Takahito Eguchi

Takahito Eguchi (江口 貴勅, Eguchi Takahito, born August 28, 1971) is a Japanese video game composer, arranger, and orchestrator. He is best known for collaborating with fellow composer Noriko Matsueda on numerous soundtracks, most notably The Bouncer and Final Fantasy X-2. He became interested in music when he was six years old after hearing his neighbor playing the piano. He attended the Tokyo Conservatoire Shobi where he acquainted Matsueda.[1]

Takahito Eguchi
江口 貴勅
Born (1971-08-28) August 28, 1971
Nagasaki, Japan
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Composer
  • orchestrator
  • keyboardist
InstrumentsKeyboards
Years active1995–present
LabelsSega Digital Studio
Associated acts

Employed at Square Enix from 1998 to 2003, Eguchi is currently working for Sega, where he primarily assists Tomoya Ohtani on his projects. Eguchi created mostly electronic music in the early part of his career, but now almost exclusively focuses on orchestral composition and arrangement, along with performing keyboards for various other musicians.

Biography

Born in Nagasaki, Japan, Eguchi became interested in music at the age of six when he heard his neighbor playing the piano. While his father, a judo athlete, initially tried to push him into pursuing sports, he eventually agreed to let him take piano lessons, as long as he agreed to study with his sister.[2] Eguchi enrolled at the Tokyo Conservatoire Shobi,[1] where he met long-term composing partner Noriko Matsueda. After graduating from the conservatoire, he produced numerous compositions, joined a band as a keyboardist, and worked as a software designer.[2] He also gave Matsueda advice on music manipulation during her first game project, Front Mission, in 1995.[1] At her request, he also arranged and orchestrated "Theme of Bahamut Lagoon ~ Opening" for the bonus disc of the original soundtrack to Bahamut Lagoon (1996).[3]

Eguchi joined Square (now Square Enix) in 1998; his first job was composing the 1999 title Racing Lagoon alongside Matsueda. Although his role was minor compared to Matsueda's, he was responsible for the opening and ending themes, the majority of the battle themes, and the bonus track "Taiman Battle Remix". Eguchi and Matsueda collaborated once again in 2000 on the PlayStation 2 game The Bouncer.[4] He created a lot more music than on previous soundtracks; a large amount of the music produced was not used in the game and there were also many post-production demands.[2] He composed the pop ballad "Forevermore", which was arranged and provided lyrics by Narada Michael Walden and Sunny Hilden and performed by Shanice in "Love Is the Gift", the ending theme to the English-language versions of the game. The song was also sold as a single and featured in a promotional album.[5][6] In 2002, Eguchi arranged the track "Hand in Hand -Reprise-" for Yoko Shimomura's score to Kingdom Hearts.[7]

Eguchi reunited with Matsueda to compose Final Fantasy X-2 (2003).[8] Despite being panned by critics and fans alike and having a low budget, the soundtrack was commercially successful. He was also the game's orchestrator and the composer of the love ballad "Real Emotion/1000 no Kotoba". In 2004, Eguchi and Matsueda composed Final Fantasy X-2 International + Last Mission and arranged three pieces in the Final Fantasy X-2 Piano Collection album. The Piano Collections album was their final project at while at Square Enix, which they both left afterward.[9] Since his departure, he has been involved in several anime projects; he was the co-composer of D.N.Angel (2003) and Rental Magica (2007) and the sole composer of Trinity Blood (2005). He has also mixed Shimomura's arrangements for the Dark Chronicle Premium Arrange album and performed piano on her vocal album Murmur. In 2006, he contributed three compositions and two arrangements to the Xbox 360 game Sonic the Hedgehog; he also worked on the 2008 follow-up Sonic Unleashed.[1] He has since worked on a number of Sonic Team games, such as Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll, Sonic Colors, Sonic Generations, Rhythm Thief & the Emperor's Treasure, Sonic Lost World, and Sonic Runners.

Musical style and influences

Eguchi and Matsueda are noted for creating mainly jazzy and electronic tracks for the scores they have collaborated on; Eguchi is credited for most of the electronic music.[10] The soundtrack to The Bouncer, of which Eguchi and Matsueda co-composed a lot of the pieces,[1] featured among other genres rock, electronica, and jazz fusion.[10] A professional pianist,[1] Eguchi often utilizes the piano in his compositions.[10] He has stated that most of the time he composes and arranges music is at his home studio, where his friends help out by recording acoustic instruments; if the quality of these recordings are not adequate, however, Eguchi replaces them at the company's studio. He has said that by the time he is finished creating the music, he is only sleeping three to four hours a week.[2]

Since joining Sega Digital Studio in 2006, Eguchi has switched over to almost an exclusively orchestral style. On recent projects, he has assisted his fellow co-workers with string and keyboard arrangements, in addition to writing his own material.

