Home > Nobuo Uematsu

Born in Kouchi City, Kochi prefecture, Japan, Uematsu began to play the piano when he was twelve years old (his greatest role model early in life was Elton John) and is self taught. He attended the University of Kanagawa although his major was not music. Uematsu has no formal musical training. At age 22, he began to play the keyboard, and four years later was hired by Squaresoft to write music for video games. The style of his compositions range from stately classical-like pieces, to subtle, mysteriously beautiful sorts of music sometimes described as "New-Age", to hyper-percussive techno-electronica, similar in sound to some music by the band Emerson, Lake and Palmer, one of his stated influences, to the occasional instance of some completely different and unexpected category.

In 2003 Uematsu expanded his horizons yet again when he formed The Black MagesThe Black Mages are a hard rock band in charge of the Japanese composer Nobuo Uematsu. Uematsu revised some of his most popular fighting themes from the games of the Final Fantasy line in order to publish them in newly-arranged shape on the album 'The Bla, and released an album of new versions of his classic Final Fantasy pieces. The Black Mages, in which Uematsu himself played keyboards are a group of technically accomplished rock musicians who reinterpreted and expanded on the original compositions found in the popular role-playing gameComputer role-playing games CRPGs , often shortened to simply role-playing games RPGs , are a type of video or computer game that traditionally use gameplay elements found in paper-and-pencil role-playing games. Modern RPG games encompass a wide range of series.

Uematsu's music has been a large part of the Final Fantasy franchise's great popularity in the United StatesThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in. In the 2004 Summer OlympicsThe Games of the XXVIII Olympiad commonly known as the 2004 Summer Olympics were the 28th Summer Olympic Games. The Games were held in Athens over 17 days, from August 13 to August 29, 2004. Planners expected 10,500 athletes (in fact 11,099 at the end) an, the United States synchronized swimmingSwimming A hybrid of swimming, gymnastics, and ballet, synchronized swimming involves competitors (either individuals or teams) performing aesthetically pleasing and difficult movements while holding their breath and keeping afloat in water. Synchronized duet of Alison Bartosik and Anna Kozlova won the bronze medal using two of his pieces from Final Fantasy VIIIFinal Fantasy VIII is a video game created by Squaresoft (now Square Enix) for the PlayStation and computers. The graphics have been improved since Final Fantasy VII, so the characters now look more realistic. The game engine has been changed significantl in the second half of their routine.

On November 1, 2004, he amicably parted ways with Square Enix. His busy schedule forced him to think that it is better for him to become a freelance composer than to remain with Square Enix. However, Uematsu still has ties with Square Enix, and it is likely he will collaborate with Square Enix on future Final Fantasy projects. He is forming his own studio called Smile Please .