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No More Heroes 2 Interview with Jun Fukuda and Nobuhiko Sagara

May 13, 2010 | | 5 Comments Share thison Facebook No More Heroes 2 Interview with Jun Fukuda and Nobuhiko Sagaraon Twitter

We had a blast with No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle, and are still awaiting word from Grasshopper Manufacture regarding a soundtrack release. While the game was released months ago in North America, it still hasn’t been released in Japan, and we’ve been fortunate enough to get some of lead sound designer and composer Jun Fukuda and sound coordinator Nobuhiko Sagara’s time to talk about their work on the title.

We dig deep into the many artists that were recorded for the soundtrack, the influence of the game’s theme of revenge, the use of tracks from the No More Heroes Dark Side Remixes album, a No More Heroes 2 soundtrack release, and Fukuda’s and Sagara’s respective backgrounds that led them to their current roles at Grasshopper Manufacture. It’s a good time, so we hope you enjoy reading about what went into all the sound elements in No More Heroes 2!

Hit the jump for our lengthy interview with Jun Fukuda and Nobuhiko Sagara from Grasshopper Manufacture.

OSV: Thank you both Fukuda-san and Sagara-san for taking the time to speak with us about your work on No More Heroes 2. We loved the original No More Hereos, and also had a good time playing the recent No More Heroes 2.

First off, can you tell us about your respective roles on the project and tell us who else contributed to the game’s music and sound? We believe Takada-san, who handled the majority of the first game, had left the company before you started working on NMH2. Did he contribute any music?

Fukuda: First of all, I would like to thank you for the opportunity. I am very much honored.

I was in charge of the overall sound data development as well as the sound quality assurance. That includes organizing the data, creating sound effects and music, and putting sounds to the cut scenes. For doing the sound effects and sound implementation to the movies, a young member of the sound staff, Yusuke Komori, did a great job, too.

Sagara: My task was to read the scenario and figure out on what genres and types of music would be appropriate for the scenes. Then I picked the suitable musicians and commissioned them to write for the game.

Then I contacted the musicians to explain the game concept, the theme of the story, and characters. Also I was in charge of making the contract with them as well as attending the recording sessions.

Here is the list of the hired musicians:

THE RIOT -TEENS OF ANGER-
They were in charge of the opening and the ending songs. Kazutoshi Iida, a game creator, is the band’s vocalist.

Yoshioka Taku
He did the music for the battle with Nathan and etc. He was the arranger on the No.1 hit in 2009 in Japan!

Igarashi
He did the rap in Japanese on “Nathan is Our Boss,” the Nathan battle theme. He is a member of the hip hop group Fullmember in Tokyo. Their website is http://www.fullmember.jp.

CONVEX REBEL
His real name is Watanabe, from a band called CONVEX LEVEL, and he did the Charlie battle theme. He is using a fake name, REBEL, because he did this as an individual, not as the band. Their site is http://convexlevel.net.

NEUTRINO
This is the band that contributed the most number of pieces this time and they did the battle themes for Kimmy, New Destroy Man, and Jasper Batt Jr. as well as the map theme. Their music is on sale internationally on iTunes and Amazon. Their website is http://www.bridgenia.co.jp/neutrino/.

Missile Chewbuck (R)
This band did electronic remix of the 2nd Jasper Batt Jr. battle themes NEUTRINO made. The site is http://missilechewbacca.com/mc/index.html.

MACHINE HEAD
He did the battle music for Matt Helms, Ryuji, and Alice. We cannot reveal who he is, though.

HONDALADY
This indie techno band did the music for the Margaret battle and Captain Vladimir. Their official website is http://www.hondalady.net.

Keiichi Sugiyama
He did the music for Travis’s room and etc. He has composed for various games, and the most popular work by him is REZ.

I also wrote the lyrics for “Philistine,” the battle theme for Margaret. I am glad because I heard the fans like this song a lot. The translator for the lyrics is from the company that we always ask to translate. I took things from the character setting, the story theme, some Otaku vogue words, and so on, so I am sure translating those were quite difficult. However this translator did a great job on matching the translated lyrics to the melody and being really accurate to the original Japanese lyrics. The singer is Nadia Gifford. She sang the difficult melody perfectly.

For the Bizzare Jelly 5 song, we had 5 voice actors who are active in the Japanese Anime industry.

Takada san did not contribute any new music for NMH2. We used one piece by him, but that was initially composed for NMH1.

OSV: No More Heroes 2 is about revenge. How did this play into the game’s music direction? Were you going for a heavier sound this time around? Was it challenging to write music for a game with so many fight sequences?

Fukuda: The theme, revenge, had a big influence on the music. Compared to the previous one, overall we went for the heavier direction with more guitar. There are many continuous fight scenes, so to prevent the music from becoming too monotonous, we deliberately excluded music from certain stages.

We had many musicians participating for the project, so it was not too hard in terms of the quantity of the piece.

