Published in Arcadia Issue 28 (September 1, 2002). Conversation with pop’n music sound director wac and beatmania IIDX sound director dj TAKA, in honor of the upcoming simultaneous soundtrack releases for pop’n music 8 and beatmania IIDX 7th style.
Out of the varied lineup of Bemani series games, pop’n music and beatmania IIDX stand out as having attracted a huge number of dedicated fans. So today, in honor of the simultaneous release of the soundtracks to pop’n music 8 and beatmania IIDX 7th style, we held a talk with the respective sound director of each. This is a must-read!!
wac
Does sound direction ‘n some odd-jobs for the pop’n music series (his own words). Also a IIDX chart-maker who now makes songs for the game.
dj TAKA
beatmania IIDX series sound director. Also works as a composer for the series, as well as contributing to pop’n music.
Fates linked by music
– To start with something I’ve been wanting to know, are you two close friends outside of work?
wac: Oh, we sure are great friends! (distant stare) Greaaaaat frieeeeends… (distant stare)
TAKA: Great friends, huh… (laughs)
– When did you two first meet?
wac: The first time we worked together would be around beatmania IIDX substream (1999).
TAKA: A bit after I joined Konami, wac was hired to primarily work on pop’n, but at first we worked on IIDX together.
wac: TAKA is my senior at Konami, but I’m his senior at life.
TAKA: Is that true? (laughs)
wac: Only by 10 months! For a little bit, we were both working on IIDX. TAKA was assistant sound director, and I was a chart-maker-in-training.
– So you both first met after joining Konami?
wac: Actually… we knew each other from our amateur days as well.
TAKA: Yup. We were classmates at vocational school. So, almost 5 years or so.
wac: We got along well. There weren’t many other people around to talk about music with.
– Did you have similar taste in music?
wac: Hmm, I wouldn’t really say that. TAKA is big on techno and trance, which I’m not particularly up on. Musicians that we both liked… who would that be?
TAKA: Oh, I think Cornelius has some overlap between our tastes (laughs).
– How did you feel about the original beatmania when it first came out?
TAKA: Something like, “huh, they released some kind of DJ simulation game?”.
wac: “Huh, they have games like this now? That’s cool.”… It totally wasn’t my thing. Weren’t you into it, TAKA?
TAKA: It was a very passing interest (laughs).
wac: But I would’ve never guessed that we would both join Konami, let alone work in the same department. I guess we’re stuck together (laughs).
A collaboration from being stuck together
– So for a little while, you both worked on the IIDX team?
TAKA: From substream on, IIDX has included more songs featuring piano in them… To tell you the truth, wac used to play piano for his hometown’s choir. Because he had that experience, he was a huge help for piano songs.
wac: We had all these great pianists like Osamu Kubota-san. I would tremble while I played, thinking “why me?” (laughs).
TAKA: Still, you had those pianist sensibilities, so you were able to help out with all sorts of things.
– Then after that, you deepened your connection with the pop’n music series. How did you end up getting involved in pop’n?
TAKA: I first got involved with “Ultra High-Heels” from 5.
wac: I started with 3. Around then I was a charter, working on hyper charts, I believe.
– So, you started working together with 5?
wac: I was mostly working on Animelo 2 around that time. The first time I was directly involved with TAKA for pop’n was 6, when I had become sound director. I had wanted to request a song from TAKA for pop’n even before that, so I was like “well, if I’m gonna request something from TAKA, it’s gotta be trance. So get to it”.
– And that would be “Foundation of our love” from 6.
TAKA: From then on I was director wac’s subordinate, slave to his demands.
wac: Hey, who are you kidding. Though, I say that as I hit you with rejections (laughs). And ask you to make long versions while you’re at it.
– Ah, we’ve struck upon the fabled rejected material.
wac: He would give me these songs that had me like “this is way too cool for pop’n!” (laughs). I liked them as songs, though. pop’n is generally an “anything goes” sort of game, but there’s a certain pop’n-ness that I think is important. While “Ultra High-Heels” fits in both IIDX and pop’n, that doesn’t necessarily mean every IIDX TAKA song would be a good match for pop’n.
