Yuji Takenouchi
Yuji Takenouchi 竹ノ内 裕治 | |
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| Also known as | TECHNOuchi |
| Born | February 25, 1969 Kyoto, Japan |
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| Years active | 1989–present |
Yuji Takenouchi (竹ノ内 裕治, Takenouchi Yūji, born February 25, 1969[1]), also known as TECHNOuchi, is a Japanese composer, sound designer, and musician.
Career[edit]
Takenouchi began his career in the game industry at Konami in 1989, which proved to be challenging as he had no formal musical training. Takenouchi wanted to compose music for the NES, but was assigned to work for PC. He composed for multiple games, most notably SD Snatcher and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. Takenouchi considers 1989's Space Manbow to be his best MSX-era work.[2] Takenouchi also worked on multiple arcade games, including X-Men. He found arcade game music and sound design to offer different challenges as arcades are a crowded environment. In 1996, Takenouchi left Konami to join Sony Computer Entertainment after participating in the project "Let's Play Games" ("Game Yarouze"), which Sony hosted.[2]
In 1996 Takenouchi composed the soundtrack for Circadia for the PlayStation, which was his first project for the platform. While unsatisfied with the final product, the soundtrack was positively received, and Takenouchi would arrange songs from the soundtrack 10 years later. In the same year, Takenouchi composed for TomaRunner, drawing inspiration from various genres including techno, rock and roll, and baroque.[2] In 2002, Takenouchi composed the soundtrack of ChainDive with Hideyuki Eto, who previously contributed music for Circadia and sound design for Sky Gunner. After leaving Sony, Takenouchi was approached to compose music for Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception. Takenouchi was managing a school at the time, leading to hectic schedule. He suggested Akira Yamasaki as a composer, acting as a supervisor instead.[2] Takenouchi later joined FromSoftware, where he worked on sound design for Demon's Souls with Hideyuki Eto, marking their fourth collaboration.[3] As Takenouchi was inexperienced with orchestral scores, he brought Shunsuke Kida to compose the soundtrack.[2] Takenouchi would then work on sound design for the game's 2011 spiritual successor Dark Souls. Takenouchi contributed to the Monster Hunter 10th Anniversary Compilation Album, which released in October 2014.[4] After working on sound design for Dark Souls II, Takenouchi left FromSoftware.[5]
Takenouchi later joined Access Games, after a conversation with producer Nobuo Tomita.[6] Takenouchi served as sound director and composer for D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die, working on sound direction from the second episode onwards. The sound team was given reference material by Hidetaka Suehiro and Hiroyuki Saegusa through existing songs from various dramas and movies.[6] In 2016, Takenouchi left Access Games to join iNiS.[7] A compilation of Takenouchi's three house-inspired extended plays, Brand New Day, Southern Paradise, and Parfum was released in March 2017 by Apollo Records and titled after the first EP.[8] Takenouchi contributed to KE-TSU-I kizunajigokutachi, an arrangement album of music from Ketsui: Kizuna Jigoku Tachi, which released in August 2020.[9] Takenouchi produced Saki Hayash's mini-album, TESTAMENT, which released in May 22, 2021.[10]
Works[edit]
 |
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Gekitotsu Pennant Race 2 | |
| Space Manbow | with Tsuyoshi Sekito and Michiru Yamane | |
| 1990 | Quarth | |
| Nemesis | sound design | |
| SD Snatcher | with various others | |
| Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake | with various others | |
| 1992 | Namachūkei 68 | |
| X-Men | Seiichi Fukami, Junya Nakano, and Ayako Nishigaki | |
| Hexion | with Junya Nakano and Satoko Miyawaki | |
| 1993 | Gaiapolis | with Seiichi Fukami and Satoko Miyawaki |
