Difference between revisions of "Takeaki Kunimoto"

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{{Infobox Composer
 
{{Infobox Composer
 
| Name        = Takeaki Kunimoto
 
| Name        = Takeaki Kunimoto
| Local      = 国本剛章 (くにもと たけあき)
+
| Local      = 国本 剛章 (くにもと たけあき)
| Picture    = Takeaki_Kunimoto_-_1.png
+
| Picture    = Takeaki_Kunimoto_-_02.jpg
| Born        = January 11, 1962 (Age 54)
+
| Born        = 1962-01-11
 
| BirthPlace  = Sapporo-shi, Japan
 
| BirthPlace  = Sapporo-shi, Japan
 
| Nationality = Japanese
 
| Nationality = Japanese
 
| Flag        = Japan
 
| Flag        = Japan
| Aliases    = Kinoko Kunimoto, Kunimoto Takeaki, T. Kunimoto
+
| Aliases    = Kinoko Kunimoto, Kunimoto Takeaki, T. Kunimoto, Bomber Kunimoto
 
| Website    = kinokosan.blog.ocn.ne.jp/
 
| Website    = kinokosan.blog.ocn.ne.jp/
 
}}
 
}}
 +
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kunimoto, Takeaki}}
 +
'''Takeaki Kunimoto''' (better known as ''Kinoko Kunimoto'') is a Japanese composer and musician, known for his numerous contributions to games by [[Hudson Soft]].
  
'''''Takeaki Kunimoto''''' is a Japanese composer, known for his numerous contributions to games by [[Hudson Soft]]. [[Toshiyuki Sasagawa]] asked him to apply at Hudson after Takeaki demonstrated a Yamaha CX-11 computer. He was 23 when he started working for Hudson, and his first work was for Challenger. He worked there for a couple years composing music for the NES and Turbo Grafx 16. He currently plays in a band by the name of Salt Peanuts.
+
Kunimoto started in the game industry when he worked at a music shop while attending University. One day at the music store, [[Toshiyuki Sasagawa]] entered the store and asked Takeaki to demonstrate a Yamaha CX-11 computer for him. Takeaki played his compositions for Sasagawa on the computer. Sasagawa liked his music and asked Takeaki to apply for the developer he worked for, Hudson Soft. He accepted and started working at Hudson in 1985, and his first work was for the Famicom game ''Challenger''. He worked at Hudson Soft for a couple years composing music exclusively for the [[Nintendo Entertainment System|NES]] and the [[TurboGrafx-16]]. As was traditional with most video game composers at the time, Takeaki had no programming experience, and so he sent his music to Hudson Soft, in which their sound programmers would arrange his music for the chips. These sound programmers included Toshiyuki Sasagawa and Toshiaki Takimoto. Kunimoto's hiring process was very similar to how [[David Wise]] started working at [[Rare]].
  
Sometimes, Takeaki is seen under the name "Kinoko Kunimoto". Kinoko is Japanese for "mushroom".
+
In 1989, Kunimoto left Hudson Soft and retired from the game industry. In addition, after Kunimoto left the games industry, Hudson re-released many of their older titles on the current gen consoles, and as a result, some of these games feature Kunimoto's music. However, it is unknown who converted the music to these consoles. In 2011, after meeting the late [[Ryu Umemoto]], who gave Takeaki a Macbook with [[Logic]], Takeaki rekindled his interest in video game music and returned to the industry, composing music for games such as ''Kira Kira Star Night DX'' and ''Kyogeki Quartet Fighters''.
 +
 
 +
Kunimoto currently serves as the bassist for several bands. These include ''Take-chan Ken-chan'', ''All One Brothers'', ''The Kinoko Takeaki Kunimoto Band'', and ''Gangan's''. He formerly played with ''Salt Peanuts''. In 2012, Kunimoto released a solo album, ''Hitsuji no Oka''. In 2013, he performed with Japanese singer Noko Inoko.
 +
 
 +
Some of Kunimoto's best known soundtracks include ''J.J. & Jeff'', ''Milon's Secret Castle'', ''Robo Warrior'', and ''Mickey Mousecapade''.
 +
 
 +
==Musical Style==
 +
Takeaki's style consists of many elements, primarily rock and jazz. A lot of his music is written in the key of C and occasionally uses a shuffle beat. He also has 16th-triplet slides and phrases in some parts of his music. A lot of his music is also written in fast tempos.
 +
 
