Kumi Tanioka
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese video game music composer
and musician
. She is most known for composing the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
series.
, Japan. She studied music
and composition while in school and enjoyed listening to video game music as her younger brother was a game player. Among the composers she grew familiar with were Square
employees Hitoshi Sakimoto
, Nobuo Uematsu
and Kenji Ito
. Her favorite classical composers at the time were Piotr Paleczny
and Hiromi Uehara. Tanioka attended Kobe University
, where she studied music and joined a choir
. Although she had planned on performing music as a career, during college she became more interested in composing than performance, and in video game composition because of her childhood experiences. After graduating, she joined Square (now Square Enix
) as a composer in 1998.
, Tsuyoshi Sekito
and Kenji Ito
. Her second work in the series was also her first solo soundtrack, that of Dice de Chocobo, a video game adaption of a board game. She composed for two other projects over the next two years, All Star Pro-Wrestling
with Tsuyoshi Sekito and Kenichiro Fukui
and Blue Wing Blitz
by herself. Her first major composing role was in 2002, when she was one of three composers chosen to write the soundtrack to Final Fantasy XI
. Although she did not contribute more than one song to the multiple expansions to the game, during this period she joined The Star Onions, a band made of Square Enix composers that arranges and performs Final Fantasy XI music. The group has released two albums to date.
After Final Fantasy XI, Tanioka returned to the Chocobo series to arrange her Dice de Chocobo soundtrack for the game's remake, Chocobo Land: A Game of Dice. After that, however, she composed what would become her signature soundtrack and the start of a continual series of games, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
. Although she would then go on to write the soundtracks to Code Age Commanders: Tsugu Mono Tsuga Reru Mono
, Code Age Brawls
and Project Sylpheed
, since 2007 she has worked only on the Crystal Chronicles series
, composing the music for four titles from the game's five sequels and spinoffs. On February 28, 2010 Tanioka announced her departure from Square Enix since having the dissolution of their sound production team; she joined the composer's group GE-ON-DAN with many other Square Enix composers like Junya Nakano
. In 2011, she became one of the founding members of Ringmasters, a non-exclusive group of artists and composers.
of the band After Forever
and the Metropole Orchestra.
and renaissance
musical instruments like the recorder
, the crumhorn
and the lute
, creating a distinctively rustic feel, and also follows the practices and styles of medieval music. She says the idea came to her while looking at illustrations of the game world, which gave her the idea of making "world music", where the tracks would "not [be] limited to a single country or culture". For the soundtrack to Ring of Fates, Tanioka tried to focus on "creating a new landscape containing the same atmosphere". She returned to using instruments in an "ethnic manner" again in composing the soundtrack for Echoes of Time. The piano performances in the Ring of Fates soundtrack were done by Kumi Tanioka. She did the performances herself rather than use an outside performer as most Final Fantasy soundtracks have done primarily because she "likes to play piano", and they were done without any sheet music, as she preferred instead to improvise. She took extensive piano lessons as a child, and lists piano and choral music as the biggest influences on her musical style. She also claims to have been influenced by music from a wide variety of cultures, like Indonesian, Irish and Balinese music.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
. She is most known for composing the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (series)
is a series of video games by Square Enix. Created by Akitoshi Kawazu, the Crystal Chronicles series is a spin-off series of the Final Fantasy media franchise, and has so far only appeared on Nintendo consoles.- Titles :...
series.
Early life
Kumi Tanioka was born in HiroshimaHiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
, Japan. She studied music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
and composition while in school and enjoyed listening to video game music as her younger brother was a game player. Among the composers she grew familiar with were Square
Square (company)
was a Japanese video game company founded in September 1983 by Masafumi Miyamoto. It merged with Enix in 2003 and became part of Square Enix...
employees Hitoshi Sakimoto
Hitoshi Sakimoto
is a Japanese video game composer and arranger. He is best known for scoring the games Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII, though he has composed soundtracks for over 70 games and arranged music for more than 40 others. He began playing music and video games in elementary school, and began...
, Nobuo Uematsu
Nobuo Uematsu
is a Japanese video game composer, best known for scoring the majority of titles in the Final Fantasy series. He is considered as one of the most famous and respected composers in the video game community...
and Kenji Ito
Kenji Ito
, also known by the nickname , is a Japanese video game composer and musician. He is best known for his work on the Mana and SaGa series, though he has worked on over 30 video games throughout his career as well as composed or arranged music for over 15 other albums, concerts, and plays...
. Her favorite classical composers at the time were Piotr Paleczny
Piotr Paleczny
Piotr Paleczny is a Polish classical pianist, winner of the 3rd prize of the International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition in 1970....
and Hiromi Uehara. Tanioka attended Kobe University
Kobe University
Shindai is one of the leading universities in Japan. It can be seen in the several rankings such as shown below.-General Rankings:The university is ranked 10th in 2010 in the ranking "Truly Strong Universities" by Toyo Keizai...
