The creation of the Shenmue OST is based on buddhist sutras so I believe you.
Suzuki: Since Shenmue is a game you play at a relaxed pace, we wanted music that wouldn’t be too noisy or distracting to the player. That’s why I told Mitsuyoshi, “why don’t you try listening to some sutras first.” (laughs) For example, take the babbling of a stream, the sound of footsteps, or a bird’s warbling… these are sounds that no one is bothered by, and they have no melody to them. But to the extent that there is a melody, after listening to it for 3 or 4 hours, it will start to wear on your mind and annoy you… as such, my closest image for the music of Shenmue was buddhist sutras. There’s something mysterious about them, and I asked Mitsuyoshi to try and match that image.
Mitsuyoshi: What I tried to achieve for Shenmue was not “Takenobu Mitsuyoshi’s music.” Rather, I tried to find the melody that lies in the sound effects themselves, something that used sound effects for melody and rythym. When you design the music for an arcade game, your goal is to get the customer in the game center to stop and take notice of your game. Basically, its kind of like you’re trying to make a “commercial” for the game: how many people can you draw in, in the short span of time they hear the music? That was what I pursued, compositionally, in my previous work.
With Shenmue I’m creating the total opposite. It’s music that you don’t really notice, but if it wasn’t there, the scene would feel barren. It was very nuanced, detailed work, and very challenging in many ways. But because the scale of this project was so large, it did afford me a lot of opportunities to experiment. As a composer I feel like I leveled up in a big way.
Still unreal from a guy who made the OST of the Virtua, Sega Rally, Daytona and Sega Touring Cars.
Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 1:58 pm