Sagara: Like Fukuda-san says, the heaviness was a must-have element for the game in order to depict the theme, revenge, of NMH2. Also we needed a not so elaborated, rough sound.
Yet we have totally different, not heavy pieces, too. The Kimmy stage has a refreshing pop piece, and the Charlie stage has a retro, science fiction soundtrack like sound.

The initial direction that Suda-san gave us was to make a soundtrack that had a wide variety of pieces so it is enjoyable. For the previous one, we developed around one musical motif. I think he wanted to try an opposite way from that.

OSV: The music in the No More Heroes Hotel was particularly gritty, like an old Western film. Tell us about this track, and why it’s so different from “Do Not Destroy” from the original No More Heroes.

Fukuda: “Revenge” is the keyword here, as I mentioned previously. Suda-san strongly requested us to create “a real heavy sound that depicts Travis’s vengeance,” so we have much darker pieces that are totally different from NMH1.

The music of NMH1 described an “everyday life” kind of a person, Travis, and that is opposite from the music of NMH2. For example, in my opinion, the motel music in NMH1 is “ordinary,” and in NMH2 it is “unordinary.”

Sagara: That piece was composed by Sugiyama-san, and I remember we did a number of retakes trying to get closer to Suda-san’s image.

OSV: A lot of the side missions are 8-bit mini-games in NMH2. I know you were also responsible for a lot of the 8-bit music from the original game. What is your connection with 8-bit music, and was the music you wrote for the game true to the limitations of the Famicom?

Fukuda: I came into the game industry in 2003, so I don’t have any work experience in the 8-bit era. However, as a player, I have absorbed it so much since I was little. For the 8-bit mini games of NMH2, I used the most easy-to-understand tones for expressing the retro atmosphere. It is supposed to be a fictional console, so it has similar limitations like the NES yet not exactly the same. Speaking of the sameness, there is the famous “blowing the cartridge” action when you go from Santa Destroy to the 8-bit mini games. The Japanese people who grew up in the NES era would know what it is, but I wonder if the foreigners would know what that is about.

OSV: Sound design was key in the original No More Heroes, from the amazing voice acting, to the amazing retro sound effects. What can you tell us about the direction for NMH2 from a sound design perspective? Is it difficult to make all these different elements work together?

Fukuda: Thank you so much. Indeed it is a game with so many different elements, but it was not too hard combining those because we also had all kinds of music too. Rather than combining the elements, I paid more attention to how I can fit the pitch and phrases of the sounds to the scenes and make them more distinctive.

OSV: Fukuda-san, what tools were you and the team using to create the game’s music? Was there certain sample libraries that you feel really gives No More Heroes its distinct sound?

Fukuda: My set up is quite simple, and I have a PC and DAW software, an audio interface, and a number of plugins. I also have a guitar, too. I do not have a particular sample library that I use to make sounds that are unique. This time I made more mini-game music and cutscene music that were not in the main game, so I used more samplers and software that I could make 8-bit sounds on. We did studio recording sessions for the music by the musicians. Sagara san can give some more details on that.

Sagara: Especially for the rock type of tunes, we tried not to do just a desktop recording and tried to record live bands as much as we could. It is kind of a pain in the neck because nowadays we all are used to doing the whole music making process with a single computer, but I thought we needed it for capturing the sound that has a raw, rough performance feel.

We booked a recording studio outside just to record the live drum performance, and for the electric guitars, we did not use amp simulators and used real amps and effectors. On the other hand, we have some pieces composed by using the Garageband, a bundled software for the Mac, and pieces that were recorded with some cheap gear at musicians’ bedrooms.

OSV: Would you like to tell us how you go about creating sounds and implementing them into the game? Do you have a Foley stage to create sounds? Are there any interesting ways that you used to create a specific sound for the game?

Fukuda: I begin with watching the actual game first. The places that I have to pay attention the most are where the sounds sync with the movements if the characters and objects all have their individual movements. Sometimes we create the materials from sample libraries and sometimes use synthesizers to make them. We do some tweaking even when we use stuff from existing libraries.

One unique thing I did was capture the gameplay movie and then put the sounds on it. The advantage of doing it in this way is that you can simulate the actual gameplay, so you can judge whether the sounds you created work or not in the early development stage.

We do not have a recording/foley studio, but I am hoping to have one in the company in the future.

OSV: We noticed that a lot of music in the game came from the Dark Side remix album that was released after the original No More Heroes came out. What went into the decision to include these tracks, and is there any chance we’ll see a follow-up remix album for No More Heroes 2?

Fukuda: You are right. Dark Side had a number of very high quality pieces and they matched well with the world of NMH2.

Sagara: We were told by Suda-san in the very beginning that he would like to have a lot of variety of music for NMH2. Since Dark Side had a lot of different kinds of remixes, we were already planning to use some of them for NMH2. But after all we only used 8 pieces from Dark Side for NMH2. We made over 100 pieces for NMH2, so it is not like we have more pieces from Dark Side. Personally I would love to make an NMH2 remix album.

