Hiroki Kikuta
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese video game composer and game designer. His major works are Secret of Mana
, Seiken Densetsu 3
, Soukaigi
, and Koudelka
, for which he also acted as producer and concept designer. He has composed music for seven other games, and worked as a concept designer in addition to composer for the unreleased MMORPG
Chou Bukyo Taisen. He became interested in music at an early age, but earned a degree in Religious Studies, Philosophy, and Cultural Anthropology from Kansai University
. He spent the next few years working first as a manga
illustrator then as a composer for anime
series before coming to work for Square
.
After composing the soundtracks for his first three best-known works, he formed his own video game production company, Sacnoth
, for which he was the president and CEO
. After producing and composing Koudelka, he left to become a freelance composer. Since his departure he has formed his own record label, Norstrilia, through which he produces albums of his own compositions and collaborations with other artists, as well as his previous scores. His music has been performed in concerts such as the Symphonic Fantasies concerts in Cologne
, Germany in September 2009, and selections of his works have been published as piano arrangements in sheet music books.
, Japan. He first became interested in music at the age of ten after hearing songs by Emerson, Lake & Palmer
. He began writing his own songs two years later, after listening to country blues
music; it inspired him to study acoustic guitar and write his own songs in hope of one day becoming a singer/songwriter. He was also inspired as a child by music from movies. It was not until he got a synthesizer, however, that he began to feel his potential as a composer. Kikuta went on to earn an interdisciplinary degree in Religious Studies, Philosophy, and Cultural Anthropology from Kansai University
, which he attended from 1981 to 1984. He never received any form of formal musical training, and instead taught himself by reading music theory books and listening to a wide variety of musical genres.
After graduating from Kansai, Kikuta worked first as a manga
illustrator and later as an anime
composer. The manga he illustrated, including one titled Raven, were done under the pen name "Yuuki Ni Juu Roku". As an anime composer, he worked on The Adventure of Robin Hood and The Legend of Snow White. In 1991, Kikuta was hired by Square
(now Square Enix
), as a composer. After being rejected by his first choice, Nihon Falcom, he applied to Square without expecting to be hired, as they had many applicants for the job and he had never played any of the company's games. At the interview, however, Nobuo Uematsu
was attracted to their shared love of progressive rock
, and he was chosen over 100 other applicants. He started off debugging
Final Fantasy IV
and creating sound effects for Romancing SaGa
, as there were not enough game projects in development to open up new jobs for Square's new hires, but Kikuta was soon given game soundtracks to compose.
and Seiken Densetsu 3
for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System
and Soukaigi
for the PlayStation
. Kikuta says that he was given complete freedom to compose the soundtracks, in that he was given no direction at all as to how to compose the music; he began working on the music before the design of the game was finalized. This freedom was helped by the fact that Uematsu ran the music group as a separate division in the company from the game developers. Kikuta was originally chosen for Secret of Mana after Kenji Ito
, who had composed the first game in the Mana series, Final Fantasy Adventure
, was forced to drop the project due to other demands, such as the soundtrack to Romancing SaGa
. Rather than use pre-made MIDI
samples of instruments like most game composers of that time, Kikuta made his own MIDI samples that matched the hardware capabilities of the Super Nintendo. This way he would know exactly how the pieces would sound on the system's hardware instead of having to deal with audio hardware differences between the original MIDI sampler and the Super Nintendo. Kikuta spent nearly 24 hours a day in his office working on the soundtrack, alternating between composing and editing. Secret of Mana led to an arranged album, Secret of Mana+, which is composed of a single 50-minute track made up of "experimental" sounds like waterfalls, bird calls, and cell phone sounds.
For Seiken Densetsu 3, Kikuta was assisted by a sound programmer, Hidenori Suzuki, which allowed him to compose over three times the amount of music he had created for Secret of Mana. The move to the PlayStation for Soukaigi allowed Kikuta to focus on creating live music for the soundtrack, rather than tweaking the synthesizer instruments to make the music files fit in the game cartridge as he had to for the Super Nintendo. He used the added audio processing power to expand his musical creativity, including pieces such as songs in unintelligible Thai and Malaysian by Japanese singers. The game itself, however, was not a success, and Kikuta decided that he wanted more direct control over the next project he worked on.
