2023 Japanese Video Game Music Bootcamp
The Japanese Video Game Music Bootcamp is a groundbreaking course covering the greatest hits of Japanese video game music, from chiptunes to Final Fantasy to Touhou. Combining analysis, repertoire, and technique, our comprehensive curriculum is designed for VGM composers and enthusiasts who want to take their craft to the next level. Treating legendary video game music with the same level of seriousness found in jazz and classical music courses, the bootcamp will cover 80 tunes over the course of a month. You will learn essential skills for a strong foundation of game composition and acquire fundamental techniques seen across different styles.
We'll delve into the literature using a wide range of mediums, including lead sheets, sheet music, form charts, and MIDI transcriptions, and examine all the essential elements of music such as harmony, form, melody, and arrangement. As we deconstruct the greatest VGM pieces, you'll learn how they were crafted and develop a toolbox of techniques that can be implemented in your own compositions. The course will heavily emphasize Japanese VGM, featuring composers such as Masashi Hamauzu, Yasunori Mitsuda, Junya Nakano, Nobuo Uematsu, Jeremy Soule, Silent Hill, Touhou, and Manabu Namiki. By the end of the program, you'll have a solid foundation in game composition and the skills to create your own captivating and memorable video game music.
Meet the Instructor
Eric Ye is a composer, performer, and educator based in San Francisco. A mentor at the International Game Developers Association, Eric is passionate about transforming the field of game composition pedagogy. He grew up obsessively listening to video game soundtracks and started writing his own game tracks on a DAW. Eventually, he pursued his passion for music and completed his music degree at San Francisco State University, studying music composition and piano performance.
An enthusiastic and prolific educator, Eric has taught multiple college courses at SF State on topics, including pop music and productivity. He has guest lectured and presented the topic of Japanese video game music at Berklee College of Music and GameSoundCon. His talk Writing Japanese Video Game Music: A Primer on Game Composition may be viewed here. His upcoming talk Japanese Video Game Music Demystified: A Guide to Analyzing and Composing Like the Masters will be held at MAGWest in July 2023. Additionally, he is an instructor at Southeast Asia Music Academy Online, teaching Introduction to Japanese Video Game Music Analysis and Composition.
Video game music has developed its own body of great works deserving serious study, just like classical, jazz, and film music. However, due to the challenges of VGM being an electronic art form, the study of game compositions itself is not always addressed in the college classroom setting. In 2021, Eric filled that void in game audio education by offering a semester-long course called Writing Japanese Video Game Music at SF State, covering 150 tunes over 15 weeks and hitting major titles each week. The course aimed to provide serious study of VGM literature and make great VGM from Japan more accessible.
His first run of the Japanese Video Game Music Bootcamp in the summer of 2022 was highly successful; he taught students from across the United States and abroad, ranging from media scoring students, game developers, video game music enthusiasts, professional producers, and audio engineers. With his extensive experience teaching video game music and his passion for the subject, Eric is dedicated to educating the next generation of video game composers and helping Western composers better understand the Japanese approach to game composition.
Course Curriculum
An intensive bootcamp, this course will cover roughly 80 tunes over the course of four weeks of July. There are two class sessions per week (1.5-2 hours long), jam-packed with content as we will delve into the hits of the video game music repertoire and analyze and discuss the compositional techniques in the literature together. The course structure is designed to be progressive, starting with simpler tunes and quickly advancing to more complex ones. A study pack of materials will be sent to you for each class session, including suggested listening and additional transcribed resources. Each class will include a worksheet for you to practice essential skills, such as analysis, transcription, modeling, and arranging exercises, which you may submit for personalized feedback.
Music from composers and titles to be studied include:
Composers
Akira Yamaoka
Junya Nakano
Koji Kondo
Manabu Namiki
Masashi Hamauzu
Motoi Sakuraba
Nobuo Uematsu
Yasunori Mitsuda
Yoko Shimomura
Yuzo Koshiro
Titles
Castlevania
Kirby
Kingdom Hearts
Final Fantasy
Megaman
Octopath Traveler
Persona
Pokemon
Streetfighter
Touhou
Weekly Schedule
Course times: Mondays and Thursdays at 4pm PST (July 10 - August 4)
Week 1
Class 1: Chiptunes (Super Mario Bros., Castlevania, Mega Man)
Class 2: Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross
Week 2
Class 3: Intro to Form Charts (Dewprism + Sigma Harmonics)
Class 4: MIDI Analysis Presentations
Week 3
Class 5: Bullet Hell (ZUN + Manabu Namiki)
Class 6: Final Fantasy Presentations
Week 4
Class 7: Orchestral VGM and Western VGM
Class 8: Final Composition Workshop
Student Work
1) The ability to compose tracks on any DAW of your choice, such as FL Studio, Logic Pro X, or ProTools. You should have access to basic instrument sounds (default or plug-ins) that you can compose with, such as bass, piano, drums, etc. Notation softwares such as Sibelius or Finale are also acceptable, as long as you are able to write with a rhythm section (drums/bass/piano/guitar, etc), and generate an audio file.
2) Knowledge of Roman numeral analysis (i.e. ability to read lead sheets). This course assumes you have taken a first semester music theory course experience or equivalent experience, though some students with less formal theory training have still been able to gain much from the course.
Video recordings of each class will be available, which you may watch in your own time. You may attend the real-time Zoom classes or watch the recordings at your own pace, or any combination of the two. For further questions, please reach Eric at ericyemusic@gmail.com.
Don't miss out on this incredible opportunity! The Bootcamp will be capped at 15 students to ensure a personalized experience with regular feedback and opportunities to learn from peers. Enroll now to secure your spot this summer!
Prerequisites
2023 Japanese VGM Bootcamp
350$Enrollment ClosedValid for one year- 8 Live Classes with recording access
- VGM Study Packs
- Weekly Exercises w/ Feedback
- Discord Community