Welcome Mr. Hitoshi Sakimoto to CocoeBiz!

[CocoeBiz]

Hello everyone,:D

We are very happy and excited to welcome Mr. Hitoshi Sakimoto to CocoeBiz!

http://www.cocoebiz.com/sakimoto/index.shtml

Please discuss his works in this forum.

We would also like to wish Mr. Sakimoto a very "Happy Belated Birthday" for February 26th!

We hope you had a wonderful day and many more for the future!:D

We would like to thank Mr. Sakimoto for this opportunity to officially promote him and his music to all his fans around the world!

Thank you,
CocoeBiz :D

[cloudff7]

Hitoshi Sakimoto has to be my favorite composer of all time. His traditional style, which is mainly orchestral, serve as beautiful songs and landmarks that make each game worth playing for the music alone. After visiting his website I was surprised on the amount games' soundtracks he worked on...many which I have enjoyed playing. Yet no matter what anyone says, his best soundtrack thus far is the Radiant Silvergun+ OST, as the FFT soundtrack comes in a close tie for first.

[Anonymous]

Never heard the Radiant Silver Gun OSV. I hear its amazing though. I gotta check that out some time. I am so glad the US Sakimoto site is up and running. It allows me to pay tribute to one of my favorite contemporary composers. Hitoshi Sakimoto!! In case anyone isn't conscious of the current way of things, Mr. Sakimoto kicks much ass and is slowly becoming a force to be reckoned with in the world of great composers. I believe it is only a matter of time before Hollywood doth beckon.
It would be foolish to overlook the compositional abilities that Hitoshi exhibits and ultimately the potential for beauty in its finest working form. When I hear some of the things he does on a musical level, it makes me shiver. I am a composer myself and I know how difficult it is to make music that has the capacity to move and to be impactual to a larger audience. One thing that Hitoshi does excessively well is choreographing the music to fit the scene, which is one of the reasons why I believe he would be a first rate film composer. In Final Fantasy Tactics for example, there would be many times when I would be playing a scenario and I would be casting a spell that would give me victory. Right as I would be casting the spell, the most dramatic music would be present and right when the spell hit the enemy, the heighth of the musical piece would reach its pinnacle!! It was damn near orgasmic to hear the battle's climax and the musical climax reach the same end at the exact same time, as if it was almost intentional... Yet this sort of thing happens one too many times too often to be considered coincidental. The first time I played through FFT I began to realize that some amazing forces were at work.
That is when I first started realizing the potential behind Mr. Sakimoto's artistry. Many of Mr. Sakimoto's more current soundtracks are more progressive and contemporary musical styles. The work he did on Vagrant Story was exemplary. Dragon Quarter is also very well done musically. I know many people would love to see a soundtrack more along the lines of Final Fantasy Tactics. In regard to the compositional style of FFT, the simplicity and the use of harmony and melody to paint a picture, in my opinion, better suits Mr. Sakimoto's creative impulses. (!(!(!( 'WINK'
'WiNK')!)!)!)!)!)
I myself would definitely have to agree that the Final Fantasy Tactics soundtrack is the crown jewel of the Sakimoto universe and a very inspiring piece of orchestral work. It is music that stands alone... If you haven't done so already, I strongly urge oneself to go pick up a copy of Final Fantasy Tactics for PSX and see what I mean...

Adios Muchachos

[Rain Corale]

By the way, I would like to wish Mr. Sakimoto a belated Happy Birthday!!

Hope you had a good one

[ULTROS]

I wonder if Hitoshi Sakimoto would ever come to this forum to answer questions, especially from aspiring composers/ octopuses, such as myself

Hitoshi, we must know, are you out there?

(X files music playing in the backround)
DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO
DEE DEE DEE DEE DEE DOO

Can't wait to hear from you

-Ultros-

[Garamond]

I'm glad that finally this forum is opened, I don't mind that even Mr. Sakimoto will never be here. I like HS, he's talent, his pieces drive me to study music composition (also a OST collector since FFT).
I have a dream to become a composer success as Sakimoto and try hard now.

Being in foreign land, I can't buy CD though internet store, the Radiant Silvergun re-release OST w/ HS' autography is tressure I never able to get (I never expect any Hong Kong CD stores will import it)... but for next FF12 OST, wait for me!!!

