00:00Drake, Plei Bocardi and Maître Gims all have one thing in common,
00:04it's that they seem, they seem iconic themes of a flagship birth of video games,
00:08composed by the legendary Nobio Uematsu.
00:11He was born in 1949 in Koichi, Japan. Uematsu quickly developed a passion for music. He began
00:21to play the piano at only 12 years old. At first, music was just a hobby for him,
00:24and he still devotes himself to his studies at Kanagawa University,
00:28where he hesitated between lawyer and doctor. After his studies, he formed a group of
00:33rock band called The Black Match. A six-piece band where he will be in charge of playing
00:37keyboard. But gradually, he will realize that his place is not there. So he will leave the
00:42group to be able to focus on creating and composing music. He sends some
00:45musical creations to advertising agencies where he was hired by a commercial radio station
00:49Japanese company to compose different melodies for advertising spots. It was in 1985 that Uematsu
00:56will be contacted by one of his friends who works in the video game industry,
00:58and will offer him a job as a game composer for a small company called Square. Managed at this
01:04era by Hironobu Sakaguchi, who was looking for a certain talent to create video game sounds.
01:08Uematsu seized this opportunity and accepted the offer without thinking twice. In 1986, he joined Square,
01:16and composed his first game, The Crud Chaser Plastic.
01:19An RPG with robot battles where you can customize the body parts of the robot.
01:25robot to make it stronger, like Front Mission for those who know. A year later,
01:27He composed sounds for three other games, Kick Night, 3D World Runner and Red Reezer.
01:32You should know that at that time, Square games were not doing very well. The company could not find their golden goose,
01:47They were very poorly funded, and the future of the studio and the artist was in danger. But it was in the same year, in 1987,
02:06that Uematsu and Sakaguchi will have a genius idea to create the most popular license, which launched Uematsu's career,
02:14at the peak of Josibé's music.
03:12FF, what is it?
03:13It's a JRPG that has a turn-based combat system.
03:15With each opus, a different scenario, a different universe and a different combat system.
03:19This license will be a hit and will sell more than 2 million copies worldwide.
03:23And the success of this game does not only come from innovative gameplay, or striking scenarios,
03:27or even to its varied and exceptional universe, but partly to the unforgettable sound created by Uematsu,
03:31which are not only one of the strong points of the license, but which also manage to mark each generation of SF players.
03:37And the perfect example is the prelude, the main OST that Uematsu composed in 10 minutes,
03:41that we find in each episode and which recalls the magical universe that is Final Fantasy.
03:51If the main theme already manages to take you on a journey, it is only a sample of what each opus can give you as musical emotion,
03:57whether it is sadness, determination or even mourning.
04:00Generic
04:28I invite you to go listen to these different sounds because it is really only a small part of the incalculable number of Nobuo OSTs.
04:34But these sounds are not only marking the world of video games, but also the world of hip-hop.
04:37Because even the most popular artists do not hesitate to call themselves iconic sounds from this license.
04:58But it's not over.
05:26While Nobuo has continued to inspire artists and create memorable sounds for players over the years,
05:30There is one that will remain a classic in the world of video game music.
05:35In 1997, one of the most iconic games in the franchise, Final Fantasy VII, was released.
05:58To give you a brief summary of the story, we are in the company of an ex-soldier and mercenary named Cloud,
06:03who works with an eco-terrorist group called Avalanche to blow up all the reactors that harness the energy of the planet called Mako,
06:09by a company called Shinra.
06:10Plus a guy with long hair and a 1m83 sand who aims to destroy the planet by creating a meteor,
06:16Besides, this sound was made for him, Sephiroth.
06:19Why, you might ask? Quite simply, he is a powerful character driven by hatred, betrayed by men.
06:24Nobuyo aimed to create a striking character so that we could feel the greatness of the character,
06:28and above all the malevolence and the truthfulness that we have in front of us.
06:31And to compose this theme, Uematsu was inspired by the theme "Rate of the Spring" by Igor Stravinsky,
06:44a former composer, pianist and conductor of modern music,
06:47considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century.
06:51Stravinsky is a "春" that I remember a lot.
07:01In etymology, OWA refers to a fallen angel, hence its black wings and its desire to destroy the world.
07:10This sound first appears in the final boss of the original game.
07:13This is to make the player understand that we are not facing a random character or an introductory boss to teach us how to play.
07:18We are facing Sephiroth.
07:19And it also appears in several other popular licenses, whether it be Super Smash Bros, TCT-012 or even the incredible Kingdom Air saga,
07:25with an entrance of the character always very theatrical and divine, to make us feel the superiority of Sephiroth.
07:30This song is such a banger that even people who know nothing about the FF universe know where it comes from.
07:36It will forever remain a memorable sound from the world of video games.
07:46Nobuo has given us some classics that we will never forget.
07:48He is rewarded everywhere and respected by all.
07:51I think it's time for him to become independent.
07:53In 2004, he left Square Enix and created his small company Smile Please,
07:56but still continues to compose video game music for Square.
07:59In 2005, he composed his first film soundtrack, Final Fantasy VII Adversary Run,
08:04which is a commercial success.
08:06Over 1 million copies sold worldwide.
08:08In 2007, he composed Blue Dragon, the role-playing game released on Xbox created by Mistwalker, Sagaguchi's company.
08:14Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball Z, will be in charge of character design.
08:19In 2008, he produced music for a very popular Nintendo game, Super Smash Bros Brawl,
08:23The fighting game bringing together several characters from the Nintendo license, released on Wii.
08:27It will sell over 7 million copies worldwide.
08:30He will be approached to compose the main theme of the game.
08:32After all this, Uematsu will take a long break.
08:50He recently stated that he could no longer compose an entire video game soundtrack,
08:54but that it will be on the main themes of the games.
08:55It can be found in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth,
08:58with over 400 songs composed and rearranged for the second trilogy of this game.
09:02Even if today he is no longer able to bring us new classics,
09:05these sounds will always remain recognizable musical symbols,
09:08which are often performed at live concerts like Distant World,
09:12which will allow a wider audience to know these sounds
09:15and to strengthen its reputation beyond the world of video games.
09:18Nobuo Uematsu will forever be respected by gamers and the music industry.
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