Q. Could you tell us about exactly what kind of work you did for this title?
Okabe: My biggest role was that of composer/arranger for the music, but as a director, my biggest role was probably in determining which composers other than myself to enlist and to what tracks they would be assigned. Each individual composer has his own strengths and weaknesses, so I think it is important to decide on who will best fit the overall direction of the completed musical piece.
During the actual production I spent a lot of time explaining things like, "We should do this part like so-and-so," or, "Let's do a live recording for the instruments in this part." Basically my job was to give specific feedback on the demos as they came in.
Q. How much time did you spend actually composing the music? Could you give us an average idea of how long you think you spent on the entire score, as well as for each individual song?
Okabe: I was added to the Nier project three years ago when it was in its concept phase. This is by far the longest I've spent composing music compared to any game I've worked on in the past.
But, it's not like I was only working on the music for this game the entire three years. [Director Taro] Yokoo would tell me, "I'd like for you to make this kind of song," and I'd compose a few tracks, then after a while he'd come back to me and say, "Could you change that one song you did before like this?" We'd go back and forth like that until the song was finished, so I don't really know how long I actually spent composing each song! [Laughs]
Q. Nier devotes a lot of attention to detail when it comes to the sounds and voices used in the game. Did you decide to use a lot of vocal work in your compositions from the very beginning of production?
Okabe: Actually yes, Mr. Yokoo told me from the very beginning he’d like me to use a lot of voice work. That was the only specific request and he otherwise let me do pretty much whatever I wanted.
Mr. Yokoo let me listen to a few sample songs, and I just imagined what he was expecting from those songs, and incorporated some suggestions while ignoring others [laughs] into my work. I think I was able to create a wide variety of songs, from something like a straight vocal style to a more choral kind of feel.
Q. Can you tell us what made you decide to go with singer-songwriter Emi Evans for the vocal portions of your songs? Also, what was your impression of her?
Okabe: Emi was a friend of the MONACA staff since even before we started working on Nier. When we decided to use a foreign singer for one of our projects they introduced her to us, but unfortunately she wasn't quite right for that score, so we weren't able to work with her that time. But then as we were progressing through the development of Nier, I thought it would be perfect if she could sing for us on this project and we were finally able to work together.
Emi of course has a great voice, but she also has a great personality and she did her best to try and keep up with all our impossible demands. I'm really honored to have had the opportunity to work with her.
Oh, and on top of all that she's really beautiful too! [Laughs]
Q. The score for this game isn't pinned down to a single language such as Japanese or English. Did you come up with this concept yourself? Also, I heard that a lot of the lyrics used are actually made up words that are of no language at all. Is there any special meaning behind that?
Okabe: My thought was that if we used any kind of existing language we would destroy the unique world that we had created through Nier.
In order to really emphasize and demonstrate the open, borderless, unrestricted world of Nier I thought it would be extremely effective to mix words from a variety of countries, and so that's how these lyrics came to be.
Also, I thought that if the game's BGM contained words in your native language it may divert the player's attention and get in the way of the in-game characters' lines. So while the songs do contain words, I tried to make it so those words would mean something different to each individual player and their own imaginations.
That whole concept was decided on after talking to Mr. Yokoo at the very beginning of the project.
Q. When you were composing the score for this title, were there any drawings or concept sketches for the movies and battle scenes, or did you compose the music first before any of that was made?
Okabe: I did get to see concept drawings of characters and various scenes from the beginning of development, but I didn't get to see anything in action until much later. So in a lot of cases, the actual in-game action was made to correlate with the music as that is what came first.
Q. Were there any instances where a scene in the actual game varied from the image you had when you were composing the music for that scene?
Also, was there any scene that left a particularly profound impression on you?
Okabe: Actually, in a lot of cases the songs I composed were used in completely different situations than I had originally imagined they would be. [Laughs] There is this one song titled "Grandma" that I had composed with the intention of being used in the prologue to the story, but when I saw the actual game in action I found out that they had used it for a boss battle instead! Needless to say, I was pretty shocked at that one. [Laughs]
Q. What were some of the most difficult challenges you faced when composing this score?
Okabe: I think the hardest part was composing this many songs with actual lyrics. No matter how much we recorded I felt like it was never going to end. [Laughs]
Also, I composed a lot of the music based on the idea that the same melody could be heard in different arrangements, so I spent a lot of time working on the melody for each song.
Overall, Nier is a sad, dark story so, for example, when composing the battle scenes, I tried to make it so that the music was not only aggressive and thrilling, but also conveyed this feeling of sadness. But as I was composing, I got to the point where I thought, "Okay, this is it. I can't think of any more sad melodies!" and nearly gave up, but somehow I pulled through and finished off everything exactly how I wanted. [Laughs]
Q. What is your favorite song from this score?
Okabe: To be honest I truly love every one of the Nier songs, so it's really hard for me to pick just one...But, not thinking about whether the song is "good" or "bad," probably the most memorable one for me is a song called "Song of the Ancients," because I really tried a lot of different ideas when composing it.
By the way, you probably all first heard this song as it was being sung by Devola in the village, but I actually composed the "Fate" version first.
Q. What kind of music do you usually listen to for fun?
Okabe: I try not to limit myself to any one genre of music. Honestly, you'd probably be surprised at the wide range of music I listen to. [Laughs] I love classical and music from movie soundtracks, so of course those genres largely influenced the music I composed for Nier, but I also listen to American or European music, as well as Japanese music, pop, rock, techno, jazz, kayokyoku [a type of Japanese pop music]—pretty much anything you can imagine. If I had to choose only one genre, I'd probably have to pick '80s dance music. You probably won't notice any influence from that style of music in Nier, but you might see a smidgen of it in the score for the "15 Nightmares" DLC if you listen closely. [Laughs]
Q. Any final thoughts for our readers?
Okabe: The music in Nier is all very special to me and I really think it came out nicely. I was a little worried what people would think of it, but it's received so much praise I can hardly believe it. I'm really happy that everyone is enjoying it. In fact, it's been so well received that Mr. Yokoo keeps telling me, "You're getting way too much praise for this! I guess it's all downhill from here, huh?" [Laughs]
I have gotten a lot of wonderful comments and emails from those of you who have played the game or listened to the soundtrack, and while I would love to reply to each and every one of you individually, unfortunately if I did that would become my full-time job. That said, I'd like to take this time to thank you all for your support. I sincerely appreciate it.
Nier might not be the most well known game amongst all of you at SQUARE ENIX MEMBERS, but for those of you who take an interest in the series, I hope to continue composing quality music for you all to enjoy in the future.
Thank you all for your support!