After Kikuta finished Soukaigi, he left Square and founded the video game development company Sacnoth
, assuming the position of the president and CEO from 1998 to 1999. During this time, the company created Koudelka
for the PlayStation; Kikuta was credited as the concept designer, game planner, scenario writer, producer and composer. His philosophy in designing video games is that the best projects have a limited number of people designing the overall experience and making key decisions. He tried to follow this philosophy in creating Koudelka, and tried to bring a sense of "obsessive passion" to the project, reading what he claims were over 100 books on British history and taking the design team on a trip to Wales to study the country. The game was released in December 1999 to poor reviews which criticized the game's combat system, though they praised the concept, art direction, and music. Kikuta left Sacnoth soon after; the company changed its name to Nautilus and went on to produce four more games including the Shadow Hearts series before folding in 2007.
In March 2001, Kikuta founded Norstrilia, named after the novel of the same name
. The company serves as his private record label, and publishes his albums. For the next few years he worked as concept designer, game planner, and composer for Chou Bukyo Taisen, a Chinese MMORPG, the original design for which he proposed to Enix
. Development of the game ceased in 2004 due to disagreements between Enix and the Chinese company that was to maintain the game while it was in progress and it was never released. Since then he has gone on to score six other games, including the eroge
visual novel
Sora no Iro, Mizu no Iro
and the MMORPG Concerto Gate
. None of these games have been released outside of Japan; to date the only video games that Kikuta has worked on to appear in North America or Europe are Secret of Mana and Koudelka.
Kikuta released Lost Files
, his first album of original music, in 2006. The album includes the demo tapes Kikuta submitted when first applying for the job of game composer at Square, using the sound source of the Nintendo Entertainment System
. It was followed in August 2007 by his second original album, Alphabet Planet. He has also composed three other albums and two singles in conjunction with other singers or performers; these albums have been released though his Norstrilia label and are the only works he has been credited as composing for since Concerto Gate was released in 2007. His next album, due to be released in spring 2010, is another album of original works, entitled Tiara.
for the third Orchestral Game Music Concert
in 1993, while one from Seiken Densetsu 3 was performed for the fifth event in 1996. The same Secret of Mana track was also performed at the fifth Symphonic Game Music Concert in 2007 in Leipzig
, Germany. Music from Secret of Mana made up one fourth of the music in the Symphonic Fantasies concerts in Cologne in September 2009 which were produced by the creators of the Symphonic Game Music Concert series and conducted by Arnie Roth
.
Two compilation books of piano sheet music from the Mana series have been published as Seiken Densetsu Best Collection Piano Solo Sheet Music first and second editions; songs from Secret of Mana and Seiken Densetsu 3 are featured in both. All songs in each book have been rewritten by Asako Niwa as beginning to intermediate level piano solos, though they are meant to sound as much like the originals as possible. Selections of remixes of Kikuta's work appear on Japanese remix albums, called dōjin
, and on English remixing websites such as OverClocked ReMix
. Kikuta has said that he enjoys listening to these works, mentioning OverClocked ReMix by name.
he has visited. Rather than trying to be a "pure artist" that creates art for art's sake, Kikuta says that his primary goal in composing is to entertain the listeners. He has not been influenced by other video game composers, though he claims to admire Hitoshi Sakimoto
, whom he worked with at Square. He has named Pink Floyd
as his single biggest musical influence, and guitarist Allan Holdsworth
as the artist he would most like to collaborate with. Kikuta's favorite song that he has composed is "Overture" from Concerto Gate.
Secret of Mana
Secret of Mana is an action role-playing game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System developed and published by Square in 1993. The game was re-released for the Wii's Virtual Console in 2008, and was ported to Japanese mobile phones in 2009...
, Seiken Densetsu 3
Seiken Densetsu 3
is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square for Nintendo's Super Famicom as a part of the Mana series.The game features three lengthy main plotlines, six different characters, each with their own storylines, and a wide range of classes to choose from, which provides each...
