Their classes were practical and inspiring.Īfter graduation, Sato became an assistant to one of the lecturers, the well-known composer Shigeaki Saegusa, who provided him with further training. Many illustrious active musicians and other specialists taught the course as lecturers in diverse areas, from incidental music to pop and fusion. In 1989, he enrolled in the Tokyo College of Music’s film scoring course, which was newly launched that year and taught commercial music, not artistic music. He was subsequently taught by a teacher specializing in composition to prepare for entering a music college. Through those experiences, he learned the joy of creating music, and the piano lessons changed to composition lessons. He let me make changes so that it would be easier for me to play music in my own way.”
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But he allowed me to deviate from the score. It would’ve been awful if I were told to play practice pieces when I was already in the second year of junior high school. “My teacher was just a music-loving middle-aged man in the neighborhood,” he said. bands like TOTO and Chicago and dreamed of owning a DX7, the latest Yamaha synthesizer in those days. It was around the time when synthesizers notably evolved and became very popular. He began taking piano lessons when he was in the second year of junior high school and had previous experience playing the guitar. Sato was born in 1970 in Chiba Prefecture. “I wanted to write music that would embrace viewers,” he said. Instead of being loud and bombastic, Sato employed soft sounds and tones. It also takes a stark departure from the music of other taiga dramas. “Even though they are all set in the same period, I’ve enjoyed taking a different approach each time,” he said.įor example, the theme music for “Seiten o Tsuke” is completely different from the music he wrote for the other bakumatsu period productions. He was also in charge of music for the NHK taiga drama “Ryomaden - The Legend” and the film “Rurouni Kenshin,” both of which take place in the bakumatsu period. And Sato is no stranger to composing music set in the period. “Seiten o Tsuke” is set in the bakumatsu period, the turbulent final years of the Tokugawa shogunate in the mid-19th century. Sato accepted the offer despite having some doubts.
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“To compose at least 100 or so pieces for one show, you’ve got to have musical stamina to support your ability and versatility,” he said. But it is no easy task to score a show that runs for a year. Various stringed instruments, such as a banjo, rest against the wall in Sato’s workroom.įor composers of incidental music specializing in soundtracks for visual media, writing music for a taiga epic drama on NHK is an honor and lends them much attention. But then the Games were postponed due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. Usually, it would have been difficult to accept the offer so late if he had another engagement, but “I happened to have left my summer schedule open so I could watch the Tokyo Olympics,” he said. “The offer came to me rather late, so I thought maybe it was after some other composers declined,” Sato said.Īfter all, it was in February last year when Sato was contacted by the show’s staff. This studio was also where he composed the elegant melodies for “Seiten o Tsuke,” a biopic of industrialist Eiichi Shibusawa (1840-1931). The atmosphere is fitting as a workstation that splashes colorful audio into star-studded films and television dramas. Thirteen computer screens are fanned out in the room, making it look like a spaceship’s cockpit. Sato said his workroom, which must be about 80 square meters, was added to his house four years ago. I visited his suburban Tokyo studio to get a peek at what fuels his creativity.
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He has also written music for megahit films, such as “Rurouni Kenshin” and “Always Sanchome no Yuhi,” for which he won the Japan Academy Film Prize for best music.
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Naoki Sato has been a sought-after composer for TV shows and films, including this year’s NHK’s historical drama series “Seiten o Tsuke” (Reach Beyond the Blue Sky). Each computer is loaded with the sounds of different instrumental sections, such as woodwind, brass, chorus and strings.īy Jin Kiyokawa / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer Naoki Sato sits in his home workroom, where he spends at least 25 days each month.