A Talk With G.O.D.: Yuji TECHNOuchi Interview

TECHNOuchi: Thank you for having me!

OSV: Let us talk a bit about your past with Konami and so on. First, Where did you grow up, and what music influenced you when you were young?

TECHNOuchi: I was born in Kyoto. Though Nintendo is based in Kyoto, the city’s historical temples and buildings are a legacy of this beautiful city which was once a capital of Japan. However, soon after I left Kyoto and moved to the rural, Oita prefecture where I lived for 15 years before I joined up with Konami.I was musically influenced by Shinji Hosoe, Hitoshi Sakimoto and also by Yellow Magic Orchestra (Y.M.O). During my era, Y.M.O. had a large influence on me.

OSV: Did you play any games when you were young? Did you ever travel to Game Centers and try arcade games?

TECHNOuchi: Before I joined Konami, I didn’t really go to game centers to play games. Most of my experience with games was on the Family Computer (NES). In particular, my three favorite titles were Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and Kid Icarus. I would record the music from the games and would listen to the music frequently.

OSV: You did not have any formal music training, but was there any specific instrument that caught your attention at an early age?

TECHNOuchi: I really liked Y.M.O. so it was no surprise that I became interested in the synthesizer. The first synthesizer I used was a gift I received from my father when I started high school. I thought I’d be able to recreate Y.M.O.’s sound but I was rather shocked at how cheap the sound was on my synthesizer, [laughs] however with a bit of ingenuity and dedication I was able to make a different kind of sound despite the cheapness of the synthesizer. I recall occasions where I’d completely lose track of time as I became immersed in music making.

OSV: How were you first discovered by Konami?

TECHNOuchi: After I graduated high school, I began studying at a technical school when a job opportunity came up. For someone like me who loved games and loved game music as well, how could I not to apply to Konami?

OSV: Now you were one of most prolific composers for the MSX, a computer that was very popular in Japan and Europe. Can you tell us a bit about how it was working with the MSX? What tools and software did you use to create the music?

TECHNOuchi: The recording of music was implemented with Konami in-house tools. It was similar to MML but utilized hexadecimal numbers. E0 D4 C2 9F C0 10…stuff like that [laughs] was interpreted with 3-channel PSG, 5-channel SCC for a total of 8 tracks (I called it 8 ports). While repeatedly listening to the sound, from the vibrato to the volume balance of each individual track, I would meticulously go over the most minute details. Though I directly composed music with the in-house tools, I’m the kind of person who would compose using a Roland MC-500 sequencer and other synthesizers and then enter the data into the in-house tools.

OSV: You were part of the sound team on 3 of my personal favorites on MSX, Space Manbow, Pennant Race and SD Snatcher. When I was young, I used to spend my entire nights playing these games with my best friend. What are your memories of working on Space Manbow?

TECHNOuchi: I was in charge of Space Manbow which was also the first time I was in charge of a game’s ending and was also the first title I worked on in which an original soundtrack was made available for sale. I thus looked at this title as the official starting place of my career.

OSV: On SD Snatcher, you worked with a big sound team of well known Konami composer, such as Motoaki Furukawa, Michiru Yamane and Tsuyoshi Sekito. Can you tell us about how you work with such a big sound team? Did you send ideas to everyone or did you work alot individually?

TECHNOuchi: At that time, Konami’s sound work was divided up among three teams: ARCADE Team, CONSUMER GAME Team, and PC GAME Team. MSX game titles were basically handled by the PC GAME Team. In regards to a single game title, a leader for the BGM and SE would be chosen and thus would be the person in charge to give the game it’s dimension. In actuality, it was almost always a team effort by everyone on the PC GAME team. Thus despite the STAFF ROLL featuring only the name of the leader for BGM and SE, there were many composers who helped in the actual effort.

OSV: You were part of the team that developed the Konami Sound Cartridge, correct?

TECHNOuchi: I developed the SCC chip itself, correct.

OSV: You also co-composed X-Men on Arcade in 1992, along with Prophet Fukami. Did you like working with the Yamaha YM2151?

TECHNOuchi: That’s right. The Yamaha DX7 utilized 6 operators with a FM synthesizer but the YM2151 (OPM) was simple and used 4 operators thus making music creation much easier. For X-Men, I created and used all kinds of sounds – One sound that has timbre of 2 sounds, one sound that plays electric piano & synth brass simultaneously, and etc…. I tweaked the sounds even further so each note has an echo (delay) just by itself.

OSV: Did you and Fukami-san co-compose all tracks in X-Men, or do you remember what songs you are responsible for?

