Liner note by Nobuo Uematsu, Junya Nakano and Masashi Hamauzu. Translated by Etoh.

Nobuo Uematsu Linear Notes

I realized that the FF series has already gone into its 10th installment! If I think back 14 years from now, way back in 1987, that was the day FF1 was first announced. I started producing for the game when I was about 27 years old, now I’m almost 42. Life is long, and I’m not young anymore. I remember back during my Junior High school days, embracing my favorite popstar idols such as Elton John, Paul McCartney etc, it was a time of being carefree.

As I grew out of that stage of my life, I sort of lost touch with their music. Recently, as planned, I started to listen to the music of these great artistes again, calmly all alone by myself. I went to compare my own works with the music of my idols as a measure of the level of ‘accomplishment’ my works have reached. For my case, there are some which are great and some that are not so, but ALL my idols’ works are just brilliant and not a single one that sounds blemished. I feel that the best music comes from the hippy era of the 70s where people expressed themselves fully through the sound of music. But on a previous occasion while I was driving in my car, I was tuning the bass level of a particular song, and realized the other fine nuances of other instruments that made up that song. This song is sheer genius! I said to myself, shocked at the accidental discovery. I went on to experiment the same procedure with CDs of other artistes, muting off the piano rhythm, it’s easy to mistake the music progression. I tried this again CD after CD, weening out those great works apart from the bad ones. It really has become my latest obsession, really. You can pick up traces where the artistes were not prepared enough and were not in the right mind to perform or sing. These ‘evidences’ is recorded down forever. Of course, popstars are human too. But I do feel a little sad that these so-called idols of my past whom I thought were perfect, actually faltered. As if I was God high up in the sky, calmly and rationally judging these artistes’ failures. Of course, these people left behind a legacy and inspired better artistes following along their paths. But whoever emerges with true worth, is like a race where everyone starts off together at the start-line and struggles towards the goal. I felt myself standing among those at that starting-line. The possibility of me writing songs of the style of Beetles remains open. As I worked on the music for FFX, maybe I can find out for myself the direction where my music is heading for in the future?

A pity isn’t it, me not knowing where my music stand until now.

Junya Nakano Linear Notes

This year is my 10th year in the music business. In the beginning, I was in a particular Game company in Kobe producing music for arcade games. Because arcade games are played on arcade machines situated inside amusement centers, there are certain criteria to meet for such soundtracks. Firstly, sound projection. Secondly, easy to remember. Then I listen to the music directly and think to myself, was it presented nicely? There are other factors involved, such as the surrounding environment such games are gonna be played in. Once the song was screened in this manner and I feel good about it, then I’ll proceed to work on the next song. Such a method I found to be highly effective, and I hoping for a more dynamic sound sampling, I gradually experimented with various DJ-ing techniques to incorporate into my work.

Such music do indeed sound good on first listen. But on subsequent listens, one tends to feel that the style of the music doesn’t seem original, like it had been used before, and the meaning and expressions of the music differs with different opinions. There’s bound to have someone out there who thinks they have a better idea and wanting to ‘challenge’ the composer. With that in mind, I try to put myself into the shoes of these people and try to add more original upbeat rhythm and consider more factors which could contribute to the success of a song. (But in reality when I’m busy, it’s hard to find time to consider so many factors.)

The use of more dynamic sounds has no boundaries and I do borrow materials and try to adopt them inside my music, then calling it my own. This was how I do things back 10 years ago, I enjoyed my work but as it continued more and more adds into my '‘recipe book'’of music. But, ever since I’ve joined Square 5 years ago in the realm of console games, my way of thinking changed.

As opposed to an arcade machine, you don’t need to consider the audibility of the music for console games, since such games are enjoyed in the comforts of home. From the point of view of a game music composer, the way the music presents itself in the game and the melody of it holds the utmost priority during the planning and composing period. I have to listen to the track repeatedly to ensure it still sounds OK after repeated loopings. Although some of my ideas have changed through the years, but as far as my involvement in Square works are concerned, I still stick to my original principle, to create a vibrant and dynamic feel in the music from my heart. This time, for the music in FFX, I have gathered all my years of experience I’d nutured and it was a big challenge for me to compose for something as big as FF series. I feel I have given out my all for this, therefore not only should you try playing the game, but I hope you’ll get the sense of contentment while listening to this CD.

Masashi Hamauzu Linear Notes

There was once when anime composers say that It pays to listen carefully to what kind of music kids listen to, and get good inspiration and ideas they provide. Pre-war nursery rhymes made in the past have been past down through generations unchanged, even though it had been adapted to different forms of media, and that is how I would like to achieve for game music too. But you cannot escape from the vicious cycle of ‘if only maybe could be better’ comments, never will there be a situation where the listeners is so moved with gratitude. It’s always an uphill task to keep the quality of music at the top. It was a synch going through the era of using MIDI in the past but that kind of mainstream is hard to make a mark in history. Stepping on what was in the past, whenever I receive a request to work on music, I always think of the listeners first in mind, then I feel responsible in making sure they will be satisfied with what they would hear. But of course in reality, such a thing is not easy to implement, the knowledge to create music like a Pro never really came. As much as I want to oppose against MIDI, I would think to myself what would be that one thing which could replace it to create something that makes people exclaim that ‘it must be the work of a professional.

People also tend to stray off from the ideas and expressions in the music which a composer is trying to convey. Of course taking ideas from other people would not create anything new or interesting at all. Once people interpret the piece in a different way, unless one knows the origins of the song, there’s no way he can tell the meaning from it. If they start asking who the composer was composing for and what he was trying to convey, then it’s a sign that a composer is failing. It’s very stressful to work knowing such a scenario can happen to me any time. Many a times I told myself to let out any ideas from my head, however trivial it might be. For the moment, I try to make a ear-stopping track, glaring hard at the piano, thinking of ways to spice up the composition, making it sound more ‘alive’. It has to be so great that when one gets older and play those works on the piano again, the image of me would appear. But the potential of game music is still very much untapped. It’s like being plonked in the middle of the huge Sphere Board, with a wide area of growth available. Think of it as either someone who’s trying to provide music for many ‘children’ out there, or someone who’s taking music to greater heights, either way what I’m doing is to enjoy the music myself. As someone who is always enjoying himself, it was also great fun to work in FFX too. What’s there to hide? I was also a gaming youth in the past, and I had enjoyed games from FF1 of 1987 up to the real-time games of today. In sync with the start of the 10th installment of the FF series, I too turned on my ‘boosters’ to full strength. If there ever has a chance like this again, I’ll take up the challenge and promise you all some fine results (although I’ll be putting more pressure on myself too).