Nobuo Uematsu

Nobuo Uematsu
Background information
Born	March 21, 1959 (1959-03-21) (age 50) Kōchi, Kōchi Prefecture, Japan
Genre(s)	Orchestral New Age Electronic Rock Symphonic rock Neo-classical metal
Occupation(s)	Composer, musician
Instrument(s)	Keyboard, organ, piano, violin, banjo
Years active	1985–present
Label(s)	NTT Publishing DigiCube Square Enix Universal Music
Associated acts	The Black Mages

Nobuo Uematsu (植松 伸夫, Uematsu Nobuo^?, born March 21, 1959) is a Japanese video game music composer and musician, best known for scoring numerous Final Fantasy titles. He is one of the most famous and respected composers in the video game community. Uematsu is a self-taught musician; he learned to play the piano at the age of eleven or twelve, with Elton John as his biggest influence.

Uematsu joined Square (later Square Enix) in 1986, where he became well-known for composing music for the Final Fantasy series. After nearly 20 years in the company, he left Square Enix in 2004 and founded his own company, called Smile Please. He has since composed music for video games primarily developed by Square Enix and Mistwalker as a freelancer.

Several soundtracks and arranged albums from Uematsu's video game scores have been released. As a result of his success with video game music, various pieces of his work have been performed in concerts over the world. He formed a rock band called The Black Mages in 2003, who play arranged rock versions of Uematsu's compositions.

Biography

Early life

Nobuo Uematsu was born in Kōchi, Japan.^[1] Being a self-taught musician, he began to play the piano when he was eleven or twelve years old. He has an older sister who also played the piano.^[2] Uematsu graduated from Kanagawa University with no music degree.^[3] When Uematsu was working at a music rental shop in Sugoshiyoshi, a girl working for Square asked if he would be interested in creating music for some of the titles they were working on, and he agreed. Uematsu considered it a side job, and he did not believe it would become any sort of full-time job. He said it was a way to make some money on the side, while also keeping his part-time job at the music rental shop.^[2] Before joining Square, he played the keyboard in several amateur bands^[4] and composed music for television commercials.^[1]

Career

The first score Uematsu composed for Square was the soundtrack for Genesis in 1985.^[4] This title, along with subsequent Square games, did not achieve any success, and the company was near bankruptcy. In 1987, he met Hironobu Sakaguchi, who asked him if he wanted to compose music for some of his games, which Uematsu agreed to.^[2] One of those games was Final Fantasy, which turned out to be a huge success, and as such Square was saved from bankruptcy. Final Fantasy's popularity sparked Uematsu's career in video game music, and he later went on to compose music for over thirty game titles, most prominently the Final Fantasy series. Uematsu signed on to finish the Chrono Trigger soundtrack after his friend and fellow composer, Yasunori Mitsuda, contracted stomach ulcers.^[5]

In 2004, Uematsu left Square Enix and formed his own company called Smile Please.^[6] He also created the music production company Dog Ear Records.^[7] The reason Uematsu left Square Enix was because the company moved their office from Meguro to Shinjuku, and he was not comfortable with the new location.^[2] He does, however, continue to compose music as a freelancer for Square Enix and Sakaguchi's development studio Mistwalker, including the games Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey. Uematsu did not make any profit from any of the Final Fantasy soundtracks, and he does not own the rights to any of the songs he composed for Square. Of all the Final Fantasy scores Uematsu composed, he cites Final Fantasy IX as his favorite. Uematsu composed the main theme for Super Smash Bros. Brawl in 2008.^[8] It has been announced that Uematsu will compose the music for the Guin Saga anime, which is set to premier in Spring 2009. This marks the first time that he will provide the score for an animated series.^[9]

Uematsu currently resides in Tokyo, Japan with his wife, Reiko, whom he met during his college days, and their Beagle, Pao. They also have a summer cabin in Yamanakako, Yamanashi.^[2]

The Black Mages

Main article: The Black Mages

In 2003, Uematsu formed The Black Mages,^[3] a group of rock/metal musicians and Square Enix employees who reinterpret and expand on Uematsu's compositions. In the band, Uematsu plays the organ.^[10] The Black Mages released their titular debut album on February 19, 2003, which contained arrangements of Uematsu's Final Fantasy pieces.^[11] In late 2004, The Black Mages released their second album, entitled The Black Mages II: The Skies Above. This album introduced a new song composed by Uematsu, called "Blue Blast - Winning the Rainbow", and an arrangement of Final Fantasy X's "Zanarkand", renamed "The Skies Above", with vocals from Mr. Goo.^[12] In 2008, the band released their third and latest album, entitled The Black Mages III: Darkness and Starlight. Uematsu composed a new song titled "Life ~ in memory of KEITEN ~" for Darkness and Starlight. The Black Mages sang the chorus for the song "Darkness and Starlight", an extended arrangement of the opera "The Dream Oath: Maria and Draco" from Final Fantasy VI.^[13]