, Soukaigi
Soukaigi
is an action role-playing game developed by Yuke's and published by Square for the Sony PlayStation video game console. It was released in 1998 in Japan, but was not released in other territories....
, and Koudelka
Koudelka
is a role-playing game developed by Sacnoth for the Sony PlayStation. The game was released on December 16, 1999, in Japan, June 29, 2000, in North America and September 29, 2000, in Europe.- Gameplay :...
, for which he also acted as producer and concept designer. He has composed music for seven other games, and worked as a concept designer in addition to composer for the unreleased MMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
Chou Bukyo Taisen. He became interested in music at an early age, but earned a degree in Religious Studies, Philosophy, and Cultural Anthropology from Kansai University
Kansai University
, or , is a private non-sectarian and coeducational university located in Suita, Osaka, Japan and in two other locations: Osaka City; and Takatsuki, Osaka.-History:Kansai University was founded as Kansai Law School in November 1886, in Osaka...
. He spent the next few years working first as a manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
illustrator then as a composer for anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
series before coming to work for Square
Square Co.
was a Japanese video game company founded in September 1983 by Masafumi Miyamoto. It merged with Enix in 2003 and became part of Square Enix...
.
After composing the soundtracks for his first three best-known works, he formed his own video game production company, Sacnoth
Sacnoth
Sacnoth was a small Japanese based video games developer.Sacnoth’s high profile games include Koudelka for the PlayStation, the three Shadow Hearts games for the PlayStation 2, and Faselei! for the Neo Geo Pocket Color...
, for which he was the president and CEO
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
. After producing and composing Koudelka, he left to become a freelance composer. Since his departure he has formed his own record label, Norstrilia, through which he produces albums of his own compositions and collaborations with other artists, as well as his previous scores. His music has been performed in concerts such as the Symphonic Fantasies concerts in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, Germany in September 2009, and selections of his works have been published as piano arrangements in sheet music books.
Early life
Kikuta was born in Aichi PrefectureAichi Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region. The region of Aichi is also known as the Tōkai region. The capital is Nagoya. It is the focus of the Chūkyō Metropolitan Area.- History :...
, Japan. He first became interested in music at the age of ten after hearing songs by Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer, also known as ELP, are an English progressive rock supergroup. They found success in the 1970s and sold over forty million albums and headlined large stadium concerts. The band consists of Keith Emerson , Greg Lake and Carl Palmer...
. He began writing his own songs two years later, after listening to country blues
Country blues
Country blues is a general term that refers to all the acoustic, mainly guitar-driven forms of the blues. It often incorporated elements of rural gospel, ragtime, hillbilly, and dixieland jazz...
music; it inspired him to study acoustic guitar and write his own songs in hope of one day becoming a singer/songwriter. He was also inspired as a child by music from movies. It was not until he got a synthesizer, however, that he began to feel his potential as a composer. Kikuta went on to earn an interdisciplinary degree in Religious Studies, Philosophy, and Cultural Anthropology from Kansai University
Kansai University
, or , is a private non-sectarian and coeducational university located in Suita, Osaka, Japan and in two other locations: Osaka City; and Takatsuki, Osaka.-History:Kansai University was founded as Kansai Law School in November 1886, in Osaka...
, which he attended from 1981 to 1984. He never received any form of formal musical training, and instead taught himself by reading music theory books and listening to a wide variety of musical genres.
After graduating from Kansai, Kikuta worked first as a manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
illustrator and later as an anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
composer. The manga he illustrated, including one titled Raven, were done under the pen name "Yuuki Ni Juu Roku". As an anime composer, he worked on The Adventure of Robin Hood and The Legend of Snow White. In 1991, Kikuta was hired by Square
Square Co.
was a Japanese video game company founded in September 1983 by Masafumi Miyamoto. It merged with Enix in 2003 and became part of Square Enix...
(now Square Enix
Square Enix
is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...
