[EDITOR’S NOTE: We’ve been fortunate to have been in touch with game music enthusiast Michael Kobzik about interviews conducted with videogame composers, and have agreed to partner to publish them on the Scarlet Moon blog. What better way to start than with an extensive interview looking at Scarlet Moon Artists composer Osamu Kubtota’s storied career! Enjoy. – Jayson]

Osamu Kubota is a legendary composer with a long, storied career. He’s most famous for his work in Konami’s BEMANI sound division, though his career before and after is similarly impressive. We found some time to speak with Osamu Kubota about his long career and recent work.

How did you get started making music?

At the age of four, I got a crush on an older neighbor girl who played the piano. Then, I started lessons; I preferred composing music in my brain over doing mechanical things.

When I was in high school in the early ’80s, I came across synthesizers and was completely enchanted. I started playing with bands and wrote many instrumental tracks; that was an awakening.

Which pieces of music software/VSTs do you use in your work?

Logic Pro for composing and Studio One for serious mixing. In a multi-machine environment, I use Vienna Ensemble Pro and AudioGridder.

Vienna Symphonic Library is my favorite vendor for orchestral libraries since it allows me to control many more sonic details. The Vividness of Cinematic Studio Series is my other cup of tea.

I like VIs [sound libraries] that can catch up with my score notations. I usually stay away from ‘hold-the-keys-and-get-inspired’ type of libraries.

For effects, I am not much interested in replicated vintage gears. Sheer digital clarity is my priority. Otherwise, I rely on a professional engineer.

Which pieces of physical music equipment (classical or synthesizers, etc.) do you use to compose music? Do you start with any particular instrument, such as the piano?

The piano is my starting point. I still keep a small grand piano at my mother’s house, only 10 minutes away via car.

I used many synthesizers including an Oberheim Xpander, YAMAHA DX-7 & SS-30, Roland D-50 and Waldorf MicroWave. Unfortunately, modern workflows prefer plugins due to frequent tempo/key changes and many retakes occurring until the last minute. Some of the older gear I used in the past ended up sold or sitting there unused most of the time.

I learned a bit of the violin when I was a child. My string performance may be miserable today, but it helps me understand the string instruments. It’s a relief when I write orchestral scores.

I read that you were the keyboardist of the band 21st Century’s Gang. Tell me more about this.

The band was definitely a stairway to the professional music scene.

It was a student-run pop band featuring a multi-talented vocalist who also wrote most of the songs. In that band, I learned what was essential to be a professional arranger/producer.

The band didn’t last long. Some lingered as session musicians, while others quit music. At that point, I chose to become a solo composer for movie soundtracks.

Tell me about your work composing for television, film, and anime.

Actually, my first experience as a professional composer was for a documentary clip on TV back in 1986. After the 21st Century’s Gang ceased its activity, I was forced to decide whether to quit musicianship or linger as a soundtrack composer; I chose the latter.

In 1997, Kansai TV (based in Osaka) asked me for my first soundtrack reels for a TV drama series. With that, my soundtrack career began.

My first long film score was done in 2004 for a Chinese film titled Letter from an Unknown Woman. Yes, my début for films was a bit late, but it completely changed my workflow.

For animation, Switch (based on the manga written by naked ape) was my first production.

As for musical theater, I played a role as a musical director/composer for Galaxy Express 999 (season 2018 & 2019), an official adaptation of the manga written by legendary Leiji Matsumoto.

What was it like to work on the music for the Chinese film Letter from an Unknown Woman?

In 1993 I made friends with Terry Chan in Hong Kong. He was a sought-after, mainstream music director/player who was incredibly famous in the Chinese/Cantonese pop scenes. He introduced me to another big name in China, Zhang Yadong, known as a producer for the charismatic singer Faye Wong [well known for singing “Eyes on Me” from Final Fantasy VIII]. I then travelled to Beijing to meet him and gave him my music on a cassette tape, which he said he liked. But we lost contact due to the changes in our email addresses and so on…

In 2004 Yadong nominated me as a composer for the film Letter from an Unknown Woman, directed by Xu Jinglei. Finally, the job was in my grasp.

