In a recent interview, Final Fantasy series composer Nobuo Uematsu talked to JASRAC Magazine about his time in the industry, the evolution of game music, and its prospects for the future. He also gave his opinion on the topic of generative AI in music, stating that he “has never used the technology, and probably never will.”
Looking back at the history of game music, most of which he has lived through himself, Uematsu pointed out some of the key events that helped shape the genre as we know it today. He mentions initially making music from only a melody line, chord line and bass line during the NES era – but as technology progressed, musicians became able to add samples, layer multiple sounds and create richer quality of tones. However, Uematsu suggests that, despite games themselves evolving significantly in recent years, especially when it comes to graphics, game music has already reached its peak.
“There’s been a surge of graphical advancements in games in recent years. But in terms of game music, I feel like it already reached its ‘final form’ when musicians became able to use their studio recordings in games. Another advancement was binaural audio, and we’ve already made it a reality in Final Fantasy X. However, it is a question of how much players are going to demand it in the future,” he explains. As far as other future advancements could go, Uematsu suggests that musicians may focus on how smoothly they can switch between certain sounds. “Perhaps AI will be able to handle something like that well in the future.”
Uematsu shed light on his own stance on generative AI in music, given that songs can now be “generated” with just a few prompts and a click. “I’ve never used AI and probably never will. I think it still feels more rewarding to go through the hardships of creating something myself. When you listen to music, the fun is also in discovering the background of the person who created it, right? AI does not have that kind of background though. Even when it comes to live performances, music produced by people is unstable, and everyone does it in their own unique way. And what makes it sound so satisfying are precisely those fluctuations and imperfections,” he said.
We mustn’t forget that Nobuo Uematsu is a self-taught musician who went through a lot of hardship to become the game music legend he is today – so him being most comfortable in an environment in which he can face the “challenges” of the creative process doesn’t seem that surprising. Even after taking a step back from working as a full-time game musician, Uematsu has not stopped making music, and doesn’t seem to have any plans to do so any time soon. As he reveals, he is currently making new original songs, with a full album coming soon. He also has a bunch of live performances scheduled for 2025 and is planning to do some work overseas in the following year. “I think this is the busiest I’ve ever been. If I’m not working every day, I end up feeling like I’m not going to wake up tomorrow. Those who’ve struggled to make a living before are probably like this forever,” he joked.
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