is a Japanese

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

, known for his work on television dramas and

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

series.

Biography

Yokoyama was born in

Nagano Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,052,493 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture to the north, Gunma Prefecture to the ...

. He started to take piano lessons at the age of three, taught by his aunt who is an alumna of

Kunitachi College of Music The is a private music conservatory in Tachikawa, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1926 as the Tokyo Conservatory of Music, Kunitachi now offers study programs in performance, music education, composition, computer music, and musicology, for bachelor ...

, but became interested in music when he was in elementary school, after playing his own compositions. When he was in middle school, he began to compose music using a

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

that he bought and his computer, and had also briefly played in a band. Interested in computers, Yokoyama attended National Institute of Technology, Nagano College, studying

electronic engineering Electronics engineering is a sub-discipline of electrical engineering which emerged in the early 20th century and is distinguished by the additional use of active components such as semiconductor devices to amplify and control electric current ...

for five years after graduating from middie school. Influenced by

Joe Hisaishi , known professionally as , is a Japanese composer, musical director, conductor and pianist, known for over 100 film scores and solo albums dating back to 1981. He is also known for his piano scores. Hisaishi's music has been known to explor ...

s music in

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Koganei, Tokyo."Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment". ''Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment''. Retrieved 2020-12-14. It is best known for its animated feature films, and ha ...

s films that he watched when he was young and musician

Tetsuya Komuro is a Japanese musician, songwriter and record producer. He is recognized as the most successful producer in Japanese music history and introduced contemporary electronic dance music to the Japanese mainstream. He was also a former owner of the ...

, Yokoyama decided to pursue a career in music and attended Kunitachi College of Music when he was nineteen, following his aunt encouragement. While in college, he met guitarist

Hiroaki Tsutsumi is a Japanese musician and composer best known for his work on various anime television series. He started his musical career at the age of 14 when he first started playing the guitar. After winning a guitar contest three years later, he decided ...

, who would later work with Yokoyama on many projects. After graduating, Yokoyama worked as a freelancer, writing songs for various artists, including

Momoiro Clover Z is a Japanese idol girl group, commonly abbreviated as MCZ or . The four members of MCZ are known for energetic performances, incorporating elements of ballet, gymnastics, and action movies. MCZ is notable for being the first female group to ho ...

, before joining the music production company Miracle Bus in 2009, where he began to produce soundtracks for television dramas,

, and other media. His first work as a sole composer was the 2011 television drama series '' Mitsu no Aji: A Taste of Honey''. He occasionally records his score overseas, and improvises instruments that would match the concept of each work, such as using buckets and decking brushes as instruments when recording the soundtrack for '' Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans''.

Works

Television dramas

Anime

Films

Other projects

References

External links

Profile
at Miracle Bus * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yokoyama, Masaru 1982 births 21st-century Japanese composers 21st-century Japanese male musicians Anime composers Japanese film score composers Japanese male film score composers Japanese music arrangers Japanese television composers Kunitachi College of Music alumni Living people Male television composers Musicians from Nagano Prefecture