Koji Kondo

Kōji Kondō (近藤浩治 Kondō Kōji) (Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, August 13, 1961) is a Japanese musician and composer. He is recognized for his soundtracks for various video games produced by Nintendo. Along with Nobuo Uematsu, and Koichi Sugiyama, he is one of the most prominent composers in the industry.

Biography

Kōji Kondō was born in Nagoya, Japan. He began to be interested in music at a very early age, composing simple melodies for fun. At seventeen he decided to become a professional musician, for which he acquired classical musical training, learning to play various instruments.

In the 1980s, Kondō learned that a company called Nintendo was looking for composers for its new video game system, the Famicom (known as the Nintendo Entertainment System in America and Europe). Kondō had never considered composing music for games, but he decided to try his luck with the company. He was hired by Nintendo in 1984.

Once there, Kondō found an environment very different from what he was used to. Suddenly he was limited to four instruments (two monophonic pulse channels, one monophonic triangle wave channel, which could be used as a base, and one noise channel used for percussion), due to the Famicom's primitive sound system. Although he and Nintendo technicians eventually figured out a way to create a fifth channel (usually reserved for sound effects), his music was severely limited on the system.

Kondō has remained at Nintendo throughout its various consoles, including the Super Famicom (Super Nintendo Entertainment System), Nintendo 64, GameCube, Nintendo DS, Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, and Nintendo Switch. These latest systems have vastly improved audio capabilities for games, which is why Kondō and his team now produce digital sound quality music or tracks to be performed by bands or orchestras.

Musical style and influences

Koji Kondo in 2007

Kōji Kondō is one of the pioneers of video game music composition. Critics cite as his greatest talent the ability to create melodies that remain pleasant and unobtrusive even when played over long periods of time and played through inferior sound equipment. His compositions are generally memorable; A study found that two-thirds of the world's population recognizes the main theme of the game Super Mario Bros., more than 30 years after it was composed. Kondō's fans include well-known artists such as Paul McCartney. Kondō's music is considered an integral part of the Nintendo style, along with Shigeru Miyamoto's game design.

However, this familiarity is also the source of the most criticism of Kondō's work: in the 30+ years he's been composing for video games, his style has hardly changed. The themes of Super Mario Bros. composed in 1985 vary very subtly in Super Mario Sunshine (2002), despite the fact that the sound of the first games by him sounded more primitive due to technological restrictions. This need to keep the pattern is a double-edged sword for Kondō, because when he has tried to experiment with something different, as in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998), he was criticized by his followers. for abandoning the style they enjoy so much.^{[citation needed]}

Kōji Kondō's work features at least three major influences: Latin music, jazz, and classical music, often with a cinematic bent. Its Latin influence is most strongly evident in the upbeat themes composed for the Mario Bros. series, such as the soundtrack to Super Mario Bros. 3. The upbeat main theme features a slow samba rhythm and Bowser's theme seems to come from a Mariachi Ensemble. This influence is also present in more current works, such as the theme of the Gerudo valley in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, a theme strongly influenced by Spanish music.

In other projects there are also pieces with jazz influences. One of the earliest examples is the minimalist underground level theme from the first Super Mario Bros. The theme Saria from Ocarina of Time sounds almost like Dixieland in various fragments. Not surprisingly, as Kondō has named Henry Mancini as one of his main influences.

Kondō was educated as a classical musician, and this can be seen in his most ambitious projects, such as the soundtracks for the Zelda series. These pieces are clearly cinematic, reminiscent of John Williams' work on Star Wars or Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Kondō's work is also heavily influenced by oriental music, which is normal given his country of origin. His songs are predominantly melody based, with few supporting harmonies, as is customary in Asia. He is an exception among major video game music composers who, like Nobuo Uematsu and Koichi Sugiyama, produce more Western compositions for their games.

Works

Soundtracks

• Duck Hunt (with Akito Nakatsuka) — 1984
• Super Mario Bros. - 1985
• The Mysterious Castle of Murasame — 1986
• Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels — 1986
• The Legend of Zelda - 1986, 1987
• Shin Onigashima — 1987
• Super Mario Bros. 2 — 1988
• Super Mario Bros. 3 — 1988, 1990
• Super Mario World — 1991
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past — 1992
• Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island 1995
• Super Mario 64 - 1996
• Star Fox 64 (with Hajime Wakai) — 1997
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time — 1998
• The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (with Toru Minegishi) — 2000
• Super Mario Sunshine (with Shinobu Tanaka) — 2002
• The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (with Kenta Nagata, Hajime Wakai, and Toru Minegishi) — 2003
• Super Mario 64 DS - 2004
• New Super Mario Bros. (with Hajime Wakai and Asuka Ota) — 2005
• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (with Toru Minegishi and Asuka Ota) — 2006
• Super Mario Galaxy (with Mahito Yokota) — 2007
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl (with several people) — 2008
• The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (with Toru Minegishi, Manaka Tominaga and Asuka Ota) — 2009
• Super Mario Galaxy 2 (with Mahito Yokota and Ryo Nagamatsu) — 2010
• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (with Hajime Wakai, Shiho Fujii, Mahito Yokota and Takeshi Hama) — 2011
• Super Mario 3D World (with Mahito Yokota, Toru Minegishi, and Yasuaki Iwata) — 2013
• Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (with several people) — 2014
• Super Mario Maker (with Naoto Kubo and Asuka Hayazaki) — 2015
• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (with several people) — 2017
• Super Mario Odyssey (with Naoto Kubo and Shiho Fujii) — 2017
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (with several people) — 2018
• Super Mario Maker 2 (with Atsuko Asahi, Toru Minegishi and Sayako Doi) — 2019