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Yoshitaka Hirota
| Overview | Biography | Discography | Game Projects | Interviews |
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Date of Birth: | September 1, 1971 (Kyoto) |
| Education: | Graduated from a Junior Music College | |
| General Interests: | Playing with Pets, Walking, The Internet | |
| Instruments: | Bass Guitar (Also a Vocalist) | |
| Game Works: | Shadow Hearts Series, DS Style Series |
Employment History
| Company | Tenure | Role |
| Square | 1994 - 1998 | Sound Effects Design |
| TwinTail Studio | 2001 - | Founder, Administrator, Composer |
Brief Profile
Yoshitaka Hirota is an eclectic musician best known for the Shadow Hearts series. He entered the gaming industry as a sound effects designer for Square on recommendation of his college friend Yasunori Mitsuda. While there, he worked on many of their hit titles, including Final Fantasy VII and Chrono Trigger. He relieved tension duing these projects by DJing, releasing an electronica album, and scoring an eccentric movie in his spare time.
In 1998, he became a freelancer and scored Bomberman 64: The Second Attack and three drama albums. Following the failure of Hiroki Kikuta's Koudelka, he became the lead composer of Sacnoth and scored Faselei!, Dive Alert, and Sonic Shuffle. His big break came when he produced the diverse and experimental score to Shadow Hearts. He returned to score uniquely characterised soundtracks for its two sequels and an arranged album.
In recent years, Hirota has spent time performing at live events, creating plays, arranging for vocalists, and contributing to arranged albums. He has remained active in the game music field by leading sound production of Square Enix's DS Style series and contributing to Fist Groove 2, Donkey Kong: Jungle Climber, Hercules no Eikou: Tamashii no Shoumei, and D.Gray-man. He also recently released the dark fantasy album Kinema in the Hole featuring lyrics and vocals by Rekka Katagiri.