TAKA: Recently, there’s been a lot of overlap between IIDX players and pop’n players, and while we’ve made some concessions, we still want to maintain each game’s “unique flavor”.
The current method of attack
– TAKA-san requested a song from wac-san for IIDX 7th style, and vice-versa for pop’n 8, so what kind of exchanges occurred there?
wac: I can never understand the kind of requests TAKA gives me for IIDX songs (laughs). It’ll just be like, “make a cool one!”.
TAKA: When I’m asking composers for a song, I don’t want to limit them by giving directions that are too concrete.
– For 7th style, wac-san gave us “Spica“.
TAKA: This guy’s always making adjustments to the songs right up until the day before location testing.
wac: I’ll be like, “whew, looks like I made it just in time again!”… sorry, I’m trying to stop.
TAKA: He’s so meticulous, he’ll never reach a point where he can say “alright, I’m done”. If I don’t step in, he’ll keep working on it forever. Although, in the end, he’ll have made something good (laughs).
– And what about pop’n 8?
wac: Once IIDX was done, I caught TAKA saying something like “Guam is calling me~”, and requested a song from him, much to his dismay. This guy was trying to escape overseas as soon as he could.
TAKA: (laughs)
– The pop’n 8 song, “LOVE2 Sugar→“, is under the genre “eurobeat”. Was this your direction, wac-san?
wac: I asked TAKA what kind of song he wanted to do, and he answered that he wanted to do eurobeat. No other eurobeat songs had been planned for the game so far, so if TAKA wanted to do it, then by all means.
TAKA: I had been wanting to give eurobeat a shot for some time now. And wac didn’t provide any particular specifications.
wac: Are there any other genres you want to try for pop’n?
TAKA: Hm, Beat Punk or Rock.
wac: You’d have lots of competition for rock (laughs).
The products of friendly rivalry
– What are your thoughts on one another?
wac: I think that TAKA’s strength as a sound creator is his knowledge and experience. And that he’s not afraid of moving into the future. He’s able to take his expertise, and give it form. And I think that these things have shown themselves in the IIDX series in a good way.
TAKA: wac is amazing at gathering information. Even outside of music, he’s always collecting information to help with making games. He knows everything about the state of arcades around the country, and I’m wondering how the heck he manages to do that when we’re so busy (laughs). He’ll go face-to-face with players and stuff.
– It’s important to listen to what players are saying!
wac: Yup! You said it! Though I have areas I’m not as confident about as well.
TAKA: Plus you’re always behind schedule, though it’s not like you’re making half-baked stuff. You make up for being late with quality.
wac: When I’m working on IIDX I’m always hearing “deadlines” this, “deadlines” that. So I’m glad that with pop’n, I get to have my payback.
TAKA: Hey, I work at a normal speed (laughs).
– Do you to have anything in particular you want to work on from here on out?
wac: When we’re on our walks home, drinking beer, we often talk about making something outside the bounds of IIDX or pop’n. Something for everyone to enjoy.
TAKA: For the time being, my goal is to do some rock for pop’n.
wac: No going to Guam.
TAKA: Well, that’s a problem.
wac: Then how about making some kind of new genre: Guam Rock.
TAKA: Bring my guitar to Guam? (laughs)
– Lastly, any messages for the people looking forward to these soundtrack releases?
wac: The pop’n 8 soundtrack is packed with fantastic music, including TAKA’s eurobeat. Please enjoy the jumbled up showcase of various types of sounds you’ve come to expect from pop’n. I hope you can continue to enjoy the songs that left an impression on you in the arcade.
TAKA: We’ve truly made a “IIDX-like” soundtrack, a culmination of the vivid road connecting 6th and 7th. I think that no matter what genre you listen to, there’s that certain “IIDX-like” quality present. So everyone, please be sure to check it out.
(7/1, Shinjuku)