I stayed in China for several months during the film’s production. This project was certainly a milestone in my music-making up to that point. Since the time of 21st Century’s Gang, I had been a synth geek for more than a decade, but suffered from some frustrations, especially with sampling technologies at the time. I made up my mind to work with a full orchestra and focused on studying orchestral writing. Letter from an Unknown Woman was my first work in which I used no MIDI instruments at all.

How did you start working with Konami on BEMANI game music?

I made friends with dj Taka and TaQ back in the ’90s. At the time, they were playing in the same band. Then, TAKA began working for Konami and invited me to join IIDX with “Presto” which I composed in 1999 (but released in 2000). Good-Cool and Hidemaru (the drummer in “Voltage”) were my old friends, too, so we all joined together to make a huge clan.

One of my favorite pieces is your work with Sizzle Ohtaka on the piece “Doigts de Fatima”. Tell me about the process of creating that song.

Thank you! Sizzle Ohtaka was a gem in the Japanese musical scene, known for her “rainbow-colored voices.”

I’ve known her name since I was a teenager. I was so excited when my senpai (senior) musician friend introduced her to me and we finally performed together. Our houses were not too far apart — like we could cook soup for each other’s table — then I invited her into my studio, and we collaborated in an experimental fashion, thus birthing “Doigts de Fatima”.

I mixed the tracks on a trip to Tunisia, where I came up with the title [which means “Fingers of Fatima”].

Sizzle Ohtaka passed away last year; the news shocked me…I regret that we were not able to collaborate again. I am so sorry.

Is it true that the song Estella is based on the character Estella from Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations?

Yes, it is true. But the influence was rather visually oriented by the movie [1946, dir. David Lean] than the story itself.

Does the title of the song “Five Regrets” have any special significance?

The melody happened to be in 5/4 time. One day, I hummed that melody and walked on the pavement, only to find that my step was awkwardly going back and forth. (On 4 beats one can walk straight ahead, though…) It looked like a man swinging like a pendulum between decisions and hesitations. Hence the title focuses on ‘regrets’.

Recently I played “Six Regrets” version on a YouTube Short. A different song, so it could never infringe copyrights!

Who is the piano player you describe in the liner notes for the BEMANI song “foreplay”?

Bob James, I think.

“2hot2eat” is a very unusual track compared to your other BEMANI works. How did you approach making a track with an Indian flair?

It is a great shame I do not have a lot of knowledge and involvement in Indian music. Regardless, it is very intriguing. This is like Tikka Masala… a piece of Indian music born outside of India.

Since then, I’ve come across more Indian musicians. Maybe it’s time to make a new track.

Which of your BEMANI tracks is your personal favorite?

“Vienna” absolutely, and “Scandal” which was recently ported from Nostalgia.

Tell me about your involvement with the BEMANI SYMPHONY concert series. I imagine it took a lot of work to arrange so many pieces of music into the classical genre.

New CDs and a concert were a part of the long-term campaign projects celebrating Bemani’s 25th anniversary. They all featured our orchestra gaQdan, which I will explain later. For this project, TaQ, onoken and I joined the arrangement team; I still don’t know why we weren’t featured as composers, though…

Yes, it was tough work. Our goal was a classical concert in a non-classical fashion, in which the audience shakes their penlights. I was happy to join as a pianist at the concert as well!

What was it like to work with Tomosuke Funaki on the orchestral arrangements of “The Epic of Zektbach” ? Compared to BEMANI SYMPHONY, you were arranging primarily alongside the single, original composer. How did this collaboration affect your usual process?

Well, my long-term friendship with Tomosuke hugely affected “The Epic of Zektbach”. Tomosuke counted on ‘Osamu’s signature arrangements’, thankfully. I could record the orchestra in Beijing totally under my own direction. Our collaborations were very intimate; you may feel a lot of my color in the album.

BEMANI Symphony, on the other hand, was more of a consolidated team production. The priority for the production was to gather together and realize the world of BEMANI in a symphonic orchestra context.

Both projects were exciting for me.

That said, I am so glad to have an opportunity to work with Tomosuke’s music again in BEMANI Symphony. He trusts me the same as he did two decades ago. In BEMANI Symphony, we leveled up our collaboration as we worked with so many talented performers at such a large scale.