 +
==Audio Development==
 +
For his NES and TurboGrafx-16 music, Takeaki wrote his music on his [[Yamaha CX-7]] [[MSX2]] computer, using the [[SFG-05]] sound device and [[FM Music Composer II|YRM-55]] music software. He then sent over his compositions via demo tapes to Hudson Soft, which was implemented into the game by the sound programmers. These demo tapes can be heard in the ''Kinoko Kunimoto Takeaki History'' series of CDs. Based on the demo tapes, it appears Kunimoto was aware of the amount of channels available for both systems, and wrote his music accordingly.
  
 
==Gameography==
 
==Gameography==
Line 20: Line 32:
 
! Title
 
! Title
 
! Sample
 
! Sample
 +
! Notes
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 1985-10-15
 
| 1985-10-15
 
| [[Challenger (FC)]] (チャレンジャー)
 
| [[Challenger (FC)]] (チャレンジャー)
|  
+
| {{Song-List|01 - Challenger - FC - Scene 1.ogg}}
 +
| Arranged by [[Toshiyuki Sasagawa]].
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 1986-03-05
 
| 1986-03-05
 
| [[Ninja Hattori Kun: Ninja wa Shuugyou Degogiru no Maki (FC)]] (忍者ハットリくん)
 
| [[Ninja Hattori Kun: Ninja wa Shuugyou Degogiru no Maki (FC)]] (忍者ハットリくん)
 +
|
 
|  
 
|  
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 1986-06-13
 
| 1986-06-13
 
| [[Star Soldier (NES)]] (スターソルジャー)
 
| [[Star Soldier (NES)]] (スターソルジャー)
 +
|
 
|  
 
|  
 
|-
 
|-
Line 36: Line 52:
 
| [[Milon's Secret Castle (NES)]] (迷宮組曲 ミロンの大冒険)
 
| [[Milon's Secret Castle (NES)]] (迷宮組曲 ミロンの大冒険)
 
|  
 
|  
|-
+
| All songs except [[Bonus Stage - Milon's Secret Castle (NES)|Bonus Stage]] by [[Daisuke Inoue]]; Arranged by [[Toshiyuki Sasagawa]].
| 1987-??-??
 
| [[J.J. & Jeff (TG16)]] (カトちゃん ケンちゃん)
 
|
 
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 1987-02-10
 
| 1987-02-10
 
| [[Adventures of Dino Riki (NES)]] (新人類 The New Type)
 
| [[Adventures of Dino Riki (NES)]] (新人類 The New Type)
 
|  
 
|  
 +
| With [[Daisuke Inoue]].
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 1987-03-06
 
| 1987-03-06
 
| [[Mickey Mousecapade (NES)]] (ミッキーマウス 不思議の国の大冒険)
 
| [[Mickey Mousecapade (NES)]] (ミッキーマウス 不思議の国の大冒険)
 
|  
 
|  
 +
| With [[Daisuke Inoue]].
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 1987-06-05
 
| 1987-06-05
| [[Meijin Takahashi's Bug-tte Honey (FC)]] (Bugってハニー)
+
| [[Takahashi Meijin no Bug-tte Honey (FC)]] (高橋名人のBugってハニー)
 
|  
 
|  
 +
| With [[Daisuke Inoue]].
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 1987-07-16
 
| 1987-07-16
| [[Starship Hector (NES)]] (HECTOR’87)
+
| [[Starship Hector (NES)]] (ヘクター’87)
 +
| {{Song-List|01 - Starship Hector - NES - Title Screen.ogg}}
 
|  
 
|  
 
|-
 
|-
Line 60: Line 77:
 
| [[Robo Warrior (NES)]] (ボンバーキング)
 
| [[Robo Warrior (NES)]] (ボンバーキング)
 
|  
 
|  
|-
+
|  
| 1987-10-30
 
| [[Shanghai (PCE)]] (上海)
 
| Composer?
 
