Creator's Salon: Sound Team
"Members of the Scenario, Sound, Movie, and Graphic teams shared their experiences working on their respective parts. Enjoy the many episodes that have never been revealed before."
For the first time in the Final Fantasy series, there were multiple composers involved in this project. Centered around the familiar Mr. Uematsu, the three composers discussed various episodes while listening to the tracks we selected.
▶ From the left: Junya Nakano, Nobuo Uematsu, Masashi Hamauzu [Titles omitted]
To Zanarkand
CD 1-02
Composition/Arrangement: Nobuo Uematsu
Uematsu: This was one of several pieces I wrote when I was creating a piece for Seo-san (Kazuo Seo: flutist) to perform at his recital. In the end, I thought it was too sad for a flute recital, so I didn't use it at the time, but I personally really liked the way the chorus came in, so I wanted to use it someday. When I finished it and played it for the staff, they liked it, so I thought, "Okay, let's go with this."
Hamauzu: When this song fit perfectly with that opening scene, it really raised the motivation of all the staff.
Uematsu: There are several other songs that incorporate phrases from this song, so in that sense, it's like another theme song, along with "Suteki da ne." That's right, the piece that ended up in the game was played by a professional pianist, but during development, I was using my own playing right up until the very end. It was a close call (laughs).
Tidus' Theme
CD 1-04
Composition/Arrangement: Nobuo Uematsu
Uematsu: At first, I made the version that plays during blitzball matches with Tidus in mind. Tidus is a blitzball player, and the song's energetic mood fits well with the song, so I thought I'd just make it Tidus' theme. However, Tidus isn't always energetic, either. There are times when he's lost in thought, and times when he's remembering his father. I made this slower arrangement version for those scenes. I like this one better.
Hamauzu: I'm currently arranging several songs for my piano collection CD, but this song is actually the most difficult. I can't imagine it as a piano song. It may sound like a simple song, but on the other hand, it limits the range of harmonic progressions, making it very difficult to create original arrangements. Even if I try to add interesting harmonies, it ends up sounding unpleasant. So, recently, I've been feeling that it's a song that's been giving me a lot of trouble (laughs).
Otherworld
CD 1-05
Composition/Arrangement: Nobuo Uematsu
Uematsu: People often say that death metal in Final Fantasy is unexpected and fresh, but it's just that there just happened to be no scenes in previous works that matched this kind of music.
Hamauzu: When I first heard it, I thought this type of song was quite appropriate. Especially for this time.
Nakano: Not just this track, but a variety of genres were included, weren't they?
Uematsu: It was interesting to try this kind of song. It felt like I was returning to a place I used to be. I've been in this kind of band arrangement for a longer time than I've been in an orchestra. I still get nervous when recording with an orchestra, but with the guys playing guitar and drums, I've been around them for a long time, so I can relax a lot. By the way, the lyrics were written by Alex (Alexander O. Smith), who is in charge of translating the international version, and the song was sung by a death metal musician (Bill Ruhmur) whom Alex met by chance at a bar.
Battle Theme
CD 1-09
Composition/Arrangement: Nobuo Uematsu
Uematsu: This song was not well received at first. During development, Kitase (director Yoshinori Kitase) had a place on his computer where people could anonymously write their opinions about the FFX game they were making. One day, Kitase said, "There are a few votes in the suggestion box saying that the battle music is not good." But I didn't think it was a bad song, so I politely rejected it (laughs). I said I think it's probably fine. I said I'd think about it if it got any worse, but in the end, the number of votes didn't increase any more.
Hamauzu: I didn't think it was bad, though.
Nakano: By the way, do your battle songs ever sound similar to songs you've made before?
Uematsu: They're all pretty similar, really (laughs). I might make a song with the intention of it being completely different, but when I finish it, I might find that a part of the melody is the same as a song I made before. Well, if I notice something while I'm making it, I'll change it, but generally I don't worry too much about it.