[Rain Corale]

Garamond, you don't think Hitoshi will ever come in here to check things?
That would be a drag...

[CocoeBiz]

Garamond, you don't think Hitoshi will ever come in here to check things?
That would be a drag...

Hi again,

Yes, Mr. Sakimoto has read most of the messages here. The other composers that we promote have also read most of these messages.

Thank you,
CocoeBiz

[Garamond]

Garamond, you don't think Hitoshi will ever come in here to check things?
That would be a drag...

no, i just think they maybe busy that have no many time to spare for other minor thingy
anyway, it's great enough to meet other HS fans.
so that HS's reading in this forum is a bonus to me

[Rain Corale]

I guess I can dig that. But how cool would it be if Hitoshi actually contributed to discussions?? That would make my day for sure. I feel that his site is pretty well done, but it leaves a lot to be desired. I really want to know the artist behind the music, I know his fans feel the same way too. Simple facts and trivia are nice sometimes, but they often have little substance and leave too much to the imagination. But I digress, Mr. Sakimoto is surely a busy man and I must let him do his job, which is fine by me!

[Ovelia]

Well, I'm a die-hard HS fan since hearing his composition in FFT, for his unique, brooding orchestral composing style.

After that I've collected almost every OST he composed except for some rare ones...

IMO his landmark work is VS OST (which he also claims as his greatest contribution to VGM history :P)

P.S. I wonder if Sakimoto-sama can see this question...has he received standard academic orchestral music lessons?

I mean, like film music composers i.e. John Williams, Elliot Goldenthal, etc. , unlike those self-taught ones i.e. Danny Elfman...Well, because I'm more of a film music fans, so I wanna know more about this, and I wonder if he's interested in some future film music project too :P

sorry for my bad English...not a native speaker so forgive me :)

[Einherjar]

I recently came across a piece from Final Fantasy XII, which sounds unbelievable. Sounds like something straight outta Vagrant Story.

[Garamond]

I recently came across a piece from Final Fantasy XII, which sounds unbelievable. Sounds like something straight outta Vagrant Story.

simply because the style of FF12 is following the path of FFTA
think about how bright FFTA is.
But I still trust HS has composed some shocking non-stereotype pieces in FF12.

And check it out HS and Rezon's new job - Stella Deus (Atlus).
Its game interface is quite like FFT, maybe that's the reason they got starred.
Am I glad? Yes! HS and Rezon work in a project together AGAIN!

[tjhv]

Indeed.
The music of Hitoshi Sakimoto enhanced Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story, and Breath Of Fire V into some of the great milestones in videogame history.

By signing on for FFXII, Mr. Sakimoto has clearly taken over the #1 position at Squaresoft, replacing Nobuo Uematsu. Considering what he made there before, they made a wise decision; I cannot think of any one more deserving of this honor.

I look forward to future projects and the album(s) of unreleased works mentioned on his website.
:)

[Rain Corale]

How might it be possible to obtain (buy( Hitoshi Sakimoto's album collaboration with vocalist Lia?
I wanna hear what Sakimoto can do with a live singer!

[Raijin]

Here you can buy it:

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=EUCA-1

[shylph]

I glad to see my two friend also in the thread.^^

I am a VGM fan,I've basically grown up with videogames and when I found out about game music in 1999, I started collecting VGM.

Mr.Sakimoto is my most favorite composer,because of your special music style.
I honestly believe that there is no musical work in the game music industry that matches the musical depth that Hitoshi Sakimoto has ventured to create here,and your intelligent composition has conceived a score that defies mere generalization and in fact exists in a genre whose only origin is itself.

Your music open my new field of vision of VGM. I dream of being a composer and achieving a similar position in the video game music field^^

I'm waiting for FFXII ost with full expectation.

[Jormungand]

I honestly believe that there is no musical work in the game music industry that matches the musical depth that Hitoshi Sakimoto has ventured to create here,and your intelligent composition has conceived a score that defies mere generalization and in fact exists in a genre whose only origin is itself.
Hmm, that sounds familiar... ;)

[shylph]

Hmm, that sounds familiar... ;)

Ahh sorry Jormungand ,I quote your words in the reviews of FFT.but I'm surely agree with that.:p

[Rain Corale]

Here you can buy it:

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=EUCA-1

YES!! Awesome. Thanks for the link.