OSV: What can you tell us about the disco track that plays in Ryan’s Gym? Who wrote this song?

Sagara: That was composed by Hagio-san who joined the Grasshopper sound team while the NMH2 was in development. He is not new to the industry at all and has a long career already. He was a co-worker of Suda-san when he was working at Human. Hagio-san was working at a different company for a while after Human, but we started working together again since last year.

I am assuming the reason why Hagio-san made that disco track was perhaps because he was inspired by Ryan’s gay-ish appearance.

OSV: How many minutes of music were created for No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle? Was there a lot of material that was written that didn’t get used?

Fukuda: I am not sure about the exact amount, but it is probably about 120 minutes of music. We don’t have as many unused ones.

Sagara: We have some unreleased tracks, but we used almost all the pieces that we made. I would have made more if we had more time.

OSV: We loved the 3-disc soundtrack that was released for the first No More Heroes game. Will we see a soundtrack release for the second game?

Fukuda: I am glad that you liked the soundtrack. Thank you so much. I hope we can release the soundtrack from NMH2, too.

Sagara: We would love to have the soundtrack out this time as well. However, unfortunately the game has not come out yet in Japan. I think if the soundtrack is to be released, it will be after the Japanese release. I am expecting that from Marvelous, the publisher of the game.

OSV: Suda-san is well known for his love of pro wrestling (puroresu), and in all his games there are always references to wrestling. Have wrestling entrance themes ever been a source of inspiration to you and Takada-san when writing music for No More Heroes?

Fukuda: I don’t think wrestling entrance themes have been a source of my inspiration so far.

OSV: Suda-san has noted that this will be the last time that No More Heroes is exclusive to the Wii. Will this make a difference to you and the rest of the team as you move forward with the series?

Fukuda: As the series go on, regardless of which console it is on, I think you have to think about “adding something” on what you have already established with the previous one in the series. It gets increasingly difficult to do so because there is a continuous demand for the higher quality. However it is a pleasure to create games that people enjoying playing, so this often gives better outcome for the members in the team.

Sagara: In every way, I think it will require us to increase the quality. I would like to do my best so I won’t be left behind in this generation.

OSV: Do each of you have a favorite character from the No More Heroes universe? Tell us why they’re your favorite.

Fukuda: My favorite is Shinobu. I like her outfit and color design. From the previous one, I like Bad Girl. I have a fond memory of the music, and her crazy personality is great.

Sagara: My favorite is Silvia. Same as Travis, I am one of those guys who gets fooled by bad girls.

OSV: If Travis Touchdown was to pick up an instrument to learn, which instrument do you think he’d pick? Would he be any good at it?

Sagara: It has to be the electric guitar. Travis loves anything that is cool and guys like. I can see him bidding on some vintage guitars on an internet auction site, but he definitely will suck at playing it.

Fukuda: Agreed (Laughs) Travis probably wouldn’t be able to even tune it.

OSV: The team at Grasshopper Manufacture is a very interesting group. Are there any interesting or funny stories that you have from the development of No More Heroes 2 that you’d like to share?

Sagara: So we could not decide whether to have THE RIOT, a game creator Kazutoshi Iida’s band, participate or not. They sing in Japanese and we were concerned if their sound would match the world of NMH2. Also we were concerned if the Western players would accept it. But the music for Bizzare Jelly 5 and the Nathan Copeland battle is in Japanese, and that sort of made us reconsider it. Therefore we decided to have THE RIOT for the important parts such as the opening and the ending. The result turned out great and they gave us fantastic pieces.

At the time Iida-san was not a GhM staff member and was developing a WiiWare game called “Discipline,” but he joined us officially after that. Now we make games together. I wonder if GhM has some kind of magnetic power to gather talented creators like him.

OSV: Fans in the United States unfortunately don’t know a lot about the two of you. Would you like to tell us about your musical backgrounds, how you got into games, and how you ended up at Grasshopper Manufacture?

Fukuda: When I was a student, I was in a choir as a soprano and in a brass band. At home I was often hearing Enka from a radio, so it might have influenced me somewhat. At the time I still wanted to be a Manga artist, though. I have always loved drawing since I was a kid, and I would draw manga and illustrations on my notes during classes. Sometimes I got yelled at from my teachers but kept doing it anyway.

I started the guitar late, around the time when I turned 20. I went to a school for it for one year or so, yet I am pretty much self taught. I think around that time I started writing music seriously if I remember correctly.

After that, I worked as an employee at a record shop, a supervisor for construction sights, a surveyor at a ruins excavation site, then a student for 2 years before I turned 30. I went through all those non-game related things and finally arrived GhM. My application included this strange thing, “a sound drama made with only sine waves,” and I guess that got their attention. By the way, I had never been in the game industry before GhM.

