Yoko Shimomura

Since all of my writing time has been dedicated to a paper for my finals this week I thought I'd upload an older research paper I wrote about one of my favorite composers. It was written about a year or so ago but I think it's still pretty solid. Make sure to listen to the links afterward for the full experience. Enjoy.

Yoko Shimomura

 

What is commonly referred to as “classical” music has come a very long way. Starting from the humblest beginnings of simpler instruments and uncomplicated compositions in the medieval ages, through the more elaborate compositions of the Baroque period, to the unforgettable symphonies and movements of the Classical and Romantic periods; music clearly has a legacy as varied and evolving as history itself. It seems like this legacy has arrived today most commonly (to the mass public at least) alongside the mediums of theatre and film. Asking someone off of the street for the name of a late twentieth century composer, the most common reply would probably be film-scoring mastermind John Williams.

However, Classical music has always had a history of brilliant and artistic minds breaking the mold and norm of society. Therefore, it is not entirely surprising to see someone such as acclaimed composer Yoko Shimomura go a very unique way in creating music not for opera, theatre, or film, but for the growing medium of video games.

Born in the Hyogo prefecture of Japan on October 19, 1967, Yoko Shimomura, like many classical composers before her, took to music at a young age. By only four years old she had started piano lessons and soon after began to compose her own works. In an interview with defunct web-site ‘RocketBaby.net’ Shimomura stated “I don’t remember exactly when it was that I composed my first song. Shortly after I started learning the piano, I remember playing it randomly; I would pretend I was composing new songs.” Unlike many classical composers before her though, young Shimomura had a second love – a love for playing video games. (“Yoko…”)(“RocketBaby…”)

At first, Shimomura set aside her gaming hobby to pursue a career as a piano teacher. In 1988 she graduated from Osaka University of Music while specializing in piano performance. Not completely forgetting her affection for video games, she decided to apply to some video game companies seemingly as a curiosity to see if any would accept her as a game composer. As luck would have it, one of the leading game developers, Capcom, offered her a position. Shimomura made a difficult and extremely bold decision to follow her true dream and accept the position – much to her family, friends, and teachers’ dismay and horror. In the late 80s, video games were not nearly as popular as they are today, and many believed the form of media was still a fad that would soon die off. Determined to prove herself, Shimomura would soon show all those shocked and disappointed with her career decision that she could not only make a living from composing pieces for video games but inspire and spark awe-struck imagination for generations to come. (“Yoko…”)

The same year Shimomura graduated from university she started work with Capcom. For five years she produced unforgettable themes and melodies for over fifteen games including widely popular titles such as Street Fighter II and Breath of Fire. For an avid fan of such composers as Chopin and Beethoven it must have been very strange for her to go from classically trained music to the limited sound output of the Nintendo and Super Nintendo. Evidently these hardware limitations didn’t stop Shimomura. Soon many were humming along the powerful lyrical melodies she had created on mere 8 or 16-bit gaming platforms. Though her compositions were, and still are, widely recognized Shimomura was rarely given credit or recognized for her earlier work. It was not until eight years after joining the game composing world that she began to fully receive the praise she was due. (“Yoko…”)(“Interview…”)

In 1993 Shimomura decided to leave Capcom for another gaming company named ‘Square’ that focused on fantasy and role-playing games (RPGs). Here she began to flourish even further. In 1996 Square partnered with Nintendo to release the classic Super Nintendo title: ‘Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.’ The title was adored by fans partially thanks to Shimomura’s playfully melodic, yet action-oriented, storyline themes. The game seemed like a jumping off point for Shimomura’s career as well as her creativity in musical composition. (“Yoko…”)

Within the span of the next three years Shimomura worked and experimented on several different styles of compositions for unique and intriguing titles ranging from the horror RPG ‘Parasite Eve’ to the magical and whimsical RPG ‘ Legend of Mana.’ Shimomura’s brilliance as a composer presented itself as she successfully mixed chilling ambience, brilliant yet often melancholy and emotional piano work, soothing hymns, and even worked with some vocal sections to create memorable and colorful works. (“Yoko…”)

Finally, after becoming an accomplished name in video game music composition an enormous task was placed on Shimomura’s lap in the form of a collaborative title between Disney and Square for the Sony Playstation 2 entitled Kingdom Hearts. When asked about how she initially felt about the task in the aforementioned “RocketBaby.net” interview Shimomura replied “At first I was like ‘Oh, please don't make me do it.  I'm sorry, but I can't do it.’  I could not imagine what kind of world ‘Kingdom Hearts’ would end up being…therefore, I had no idea what type of music I should write!” Despite her fears she quickly got to work on creating an orchestral masterpiece that both fused familiar Disney melodies and themes into appropriate compositions and created completely original works that fueled the powerful emotions portrayed in the game. After more than six million people got their hands on the title, Yoko Shimomura’s name at last became massively popularized. (“Yoko…”)(“RocketBaby…”)

In the years following Kingdom Hearts’ 2002 release Shimomura decided to further expand her musical creativity and imagination by becoming a freelance game composer (though she often remains tied to Square titles such as the highly acclaimed sequel to Kingdom Hearts). In 2008 she released a jaw-dropping and breathtaking CD entitled ‘Drammatica: The Very Best of Yoko Shimomura’ (a compilation of her game compositions until now) that quickly lead to Grammy-award winning conductor Arnie Roth leading the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in a concert entitled ‘Sinfonia Drammatica.’ (“Yoko…”)(“Sinfonia…”)

Though many would scoff at the idea of a video game music composer it is apparent to see that Shimomura has, and continues to, accomplish what she set out to do. Through the unforgettably emotional story-based pieces, to the delightful arrangements of familiar melodies mixed with new themes and tone colors, to the brilliantly simply yet undeniably memorable leitmotifs tied to fan-favorite characters there’s no denying that Yoko Shimomura’s bold career decision not only paid off for herself but for the millions who have experienced her works.

A Few of Yoko Shimomura’s Compositions

The early 16-bit music of Street Fighter II:



The original composition of the Playstation 1 title Legend of Mana:



A vocally powered haunting orchestration from Kingdom Hearts entitled ‘Destati’:



A rearrangement of film composer Danny Elfman’s theme for “Nightmare Before Christmas” (also for the Kingdom Hearts series):



An original composition for Kingdom Hearts II entitled “The 13^th Anthology”



If you want more of Yoko Shimomura's jaw-dropping compositions here is a playlist featuring all of the tracks from Drammatica: Drammatica Playlist.

 Works Cited

" Interview: Magical Planet - The Music of Hiroki Kikuta & Yoko Shimomura.”     Gamasutra. August 31, 2008. Web. 18 Dec 2009.<http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=24920>.

"RocketBaby's Interview with Yoko Shimomura." RocketBaby. January 2003. Web. 18 Dec 2009. <http://www.rocketbaby.net/interviews_yoko_shimomura.shtml>.

"Sinfonia Drammatica." Square Enix Music Online. Web. 18 Dec 2009.<http://www.squareenixmusic.com/features/reports/sinfoniadrammatica.shtml>.

"Yoko Shimomura: Biography." Square Enix Music Online. August  16, 2008. Web. 18 Dec 2009. <http://www.squareenixmusic.com/composers/shimomura/biography.shtml>.