Shenmue Master Interview with Shenmue Music Composers

[Sonoshee]

Shenmue Master has released an exclusive interview with Shenmue music composers Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, Yuzo Koshiro, and Ryuji Iuchi.

Links: Interview | Shenmue Music

[ys]

Great interview. I work with music and sound production at times so it was nice to see the sound department getting some attention. Often the general public doesn't realize the importance of sound in games/movies.
I can also imagine how stressful the meetings were. Dealing with deadlines/demands (for mixing and mastering) can be tough sometimes. But composing something worthwile weekly is certainly quite some pressure. Yu apparently pushes them as much as the programmers and artists.

Great stuff. This really captures part of the process. Getting inspired and quickly recording the idea before it is gone.

So the song you are talking about is not “Sedge Tree” but “A New Journey”.
This song is one that left a deep impression on me. At the start of the project, we went on a research trip, gathering material as we followed the actual path taken in the story by the protagonist Ryo. The melody came to me during the trip, as I was looking down at the mountains of China from the cabin of a domestic flight from Fuzhou to Shanghai. I hurriedly recorded it by humming into a portable recorder I was carrying for recording sounds of the environment. After I got back to Japan I overlaid my own voice to create the song.