At the Game Developers Conference today celebrated composer Masafumi Takada spoke about writing the music for No More Heroes, Killer 7, God Hand, and Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles. He explained that his approach to writing music for games involves translating a game's visuals into the language of music. When composing a soundtrack he considers a game's colors, the speed of gameplay, and its context.
He was initially grabbed by videogame music when he heard the tunes of the arcade game Xevious. He now works at developer Grasshopper Manufacture, which created Killer 7 and No More Heroes.
When working on Umbrella Chronicles he was very aware of the legions of Resident Evil fans and didn't want to disappoint them. His job was to arrange existing RE music for the Wii shooter. But since Umbrella Chronicles has a different pacing and feel from previous RE games, Takada had to change things up a bit. He kept many recognizable tunes from the series but added more rhythmic instruments to give a feeling of motion and to help propel the game forward. And while electric guitar might not fit the usual RE premise of suspenseful exploration, he felt it would be very appropriate for Umbrella chronicles.
For God Hand, developer Shinji Mikami told Takada that it was a pretty hardcore game so he'd like the music to relax things a little bit. Takada also decided he wanted it to be catchy and nostalgic. If you've played God Hand you'll have noticed the music is very old-school videogame sounding. It's upbeat rock and techno with a lot of guitar solos. This could be the nostalgia Takada was aiming for.
He also used a lot of repetition of musical phrases and motifs. He says musical memory is much like smell memory in that a tune can trigger very intense memories for a person. In God Hand the bosses undergo transformations and appear more than once. Takada would repeat melodies for the boss fights but present them in different arrangements and orchestrations so the player will recall their last encounter.
His work on No More Heroes began when he was given one day to come up with some music for the game's E3 trailer. The audience was receptive to what he produced so it ended up being put in the final game.
Takada concluded his speech by declaring that writing music for games is his mission in life.
American game composer Tommy Tallarico (Earthworm Jim, Out of This World) was on hand to ask Takada a few questions. Tallarico said Western composers are frustrated with how sound is often the last thing considered in game development. Takada said he couldn't speak for other companies, but at Grasshopper the status of the sound department is held in high regard.
When asked if he prefers PCs or Macs, Takada said he is a bit of a Mac evangelist.
Finally, an audience member asked if Takada would be working with Suda 51 on the music for Fatal Frame 4, to which the composer politely replied, "No comment."
source : www.ign.com
