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Biography
Infobox musical artist| name = Koji Kondo| image = Koji kondo.jpg| caption = Koji Kondo in 2006| background = non_performing_personnel| alias =| Born = birth date and age|1960|8|13 Nagoya , Japan| instrument = Piano , electronic organ , Keyboard instrument|keyboards , synthesizers | genre =| occupation = Composer, sound designer, sound director, sound programmer| years_active = 1983–present| label =| associated_acts = Shigeru Miyamoto nihongo| Koji Kondo |?? ??|Kondo Koji|born August 13, 1960 is a Japanese video game music|video game composer and director of audiography|sound director who has been employed at Nintendo since 1984. He is best known for scoring numerous titles in the Mario (series)|Mario and The Legend of Zelda series.
Biography
Early life
Born in Nagoya , Japan, Koji Kondo began taking lessons in the electronic organ from the age of five. He improved his skills in the instrument in a cover band that played jazz and rock music . Kondo studied at the Art Planning Department of Osaka University of Arts ,cite web|url= http://www.music4games.net/News_Display.aspx? id=506|archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20071110004822/ http://www.music4games.net/News_Display.aspx? id=506|archivedate=2007-11-10|title=Mario and Zelda composer Koji Kondo shares all at GDC '07|publisher= Music4Games |date=2007-01-19|accessdate=2009-09-18 but was never classically-trained or particularly dedicated to music. However, he gained some experience in composing and arranging pieces, using both the piano and a computer to assist him. During his senior year, Nintendo sent a recruitment message to his university stating that they were interested in hiring people dedicated to composition and sound programming. An liquid crystal display|LCD and arcade game r, Kondo successfully applied for the job in 1984 without requiring any demo (music)|demo tapes .cite web|url= http://www.squareenixmusic.com/composers/kondo/index.shtml|title=Koji Kondo|publisher=Square Enix Music Online|author=Chris|accessdate=2009-09-17
Career
Kondo was the first person hired by Nintendo for the purpose of creating compositions, and was to play an integral role in making the company's games and music recognizable worldwide. The first games he scored were the arcade games Vs. Golf and Punch-Out!& #33; (arcade game)|Punch-Out!! . Despite creating very little music, he was able to overcome the challenges of sound design . As the Nintendo Entertainment System|Famicom had become highly popular in Japan, Kondo was assigned to compose music for the console's subsequent games at Nintendo's new development team, Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development (EAD). Kondo also wrote an instruction manual on how to program Japanese popular music into the Famicom using the peripheral Family BASIC . To conclude his first year at Nintendo, he created the music to Devil World alongside Akito Nakatsuka. In 1985, Nintendo started marketing the Famicom abroad under the name the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) to capitalize on the North American video game crash of 1983|1983 video game crash that devastated Atari, Inc. He composed the music for the hit releases Super Mario Bros. (1985)cite web|url= http://www.gamespot.com/super-mario-bros/techinfo|title=Super Mario Bros. Tech Info|publisher= GameSpot |accessdate=2009-09-18 and The Legend of Zelda (video game)|The Legend of Zelda (1986)cite web|url= http://www.gamespot.com/legendofzelda/techinfo|title=The Legend of Zelda Tech Info|publisher= GameSpot |accessdate=2009-09-18 which helped the system to sell 60 million copies in total and established some of the most well-known melodies in the video game industry .
Super Mario Bros. , for many years the best-selling video game of all time, was Kondo's first major score. The game's melodies were created with the intention that short segments of music could be endlessly repeated during the same gameplay without causing boredom. Kondo's soundtrack to Super Mario Bros. gained worldwide recognition, and is to this day the most well-known video game score. Super Mario Bros. theme|The main theme is iconic in popular culture and has been featured in over 50 concerts, been a best-selling ringtone,cite web|url= http://moconews.net/article/top-selling-ringtones-in-us-for-2006/|title=Top Selling Ringtones In US For 2006|publisher=mocoNews|first=James Quintana|last=Pearce|date=2007-01-04|accessdate=2009-09-21 and been remixed or sampling (music)|sampled by various musicians. Kondo's work on The Legend of Zelda scores has also become highly recognized. He produced four main pieces of background music for the first installment of the series; the overworld theme has become comparable in popularity with the Super Mario Bros. main theme. Following the success of The Legend of Zelda , he provided the score for two Japanese-exclusive titles, Nazo no Murasame Jo (1986) and Shin Onigashima (1987). He also created the soundtrack to Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic (1987), which was later rebranded outside of Japan as Super Mario Bros. 2 in 1988.cite web|url= http://retro.ign.com/articles/833/833615p2.html|title=IGN Presents The History of Super Mario Bros.|publisher=IGN|first=Rus|last=McLaughlin|date=2007-11-08|accessdate=2009-09-21cite web|url= http://www.gamespot.com/super-mario-bros-2/techinfo|title=Super Mario Bros. 2 Tech Info|publisher= GameSpot |accessdate=2009-09-21
