Soyo Oka

Date of Birth: April 9, 1964
Place of Birth: Nishinomya City(Hyogo), Japan
Favorite Food: Chicken, Pudding
Favorite Drink: Green Tea
Favorite Movies: Star Wars, ET, Big Blue

Web address: DJ ALice

E-mail: oksy@dj-alice.com

Career: 1987 - 1995 Nintendo Co. Ltd. 1995 - Freelance

Discography: WARNER MUSIC JAPAN : Game Music Concert The Best Selection /WPCL-709, TOSHIBA EMI: Nintendo Super Famicom Game Music /TOCT-6429

Credits: Super Mario Kart, Ice Hockey, 3D Hotarry, Sim City, Vs. Excitebike, Yuyuki, Pilot Wings, ETC. Lagnacure (SFX), Maning's Battle Bugs

Soyo Oka : After graduating music university I thought there would be a big future in game music. In 1987 I became employed by Nintendo and worked under Shigeru Miyamoto.

RB: How was it working with Shigeru Miyamoto?

SO: Mr. Miyamoto was my boss and we worked in the same section at Nintendo. He supervised all the games which I worked on. I respect him very much.

RB: How involved with the music was Mr. Miyamoto?

SO: He would usually entrust sound to the director and the sound team, although he would give us useful input, but we were free to compose what we wanted. Sometimes when we worked against deadlines he would become severe.

RB: Who are your musical influences?

SO: Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Debussy, Stravinsky, John Williams, Lyle Mays, YMO, Queen, and Chick Corea .

RB: Have you ever worked in the USA?

SO: No, but last year I almost did. I was contacted, but I had too many doubts about the contract and I declined the job. I would very much like to work in the USA.

RB: What other types of music do you compose?

SO: Since working independently I have done TV commercials, multimedia, commercial videos, dramatic music, arranging and writing numerous articles for Japanese music magazines. I also might be doing some music for Playstation 2 and Dreamcast music soon. This year or next I might be doing a solo album. I really want to score films.

RB: Do you play video games?

SO: I like music games such as Parappa the Rappa, Unjama Ramy, ADepth, Dance Dance Revolution and Beatmania. I also like Gradius.

RB: Who are some of your favorite game composers?

SO: I do not have a favorite game composer but I respect and like Yoko Kanno. I also like the music of the legendary senior composer at Nintendo Koji Kondo.

RB: What is your favorite music that you have composed?

SO: Mario Kart: "Rainbow Road" "Theme of Princess" Sim City: "Metropolis Theme" Pilot Wings: "Select Music."

RB: What about the differences between other consoles and SNES when creating music?

SO: With the PSX and Saturn it is easy to use the Nubus slot and PCI slot of the Macintosh and put the sound on their boards. The sound development of Dreamcast uses a soundbox with SCSI and increases the sound development for composers. During the game the placement of music still resembles the SNES. We still sample tones and use sound libraries that we reproduce in a music sequencer. In addition the Dreamcast uses a streaming technology, but technology is always progressing.

RocketBaby would like to thank Ms. Oka for chatting with us.

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