When researching for this article series, one of the most interesting things I've noticed about these video game music composers is how different their reasons for getting into music can be. There are the Shimomuras and Sugiyamas who are classically trained musicians, there are the Uematsus who have grown up rocking out to Deep Purple. And then there's those who just got into music because there was nothing else to do in the country. Such was the case of Takeharu Ishimoto.
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source: Final Fantasy Wiki
Born in rural Nichinan, Miyazaki in 1970, Takeharu Ishimoto needed a hobby. As options in the country are limited, music seemed like a nice creative output. Not much is known about his personal life, however, or his musical education. He loves using the electric guitar and other rock elements in his compositions, and he often performs on the guitar during concerts. He is also quite adept in the technical side of music-making, which is why his first foray into video game music was as a synthesizer programmer, not a composer.
Ishimoto
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