Sagara: When I was a student, I had wanted to work either at a record company or an editing division of a music magazine publisher. However, around the time of my graduation, the Japanese bubble economy collapsed, and I could not find a job at all. The IT industry and the game industry were the only ones that still had some energy, so I found a writer and editor job for a videogame magazine. I was actually in charge of the first game magazine interview that Suda-san did.

After that Suda-san founded GhM, and I started helping the company out. Including the planning and scenario writing, I was involved in all GhM projects in some ways.

While working for games, I still have continued the musical activities like playing in a band and DJing for events, and that led me to found my own indie record label 4 years ago. A lot of friends whom I have gotten to know while founding my company contributed music for NMH2. I was not just playing and having fun (Laughs).

OSV: Can you tell us at this time what the two of you will be working on next? Fukuda-san, are you looking forward to working with Yamaoka-san on future projects?

Fukuda: Of course I am looking forward to work with him. He’s got everything in terms of experience, knowledge, and network in the industry. For myself, I have already been working on a new project as a sound designer.

Sagara: Suda-san has so many ideas for stories and I think those cannot be contained within the game industry. In the future I will probably support him for his games as well as other things.

OSV: Any final words for fans of the No More Heroes series as they finish up No More Heroes 2 and look to the future of the series?

Fukuda: Thank you so much for playing the game. If you have not played the first one, please play it too. We are not even sure how the future of Travis is going to be. Let’s patiently wait for it with us!

Sagara: Thank you for playing NMH2. If you find some music that you enjoy in the game, please go and look up the musicians to see what other works they have done.

OSV: Thank you both for your time. We’re looking forward to more No More Heroes in the future!

[Special thanks to Naoko Mori at Grasshopper Manufacture for coordinating this interview, and to Shota Nakama and Chris Ling for translation]

OSV: 犏田さんに盞楜さん、「ノヌモアヌヒヌロヌズ」のお話を䌺える時間を䞋さっおありがずうございたす。 私達は䜜目も非垞に奜きで、䜜目がリリヌスされお興奮しおいたす。

始めに同䜜品でのお二方それぞれの圹割に぀いお聞かせお䞋さい。他に誰が楜曲ずサりンドを提䟛されたのか教えお頂けたすか䜜目の音楜を殆ど手掛けた高田さんが、「ノヌモアヌヒヌロヌズ」プロゞェクト始たった前に退瀟したず思われたすが、楜曲を提䟛されたしたか

Fukuda: たずはありがずうございたす、ずおも光栄です。

私の担圓は、サりンドのクオリティコントロヌルを含めたデヌタ制䜜党般です。デヌタの取りたずめ、効果音ず楜曲の制䜜、各ムヌビヌの音付けずいった内容です。効果音ず各ムヌビヌの音付けでは、小森雄介ずいう若いGhMサりンドスタッフも頑匵っおくれたした。

Sagara: 私の圹割は、シナリオを読んで、その堎面に、どんなゞャンルの、どんな雰囲気の楜曲が必芁なのか考え、それに盞応しいミュヌゞシャンを遞び、䜜曲を䟝頌するこずでした。

実際にミュヌゞシャンたちに連絡をずっお、ゲヌムのコンセプトや、物語のテヌマ、キャラクタヌなどの説明をしたした。契玄を結んだり、レコヌディングに立ち䌚ったりもしたした。

倖泚ミュヌゞシャンは以䞋の通りです。

●THE RIOT -TEENS OF ANGER-オヌプニングや゚ンディングの曲などを担圓。ゲヌムクリ゚むタヌの飯田和敏さんがノォヌカルを担圓しおいるバンドです

●Yoshioka Taku ネむサン戊のBGMなどを担圓。なんず2009幎の日本の幎間チャヌトでNo.1になった曲のアレンゞャヌです

●Igarashiネむサン戊のBGM「Nathan is our boss」で日本語のラップを担圓。東京で掻動しおいるヒップホップクルヌ“Fullmember”の䞀員です。http://www.fullmember.jp/ 

●CONVEX REBELチャヌリヌ戊のBGMなどを担圓したのは、CONVEX LEVELずいうバンドの枡蟺さんです。今回はバンドでは個人で参加しおいるので、倉名を䜿っおいたす。http://convexlevel.net/ 

●NEUTRINO キミヌ戊、ニュヌデストロむマン戊、ゞャスパヌバッドJr戊、マップ画面など、今回䞀番沢山の曲を提䟛したロックバンドです。むンディヌズで掻動しおいたす。䞖界各囜のiTunes music store や amazon.comでMP3の販売もしおいたす。 http://www.bridgenia.co.jp/neutrino/ 

●Missile ChewbuckR) NEUTRINOの䜜ったゞャスパヌバッドJr戊のBGM曲をリミックスしお、゚レクトロ・チュヌンにしおくれたした。http://missilechewbacca.com/mc/index.html

●MACHINE HEAD マット・ヘルムス戊、韍叞戊、アリス戊のBGMを担圓。誰なのかは秘密です。蚀えたせん

●HONDALADY マヌガレット戊、りラゞミヌル戊などのBGMを担圓。むンディヌズで掻躍しおいるテクノバンドです。 http://www.hondalady.net/ 

