Game Music Documentary (French)

[Carl]

French media site "Game One" put together a documentary on Game Music.
They were assisted by a Famitsu staff writer (rolling Uchizawa) who presumably got them quick access to all the composers.

While they are forced to include the obligatory introduction to the 'concept' of game music during the intro, (the first 10 minutes seem like every other Nobuo tribute) it does pick up from there and gets to the good stuff, spending some 1-on-1 time with each of the composers and going over their most popular works. Overall it turned out quite well.

Part 1: Nobuo Uematsu, Yuzo Koshiro
Part 2: Hitoshi Sakimoto, Nobuyoshi Sano, Akira Yamaoka
Part 3: Masaya Matsuura (who has WALLS of vintage Analog gear in his studio)

It's up on YouTube, not sure if it ever got broadcast on TV or screened anywhere other than online though.

After some searching it seems that Game One has quite a large staff (being part of the MTV Entertainment Group) and has made other documentaries such as "History of Shooting Games" "History of Fighting Games", Horror Games, etc... View here for their background.

KujaFFman noted some corrections/additions:

It definitely got broadcast on TV, since Game One is a French channel dedicated to video games. I was able to watch this documentary when it first aired, a few years ago (I think it was some time before the release of FFXII). Actually, the documentaries were not made by Game One, but by production company Pocket Shami.

[zinger]

I wish there was a translation of this...

[Carl]

If you want any specific parts translated, KujaFFman said he could translate some segments for someone who wanted the details. He's available either at squaremusic.ffworld.com or soundtrackcentral.com

[Zanasea]

I'm also here. I don't think I could translate all of the contents, but at least what the composers say.

[Zanasea]

Here is a translation of what the speakers say. I'm sorry if some parts don't sound very English, but I'm not very good at translating from my own language to another language.

Note that this documentary was made after Akira Yamaoka's idea. Even if he dislikes VGM, at least he cares for his fellow composers.

Nobuo Uematsu
For the first Final Fantasy games, we worked on NES. This console was unable to produce sophisticated sounds. We had to make music with bloops and bleeps. Our only solution was to create a melody. Nowadays, video game music is recorded live and played as such by the hardware. One beautiful sound is enough to get a good result. But at the time, it was impossible to trigger an emotion with the sound produced by the NES.
About the Prelude: It was on the day we completed the first Final Fantasy. I was having a break when director Sakaguchi came to me all of a sudden and told me: "we still need a theme for the prologue, we need it now". So I said: "OK, OK", and started to compose. If I wrote this piece in 10 minutes, it was because I had no other choice.
People often tell me that, in my music, there are no "rise in power". They are waiting for some sort of climax, but actually, it never comes. When you listen to the music several times, you get used to it, and you enjoy the piece. At least, this is what I've been told. In any case, when I write music, I don't feel a need to do more. The way I work would probably not make for a successful pop song. But video game music is supposed to be looped while you play, and if there were a big "rise in power" in the course of the theme, it would end up boring.
About "At Zanarkand": I wrote the opening piano piece in FFX. I must admit, I am quite proud of this one.
What I want is share my music with other people. I want to tell them: I like this melody. What about you? And if they answer: "I like it too", then it creates a bond. Don't you think it's amazing that something exists that can make our value judgments converge, even if we live in different countries?
The concert in June 2004, in Los Angeles, was an extraordinary moment for me. I had never felt such excitement before. When I arrived in the hall, I was welcomed by a standing ovation. And when the music started, the 2000 spectators started to yell as if it was a rock concert, whereas they were in front of a beautiful orchestra. I said to myself, I made the right choice when I started composing for video games.

Rolling Uchizawa
About VGM CDs: You couldn't really say it was video game soundtracks, but since the time of the NES, you can find vinyls featuring video game sounds. (He shows the Original Sound of Gradius & Salamander vinyl) This one dates back to 1987. Then, video game soundtracks started to appear around the time of the SNES. Many recent video game soundtracks are available to buy, but there also are reprints of old VGM. People who buy this kind of CDs are grown-ups, around 30 years old, who played the NES when they were young. This is mainly nostalgia.