[Rain Corale]

Whats up Jormungand? Haven't talked with ya in a while! :)

[Terramax]

P.S. I wonder if Sakimoto-sama can see this question...has he received standard academic orchestral music lessons?


I recently posted a link to an old interview that would answer this question.

P.S. your English writing is great. ^^

[RinoaDestiny]

I just want to drop in here and let Mr. Sakimoto know that I'm behind him all the way, no matter what project he does. :) His FFT soundtrack is currently gracing both my computer and my car, his VS soundtrack has that magical appeal to draw me right back into the game, and his FFXII soundtrack is even more beautiful than I could've expected. His music, with its orchestral style and intricate compositions, have struck a deep emotional chord within me, and he's the one plucking those strings. For that, I deeply thank him.

Sakimoto, you are very genuine with your work, and may your style and composition simply mature, deepen, and become richer over time. In a world full of many generic tunes, yours has stood out time and time again. No matter how discouraging things might become, know that you'll always have people rooting for you. :)

BTW, your battle songs are my favorites. Thank you for 'Dullahan' (VS) and 'Battle for Freedom' (FFXII) - makes my world go excitingly more upbeat.

[Lu~ka]

Sakimoto-Sama is a great composer.
His music always lead me in another worlds.
My favourite work is Vagrant Story.
I was played it more more time...
...I will listen the OST, even now, one more time.

Sakimoto-Sama, thank you!

[Daniel DeCastro]

Hello all, I finally decided to register as part of the forum. I've been frequenting this site for years now and feel that in order to promote the agenda to have Video Game Music composers studied at major universities throughout the USA, I should take heed to what the fans are saying, as I believe that the fanbase here is strong. I am a Master's Candidate at New York University and it's Music Composition Program at the Steinhardt School. I've worked as the Chairman's Assistant, and aided him in his work as a musical assistant to artists like Elton John, Eminem, Dr. Dre, and others just to name a few. I was involved in the recent lawsuit against Sony artist "Lil Flip" by Namco for unauthorized use of Pac-Man soundbytes for which my task was to collect information and transcribe the music to be used in court. This resulted in a settlement between Namco and Sony. I currently work as a Rockefeller Family Employee in the New York State Music Fund division of their Philanthropy services. I mean business, and I have the musical historical qualification needed to help me make my points.

Academia has been very harsh on VG music composers, as academics feel that game composers from Japan emulate the "Older" languages of Debussy, Ravel, Rachmaninoff, Mahler, and Prokofiev just to name a few. Some of my professors have even found some Georges Ligeti influence in works like "Decisive Battle" from FFX by Masashi Hamauzu, and as a result, consider the music "Nothing new or exciting". I fear that attempts by academics to label VG music composers as "Emulators" of older musical languages is highly misleading in light of their terrible experimental musical tastes. In Academia, VG composers are looked upon as craftsmen, not artists, and this is a 2nd rate label to give to composers whose ideas surpass those of the academic musical canon in quality and innovation most of the time.

I wish to refute this notion once and for all, and have listened to over 700+ hours of VG music to find those musical gems which challenge currently held beliefs; many of those gems coming from Hitoshi Sakimoto coupled with Yoko Kanno, Nobuo Uematsu, Masashi Hamauzu, Hayato Matsuo, Koichi Sugiyama, Motoi Sakuraba, Yasunori Mitsuda, Richard Jaqcues, Rob King, Masaharu Iwata, Junya Nakano, Yoshiki Aoi, and many others. I continue to search till this day as I believe all of these composers deserve equal time in the universities that they may influence the next generation of composers in the tradition of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Concert, Film, and Epic scores. This is a 21st century music genre! Hoever, such negative attitudes by academia are philosophically bankrupt, and I hope I'm not the only one that sees this.

