Norihiko Hibino
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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 ...
video game composer Video game music (or VGM) is the soundtrack that accompanies video games. Early video game music was once limited to sounds of early sound chips, such as programmable sound generators (PSG) or FM synthesis chips. These limitations have led to ...
and saxophonist.


Biography

Hibino was born 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 2. ...
. He graduated from the
Osaka University , abbreviated as , is a public research university located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It is one of Japan's former Imperial Universities and a Designated National University listed as a "Top Type" university in the Top Global University Project. ...
School of Human Sciences in 1996. After graduating from
Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...
in 1997, he moved to
Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...
to start a career as a solo jazz musician. He later relocated to Japan to work for Konami, where he became known for his work on
Konami , is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company, video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machin ...
's ''
Metal Gear Solid is a series of techno-thriller stealth games created by Hideo Kojima. Developed and published by Konami, the first game, ''Metal Gear'', was released in 1987 for MSX home computers. The player often takes control of a special forces opera ...
'' and ''
Zone of the Enders is a video game franchise created by Hideo Kojima and Konami that focused around combat in space with mecha called Orbital Frames. The original ''Zone of the Enders'' was released for the PlayStation 2 in March 2001. A sequel, '' Zone of the ...
'' video game series. After working with Konami, Hibino started his own company,
GEM Impact GEM Impact is an audio production studio founded by game composer and saxophonist Norihiko Hibino in 2005. It is located in Tokyo, Japan, and employs a number of composers, producers, and artists. Hibino's fluency in English has allowed him to tak ...
, which is a studio consisting of composers
Takahiro Izutani is a video game music composer and guitarist. He is notable for his work in the ''Metal Gear Solid'' series. Profile In 1997, his avant-garde rock band "Happy Family" released an album, "Toscco" on Cuneiform Records in the U.S. (http://cune ...
, Yoshitaka Suzuki, Takahide Ayuzawa, and himself. An additional part of GEM Impact is GEM Factory, an in-house record label which has put out the debut album of ''The Outer Rim'' and the '' Ninja Blade'' soundtrack. Through GEM Impact, Hibino and his team have been able to work on games, anime, websites, and other projects that require music. While their involvement with '' Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots'' was not publicized by Konami, Hibino divulged in an interview with Original Sound Version that GEM Impact in fact provided approximately 90 minutes of music for the game's cinematic sequences. On September 2, 2008, Hibino and GEM Impact were announced to be the composers for the action title '' Ninja Blade''. In 2009, GEM Impact's in-house label, GEM Factory released the two-disc Ninja Blade soundtrack, and Hibino went on to found Hibino Sound Therapy Lab, a venture that explores the therapeutic applications of music. His first project under this company was Prescription for Sleep, an iPhone and iPod touch application that attempts to lure users to sleep with 20 minutes of soothing, live-recorded music. Hibino also teamed up with a Chinese producer to create ''Gentle Love,'' a light smooth jazz arrangement album of pop hits from China, Japan, and the US. Other activities included a panel at GDC 2009 about the game music business in Japan, two performance at the 2009 GANG Awards, performances of "Snake Eater" at Video Games Live in Singapore and Brazil, and a live performance of Gentle Love. GEM Impact also contributed to the score for ''
Bayonetta is a series of action-adventure games created by Hideki Kamiya and developed by PlatinumGames. The franchise was introduced in 2009 with ''Bayonetta''. Two sequels were released, ''Bayonetta 2'' (2014) and ''Bayonetta 3'' (2022), as well as a s ...
''. He was also awarded the Berklee "Distinguished Alumni" award for his entrepreneurial spirit and use of music in unconventional ways to reach a new audience. After 2009, Hibino worked on fewer game projects and focused his energies on the therapeutic applications of music being explored through Hibino Sound Therapy Lab. He began recording material under the GENTLE LOVE moniker, featuring himself on saxophone and pianist Ayaki Sato (AYAKI) on piano. Several albums were recorded, including the ''Hibino Sound Therapy Lab Sound Library'' and ''Prescription for Sleep Volume 2''. Over the next several years, Hibino would record solo harp, chamber groups, and more GENTLE LOVE to amass a library for his new therapeutic sound system called the RINSHU, which is a hand-carved sound system crafted by woodworkers in Japan in the likeness of a yacht. The system was released in Japan in 2014 and was patented and released in the United States in 2015. After the
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes ...
that struck Japan, Hibino and AYAKI toured the affected areas, performing free concerts to promote healing for those in need. This resulted in the creation of the Music in Heaven spiritual care events which have taken place all throughout Japan, combining musical performances, conceptual footage displayed on a large screen above the stage, and a wellness event. Music in Heaven, which began in 2013, celebrated 50 performances in 2015, and is still being regularly scheduled throughout Japan. Hibino continued to maintain his ties with the game industry starting in 2014 with the launch of Prescription for Sleep: Game Music Lullabies, produced and published by
Scarlet Moon Records Scarlet may refer to: * Scarlet (cloth), a type of woollen cloth common in medieval England * Scarlet (color), a bright tone of red that is slightly toward orange, named after the cloth * Scarlet (dye), the dye used to give the cloth its color * ...
. The series features Hibino and AYAKI teaming up as GENTLE LOVE to perform popular video game music to sleep and relax to. The series expanded to include Prescription for Sleep: Game Music Lullabies Volume II in 2015, a tribute to former
Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...
president
Satoru Iwata was a Japanese businessman, video game programmer, video game designer, and producer. He was the fourth President (corporate title), president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Nintendo from 2002 until his death in 2015. He was a major contr ...
and Hibino's mentor Eiki Oshiimi titled Prescription for Peace: A Tribute to the Departed, and a third full-length album titled Prescription for Sleep: Lullabies of Mana, dedicated to ''
Secret of Mana ''Secret of Mana'', originally released in Japan as is a 1993 action role-playing game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the sequel to the 1991 game ''Seiken Densetsu'', rele ...
''. A fourth Prescription for Sleep album, announced on November 2, 2016, will feature arrangements from ''
Undertale ''Undertale'' is a 2015 2D role-playing video game created by American indie developer Toby Fox. The player controls a child who has fallen into the Underground: a large, secluded region under the surface of the Earth, separated by a magical ...
''. In 2016, Hibino co-wrote the score for the animated short, ''Sinmara Saga'', with composer Dale North.


Works


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hibino, Norihiko 1973 births 20th-century Japanese composers 20th-century Japanese male musicians 20th-century jazz composers 20th-century saxophonists 21st-century Japanese composers 21st-century Japanese male musicians 21st-century jazz composers 21st-century saxophonists Anime composers Berklee College of Music alumni Japanese jazz composers Japanese jazz musicians Japanese jazz saxophonists Konami people Living people Male jazz composers Musicians from Osaka Osaka University alumni Video game composers