Akira Yamaoka Interview W/ Fan Questions
 

Hey. We're planning on conducting an interview of Akira Yamaoka at music4games.net to coincide with his appearances at the Sydney PLAY! shows.

We plan on featuring questions from fans, so I figured I'd ask you guys if you had any questions that you'd like answered by Yamaoka-san. I believe that questions by fans always make for the best interviews. Feel free to reply here an I'll collect up all the questions and compile them before his trip to Sydney!

how about...

"Which exact tracks did you compose for Sparkster on SNES?"

(I specifically want to know if he's responsible for that catchy Steel Works track.)

Think he'll remember the exact tracks? Perhaps I can ask more vaguely about his involvement with Sparkster.

Hmm, Ok, I've got one.

What other games would you like to work on?

or

What other game soundtracks has he enjoyed?

I like those! Keep 'em coming, people! There has to be more fans out there. ;)

Here's one I'm dying to know...

Do you plan to do another solo album, particularly rock oriented?

What does he consider his greatest work (either a single track or a complete soundtrack)?

How long does it take him to compose a soundtrack?

And I want the extended version of "Theme of Laura" with this thrilling guitar solo from the E3 trailer released as a bonus track on the 0rigins album (of course without the annoying background sound effects). Be sure to tell him that. ;)

DITTO THAT!! He has done various versions of Theme of Laura and Promise for the trailers that was never put in the soundtrack. WE WANT THOSE!

Good ones... I'm jotting these down. There has to be more, though. I can think of a few generic ones, but I want some that are specific to the projects he's worked on!

I like to know also what it was like working on the SH vocal tracks with Mary Elizabeth Mcglynn. And if its possible to maybe do a solo vocal album with her. When they collborate, its just haunting and beautiful.

Slight variation on this: what kinds of music (ie: genres) would you like to work on?

How did he find moving into vocal themes for the series? Was it difficult to keep the feel of the previous music while implementing lyrics?

How does he decide what to use as a musical influence for each game? As in, each game is clealy influenced by different styles of music, SH2 is more American rock where SH3 is more Brit-Pop, how does he decide "this should have a brit-pop feel"?

Please, not more than one generic question like "How did you get involved with game music?", that's just not what he deserves. And what the community deserves, seeing as how it's one of the few quances to actually speak to him.
I'll try to think of a few more, just give me some more time.

How did you find Melissa Williamson/Mary Elizabeth McGlynn?

Which game in the series is your personal favourite and which character do you particularly like?

(probably NDA'd, but anyway): Have you already begun working on the Silent Hill 5 soundtrack?

What were your tasks as the producer of Silent Hill 4 The Room?

Where you happy with the way the Silent Hill movie turned out?

Will you be involved in the development of the second movie? (wink, wink)

Silent Hill Wii? (who didn't see this coming from one mile ago?) Tell him that there is an audience for such a title. Hey, I'd buy it! Multiple copies!

The work of which artists did influence the music of Silent Hill?

Why did you go for noise music instead of just a usual ambient horror soundtrack as in Biohazard?

Can you imagine turning away from that kind of music for a future Silent Hill game? Can you imagine a game without any background music alltogether?

What do you think is more important? The sound design (instrument bank) of the game or the compositions itself?

When composing the tracks for the first Silent Hill, did you think people will buy the music on CD later? Was that an aspect to consider for the future Silent Hill soundtracks? Where there commercial guidelines by Konami?

Prime Blue:

You can find the answers to some of your questions on the Making of Silent Hill movies. I know there are ones for SH2 and SH3 at least. Try checking YouTube for them.

Additional Spam:
Well I would be disappointed in the possibility of him knowing and you not being specific enough, but ask about it however you are comfortable. Pretty much any details about his work on the game (and other early games he has worked on) would be appreciated.

Prime blue:

The making of SH2 and SH3 can be found on this site.

http://shm.silenthillfever.com/

Go to the respective game and click MOVIE.

Some of your Qs like Mary Elizabeth and comparison to Resident Evil is already answered in them.

Thanks everyone. I will be submitting the questions in the next day or so. I'll be sure to let you know when the interview is published!

If its not too late, and its not already covered by Kairi Li's link to the making of Silent Hill, I have a couple questions:

1. Can you describe what motivated you in making the Silent Hill soundtrack (On the first/second games)?

2. What sort of methods do you use in the creation of your music, such as composing in a specific environment, listening to other music for inspiration, or something else?

3. What advice could you give for others who which to compose for game titles?

So, was there an interview?

Questions were submitted, and we're just waiting for everything to go through Konami. =) I'll be sure to link when the interview goes live.

Awesome, can't wait! :D

Same here. Thank you very much. :)

Any news yet? Or is it still in the acquisition phase?

STILL waiting, my friend. =)

Sorry about the wait, hopefully Konami won't take out all the good responses, as they tend to do quite frequently.

Wow, they seem to be quite bureaucratic when it comes to interviews.

Well, there's a lot more coming... we have a lot of stuff planned, so be sure to stay tuned. Trust me, though. I'll post here immediately when the interview is published!