Keiji Kawamori :: Biography

Note: This biography was written exclusively for Square Enix Music Online by Chris. The act of using it without advance written permission is regarded as a copyright infringement. It was last updated on April 5, 2008.

Keiji Kawamori, bassist of The Black Mages, joined Square in 1998 as one of five synthesizer operators. Unique from his colleagues in that his future roles were predetermined, Kawamori was given the huge responsibility and enormous privilege of being the principle synthesizer operator for the Final Fantasy series. He initially implemented the four disc score to 1999's Final Fantasy VIII alone. Generally regarded as a technological improvement on Final Fantasy VII's score, Kawamori added realism and emotional impact to Nobuo Uematsu's diverse pieces through straightforward yet precise execution. He subsequently implemented the entirety of Final Fantasy IX's score, reflecting the more traditional feel to the music. Kawamori fared extraordinarily given he was required to implement over 120 themes within a year. For Final Fantasy X, Kawamori familiarised himself with the PlayStation 2 hardware. However, his role on this soundtrack — a joint effort between Nobuo Uematsu, Masashi Hamauzu, and Junya Nakano — focused on implementing Uematsu's compositions. Due to the composers' continued reliance on the Vision sequencer and Roland SC88 PRO synthesizer, few major improvements in the synth quality were evident. Takeharu Ishimoto and Ryo Yamazaki implemented much of the rest of the score.

Kawamori established links with the Tsuyoshi Sekito and Kenichiro Fukui at the Osaka branch of Square by playing bass guitar on 2001's All Star Pro-Wrestling II. This inspired them to recruit Kawamori as a member of The Black Mages in 2003. A six-piece rock band formulated to initially perform the live concert versions of arrangements featured in the album The Black Mages, its members are Tsuyoshi Sekito (Guitar), Michio Okamiya (Guitar), Kenichiro Fukui (Keyboards inc. Organ and Piano), Keiji Kawamori (Bass Guitar), Arata Hanyuda (Drums), and Nobuo Uematsu (Organ). The Black Mages were an international hit and went on to feature in the Dark Chronicle Premium Arrange, release a DVD of their first live concert, achieve further popular acclaim with their second album and concert, and entertain audiences overseas with their appear at Los Angeles' More Friends - Music from Final Fantasy concert. Though Kawamori has not yet arranged for the band, he had a large role on 2005's popular film Final Fantasy VII Advent Children. Here, he was a bassist for four tracks, collaborated with Tsuyoshi Sekito to create hard rock arrangements of "Those Who Fight" and "The Great Northern Cave," and made a brief composition, "Savior". His most signficant contributions were "Water", a new age / jazz / synthpop fusion arrangement of "Aerith's Theme", and the collaborative composition "The Chase on the Highway," a complex and changeable theme driven by Kawamori's electric guitar performance.

Kawamori's latest works as a synthesizer operator have given him substantial critical acclaim. 2003's Final Fantasy X-2 was, at that time, the most impressively synthesized Final Fantasy album available; Kawamori proved competent implementing most elements of the album, noted especially for his crystal clear and well-articulated brass synth. Implementing 2006's Final Fantasy XII score was his most challenging and time-consuming work to date. Kawamori had to extensively manipulate Sakimoto's texturally thick and harmonically sumptuous music, composed with no regard for PlayStation 2 hardware limitations. This required massive downgrading of instrumental samples so they utilised 2 MB of space as opposed to the original several GB, as well as extensive cutting and arranging of parts so that the maximum of around 25 channels were utilised instead of Sakimoto's preferred 160. Almost all of the hundred tracks featured in the soundtrack were recorded on samplers at Hitoshi Sakimoto's home studio; in order to attain a rich and often aggressive symphonic sound, Kawamori used Opcode's Vision sequencer, Samplitude 7.0, and GigaStudio, as well as numerous libraries, such as East West/Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra and Sonic Implants' Symphonic Strings Collection. While Kawamori's task was unreasonable, as Sakimoto admitted, the final effort was still impressive. On Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix +, Kawamori had a surprise role assisting Hirosato Noda implement new pieces to considerable success in his largest non-FF role to date.

On behalf of portable consoles, Kawamori has worked on several Final Fantasy scores recently. On Final Fantasy III's 2006 DS remake, he was responsible for arrangement of Nobuo Uematsu's Nintendo compositions with Tsuyoshi Sekito and the synthesizer operator Yasuhiro Yamanaka. His largest non-implementing role to date, Kawamori's arrangements enhanced the emotional capacity and harmonic fullness of the original compositions. He subsequently implemented Kenichiro Fukui and Basiscape's minimal arrangements of Final Fantasy XII's score for 2007's sequel Final Fantasy XII Revenant Wings. This resulted in a significant drop in sound quality and reduction in the number of voices, but Kawamori's role was limited to programming. Later in the year, he implemented Takeharu Ishimoto's score to the PSP prequel Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII, where he simultaneously implemented sequenced and streamed music. On 2008's The Black Mages III ~Darkness and Starlight~, Kawamori returned as a bassist and also arranged for the first time. His contribution, Final Fantasy IX's "The Grand Cross", helped to bring the rest of the album together with its myriad of features. While Ryo Yamazaki will probably implement the score for Final Fantasy XIII, Kawamori will almost certainly contribute to other projects in the multi-game Fabula Nova Crystallis compilation.