Yu-Peng Chen

Chen Yupeng (; born January 15, 1984), also known by his stage name Chen Zhiyi (), is a Chinese composer and music producer. He is best known for composing the soundtrack of ''Genshin Impact'', an open-world action and role-playing video game by miHoYo that is one of the highest-selling mobile games in history. His work is known for its versatile style of integrating traditional instruments with Western orchestral arrangements. As of 2021, he is a full-time music producer at HOYO-MiX, the in-house music studio of miHoYo, and leads the music production of the game.

Chen was educated at Shenzhen Arts School and the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, and studied under the tutelage of experienced musicians who influenced his work later in his career. While he studied in college, he was already involved in composing and producing film and television music. Even before his career, his musical works won awards at various events. Chen established the Yupeng Music Studio in 2014, which had cooperative relations with many recording studios and music groups in Beijing and Shanghai, and produced works for companies including Click Music Ltd., Tencent, and NetEase.

In the early 2010s, Chen stepped into the Hong Kong film industry and collaborated with the accoladed composer Chan Kwong-wing to produce scores for veteran film directors. Their score for Wong Jing's ''The Last Tycoon'' (2012) earned them a nomination for the "Best Original Film Score" at the 32nd Hong Kong Film Awards. The duo would not win an award until their work for ''The Founding of an Army'' (2017) earned the Golden Deer Award for the "Best Original Music Score" at the 14th Changchun Film Festival. They also produced the score for Andrew Lau's '' The Captain'' (2019), one of the all-time highest-grossing films in China. Chen had scored several films by Raymond Yip, most being horror or thrillers.

Early life and education

Chen was born on January 15, 1984, in Changsha, Hunan Province. (August 30, 2009)
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from the original on December 7, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2022. His mother was a vocalist; to raise Chen, she stopped her career. His father majored in mathematics.""
''Arts Bang''
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''Weixin''
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from the original on September 12, 2022. Retrieved August 25, 2022. The first musical inspiration came to Chen at age six, when he watched the Japanese animated film ''Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind'' (1984) by Hayao Miyazaki. Though he did not understand the story, he got deeply moved by the soundtrack and "felt the power of music" for the first time. (December 29, 2015)
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''NetEase Cloud Music''. Retrieved August 21, 2022. (December 29, 2015)
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''Weixin''
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from the original on September 12, 2022. Retrieved August 28, 2022. During his childhood, he also discovered his musical talent as he was sensitive to pitch.

In 1996, at the age of twelve, Chen enrolled at Shenzhen Arts School and studied under clarinet educators Jiang Baocheng () and Tao Ran ().""
''Shenzhen Concert Hall''

from the original on September 12, 2022. Retrieved August 30, 2022. Tao Ran, a Clarinet associate professor at the school, has performed solo clarinet and chamber music concerts. He received several awards for his excellent instruction and musicianship. Tao, like Chen, also studied under Jiang Baocheng. When Chen was 16, he learned basic theories of composition under Ju Zongze (), a teacher and assistant lecturer at Shenzhen Arts School. He taught music theory, solfeggio, etc.

In 2002, Chen permanently moved to Shanghai and got admitted to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music with the Fu Chengxian Memorial Scholarship (). He first majored in Clarinet, but Ju Zongze, who discovered Chen's strong interest in composition, suggested that he transfer to a Composition major. Chen later majored in Music Design and Production in the Department of Music Engineering, which got established in 2003. Around the same time, the Shanghai Conservatory of Music invited Japanese musician Tanimura Shinji to join the department as a resident professor. When Chen attended Tanimura's master class in 2005,whistle (June 26, 2008)
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from the original on September 20, 2022. Retrieved September 26, 2022. he noted that Tanimura's work combined Japanese folk music, oriental pentatonic melodies, and Western orchestral music. The learning experience gave much inspiration, especially Tanimura's concepts of "music has no borders" and "spread the positive energy of love." Shortly after that, Chen was one of the eight students from the department to join Tanimura for a concert performance at Expo 2005. He was responsible for the arrangement and production of the musical works, and performed as a pianist. It was also during that year, in November, when he won an award during a song activity organized by Tanimura and the Shanghai Federation of Literary and Art Circles () for the opening of the Yangshan Port and Donghai Bridge.

Other than Tanimura, Chen also studied under the tutelage of An Dong (), Chen Qiangbin (), Wu Yuebei (), Hu Taoyuan (), Xu Jianqiang (), and Qin Shile (). The different styles, composition philosophies, and approaches to music taught by the first three teachers greatly influenced Chen's work later in his career. (October 27, 2017)
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''Zhihu''
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from the original on September 12, 2022. Retrieved August 25, 2022. While he studied, he also assisted An Dong in producing film and television music. (2019)

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from the original on September 22, 2022. Retrieved September 22, 2022.