The chairman of NYU's music program has been surprised/impressed by the quality of game music, and has been supportive, but he does not have enough information about the composers needed to bring them into the academic canon. I'm also somewhat skeptical of his opinions given the difficulty I've had in getting VG music recognized by the Music Composition Department. This is made difficult when rivalries develop between my colleagues and I as a result of the attention I recieve by professorship due to my unique and unthinkable proposition about VG music. Top it off with a music composition director who does nothing but shove uninteresting, abstract, and tension ridden experimental music with a vague sense of emotion, heroism, or fantasy a la Schoenberg/Penderecki/Ligeti/Enescu down student's throats, and it becomes all the more difficult.

I've been told that my music is great, but I've not been given the special treatment that composers of a more experimental and abstract nature which cater to the Music Composition director's tastes have recieved, thus making me think that he is out to promote his own agenda. My own music up till now has been written to show the profound influence that VG music has had on me, and the relationship it can have with the music taught at academia. People are absolutely astonished when I tell them that I never had musical training before age 19 after having heard my symphonic works. My only musical training was listening to over 500+ hours of music in video games from the years 1986-2000, and a mother who would take me to game arcades every day off she had. If this music had the power to generate such powerful, complex, emotional, and heroic ideas in me at such a young age, then what Hitoshi Sakimoto says in his profile is indeed true: "I am what a kid who grows up playing computer games becomes like. Remember that when raising your children!" ~HS

I am very skeptical about the philosophies found in music schools regarding their selection of composers, as many think that studying these composers are good in developing orchestrational and compositional skills, but given the influences that video game music composers have had throughout their lives, in the case of Sakimoto, "Yellow Magic Orchestra", and then looking at his orchestral writing, I see that Sakimoto's skills are absolutely elegant and astonishing! (Final Fantasy 12 Intro). His ear is no less capable of formulating ideas than that of Sergei Prokofiev. It seems to me that the best way to be a great composer is to stick to what you love most, and VG composers do just that. YMO can't be the only thing that Sakimoto has listened to however, and I'd like to know from him personally. He deserves a place in history as a great composer, and the University is a place where the legacy can be gauranteed.

VG music is a genre with myriad influences in which myriad styles of writing and influence can be found. It has been revealed to me through their music alone that game composers are indeed some of the most open minded, humanistic, and intelligent composers to date. The nature of their music makes them succeptible to opinion, and it is this bravery that I for one admire. It doesn't seem to me that the agenda of these composers is simply to make money, instead, they take a profound interest and passion for what they do, being satified with the ideal of giving to others something to appreciate in life first and foremost. I am also of the opinion that Game Music has gone beyond the sound of John Williams in certain respects. Some may think it is unfair to compare a young Hitoshi Sakimoto to a young John Williams, but I truly believe that Sakimoto has long surpassed John Williams in musical quality when John was Sakimoto's current age. I will always love John's music, and regard him as a master musician.

I fell in love with game music at age 7 when I first heard Koichi Sugiyama's lovely Dragon Quest 2 overworld theme. I chose this genre as my musical outlet since that day, and while I've witnessed musical dissapointment in the tastes of others outside of VG music, I've gained surprise after surprise and mountains of chills from this music. I want to share this experience with others so that they too may gain the same enjoyment and pleasures from life. I'm not out to downsize anyone at all, but to give them a part of my world and this is far from wanting to downsize anyone (If I were truly trying to downsize anyone, I'd not bother to share any of my knowledge with anyone). During my intensive search required of me through university studies, no genre, not Jazz, Classical, or Film, has reached me as deeply as VG music has. VG music has enhanced my appreciation of the other genres via the influence that the pre-existing genres must've had on VG composers, and as a result of the diversity found in VG music, I've an open mind for all genres. In other words, I will be a Music PHD who can pick up a beethoven symphony, listen to a hardcore beat by Eminem, enjoy an improv by Pat Metheny, and sit back and relax to Nobuo Uematsu's Final Fantasy 7 orchestrated overworld theme with equal passion and appreciation. This is my vision, and I believe it would be a great attitude to have in music schools. VG music has taught me this.

I'd also like to add that as a result of my exposure to such great works in VG music, my standards have become more demanding. With time, many of the works I was once fond of, lost much of their replay value, but there are some works which simply do not tire me, or have already left an enormous lasting impression upon me. This music has shaped my ear to hear my own ideas alot clearer, and I would prescribe this music to all of my musician friends and aspiring composers. I encourage you to keep listening to great works in all genres that you may find, and follow your own tastes.