●杉山圭䞀 トラノィスの郚屋のBGMなどを担圓しおいたす。圌は様々なゲヌム・ミュヌゞックの仕事をしおいたすが、䞭でも有名なのは『REZ』です

マヌガレットずの戊闘䞭の曲「Philistine」では、私は䜜詞もしたした。ファンの皆さんには、この曲の評刀が良いようなので、嬉しいです。歌詞の翻蚳を頌んだのが、い぀もお䞖話になっおいる翻蚳䌚瀟の方です。マヌガレットのキャラクタヌ蚭定や、物語のテヌマ、オタク界の流行ワヌドなどを取り入れた歌詞なので、翻蚳するのは難しかったず思うのですが、原詞の意味を的確に、か぀メロディにぎったりず翻蚳をしおくれお、助かりたした。ノォヌカルはナディア・ギフォヌドさんです。難しいメロディをしっかりず歌いこなしおくれたした。

ビザヌルゞェリヌの曲は、実際に日本のアニメで掻躍しおいる声優さん人に歌っおいただきたした。

高田さんは「NMH2」甚に楜曲を提䟛しおいたせん。「NMH2」では、高田さんの楜曲が曲䜿われおいたすが、それは元々前䜜のために䜜られた曲です。

OSV: ノヌモアヒヌロヌズは埩讐がテヌマです。これはどう音楜の方向性に圱響を䞎えたしたか 今回はヘノィな音を目指しおいたんでしょうか。 あれだけ倚くの戊闘が続くゲヌムだず、音楜を曞くのは難しかったですか

Fukuda: “埩讐”ずいうテヌマは倧きな圱響を䞎えたした。 党䜓的に前䜜に比べギタヌサりンドが倚くヘノィな方向になっおいたす。倚くの戊闘が続くので、単調にならないように、敢えお楜曲を鳎らさないステヌゞを蚭定したりもしたした。

色々なミュヌゞシャンに参加しおいただいたので、楜曲の数の倚さずいう点では難しくはありたせんでした

Sagara:おっしゃる通り「NMH2」の物語のテヌマを衚珟するのに、ヘノィな音は必芁䞍可欠な芁玠でした。たた、綺麗に敎えられおいない、荒々しい音が必芁だず考えたした。

でも、たったくヘノィではない、違うタむプの曲もありたす。キミヌ戊のBGMは爜やかなポップスですし、チャヌリヌ戊のBGMは、レトロなSF映画のサントラ颚です。

須田さんから最初にあった指瀺は、バラ゚ティに富んだ楜曲が楜しめるサントラにしたいずいうこずでした。぀のモチヌフを展開させおいく前䜜の方法ずは、逆のやり方を詊したかったのです。

OSV: ホテル・ノヌモアヒヌロヌズの音楜は特に気骚のある曲、たるで昔の西郚劇のように。この曲の詳现ずノヌモアヒヌロヌズの「DND (Do Not Destroy)」ずの違いをもっず詳しく教えお頂けたすか

Fukuda:䞀぀前の質問にある“埩讐”がキヌワヌドです。須田さんからは「ずにかくヘノィに、トラノィスの埩讐心を音にしたような楜曲に」ず匷い芁望がありたした。そのため、前䜜からガラリず倉わっお陰鬱で重い楜曲になっおいたす。

前䜜では、トラノィスずいう人間の“日垞”を音にしたような曲なので、党く逆になりたす。モヌテルの曲は、NMH1では“日垞”、NMH2では“非日垞”だず私は思っおいたす。

Sagara:この曲は、杉山さんが䜜曲したしたが、須田さんのむメヌゞに近づくたで、䜕床かリテむクがありたした。

OSV: ノヌモアヒヌロヌズの倚くのサむドミッションはビットミニゲヌム。犏田さんは前䜜品の倚くのビット音楜を䜜曲されたず知りたす。ビット音楜の関係や歎史はありたすか䜜曲したしたの楜曲はファミコンの制玄に忠実ですか

Fukuda:私がゲヌム業界に入ったのは2003幎なので、8bitゲヌム時代の実務経隓はありたせん。もちろん䞀人のプレむダヌずしお、幌い頃からかなりどっぷり觊れおはきたした。

今回の8bitミニゲヌムは、オヌルドな雰囲気を衚珟する䞊で䞀番わかりやすい音色を䜿いたした。架空のゲヌム機ずいう蚭定なので、ファミコンの制玄に近いですが、忠実ではないです。

忠実ずいえば、サンタデストロむず8bitミニゲヌムを行き来する時に、“カヌトリッゞタむプのゲヌム゜フトの端子郚分に息を吹きかけおホコリを取り陀く”ずいうマニアックな挔出を音で衚珟したした。日本のファミコン䞖代なら、おそらく皆ピンずくるず思うのですが海倖の皆さんはどうなんでしょうか。