Do you enjoy playing music games or other types of games?

I’m an infrequent MMORPG player. I love trying new music rhythm games that are mushrooming today!

Tell me about your work on the Granado Espada series [Korean MMORPG].

It was a great honor that the great Mr Hakkyu Kim — famous as a developer of Ragnarok Online — said he was a fan of my BEMANI tracks. He directly contacted me back in 2005 and invited me to Seoul to work together.

It was perfect timing to expand my orchestral writing work, which I picked up in China the previous year.

Thankfully, the project still keeps on updating and has become one of my lifelong works.

How did you come to work with SEGA on original music for their CHUNITHM and maimai game series?

I’m thankful that SEGA contacted me when they first launched the CHUNITHM series. [He then produced “L’épisode” for CHUNITHM PLUS]

At the time, I was so deeply affected by Azerbaijani jazz which featured fast irregular beats. I think it gave “L’épisode” a different, thrilling taste compared to my BEMANI songs. What do you think?

How did you come to work with Diverse Systems on such compilations as the RADIAL album?

YsK, the chief of Diverse System, and I have been friends for many years.

Usually, I don’t work on doujin productions, but he is an exception.

What is it like to collaborate with TaQ and onoken?

[We’re] a big family. TaQ is my old friend and founded a company called ongaq which has been our homeland for various musical attempts. Onoken joined later, and then TaQ created an orchestra ‘gaQdan’ that would meet critical demands for film scores/game recordings. The first recording for gaQdan’s was my TV series score.

I used to work with such world orchestras based in the Czech Republic, the UK, China, and South Korea. I gradually transitioned to working mostly with gaQdan around 2011, as they needed the help.

Our collaborations include countless TV ad reels, some Hong Kong movies, and game tracks for companies such as Rayark in Taiwan [makers of Deemo and Cytus]. We are well known for our advanced capabilities on MIDI-centric works, but at the same time, we are a big fan of real instruments and even demo tracks are made with gaQdan! We prefer to spend our time with people rather than with computer displays.

Tell me about your instrumental band “Celia”.

That was an idea by TaQ and me; since most BEMANI tracks were MIDI-based productions at the time, we tried to breathe new life into them with real players’ vibes and grooves, in a jazzy context, hence the band! The drummer Dai was exceptional with his tight sense of timing.

The band later peacefully fell apart as each member’s musical tastes gradually began to conflict… it’s such a healthy path for bands to follow, isn’t it?

Soundbetter.com describes you as a “magician of chord progression.” Please tell me more about that.

I’ve always wondered why modern composers stick to a small number of chord patterns. Classical music, even pop music from mere decades ago, employed much more delicate sonic textures. I would simply love to strengthen composers’ palettes of expression through unexplored sonic patterns.

In other words, I help young composers expand their chord progression pools. I am at a loss whether to go esoteric or exoteric about that… I won’t hesitate to share my discoveries, maybe. I am either too old to hide or too young to show off my knowledge.

I read that you are fluent in many different languages. How has this language experience opened doors for you in your career and elsewhere in your life?

Basically, in two manners.

For one: all languages are musical. I didn’t study in a classical conservatoire; I studied linguistics instead at university. My perception of music is therefore much more literal and logical. This makes significant differences when I engage with long-form works, such as in film or musical theatre.

Otherwise, it’s simply practical. For example, I am one of the very few Japanese game composers who speak Korean, which helped me find more work, but also to keep communications in said Korean projects productive. My Chinese and Czech skills are minimal, yet surely helped me. English and French are essential. Without them, we haven’t got a hope in hell!

Which foreign language was the greatest challenge to learn?

Slavish languages such as Polish, Czech, Ukrainian and Russian.

The reason was that I studied back in the Soviet era. People were not that friendly then and the resources were fairly limited.

I read that you lived in France for a little while. What was the experience like?

I first came to France as a language student. At the same time, I had a chance to learn pianism and composition skills at the Académie Internationale de Vichy for a little while, which was one of my few experiences with proper music education. It was a pity I had to return to Tokyo to début as a member of 21st Century’s Gang.

However, I loved France so much that I went there many more times after the band broke up.

Do you have any other interesting or surprising stories from your world travels?