TECHNOuchi: The main people involved with the composition and arrangement are listed as follows.

“Title Demo”: Composed by Prophet Fukami / Arranged by Prophet Fukami
“Select”: Composed by Prophet Fukami / Arranged by Prophet Fukami
“Opening”: Composed by TECHNOuchi / Arranged by TECHNOuchi
“Stage 1 (City)”: Composed by Prophet Fukami / Arranged by Prophet Fukami
“Boss”: Composed by Prophet Fukami / Arranged by Prophet Fukami
“Stage 2 (Factory)”: Composed by Prophet Fukami / Arranged by Prophet Fukami
“Stage 3 (Jungle)”: Composed by Prophet Fukami / Arranged by Prophet Fukami
“Stage 4 (Limestone Cave)”: Composed by TECHNOuchi / Arranged by TECHNOuchi
“Stage 5 (???)”: Composed by Prophet Fukami / Arranged by Prophet Fukami
“Stage6 (Ruins)”: Composed by TECHNOuchi / Arranged by TECHNOuchi
“Stage 7 (Enemy Base)”: Composed by Junya Nakano / Arranged by TECHNOuchi
“Last Boss (Magneto)”: Composed by Junya Nakano / Arranged by TECHNOuchi
“Staff Roll”: Composed by Junya Nakano / Arranged by TECHNOuchi
Some Short Demo’s : Composed by TECHNOuchi / Arranged by TECHNOuchi

OSV: Fukami-san also did a very good arrangement of X-Men on Konami All-Stars 1993~Yume no Music Station CD set. Did you ever take part in any arrangement project for Konami when you worked with them?

TECHNOuchi: Unfortunately, during the time I was at Konami I never had the opportunity to work on an arrange CD. If that opportunity arose I suppose my name might have a higher value than it does now. (laugh) The first title I participated on an arrangement was the Enix Playstation 2 title, DANCE SUMMIT 2001 -BUST A MOVE-.

OSV: Ok, last question before moving on to G.O.D. You worked on Mystic Warriors for Arcade with Nakano-san. This is a very good soundtrack but not very well known today. How was it working with Nakano-san and have you heard his music for Square-Enix?

TECHNOuchi: He was junior to me when I was at Konami. I was the person in charge with his training. Thus Mystic Warriors along with Polygonet Commanders, Konami Open Golf Championship, X-Men, Hexion, I imparted a lot of that know-how on him. In 1995 there was a large personnel change and he was removed from the sound team. This chance opportunity led to his leaving Konami. I know that he is now at Square-Enix but unfortunately being surrounded by so many talented composers makes it difficult for his sound to really flourish.

OSV: Now let us talk about Video Game Sound Creator Alliance (G.O.D.), TECHNOuchi-san, please tell us what G.O.D. plans to do, world domination perhaps?

TECHNOuchi: No, [laughs] G.O.D. is simply an alliance of like-minded people. However, a gathering of game sound creators like this was something that was naturally going to happen. Things are just beginning to move in that direction now.

OSV: G.O.D has over 40 members, including Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, Hiroki Kikuta and Yasunori Mitsuda. How did you recruit them to G.O.D.?

TECHNOuchi: The starting members were originally friends via the Japanese social networking site, mixi. From there, the arrange album project with Cave brought us together with other composers and our numbers grew. It was from there the organization was introduced. Members would introduce others to the organization and I would search for the websites of composers and send out e-mail asking them to join.

OSV: What does this new alliance mean for the gaming industry? If a developer wants to use any one of these composers, will they have to agreement with your group to make it happen?

TECHNOuchi: No, as I have written above we are an association of friends so contracts and licenses would be unrelated. Also each individual member has their own respective occupations. However, much like that arrange album, G.O.D. is trying to facilitate new connections and create a new way for collaboration to flourish. For instance, if this job was facilitated through G.O.D., there would be no need to have the G.O.D. logo on the product nor would there be a need to pay royalties, agency fees (laugh) to G.O.D. We are an association of friends after all.

OSV: G.O.D has expressed interest in doing monthly game arrangement contests. Can you tell us a little bit about the rules of this arrangement contest? And will it be only for G.O.D. staff?

TECHNOuchi: Here’s G.O.D.’s MySpace page. It is here where we will decide on how to approach this. Right now we are investigating how best to involve not only the members of G.O.D. but followers as well. The idea of content is the first to come to mind but nothing has been decided just yet. All of the members are currently rather busy in their individual occupations and thus it is simply reality that they don’t have time to work on any endeavors outside of work.

