Exclusive: Interview with the Maestro - Nobuo Uematsu - News

/ 5,660 Views

by, posted on 07 January 2011

Few people in the video game industry have the name recognition of Nobuo Uematsu. As the man behind most of the music of Final Fantasy, his work has been the cornerstone of one of the most revered franchises in gaming.

Uematsu's work has left an immutable mark on the video game industry. With work in the field spanning decades, Uematsu's music has touched the lives of millions of gamers. For many gamers, their first encounter with music was through the work of Uematsu.

Uematsu recently answered a few questions about his work in the video game industry, the development of music in gaming, and even his aspirations as a professional wrestler.

Uematsu will be coming to Chicago, Illinois on June 26, 2011 for the Distant Worlds performance. The performance features many works from the Final Fantasy series arranged with a full orchestra and choir. You can find tickets and information here.

The questions and answers are published in full below. The answers are unedited, so minor grammatical errors are present from the translation from Japanese to English.

gamrFeed - I’d like to start out with a burning question I know is on everyone’s mind. I’ve heard you had a dream of becoming a professional wrestler. What would you have chosen as your wrestling name?

Nobuo Uematsu - It'll be "Scotch the Piper". I'd wear Scottish national costume (the ones like skirts) and play the bagpipes as I walk in. When I'm losing the game, I'd pick the scotch whiskey that I hid under the ring, to be invincible.

gamrFeed - Technology has grown in leaps and bounds since the days of the NES. How have the developments in technology allowed you to better express your ideas?

Nobuo Uematsu -The developments in technology allowed me to express the tone color in my head more concretely for me.

gamrFeed - How wide is your range of instruments and how does genre come into play for composition? Do you find yourself combining certain genres often, or do you apply them on a per project basis?

Nobuo Uematsu -I like trying out different instruments, but it doesn't mean I can play them. I actually do have a lot of instruments like you can't believe. I just bought a djembe yesterday. I listen to all genres of music, but I don't know how they affect my my compositions. I don't think about too much of genres when I compose. Playing music is more like playing with frequency to me, so maybe that's why I'm not aware of genres so much.

gamrFeed - Video games have held a certain stigma across non-gamers. What was once known simply as “video game music” now entertains packed venues with a full symphony. How has the stigma following gaming changed since the beginning of your work with video games?

Nobuo Uematsu - I'm on the side of game creators, so it's a bit hard for me to think as a gamer. All I do is to compose the music according to my values and try to produce the sound with high fidelity to my values with all my heart.

gamrFeed - What genres of music would you like to explore further in the future, or haven’t had much time in the past and would like to learn more about?

Nobuo Uematsu - No specific idea right now. I might find something in the future.

gamrFeed - What were some of the benefits from working with other composers like Yasunori Mitsuda, Masashi Hamauzu, and Kenji Ito? What did you like most about working with other composers on a project rather than alone?

Nobuo Uematsu - I work with other composers, but I haven't composed music with them. Seeing them play at live events impress me everytime. As well as the composers you named, I think Hiroki Kikuta and Yoko Shimomura, too, grew up to be good composers. I was the one who picked them at Square at that time. Isn't my talent to see the other talents superb?

gamrFeed - How has the development of gaming changed the ability of music, story, and narrative to express themselves together as one unified product? What are some of the changes you see on the horizon for music specifically in gaming?

Nobuo Uematsu - I've been busy working in the industry, so I didn't have a chance to feel the change objectively. The change was very natural to me. I might be able to say that I feel that many games nowadays are trying to follow Hollywood movies too much and forgetting its own potential to grow as a game. Not all the games following Hollywood movies are like that, but it's hard for me to see a bright future in those games. I just want to say this to make it clear that I don't want to be a part of a group that's making a game that contains killing. I think games should bring more dreams and joy to people.

gamrFeed - Describe your creative process. When you’re given a new project for a game, where do you start? How do you formulate and build a theme? How do build upon that theme to express itself in single compositions of a project?

Nobuo Uematsu - First I read the script and then start composing the main theme. From my experience, I'd just keep on writing melodies without thinking too much for few days. When I finish writing about 10 tracks, I have quite solid image for the project.

gamrFeed - Given that gaming is (and has been) seen as more culturally legitimate in Japanese culture, how do you feel living and working in Japan has affected your work and ability to succeed as a composer? Do you feel you’ve had a particular advantage working in Japan since the advent of popular home gaming?

Nobuo Uematsu - I don't think that gaming has become a part of culture in Japan yet. It seems the people running the game companies have low awareness of the influence of games and how it affects their users. They only seem to care about earning money out of them. If this situation keeps going on, Japanese game industry would decay. Like movies and books, the proprietors should be aware of the fact that a game can be a media that creators are able to express their senses of beauty on their responsibilities.

gamrFeed - You’ve done a lot of character theme music. What song do you think best illustrates your character?

Nobuo Uematsu - All the songs illustrate me. I have many sides of me like everyone, so I think small parts of me can be seen in each characters' themes.

gamrFeed - How was working with Sakaguchi-san and Amano-san different than working in the world of Square-Enix today? Do you still have the same creative control over your work, or do you find the work to be more structured?

Nobuo Uematsu - Nothing too different.

gamrFeed - What is particular about the world of video games that has drawn you to it for so long? Do you feel you’ve been able to adequately express your talents through the medium of video games? Are there other media you would like to work in sometime in the future?

Nobuo Uematsu - I think I'm evaluated by my character as a person (the way I am and things I say or do), not judged only by my music. The sense of beauty that won't blurred might be the important essence of life. I try to respect others, laugh a lot everyday, have responsibility, carry through the critical moment, and try not to hide bad side of myself. Maybe all those thoughts can be seen from my music too. The ways I think I could express myself adequately are conversations and texts. The other media I would like to work in... humm, maybe Musicals?

gamrFeed - Is there anything else you would like to add about the future of gaming, direction of music, choice of beer?

Nobuo Uematsu - About the future of gaming, I have expectations for projects with small number of people rather than the ones by large company. About the direction of music, I wish more people to sit in front of stereos and listen to music. Listen not only to fashionable songs, try to listen interesting music out there like classical music, jazz, exotic folk songs, and contemporary classical music. People are missing out so much! And about beer, surprisingly there are a lot of good beer in Japan too. Same as music, popular ones are lacked individuality. However, there are masterpieces that's made steadily in country sides. This is same in the music industry too.

gamrFeed - If there is any material you’ve created in the past that has never seen release and you feel like giving out a once-in-a-lifetime exclusive look at something that’s never been published, please feel free!

Nobuo Uematsu - I like the album "10 Short Stories" that's released in 2010 very much. I don't usually listen to my works once it's done. But for "10 Short Stories", I still listen to them over and over again... and I'm still satisfied with the album every time. I think it's a good album myself. There's only Japanese version of the CD, but English version is available on iTunes Music Store, so please listen to them. I wish everyone could enjoy the CD with the beautiful artwork for each songs on the booklet though.

A Nintendo Wii game The Last Story will be released in Japan next January. Then around next summer, Fantasy Life will be out for Nintendo 3DS too. For this game, I tried something different from my past game music works. I'm very confident about this! Other than that, my new band "EARTHBOUND PAPAS" is working on our 1st album.

Stay tuned!

All images copyright their respective owners

More Articles