, where she studied music and joined a choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
. Although she had planned on performing music as a career, during college she became more interested in composing than performance, and in video game composition because of her childhood experiences. After graduating, she joined Square (now Square Enix
Square Enix
is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...
) as a composer in 1998.
Career
Her first score was the soundtrack to 1998's The Fallen Angels, which she composed with Masaki Izutani. That same year, she composed her first soundtrack to a game in the Chocobo series, Chocobo's Dungeon 2, with Yasuhiro KawakamiYasuhiro Kawakami
is a Japanese video game composer and sound programmer who was employed at Square from 1991 to 1999. He created music for three games and was the sound programmer for Rudra no Hihō...
, Tsuyoshi Sekito
Tsuyoshi Sekito
is a Japanese video game composer, arranger, and musician who has been employed at Square Enix since 1995. As a composer, he is best known for scoring the video games Brave Fencer Musashi and The Last Remnant...
and Kenji Ito
Kenji Ito
, also known by the nickname , is a Japanese video game composer and musician. He is best known for his work on the Mana and SaGa series, though he has worked on over 30 video games throughout his career as well as composed or arranged music for over 15 other albums, concerts, and plays...
. Her second work in the series was also her first solo soundtrack, that of Dice de Chocobo, a video game adaption of a board game. She composed for two other projects over the next two years, All Star Pro-Wrestling
All Star Pro-Wrestling
is a Japan-exclusive professional wrestling video game developed and published by Square on June 8, 2000 for the PlayStation 2. It was the first wrestling game published on this platform....
with Tsuyoshi Sekito and Kenichiro Fukui
Kenichiro Fukui
is a Japanese video game composer and musician. Before working at Square Enix, he was employed at Konami. He is an arranger and a keyboardist in the band The Black Mages, formed in 2003. Additionally, Fukui arranged Angela Aki's "Kiss Me Good-Bye" from Final Fantasy XII. In October 2007, he left...
and Blue Wing Blitz
Blue Wing Blitz
is a Japanese-exclusive tactical role-playing game developed and published by Square on July 5, 2001 for the WonderSwan Color and compatible with the WonderSwan....
by herself. Her first major composing role was in 2002, when she was one of three composers chosen to write the soundtrack to Final Fantasy XI
Final Fantasy XI
, also known as Final Fantasy XI Online, is a MMORPG developed and published by Square as part of the Final Fantasy series. It was released in Japan on Sony's PlayStation 2 on May 16, 2002, and was released for Microsoft's Windows-based personal computers in November 2002...
. Although she did not contribute more than one song to the multiple expansions to the game, during this period she joined The Star Onions, a band made of Square Enix composers that arranges and performs Final Fantasy XI music. The group has released two albums to date.
After Final Fantasy XI, Tanioka returned to the Chocobo series to arrange her Dice de Chocobo soundtrack for the game's remake, Chocobo Land: A Game of Dice. After that, however, she composed what would become her signature soundtrack and the start of a continual series of games, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
is a action role-playing game for the Nintendo GameCube. It was published by Nintendo and developed by The Game Designers Studio, a shell corporation for Square Enix's Product Development Division-2. A spin-off of the Final Fantasy series, the game spawned a metaseries of the same name...
. Although she would then go on to write the soundtracks to Code Age Commanders: Tsugu Mono Tsuga Reru Mono
Code Age Commanders: Tsugu Mono Tsuga Reru Mono
is a Japan-exclusive action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix on October 13, 2005 for the PlayStation 2. It is part of the Code Age series, a franchise created by video game artist Yusuke Naora and designed to span different interweaved titles in multiple platforms and media...
, Code Age Brawls
Code Age Brawls
is a video game developed by Square Enix for mobile phones and is part of the Code Age franchise. It follows a woman on another world who has been partially transformed into a powerful creature called a Warhead, who must continually battle other creatures known as Coded in order to take over their...
and Project Sylpheed
Project Sylpheed
, also known as Project Sylpheed: Arc of Deception in North America, is a space simulation game for the Xbox 360 console. It was developed by SETA and published by Square Enix and Microsoft...
, since 2007 she has worked only on the Crystal Chronicles series
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (series)
is a series of video games by Square Enix. Created by Akitoshi Kawazu, the Crystal Chronicles series is a spin-off series of the Final Fantasy media franchise, and has so far only appeared on Nintendo consoles.- Titles :...