Musical style and influences

The style of Uematsu's compositions is diverse, ranging from stately classical symphonic pieces and heavy metal to New Age and hyper-percussive techno-electronica. For example, in Lost Odyssey, the score ranges from classical orchestral arrangements to contemporary jazz and techno tracks.^[14] Uematsu is a big fan of Celtic and Irish music, and as such, some of his compositions contain elements from this music.^[15] The styles of Uematsu's Final Fantasy scores vary from upbeat, to dark and angry, to melancholy in nature. For instance, the music of Final Fantasy VIII is dark, while the soundtrack of Final Fantasy IX is more carefree and upbeat.^[16] The style of Uematsu's Final Fantasy music has resulted in him being named one of the "Innovators" in Time Magazine's "Time 100: The Next Wave — Music" feature.^[17] He has also been called the "John Williams of the video game world".^[18]

Most of Uematsu's influences in music come from the United Kingdom and the United States.^[19] He cites Elton John as his biggest musical influence, and he has stated that he wanted to be like him. Other major inspirations include The Beatles, Emerson, Lake & Palmer,^[20] Simon & Garfunkel, and progressive rock bands.^[2] In the classical genre, he cites Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky as a great influence.^[19] Uematsu has said that 1970s bands, such as Pink Floyd and King Crimson, had an impact on his Final Fantasy compositions.^[2] The intro of the vocal piece "One-Winged Angel" from Final Fantasy VII was inspired by the Jimi Hendrix song "Purple Haze".^[21]

Concerts

Uematsu's Final Fantasy music was performed live for the first time at the first event of Symphonic Game Music Concert in 2003. It took place as the official opening ceremony of Europe's biggest trading fair for video games, the Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany.^[22] Other events of Symphonic Game Music Concert featuring Final Fantasy music were held in 2004, 2006, and 2007.^[23] The concert in 2006 featured a world-premiere of "Dancing Mad" from Final Fantasy VI, performed by an orchestra, a choir, and a pipe organ.^[24] The event in 2007 included "Distant Worlds" from Final Fantasy XI, performed by Japanese opera soprano Izumi Masuda.^[25]

After a series of successful concert performances in Japan, including a concert series titled Tour de Japon, the first stateside concert, Dear Friends -Music from Final Fantasy-, debuted on May 10, 2004 at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California. The concert sold out in three days, and the performance featured music from the Final Fantasy games, performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra and the Los Angeles Master Chorale. It was conducted by Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra director Miguel Harth-Bedoya.^[26] Due to a positive reception, a concert series for North America was followed.^[27] On May 16, 2005, a follow-up concert called More Friends -Music from Final Fantasy- was performed in Los Angeles at the Gibson Amphitheatre. The concert was conducted by Grammy Award-winning Arnie Roth.^[28]

Uematsu at the Play! A Video Game Symphony event in Stockholm, Sweden on June 14, 2006.

Uematsu's Final Fantasy music was presented in the concert Voices: Music from Final Fantasy, which took place on February 18, 2006 at the Pacifico Yokohama conference and convention center. Star guests included Emiko Shiratori, Rikki, Izumi Masuda, and Angela Aki. The concert focused on the vocal songs from the Final Fantasy series and was conducted by Arnie Roth.^[29] On February 23, 2006, Uematsu confirmed his participation with Play! A Video Game Symphony, in which he wrote the official opening fanfare for.^[30] Uematsu, along with Yasunori Mitsuda, Koji Kondo, Akira Yamaoka, and Yuzo Koshiro, was in attendance at the world-premiere of Play! A Video Game Symphony in Chicago, Illinois on May 27, 2006.^[31] He also attended the European debut in Stockholm, Sweden on June 14, 2006,^[32] and the performance in Toronto, Canada on September 30, 2006.^[33] His music from the video games Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey were performed.^[34][35]

A world tour entitled Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy was announced in 2007. The premier was held in Stockholm, and was performed by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Arnie Roth on December 4, 2007.^[36] It was also the 20th anniversary of the original release of the first Final Fantasy game.^[37] The second concert of the tour was held at the Rosemont Theatre near Chicago on March 1, 2008.^[38] VIP tickets were quickly sold out for both events which included "meet and greet" sessions with both Arnie Roth and Nobuo Uematsu.^[39]

Discography

Video game soundtracks

Other works

References

External links

• Nobuo Uematsu's official website (Japanese)
• Nobuo Uematsu's official website (English)