), as a composer. After being rejected by his first choice, Nihon Falcom, he applied to Square without expecting to be hired, as they had many applicants for the job and he had never played any of the company's games. At the interview, however, Nobuo Uematsu
Nobuo Uematsu
is a Japanese video game composer, best known for scoring the majority of titles in the Final Fantasy series. He is considered as one of the most famous and respected composers in the video game community...
was attracted to their shared love of progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
, and he was chosen over 100 other applicants. He started off debugging
Debugging
Debugging is a methodical process of finding and reducing the number of bugs, or defects, in a computer program or a piece of electronic hardware, thus making it behave as expected. Debugging tends to be harder when various subsystems are tightly coupled, as changes in one may cause bugs to emerge...
Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy IV
is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square in 1991 as a part of the Final Fantasy series. The game was originally released for the Super Famicom in Japan and has since then been rereleased for many other platforms with varying modifications. An enhanced remake with 3D graphics...
and creating sound effects for Romancing SaGa
Romancing SaGa
is a role-playing video game originally developed and published by Square as the fourth game of their SaGa series. Initially made available in January 1992 for the Super Famicom, the game was later ported to the WonderSwan Color handheld system in December 2002, with both releases being exclusive...
, as there were not enough game projects in development to open up new jobs for Square's new hires, but Kikuta was soon given game soundtracks to compose.
Career
During his seven years at Square, Kikuta composed the soundtracks to only three games: Secret of ManaSecret of Mana
Secret of Mana is an action role-playing game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System developed and published by Square in 1993. The game was re-released for the Wii's Virtual Console in 2008, and was ported to Japanese mobile phones in 2009...
and Seiken Densetsu 3
Seiken Densetsu 3
is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square for Nintendo's Super Famicom as a part of the Mana series.The game features three lengthy main plotlines, six different characters, each with their own storylines, and a wide range of classes to choose from, which provides each...
for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
and Soukaigi
Soukaigi
is an action role-playing game developed by Yuke's and published by Square for the Sony PlayStation video game console. It was released in 1998 in Japan, but was not released in other territories....
for the PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
. Kikuta says that he was given complete freedom to compose the soundtracks, in that he was given no direction at all as to how to compose the music; he began working on the music before the design of the game was finalized. This freedom was helped by the fact that Uematsu ran the music group as a separate division in the company from the game developers. Kikuta was originally chosen for Secret of Mana after Kenji Ito
Kenji Ito
, also known by the nickname , is a Japanese video game composer and musician. He is best known for his work on the Mana and SaGa series, though he has worked on over 30 video games throughout his career as well as composed or arranged music for over 15 other albums, concerts, and plays...
, who had composed the first game in the Mana series, Final Fantasy Adventure
Final Fantasy Adventure
Final Fantasy Adventure, known as Mystic Quest in Europe and as in Japan, is a Final Fantasy spinoff and the first game in the Mana series. Published by Square in 1991 on the original Game Boy, it later saw a North American re-release by Sunsoft in April 1998...
, was forced to drop the project due to other demands, such as the soundtrack to Romancing SaGa
Romancing SaGa
is a role-playing video game originally developed and published by Square as the fourth game of their SaGa series. Initially made available in January 1992 for the Super Famicom, the game was later ported to the WonderSwan Color handheld system in December 2002, with both releases being exclusive...
. Rather than use pre-made MIDI
Musical Instrument Digital Interface
MIDI is an industry-standard protocol, first defined in 1982 by Gordon Hall, that enables electronic musical instruments , computers and other electronic equipment to communicate and synchronize with each other...
samples of instruments like most game composers of that time, Kikuta made his own MIDI samples that matched the hardware capabilities of the Super Nintendo. This way he would know exactly how the pieces would sound on the system's hardware instead of having to deal with audio hardware differences between the original MIDI sampler and the Super Nintendo. Kikuta spent nearly 24 hours a day in his office working on the soundtrack, alternating between composing and editing. Secret of Mana led to an arranged album, Secret of Mana+, which is composed of a single 50-minute track made up of "experimental" sounds like waterfalls, bird calls, and cell phone sounds.