, composing the music for four titles from the game's five sequels and spinoffs. On February 28, 2010 Tanioka announced her departure from Square Enix since having the dissolution of their sound production team; she joined the composer's group GE-ON-DAN with many other Square Enix composers like Junya Nakano
Junya Nakano
is a Japanese video game composer who was employed at Square Enix from 1995 to 2009. He is best known for scoring Threads of Fate and co-composing Final Fantasy X. He has also worked as an arranger for Dawn of Mana and the Nintendo DS version of Final Fantasy IV...
. In 2011, she became one of the founding members of Ringmasters, a non-exclusive group of artists and composers.
Legacy
Unlike the soundtracks to the numbered Final Fantasy games, no songs from the Crystal Chronicles or Chocobo soundtracks have appeared in any compilation albums produced by Square Enix. Songs from the two series have also not appeared in any of the official Final Fantasy music concerts, although "Morning Sky" from the Crystal Chronicles soundtrack was played in the first Games in Concert performance in Utrecht, Netherlands on November 26, 2006. It was performed by Floor JansenFloor Jansen
Floor Jansen is a Dutch singer, who was the lead singer of the symphonic metal band After Forever which disbanded in 2009, and is the current singer for ReVamp.-After Forever:...
of the band After Forever
After Forever
After Forever was a Dutch symphonic metal band with strong progressive metal influences. The band relied on the use of both soprano vocals and death grunts. In February 2009, it was announced that After Forever had disbanded.-Biography:...
and the Metropole Orchestra.
Musical style and influences
Kumi Tanioka's signature style, especially for the Crystal Chronicles games, is that of "world music". She has described the musical style for the soundtrack to Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles as being based on "ancient instruments". The soundtrack has extensive use of many medievalMedieval music
Medieval music is Western music written during the Middle Ages. This era begins with the fall of the Roman Empire and ends sometime in the early fifteenth century...
and renaissance
Renaissance music
Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance. Defining the beginning of the musical era is difficult, given that its defining characteristics were adopted only gradually; musicologists have placed its beginnings from as early as 1300 to as late as the 1470s.Literally meaning...
musical instruments like the recorder
Recorder
The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...
, the crumhorn
Crumhorn
The crumhorn is a musical instrument of the woodwind family, most commonly used during the Renaissance period. In modern times, there has been a revival of interest in Early Music, and crumhorns are being played again....
and the lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
, creating a distinctively rustic feel, and also follows the practices and styles of medieval music. She says the idea came to her while looking at illustrations of the game world, which gave her the idea of making "world music", where the tracks would "not [be] limited to a single country or culture". For the soundtrack to Ring of Fates, Tanioka tried to focus on "creating a new landscape containing the same atmosphere". She returned to using instruments in an "ethnic manner" again in composing the soundtrack for Echoes of Time. The piano performances in the Ring of Fates soundtrack were done by Kumi Tanioka. She did the performances herself rather than use an outside performer as most Final Fantasy soundtracks have done primarily because she "likes to play piano", and they were done without any sheet music, as she preferred instead to improvise. She took extensive piano lessons as a child, and lists piano and choral music as the biggest influences on her musical style. She also claims to have been influenced by music from a wide variety of cultures, like Indonesian, Irish and Balinese music.
Discography
- Chocobo's Dungeon 2 (1998) – with Yasuhiro KawakamiYasuhiro Kawakamiis a Japanese video game composer and sound programmer who was employed at Square from 1991 to 1999. He created music for three games and was the sound programmer for Rudra no Hihō...
, Tsuyoshi SekitoTsuyoshi Sekitois a Japanese video game composer, arranger, and musician who has been employed at Square Enix since 1995. As a composer, he is best known for scoring the video games Brave Fencer Musashi and The Last Remnant...
, and Kenji ItoKenji Ito, also known by the nickname , is a Japanese video game composer and musician. He is best known for his work on the Mana and SaGa series, though he has worked on over 30 video games throughout his career as well as composed or arranged music for over 15 other albums, concerts, and plays... - Dice de Chocobo (1999)
- All Star Pro-WrestlingAll Star Pro-Wrestlingis a Japan-exclusive professional wrestling video game developed and published by Square on June 8, 2000 for the PlayStation 2. It was the first wrestling game published on this platform....
(2000) – with Tsuyoshi Sekito and Kenichiro FukuiKenichiro Fukuiis a Japanese video game composer and musician. Before working at Square Enix, he was employed at Konami. He is an arranger and a keyboardist in the band The Black Mages, formed in 2003. Additionally, Fukui arranged Angela Aki's "Kiss Me Good-Bye" from Final Fantasy XII. In October 2007, he left... - Blue Wing BlitzBlue Wing Blitzis a Japanese-exclusive tactical role-playing game developed and published by Square on July 5, 2001 for the WonderSwan Color and compatible with the WonderSwan....