Yuzo Koshiro
When I was in high school, three games changed my life. I think it was a fated encounter. They were Druaga, Space Harrier and Gradius. They were the reason why I decided to do this job. Their soundtracks were so beautiful.
At the time, you had to be very good with computers, because without a good level, you couldn't get a proper sound, especially with MegaDrive.
Streets of Rage is a turning point in my career. Before that, the style of my music was very "VGM-ish". When I started working on Streets of Rage, house music was making its debut. At the time, I loved to go out in nightclubs. I used to go there to dance at least once a week. This is why I decided to use this kind of music in a game. I still get feedback from fans about Streets of Rage, especially from overseas. On the contrary, Japanese players didn't like it at all.
About Shenmue: Producer Yu Suzuki's requests were extremely specific. He very carefully explained what he wanted. I would come back the following week with my themes, and he listened to them. Then he would say: "It's OK, I keep it", or "no, this one is bad". This is how it happened.
When you work in VGM, you don't have much time to make friends. However, I often hang out with Hosoe and Sakimoto. I get on well with them, because they are true gamers. Especially Sakimoto. We are both game freaks.

Hitoshi Sakimoto
First I browse through the files I am given about the game, then I try to find some ideas on my keyboard. When I find a melody, I develop it further on my keyboard. As soon as I know what I'm looking for, I work on arrangements. I never write sheet music, except if I am asked to do so. From the melody to the arrangements, I only need my synthesizer.
When I started this job, it was a time when you couldn't write video game music if you were unable to program. Even later, it was better to have knowledge in computers to pull yourself through. At that time, we spent a lot more time fiddling with the computer rather than composing. Sometimes, we ended up forgetting about the music itself, and wanting to produce a completely new sound. It was a thrill to try and push the limits of the hardware.
About FF Tactics: FFT, even if it is not part of the main series, nevertheless bears the name "Final Fantasy". This is why I felt a lot of pressure. I was careful not to disappoint the fans of the series. I thought I should maybe mimic Nobuo Uematsu's style. It was really tormenting.
About Vagrant Story: In this job, in order to survive, you have to sell games. But in spite of this, we wanted to go as far as possible. Normally, I am careful not to frighten the player with weird sounds. I always try not to go beyond this limit. But for this game, I did. The result is quite special. Actually, it is definitely my style. And I enjoyed myself.
About FFXII: Here again, I asked myself a lot of questions. Eventually, though, I decided to use my own style. So far as possible, I will try and follow my own path. In the end, this is quite close to my normal style.

Rolling Uchizawa
(Show the "Video Game Music" vinyl) Here is a very famous album, produced by YMO's Haruomi Hosono. It uses sound effects from Namco's video games. It is the first album of the kind, and it probably triggered all this interest about VGM.

Nobuyoshi Sano
If you compare to what it was ten years ago, nowadays we almost don't sell VGM any more. Except for Nobuo Uematsu's albums, of course.
At the time, we pressed around 10,000 copies of a VGM album. Actually, publishers had nothing to pay for, since the music already existed. It was a nice business for them. But nowadays, how many do we sell? 5,000, 2,000? Frankly, you can be very happy if you sell 5,000.
I really can't play the keyboard. Actually, when I'm working, I'm always like this. (He looks at his computer screen with one hand on the keyboard)
We used to work in a studio with machines everywhere. Nowadays, you only need one computer to do everything, from the beginning to the end.
When I start composing, I just fiddle with my keyboard. Once I have something not too bad, I quietly think about the arrangements.
At the moment, I stand upright. But when I'm working fully on a piece, I'd rather be like that. (He puts his head just in front of the computer screen) Or like that. (He grabs his leg with his hands and put in on the chair) Or even with a foot on the desk!
I really like when I hear a sound full of "confidence", even if it is VGM. This is the most important thing to me. I don't like VGM when it sounds too automatic. This isn't good music. By the way, I really like what the composer of Silent Hill does. He is definitely out of the ordinary.

