Few flight/combat games had as much hype surrounding them as Tom Clancy's H.A.W.XFirst there's the license: when Tom Clancy's name is attached, gamers expect a certain level of qualitySecond, the publisher: Ubisoft has a great track record with action games, increasing our anticipationThird, H.A.W.Xhas to compete with the genre's existing leaders, such as Ace Combat

Thus far, it appears that no detail has been overlookedIn addition to the impressive graphics and gameplay perspectives showcased in every screenshot, the developers gave H.A.W.Xan aural boost by hiring Tom Salta to compose the music"H.A.W.X is the first Tom Clancy title to be completely based around High Altitude Warfare," said the composer, whose previous work includes another Tom Clancy property: the Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter series"It's connected to the GRAW series but goes in an entirely new direction, literally...up in the skiesTo support this new experience, the music had to sustain all the feelings associated with epic modern warfare, flying, cutting edge military aircrafts and speed."

The score is What kinds of songs are you composing to achieve the adrenalized aspect? Or perhaps a better question would be: what sounds are you utilizing to create an exciting score?

TS: I'm very comfortable creating high-adrenaline modern musicIt's a style I've done many times before, like on my solo album Atlas Plug, "2 Days or Die" or even some of my earlier scores like Need For Speed Underground 2It's not always about the sounds, but rather how you use themI can create an "adrenalized" score by just using traditional orchestra, or perhaps only electronic sounds, or even just percussionIt's all about the approach and how they are used

In the case of H.A.W.X, the development team encouraged me to combine orchestral and electronic together because they felt it would represent the epic military and modern aspects the bestOrchestral/Electronic, or what I call "Orchestronic", is usually my favorite combination because it allows me to use whatever sounds and textures that best suit the jobH.A.W.X is probably one of the most evenly balanced scores I've ever done in terms of orchestra, choir and electronicasaid to be adrenalized and emotionally-chargedHow do you balance these two elements so that each prevails at the proper moment?

Tom Salta: As far as the proper moment goes, that's completely up to the designers who implement the musicMy job as a composer was to provide the H.A.W.X team with all the "musical building blocks" they would need to support all the various aspects of the gameThis means every Mission Briefing, Battle cue, Tension cue, Win, Lose cues, etcIt's a tall order for a game as ambitious as Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X, but the audio director and the entire H.A.W.X team did a fantastic job of planning ahead and explaining everything to me that they would need for the game, and almost a year before the game would even be released.

Can a song be adrenalized and emotionally-charged at the exact same time?

TS: Sure, why not! I think that music can express lots of complex emotions, often better than wordsAs a composer, I use a "musical vocabulary" to express various emotions with musicFor example, "adrenalin" can be created by a powerful, fast rhythm, perhaps driven by electric guitar, bass, etcWhereas, the "emotion" aspect can come from an ascending string part, or French horns playing a powerful melody all simultaneouslyThat's just one simple instance.