INDUSTRY INSIGHTS WITH SCREEN MUSIC CREATORS

Takahiro Izutani: “I survived the games industry using my imagination and creativity”

BY ANGELO VALDIVIA


In early October, I attended High Score: Composition for Sound Art and Gaming, as part of the Melbourne International Games Week. The two-day event, run by APRA AMCOS, provided insight into the minds of some of the most interesting personalities creating music with games.

But it was Takahiro Izutani — whose CV includes Yakuza 2, the Bayonetta series, and Metal Gear Solid 4, and performs under the stage name Dugo — who topped off the weekend with a seminar discussing his experiences in becoming a professional artist.

I say artist, and not composer, because Izutani spoke specifically to the idea of not limiting your skillset as a musician, and keeping yourself open to musical diversity.

“I survived the games industry using my imagination and creativity,” Izutani said in his seminar.

“The big difference between games music and the creation of your own art is where your ideas and concepts come from.”

In his talk, Izutani delved into the process of how he worked with game directors, to understand their motivations behind what they’re trying to depict in a scene, in order to reflect those ideas in the music.

His example was the climactic boss fight between Solid Snake and Liquid Ocelot in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.

But from here on, the topic shifted more towards finding your own identity in the way you create music. For Izutani, it came from remixing other composers’ work in the early 2000s.

Remixing allowed him to analyse other composers’ ideas and understand their processes, he shared. It also afforded him the opportunities to network with creators, and keep on top of new technologies in order keep his creativity fresh.

“You can establish a network with other composers and producers through remix work, in the case of game music,” Izutani said.

“Other composers are not necessarily your rival. They might ask you to become a collaborator for their huge job.

“Game music production is based on teamwork, a reliable and strong network that will surely expand your possibilities.”

Many of the musicians from that weekend shared stories about all the interesting ways they discovered their own creativity with music; some were trained musicians, others were self-taught from tinkering with hardware and software.

But the idea of creating new works by taking apart someone else’s music wasn’t something I heard much about from anyone else. And some of the most creative games communities are born from music, on platforms like YouTube and Spotify, but also websites like OC Remix, NinSheetMusic and MuseScore.

Heck, even Andrew Lloyd Webber (srsly) remixed music from Tetris in 1992, under the pseudonym Doctor Spin.

The process of remixing essentially comes from an attachment to the source material; an inherent need to attribute oneself to it in a new way. Arranging a compositional work, arguably, is similar.

But in the context of an aspiring musician looking to make their mark in music production for games, Izutani made the point of not aiming to only be a “composer”. In this era of conveniently accessible production software, complimenting your compositional skills with a more diverse skillset can only make you a stronger artist.

“Music production is becoming commoditised recently, like factory production,” Izutani said.

“In the coming generation, please do not work only as a composer for hire, but also work to express your own music as an artist.”

Izutani later shared that the recruitment staff at his music production company receive roughly 800 composer demos each month, mostly replicating the music and style we’d hear in games like Final Fantasy or Monster Hunter. Because of this, very few are deemed interesting enough to get through to the interview process.

When I speak to up-and-coming composers who are looking to score for film and games, usually one of the things I ask them about is if they work DAWs or digital production, rather than only notation. It often isn’t the case – yet.

The High Score event opened my eyes to a blossoming community of next-generation artists, all eager to learn about making their names in games music. I hope everyone was able to take away some key lessons in developing their own abilities, and eventually find the means to sharpen those skills and cut pathways towards their own careers.

READ NEXT: Mega Man composer Manami Matsumae talks us through her creative process

Matsumae, who also featured in APRA AMCOS’ 2019 High Score event, is here captured by photographer Miguel Hasson.

Images supplied. Featured image of Takahiro Izutani by Jacinta Keefe.