Nobuo Uematsu (video game music)

[Ben Johnson]

Any other fans out there? As far as I know he composes exclusively for video games (Final Fantasy series), and he's THE best in the business if you ask me.

Do yourself a favor and listen to this piece - it's some of the most stirring music I've ever heard, especially for a video game.

http://www.ffinsider.net/mp3/Final%20Fantasy%20VIII/Disc%201/01%20Liberi%20Fatali.mp3

Can anyone tell based on this piece what Uematsu's style takes after, or who his influences are?

[theiss1979]

Hi B.C.

Want another Uematsu fan ? Here I am.

It was back in the 90's (the shining time of Nintendo Snes and Sega Genesis) when I played my first encounter of Final Fantasy (III) - I guess it's VI in the USA, right ?) - and the first thing I gave attention to was - well - the music.

Since then I played nearly all FF's (exept the ones after IX) and although it's not a secret that Uematsu often recycles his themes, he's an outstanding artist of his kind.
To my opinion: His work for FF VII is still the best.
Guess what - I still own a 3-CD Set of the FF VII music - imported from Japan [;)]
Well - I remember me and my class-mate waiting and hoping to hear the Sephiroth-Battle Theme as a real orchestral recording - but all we got was the beep-beep-beep midi sound you could hear on the Playstation [:(]

Anyway - it still rocks !

Greetings,

Seb

[Ben Johnson]

I'd have to agree that he does recycle some of his themes, but what great themes they are. [H] And yes, I'd also agree his best work as a whole was on FF VII. But there's something about that main theme from FF VIII that still gives me chills every time.

Have you heard his band, The Black Mages? They play his FF songs in the vein of rock/metal. And man, does Uematsu rip it up on the keyboard! [6] I'd kill to see them play live.

I wonder if he's heard of VSL? If not, he should definitely use it for the next FF installment (if it's not fully orchestrated, of course). [[;)]]

Ben

[theiss1979]

@B.C.Johnson said:

But there's something about that main theme from FF VIII that still gives me chills every time.

Hi Ben,

Which one do you mean ? The military-style march on the opening credits or the action-tune that plays during the intro-movie (where Squall and Cipher have their duell) ?
(Besides the music - in my opinion Square did some of the best designs in the whole industry - their flying ships are simply outstanding -and the environment in FF VIII, with this cross-over style of futuristic technology and pre-industrial architecture is simply stunning. [H]
And which real FF player didn't want to own Squalls "gun-blade" [:D]

Greetings,

Seb

[Ben Johnson]

I was talking about Liberi Fatali (I posted a link to it on the first post). It's the song on the intro movie, so yeah, it's when they're having their duel.

Sure, the gunblade was cool, but I think I'd take Cloud's buster sword any day of the week. [[;)]]

[theiss1979]

BTW: Have a look at www.snesmusic.org - a great resource for original classic-console music. Offers complete soundtracks for download, infos about composers and many more. I've found some real gems there.
[:D]
Cheers,

Seb

[ISM]

Not only is the music at the beginning of FFVIII great but throughout the game and especially the ending!

[:)]

[cmpsr2000]

Uematsu <3

Went to the Chicago Dear Friends concert and got to shake his hand, it was great.

Actually he doesn't do just video games anymore, he scored the ff7 movie that recently came out (advent children). In fact he spends most of his time touring with the Black Mages and running his company now.

Liberai Fatali is basically Carl Orf + Stravinsky (as is one winged angel)

as far as theme recycling goes, it's less that he recycles and more that the thing that the theme belongs to, that "element" is in all the games. Chocobo's for instance, are in most every game. They are definied not only by the way they look but also by the way they sound, so the theme is the same in every game, only modified by style. So most of the time if you're hearing something similar to previous themes, it's for a reason, to give a throwback and connect those two things.

Actually I've been disapointed with FF music of late, as they've been moving away from Nobuo doing it and moving toward his students (who suck, HIRE ME INSTEAD!!! [:'(] ) Although FF12 isn't out in the states yet, so I haven't heard any of it's music yet.

The other "greats" of game composing are Koji Kondo(zelda, mario) and Jeremy Seoul(oblivion, morrowind, guild wars). Though for my money I enjoy Uematsu's work the best.

[fcw]

I highly rate Nathan McCree's work on the first three Tomb Raider games (the scores of the subsequent games, up to the new Tomb Raider: Legend, aren't in the same league musically, except when they quote McCree's themes).

Some clips are available online.

But possibly the most ambitious score I've heard for a game is the one Lennie Moore did for Outcast. You can still download some clips from his web site, but to get the whole thing, you need to get a copy of the game (CD2 is playable on a normal CD player).

[cmpsr2000]

yeah those are pretty well done, although I never played the orriginal tomb raiders. The control scheme drove me bonkers.

I also really like the scores to the heores of might and magic series (2,3, and 5 mostly) and of course, Warcraft 2 and Diablo. And I think Homeworld wins for best use of the Barber Adagio. Freelancer is one of my favorite scores as well, but that may be because I play the game so much. All the music just seems to fit perfectly to the mood of that game. Oblivion and morrowind also both have music that fits so perfectly it just imerses you in the game. I could probably go on forever naming games with good music, heh.

[Nathan Allen Pinard]

There is an actual FF theme that was started since the very first one. It was also featured in just about every FF afterwards. You can hear it in the credits of Advent Children. It's rather patriotic sounding.

I don't have the link for it, sorry.

[mixolydian]

@fcw said:

I highly rate Nathan McCree's work on the first three Tomb Raider games (the scores of the subsequent games, up to the new Tomb Raider: Legend, aren't in the same league musically, except when they quote McCree's themes).

Another vote for McCree's Raider work.

fcw, you've got pm.

Regards

[fcw]

@mixolydian said:

fcw, you've got pm.

Read and replied.