QuickNavigation - FF Odyssey Editorials Squaresoft Legends (Part I) - Nobuo Uematsu (Last updated on 11/14/2007)

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Part I - Nobuo Uematsu

By: wsim

    Uematsu. Many FF and RPG fans alike know this legendary composer on a first-name basis. Not only has he done some fantastic themes and compositions for RPGs but for some other video game titles as well. What about the man himself? Well, in this feature special, let us take a closer look at his past and some of the highlights throughout his life. Nobuo Uematsu was born on March 21st, 1959 in Koichi, Japan. The early stages of his composing career began shortly after graduating university. Uematsu started composing various themes for Japanese commercials. In 1986, he joined Squaresoft where he would later compose music for the famed Final Fantasy franchise. The work that he has done for video games is nothing short of influential and pretty inspirational in its own right. One of gaming’s greatest achievements as far as music goes would have to be the theme song to FF VIII: “Eyes on Me” which is performed by Hong Kong female pop star Faye Wong. Uematsu produced and composed the song, which eventually sold over 400,000 copies. This was a record for any video game theme. It even managed to snag an award at Japan’s Gold Disc Awards in 1999, the first time ever that music from a video game has won such an honour.

     However, the main himself has also gained some fame outside of Japan. For his exceptional work for composing music from the FF series and due to the growing popularity of the Final Fantasy franchise, Uematsu was briefly mentioned in one of Time magazine’s features. What makes him so unique is that he gives off a very diverse approach to any composition, especially Final Fantasy. Through the emotion and feel of the different musical styles that are present in the soundtracks, he is capable of producing some fantastic works. Uematsu has been a part of some very successful concert tours in Japan which eventually gave way to the “Dear Friends – music from FINAL FANTASY-“ concert in the US. It featured music from the FF series performed by the Los Angeles master chorale for starters. In February of 2003, Uematsu formed the group known as “The Black Mages” and produced an album composed of FF music which was arranged in a more rockish style. Interestingly enough, he also plays the keyboard in this group. The Black Mages have now released two albums. He also has a column in the popular Japanese magazine Famitsu for the past couple of years now.

     Outside of video games, Uematsu has done some compositions for anime movies as well as writing music for Japanese artists such as Emiko Shiratori and the folk singer Rikki. Some examples of anime movie themes are the theme song to Ah! My Goddess and the theme song to FF Unlimited. It would be far too long to list his entire discography but the wide range of compositions that he has done, whether it be movies or video games firmly cements himself as an influential and legendary music composer.

     Another thing to note is that Uematsu formed his own company in 2004 but he continues to compose music for Final Fantasy along with other game titles as well. Most recently, he is set to compose the theme to FF XIII.

     For more information, you can visit Nobuo Uematsu's official website (English version).