Kondo returned to the Super Mario series to produce the scores to Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988) and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System|SNES launch title Super Mario World (1990). Koichi Sugiyama directed a jazz arrangement album of Super Mario World 's music and oversaw its performance at the first Orchestral Game Music Concerts|Orchestral Game Music Concert in 1991. After finishing the soundtrack to Super Mario World , Kondo was in charge of the sound programming for Pilotwings , and created the sound effects for Star Fox (video game)|Star Fox . In 1995 he composed for the sequel to Super Mario World , '' Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island . Until the Nintendo 64 era, Kondo would usually write all compositions for a game, ending with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time '' as the last score he worked alone on.cite web |url= http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2007/03/72971 |archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/5wSqL8j29 |archivedate=2011-02-13 |title=Behind the Mario Maestro's Music |date=2007-03-15 |author=Kohler, Chris |work=Wired |publisher= Condé Nast Digital |accessdate=2011-02-13 Since then, he has been collaborating with other staff members at Nintendo EAD, supervising music created by others, as well as providing additional compositions for games such as Super Mario Galaxy , The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword .cite album-notes |title=Super Mario Galaxy Original Sound Track Platinum Version |url= http://vgmdb.net/album/5411 |year=2008 |publisher= Nintendo Co., Ltd. cite web |url= http://www.1up.com/news/mario-music |title=How Mario Music Gets Made |author=Gifford, Kevin |date=2010-02-24 |work= 1UP.com |publisher= UGO Entertainment, Inc. |accessdate=2010-12-28cite web |url= http://www.originalsoundversion.com/koji-kondo-talks-ocarina-of-time-gives-details-on-skyward-sword/ |archiveurl= http://www.webcitation.org/5zdCAJDVF |archivedate=June 22, 2011 |title=Koji Kondo Talks Ocarina of Time, Gives Details on Skyward Sword |date=June 21, 2011 |author=Napolitano, Jayson |work=Original Sound Version |accessdate=June 22, 2011
Concerts
Kondo attended the world-premiere of Play& #33; A Video Game Symphony at the Rosemont Theater in Rosemont, Illinois in May 2006. His music from the Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda series was performed by a full symphony orchestra. This event drew nearly four thousand attendees. He also attended and performed in a series of three concerts celebrating the 25th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda series in late 2011.
Musical style and influences
The " Super Mario Bros. theme " reached number one on Billboard Magazine 's Hot Ringtones chart in 2009.Citation needed|date=January 2010 Kondo cites rock bands Deep Purple and Emerson, Lake & Palmer as major musical influences.cite journal |url= http://www.zelda.com/universe/game/twilightprincess/inside04.jsp |title=Inside Zelda Part 4: Natural Rhythms of Hyrule |journal= Nintendo Power |issue=195 |date=September 2005 |publisher= Nintendo of America, Inc. He has also cited as influences the works of the Russian romantic composer Sergei Rachmaninoff , particularly his four piano concertos.citation needed|date=December 2011
Discography
Video games
Year !! Title !! Role !! Co-worker
1984
Family BASIC
Devil World
1985
Super Mario Bros.
1986
Nazo no Murasamejo
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
1987
Shin Onigashima
1988
Super Mario Bros. 3
1990
Super Mario World
1991
1993
1995
1996
1997
1998
2000
2002
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
2004
2005
2006
New Super Mario Bros.
2007
2008
2009
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
2010
2011
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
References
reflist
External links
IMDb name|id=0464848
http://blog.wired.com/games/2007/03/vgl_koji_kondo_.html Game | Life Video Games Live 2007 Interview
http://web.archive.org/web/20110713164154/ http://wii.kombo.com/article.php? artid=9177 Advanced Media Network Video Games Live 2007 Interview
http://web.archive.org/web/20080313134741/ http://www.music4games.net/Features_Display.aspx? id=186 Interview with Music4Games
Kelly, Piaras (26 March 2004). "cite web |url= http://www.gamerseurope.com/articles/486 |title=Inside Nintendo: Koji Kondo |archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20071014070040/ http://gamerseurope.com/articles/486 |archivedate=2007-10-14. Accessed 17 February 2006.
MacDonalad, Mark (3 May 2006). " http://www.1up.com/do/feature? pager.offset=5& cId=3140040 Koji Kondo Interview, Part 1". 1UP.com. Accessed 17 February 2006.
Van Zelfden, N. Evan (30 May 2006). " http://www.gamespot.com/news/6151989.html Play& #33; kicks off world tour in Chicago. GameSpot.com. Accessed 17 June 2006.
http://www.glitterberri.com/ocarina-of-time/special-interview-koji-kondo The Legend of Zelda: Super Best Collection interview at BerriBlue
Persondata | NAME = Kondo, Koji | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = Video game musician and composer | DATE OF BIRTH = 13 August 1960 | PLACE OF BIRTH = Nagoya, Japan | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Kondo, Koji Category:1960 births Category:Living people Category:Japanese composers Category:Japanese jazz musicians Category:Nintendo people Category:Osaka University of Arts alumni Category:People from Nagoya Category:Video game composers
