{"id":16374,"date":"2021-05-19T13:12:47","date_gmt":"2021-05-19T17:12:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/?p=16374"},"modified":"2023-05-04T11:55:15","modified_gmt":"2023-05-04T15:55:15","slug":"yoko-shimomura-video-game-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/yoko-shimomura-video-game-music\/","title":{"rendered":"How Yoko Shimomura became one of the most iconic composers in video game music"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Yoko Shimomura has been crafting the soundtrack to countless childhoods for decades.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One could even call the epic, classically-inspired sounds of the Kingdom Hearts<\/em>, Parasite Eve<\/em>, and Street Fighter II <\/em>themes to be \u201cperfect<\/em>.\u201d In a male-dominated video game industry, Shimomura carved her own lane and cemented her place in soundtrack history through her work at developers Capcom and Square Enix. In celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, learn the story behind the legendary composer and her iconic works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yoko Shimomura’s beginnings at Capcom<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Yoko Shimomura was born in Hyogo, Japan in 1967. From a young age, she was fascinated by classical music and began playing piano in junior high school. She was unsure about pursuing a career in composition and figured piano teachers were in high demand. While getting her degree at the Osaka College of Music in 1988, she happened upon a classified ad for composers at Capcom. Although she had no compositional experience, she loved arcade games and fought for the position. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shimomura struggled at Capcom initially, telling Red Bull in 2014<\/a>, \u201cI only learned about composition in class as a minor part of a standard music education… It was really tough after joining. I got really down, and even cried on my way home sometimes.\u201d Her parents disapproved of working in video games, hoping she\u2019d find stable income as a piano teacher. In her early days, she took inspiration from Mozart, Chopin, and Ravel as well as video game composers like Koji Kondo, whose earworm sense of melody encouraged Shimomura to approach scoring like crafting jingles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What struck Shimomura was the diversity of Capcom\u2019s music department. The top composers across departments were women, and she quickly felt at ease working on her first project. She began her career with Street Fighter II <\/em>in 1991, the groundbreaking combat game that inspired decades of copycats. Shimomura strived to craft loops that didn’t get annoying or repetitive, focusing on writing simple melodies that wouldn\u2019t get tiresome even after countless listens. For characters of different backgrounds, she sketched loose ideas embodying the \u201cfeel\u201d of a country, like the tablas in Blanka\u2019s theme. She carefully studied the game\u2019s art sketches and environments, like the night markets of Chun-Li\u2019s stage and the ornamental elephant from Dhalsim\u2019s stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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