Enemy Attack
CD 1-16
"Composition/Arrangement: Nakano Junya
Nakano: This was the first song we wrote after joining the Final Fantasy series. At that point, none of the three of us had written any music, so we didn't know what to do (laughs). At that time, I hadn't fully grasped what kind of music was played in Final Fantasy, so of all the songs we wrote this time, this one may be the one that was most conscious of past Final Fantasy songs. Originally, the song started around the 20th bar of the current version, but I thought it didn't have enough impact, so I added an intro later.
Uematsu: It was a song that could be easily reused in various scenes.
Hamauzu: In the early scenes, this song was the one for battles.
Hymn of the Fayth
CD 1-20
Composition: Nobuo Uematsu / Arrangement: Masashi Hamauzu
Uematsu: Kitase and Nojima (Scenario writer Kazushige Nojima) requested a song, and the lyrics were already provided from the start. I only composed the main melody; all the other rich and intricate parts are Hamauzu's arrangement.
Hamauzu: If you include the versions where each part is sung solo, I probably created more than ten variations.
Uematsu: Thanks to the various arrangements Hamauzu created, we were able to have different versions for each location, which was really great. If I had done it alone, it might have ended up being quite plain. Since Hamauzu has a background in vocal music, this kind of thing is his forte.
Hamauzu: The original melody is mystical, isn’t it? So I thought it might become too flat if I used ordinary harmonies, so I incorporated some complex chords and made the structure intricate. Thanks to the singers who performed well, it all came together nicely.
Uematsu: We started including live-recorded choruses from Final Fantasy VII, and except for Final Fantasy IX, all of them have been sung by people connected to Hamauzu. I jokingly call them the "Hamauzu group" (laughs).
Hamauzu: I asked acquaintances and friends from my student days, forming an ensemble with two each of sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses. The lyrics were a bit unusual, but they sang naturally as if those words really existed, without hesitation.
Uematsu: Speaking of which, why didn’t you sing this time, Hamauzu?
Hamauzu: No, no, I washed my hands of singing after the Sephiroth song from Final Fantasy VII (“One-Winged Angel”) (laughs).
The Trials
CD 1-22
Composition/Arrangement: Nobuo Uematsu
Uematsu: The track itself is very simple, so I really wanted to add something special, like a secret ingredient. So, I asked another staff member to add a sound that would make it seem like someone was mumbling a spell or something. In the end, I don’t even know what sound they added (laughs). Compared to other tracks, it probably has a strong Asian feel because I used the sound of a sitar (an Indian instrument).
Hamauzu: Listening to this track really reminds me of the struggles we had during the game.
Uematsu: “What are we going to do with this Sphere?” (laughs).
Nakano: “It won’t open…” (laughs).
Calm Before the Storm
CD 2-04
Composition/Arrangement: Nobuo Uematsu
Uematsu: I personally like tracks that involve the guitar. The pattern where arpeggios (chords with notes played in sequence) of live instruments play different phrases on the left and right, intertwining and separating as they flow along calmly. I always end up composing at least one track like this each time. I also like songs that use the sound of an instrument called the Mellotron.
Hamauzu: Speaking of which, in “Lulu’s Theme,” the flute sound was played on a Mellotron, right?
Uematsu: The Mellotron is an instrument that's like the original sampling synthesizer. Each key has a tape attached to it, and when you press a key, it plays the sound recorded on that tape. For some reason, no matter which major chord (a bright-sounding chord) you play, it always has a sad resonance. I really love that tone, so I use it often. The combination of guitar interplay and Mellotron sounds is something that really hits the spot for me (laughs).
Hamauzu: The Mellotron’s unique tape fluctuation creates a sense of instability, which gives it a nice touch.
Luca
CD 2-06
Composition/Arrangement: Nakano Junya
Nakano: This track was composed in a flash, without much time to think. I was really happy to create a piece that was distinctively for a home console game, which is different from the arcade game music I used to compose at my previous company. With arcade game music, the rhythm has to be flashy, the sound has to be intense, and above all, the structure needs to be packed with developments in a short span of time to keep it engaging. It’s difficult to maintain the music with small changes in arcade games.
Uematsu: Nakano's tracks can be as long as five minutes for a single chorus. This one is on the shorter side, right?