For Seiken Densetsu 3, Kikuta was assisted by a sound programmer, Hidenori Suzuki, which allowed him to compose over three times the amount of music he had created for Secret of Mana. The move to the PlayStation for Soukaigi allowed Kikuta to focus on creating live music for the soundtrack, rather than tweaking the synthesizer instruments to make the music files fit in the game cartridge as he had to for the Super Nintendo. He used the added audio processing power to expand his musical creativity, including pieces such as songs in unintelligible Thai and Malaysian by Japanese singers. The game itself, however, was not a success, and Kikuta decided that he wanted more direct control over the next project he worked on.
After Kikuta finished Soukaigi, he left Square and founded the video game development company Sacnoth
Sacnoth
Sacnoth was a small Japanese based video games developer.Sacnoth’s high profile games include Koudelka for the PlayStation, the three Shadow Hearts games for the PlayStation 2, and Faselei! for the Neo Geo Pocket Color...
, assuming the position of the president and CEO from 1998 to 1999. During this time, the company created Koudelka
Koudelka
is a role-playing game developed by Sacnoth for the Sony PlayStation. The game was released on December 16, 1999, in Japan, June 29, 2000, in North America and September 29, 2000, in Europe.- Gameplay :...
for the PlayStation; Kikuta was credited as the concept designer, game planner, scenario writer, producer and composer. His philosophy in designing video games is that the best projects have a limited number of people designing the overall experience and making key decisions. He tried to follow this philosophy in creating Koudelka, and tried to bring a sense of "obsessive passion" to the project, reading what he claims were over 100 books on British history and taking the design team on a trip to Wales to study the country. The game was released in December 1999 to poor reviews which criticized the game's combat system, though they praised the concept, art direction, and music. Kikuta left Sacnoth soon after; the company changed its name to Nautilus and went on to produce four more games including the Shadow Hearts series before folding in 2007.
In March 2001, Kikuta founded Norstrilia, named after the novel of the same name
Norstrilia
Norstrilia is the only novel published by Paul Linebarger under the pseudonym Cordwainer Smith, which he used for his science-fiction works...
. The company serves as his private record label, and publishes his albums. For the next few years he worked as concept designer, game planner, and composer for Chou Bukyo Taisen, a Chinese MMORPG, the original design for which he proposed to Enix
Enix
The was a Japanese company that produced video games, anime and manga. The company was founded by Yasuhiro Fukushima on September 22, 1975 as and renamed Enix in 1982...
. Development of the game ceased in 2004 due to disagreements between Enix and the Chinese company that was to maintain the game while it was in progress and it was never released. Since then he has gone on to score six other games, including the eroge
Eroge
An or Ero-ga is a Japanese video or computer game that features erotic content, usually in the form of anime-style artwork. Eroge originated from galge, but unlike galge, they feature erotic/pornographic content.-History:...
visual novel
Visual novel
A is an interactive fiction game featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art, or occasionally live-action stills or video footage...
Sora no Iro, Mizu no Iro
Sora no Iro, Mizu no Iro
, also known just as , is a Japanese eroge visual novel game, originally released by Ciel in 25 June 2004, which was adapted into an adult anime, released as an OVA and produced by Himajin, its first episode being published in 28 July 2006, and second episode on 27 June 2008.- Story :The story...
and the MMORPG Concerto Gate
Concerto Gate
is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Ponsbic and Square Enix. It is the sequel to Cross Gate. The game was released in Japan in 2007, and a planned North American release was cancelled after a beta release in July 2008.-Gameplay:...
. None of these games have been released outside of Japan; to date the only video games that Kikuta has worked on to appear in North America or Europe are Secret of Mana and Koudelka.
Kikuta released Lost Files
Lost Files
Lost Files is Hiroki Kikuta's first original album, released in 2006. The album includes the demo tracks Kikuta submitted when first applying for the job of game composer at Square, using the sound source of the Nintendo Entertainment System, as well as many original tracks...
, his first album of original music, in 2006. The album includes the demo tapes Kikuta submitted when first applying for the job of game composer at Square, using the sound source of the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
. It was followed in August 2007 by his second original album, Alphabet Planet. He has also composed three other albums and two singles in conjunction with other singers or performers; these albums have been released though his Norstrilia label and are the only works he has been credited as composing for since Concerto Gate was released in 2007. His next album, due to be released in spring 2010, is another album of original works, entitled Tiara.