One day back in 1993, I purchased a CD by Hong Kong’s legendary singer Sandy Lam. I found a questionnaire form inside it, which I filled out and sent to HK by post saying, ‘I am a Japanese composer and would love to work with you or your team’. A week later I got a fax asking, “When are you coming to HK?”. I answered, “On any date for Sandy’s concerts”. I booked a flight right then and there.

The flight by United Airlines was hugely delayed and arrived in HK’s Kai Tak airport at 3 a.m. The hotel stay was canceled, and I had nothing to do but wander about in the nearby park, where I met an Indian fortuneteller.

He said I would be working with the United States 30 years later…

Later that day in HK, I was invited to Sandy’s backstage and met Hong Kong musicians who led me to work on the aforementioned HK film.

That day was full of surprises!

As for thirty years later…I am working aggressively with Scarlet Moon Productions based in California this year, and I will keep doing so in the future.

What is your approach to arranging pieces for an orchestra? What are some of the challenges?

When arranging for an orchestra, my background in pianism is a big obstacle. That’s because most keyboardists’ imaginations tend to be limited to what ten fingers / two arms can play. When I arrange for orchestra, it’s difficult to rid my mind of my prior piano training. I even stopped myself from playing keyboards for several years to get my third eye wide open.

If I compared myself to an architect, my ‘tools’ — such as advanced chord progression criteria and storytelling phrase palettes — are too sensitive and require a lot of careful handling. They are so delicate that I risk losing myself in the sea of details. I try to make more ‘broad strokes’ — rather than looking at the musical context from a macro point of view.

[The sonic construction of] orchestral scores are multidimensional: it consists of 1D (lines) and 2D (surface) along with 3D (depth). In poor arrangements, the 2D surface is superficial, with no depth underneath, comprising of white-note pad tones. I would rather use many fine 1D lines to make the 2D surface structure. Only then can we properly create notations to make the 3D whole.

What is your favourite musical instrument to play?

Acoustic piano, absolutely.

You are well known for playing the piano live. What is your preferred piano to play on?

The Bösendorfer Imperial (97-key). The one I found in the CCTV studio in Beijing was by far my favorite piano in the whole globe. However, it disappeared when the area was re-developed for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. A pity.

What are your favorite classical/jazz composers or classical/jazz pieces?

Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays, Alexander Glazunov, Gabriel Fauré.

I was intoxicated by the piano concertos of Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov and Chopin in my youth.

What are your favorite contemporary pieces of music?

Adiemus “Cantus — Song Of Tears”

What is your favorite piece of French literature, or literature of any other language?

S/Z by Roland Barthes.

His descriptions of the precision and logic which any language could achieve were captivating. Still, no music is capable of letting them take shape.

That’s another reason why I struggle with chord progressions in music; with just twelve well-tempered notes, they might enable the same logical expression as in text.

What do you like to do outside of music?

Cooking: It’s a hobby, but also helps me play an important role in my family’s everyday life. It also helps ‘soften’ my brain when I’m stuck on a musical idea.

Languages: I might be masochistic; I don’t want to become fluent necessarily, but I enjoy the challenge. The more difficult syntaxes I stumble upon, the more I get excited.

And my family says I am a geography nerd… certainly, I am a lover of enclaves and exclaves and language colony topics. I can spend an unlimited amount of hours just browsing maps.

What inspired you to start a YouTube channel?

It was a task that was long overdue. Especially since my friend Noboru Mashima (guitarist/composer) inspired me to do so.

It took years, however, to get appropriate permission to redistribute tracks I made for clients. Some companies were quite helpful, others not.

I find many others [online] redistribute my music, which was not banned by the companies. If I did that myself, I would be banned. C’est la vie!

What would you like to say to your fans, past, present, and future?

I would like to thank you all for supporting me for many years. You are all incredible.

You can count me among BEMANI’s legacy composers, but please don’t forget I am always keeping up with the times. I will never stop changing and I hope you will tolerate my evolving style in the future.

Imagine Mr Ennio Morricone, who never ceased to be a musician to his last day…so would I love to be.

Last but not least, I would love to share with others what I have learned through my musical life, including tips and techniques. I am happy to help young musicians and answer any question they may have.

Cheers!