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 ...

, most recognized for his

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

s during the 1990s, particularly for the '' Shining'' series of games. He has worked for companies such as

Sega is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...

Enix was a Japanese video game publisher that produced video games, anime and manga. Enix is known for publishing the ''Dragon Quest'' series of role-playing video games. The company was founded by Yasuhiro Fukushima on September 22, 1975, as . Th ...

Climax Entertainment was a Japanese video game development company. It was a small company, with just 20 staff in 1996. Climax got its start during the 16-bit era, primarily developing games for the Sega Genesis console. During the 32-bit era, some members of the t ...

, and

Game Arts is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games located in Chiyoda, Tokyo. Originally established in 1985 as a computer software company, it expanded into producing for a number of game console and handheld systems. Its President and CEO i ...

. Takenouchi studied music at the

Tokyo University of the Arts or is the most prestigious art school in Japan. Located in Ueno Park, it also has facilities in Toride, Ibaraki, Yokohama, Kanagawa, and Kitasenju and Adachi, Tokyo. The university has trained renowned artists in the fields of painting, scul ...

, where he and fellow composer

Hayato Matsuo is a Japanese music composer and orchestrator who primarily does work in video games and anime. He has worked on titles such as '' Front Mission 3'', ''Final Fantasy XII'', the ''Shenmue'' series, '' Magic Knight Rayearth'', and ''Hellsing Ultim ...

were classmates. Around this time, he was involved with several projects, including arrangement under the supervision of

Koichi Sugiyama was a Japanese composer, conductor, and orchestrator. He was best known for composing the music for the '' Dragon Quest'' franchise, along with several other video games, anime, film, and television shows. Classically trained, Sugiyama was ...

. Takenouchi's compositional approach often encompasses elements of

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...

, and

symphonic A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

, frequently making use of odd

time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

virtuosic A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'' or , "virtuous", Late Latin ''virtuosus'', Latin ''virtus'', "virtue", "excellence" or "skill") is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as ...

musical lines,

syncopation In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm": a "place ...

and dissonance. He cited

King Crimson King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...

, Yes,

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...

, and

Emerson, Lake & Palmer Emerson, Lake & Palmer (informally known as ELP) were an English progressive rock supergroup formed in London in 1970. The band consisted of Keith Emerson (keyboards), Greg Lake (vocals, bass, guitar, producer) and Carl Palmer (drums, percus ...

as some of his influences. In addition to his work on video game soundtracks, Takenouchi also composed music for some of the early releases on

Shinji Hosoe , also known as Megaten and Sampling Masters MEGA, is a Japanese video game composer and musician most famous for scoring ''Ridge Racer'', ''Street Fighter EX'' and many Namco arcade games between 1987 and 1996. He also runs the music production ...

's Troubadour record label. In 2000, he composed and arranged the song "Shower" for

Rina Chinen (born 9 February 1981) is a Japanese entertainer, former singer, and musical theater actress. She is affiliated with Rising Production. History Rina Chinen took lessons as a child from the Okinawa Actors School. By the time she reached junior h ...

. He also plays keyboards for "Autumn-River Willow" under the pseudonym of "dj".

Works

Video games

*(1991) '' Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai'' (

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 ...

) (arranger, with

) *(1991) '' Jewel Master'' (

Sega Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...

) *(1992) '' Double Moon Densetsu'' (

Famicom The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...

) *(1992) '' Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole'' (Sega Genesis) *(1992) '' E.V.O.: Search for Eden'' (

Super NES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in E ...

) (arranger, original compositions by Koichi Sugiyama) *(1992) '' Shining Force Gaiden'' (

Sega Game Gear The is an 8-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation handheld game console released by Sega on October 6, 1990, in Japan, in April 1991 throughout North America and Europe, and during 1992 in Australia. The Game Gear pri ...

) *(1992) ''Air Combat II: Special'' (

FM Towns The is a Japanese personal computer, built by Fujitsu from February 1989 to the summer of 1997. It started as a proprietary PC variant intended for multimedia applications and PC games, but later became more compatible with IBM PC compatibles. ...

) *(1993) ''

Aguri Suzuki F-1 Super Driving ''Aguri Suzuki F-1 Super Driving'', released as ''Redline F-1 Racer'' in North America, is a Formula One racing simulator game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy. The game is named after and sponsored by the Japanese Formula 1 ...

'' (

Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same ...

) *(1993) '' Shining Force: The Sword of Hajya'' (Game Gear) *(1993) ''

Shining Force II is a tactical role-playing game for the Mega Drive/Genesis console developed by Sonic! Software Planning in 1993. Its storyline is not directly connected to the original '' Shining Force'', although a Game Gear title '' Shining Force Gaiden: Fin ...

'' (Mega Drive) *(1994) '' Shining Force CD'' (

Sega CD The Sega CD, released as the in most regions outside North America and Brazil, is a CD-ROM accessory for the Sega Genesis produced by Sega as part of the fourth generation of video game consoles. It was released on December 12, 1991, in Japan, ...

) *(1994) '' Road Prosecutor'' ( Sega Mega LD) *(1995) ''Gamera: Gyaosu Gekimetsu Sakusen'' (

Super Famicom The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Euro ...

) *(1995) '' Granhistoria: Genshi Sekaiki'' (Super Famicom) *(1995) '' Shining Force Gaiden: Final Conflict'' (Game Gear) *(1995) ''

Shining Wisdom is an action-adventure game developed by Sonic! Software Planning and Camelot Software Planning and published by Sega for the Sega Saturn. It was the last game in the '' Shining'' series to be developed for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive but was ...

'' (

Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it was the successor to the succ ...

) *(1996) '' Gungriffon: The Eurasian Conflict'' (Sega Saturn) *(1996) ''SD Gundam Over Galaxian'' (

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...

)

Other

*(1993) ''G.T.R'' - "Gosling" *(1993) ''Great Wall'' - "Delirhythm E-BB1" *(1994) ''T·O·U·R·S'' - "Unparalleled" *(1996) ''Cho Aniki Show II'' - "Sak-kwa DANCE" *(2008) ''DAWN for Nohkan and String Orchestra'' *(2008) ''Trio for Nohkan, Clarinet and Bassoon'' *(2009) ''Suite for Noh and Orchestra'' *(2010) ''GIONSYOJA for Utai, Violin and Orchestra'' *(2010) ''Autumn-River Willow'' - you you you you you *(2011) ''KOKAI for Utai and Orchestra'' *(2012) ''Rooms for solo Piano'' *(2012) ''Autumn-River Willow'' - Brand new summer day *(2013) ''Sonata for Bass Tuba and Piano'' *(2013) ''Autumn-River Willow'' - Kimi to! *(2014) ''Autumn-River Willow'' - Jewelry Box

References

External links

Official website

TAKE'S MUSIC FACTORY
(Old) {{DEFAULTSORT:Takenouchi, Motoaki 1967 births Japanese composers Japanese male composers Living people Musicians from Saitama Prefecture Tokyo University of the Arts alumni Video game composers