Sorry for such a long post!

Thanks to you all!

Daniel DeCastro
M.A. Candidate in Music Composition (New York University)
B.A. Music Composition (New York University)
A.S. Music Technology (Queensborough Community College)
A.S. Music Fine Arts (Queensborough Community College)

P.S. I look forward to joining in the conversation with you all! If you'd like to hear my own music, E-Mail me at dgd216@nyu.edu, visit my MySpace! http://www.myspace.com/danieldecastro, or if you have any questions, do the same. A big thanks to Kahori Ezaki for her letters of support! I hope you can help!

[Jormungand]

If we don't even study film composers (or any of the late 20th century at all), then it's implausible to consider VGM composers making the roster. Everything you spelled out demonstrates this, as music academia is simply that--academic. I've certainly considered it myself though, and it'd be kind of cool.

Fortunately it makes no difference what composition and theory teachers say. They are just regurgitating information taught to them as the correct or acceptable formula. Composition is about expression, and last I checked, there hasn't been a correct or acceptable method in which to express.

These old guys can complain all they want about VGM being both an "emulation" and regressive in musical innovation, but really, no one with a true sense of artistic gravitas gives a damn.

Although I have to say, if anyone should be added to academia, it should be Yoko Kanno. She's easily the greatest composer of the 21st century, as well as a huge force in the late late 20th.

And screw "experimental" and "abstract" music, because the music that these people are referring to isn't actually either of those. Anyone with half a brain (that's being generous) can throw random clusters of notes into a sequencer set up for an orchestra and call it innovative.

[Daniel DeCastro]

Jormungand, pleasure to meet you! Awesome response, although surprisingly, NYU has a film music composition program! They did bring up examples of Nino Rota in their theory classes, however, I would have preferred that instead of Godfather pt.2 melodies, we delve into some Jurrassic Park or Nixon by J. Williams.

I agree with you about Yoko Kanno. I'm giving them a heavy dose of her as well, the only problem is that she does not have her official scores released publicly to my knowledge. The best scores that I've gotten my hands on for VG music are Masashi Hamauzu's transcriptions of FFX music for piano, and Koichi Sugiyama's piano reductions of his London Philharmonic concerts. The academes need to see scores. I will do my best to make sure this changes, and I am weary of the difficulty ahead, but with growing voices comes increasing pressure, and that's all they need; pressure. That's what got the Jazz programs established in academe; a unified voice of jazz lovers of all sorts. From Rachmaninoff's love of Jazz, Schostakovich, and Stravinsky, once you got these big shot composers loving jazz, the schools had no choice.

[Garamond]

Daniel, after reading your story, I feel we share the similar past of getting into music composition. Though I'm a late blossom and I was inspired by HS's FFT OST in the beginning. I try to get the score which I want to learn about by re-sequence the score in GM format. I don't know if the composer would be angered by my bad sequencing since I have no perfect pitch nor relative pitch. In this summer holiday I have sequenced FF12 - Desperate Battle (http://www.vgmusic.com/new-files/ffxii_desperate.mid). I hope more non-profitable sequencing might help bringing VGmusic the light to academic recognition. If you are willing to join, we can pick the bigger and more representative pieces to sequence.

I am running a personal homepage (http://www.geocities.jp/ifurkend) of my own works, take a look.

[Daniel DeCastro]

You have a great sound! Your knowledge of your musical equipment is of extremely high quality! Your Hamauzu/Sakimoto influence is heavily evident, and I have high expectations of you! I've no doubt you've visited my webpage and heard what few works I've posted. I too am a late bloomer and did not start writing until I was 20 years old. Being a late bloomer matters not in today's world of MIDI technology. If one has a sequencer, anyone could be a composer. My only lessons were my exposure to great VG music.

I'm interested in knowing what you think of my works as well, and would be interested in working on some transcriptions for VGmusic.com. The Decisive Battle transcription they have on that page is very poor and inaccurate. I began working on a MIDI transcription 4 years back but have not completed it. Anyhow, your music is certainly better than what I've heard from guys like Kenji Ito, that's for sure. Kahori should consider seriously sending your name to Square! Great work!