is a Japanese composer,
orchestrator
Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...
, and musician. He is best known for collaborating with
Noriko Matsueda
is a Japanese former video game composer. She is best known for her work on the '' Front Mission'' series, '' The Bouncer'', and ''Final Fantasy X-2''. Matsueda collaborated with fellow composer Takahito Eguchi on several games. Composing music ...
on ''
Final Fantasy X-2
is a 2003 role-playing video game developed and published by Square (video game company), Square for the PlayStation 2. Unlike most ''Final Fantasy'' games, which use self-contained stories and characters, ''X-2'' continues the story of ''Fin ...
'' and with
Tomoya Ohtani
is a Japanese composer and bassist. He has been playing music with a band since high school, and has also been involved in music and sound activities for theater companies before joining Sega in 1999. He is mainly in charge of music for the '' ...
on several ''
Sonic the Hedgehog'' games. Eguchi became interested in music when he was six years old after hearing his neighbor playing the piano. He attended the Tokyo Conservatoire Shobi where he acquainted Matsueda.
Eguchi worked at
Square Enix from 1998 to 2003 and currently works at
Sega. He created mostly electronic music in the early part of his career but now focuses on orchestral composition and arrangement, along with performing keyboards.
Biography
Born in
Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan.
It became the sole Nanban trade, port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hi ...
, Japan, Eguchi became interested in music at the age of six when he heard his neighbor playing the piano. While his father, a judo athlete, initially tried to push him into pursuing sports, he eventually agreed to let him take piano lessons, as long as he agreed to study with his sister.
Eguchi enrolled at the Tokyo Conservatoire Shobi,
where he met long-term composing partner
Noriko Matsueda
is a Japanese former video game composer. She is best known for her work on the '' Front Mission'' series, '' The Bouncer'', and ''Final Fantasy X-2''. Matsueda collaborated with fellow composer Takahito Eguchi on several games. Composing music ...
. After graduating from the
conservatoire
A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...
, he produced numerous compositions, joined a band as a keyboardist, and worked as a
software designer.
He also gave Matsueda advice on music manipulation during her first game project, ''
Front Mission
is a collection of video games and related media produced by Square (video game company), Square, now Square Enix. The series was created by Toshiro Tsuchida and developed by G-Craft, a studio that was later absorbed by Square and existed withi ...
'', in 1995.
At her request, he also
arranged
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 orchest ...
and
orchestrated
Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...
"Theme of Bahamut Lagoon ~ Opening" for the bonus disc of the original soundtrack to ''
Bahamut Lagoon
is a 1996 tactical role-playing game developed and published by Square for the Super Famicom.
''Bahamut Lagoon'' was released on the Virtual Console in Japan on September 29, 2009 for the Wii and on February 5, 2014 for the Wii U.
Gameplay
''B ...
'' (1996).
Eguchi joined
Square
In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90- degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length a ...
(now
Square Enix) in 1998; his first job was composing the 1999 title ''
Racing Lagoon'' alongside Matsueda. Although his role was minor compared to Matsueda's, he was responsible for the opening and ending themes, the majority of the battle themes, and the bonus track "Taiman Battle Remix". Eguchi and Matsueda collaborated once again in 2000 on the
PlayStation 2 game ''
The Bouncer''. He created a lot more music than on previous soundtracks; a large amount of the music produced was not used in the game and there were also many post-production demands.
He composed the pop ballad "Forevermore", which was arranged and provided lyrics by
Narada Michael Walden and Sunny Hilden and performed by
Shanice
Shanice Lorraine Wilson-Knox (née Wilson; born May 14, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and dancer. Shanice had the ''Billboard'' hit singles " I Love Your Smile" and " Silent Prayer" in 1991 and " Saving Forever for You" in 19 ...
in "Love Is the Gift", the ending theme to the English-language versions of the game. The song was also sold as a single and featured in a promotional album. In 2002, Eguchi arranged the track "Hand in Hand -Reprise-" for
Yoko Shimomura
is a Japanese composer and pianist primarily known for her work in video games. She graduated from the Osaka College of Music in 1988 and began working in the video game industry by joining Capcom the same year. She wrote music for several game ...
's score to ''
Kingdom Hearts''.
Eguchi reunited with Matsueda to compose ''
Final Fantasy X-2
is a 2003 role-playing video game developed and published by Square (video game company), Square for the PlayStation 2. Unlike most ''Final Fantasy'' games, which use self-contained stories and characters, ''X-2'' continues the story of ''Fin ...
'' (2003). Despite being panned by critics and fans alike and having a low budget, the soundtrack was commercially successful. He was also the game's orchestrator and the composer of the love ballad "
Real Emotion/1000 no Kotoba
is a double A-side single by Japanese singer Koda Kumi. The single contains the songs "Real Emotion" and "1000 no Kotoba", which were featured in the game ''Final Fantasy X-2''.
