Hirosato Noda :: 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 September 22, 2007.

Hirosato Noda is one of a team of five synthesizer operators that joined Square in 1998, as a result of the PlayStation console allowing a new method of implementing composers' works. Though little is known about his life, his minor roles as a composer and arranger have resulted in him being associated with a distinct early synthpop sound that seems to have been derived from '70s movements. After implementing Legend of Mana's score with three others, he subsequently worked on the technical aspects of 1999's Front Mission 3 alone. On this large and demanding project, he received many requests from the game's prominent and formidable composers, Hayato Matsuo and Koji Hayama. His adaptability was put to the test since Matsuo took a symphonic approach and aimed for technical rigour while Hayama handled mostly electronic and rock themes and produced them on an ab-lib basis. Subsequently, Noda implemented the electronically-oriented "Great Cathedral" for Vagrant Story and, on behalf of its soundtrack release, produced an abstract bonus electronic remix. Subsequently, he arranged Final Fantasy X's "Prelude" in a quirky instrumental synthpop style to mixed reaction. In 2002, Noda implemented approximately a third of the Final Fantasy XI soundtrack. His contributions were less colourful than Hidenori Iwasaki's, but he nevertheless arranged Kumi Tanioka's "Mithra" into an upbeat techno creation and also refined some of the dark instrumentals of "Shadow Lord". For its extension Rise of the Zilart, he operated a few themes.

On 2003's Hanjuku Hero VS 3D, Noda caused controversy by collaborating with Nobuo Uematsu to create a humorous retro score featuring simplistic compositions and numerous parodies. The synth quality was intentionally atrocious for the PlayStation 2, though the project was criticised partly due to this for being annoying and degradatory. In 2005's Hanjuku Hero 4 ~The 7 Heroes~, Noda returned and, in addition to overseeing the inclusion of reprises from the previous title, implemented a mixture of original compositions and Final Fantasy arrangements from the score's numerous other contributors. The sound quality was again low despite some of the contributions demanding something bolder. Also on this project, he composed "Cyber Sound Orchestra" and "Get the Research Data!," where he adopted his trademark electronic style once more, the latter being a parody of "Popcorn". On the two year remake project Romancing Saga Minstrel Song, Noda was responsible for implementing Kenji Ito and Tsuyoshi Sekito's arrangements and original compositions. Noda found the 100+ piece project exhausting to work on due to both the volume of material and the huge stylistic variety, but the score was generally well-received. He reunited with the team on 2006's Dawn of Mana (aka Seiken Densetsu 4), implementing orchestral cinematic cues, rock action tracks, serene setting themes, and a mixture of arrangements from across the series' history, including his own light techno mixes of the Dwarves' Theme.

In 2007, Noda engaged in several prominent projects. He and Kawamori were responsible for implementing the new compositions of Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix and the arrangements for the remake Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories; after Kingdom Hearts II's synth was poorly received, the operators excelled by maximising the impact, clarity, and realism of the samples while being mindful of memory consumption involved by the requirement to simultaneously loading field and battle music in each area. As the operator for Takeharu Ishimoto's DS score to It's a Wonderful World (aka Subarashiki Kono Sekai), Hirosato Noda was able to be technically exuberant thanks to the low memory consumption of the game's 2D graphics; he streamed samples from twelve vocalists and convincingly integrated driving beats and dense instrumentals. His latest work is the DS remake Final Fantasy IV, where he worked closely with arrangers Junya Nakano and Kenichiro Fukui to produce the most technologically commanded and expressive versions of the game's compositions. The official soundtrack released for the game featured the arrangements before they were downgraded. Given the memory consumption of the title's 3D graphics, Nakano carefully optimised sound expenditure on the DS. Despite occasionally weak works and an obsession with light techno, Noda is regarded as a reliable synthesizer operator anticipated to work on many other major projects in the future.