He cites Igor Stravinsky, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Miles Davis as musical influences.[1] When asked about which musicians he would like to collaborate with, he replied, "A musician who has passed away, Miles Davis. There are too many living musicians to talk about. A few are Herbie Hancock, Aretha Franklin, and Ryuichi Sakamoto."[2] His interest in composition came about after being inspired by a variety of jazz, electronic, modernist, and pop musicians.[1]

Works
Video games
YearTitleRoleCo-worker(s)Ref.
1999Racing LagoonComposition/arrangementNoriko Matsueda[1]
2000The BouncerComposition/arrangementNoriko Matsueda[1]
2003Final Fantasy X-2Composition/arrangementNoriko Matsueda[1]
2004Final Fantasy X-2 International + Last MissionComposition/arrangementNoriko Matsueda[1]
2006Sonic the HedgehogComposition/arrangementHideaki Kobayashi, Tomoya Ohtani, Mariko Nanba, and Taihei Sato[1]
2008Sonic UnleashedComposition/arrangementTomoya Ohtani, Fumie Kumatani, Kenichi Tokoi, and Hideaki Kobayashi[1]
2010Super Monkey Ball: Step & RollKeyboards/arrangementTomoya Ohtani and Mariko Nanba[1]
Sonic ColorsKeyboards[1]
2011Sonic GenerationsKeyboards/arrangementVarious others[11]
2012Rhythm Thief & the Emperor's TreasureComposition/arrangementTomoya Ohtani and Naofumi Hataya[1]
2013Sonic Lost WorldComposition/arrangementTomoya Ohtani and Naofumi Hataya[12]
Rhythm Thief & the Paris CaperComposition/arrangementTomoya Ohtani and Naofumi Hataya[11]
2015Sonic RunnersKeyboards/arrangementTomoya Ohtani[11]
2017Sonic ForcesComposition/arrangementTomoya Ohtani, Naofumi Hataya, and Kenichi Tokoi[13]
Anime
YearTitleRoleCo-workerRef.
2003D.N.AngelComposition/arrangementTomoki Hasegawa[1]
2005Trinity BloodComposition/arrangement[1]
2007Rental MagicaComposition/arrangementJun Ichikawa[1]
Other works
YearTitleRoleCo-workerRef.
1996Bahamut Lagoon Original SoundtrackArrangementGizaemon de Furuta[1]
2002Kingdom Hearts Original SoundtrackArrangement
("Hand in Hand -Reprise-")		[7]
2004Final Fantasy X-2 Piano CollectionArrangementNoriko Matsueda, Hiroko Kokubu, Masahiro Sayama, and Febian Reza Pane[14]
2009SanctuaryArrangementMasakazu Sugimori, Masato Koda, and Naoshi Mizuta[1]

References
  1. Chris Greening. "Takahito Eguchi Profile". Video Game Music Online. Retrieved 2014-09-21.
  2. "Takahito Eguchi interview in Japanese". RocketBaby. Archived from the original on 2001-08-30. Retrieved 2010-02-22.
  3. Kalabakov, Daniel; Dragon God. "Bahamut Lagoon OST". RPGFan. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
  4. "The Bouncer Tech Info". GameSpot. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
  5. Chris. "The Bouncer: Love is the Gift – Shanice Wilson :: Review by Chris". Square Enix Music Online. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
  6. "The Bouncer Promo Album". Square Enix Music Online. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
  7. Rzeminski, Lucy; Maas, Liz; Kalabakov, Daniel. "Kingdom Hearts OST". RPGFan. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
  8. "Final Fantasy X-2 Tech Info". GameSpot. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
  9. "Artists & Composers". Square Enix. Retrieved 2010-01-20.
  10. Chris. "The Bouncer Original Soundtrack (Japan) :: Review by Chris". Square Enix Music Online. Retrieved 2009-11-03.
  11. "Takahito Eguchi Gameography". Video Game Music Database. April 17, 2011. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  12. Greening, Chris (December 5, 2015). "Tomoya Ohtani Interview: Sonic Music for a New Generation". Video Game Music Online. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  13. Lada, Jenni (July 6, 2017). "Sonic Forces' "Fist Bump" Is Performed By Hoobastank's Douglas Robb". Siliconera. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  14. Gann, Patrick. "Final Fantasy X-2 Piano Collection". RPGFan. Archived from the original on 2013-01-16. Retrieved 2008-04-14.

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