Legacy
A piece from Secret of Mana was performed by the Tokyo Symphony OrchestraTokyo Symphony Orchestra
The , or TSO, was established in 1946 as the Toho Symphony Orchestra . It assumed its present name in 1951.Based in Kawasaki, the TSO performs in numerous concert halls and serves as the pit ensemble for some productions at New National Theatre, Tokyo, the city's leading opera house...
for the third Orchestral Game Music Concert
Orchestral Game Music Concerts
The were a series of Japanese video game music concerts. The events took place in Tokyo from 1991 to 1996 and were performed by different orchestras. Recordings of the concerts were released as a series of albums, which are known for their rarity....
in 1993, while one from Seiken Densetsu 3 was performed for the fifth event in 1996. The same Secret of Mana track was also performed at the fifth Symphonic Game Music Concert in 2007 in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
, Germany. Music from Secret of Mana made up one fourth of the music in the Symphonic Fantasies concerts in Cologne in September 2009 which were produced by the creators of the Symphonic Game Music Concert series and conducted by Arnie Roth
Arnie Roth
Arnold "Arnie" Roth is an American, Chicago-based Grammy Award-winning conductor, composer, and record producer, best known for conducting numerous video game concerts. He is also a classically-trained violinist and a member of the Grammy Award-winning music group Mannheim Steamroller...
.
Two compilation books of piano sheet music from the Mana series have been published as Seiken Densetsu Best Collection Piano Solo Sheet Music first and second editions; songs from Secret of Mana and Seiken Densetsu 3 are featured in both. All songs in each book have been rewritten by Asako Niwa as beginning to intermediate level piano solos, though they are meant to sound as much like the originals as possible. Selections of remixes of Kikuta's work appear on Japanese remix albums, called dōjin
Dojin
, often romanized as doujin, is a general Japanese term for a group of people or friends who share an interest, activity, hobbies, or achievement...
, and on English remixing websites such as OverClocked ReMix
OverClocked ReMix
OverClocked ReMix, also known as OC ReMix and OCR, is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and paying tribute to video game music through arranging and re-interpreting the songs with new technology and software, as well as by various traditional means...
. Kikuta has said that he enjoys listening to these works, mentioning OverClocked ReMix by name.
Musical style and influences
Kikuta finds composing music to be natural, "like breathing". He considers it to be his "vocation", and contrasts it with designing and creating video games, which he calls his "wish" and finds to be very difficult to do in comparison to composition. Kikuta does not worry about the style of music that he composes, considering it to only be a tool or method. As a result his music is frequently composed of combinations of styles mixed together. He is inspired to create his music by things that he has seen, especially while traveling; he credits much of the musical imagery in Secret of Mana and Seiken Densetsu 3 as being inspired by several islands in FijiFiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
he has visited. Rather than trying to be a "pure artist" that creates art for art's sake, Kikuta says that his primary goal in composing is to entertain the listeners. He has not been influenced by other video game composers, though he claims to admire Hitoshi Sakimoto
Hitoshi Sakimoto
is a Japanese video game composer and arranger. He is best known for scoring the games Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII, though he has composed soundtracks for over 70 games and arranged music for more than 40 others. He began playing music and video games in elementary school, and began...
, whom he worked with at Square. He has named Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
as his single biggest musical influence, and guitarist Allan Holdsworth
Allan Holdsworth
Allan Holdsworth is an English guitarist and composer. He has released twelve studio albums as a solo artist and played many different styles of music over a period of four decades, but first drew attention for his work in jazz fusion...
as the artist he would most like to collaborate with. Kikuta's favorite song that he has composed is "Overture" from Concerto Gate.
