Lectures

Game Music

GDC 2011: Mitsuto Suzuki Talks Freedom of Expression (Photo Gallery)

March 5, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on GDC 2011: Mitsuto Suzuki Talks Freedom of Expression (Photo Gallery) Share this

Square Enix composer and synthesizer operator Mitsuto Suzuki was on hand at GDC this week to talk about the differences in approach to two Final Fantasy titles, Four Warriors of Light and Final Fantasy XIII, both of which featured Suzuki as an arranger. While the technical content of the talk was light, Suzuki expressed his philosophy on music, asking the audience, “Is music bound by fixed concepts? Theory?,” and telling us that his goal is to be free of these kinds of limitations. It was interesting to see from the opening slide above, too, that Suzuki is really his own brand.

One of the best parts of the lecture was a live demonstration of Cyan, a Japanese live performance software that Suzuki tinkered around with for a good 15 minutes on stage, giving us a cool live performance of sorts. It contained bits of “Recall” from Neurovision among other original works.

We have a small gallery of some of the introductory slides after the jump. (more…)
Game Music

Akira Yamaoka to Speak at GDC With Grasshopper Manufacture

February 9, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this

Yes, we’ve all been hearing over the past few days that Akira Yamaoka has left Konami for Grasshopper Manufacture (we’re still working on that interview, so hang tight!). With GDC 2010 right around the corner, it was starting to look like it was going to be a relatively quiet year for the audio track, but in the latest update, a panel was announced featuring none other than Yamaoka himself.

Titled “As Long as the Audio is Fun, the Game Will Be Too,” the lecture will delve into Yamaoka’s past 20 years in game design and game audio, exploring the parallels between the two areas. Most interesting of all? He’s listed as Akira Yamaoka of Grasshopper Manufacture Studio. Doesn’t get more official than that. His lecture will be on Friday for those who are attending, and you can count on us being there to tell you what he has to say.

Be sure to check up on the GDC website from time to time to see new panels that are being announced daily. Are you surprised to see him out on the lecture circuit so soon after his big move?
Game Music

First GDC 2010 Audio Track Sessions Announced: Hell and Emotion

December 11, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 1 Comment Share this

Can’t believe it’s already that time of year again. The Game Developer’s Conference is one of the best places in the world for game audio as it provides an opportunity for composers, sound designers, and audio directrors to get together and discuss the latest and greatest in the industry. The first batch of sessions have just been announced, and we of course hit the directory to see what to look forward to from the audio track.

First and foremost, I got excited when I saw Final Fantasy XIII, but as it turns out, Yoshinori Tsuchida and Tomohiro Yajima will be discussing audio programming of the game’s sound effects, and not the game’s music. Bioshock composer Garry Schyman will be discussing his score for Dante’s Inferno (which Gideon is ecstatic about), and a lecture will be held discussing the sound design in the Halo series by Bungie’s Jay Weinland. Two other highlights include a panel that will explore the lessons of the 8-bit era in terms of audio titled “Where It All Began / Lessons That Can Be Learned From ‘First Generation’ Music” featuring panelists Rod Abernethy, Alexander Brandon, and Brian Schmidt, and another panel titled “The Musical Recipe of Emotion” featuring Tom Salta, Laura Karpman, Marty O’Donnell, Jason Hayes, and Chance Thomas. Sounds like it’s already shaping up to be a great GDC, and there are surely more panels to be announced in the near future, so stay tuned!

Is there a particular game or topic that you think needs to be discussed at this year’s GDC? Are you as curious as I am to see what Abernethy, Brandon, and Schmidt will have to say about 8-bit music?
Game Music

Kinuyo Yamashita Holds Lecture In Osaka

November 27, 2009 | Audun Sorlie | 2 Comments Share this Kinuyo Yamashita Holds Lecture In Osaka

Lovely Miss Kinuyo Yamashita is keeping herself busy with work these days. With plans to move overseas, countless video game scores to compose and hobby projects, she still found the time to give a lecture at Osaka Electo-Communication University earlier this month.

The lecture is obviously centered around video game development and music composition, which she no doubt has lots of interesting things to say about. Yamashita was responsible for the soundtracks for many famous games such as Castlevania, Power Blade and Esper Dream. She also mentored Yuji TECHNOuchi who also went onto video game fame with his music and recent activity with creating the Video Game Sound Creator Alliance. The lecture was said to have been quite interesting from those who attended, and we can only hope Yamashita will get the chance to do something similar in the US eventually.

Yamashita’s next project will be Gunhound for Windows, and is a spiritual successor to the Assault Suit series from Masaya. It’s scheduled for release on December 18 in Japan, and sometime later in 2010 for the rest of the world.
Game Music

GDC 2009 Audio Keynote: 7 Random Facts From Hitoshi Sakimoto

March 27, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 7 Comments Share this

We told you that Hitoshi Sakimoto would be at GDC, and while his keynote lecture yesterday titled “Experiences and Rare Insights Into the Videogame Industry” wasn’t particularly chalked full of insight, we did find out some rare and random facts about Sakimoto and other people on the Basiscape team.

So, what did he say? Aside from explaining that composers need to find their signature sound and be original in about 20 different ways, not a whole lot! It was still an amazing experience to hear him speak, and I think fans will find the seven random facts we gathered from his talk to be interesting!

Read the seven magic facts from Sakimoto’s GDC audio keynote after the jump! (more…)