| Polygonet Commanders | with Junya Nakano | |
| Mystic Warriors | ||
| 1994 | Golfing Greats 2 | |
| 1995 | Crypt Killer | with Mutsuhiko Izumi |
| Tokimeki Memorial Taisen Puzzledama | with Yoshihiko Koezuka and Kazuhiro Senoo | |
| 1996 | Road Rage/Speed King | with Akira Yamaoka and Mutsuhiko Izumi |
| 1999 | Circadia | with Mayuko Kusaka, Hideyuki Eto, and Jun Chuma |
| TomaRunner | with various others | |
| 2000 | Gekitotsu Toma L'Arc: TomaRunner vs L'Arc-en-Ciel | sound producer |
| 2001 | Sky Gunner | sound design with Hideyuki Eto |
| Mad Maestro! | with Jun Chuma and Mayuko Kageshita | |
| 2003 | ChainDive | with Hideyuki Eto |
| 2006 | Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception | music supervisor |
| 2007 | Another Century's Episode 3: The Final | composer |
| 2009 | Demon's Souls | sound director |
| 2010 | Monster Hunter Diary: Poka Poka Airou Village | composer |
| 2011 | Monster Hunter Diary: Poka Poka Airou Village G | composer |
| Dark Souls | sound designer, character creation music | |
| Instant Brain | with Keishi Yonao, Hideki Higuchi, Ryu Umemoto, Tadayoshi Moriya, and Tetsuro Sato | |
| 2012 | Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor | sound design with Hideyuki Eto and Koichi Suenaga |
| 2014 | Dark Souls II | sound design with Koichi Suenaga and Kota Hoshino |
| D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die | with Tomomi Teratani, Rio Okano, and Atsushi Yamaji; also sound director | |
| 2015 | Project X Zone 2 | arrangements |
| 2018 | The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories | with kidlit and Keisuke Morita; also sound director |
| 2019 | Evangelion Battlefields | sound design / sound director |
| Touhou Genso Mahjong | arrangements | |
| 2021 | Tetote x Connect | composer / sound director |
| Dragon Quest Keshi Keshi! | sound design / sound director | |
| 2022 | Compass Live Arena | arrangements/ sound director |
| Cancelled | Project Rap Rabbit | lead sound designer[12] |
References[edit]
- ^ @TECHNOuchi (February 25, 2019). "５０歳の自分なんて想像出来なかった。仲良くしてくれてる皆さんいつもありがとう。これからも色々楽しく過ごしましょう！" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ a b c d e Greening, Chris. "Game Music: Interview with Yuji Takenouchi (October 2009)". Square Enix Music Online. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
- ^ FromSoftware (February 5, 2009). Demon's Souls. Scene: Credits.
Lead Sound Designer: Yuji Takenouchi / Sound Staff: Hideyuki Eto
- ^ "『モンスターハンター 10周年 コンピレーション・アルバム』なるけみちこ氏や山根ミチル氏などが手がけた楽曲の試聴用音源が一部公開". Famitsu (in Japanese). August 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
- ^ Greening, Chris (March 25, 2014). "Dark Souls sound director to leave FromSoftware". Video Game Music Online. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
- ^ a b Greening, Chris (June 13, 2015). "Yuji Takenouchi Interview: New Ventures After Dark Souls". Video Game Music Online. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
- ^ Greening, Chris (July 22, 2016). "Yuji Takenouchi jumps ship to rhythm game developer iNiS". Video Game Music Online. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
- ^ Wilson, Scott (January 31, 2017). "Dark Souls sound designer Yuji Takenouchi's '90s house tracks reissued on new compilation". Fact. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
- ^ "『ケツイ～絆地獄たち～』3アルバム9月30日まで期間限定配信！ 新デザインのTシャツも発売". Famitsu (in Japanese). Retrieved 28 November 2021.
- ^ "ゲーマートランペット奏者の林沙希さんが，TECHNOuchi氏プロデュースのミニアルバムをリリース". 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). Retrieved 27 November 2021.
- ^ "GameAudio Index" (in Japanese). Retrieved January 2, 2022.
- ^ "『パラッパラッパー』松浦雅也 ×『押忍！闘え！応援団』矢野慶一の最強タッグで完全新作音楽ゲーム『PROJECT RAP RABBIT』を始動！！Kickstarterでクラウドファンディングスタート！". PR TIMES (in Japanese). 16 May 2017. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
External links[edit]
- Official website (in Japanese)
- Discography at VGMdb
| Authority control databases: Artists |
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