Discography
| Anime | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Title | Role | |
| 1990 | The Adventure of Robin Hood | Composition | |
| 1990 | The Legend of Snow White | Composition | |
| Video games | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Co-worker |
| 1992 | Romancing SaGa Romancing SaGa is a role-playing video game originally developed and published by Square as the fourth game of their SaGa series. Initially made available in January 1992 for the Super Famicom, the game was later ported to the WonderSwan Color handheld system in December 2002, with both releases being exclusive... |
Sound effects | |
| 1993 | Secret of Mana Secret of Mana Secret of Mana is an action role-playing game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System developed and published by Square in 1993. The game was re-released for the Wii's Virtual Console in 2008, and was ported to Japanese mobile phones in 2009... |
Composition/arrangement | |
| 1995 | Seiken Densetsu 3 Seiken Densetsu 3 is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square for Nintendo's Super Famicom as a part of the Mana series.The game features three lengthy main plotlines, six different characters, each with their own storylines, and a wide range of classes to choose from, which provides each... |
Composition/arrangement | |
| 1998 | Soukaigi Soukaigi is an action role-playing game developed by Yuke's and published by Square for the Sony PlayStation video game console. It was released in 1998 in Japan, but was not released in other territories.... |
Composition/arrangement | |
| 1999 | Koudelka Koudelka is a role-playing game developed by Sacnoth for the Sony PlayStation. The game was released on December 16, 1999, in Japan, June 29, 2000, in North America and September 29, 2000, in Europe.- Gameplay :... |
Composition/arrangement/concept design/game planning/scenario writing/production | |
| 2004 | Sora no Iro, Mizu no Iro Sora no Iro, Mizu no Iro , also known just as , is a Japanese eroge visual novel game, originally released by Ciel in 25 June 2004, which was adapted into an adult anime, released as an OVA and produced by Himajin, its first episode being published in 28 July 2006, and second episode on 27 June 2008.- Story :The story... |
Composition/arrangement | |
| Chou Bukyo Taisen (canceled) | Composition/arrangement/concept design/game planning | ||
| 2005 | Sakura Relaxation | Composition/arrangement | |
| Nidzuma wa Sailor Fuku | Composition/arrangement | ||
| 2006 | Tennin-So Kitan | Composition | |
| Kaijinki | Composition | ||
| 2007 | Concerto Gate Concerto Gate is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Ponsbic and Square Enix. It is the sequel to Cross Gate. The game was released in Japan in 2007, and a planned North American release was cancelled after a beta release in July 2008.-Gameplay:... |
Composition/arrangement | Kenji Ito Kenji Ito , also known by the nickname , is a Japanese video game composer and musician. He is best known for his work on the Mana and SaGa series, though he has worked on over 30 video games throughout his career as well as composed or arranged music for over 15 other albums, concerts, and plays... |
| 2010 | Shining Hearts Shining Hearts is a role-playing game developed and published by SEGA. It is the first Shining game to be released for the PlayStation Portable and is the third with characters designed by Tony Taka, the other two being Shining Tears and Shining Wind... |
Composition/arrangement | |
| Other works | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Co-worker |
| 1993 | Secret of Mana+ | Arrangement | |
| 2006 | Lost Files Lost Files Lost Files is Hiroki Kikuta's first original album, released in 2006. The album includes the demo tracks Kikuta submitted when first applying for the job of game composer at Square, using the sound source of the Nintendo Entertainment System, as well as many original tracks... |
Composition | |
| Kitan Celestial Grass | Composition/arrangement | ||
| Emperor of the Sea | Composition/arrangement | ||
| 2007 | Alphabet Planet | Composition | |
| 2008 | In the Sky on the Water | Composition/arrangement | |
| Love Relaxation | Composition/arrangement | Kano Kaoru | |
| Nice Life as Wife | Composition/arrangement | Mami Nakayama | |
| 2009 | DoDonPachi Dai-Ou-Jou Premium Arrange Album | Arrangement | many others |
| 2010 | Tiara | Composition/arrangement | |
| 2010 | Touhou Zerokyo Kitan ~ Sophisticated Insanity | Composition/arrangement | |
| 2011 | Touhou Zerokyo Kesshi ~ Scarlet Bloodbath | Composition/arrangement | many others |
External links
- Angel's Fear – Hiroki Kikuta's official website
- kiss twice – Hiroki Kikuta's official blog