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Square Enix Axes Sound Team
SEMO has revealed that Square Enix have axed their sound team.
http://www.squareenixmusic.com/music..._from=&ucat=2& They'll instead adopt the Western approach of outsourcing to external talent rather than relying on internal staff. At present, it's unclear whether the entire sound team is affected or just the six composers (Nakano, Hamauzu, Sekito, Tanioka, Mizuta, Ishimoto). Either way, it's certainly the end of an era and a very sad fate for so many long-term employees. Your thoughts? Is there still a future for sound teams in general or will this become the general trend? |
#2
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Well, Tanioka already joined GE-ON-DAN, so hopefully the rest will follow up.
Sad news, but same time interesting news. Hope to see the guys getting somewhat refreshed and doing some nice freelancing stuff. Would clearly help Tanioka.
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#3
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since Nakano and Hamauzu had already left this doesn't bother me, though it's still pretty sad.
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I guess the positive side is that contracting freelancers gives companies more freedom to have whatever audio they want. Companies can hire very specialised individuals suited to projects requiring specific types of music/sound. But I guess like most things, sadly, it's ultimately all about the dinero.
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iridescentaudio.co.uk |
#4
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While I hope they can all find work suitable for them, I think this provides a chance for these composers to branch out more. Hopefully we'll hear them compose for projects and collaborate with composers that were previously impossible. I'd love to hear Masashi Hamauzu work on a Cave arrange album or hear Junya Nakano compose for a prominent title.
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It's a bit surprising, but I guess it will be best for the composers. The problem I foresee is Square Enix relying too much on particular composers. It seems like particular individuals in that company can't get enough of that Uematsu/Ito sound. Plus, it seems like they've mostly forgotten about the other amazing composers who gained notoriety first through Square--I'm thinking Mitsuda and Kikuta, in particular. Why oh why can't the people in charge just think the way I do?
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So will they recruit more and more Western freelance talent also? Like they did with Schyman? |
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Several more people also seem to say it's flat out a false rumor (Hidenori Iwasaki, Yasunori Mitsuda, Rieko Tanaka, and Shohei Ttsuchiya)
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There goes one of my favorite composers, Junya Nakano
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#10
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The news was confirmed to me through three independent industry sources, so it's very unlikely to be flat-out misinformation. However, I will contact Kumi Tanioka for a statement.
Last edited by Chris; Mar 4, 2010 at 04:43 AM. |
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I also wonder why it would be misinformation when GE-ON-DAN's blog (link in my first post) and the site themselves have both Nakano and Tanioka names up.
Maybe GE-ON-DAN jumped the gun and shouldn't have published those names yet, maybe Tanioka and Nakano had still some contract stuff with SE. But hopefully Chris can inquire more information.
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#12
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To clarify, what Iwasaki calls misinformation is the disbandment of the SQEX's in house sound team, not the departure of some indivisuals. Tanioka's departure was revealed, or at least implied by herself.
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#13
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So the cuts likely affect just the team's composers, not the entire sound team. And maybe one or two composers might stay on to complete projects? We'll find out soon enough, hopefully.
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It seems more logical that it's a case of some of the more prolific composers leaving to pursue a freelance career than SE completely abolishing their sound department, as they'll surely still need people to do everyday sound related work.
And it really seems like a natural development that when a certain individual gains sufficient notoriety to realistically work (full-time) as a freelance artist, that he or she would choose to do so as the freedom and economical benefits could be hard to overlook after spending 10, 15, 20 years grunting away for a company. A man might want to start his own company and a woman might want to spend more time with the kids (generalizations yay.) |
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haha, even though in reality it often works the other way around, where you have to chug away at freelancing for years before you have a shot at an in-house day job.
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iridescentaudio.co.uk |
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Exactly, and life as a freelancer really isn't as glamorous as some think. I was told very explicitly by three industry people (including one of the composers) that most composers were cut for budget reasons, not because they chose to leave, and that this extends to the whole composer department.
Last edited by Chris; Mar 4, 2010 at 09:17 AM. |
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#18
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Clarifications about the departures:
http://squareenixmusic.com/musicnews..._from=&ucat=2& Seems more like a mutual decision (voluntaries redundancies, I guess) and there are two composers remaining at least for the timebeing. However, a lot of secrecy still shrouds what's happening so I suspect there will be future developments in the story later. Apologies for misleading initial article. It seemed completely legit given it was confirmed by three very reliable people, but I guess there were a future subtleties after all. |
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I think Sekito is still employed by Square Enix as he and Sakimoto laughed off his alleged departure on twitter.
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#22
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Nope! It's not a dream. But you forgot a few names, unless that ... incorporated the likes of Kenji Ito and Yuzo Koshiro, among others!
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#23
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Instead of hiring these guys and gals to do arrangements... why don't they just hire them to compose the music for the game in the first place? :\
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Soundcloud | A'deo Chronicle OST | Horse Isle 2 OST | Mega Man XA | Royalty-Free Music Vol.1 |
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