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 1987-10-??
 
| 1987-10-??
 
| [[Momotaro Densetsu (FC)]] (桃太郎伝説)
 
| [[Momotaro Densetsu (FC)]] (桃太郎伝説)
 
|  
 
|  
 +
| 2 Songs: Combat 2 and Village Festival
 +
|-
 +
| 1987-11-30
 +
| [[J.J. & Jeff (TG16)]] (カトちゃん ケンちゃん)
 +
| {{Song-List|01 - JJ & Jeff - TG16 - Title Screen.ogg}}
 +
| All songs except [[Staff Roll - J.J. & Jeff (TG16)|Staff Roll]].<br>Arranged by [[Toshiyuki Sasagawa]].
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 1987-12-28
 
| 1987-12-28
 
| [[Victory Run (TG16)]] (ビクトリーラン 栄光の13、000キロ)
 
| [[Victory Run (TG16)]] (ビクトリーラン 栄光の13、000キロ)
 +
| {{Song-List|01 - Victory Run - TG16 - Title.ogg}}
 
|  
 
|  
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 1988-04-22
 
| 1988-04-22
| [[Yuuyuu Jinsei (TG16)]] (遊々人生)
+
| [[Yuuyuu Jinsei (PCE)]] (遊々人生)
 +
| {{Song-List|01 - Yuuyuu Jinsei - PCE - Title.ogg}}
 +
| Arranged by [[Toshiaki Takimoto]].
 +
|-
 +
| 1988-??-??
 +
| [[Bomber King (MSX)]] (ボンバーキング)
 
|  
 
|  
 +
| Arranged by [[Hidekazu Tanaka]], [[Akemi Oouchi]], [[Makiko Ito]].
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 1989-08-10
 
| 1989-08-10
| [[Break In (TG16)]] (ブレイク・イン)
+
| [[Break In (PCE)]] (ブレイク・イン)
 +
| {{Song-List|01 - Break In - PCE - Title.ogg}}
 +
| Arranged by [[Toshiaki Takimoto]].
 +
|-
 +
| 1990-07-06
 +
| [[Super Star Soldier (TG16)]] (スーパースターソルジャー)
 
|  
 
|  
 +
| [[History 1 - Starship Hector (NES)|Hector '87]]
 +
|-
 +
| 1990-12-22
 +
| [[Momotarou Densetsu II (PCE)]] (桃太郎伝説)
 +
|
 +
| Mura Matsuri, Level Up
 +
|-
 +
| 1991-08-23
 +
| [[Blaster Master Boy (GB)]] (ボンバーキング シナリオ2)
 +
|
 +
| Arranged by [[Shinichi Seya]]. (Game uses music from Robo Warrior)
 +
|-
 +
| 1993-03-26
 +
| [[Milon's Secret Castle (GB)]] (ミロンの迷宮組曲)
 +
|
 +
| Arranged by [[Akihiro Akamatsu]] and [[Sachiko Oita]].
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 1995-07-07
 
| 1995-07-07
| [[Caravan Shooting Collection: Hector '87 (SFC)]] (キャラバン シューティング コレクション HECTOR’87)
+
| [[Caravan Shooting Collection (SFC)]] (キャラバン シューティング コレクション)
 +
|
 +
| Star Soldier and Hector '87; Unknown arranger.
 +
|-
 +
| 2006-01-19
 +
| [[Hudson Best Collection Vol. 5: Shooting Collection (GBA)]] (ハドソンベストコレクションVol.5 シューティングコレクション)
 
|  
 
|  
 +
| Star Soldier and Hector '87; Unknown arranger.
 +
|-
 +
| 2021-06-11
 +
| [[Kira Kira Star Night Exa (ARC)]] (キラキラスターナイトexa)
 +
|
 +
| Music Adv. Stage 1
 
|}
 
|}
 +
 +
==Image Gallery==
 +
<gallery>
 +
Takeaki_Kunimoto_-_1.png|Unknown source.
 +
Takeaki_Kunimoto_-_02.jpg|2019-06-28; Facebook.
 +
</gallery>
 +
 +
==Aliases==
 +
Takeaki was usually credited as '''Kinoko Kunimoto'''. Kinoko (''きのこ'') is Japanese for "mushroom". He still uses this pseudonym to this day.
 +
 +
The alias '''Bomber Kunimoto''' no doubt refers to the NES game [[Robo Warrior (NES)]], released originally in Japan as ''Bomber King''.
 +
 +
==Discography==
 +
* [[20th Century Famicom Boy DECADE]]
 +
* [[Kyogeki Quartet Fighters Original Soundtrack]]
 +
* [[Kinoko Kunimoto Takeaki History Vol.1: Challenger]]
 +
* [[Kinoko Kunimoto Takeaki History Vol.2: Star Ninja]]
 +
* [[Kinoko Kunimoto Takeaki History Vol.3: Meikyuu Hector]]
 +
* [[Kinoko Kunimoto Takeaki History Vol.4: Bomber King]]
 +
* [[Kinoko Kunimoto Takeaki History Vol.5: Katoken]]
  
 
==Links==
 
==Links==
 
* [https://www.facebook.com/kunimoto.takeaki facebook.com/kunimoto.takeaki] - Facebook.
 
* [https://www.facebook.com/kunimoto.takeaki facebook.com/kunimoto.takeaki] - Facebook.
 
* [https://twitter.com/kinokowakame twitter.com/kinokowakame] - Twitter.
 
* [https://twitter.com/kinokowakame twitter.com/kinokowakame] - Twitter.
 
+
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER-bqzry5gk youtube.com/watch?v=ER-bqzry5gk] - Kunimoto and Matsuken perform songs from ''Milon's Secret Castle''.
 +
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9WqvJATOi0 youtube.com/watch?v=M9WqvJATOi0] - Kunimoto talks about the music to ''Star Soldier'' (Japanese).
 +
* [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8mtrdgYAMC18sgGrxuor0g youtube.com/channel/UC8mtrdgYAMC18sgGrxuor0g] - YouTube channel.
 +
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ygzdl24NnY youtube.com/watch?v=4Ygzdl24NnY] - Kunimoto shows a song on the MSX that he wrote for ''Challenger''.
 +
* [https://w.atwiki.jp/gamemusicbest100/pages/1606.html atwiki.jp/gamemusicbest100/pages/1606.html] - Atwiki.jp (Japanese).
  
 
[[Category: Composers]]
 
[[Category: Composers]]
 
[[Category: Foley Artists]]
 
[[Category: Foley Artists]]
 +
[[Category:1962 Births]]
 +
[[Category:Hudson Soft Staff]]
 +
[[Category:Male People]]

Latest revision as of 09:58, 24 March 2023

Takeaki Kunimoto
Takeaki Kunimoto - 02.jpg
Local 国本 剛章 (くにもと たけあき)
Born 1962-01-11
Birth Place Sapporo-shi, Japan
Nationality Japanese   Japan.svg
Aliases Kinoko Kunimoto, Kunimoto Takeaki, T. Kunimoto, Bomber Kunimoto
Website kinokosan.blog.ocn.ne.jp/

Takeaki Kunimoto (better known as Kinoko Kunimoto) is a Japanese composer and musician, known for his numerous contributions to games by Hudson Soft.

Kunimoto started in the game industry when he worked at a music shop while attending University. One day at the music store, Toshiyuki Sasagawa entered the store and asked Takeaki to demonstrate a Yamaha CX-11 computer for him. Takeaki played his compositions for Sasagawa on the computer. Sasagawa liked his music and asked Takeaki to apply for the developer he worked for, Hudson Soft. He accepted and started working at Hudson in 1985, and his first work was for the Famicom game Challenger. He worked at Hudson Soft for a couple years composing music exclusively for the NES and the TurboGrafx-16. As was traditional with most video game composers at the time, Takeaki had no programming experience, and so he sent his music to Hudson Soft, in which their sound programmers would arrange his music for the chips. These sound programmers included Toshiyuki Sasagawa and Toshiaki Takimoto. Kunimoto's hiring process was very similar to how David Wise started working at Rare.

In 1989, Kunimoto left Hudson Soft and retired from the game industry. In addition, after Kunimoto left the games industry, Hudson re-released many of their older titles on the current gen consoles, and as a result, some of these games feature Kunimoto's music. However, it is unknown who converted the music to these consoles. In 2011, after meeting the late Ryu Umemoto, who gave Takeaki a Macbook with Logic, Takeaki rekindled his interest in video game music and returned to the industry, composing music for games such as Kira Kira Star Night DX and Kyogeki Quartet Fighters.

Kunimoto currently serves as the bassist for several bands. These include Take-chan Ken-chan, All One Brothers, The Kinoko Takeaki Kunimoto Band, and Gangan's. He formerly played with Salt Peanuts. In 2012, Kunimoto released a solo album, Hitsuji no Oka. In 2013, he performed with Japanese singer Noko Inoko.

Some of Kunimoto's best known soundtracks include J.J. & Jeff, Milon's Secret Castle, Robo Warrior, and Mickey Mousecapade.

Musical Style

Takeaki's style consists of many elements, primarily rock and jazz. A lot of his music is written in the key of C and occasionally uses a shuffle beat. He also has 16th-triplet slides and phrases in some parts of his music. A lot of his music is also written in fast tempos.

Audio Development

For his NES and TurboGrafx-16 music, Takeaki wrote his music on his Yamaha CX-7 MSX2 computer, using the SFG-05 sound device and YRM-55 music software. He then sent over his compositions via demo tapes to Hudson Soft, which was implemented into the game by the sound programmers. These demo tapes can be heard in the Kinoko Kunimoto Takeaki History series of CDs. Based on the demo tapes, it appears Kunimoto was aware of the amount of channels available for both systems, and wrote his music accordingly.

Gameography

Released Title Sample Notes
1985-10-15 Challenger (FC) (チャレンジャー)
Arranged by Toshiyuki Sasagawa.
1986-03-05 Ninja Hattori Kun: Ninja wa Shuugyou Degogiru no Maki (FC) (忍者ハットリくん)
1986-06-13 Star Soldier (NES) (スターソルジャー)
1986-11-13 Milon's Secret Castle (NES) (迷宮組曲 ミロンの大冒険) All songs except Bonus Stage by Daisuke Inoue; Arranged by Toshiyuki Sasagawa.
1987-02-10 Adventures of Dino Riki (NES) (新人類 The New Type) With Daisuke Inoue.
1987-03-06 Mickey Mousecapade (NES) (ミッキーマウス 不思議の国の大冒険) With Daisuke Inoue.
1987-06-05 Takahashi Meijin no Bug-tte Honey (FC) (高橋名人のBugってハニー) With Daisuke Inoue.
1987-07-16 Starship Hector (NES) (ヘクター’87)
1987-08-07 Robo Warrior (NES) (ボンバーキング)
1987-10-?? Momotaro Densetsu (FC) (桃太郎伝説) 2 Songs: Combat 2 and Village Festival
1987-11-30 J.J. & Jeff (TG16) (カトちゃん ケンちゃん)
All songs except Staff Roll.
Arranged by Toshiyuki Sasagawa.
1987-12-28 Victory Run (TG16) (ビクトリーラン 栄光の13、000キロ)
1988-04-22 Yuuyuu Jinsei (PCE) (遊々人生)
Arranged by Toshiaki Takimoto.
1988-??-?? Bomber King (MSX) (ボンバーキング) Arranged by Hidekazu Tanaka, Akemi Oouchi, Makiko Ito.
1989-08-10 Break In (PCE) (ブレイク・イン)
Arranged by Toshiaki Takimoto.
1990-07-06 Super Star Soldier (TG16) (スーパースターソルジャー) Hector '87
1990-12-22 Momotarou Densetsu II (PCE) (桃太郎伝説) Mura Matsuri, Level Up
1991-08-23 Blaster Master Boy (GB) (ボンバーキング シナリオ2) Arranged by Shinichi Seya. (Game uses music from Robo Warrior)
1993-03-26 Milon's Secret Castle (GB) (ミロンの迷宮組曲) Arranged by Akihiro Akamatsu and Sachiko Oita.
1995-07-07 Caravan Shooting Collection (SFC) (キャラバン シューティング コレクション) Star Soldier and Hector '87; Unknown arranger.
2006-01-19 Hudson Best Collection Vol. 5: Shooting Collection (GBA) (ハドソンベストコレクションVol.5 シューティングコレクション) Star Soldier and Hector '87; Unknown arranger.
2021-06-11 Kira Kira Star Night Exa (ARC) (キラキラスターナイトexa) Music Adv. Stage 1

Image Gallery

Aliases

Takeaki was usually credited as Kinoko Kunimoto. Kinoko (きのこ) is Japanese for "mushroom". He still uses this pseudonym to this day.

The alias Bomber Kunimoto no doubt refers to the NES game Robo Warrior (NES), released originally in Japan as Bomber King.

Discography

Links