Eminence is proud and honoured to bring to you an exclusive interview....

In celebration of Chrono Trigger composer Yasunori Mitsuda’s upcoming appearance in “Passion”, we have taken the opportunity to have a chat with Procyon Studios, Mr. Mitsuda’s own company. Amongst the interviewed are Yoshie Miyajima, production assistant, Junya Kuroda, sound designer and data manipulator, Hidenori Suzuki, sound programmer, Shota Kageyama, composer and arranger, and last but not least, Yasunori Mitsuda. Here’s what they have to say…

Yasunori Mitsuda – Composer, Arranger, Producer

You are currently working on quite a few things at the moment, including Nintendo DS games, a PlayStation 2 game and Wii game. Can you tell us any more about these titles or what music we can expect from them?
Mainly, I'm composing orchestral themes (some are rock) for a PS2 game "Armodyne". This is an SLG game that will be released in February 2007 in Japan. I can't talk about the DS games since they're not announced yet, but I'm composing ethnic scores for which I can make use of my features.

The Chrono Cross Arrange Album has been in development for quite some time now. Can you reveal to eager fans of any information concerning some of the track titles, musicians or arrangement style we can expect to find?
I'm going to release a Chrono Cross arranged album basically with Japanese musicians. I nearly decided who to employ in my mind, but it's still kept a secret (laughs). The direction of this album is national-less, which I'm best at. It will be an album with many factors, so please look forward to it.

You’re serving as a musical producer and co-composer for the game 'Luminous Arc', alongside fellow employee Shota Kageyama, Akari Kaida and Kazumi Mitome. How did you find yourself working with these people on this title? Who can be considered the ‘main composer’? What style will the music be?
When I was offered 'Luminous Arc', I came to finish this project with some other composers since I was so busy and had a severe schedule. So, I contacted Kazumi Mitome who is my musical mate, saying “can you join?” Also, while I wanted to work with new people, Kaida contacted me in time, so I’m like “Let's work together”, and it had gone well. Regarding Kegeyama, he just joined Procyon Studio at that time, and I asked him to join thinking it could also be a lesson for him. I composed just 1 or 2 tracks by myself this time because I thought the important task was to organize these 3 composers together well.

You have attended and even performed in many different live events in Japan, and you were even invited to the premier 'Play! A Video Game Symphony' event in Chicago. What is the most satisfactory thing about attending these events? Are you surprised with the amount of international acclaim you have overseas?
What surprised me the most was no less people from overseas heard my music, and it pleased me so much at the same time. As video games have been getting less popular in Japan but have an exciting time abroad, I think they'll have more chance to hear my music. It's quite wonderful and it can make me more fun and challenging.

Shota Kageyama – Composer and Arranger

You recently joined Procyon Studio only a few months ago. How did you end up working with Mitsuda?
I met Mitsuda for the first time on February 2006 when Mistuda had a seminar in an event hosted by a high school in Nagoya. As I had played Chrono Trigger at the time it was released, was impressed by his music and had a dream to work in the same industry, I was very glad to meet him. Though I gave him a few of my demos at the greeting in the seminar, Procyon Studio happened to recruit composers 2 weeks later. I applied for it and then got employed.

Can you please give us some background information about yourself and your previous works?
I've learnt piano since I was 4 years old and I’ve been interested in composition since elementary school. Around that time, as I've been getting more curious about playing my arrangements and compositions than just looking at score sheets and playing them, I've been starting to compose my original music. In high school club activities, I learnt composition on a PC (aka DTM in Japan) and I published CDs by myself and won awards in competitions. I was positive in band activity and I lived in various places. Along with it, I worked hard in composition. Before joining Procyon Studio, I worked in a certain game company in Japan as a part time sound designer.

Other than Luminous Arc, your debut title as a composer of Procyon Studio, are you working on any other games at the moment?
We can't reveal the title at this point, but I'm responsible for a few tracks in a new project for the Nintendo Wii.

Hidenori Suzuki – Sound Programmer

You currently work as a sound programmer at Procyon Studio. Can you tell us in detail what a sound programmer does? What tools or programming languages do you use in your job?
My main work is to make a program to play sound effects and music on consoles, and to make tools (aka Authoring tools) to create data of them. By ratio, the programming on consoles accounts for 30% and developing tools accounts for 70%. Regarding programming for each console, I use the exclusive equipments other programmers use, and for developing tools, I use general Windows PC or Mac. As for languages, I previously used Assembly language but now I use C++ for almost all parts.