(2001) - Final Fantasy XIFinal Fantasy XI, also known as Final Fantasy XI Online, is a MMORPG developed and published by Square as part of the Final Fantasy series. It was released in Japan on Sony's PlayStation 2 on May 16, 2002, and was released for Microsoft's Windows-based personal computers in November 2002...
(2002) – with Nobuo UematsuNobuo Uematsuis a Japanese video game composer, best known for scoring the majority of titles in the Final Fantasy series. He is considered as one of the most famous and respected composers in the video game community...
and Naoshi MizutaNaoshi Mizutais a Japanese video game composer and musician. He is best known for his work on Final Fantasy XI , but has also composed music for Mega Man & Bass, Street Fighter Alpha, and Parasite Eve II... - Chocobo Land: A Game of Dice (2002)
- Final Fantasy Crystal ChroniclesFinal Fantasy Crystal Chroniclesis a action role-playing game for the Nintendo GameCube. It was published by Nintendo and developed by The Game Designers Studio, a shell corporation for Square Enix's Product Development Division-2. A spin-off of the Final Fantasy series, the game spawned a metaseries of the same name...
(2003) – with Hidenori IwasakiHidenori Iwasakiis a Japanese synthesizer programmer and video game composer currently working at Square Enix. He studied at the Tokyo International University before joining Square in 1998. He first worked as a synthesizer programmer before becoming a composer. His first work as a solo composer is Front Mission 4... - Code Age Commanders: Tsugu Mono Tsuga Reru MonoCode Age Commanders: Tsugu Mono Tsuga Reru Monois a Japan-exclusive action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix on October 13, 2005 for the PlayStation 2. It is part of the Code Age series, a franchise created by video game artist Yusuke Naora and designed to span different interweaved titles in multiple platforms and media...
(2005) – with Yasuhiro Yamanaka - Code Age BrawlsCode Age Brawlsis a video game developed by Square Enix for mobile phones and is part of the Code Age franchise. It follows a woman on another world who has been partially transformed into a powerful creature called a Warhead, who must continually battle other creatures known as Coded in order to take over their...
(2006) - Project SylpheedProject Sylpheed, also known as Project Sylpheed: Arc of Deception in North America, is a space simulation game for the Xbox 360 console. It was developed by SETA and published by Square Enix and Microsoft...
(2006) – with Junya NakanoJunya Nakanois a Japanese video game composer who was employed at Square Enix from 1995 to 2009. He is best known for scoring Threads of Fate and co-composing Final Fantasy X. He has also worked as an arranger for Dawn of Mana and the Nintendo DS version of Final Fantasy IV...
, Kenichiro Fukui, Takahiro Nishi, and Keigo Ozaki - Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of FatesFinal Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fatesis an RPG for the Nintendo DS developed and published by Square Enix. It is a prequel to Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles for the Nintendo GameCube. The game takes advantage of both the local wireless and Wi-Fi capabilities of the system and features voice acting.-Gameplay:Most of the gameplay...
(2007) - Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's DungeonFinal Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon, is a role-playing video game published by Square Enix for the Wii. It is an installment in the Chocobo series that focuses on Chocobo and a Cid character.-Gameplay:...
(2008) - Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a KingFinal Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a KingFinal Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King is a video game developed for the WiiWare service of the Nintendo Wii console by Square Enix...
(2008) - Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of TimeFinal Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Timeis a Wii and Nintendo DS action role-playing game in the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles series developed by Square Enix.The game was released in Japan on January 29, 2009. The North American version was released on March 24, 2009 and the European version was released on March 27, 2009...
(2009) - Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a DarklordFinal Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a DarklordFinal Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord is a tower defense video game developed and published by Square Enix for the Wii and distributed through the WiiWare download service. It is the most recently announced game in the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles series...
(2009) - Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal BearersFinal Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearersis an action-adventure game for the Wii and was first announced to the public at E3 in May 2006. The game was released on November 12, 2009, in Japan and on December 26, 2009, in North America.-Gameplay:...
(2009) - with Hidenori Iwasaki and Ryo YamazakiRyo Yamazakiis a Japanese synthesizer programmer and occasional composer of video game music currently working at Square Enix.-Biography:Yamazaki has created several compositions for Front Mission 4, Front Mission Online, and Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII... - Mario Sports MixMario Sports Mixis a sports video game developed by Square Enix for Wii. It was released on November 25, 2010 in Japan, and was released in early 2011 in other regions. It features volleyball, both field hockey and ice hockey, dodgeball, and street basketball...
(2010) - with Masayoshi SokenMasayoshi Sokenis a Japanese video game composer and sound editor who has worked for Square Enix since 2001. He is best known for scoring the Nintendo DS game Mario Hoops 3-on-3...
See also
- Music of the Chocobo series
- Music of Final Fantasy XI
- Music of the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles series