Norihiko Hibino Interview: The Composer Talks About Why He Didnt Return For Bayonetta 3

Hibino: When I was at Berklee College of Music, I was lucky to be able to learn PC-based music production, as well as music synthesis and jazz composition. I thought the possibility of applying jazz composition skills to PC-based music production would be unlimited. Videogames would be the most challenging opportunity in terms of using and implementing live sounds, especially in PlayStation 2-era development.

Hibino: I listened to all kinds of music while I was a kid. Many vinyl records were in my house, from country western to classical music and jazz. All of these memories help me respond to a diverse range of requests concerning arrangement.

Hibino: My left ear still cannot hear well; it feels like I am having a broken headset. So, I could not discern stereo sound and clipping noises. However, thanks to Frank van Ôt Ende, our great mastering engineer, I could rely on finishing the sound just right. Since I played all instruments (sax, piano, guitar), it was fast, as I remembered how I played one instrument and just followed the same flow in my second take on a different instrument.

Hibino: Music lives between the conscious mind and the unconscious soul. Our soul is originally empty, like a black hole, and we want to fill this hole by possessing whatever exists in this world. If they are from good spirits, such as love, caring for others, and doing something good for our society… then it really heals our whole self, but if the hole is filled by envy, anger, jealousy, or suspicion… then our whole self gets worse. Unfortunately, we do not realize what we are tied up in our soul, as it is in an unconscious state.

However, music helps us be in a better state by creating a bridge between the mind and soul.

Sometimes, the songs we know (such as game music arrangements) give comfort to our conscious mind and also help our soul when the music is played in peace, sincere prayer, love, etc. I’ve experienced this many times when we play therapeutic music at nursing homes and hospices in Japan. When the person’s body and mind are not so strong anymore, the soul can catch on to the music and be affected by the music more easily. When we deliver some peace through their well-known music, then that really gives them comfort, and sometimes that gives them readiness to leave this world.

Hibino: I have never experienced challenges in working in cultural versatilities. Rather, it is quite difficult within an environment of some fixed cultural traditions, such as religious gatherings, that reduce room for allowing people to be just as they are. The melting pot model is always a source of creation.

Hibino: Working with Koshiro Yuzo-san is always fun. His musical talent and versatility are always amazing. Also, the soundtrack of Go Vacation I created with Shinji Hosoe and the SuperSweep team was really fun, including all styles from Hawaiian, soul, funk, jazz, etc.

Hibino: Through my experiences with Hollywood, I really learned how to create “layers” in music. Since movie sound is always created in a 5.1 surround sound setting, even a simple drum loop or pad has to be multiple-layered so that some go to the subwoofer and some go to surround channels. That also creates “depth” on the screen.

Since most Japanese game soundtracks were based on a 2D approach at that time, where there was no depth, to me, that was a big challenge. I transcribed, programmed, and mixed Harry Gregson-Williams’s works so they can exactly sound the same. Those experiences gave me lots of insight.

Hibino: Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty was my favorite. There were still some limitations with the hardware in the PlayStation 2 era, and not perfectly free, but that also gave us a lot of challenges. Utilizing and reusing sound samples and drum loops to create something different was fun.

Hibino: The production of Bayonetta 2 was quite tough for me. PlatinumGames did a great job, but maybe I was not good enough to catch their whole concept.

Hibino: Anyone in any country can play music in some way. We can connect beyond our native language. We can even connect with the vibration the performer produces. This is something only living beings can do.

So, we want to be more careful when we produce sounds. How we think and how we create and perform music affects the whole environment around us. That even causes happiness, comfort, peace, and sometimes anger, hatred, or rage.