'Seiken Densetsu 3' is often referred to have some of the best sound on the Super Nintendo console and it is your first work. Do you think it as an important work in your career and peharps the reason?
Being asked if that was an important work, I'm afraid your question is slightly wrong. I mean, all works can be important for me because I've always tried to make something the best with my situation, my hardware, my experience and my skill, at that point. Still, since it affected my subsequent ratings so much because it was my first project, it could be an important work in that sense. Also, it's notable that I could work with the composer, Kikuta, on that project. Since he never compromised on the sound and he asked for much in terms of programming, I was much trained.

You have worked on a variety of consoles and systems with your job. Which one have you found the easiest or most enjoyable to work with? Can you comment on each system’s difficulty?
The most awful one was the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The reason is simple but it had the smallest memory and a weak CPU, though I had to make it play as many sounds as possible and have expressive articulations and process. At that time, I just watched the program all the day, rewrote a few lines, and then said “Cool! the program is reduced by 1 byte today!”. Also, the most interesting console is Super Nintendo Entertainment System too. I feel all the more fulfilled because I was bothered by it. In addition, it influenced this so much, I could handle the hardware directly. Later, I've worked on programming for PlayStation 1 and PlayStation 2, as they were alike in the sound part and I could use C programming language, it was by far less challenging than the SNES. Incidentally, the hardest one at this point is to develop tools on PC. The development scale is huge and it needs infinitely more programs than game consoles.

Junya Kuroda – Sound Designer and Data Manipulation

You currently work as a sound designer and manipulator at Procyon Studio. What do these jobs consist of? Can you explain in detail how you would do your job?
My main job is to create sound effects and manipulate data for sequenced music. Also, I determine the speculation (memory allocation and channels management) and manage data of the game. I mean, everything except for composition and sound programming.

What is your absolute favorite work and why?
Hmm...'Saga Frontier' is impressive, not to say my favorite, which was my first work. It has powerful sound and is a very interesting game.

Considering the variety of roles you have done in past, including manipulation, sound effects creation, sound direction and more, what role do you enjoy doing the most? What role do you dislike the most?
It's pleasing to create abstract and ethereal sounds because it surely portrays the personality of the creators. I don't have works I dislike in particular, but my stomach often hurts when working on portable consoles that have large limits on its hardware (laughs).

Yoshie Miyajima – Production Assistant

You currently work as a general manager for the artists within Procyon Studio. Can you tell us what your job consists of, and what your responsibilities are?
That’s a mouthful, but I do various things. From the management of the company organization, Sleigh Bells Label, to things related to mail-order, selling musical scores on Yasunori Mitsuda’s official site... However, as I secretly think, the most important thing is to make the inside of Procyon Studio a cheerful place with smiles (laugh).

You were mostly responsible for a lot of the recent Sleigh Bells releases on iTunes. What sparked this inspiration? Will we see future albums published by iTunes, Sleigh Bells or both?
Since last August (2005) when the Japanese site for iTunes Store was opened, it was referred in the company that we'd like to distribute the Sleigh Bells Label on iTunes. While it took some time to make contact with the distribution side and to negotiate with game companies, where the soundtracks came from, now we're happy because we could safely distribute them since this summer. In November, though only for the Japanese site, 'Xenosaga Episode I' will be distributed too. Needless to say about the soundtracks published by Sleigh Bells, if there are games Mistuda works on without a physical soundtrack, I hope we will release them via iTunes and distribute them to you.

How long have you known and worked with Mitsuda? Have you worked with any other groups or companies prior to your job at Procyon Studio?
Before working in Procyon Studio, I went to a computer specialized training college. So, I've not worked in any organizations or companies beforehand. Just after graduation from the training college in March 2004, I found that Procyon Studio was recruiting a production manager and I applied soon, feeling strangely “Got to apply!” I knew the name of Yasunori Mitsuda as I like video games originally, but it was at the job interview examination when I met him for the first time.

Eminence would sincerely like to thank Yasunori Mitsuda for granting us this exclusive insight into his company and some of the staff who are part of the overall success of Procyon Studios.