(born April 23, 1975) is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

composer and

sound design Sound design is the art and practice of creating sound tracks for a variety of needs. It involves specifying, acquiring or creating auditory elements using audio production techniques and tools. It is employed in a variety of disciplines including ...

er. As part of FromSoftware's sound team, Hoshino is best known for composing multiple games in the ''

Armored Core is a third-person shooter mecha video game series developed by FromSoftware. The series centers on a silent protagonist who takes on work as a mercenary pilot in the far future, operating large robot combat units known as Armored Cores at the b ...

'' series and as the bassist and vocalist of FreQuency.

Career

Kota Hoshino was born in Tokyo, Japan on April 23, 1975, and studied at

Surugadai University is a private university in Hannō, Saitama, Japan, established in 1987. Aiming to produce people who can contribute to today's internationalized, information-oriented society, the university places emphasis on thorough small-class teaching, fore ...

. Hoshino began working at FromSoftware in spring of 1998, feeling that his music would complement the games' visuals. His first role was composing music for ''

Shadow Tower is a 1998 role playing video game developed by FromSoftware for the PlayStation. The game was originally released in Japan on June 25, 1998 and in North America on November 19, 1999. In North America, the game was published by Agetec. ''Shadow T ...

'' for the PlayStation. As the game uses very little music, many of Hoshino's contributions were unused, though some unused tracks were later used in '' Evergrace.'' The same year, he contributed music for ''

Echo Night ''Echo Night'' is a trilogy of Japanese adventure games developed by FromSoftware. The original '' Echo Night'' was first released in 1998 for the PlayStation. Two sequels were developed; '' Echo Night 2: The Lord of Nightmares'' for the PlaySta ...

''. In 1999, Hoshino composed the soundtrack of '' Armored Core: Master of Arena'' with Tsukasa Saitoh and Keiichiro Segawa, and had since written music for the series. During the FromSoftware Games Event Autumn 2018 in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

, Hoshino said that the game's opening theme, "Apex in Circle," was a challenging composition as it had to match the development of the intro cutscene. Hoshino stated that he cannot read music, so he usually does not compose orchestral scores. Hoshino was the composer and sound designer for '' Evergrace'', which released in 2000 for the PlayStation 2. For the soundtrack, Hoshino used voices as the primary instrument, editing samples of his own with

Sound Forge Sound Forge (formerly known as Sonic Foundry Sound Forge, and later as Sony Sound Forge) is a digital audio editing suite by Magix Software GmbH, which is aimed at the professional and semi-professional markets. There are two versions of Sound F ...

to create an "ethnic" sound, in addition to instruments including shakuhachi, shamisen, and synthesized percussion. Hoshino composed for '' Armored Core: Verdict Day'' with Yuka Kitamura, which released in 2013. Following the game's release, Hoshino worked mainly on sound design, including '' Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice'' and ''

Elden Ring is a 2022 action role-playing game developed by FromSoftware and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki with worldbuilding provided by fantasy writer George R. R. Martin, it was released for PlayStation 4, PlayS ...

''. Hoshino is the bassist and vocalist of FreQuency, a band composed of members of FromSoftware's sound team, led with Tsukasa Saitoh. The band released songs through the FROMSOUND RECORDS label. In 2011, the band released its debut album, ''Armored Core Reprises'', which contains arrangements of music from the ''Armored Core'' series. In 2013, the band released its second album, ''Sunrise'', composed of original songs and arrangements. FreQuency performed ''Day After Day'', a song for the trailer of '' Armored Core: Verdict Day''. Following positive reception, the song alongside an instrumental version and two tracks released as an

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

of the same name in 2014. FreQuency composed and performed "Fallout," which was used for the trailer of '' Metal Wolf Chaos XD'', a 2019 remaster of the 2004 Xbox title.

Works

References

External links

*
FreQuency
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoshino, Kota 1975 births Japanese composers Japanese male composers Living people Musicians from Tokyo Video game composers