In September 2006, Chen's work "GAMES OF FANTASIA" won the first prize at the annual concert of the Department of Music Engineering. He also received three awards for the best creativity, teamwork, and popularity. During the same year, he worked with An Dong on the films '' The Tokyo Trial'' and ''Fiery Autumn Wind'' (). In June 2007, the department held the Undergraduate Outstanding Graduation Works Concert and Exhibition (). Chen's "Challenging Hollywood" got selected as the department's outstanding work and won the first prize, and then got performed. Later that year, Chen graduated from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music with honors and joined An Dong's studio.

Film and television scoring career

''Armor Hero'' series

In 2009, Chen composed the soundtrack for the first season of '' Armor Warriors'', directed by Zheng Guowei (). The story tells of five gifted people who don magical battle armor handed down in China since ancient times, and together they become warriors representing the power of light. They fight against forces of darkness to save their world. In 2010, the series got followed by the film '' Armor Hero Emperor'', which Zheng Guowei also directed and Chen scored.

In 2016, Chen composed the theme song "God's Rival" () for the film '' Armor Hero Captor King'', with the lyrics provided by Zhou Bingyi () and Jing Qian (). Two years later, since Chen was the composer of the original ''Armor Warriors'', he got invited to be the music director for '' Armor Hero Chronicles'', a film commemorating ten years since the series began. In addition to producing the soundtrack, he composed and sang the ending theme song, "Kaixuan" ().

Collaborations with Chan Kwong-wing

At an unknown time, Chen joined Click Music, the studio of Hong Kongese film composer Chan Kwong-wing (). Chen accumulated much practical experience at the studio and learned various musical languages and styles since creating film soundtracks had him dabble in genres such as hip-hop, jazz, electronic music, etc. He and Chan worked together to produce the score for ''The Last Tycoon'', a 2012 period drama film directed by Hong Kong cinema veteran Wong Jing (). The film is set in early 1900s Shanghai and follows the story of a tycoon named Cheng Daqi and his associates who get caught in the events of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Chen and Chan's work on the soundtrack got nominated for the "Best Original Film Score" at the 32nd Hong Kong Film Awards.List of Nominees and Awardees of The 32nd Hong Kong Film Awards
''Hong Kong Film Awards''

from the original on September 17, 2022. Retrieved August 24, 2022.

Their next collaboration was for Wong Jing's ''From Vegas to Macau'' (2014), a crime-comedy film. Chen and Chan also worked on the scores for its sequels ''From Vegas to Macau II'' (2015) and ''From Vegas to Macau III'' (2016). The three films are part of the ''God of Gamblers'' franchise. After ''From Vegas to Macau III'', Chen and Chan worked on the score of ''The Founding of an Army'' (2017), a historical drama film directed by Andrew Lau () commemorating the 90th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army. (August 11, 2017)
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''Weixin''
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from the original on September 12, 2022. Retrieved August 25, 2022. (July 26, 2017)
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''QQ Music''
Archived
from the original on September 12, 2022. Retrieved September 4, 2022. Their work earned them the Golden Deer Award for the "Best Original Music Score" at the 14th Changchun Film Festival."《建军大业》票房"
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from the original on September 20, 2022. Retrieved September 4, 2022. (September 7, 2018)

''NetEase''

from the original on September 20, 2022. Retrieved September 18, 2022. They next worked on Andrew Lau's '' The Captain'' in 2019, a film based on the events surrounding Sichuan Airlines Flight 8633. It was one of the films that competed in the Golden Deer Awards at the 15th Changchun Film Festival in 2020.

Raymond Yip films

The first film score Chen independently produced was for '' Bump in the Road'', a 2013 comedy film directed by Raymond Yip (). The film's story tells of a man named Zhang Kai who suddenly receives an ultrasound image of his child; he embarks on a road trip with his younger brother Xin to search for the child's mother. Chen provided his vocals for the songs "Snatch the Bouquet" (), "On the Road" (), and "Far Place" ().

In 2014, Chen returned to score Raymond Yip's ''The House That Never Dies'', a thriller film based on the haunted house Chaonei No. 81. Director Yip gave great importance to the music and did not give restrictions on producing the soundtrack. It was a challenge for Chen as he had no reference for the music, so he created the style, structure, tempo, and orchestration himself. Yip approved the overall design of the music. The film was a box-office hit and became the highest-grossing Chinese horror film. The 2017 sequel, ''The House That Never Dies II'', was directed by Qian Renhao (). Chen composed its ending theme song, "Soul Returns" (). (June 16, 2017)
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In January 2015, the suspense thriller film ''Tales of Mystery'', directed by Raymond Yip, Tian Meng (), and Xian Xuchu (), was released. Its music production was the first test of Chen's creative techniques in the genre of horror music and influenced his work on ''The House That Never Dies''. The film is divided into three acts, each having a unique musical style. The first story is "Japanese-style creepy," the second is "American-style brutal," and the third is "heartwarming with emotions." (March 22, 2016)
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The next film directed by Raymond Yip was ''Phantom of the Theatre'' in 2016, a thriller like his two previous works. The story tells of a haunted theater filled with the spirits of a performance troupe that perished in a fire many years prior. What Chen found to be most time-consuming in producing the music was not the rigorous score and complex engineering but making the score rich while not complicated, concise and not monotonous. Aside from horror music, Chen took on four themes for the soundtrack: fate, love, and the ordinary and magical sides of the Palace Theater. These themes blend and change with each other. Chen composed "The Mist," the film's theme song that takes on love. (June 21, 2016)
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''Weixin''
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from the original on September 12, 2022. Retrieved September 3, 2022. His score for the film received praise.

