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ABC News
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Final Fantasy XIV composer Masayashi Soken on making music that stops the world
Japanese video game composer Masayoshi Soken doesn't see his work as separate from the games he scores, it's all part of the full experience. The Final Fantasy XIV and Final Fantasy XVI composer was recently in London for live performances of his music. Music from video game series Final Fantasy, a long running role-playing franchise with more than 30 titles, is being toured globally as part of Distant Worlds: music from Final Fantasy an orchestral concert series. "When we are creating music for games, I do have to acknowledge that there isn't a lot of freedom to do whatever you want, it is not easy to make game music like this," says Soken "When I'm putting music into Final Fantasy XIV, I'm trying very hard to think about the game experience overall, I think that each sound that goes into it is incredibly important, but I'm not trying to think of each of the songs as separate to the game." Photo shows ABC Game Show promo image with stylised joy stick Discover a new world of music, as composer, multi-instrumentalist and performance poet Meena Shamaly brings you iconic soundtracks and orchestral scores from digital gaming. Unlike film and television composers who score music after the scenes are shot, composers for video games often work hand in hand with the game development team as the game is being made to make sure music and sound effects respond to gameplay. Music in video games is often dynamic responding to player actions and milestones within the story, with each player experiencing their own audio mix and sequence. Soken says it's a challenge but the response from players makes the process worth it. Drinking buddies with Nobuo Uematsu Soken's career spans nearly thirty years, originally starting at Konami, working as an editor and sound designer as well as composer and eventually becoming sound director. He has also worked closely with another composer whose name is still synonymous with the Final Fantasy series, Nobuo Uematsu. Uematsu composed soundtracks for the first 12 mainline Final Fantasy games, starting in 1987 with the original game for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Photo shows Japanese composer Nobuo Umeatsu sits playing viola in a lounge surrounded by cds and musical equipment This self-taught Japanese composer is behind some of the most beloved video game music The two musicians worked together on the original 2010 version of the multiplayer role-playing game Final Fantasy XIV and would drink together every day after work. "If I focus on my relationship with Uematsu, I think that when we moved the company [office] to a location that was quite far from Uematsu's house, he slowly started coming less into the company and eventually he left. For me that was a major part of my history when I look back." "We would go out drinking every day before we moved and that's not to say we didn't drink at all, but I did find that quite sad that we couldn't do that anymore, we didn't have that flow of literally going to drink every single day." Uematsu established the signature Final Fantasy sound which draws influences from classical music, along with rock and jazz, with composers like Soken building on that canon 'sound' of the games with their own compositions. The famous piece One Winged Angel from Final Fantasy VII for example draws equally from the music of Stravinsky and Jimmy Hendrix according to interviews with Uematsu. Loading YouTube content Each piece of music in Final Fantasy features a strong memorable melody, which works as well with the original basic 1980s and 1990s chiptune synthesisers of early video game consoles or arranged for a full orchestra. The main theme of the series, Prelude, originally composed by Uematsu and featured in nearly every game in the series has been recontextualised in Soken's Final Fantasy XVI piece, Land of Eikons, which moves the classic harp melody into a darker minor key. Composing with acting performance as a guide Soken, who only speaks Japanese, says his music was inspired heavily by acting performances of lead characters in the game, even though in some cases he couldn't understand what the performers were saying. "For [Final Fantasy] XVI quite early on in the process I knew that all of the voice actors would be key and I was able to receive inspiration from the acting performances of the voice actors while writing," says Soken. "I'm not very good at speaking English, so when I listen to the English voice acting, I can't really tell the details of the words but I can understand what is actually being portrayed through the performance. "That is proof for how extraordinary their performance was and so I wanted to make the best music that I can to contribute to that game experience that was already there." The concert series Distant Worlds: music from Final Fantasy was co-founded by game series composer Nobuo Uematsu and music director and conductor Arnie Roth. ( Supplied: AWR Music/ Square Enix ) Music that stops the world Soken plays rock versions of his Final Fantasy music live with band The Primals, and said that he was still touched by the energy that players around the world share after playing the games and listening to his performances. "We have Primals performances in big halls and when we play [Final Fantasy XIV musical piece] Rise, there's obviously that time-stop moment and you see tens of thousands of people stopping all together, that is brilliant to see." "I really am just touched by the energy that all of the [players] have and I'm very much moved by their extraordinary energy." Loading YouTube content "So I would say that what hasn't changed in all these years is that all of this is about the game experience, everyone is trying to feel the game." " I think that there are aspects of music and sound that are more important than others but what I like about it is that I'm just a gamer, that's how I feel. " Sign up to the ABC Classic Newsletter Your information is being handled in accordance with the Email address Subscribe
Forbes
05-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Masayoshi Soken: 'My Father Played Trumpet On Dragon Quest'
Spoken-san on stage in 2023 Masayoshi Soken's career as a composer has spanned more than two decades, but the 50-year-old is most synonymous with his work on 2013's Final Fantasy XIV and its subsequent expansion packs. In 2021, Soken-san shocked fans by revealing he had been battling cancer while writing music for Shadowbringers (an FFXIV add on), but had continued to work on the game while receiving treatment in hospital. Influenced by his father who was a professional trumpet player and his mother, who taught him how to play an electric organ, Soken-san has gone on to produce music for games like 2010's Mario Sports Mix and 2023's Final Fantasy XVI. His eclectic style often blends heavy guitar sounds with soft pianos. Soken-san was in London last weekend to attend this year's Distant Worlds, a concert dedicated to music from Final Fantasy games that has been running since 2007. I spoke with the musician about his life in video games, from the soundtrack that has inspired him the most to the one song he could listen to forever. Super Mario Bros on the NES. That was the first console I owned; there were so many games on it and I used to make promises to my family that if they bought them for me, I'd study really hard. FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy are the two games that have given me a lot of inspiration. Firstly, playing the games themselves inspired me, but my father was a member of the orchestra on Dragon Quest where he played the trumpet. Back then, we didn't really have the concept of music in games, but Dragon Quest was one of the first times we had a game soundtrack released [separately] There are too many moments to count, but there's one story that springs to mind. At around the same time as the PlayStation One was released, I owned a Sega Saturn because I wanted to play Virtua Fighter 2. I then found out that Final Fantasy VII was only going to come out on the PS1 - I was so disappointed. Now, that little boy who was sad has ended up working at Square Enix making music for Final Fantasy games. It's weird how life works. Crazy Taxi I don't have a particular preference on what genre I write for, but I do have a desire to write for racing games. I think speed and music are a good match. I always loved the Crazy Taxi soundtrack where they pulled in a lot of other artists like The Offspring and Bad Religion. Overwatch 2 - when I'm really busy with work, I don't have a lot of time to play games, but I'm trying my hardest to get more game time in. I'd love to choose a rock song for this, but if I was to listen to that on a loop, it'd be quite difficult after a while. So instead I'll say the Brazilian artist Antônio Carlos Jobim who is a bossa noca artist and the song is The Girl From Ipanema. This one I could loop forever and it would be okay. Distant Worlds will run until January 31 2026 and will next tour in the US on September 13 2025 at the Miller High Life Theatre in Milwaukee, WI.
