Video game and anime reporting site Rocketbaby has conducted interviews with four SEGA composers who worked on the soundtrack to Sonic Adventure 2! Jun Senoue, Kenichi Tokoi, Fumie Kumatani and Tomoya Ohtani all speak out about their experiences working on the game as well as their careers in general. Read on for Jun Senoue’s interview; the rest are linked below.
How did you get involved with music?
Jun Senoue: The first step for me was when I was three I started to play piano.
How do you get your melodies and why do you create music?
JS: Why? Cause it is fun for me and I want to do it. I usually get the idea for melodies when I am walking somewhere. So, I always carry a cassette recorder to keep my ideas on tape.
How do you create your music?
JS: At first I make riff or main melody with guitar, synthesizer or just singing. I collect my ideas with my cheap cassette recorder, and sometimes I check over the tapes to find some good stuff.
What is it like to be a game composer?
JS: There are huge audiences for my songs whether they like them or not. That is the best part about writing game music for me. The worst parts is sometimes the timeline is so tight, that stress weighs heavily on me.
How does the music for Sonic Adventure 2 compare to the original game’s music?
JS: This time, I think all tracks are better suited than previous games. Actually we decided the kind of music for each characters before we start writing songs and that helps us a lot. I’m full of confidence with Sonic Adventure 2
With so many composers for the game how do you decide who will compose for each section of the game?
JS: As I mentioned before, we first decided the way to write the songs. I made a list of songs for Sonic Adventure 2 and discussed them with everyone, then we decided the person in charge of each section.
What is your favorite part of Sonic Adventure 2?
JS: “Final Rush” stage for Sonic. “Radical Highway” stage for Shadow. Each stage is fresh, exciting and has good energy.
What thoughts do you have about Sonic’s 10th Anniversary?
JS: When I started playing Sonic stuff for the MEGA DRIVE (Genesis in U.S.), I really enjoyed it. I started working with Sonic Team since the Sonic 3 project and to have the opportunity to work on the Sonic Adventure series is one of the highlights of my life.
Which of your colleagues do you admire the most and why?
JS: Mr. Hataya in my company. He is the guy who is always thinking about the technical innovation. What he did for NiGHTS, and all of his works deserve our attention.
Any advice for people who want to create music?
JS: Have interests in many kinds of music. The knowledge about many kinds of music helps you to write good songs for the scene.
Any last thoughts?
JS: I hope you can enjoy what I do.
Read more at Rocketbaby’s Jun Senoue interview page. You should also read the interviews for Kenichi Tokoi, Fumie Kumatani and Tomoya Ohtani.