Hiroaki "Maro" Yoshida

Date of Birth: November 28, 1962
Place of Birth: Tokyo, Japan
Favorite Food: Sukiyaki, Sushi, Yakiniku
Favorite Drink: Green Tea
Favorite Movies: Star Wars series
Favorite TV Show: Waratte ii tomo
Hobbies: Movies, games
Sound Tools: Logic Audio
Studio Gear:
Mac 7500/100+ G3/500 , Logic Audio Platinum , Audio work8. For Guitar: ROCKTRON PRO.G.A.P. , ROCKTRON PATCH MATE , ROCKTRON D.Y.C. DigiTech IPS-33B , PALMER PDI-05 , TUBEWORKS MosValb500 ALESIS QUADRA VERB Plus , MESA BOOGIE 12inch*4 BBE MODEL 422A , ROLAND GP-16 , BOSS GT-5 ROLAND CE-1 , BOSS OD-1 , MXR DISTORTION+ , VOX WAH T.C.ELECTRONICS PROG.PHASER , ZOOM 1002 , etc. Others ; EMU VINTAGE KEYS+ , ALESIS DM Pro , ROLAND VG-8 , ROLAND SC- 88Pro ALESIS MIDI VERB 2 , MACKIE MSI402-VLZ , YAMAHA NS-10M, etc.

Web address: Maro's Bar
Data East Sound Team
E-mail: maro@a2.mbn.or.jp

Shockwave sound samples

Discography: Click here

Hiroaki Yoshida: When I was 22 years old I joined Data East. I composed many many game soundtracks.

RB: How did your interest in music begin?

HY: 6 Years Old. I've been learning at Yamaha music school for three years. When I was 11 years old I was singing my original folk songs. (Hey! Don't tell me to sing. I will not sing those songs 'cause I'm a shy boy. I can't !!) And I started composing some instrumental music when I was 16 years old . I used two cassette tape recorders. Dubbing&Dubbing&Dubbing&,,,,.That was a very cheap sound. And I bought a 4ch cassette tape recorder when I was 18 years old.

RB: Tell us some memories about your Data East games.

HY: Skull Fang ; Music CD of Skull Fang has two arrange versions. I love that music. Guitar! Guitar! Guitar! Skull Fang is my favorite. Rap a de Lic ; It was very hard schedule. I changed the radio actor of the opening story. I was a creature from outer space. He was called a Dororon Seijin.

RB: How long did you work on each project and how much freedom did you have?

HY: I worked about 8 months on each project . I had meetings with the game planners and then started to compose the music.

RB: Would you share some memories about the Game Music Festival?

HY: Nakano Sunplaza Hole , Nihon Seinenkan Hole , Club Chitta Kawasaki , Shinju ku Liquid Room , Harajuku Ruido , Marugeya ...I had very good experiences. But I wanted to play the game music at Nippon Budokan !

RB: What is your guitar of choice?

HY: I like Gibson. 'Cause it has good balance and a fat sound.

RB: Who are some of your influences?

HY: KISS, Sweet, Queen, Aerosmith, DeepPurple, Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and many other types of music (70's American Rock , British Rock , Southern Rock and Jazz ). I have three thousands music CDs! I love music very much!!

RB: Who are some of your favorite guitarists?

HY: Brian May , Robben Ford, Richie Blackmore, Jeff Beck, Gary Moore, Eric Clapton, Larry Carlton, Lee Ritenour, Stevie Ray Vaughan , Jimi Hendrix, Joe Pass and many more.

RB: What are thoughts about the following guitarists?

Joe Walsh
He has husky voice with wild & mellow guitar phrases. I love it. Especially, guitar solos for Hotel California. My favorite albums are You Can't Argue with a Sick Mind, But Seriously Folks.

Pete Townshend
His jumping is great ! My favorite albums are Tommy, Live At Leeds and Sell Out.

Eddie Van Halen
He is a new generation of rock guitarists. His playing is very exciting and dramatic with special technique. My favorite albums are Van Halen, Van Halen 2 and 1984.

Joe Satriani
He is a great guitar player and great musician. My favorite albums are Surfing with Alien, Flying in a Blue Dream and The Extremist.

RB: How did you get the job SEGA's Winter Heat?

HY: DATA EAST got the job. Sega's Winter Heat staff was very good. I was very glad to have my music recognized .

RB: How do you feel about the game music today?

HY: It has high quality, but I don't forget dear FM sounds.

RB: What do you think is the future of game music?

HY: 3D sound.

RB: Please tell us about Kiya and Barmiyama.

HY: Kiya , she is a singer & song writer. The band has acoustic sounds. She sang the ending song of Jinguji series 6th.

RB: Do you play games??

HY: Ofcourse! I play I.Q., KulaQuest, Raystorm and Wipeout XL. I don't like RPG's.

RB: Have you worked overseas?

HY: No.

RB: Who would you most like to make music with? And why?

HY: Brian May. When I was 11 years old , I heard his guitar playing for the first time while listening to the music of QUEEN. His guitar sounds and harmonized phrases were very exciting... shocking and are an influence for me. I love his music! My dream is to write and play music with him.

RB: What kind of music would it be?

HY: Dramatic hard rock music.

RB: Any advice for would be composers?

HY: Listen to the music of the whole world. Learn, feel and play the music.

RocketBaby would like to thank Mr. Yoshida for chatting with us.

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