Toru Minegishi (峰岸透, Minegishi Tōru, born 1975) is a Japanese video game composer known for his work on Nintendo games, most notably in The Legend of Zelda and Splatoon series. He was raised in a musical family and developed an interest in video games and their music from an early age. Minegishi did not receive any special education, but he gained experience as a musician during his school and college years.
Toru Minegishi | |
|---|---|
峰岸透 | |
| Born | 1975 (age 48–49) |
| Alma mater | Sophia University[1] |
| Occupations |
|
| Employer | Nintendo (1998–present) |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | Video game music, rock, symphonic, jazz, electronic, folk, ambient |
| Instrument(s) | Keyboard, guitar, drums, melodica |
Biography
editEarly life
editMinegishi grew up in a musical family; his parents were especially fond of Latin and tango music. He became interested in video games at the age of ten after he saw a commercial for The Legend of Zelda. As he kept his promise of improving his performance in swimming school, his parents gave him a Family Computer Disk System with The Legend of Zelda as a gift. One year later, he listened to Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition for the first time, which is a suite of ten movements based on paintings by Viktor Hartmann. The suite's composition technique, which focused on matching music to visuals, had a big influence on Minegishi, and furthered his interest in video game music. Unlike other composers and professional musicians, he received no special musical education, and took no piano lessons when he was young; instead, Minegishi became interested in music by himself. He was percussionist of a school band in junior high, and later played drums in a band he had formed with his friends at college.[2]
Career
editMinegishi kept pursuing his dream of becoming a video game sound designer and applied at Nintendo. After he had passed a composition examination and a written music test, he obtained a job at the sound group of the Entertainment Analysis and Development (EAD) division.[2][3] Minegishi often listens to music at home to make himself familiar with a variety of musical styles.[2] He prefers to create melodies in his head, but composes on the keyboard and the guitar as well.[2] The startup sound for the GameCube game console is one of the musical pieces he had conceived without instruments.[2] Minegishi cites the development of sound effects for Super Mario Sunshine and the creation of over 50 compositions from different musical genres for Animal Crossing (K.K. Slider's songs) as some of his greatest learning experiences.[2] He considers video game composer Koji Kondo, the manager of the EAD sound group, as big inspiration and a master of video game sound.[2] Minegishi's first involvement in the Legend of Zelda series was with the composition of three battle themes for Majora's Mask.[4] Later, he was assigned as the main composer for Twilight Princess.[3] Several of his compositions for Twilight Princess were arranged for orchestra by Jonne Valtonen, and performed at the concert Symphonic Legends in September 2010.[5]
Works
edit| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Pocket Monsters' Stadium | Music with Mitsuhiro Hikino and Kenta Nagata |
| 1999 | Pokémon Stadium | Music with Hajime Wakai and Kenta Nagata |
| 2000 | Mario Artist: Talent Studio | Music with Kazumi Totaka and Kenta Nagata |
| The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask | Music with Koji Kondo | |
| 2001 | Animal Crossing | Indoor music |
| 2002 | Super Mario Sunshine | Sound effects |
| The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker | Music with Kenta Nagata, Hajime Wakai, and Koji Kondo | |
| 2003 | Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour | Sound effects |
| 2005 | Yoshi Touch & Go | Music with Kazumi Totaka and Asuka Hayazaki |
| 2006 | The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess | Music with Asuka Hayazaki and Koji Kondo |
| 2007 | The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass | Music with Kenta Nagata |
| Wii Fit | Music with Manaka Kataoka and Shiho Fujii | |
| 2008 | Super Smash Bros. Brawl | "Title (Big Brain Academy)" |
| Wii Music | Music with Kenta Nagata and Mahito Yokota | |
| 2009 | The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks | Music with Manaka Kataoka, Asuka Hayazaki, and Koji Kondo |
| 2011 | Steel Diver | Music with Atsuko Asahi |
| Mario Kart 7 | Sound support | |
| 2012 | WaraWara Plaza | Music |
| 2013 | Super Mario 3D World | Music with Mahito Yokota, Yasuaki Iwata, and Koji Kondo |
| 2014 | Steel Diver: Sub Wars | Music with Kenta Nagata and Atsuko Asahi |
| Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U | "Smiles and Tears" | |
| 2015 | Splatoon | Music with Shiho Fujii |
| 2016 | The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD | Sound supervisor |
| 2017 | Mario Kart 8 Deluxe | Music with several others |
| Splatoon 2 | Music with Ryo Nagamatsu and Shiho Fujii | |
| 2018 | Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion | Music with Ryo Nagamatsu |
| 2019 | Super Mario Maker 2 | Music with Koji Kondo, Atsuko Asahi and Sayako Doi |
| 2022 | Nintendo Switch Sports | Sound support |
| Splatoon 3 | Music with several others |
References
edit- ^ "Toru Minegishi Facebook". Facebook. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Inside Zelda Part 13: The Sounds of Twilight". Nintendo Power. No. 204. Nintendo of America, Inc. June 2006. Archived from the original on June 14, 2008.
- ^ a b "Iwata Asks: Wii Fit – Volume 4: A New Creation – Sound Design and Planning / From Zelda to Wii Fit". Nintendo of America, Inc. Archived from the original on April 9, 2008. Retrieved December 28, 2010.
- ^ Zelda no Densetsu: Mujura no Kamen Original Soundtrack (Media notes). Pioneer LDC. 2000. PICA-2006.
- ^ "Symphonic Legends concert program" (PDF). Merregnon Studios. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved December 28, 2010.