OSV: 玠晎らしい声優の挔技からレトロな効果音たで、サりンドデザむンはノヌモアヒヌロヌズの重芁なパヌトでした。 サりンドデザむン芖点から芋おNMHに぀いお䜕か話せる事はありたすか ああいう倚くの違った芁玠を䞀緒に組み合わせるのは困難だったでしょうか

Fukuda:ありがずうございたす。確かに様々な音が䞀同に䌚するゲヌムなのですが、楜曲にもあるようにバラ゚ティに富んだ音を䜜るずいうのがあるので、組み合わせるのはそれほど困難ではありたせんでした。

組み合わせよりも、音そのものの音皋やフレヌズなど、堎面に合わせた䞊で劂䜕に特城的な音にするかずいう点に気を䜿いたした。

OSV: 犏田さんず䜜曲チヌムはどういった機材を䜿われおこのゲヌムの䜜曲をされたしたか ノヌモアヒヌロヌズの「音」はずおもナニヌクですが、特にその音を䜜る為には欠かせないサンプルラむブラリヌ等はありたしたか

Fukuda:私個人の環境は至っおシンプルで、PCずDAW゜フト、オヌディオむンタヌフェヌス、幟぀かの゜フトりェアプラグむンです。あずは、ギタヌずいう楜噚ですね。

ナニヌクな音を䜜る䞊で、欠かせない“ラむブラリヌ”ずいう決たったものは特にありたせん。私は、今䜜では各皮ミニゲヌムやカットシヌンなどのメむンストヌリヌ以倖の楜曲を䜜るこずが倚かったので、8bit系の音が出せるものやサンプラヌずいった゜フトりェアを䜿うこずは倚かったです。

参加いただいたミュヌゞシャンの方々の楜曲ではスタゞオ録音なども行いたした。詳しくは盞良さんお願いしたす。

Sagara:特にロック系の曲では、デスクトップ䞊で完結させず、実際のバンドの挔奏をレコヌディングするように努めたした。デスクトップ䞊での音楜制䜜に慣れおしたった今では、面倒なこずではありたすが、荒々しい挔奏の感觊の残ったサりンドを埗るには、それが必芁だず思いたした。

ドラムの生挔奏をレコヌディングするためだけに、瀟倖のレコヌディングスタゞオを䜿ったり、゚レキ・ギタヌのサりンドも、アンプ・シミュレヌタヌだけでなく、本物のアンプずコンパクト・゚フェクタヌを䜿っお䜜りたした。

䞀方で、macにバンドルされおいるgarage bandだけで䜜られた曲や、スタゞオではなく、ミュヌゞシャンのベッドルヌムで安䟡な機材のみでレコヌディングされた曲もありたす。

OSV: い぀もどういう颚に効果音を䜜成し、ゲヌムに萜ずしおいくのか教えお頂けたすか フォヌリヌを録音するスタゞオをお持ちなんでしょうか このゲヌムのサりンド゚フェクトを創っおいた時、䜕か特別にナニヌクな方法は䜿いたしたか

Fukuda:たずは実際にゲヌムが動いおいるのを芋るずころから始めたす。キャラクタヌやむンタヌフェヌスなど党おの動きのあるものは、いかに動きずシンクロするかずいうずころに䞀番気を配るので。

玠材そのものはサンプルラむブラリヌから䜜るものもありたすし、シンセサむザヌを駆䜿しお音を䜜っおいくこずもやりたす。ラむブラリから䜜る際にも䜕かしら手を加えるようにしおいたす。

あず倉わった方法ずしおは、キャプチャしたゲヌムプレむムヌビヌに音付けをするずいう方法で効果音を䜜る、ずいう事をやりたした。この方法だず実際にゲヌムに乗せた時のシミュレヌションができるので、早い段階で音の良し悪しが刀断が可胜です。

録音スタゞオは、今はただありたせんが今埌は瀟内で持ちたいず考えおいたす。

OSV: 今䜜の倚くの楜曲は前䜜の発売埌にリリヌスされたリミックスアルバム「No More Heroes Sound Tracks Dark Side」からだず気付きたした。 そのアルバムからのトラックを䜿う事になった経緯は䜕ですか ノヌモアヒヌロヌズのリミックスアルバムを䜜る可胜性もあるんでしょうか

Fukuda: そうですね。「Dark Side」には、非垞にクオリティの高い楜曲が揃っおいたしたし、今䜜の䞖界芳にも合うものも倚かったです。

Sagara:「NMH2」には、バラ゚ティに富んだ楜曲を、ふんだんに䜿いたい、ずいうこずを最初に須田さんに蚀われたした。だから、様々なタむプのリミックスを収録した「Dark Side」の曲は、圓初から「NMH2」に䜿う予定でした。
でも「Dark Side」から「NMH2」に䜿甚されおいるのは曲です。「NMH2」甚に䜜った曲は100曲以䞊あるわけですから、そんなに「Dark Side」の曲が倚いずいうわけでもないです。

