Toru Minegishi

This article is about the video game composer. For the actor, see Tōru Minegishi.
Toru Minegishi
Born 1975 (age 40–41)
Occupation(s) Composer, sound effects designer
Instruments Keyboard, guitar, drums, melodica
Years active 1998–present

Toru Minegishi (峰岸 透 Minegishi Tōru) is a Japanese video game composer, best known for his work on Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda series. He was raised in a very 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. He later applied at Nintendo, where he became a member of the Entertainment Analysis and Development division's sound group. After he had gained experience with projects such as Animal Crossing, he was assigned to create the startup sound for the GameCube video game console, and became the main composer for the action-adventure game The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Minegishi cites the suite Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky and the works of his fellow co-worker Koji Kondo as his biggest influences.

Biography

Early life

Minegishi grew up in a very musical family; his parents were especially fond of Latin and tango music. He became interested in video games at the age of 10, when he saw a commercial for the action-adventure The Legend of Zelda, and was impressed with the quality of its music and sound effects. 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 present. 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.[1]

Career

Minegishi 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.[1][2] Minegishi often listens to music at home to make himself familiar with a variety of musical styles.[1] He prefers to create melodies in his head, but composes on the keyboard and the guitar as well.[1] The startup sound for the GameCube game console is one of the musical pieces he had conceived without instruments.[1] Minegishi cites the development of sound effects for Super Mario Sunshine and the creation of 50 compositions from different musical genres for Animal Crossing as some of his greatest learning experiences.[1] He considers video game composer Koji Kondo, the manager of the EAD sound group, as big inspiration and a master of video game sound.[1] Minegishi's first involvement in the Legend of Zelda series was with the composition of three battle themes for Majora's Mask.[3] Later, he was assigned as the main composer for Twilight Princess.[2] Several of his compositions for Twilight Princess were arranged for orchestra by Jonne Valtonen, and performed at the concert Symphonic Legends in September 2010.[4]

Works

Video games
Year Title Role Co-worker(s)
1998 Pokémon Stadium (Japan) Composition Mitsuhiro Hikino and Kenta Nagata
1999 Pokémon Stadium Composition Hajime Wakai and Kenta Nagata
2000 Mario Artist: Talent Studio Composition Kazumi Totaka and Kenta Nagata
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask Composition Koji Kondo
2001 Animal Crossing Composition Kazumi Totaka, Kenta Nagata, and Shinobu Tanaka
2002 Super Mario Sunshine Sound effects Mitsuhiro Hikino and Yoji Inagaki
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker Composition Kenta Nagata, Hajime Wakai, and Koji Kondo
2003 Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour Sound effects Various others
2004 Mario Pinball Land Sound effects Taro Bando, Yoji Inagaki, and Mitsuhiro Hikino
Mario Power Tennis Voice acting Various others
2005 Yoshi Touch & Go Composition Kazumi Totaka and Asuka Ohta
Mario Superstar Baseball Voice acting Various others
2006 The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Composition Asuka Ohta and Koji Kondo
2007 The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass Composition Kenta Nagata
Wii Fit Composition Manaka Tominaga and Shiho Fujii
2008 Super Smash Bros. Brawl Arrangement Various others
Mario Super Sluggers Voice acting Various others
Wii Music Composition Kenta Nagata and Mahito Yokota
2009 The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks Composition Manaka Tominaga, Asuka Ohta and Koji Kondo
2011 Steel Diver Composition Atsuko Asahi
Mario Kart 7 Sound support Ryoji Yoshitomi
2012 WaraWara Plaza Composition
2013 Super Mario 3D World Composition Mahito Yokota, Yasuaki Iwata, and Koji Kondo
2014 Steel Diver: Sub Wars Composition Kenta Nagata and Atsuko Asahi
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U Arrangement Various others
2015 The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D Composition
(reused) 		Koji Kondo
Mario Party 10 Voice acting Various others
Splatoon Composition Shiho Fujii
2016 The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD Sound supervisor Takahiro Watanabe
Mario Party: Star Rush Voice acting Various others

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Inside Zelda Part 13: The Sounds of Twilight". Nintendo Power. Nintendo of America, Inc. (204). June 2006. Archived from the original on June 14, 2008.
  2. 1 2 "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.
  3. ↑ Zelda no Densetsu: Mujura no Kamen Original Soundtrack (Media notes). Pioneer LDC. 2000. PICA-2006.
  4. ↑ "Symphonic Legends concert program" (PDF). Merregnon Studios. Archived from the original on December 28, 2010. Retrieved December 28, 2010.
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