Creating Fear: Interview with Akira Yamaoka (Konami)Date published: 2014.07.30 Composer of the soundtrack of several KONAMI games such as Sparkster, Contra and Gradius, Akira Yamaoka is mostly known for his work on Silent Hill, as a composer for 7 titles of the series and as a producer for Silent Hill 3 and 4. 1) How did you become a musician? Was it a childhood dream? During my school years, I was planning to be a designer by majoring in architecture and product design. One day, I bought a computer for my study and design, and it came with a pre-installed music software. The software was not really advanced at all, but I found myself enjoying making some music with it. It was like a hobby, just for fun. Eventually, I began sending some tracks created on the software for competitions and won various prizes. While winning such awards and prizes, I had an opportunity to meet a music and video game producer who offered me some music writing jobs and it became the beginning of the music career I have today. I honestly did not feel music was my final occupation, and I would maybe be a designer someday. 2) Were you interested in video games when you started working for KONAMI? Yes, I've always loved video games, from PC to console games, and that is one reason I got into composing music for games. 3) What was your method when working on titles such as Sparkster, Contra or Gradius? Did you play the games before composing to get to know the title? Yes, I played every game before composing. Usually, I play on the right monitor and work on the left one at the same time. This is my method. As a game producer, I think that playing games and synchronizing with the users by experiencing what they will be experiencing is always extremely important. 4) How did you start working on Silent Hill? In the beginning, KONAMI was planning to make a horror game. The project team was organized with people called from different projects in the company at the time. Back then, we were going to use the plot of a pre-existing novel instead of an original script. However, due to issues with IP (Intellectual Property) rights, we could not make it, and that's how we came up with the original horror story of "Silent Hill". 5) Music is such an important part on creating the unique atmosphere of Silent Hill. What was the process behind the creation of the Silent Hill soundtracks? I was thinking a lot about game soundtracks before Silent Hill and I thought it was lacking creativity. What I wanted to do with Silent Hill was to reinvent the style of game music creation and change the rules. Instead of predictable BGM, I tried to play only atmospheric sounds or to use noise when an enemy appears. The "Music in Silent Hill" is the result of attempts to get people sense fear and hatred without visual signs but with symbolic sound. 6) How would you describe the Silent Hill soundtracks? I think the Silent Hill soundtracks are a unique style in the genre. It came not only for “changing the existing game music style,” but also for something that challenges a new music style in video game. 7) How did you become the producer of Silent Hill 3 and 4? Did it make your work as a composer easier? Basically I like horror and I'm interested in the horror genre. I began participating in the Silent Hill series as a sound designer originally, but I was also sharing my opinions on the project, about the game structure and creation, and this process brought me the opportunity to be a producer for the saga. Even as a sound designer, you have to know and understand everything about game production including the meaning and message of the game because every part of it requires sound. Regarding seeing and understanding the entire project, the roles of a producer and sound designer are quite similar. However, producer is a tough position because he/she also needs to manage people in a team, and that requires a different set of skills and capabilities than the ones needed for a sound designer. 8) Can you tell us about your collaboration with Mary Elizabeth McGlynn? I wanted to include vocal music in Silent Hill 3. We organized auditions and gathered some samples, but we didn't really find someone that fitted with my image for the vocals. During the audition, one agent introduced me to a ADR director who was taking samples for the audition. It was Mary. Mary is a really skilled and talented voice actress and director. Her personality is wonderful and she has a voice that can portray so many emotions when singing. It's been more than 10 years since I decided to collaborate with her for those reasons. 9) What is your favourite soundtrack? One of my favourite composers is Woody Jackson. His soundtrack of “Red Dead Redemption” really is an emotional work. Woody’s ideas in his music are always creative and new to people. It makes me feel that his notion of "new" is similar to mine. 10) Does Silent Hill scare you as a game? What do you think makes Silent Hill such a popular horror game? It sure is scary to me. The feeling of fear is strongly influenced by the culture, the same for comedies and humour. Sometimes it scares Japanese people but not foreigners, and vice versa. From this point of view, it seems Silent Hill differs itself from other popular horror games. And I feel this is really a unique genre in horror. Even though it was not meant to be popularized horror, it came to become popular because of its strong sense of uniqueness. 11) Are you a horror fan? What is your favourite horror movie? I am a big fan of Dario Argento. Suspiria is my favourite movie ever. I don’t like zombies that much because what I'd like to see in works are expressions and themes in mentalities and emotions. Although it is not horror, I also like works describing the perversity of humanity as shown in “Das Experiment”. 12) What is your favourite video game? Deadlight (Tequila Works), and Beyond: Two Souls. I love those games because they create an experience that goes beyond the category of game. 13) What are your upcoming projects? Maybe in the near future, I will bring you something new and exciting! |