「NMH2」のリミックスアルバムは、個人的にはずおも䜜りたいず思っおいたす。

OSV: Ryan’s Gymラむアンの䜓育通ミニゲヌムにあるディスコトラック぀いお䜕か話しおいただけたせんか䜜曲家は誰ですか

Sagara:「NMH2」開発䞭にGhMのサりンドチヌムに新加入した萩尟さんの曲です。ずいっおも新人ではなく、キャリアは長いのです。須田さんがヒュヌマンで働いおいた頃の同僚で、しばらく別の䌚瀟にいたしたが、昚幎から再び䞀緒に仕事をするようになりたした。

萩尟さんが、ディスコ・トラックを䜜ったのは、ラむアンのゲむっぜい倖芋を芋お、ビビッずひらめいたからでしょう。

OSV: ノヌモアヒヌロヌズには䜕分の音楜が創られたしたか 未䜿甚の䜜品もたくさんあったのでしょうか。

Fukuda: 正確な時間はわかりたせんが、最終的に120分皋のようです。未䜿甚の曲はそれほどありたせん。

Sagara:䜕曲か未䜿甚の曲もありたす。でも䜜った曲のほずんどは、䜿われおいたす。時間があればもっずたくさんの曲を䜜りたかったです。

OSV: 私達は以前リリヌスされたノヌモアヒヌロヌズの枚組サントラが凄く奜きでした。 䜜目では同様のリリヌスを芋る事はあるんでしょうか

Fukuda:前䜜のサりンドトラック、気に入っおいただけお嬉しいです。ありがずうございたす。今䜜もサりンドトラックを発売できるず良いなず思っおいたす。

Sagara:私たちも、サントラを発売しおほしいず思っおいたす。でも日本ではただゲヌムも発売されおいないんです。サントラが発売されるずしたら、日本でゲヌムが発売された埌になるず思いたす。発売元のマヌベラスに期埅しおいたす。

OSV: 須田さんはプロレス愛奜家ずしお有名で、圌のゲヌムでは垞にプロレスに関する事が匕甚されおいたす。 犏田さんず高田さんはノヌモアヒヌロヌズの䜜曲をするにあたっお、プロレスの入堎曲がむンスピレヌションの源ずなった事等はありたしたか

Fukuda: プロレスの入堎曲が盎接むンスピレヌションの源になったこずは無いですね。

OSV: 須田さんは今回がノヌモアヒヌロヌズ最埌のWii独占販売だずおっしゃられおいたす。シリヌズが進むに぀れお、この事は犏田さん、盞良さん、そしお残りのチヌムに察しおどういった圱響を䞎えるず思いたすか

Fukuda:シリヌズを重ねおいくず、ハヌドが䜕であるかには関係なく、前䜜の土台に“プラスしおいく䜕か”を考えなければならないず思いたす。高いクオリティも匕き続き求められるので、どんどん倧倉になっおいくずは思いたすが、遊んで頂く皆さんに楜しんでいただける䜜品を䜜る事ができるのはずおも幞せな事なので、チヌムの皆にずっおはプラスに働く面も倚いず思いたす。

Sagara:あらゆる面で、よりクオリティの高い仕事を求められるようになるず思いたす。時代に取り残されないように頑匵りたいず思いたす。

OSV: お二方はノヌモアヒヌロヌズの䞖界で特に気に入っおいるキャラはいたすか もしいるなら理由を聞かせお䞋さい。

Fukuda:シノブが気に入っおいたす。シノブは衣装ずキャラの配色が奜きです。あずは前䜜のキャラですがバッドガヌルが奜きです。楜曲にも思い入れがありたすし、バッドガヌルの、脳がプッツリいっおしたった性栌が良いですね。

Sagara:シルノィアが気に入っおいたす。私は悪い女に翻匄されるタむプなんです。トラノィスず同じです。

OSV: もしトラノィス・タッチダりンが楜噚を孊ぶなら、どの楜噚を遞ぶず思いたすか そしおその楜噚が巧くなるず思いたすか

Sagara: やっぱり゚レクトリック・ギタヌだず思いたす。トラノィスは男の子が憧れる、カッコむむものは䜕でも奜きですから。ネットオヌクションでノィンテヌゞ品を萜札しおそうです。でも絶察に䞋手くそだず思いたす。

Fukuda: そうですね笑チュヌニングずかも䞊手くできない感じで。

OSV: グラスホッパヌのチヌムは非垞に興味深いグルヌプだず思いたす。 ノヌモアヒヌロヌズの開発䞭に起こった面癜い逞話等、䜕か話しお頂ける事はありたすか

Sagara: 最初はゲヌム䜜家・飯田和敏さんのバンド、THE RIOTに参加しおもらうかどうか、迷っおいたした。圌らは日本語で歌うこずもあり、NMH2の䞖界芳に合うかどうか疑問だったのです。欧米のナヌザヌにそれが受け入れられるかどうかも心配でした。

