Toru Minegishi

Toru Minegishi (峰岸透, Minegishi Tōru, born 1975) is a Japanese video game composer known for his work on Nintendo games, most notably in The Legend of Zelda and Splatoon series. He was raised in a musical family and developed an interest in video games and their music from an early age. Minegishi did not receive any special education, but he gained experience as a musician during his school and college years. He later applied at Nintendo.

"Tōru Minegishi" redirects here. For the actor, see Tōru Minegishi (actor).
In this Japanese name, the surname is Minegishi.
Toru Minegishi
峰岸透
Born1975 (age 45–46)
Shibukawa, Gunma, Japan
Occupation(s)Composer, sound designer
InstrumentsKeyboard, guitar, drums, melodica
Years active1998–present

Biography

Early life

Minegishi grew up in a musical family; his parents were especially fond of Latin and tango music. He became interested in video games at the age of ten after he saw a commercial for The Legend of Zelda. As he kept his promise of improving his performance in swimming school, his parents gave him a Family Computer Disk System with The Legend of Zelda as a gift. One year later, he listened to Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition for the first time, which is a suite of ten movements based on paintings by Viktor Hartmann. The suite's composition technique, which focused on matching music to visuals, had a big influence on Minegishi, and furthered his interest in video game music. Unlike other composers and professional musicians, he received no special musical education, and took no piano lessons when he was young; instead, Minegishi became interested in music by himself. He was percussionist of a school band in junior high, and later played drums in a band he had formed with his friends at college.[1]

Career

Minegishi kept pursuing his dream of becoming a video game sound designer and applied at Nintendo. After he had passed a composition examination and a written music test, he obtained a job at the sound group of the Entertainment Analysis and Development (EAD) division.[1][2] Minegishi often listens to music at home to make himself familiar with a variety of musical styles.[1] He prefers to create melodies in his head, but composes on the keyboard and the guitar as well.[1] The startup sound for the GameCube game console is one of the musical pieces he had conceived without instruments.[1] Minegishi cites the development of sound effects for Super Mario Sunshine and the creation of 50 compositions from different musical genres for Animal Crossing as some of his greatest learning experiences.[1] He considers video game composer Koji Kondo, the manager of the EAD sound group, as big inspiration and a master of video game sound.[1] Minegishi's first involvement in the Legend of Zelda series was with the composition of three battle themes for Majora's Mask.[3] Later, he was assigned as the main composer for Twilight Princess.[2] Several of his compositions for Twilight Princess were arranged for orchestra by Jonne Valtonen, and performed at the concert Symphonic Legends in September 2010.[4] In addition to musical work, he has serves as the voice actor of Petey Piranha in various appearances.

Works
YearTitleRoleCo-worker(s)
1998Pokémon Stadium (Japan)CompositionMitsuhiro Hikino and Kenta Nagata
1999Pokémon StadiumHajime Wakai and Kenta Nagata
2000Mario Artist: Talent StudioKazumi Totaka and Kenta Nagata
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's MaskKoji Kondo
2001Animal CrossingKazumi Totaka, Kenta Nagata, and Shinobu Tanaka
2002Super Mario SunshineSound effectsMitsuhiro Hikino and Yoji Inagaki
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind WakerCompositionKenta Nagata, Hajime Wakai, and Koji Kondo
2003Mario Golf: Toadstool TourSound effectsVarious others
2004Mario Pinball LandTaro Bando, Yoji Inagaki, and Mitsuhiro Hikino
2005Yoshi Touch & GoCompositionKazumi Totaka and Asuka Ohta
2006The Legend of Zelda: Twilight PrincessAsuka Ohta and Koji Kondo
2007The Legend of Zelda: Phantom HourglassKenta Nagata
Wii FitManaka Tominaga and Shiho Fujii
2008Super Smash Bros. BrawlArrangementVarious others
Wii MusicCompositionKenta Nagata and Mahito Yokota
2009The Legend of Zelda: Spirit TracksManaka Tominaga, Asuka Ohta, and Koji Kondo
2011Steel DiverAtsuko Asahi
Mario Kart 7Sound supportRyoji Yoshitomi
2012WaraWara PlazaComposition
2013Super Mario 3D WorldMahito Yokota, Yasuaki Iwata, and Koji Kondo
2014Steel Diver: Sub WarsKenta Nagata and Atsuko Asahi
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii UArrangementVarious others
2015SplatoonCompositionShiho Fujii
2016The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HDSound supervisorTakahiro Watanabe
2017Mario Kart 8 DeluxeCompositionVarious others
Splatoon 2Ryo Nagamatsu and Shiho Fujii
2019Super Mario Maker 2Atsuko Asahi and Sayako Doi

References
  1. "Inside Zelda Part 13: The Sounds of Twilight". Nintendo Power. Nintendo of America, Inc. (204). June 2006. Archived from the original on June 14, 2008.
  2. "Iwata Asks: Wii Fit – Volume 4: A New Creation – Sound Design and Planning / From Zelda to Wii Fit". Nintendo of America, Inc. Archived from the original on April 9, 2008. Retrieved December 28, 2010.
  3. Zelda no Densetsu: Mujura no Kamen Original Soundtrack (Media notes). Pioneer LDC. 2000. PICA-2006.
  4. "Symphonic Legends concert program" (PDF). Merregnon Studios. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 29, 2010. Retrieved December 28, 2010.
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