Nakano: It might be a reaction to making arcade game music. Up until now, I’ve often composed pieces that are tightly packed into about 30 seconds.
Brass de Chocobo / Chocobo Jam
CD 2-14
Composition/Arrangement: Nobuo Uematsu
Uematsu: Arranging the Chocobo theme is always a challenge. The idea is to keep the melody mostly unchanged and instead focus on the fun of the musical genre to make it stand out. That way, players can feel the surprise of "Oh, they went with this!" This time, I thought we hadn’t done anything like a big band arrangement yet, so I went with this style. But honestly, I’m running out of ideas. Maybe I should ask these two to do the next arrangement (laughs).
Hamauzu: I’ve already done a lot of arrangements for Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon (laughs). This might be the track with the most arranged versions in Square’s games. If we made a CD with just Chocobo tracks, it might end up being a double album (laughs).
Uematsu: Nakano, how would you arrange it?
Hamauzu: Wouldn't it end up being a five-minute-long track? (laughs)
Nakano: Who knows? Maybe a track where it takes two minutes for the main melody to appear (laughs).
Uematsu: The tricky part is that “○○○ de Chocobo” should ideally have three characters in the blank. What should we do next time? “Tsugaru de Chocobo,” perhaps? (laughs)
Thunder Plains
CD 3-01
Composition/Arrangement: Hamauzu MasashiHamauzu: I created this track very relaxed, so it ended up reflecting my own style quite a bit. I didn’t think about a specific scene while composing it, but the event team used it in the scene that fits best. Since it's a piece that conveys a sense of eternal time, it seems correct to have it play during the rain.
Uematsu: When I heard the track with the visuals, I thought, “This is it; it fits perfectly.”
Hamauzu: It was initially just piano, but that alone was not very interesting, so I added the sound of a clock as well.
Uematsu: Hamauzu’s tracks often have a strong narrative quality in the piano.
Hamauzu: That’s probably because I personally love the piano. The piano can do orchestration on its own and is easy to express what I want, so I tend to use it a lot.
Jecht’s Theme
CD 3-02
Composition/Arrangement: Nobuo Uematsu
Uematsu: Jecht is a character with a strong personality, so various genres of music can be applied to him. I created several versions, but I wanted to highlight the more unrefined aspects of his character, so I decided to use a blues scale,where the third, fifth, and seventh of the scale of do, re, mi, fa, so, la, si are lowered by a semitone. That makes it blues, but it doesn't really have the image of blues on the piano, so I tried using just one guitar.
Nakano: I guess the genre is country blues.
Uematsu: That's right. By the way, the slide guitar was actually played by one of our staff members. If it had all been programmed data, I don't think it would have been possible to express such sexiness.
Assault
CD 3-14
Composition/Arrangement: Hamauzu Masashi
Hamauzu: This is the only song I worked on this time that I made while watching the game screen. I made it so that the movie ends exactly at the point where it loops once and the screen becomes one where the player can control it. I also tried to make it so that it wouldn't feel strange if you went straight into battle. It can be used from the movie to the normal game screen, and then to the battle screen.
Uematsu: The scene of entering Bevelle Temple was spot on with this track. It works perfectly throughout.
Suteki da ne (Isn’t It Wonderful?)
CD 3-21
Composition: Nobuo Uematsu / Arrangement: Shiro Hamaguchi
Uematsu: This game has Okinawan and Ryukyuan influences. I've been interested in Ryukyuan music for a while now, so I decided to look for a singer from that genre who would be suitable for the theme song.
Hamauzu: At that time, Matsushita-san (Sound Team Production Manager Kensuke Matsushita) went around to various CD shops and bought some...
Uematsu: Yes, there was a RIKKI CD in there. I listened to it, and the first song sent chills down my spine, so I thought, that's it. Then, after that, I was wondering how to convince Kitase and the others, and someone from the agency lent me a video of a TV show that RIKKI was on. It was a video of RIKKI singing the song "Princess Mononoke" accompanied by Joe Hisaishi on piano. I thought it was convincing, so I showed it to Kitase and the others, and they decided on it right away (laughs). After the singer was decided in this way, I went to Amami Oshima and solidified the image, but it was difficult to write the actual song.
