at my own studio.  The click made it possible for each section to be in sync with the preceding session.  Separating it this way was partially due to the size of the studio I chose, but it also allowed complete control in mixing, since there was no "mic bleed".  (Trumpets being picked up on the violin mics, etc.)  Another difference (and a true testament to the musicians' abilities) was our extremely tight recording schedule.  I've learned from my film sessions about how much music can be recorded in an average hour.  But in a film there tends to be some easy music, some moderate music and some hard music.  In the Staff of Kings score, it was all very difficult music.  I tend to write moderately difficult music and expect miracles.  But in this case, in keeping with John Williams' wonderful Indiana Jones scores, I wrote (requiring from every single instrument) virtuosic perfection.  And I got it, on every piece of music, from every player - in 3 hours. (Now, would I try that again?....)

M4G:  Who were the other team members involved in the orchestra recording session(s)?
Gordy Haab:  I had a small but solid line up of people.  First I enlisted fellow composer and occasional co-composer, Kyle Newmaster.  We both love the scores for Indiana Jones and innately understand them, so I knew he'd be a great resource to me.  He helped me prep music for the players, proof-read my scores, and helped with orchestration.  He also edited all of the audio from the recording session to aid me in mixing.  But most importantly he was a second pair of ears throughout the process that I could trust like my own.  My copyist, Jeremy Levy, did an amazing job with the task of making sure the very detailed sheet music was prepped for the players - on a session that left no room for error.  All this said, if there was an award for the most time and energy invested (besides me of course) it would go to my assistant, Samuel Joseph Smythe.  His main job was to create synthesized mockups to demo for LucasArts prior to the recording session.  This was no easy task, but it didn't stop there.  He also prepared all of the ProTools sessions, created the click tracks and pre-recorded music for the session, and even helped orchestrate along the way.  During my two and a half week writing process he literally moved his studio into my house and was on call 24 hours a day!  He also helped me organize and run the session, and acted as a second pair of ears from inside the recording booth while I was conducting.

M4G: What are some of your favorite tracks you composed for the game and why?
Gordy Haab: Tough, because they're each so different, but if I had to pick, it would be a toss up between the Magnus Battle (currently titled, "German Boss") and "The Sea Bed Chase".  Both rank high because they use a musical device that film composers rarely get away with - the fugue.  "German Boss" in particular is interesting because although it's a fugue, (which can tend to sound delicate) it needed to sound "tough".  But when I combined the fugue with some killer low brass parts, and traditional German harmonies and percussion I ended up with a dark, militant, calculating, and very German march, that ultimately sounds tough.  "The Sea Bed Chase" was also fugal but in a more traditional way.  I chose to use a new theme I wrote plus little snippets here and there from the Motorcycle Chase in Last Crusade to tie it all in.  But harmonically I chose to use elements classically known as quartal harmony. (I'll avoid getting too geeky and spare the definition.)  Since the early 1900's this sound has commonly been associated with "seafaring music".  Seemed Fitting.    I also love what I did with the "Elephant Stampede".  One of my favorite cues from Williams' scores is the Basket Chase in Raiders.  This one was certainly inspired by it, but I chose to write this as a Tuba solo feature.  It was a fun line to walk, balancing the excitement of an elephant stampede with the playfulness of a typical Indiana Jones chase scene.

M4G: What do you think is the most unique aspect of the score for Indiana Jones & The Staff of Kings?
Gordy Haab: This is a great question because I made a conscious choice to make the score "unique".  My guess is if you were to ask many composers today this same question about their various scores the answer might overwhelmingly be, "It's an orchestral score that features electronic elements and pop/rock influenced rhythms."  I've certainly used this combination, and as effective as this approach can be, if everyone answers the same way, is it really unique?  This said, what I think makes my score unique is that it's an orchestral score that features...the orchestra.    My entire score is written like a concerto for orchestra in that it features challenging solos from various instruments. Basically, every instrument in the orchestra at some point or another is featured in a soloistic fashion.  My use of counterpoint is also a unique feature, in a time where the trend is to have many instruments playing the exact same melody to create "size".  In this score, there are always numerous counterlines weaving around the melodies, while we jump from key to key and quickly pass ideas from one instrument to the next, in true John Williams form. 

Indiana Jones and The Staff of Kings will be available June 9 for Wii, Nintendo DS, PlayStation2, PSP.  

www.lucasarts.com/games/indianajones/