''Butterfly Cemetery''

In April 2016, Chen got invited to produce the score for ''Butterfly Cemetery''. A film based on a novel of the same name by Cai Jun () and directed by Ma Weihao (), it tells of a woman named Shang Xiaodi who meets a half-butterfly man during a trip to Budapest. Compared to his previous film works, Chen chose a more modern style for the music, and the techniques he employed were influenced by German composer Hans Zimmer's minimalist style. Since the story is set in Hungary, Chen incorporated Hungarian elements into the music. The music production went on for five months, and the film got released in October 2017.

''Magic Town''

In 2015, Motion Magic () invited Chen to compose songs for ''Magic Town'', an educational program for children. Most of the creative team were first-time parents or had young children, including Chen, whose partner was expecting their daughter. As Chen was about to become a father, he was motivated and proud to take on the project. ''Magic Town'' had nearly a hundred songs that took almost two years to produce, and many were improvised by Chen when he first worked on them. Chen considered the diversity of musical styles and incorporated elements from various genres such as folk, jazz, rock, electronic dance, new age, etc. He also took into account the fact that children are "exposed to advanced knowledge and culture." Therefore, he used trendy elements for nursery rhymes. The overall experience of working on the project was much different compared to Chen's past film and television works in terms of emotions. In film music, various emotions are present, including negative ones such as anger, fear, anxiety, and depression; Chen felt these as he composed. ''Magic Town'' was different because of its overall positive, bright themes. The show premiered in December 2016. At the same time, the music got released across four albums. (December 21, 2016)
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''QQ Music''
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from the original on September 12, 2022. Retrieved August 28, 2022. (January 5, 2017)
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''NetEase Cloud Music''. Retrieved August 28, 2022. (December 21, 2016)
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''QQ Music''
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from the original on September 12, 2022. Retrieved August 28, 2022. (December 21, 2016)
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''QQ Music''. Retrieved August 28, 2022.

Game music production

''Moonlight Blade''

In 2015, Chen began to work as one of the music producers for '' Moonlight Blade'', a martial arts-themed MMORPG by Tencent Games. He was under the guidance of music director Yang Jie (), who was strict about innovation in music. Chen went beyond limits in producing his work for them to reach their best quality. He incorporated new instruments into his works, such as traditional Chinese instruments, which, according to Chen, made the style of the game music "refreshing." He was also interested in integrating elements of Chinese folk music into the soundtrack to create a "new national style" of folk music to promote Chinese culture. While working on the game, he also built his own fan base. He began to care more about players' preferences as regular communication with them brought changes to his ideas; he made his music more inclusive and integrated more elements into it. Through all this, Chen established his confidence in music as he formed his style and direction.

Many filmmakers got involved in the game's story creation, martial arts action, art style, costume design, etc. In the process, the game incorporated cinematic creation techniques. Following this, Chen requested to produce the landing music at the level of film music. He composed the soundtrack "Thousand People, Thousand Faces" (), which plays at the beginning of the game as the player selects and modifies their character. Chen noted that the landing music shapes the first impression of the whole game. Therefore, the music got based not solely on the theme of martial arts but on the curiosity and enthusiasm felt by players when exploring the game world. Also noted was that treating the music with high requirements and quality was unavoidable. The arpeggio elements in the music from ''Final Fantasy'' inspired Chen's work on the track. In February 2017, Chen released an album containing his works for ''Moonlight Blade'' from 2015 to 2017, including "Thousand People, Thousand Faces" in the tracklist. Chen later adapted the song into "Wind of the World" (), a theme song for The World of Swinging Swords () competition in November 2017.

In 2018, Chen composed the theme song "Dreams of Farewell" () for Yihua (), one of the martial arts sects players can choose to join upon creating their character. The theme of the song was based on a soundtrack previously created for ''Moonlight Blade'', "Treading the Waves in the Sea" () by Liang Bangyan (). It was a challenge since the theme may not be suitable for singing, and for Chen to adapt the work of a senior composer he admired. Previously, Chen arranged theme songs by himself. This time, to bring new ideas to players, he invited a composer from Beijing, Cui Zhi'en (), to participate in the song production. Another person was supposed to work on the sound mixing, but since each revision brought new inspiration, Chen mixed the song himself. The song was written by Wubi () and sung by Zhou Shen (). (June 29, 2018)
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