OSV: Do you know about the American game arrangement contest called Dwelling of Duels? They run monthly theme contest, and Jake Kaufman, who was on the KE-TSU-I Arrange Album has often participated.

TECHNOuchi: No, I’ve never heard of it. The US certainly has many types of activities going on. Certainly this will be of some use.

OSV: Tell us a little bit about G.O.D. Monopoly Arrangement project. Will G.O.D. arrange music for any game company or do you have partnership agreement with specific companies?

TECHNOuchi: I will talk about the Monopoly Arrangement Project in a little bit. Outside of that, there has been talk regarding many game companies and the arrange albums or the arrangement of in-game music. And, as it was mentioned before, G.O.D. is not involved with contracts and thus any contracts in relation to the game companies themselves is strictly between the individual G.O.D. members themselves. In short, the Monopoly Arrangement Project is a project that involves only G.O.D. members filling the ranks of the arrangers.

OSV: You have mentioned before that you want to bond video game composers together and create strong friendships with them. Is this part of G.O.D. plans to create a strong relationship between game composers and make it possible for them to work together more often?

TECHNOuchi: Yes. As a part of the plan, this is the main objective. Everything outside of that will created on its own accord.

OSV: You work with Hally-san on this project. How did you meet him and what do you think of his arrangement project such as PSYVARIAR The Mix?

TECHNOuchi: The first time I met Hally-san was when he came across my MySpace and requested a remix from PSYVARIAR. He said that he was a fan of the titles I had worked on when I was at Konami. Thus, he had created an opportunity for someone like me who had become largely forgotten to resurrect myself again. It is through PSYVARIAR and my meeting with him that G.O.D. was created.

OSV: Do you want to see the alliance grow and open doors for game composers worldwide? Maybe work with GANG group set up by Tommy Tallarico in the United States?

TECHNOuchi: Sure. Right I have my hands full dealing with game sound creators in Japan, but I am always thinking about the possibilities for G.O.D. while taking in new ideas and doing what I can with them.

OSV: On the website, there is also mention of a streaming game music talkshow. Can you tell us what we can expect from this show?

TECHNOuchi: This year we’ve had one test run but starting in the spring of next year, I’ve thought that it would be great if we could have regular broadcasts but in actuality the initial steps of this plan have yet to begun moving yet.

OSV: You have mentioned that one of the first projects G.O.D will work on is a 2-disc arrangement CD. Can you tell us more about this CD?

TECHNOuchi: It will be an original soundtrack and arrange cd featuring 2 game titles. The first title will be released around February/March 2010 and the second title will be out around May 2010. As for what kind of arrange it might be and who will be in charge of arrangement, that information will be announced around December of this year.

OSV: Is there any game in production now that will be composed by G.O.D. staff?

TECHNOuchi: As stated earlier, G.O.D. is a non-profit organization and thus G.O.D. would have no hand in the development of game music as an organization. There are many rather lofty walls in the game industry that would make such a purpose a difficult one.

OSV: Who will own the licence for G.O.D. produced music? Will the individual members have ownership or does it belong to the alliance?

TECHNOuchi: The answer is the same as the above.

OSV: When you look on the member list of G.O.D., Is there any composer you have always wanted to work with?

TECHNOuchi: I would say Shinji Hosoe and Eriko Imura. As for non-G.O.D. members, I have a great deal of respect for Hirokazu Tanaka (ex-Nintendo/Creatures and Norio Nakagata (ex-Namco).

OSV: You were also recently invited to Video Games Live. How was it meeting Tommy Tallarico?

TECHNOuchi: It wasn’t an official invitation, rather I was dragged along with my friend, Kinuyo Yamashita. (laugh) Kinuyo Yamashita was senior to me during my days at Konami but left the company before I joined. We eventually got in touch with each other through MySpace more than 20 years later and finally had an opportunity to meet. She is a very beautiful and talented woman. At VGL I met Tommy Tallarico and was able to meet Mitsuyoshi-san, Mitsuda-san, and Yamaoka-san.

OSV: TECHNOuchi-san, we thank you so much for your time today, it was an honor for me personally, and I would like to thank you for all the music you composed that I was lucky enough to experience in my childhood. We wish G.O.D. the best of luck, and please come back to OSV soon and let us know more about what you are working on.

TECHNOuchi: And I thank you for this opportunity to be interviewed. As for me, I look forward to more information being disseminated to the world about G.O.D. and its members.

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Thanks to TECHNOuchi again for being an absolute joy, and check out his recent work on Mushihimesama Double Arrange Soundtrack CD here.

[Special thanks to Chris Ling and Shota Nakama for translation.]