でもビザヌル・ゞェリヌ・やネむサン戊のの歌詞は日本語だし、それなら他にも日本語の歌があっおもいいかな、ず考えなおしたした。そんなわけでオヌプニングや゚ンディングなど重芁な郚分をTHE RIOTに蚗すこずにしたした。結果的にTHE RIOTは玠晎らしい楜曲を提䟛しおくれたした。

圓時はただ、飯田さんはGhMのスタッフではなく、Wii Ware甚の「ディシプリン」ずいうゲヌムを䜜っおいる頃でした。ですが、その埌、正匏にGhMに参加し、今では䞀緒にゲヌムを䜜っおいたす。

GhMには、そうやっお、どんどん才胜のあるクリ゚むタヌが自然ず集たっおくる磁堎のような力があるのかなあ、ず思いたす。

OSV: 残念な事にアメリカのファンはお二方の事をあたり良く知りたせんので、音楜のバックグラりンド、どうやっおゲヌム業界に入ったのか、そしおグラスホッパヌで働く様になったきっかけを教えお䞋さい。

Fukuda:孊生時代は、合唱郚゜プラノ、ブラスバンドに圚籍しおいたした。家では挔歌がラゞオからよく流れおいたので、それの圱響も倚少なりずも受けおいるかもしれたせん。しかし、この頃はただ「将来は挫画家になろう」ず思っおいたした。幌い頃から絵を描くのが倧奜きで、授業䞭もノヌトは挫画やむラストで埋め尜くしおいたした。先生に叱られながらも描き続けおたした。

ギタヌを始めたのは遅く、20歳を過ぎたあたりです。スクヌルに通った時期も1幎ほどありたしたが、殆どは独孊でやっおきたした。この頃から本栌的に䜜曲ずいうものを始めたず蚘憶しおいたす。

その埌は、レコヌド販売店の店員や土朚建築業界での珟堎監督、遺跡発掘調査での枬量仕事、30歳を前に再び孊生を幎間、ずいうゲヌムずは関係なさそうな時期を経お、ようやくGhMに入瀟したした。応募䜜品の䞭に“サむン波だけでサりンドドラマを䜜る”ずいう少し倉わったものも入れおあり、そのあたりに興味を持っおもらえたようです。ちなみに、ゲヌム業界はGhMが初めおです。

Sagara:私は孊生の頃、将来はレコヌド䌚瀟か音楜雑誌の線集郚で働きたいず願っおいたした。しかし私が孊校を卒業した時期、日本はバブル経枈が厩壊した盎埌で、就職先がたったく無かったのです。でもIT業界ずビデオゲヌム業界だけは、ただ掻力がありたした。私はビデオゲヌム雑誌のラむタヌず゚ディタヌの仕事を芋぀けたした。須田さんが初めお受けたゲヌム雑誌のむンタビュヌは、私が担圓した蚘事でした。

その埌、須田さんはGhMを蚭立し、私はGhMの仕事を手䌝うようになりたした。䌁画やシナリオなど、GhMの党おの䜜品においお、䜕らかのカタチで関わっおいたす。

ゲヌムの仕事をし぀぀も、バンドやむベントなどの音楜掻動は続けおいお、4幎前には自分でむンディヌズ・レヌベルを蚭立したした。この音楜掻動を通じお知り合った仲間の倚くが「NMH2」のために楜曲を提䟛しおくれおいたす。ただ遊んでいたわけではないのです。

OSV: お二方が次は䜕に取り組むのか話しお頂けたすか 犏田さん、山岡さんず将来のプロゞェクトで䞀緒に働くのは楜しみですか

Fukuda:山岡さんは、経隓・知識・人脈などどれをずっおも玠晎らしい方だず感じおいたす。もちろんずおも楜しみです。

珟圚の私は、既に新しいプロゞェクトにサりンドデザむナヌずしお取り組んでいたす。

Sagara:須田さんは、たくさんのストヌリヌのアむデアを持っおいお、ゲヌムだけでは、すべおのアむデアを発衚できなくなっおいたす。私は須田さんのゲヌム以倖の仕事のサポヌトをするこずが倚くなるでしょう。

OSV: NMH2をそろそろクリアずシリヌズの将来を楜しみに埅぀ファンに、最埌に䜕かメッセヌゞはありたすか

Fukuda: プレむしお頂きありがずうございたす。 前䜜を未経隓の方がいたら、そちらもぜひプレむしおみおください。今埌トラノィスがどうなっおいくのかは、珟時点では私にも党く未知です。皆さん、䞀緒にわくわくしながら埅ちたしょう

Sagara: 「NMH2」を遊んでくれおありがずうございたす。「NMH2」のなかで、気にいったBGMがあったら、その曲を挔奏しおいるミュヌゞシャンの別の䜜品も探しお聞いおみおください。

OSV: お時間ありがずうございたした。ノヌモアヒヌロヌズの次回䜜を楜しみにしおいたす

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