Kenji Yamamoto (composer, born 1964)


Kenji Yamamoto is a Japanese video game musician working for Nintendo, where he is notable for composing music in many titles of the Metroid series, mainly Super Metroid and the Prime trilogy. Yamamoto also plays a role as a music director at Nintendo, overseeing the audio for several of their games. He frequently collaborates with fellow composers Minako Hamano and Masaru Tajima.
Yamamoto utilizes heavy drums, piano, voiced chants, clangs of pipes, and electric guitar. In development of Super Metroid, Yamamoto came up with some of the game's themes by humming them to himself while riding his motorcycle home from work. He was asked to compose the music for Metroid Prime to reinforce the series' continuity. The game's Dolby Pro Logic II surround sound was mixed by a member of Dolby Digital. Developers from Retro Studios noted how the process of fitting all the sound effects for a world in Metroid Prime into 6 MB of space was crucial in producing a quality aural experience, as each sound had to be of very high quality to be included. took advantage of the increase in the amount of RAM that took place when the series switched from the GameCube to the Wii; this allowed for higher quality audio samples to be used and thus a better overall audio quality.
The music from Metroid and other games have been played by ensembles and concerts. An orchestral arrangement of his music is included in PLAY! A Video Game Symphony that toured the United States and Europe and made its Asian debut at the 2007 Singapore Arts Festival.
In an interview with Music4Games, Yamamoto detailed his experience working on the Metroid Prime trilogy. He described his thoughts on the inclusion of themes from Super Metroid as well as his composition process and sources of inspiration. He intends to continue working on the Metroid series into the future.

Works

YearTitleRoleCo-worker
1987Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!Music
1988Famicom WarsMusicHirokazu Tanaka
1989'MusicHirokazu Tanaka
1994Super MetroidMusicMinako Hamano
1995Galactic PinballDirector/musicMasaru Tajima
1999'MusicKozue Ishikawa
2001Mobile GolfSupervisorKenji Miki, Shigeru Miyamoto, Takashi Tezuka, and Koji Kondo
2001'Sound support
2002Metroid PrimeMusicKouichi Kyuma
2002Metroid FusionSound director
2004'MusicMinako Hamano
2004'Music
2005Metroid Prime PinballMusicMasaru Tajima
2005'Sound director
2006'Sound director
2006Metroid Prime HuntersSound supervisor
2006Excite TruckMusicMasaru Tajima
2007'MusicMinako Hamano and Masaru Tajima
2008Super Smash Bros. BrawlArrangementVarious others
2009'MusicMasaru Tajima and Shinji Ushiroda
2010Photo DojoSound supervisor
2010Donkey Kong Country ReturnsMusicMinako Hamano, Masaru Tajima, Shinji Ushiroda, and Daisuke Matsuoka
2011Rhythm Heaven FeverSound supportShinnosuke Kobayashi, Akito Nakatsuka, and Lawrence Schwedler
2011Pilotwings ResortMusic supervisor
2011'Music director
2012Kiki TrickSound supervisor
2012'Sound supervisor
2013Monster ManorSound director
2013Mii ForceSound director
2013Donkey Kong Country Returns 3DSound supervisor
2013Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii UArrangementVarious others
2014'MusicDavid Wise
2015'Sound supervisorRyoji Yoshitomi and Minako Hamano
2016Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FESound supportMinako Hamano and Yuichi Ozaki
2017'SupervisorVarious others
2017Hey! PikminSound progress managementMinako Hamano and Yuichi Ozaki
2017'Music director
2018'Sound supportMinako Hamano