This was Kumi's first single to chart in the top 10 on Oricon, comi ...
". In 2004, Eguchi and Matsueda composed ''
Final Fantasy X-2 International + Last Mission'' and arranged three pieces in the ''
Final Fantasy X-2 Piano Collection'' album. The Piano Collections album was their final project at while at Square Enix, which they both left afterward. Eguchi and Matsueda married in 2009.
Since his departure, he has been involved in several anime projects such as ''
D.N.Angel
''D.N.Angel'' (stylized as ''D•N•ANGEL'') is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yukiru Sugisaki. The manga premiered in Japan in the Kadokawa Shoten magazine ''Monthly Asuka'' in November 1997. After two extended hia ...
'' (2003), ''
Rental Magica
is a Japanese light novel series by Makoto Sanda, with illustrations by Pako. It is in the midst of serialization in ''The Sneaker'' magazine published by Kadokawa Shoten. An anime television series adaptation animated by Zexcs was broadcast ...
'' (2007), and ''
Trinity Blood
is a series of Japanese light novels written by Sunao Yoshida with illustrations by Thores Shibamoto and originally serialized in ''The Sneaker''. Set 900 years after an apocalyptic war between humans and vampires, the series focuses on the ...
'' (2005). He has also mixed Shimomura's arrangements for the ''
Dark Chronicle Premium Arrange'' album and performed piano on her vocal album ''Murmur''. In 2006, he contributed three compositions and two arrangements to the
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generati ...
game ''
Sonic the Hedgehog''; he also worked on the 2008 follow-up ''
Sonic Unleashed
''Sonic Unleashed'' is a 2008 platform video game in the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series. The story follows Sonic the Hedgehog (character), Sonic as he attempts to restore the world after his nemesis Doctor Eggman shatters it with a powerful laser ...
''.
He has since worked on a number of
Sonic Team
is a video game developer owned by the Japanese video game company Sega as part of its Sega CS Research and Development No. 2 division. Sonic Team is best known for the long-running ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series and games such as '' Nights int ...
games, such as ''
Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll'', ''
Sonic Colors'', ''
Sonic Generations'', ''
Rhythm Thief & the Emperor's Treasure'', ''
Sonic Lost World
is a 2013 action-adventure platform game developed by Sonic Team. It is part of the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series, and was released in October 2013 for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS in PAL regions by Nintendo and by Sega in North America and Japan. ...
'', ''
Sonic Forces
is a platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega. It was produced in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' franchise. The story sees Sonic the Hedgehog joining a resistance force to stop Docto ...
'' and ''
Sonic Frontiers
is a 2022 platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega. As Sonic, the player explores the Starfall Islands to collect the Chaos Emeralds, after Sonic and his friends are separated when falling through a wormhole. ''Frontiers'' i ...
''.
Musical style and influences
Eguchi and Matsueda are noted for creating mainly jazzy and
electronic
Electronic may refer to:
*Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor
* ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal
*Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device
*Electronic co ...
tracks for the scores they have collaborated on; Eguchi is credited for most of the electronic music.
The soundtrack to ''The Bouncer'', of which Eguchi and Matsueda co-composed a lot of the pieces,
featured among other genres rock,
electronica, and
jazz fusion.
A professional pianist,
Eguchi often utilizes the piano in his compositions.
He has stated that most of the time he composes and arranges music is at his home studio, where his friends help out by recording
acoustic instruments; if the quality of these recordings are not adequate, however, Eguchi replaces them at the company's studio. He has said that by the time he is finished creating the music, he is only sleeping three to four hours a week.
Since joining
Sega Digital Studio in 2006, Eguchi has switched over to almost an exclusively orchestral style. On recent projects, he has assisted his fellow co-workers with string and keyboard arrangements, in addition to writing his own material.
He cites
Igor Stravinsky,
Ryuichi Sakamoto
is a Japanese composer, pianist, singer, record producer and actor who has pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto i ...
, and
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...
as musical influences.
When asked about which musicians he would like to collaborate with, he replied, "A musician who has passed away, Miles Davis. There are too many living musicians to talk about. A few are
Herbie Hancock,
Aretha Franklin, and Ryuichi Sakamoto."
His interest in composition came about after being inspired by a variety of jazz, electronic,
modernist
Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
, and pop musicians.
Works
''All works listed below were composed by Eguchi unless otherwise noted.''
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eguchi, Takahito
1971 births
Anime composers
Japanese composers
Japanese film score composers
Japanese keyboardists
Japanese male composers
Japanese male film score composers
Japanese music arrangers
Living people
People from Nagasaki
Sega people
Square Enix people
Video game composers