Hitoshi Sakimoto (崎元 仁, Sakimoto Hitoshi; born February 26, 1969) is a Japanese music composer and sound designer. He is most famous for creating the music for the video games Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII, although he has also composed music for many other games. Sakimoto began playing music and playing video games when he was young and started working as a professional music composer in 1988. He worked for the video game company Square from 1998 to 2000. In 2002, he started his own music and sound production company called Basiscape.

Biography

Sakimoto was born on February 26, 1969, in Tokyo, Japan. He developed an interest in music during elementary school, when he taught himself to play the piano and electronic organ. He also joined brass and rock bands. He enjoyed video games and began creating his own games with friends in junior high school. During high school, he wrote for a computer magazine called Oh!FM and collected information about music he liked. He described himself as a fan of computers, games, and music.

Sakimoto started composing music for games at age 16. He was paid to create both the music and the program that played it for several games. This was his first time composing music for any instrument. His first professional job as a game composer was in 1988, when he and his friend Masaharu Iwata created the music for the shooter game Revolter, published by ASCGroup for the NEC PC-8801. Sakimoto also developed a synthesizer driver called "Terpsichorean" to improve the sound quality of the game. This driver was used in many games in Japan during the early 1990s. Although Revolter was successful, Sakimoto wanted to become a video game programmer instead of a composer. However, friends and colleagues encouraged him to continue composing. His work helped launch his career in the gaming industry.

After Revolter, Sakimoto’s music and synthesizer driver gained attention in the industry. He was asked to compose music for several PC-9801 and Mega Drive games, such as Starship Rendezvous and Gauntlet IV. He also used his driver in his own scores and for other games. Between 1990 and 1992, Sakimoto worked on over 20 video games for companies like Toshiba EMI, Artec, and Data East. In 1990, he composed his first solo score for Bubble Ghost.

Sakimoto’s first major success in Japan came in 1993 with the game Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen. The game was directed by Yasumi Matsuno, and Sakimoto became a regular collaborator on Matsuno’s projects at Quest and later Square. That year, he also worked on 14 other titles, including Shin Megami Tensei and Alien vs. Predator. Over the next few years, he composed or worked on more than 40 games, such as Tactics Ogre. In 1997, he composed the score for Final Fantasy Tactics, which made him internationally famous. This led to him joining Square as an employee, where he worked on Vagrant Story, his only score as a Square employee. After leaving Square in 2000, he became a freelancer and composed music for Breath of Fire V and Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis for Capcom and Quest. In 2002, after planning for a few years, he founded his own music production company, Basiscape.

Basiscape is a music and sound production studio started by Sakimoto in 2002. The company has worked on video games, anime, and films. Sakimoto left Square to start Basiscape because he wanted more freedom in choosing projects. When it was founded, the company had three members: Sakimoto, Iwata, and Manabu Namiki. Through Basiscape, Sakimoto continued to compose for companies like Square Enix. The company grew in the mid-2000s with the addition of Mitsuhiro Kaneda, Kimihiro Abe, Noriyuki Kamikura, Yoshimi Kudo, and Azusa Chiba. Employees are allowed to take on personal projects and collaborate with others. In 2009, Basiscape launched a record label.

Sakimoto has also worked on non-gaming projects. He contributed one song each to the albums Ten Plants (1998) and 2197 (1999), which include music from well-known artists. In 2005, he collaborated with singer Lia to create the album Colors of Life. He composed music for two anime series: Romeo x Juliet (2007) and The Tower of Druaga: The Aegis of Uruk (2008). He also composed the music for the original video animation (OVA) Legend of Phoenix ~Layla Hamilton Monogatari~ in 2005.

Performances

Sakimoto has attended many video game concerts where his music was performed. In July 2006, he joined Yoko Shimomura and Michael Salvatori as special guests at a Play! A Video Game Symphony event held at Orchestra Hall in Detroit. He has worked closely with the Australian-based Eminence Symphony Orchestra. Sakimoto and Yasunori Mitsuda appeared as guests at an Eminence event called Passion in December 2006. In April 2007, Sakimoto performed at Eminence's A Night in Fantasia 2007: Symphonic Games Edition, where three of his compositions were played. In July 2007, Sakimoto and Mitsuda worked with Eminence to create a concert called Destiny: Reunion, which was held only in Japan. Eminence released two studio albums: Passion (2006) and Destiny: Dreamer's Alliance (2007). These albums include music from the Passion and Destiny: Reunion concerts. At the Fantasy Comes Alive concert in Singapore in April 2010, "Penelo's Theme" from Final Fantasy XII and a collection of pieces from Final Fantasy Tactics A2 were performed.

Musical style and influences

Sakimoto creates his music by first playing the pieces briefly on the piano. He then uses a computer to make more detailed arrangements. His music style is mostly orchestral, meaning it sounds like a full orchestra. He uses a sequencer, which is a computer program, to create the orchestral sound instead of hiring a real orchestra because it is very expensive. When making a video game soundtrack, Sakimoto first meets with the game's director or producer to understand the emotions they want the game to create. He then makes a demo for them and writes music that matches those feelings. He says his composition style stays the same whether he works on video games or anime series, but the tone of the music changes. He says changes in his style over time are because he wants to keep learning and improving his skills. He believes that if a person does not grow and change their style over time, "you've wasted your time."

Sakimoto says his biggest musical influences are old techno and progressive rock groups, such as the Japanese synthpop group Yellow Magic Orchestra. When he started in music, he used the pseudonym "YmoH.S," which is a reference to Yellow Magic Orchestra. He also mentions the American jazz musician Chick Corea as an important influence. While working on the music for Final Fantasy XII, his biggest inspiration was Nobuo Uematsu, a composer who has worked on previous games in the series. Sakimoto enjoys listening to techno and jazz fusion music when he is not working. He sometimes gets ideas while relaxing at home, but he says his best ideas come when he is in his studio and focused. He named Vagrant Story as one of his favorite soundtracks.