Nakano: Is that so? It felt like it just came together one day.
Uematsu: No, actually, it was a big struggle. In the end, I said to myself, "I'll definitely write it tonight," so I brought a synthesizer into the company's reception room and pushed myself to write it (laughs). Then I gave the finished song to Nojima and asked him to write the lyrics. There were some parts where the melody and the number of characters that Nojima had written didn't match, so we went back and forth a few times, but he wrote great lyrics.
A Fleeting Dream
CD 4-08
Composition: Nobuo Uematsu / Arrangement: Masashi Hamauzu
Uematsu: This is a song that Hamauzu arranged from "Suteki da ne" and it's perfect. Both Nakano and Hamauzu have a clearly different musical direction from me, so I asked them to do this job. I wanted to add something to "FFX" that I didn't have. In that sense, both of them responded to that and brought out their strengths well.
Hamauzu: Since it was a significant job, it would have been a waste not to put my own color into it.
Uematsu: At the time this track was created, we didn’t decide where it would be used.
Hamauzu: That’s right. So, I initially arranged “Suteki da ne” in my own way. Then, like with “Thunder Plains,” it ended up being used in the scene that fit it best, and just like with “Attack” during the Bevelle Temple entrance, it continued playing even during enemy encounters. It feels like the event team brought out the best of this song.
Uematsu: It really was placed in the perfect spot. There was no other scene where this song could have fit better.
A Contest of Aeons
CD 4-17
Composition/Arrangement: Nakano Junya
Nakano: There were a lot of requests for this track. It needed to be sad, yet frustrating, and then build up to a powerful, battle-like feel in the latter half... Also, there was a request to use the melody from “Hymn of the Fayth.”
Uematsu: It wasn’t “use it, use it,” but “please use it” (laughs). Since this is a battle track with summons, it made sense to incorporate “Hymn of the Fayth” somewhere in the song. Since it was Nakano, I insisted on putting it in the intro (laughs). I also had the impression of it being an upgraded version of “Assault,” so that was added to the latter half of the track.
Uematsu: Like Hamauzu’s “A Fleeting Dream,” this is an arrangement that I couldn’t have done. Everyone has different areas of focus. What are your areas of focus, Nakano?
Nakano: For me, it’s the progression of harmonies. Also, I like to add a touch of something discordant to any song. I might add a sad element to a cheerful song or vice versa. I want to include these “contrasting elements” without ruining the song.
Hamauzu: This track has that kind of feel too. It builds up repeatedly, and no matter how many times it crescendos, it doesn’t become tiresome to listen to. I think the structure is very interesting.
Final Battle
CD 4-18
Composition/Arrangement: Hamauzu Masashi
Hamauzu: At first, I was told vaguely that there would be around three final boss battles, and this track would be for one of them, so I was asked to create it. I thought I’d do something that the other two wouldn’t do. Since it was towards the end of development, I wanted to make sure I left no regrets and just did what I liked.
Uematsu: Did you get inspiration from Szymanowski's music (a composer who represents Polish music after Chopin's death)?
Hamauzu: Yes. This track took a lot of time to decide on the direction. With boss battle music, many genres and techniques have already been explored. I was struggling while listening to various CDs at the keyboard, and then I happened to play a Szymanowski symphony. A staff member said, “This is what I mean.” In the end, there are no traces of Szymanowski in the final track, but that was where I got my inspiration.
Ending Theme
CD 4-19
Composition: Nobuo Uematsu / Arrangement: Shiro Hamaguchi
Uematsu: I wanted to weave in elements of “Hymn of the Fayth” and “To Zanarkand” somewhere in the ending theme. The movie was completed first, so we started by incorporating the chorus of “To Zanarkand” into the scene where Tidus embraces Yuna from behind, and then built the rest of the track around that. When the peak of the music aligns with the peak of the visuals, even if other parts are slightly off, it creates a cohesive overall impression. However, including this track and others, the overall quality was very high this time, so it's difficult to finish it (laughs).