Akira Yamaoka
My first game music? What was it, already? Sparkster, on MegaDrive!
To tell you the truth, for Silent Hill, my goal was to create anti game music. Of course, my job is to write video game music. But I've always thought that, in a way, VGM is square. I composed the music of Silent Hill to move away from this routine.
(At his desk) To begin with, let's open a rhythm. Here is the result. (You can hear a rhythm) And look, if I do this, for example... OK, I've added an ambience track with my synthesizer. But it would sound even better with another instrument. I just have to add it. When I'm fast, I can write a piece in one hour. When I'm slow, it can take as far as five hours.
About Bemani games: For this kind of games, I write the music at a stretch. Then I record several tracks: one for bass drum, one for cymbal, one for piano, and so on. I give all of these elements separately to the programmer, and they assign each instrument to one button. I simply have to give them music.

Fumiaki "Yosaku" Ito
(The documentary speaks about Bemani music played in nightclubs) We set up a playlist consisting only of Konami music games, and then we play it.

Rolling Uchizawa
Video game publishers have found a new way to promote their games. They organise parties in night clubs. It recently happened with Rez, released on Dreamcast and PS2. There were several Rez parties in nightclubs.

Masaya Matsuura
Sometimes, when I'm composing, my two sides are struggling: one side wants to create a beautiful piece, something accomplished, and the other side enjoys making mistakes and false notes. I know the false notes and the enjoyement I feel won't make it to the final game, but I thought that if I found a way to share this experience, it would be the starting point to play with music. I tried to get something concrete from there.
From the beginning, we decided it would be a game about rap. I naturally started composing hiphop-like music. At the same time, I wanted to make "cutey" arrangements from it.
Even overseas, people thought the concept behind the game was weird. I remember an anecdote, when we recorded the voiceovers for Parappa 2 in New York. In the first stage, the fast food boss comes to rap. We decided that this character had to be German. Every member of the staff was OK. But when he cooks his hamburgers, he sings a bit like James Brown. When I explained this to the singer, he told me: "It's nonsense! James Brown with a german accent?" But well, even if he repeatedly told us it was nonsense, he tried his best to do it. It was a lot of fun.
There's something I don't really like with VGM. Let's take an action game, for example. You have to fight a lot of enemies. Sadly, music doesn't change according to what the player does. We could create a feeling of disquiet or relief at the right time. But it almost doesn't exist.

Rolling Uchizawa
The standards of normal music don't apply to VGM. It's not about good or bad music, you just have to see if it fits within the game, and if it can affect the player's emotions. Of course, some pieces are good musically speaking out of their context. But originally, a good video game music is one that can affect the player's feelings.

[Carl]

Thanks for your time for translating, Zanasea. Don't worry, the english is fine!

Sakimoto's comments about the pressures of the job are interesting: How the job needs to sell games in order to survive, not pushing too many "weird sounds" at the gamer, how mimicking other people's styles can be tormenting, and needing to define your own style.

Sano laments the sales numbers downsliding from 10,000 to 2,000: "Frankly, you can be very happy if you sell 5,000."

Nice to hear Koshiro describing themselves as "game freaks", and it'd probably be fun to hang out playing games with Uchizawa too. =)

[seanne]

Thanks a lot for the translation, Zanasea. It was interesting to read their comments.

[niki]

Totally missed this. Pretty cool. :3

They attribute Dragon Quest 6 to Sakimoto though ... /hmm

[Datschge]

Well, Sakimoto did do the sound design (possibly including arrangement/score adaption to the SNES limitations) to DQ6 (along with plenty other SNES games like the Classic Road games composed by Hayato Matsuo). That was his main area of expertise before he moved up to be a major composer (and others got to do the sound design and score adaption, like FFXII).

[niki]

Aaah that makes sense. Still kinda misplaced in the documentary, but heh.

[mrnutz]

Originally Posted by Zanasea

Hitoshi Sakimoto
About Vagrant Story: In this job, in order to survive, you have to sell games. But in spite of this, we wanted to go as far as possible. Normally, I am careful not to frighten the player with weird sounds. I always try not to go beyond this limit. But for this game, I did. The result is quite special. Actually, it is definitely my style. And I enjoyed myself.

Incredible. Seeing him say this almost makes me emotional. VS has long been my favorite soundtrack.

Thanks much for the translation.