Koji Kondo

Koji Kondo

Date of Birth: August 13, 1960

Home Town: Nogoya, Japan

Occupation: Composer

Koji Kondo is a Japanese composer best known for his work on Nintendo games.

Biography

Koji Kondo showed an interest in music from an early age, composing small tunes as a child. At 17, he undertook classical training and learned to play several instruments.

In the late 80s, Kondo heard that Nintendo was hiring musicians to compose music for the new Famicom. Kond had never composed music for video games, but decided to give it a try. He was hired in 1983.

At Nintendo, Kondo found himself limited. The Famicom had only four "instruments:" two monophonic pulse channels, a monophonic triangle channel that was used for bass, and a noise channel for percussion. Later, Kondo and his team found a way to use the fifth channel, normally limited to sound effects, but it was still a severe limitation.

Kondo has stayed with the company to date. Each console had improved sound capabilities; the Wii is capable of CD-quality sound.

Kondo attended the first PLAY! concert at Rosemont, Illinois in May 2006. Part of the program included his music from Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda performed by a full orchestra.

Musical Style and Influence

Kondo is well-known because he composes much of the music for industry giant Shigeru Miyamoto. His tunes are pleasant and catchy. They're nice to listen to the first time and don't get annoying as the player continues to listen to them. Not unknown to the greater music community, Paul McCartney is among his admirers.

Some people criticize Kondo because of the lake of variety in his style. For example, the music of Super Mario Sunshine is very similar to that of Super Mario Bros. However, when he tried something different for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time he was initially criticized for abandoning his style.

Kondo's music is influenced by the music of eastern Asia, as well as Latin music, classical music, and jazz. The Latin influence is apparent in the bouncy themes found in Super Mario Bros.. Both the underground theme from Super Mario Bros. and Saria's Song from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time show jazz influences. The music of Star Fox and most of The Legend of Zelda series is classical in the cinematic style of John Williams.

Game Soundtracks

• Devil World
• Super Mario Bros.
• Wrecking Crew
• Mystery of Murasame Castle
• The Legend of Zelda
• Shin Onigashima
• Super Mario Bros. 2
• Super Mario Bros. 3
• Pilotwings
• Super Mario World
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
• Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
• Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
• Super Mario 64
• Star Fox 64
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
• Super Smash Bros.
• The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
• Super Smash Bros. Melee
• Super Mario Sunshine
• The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
• New Super Mario Bros.
• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess