From a pretty young age, I had a habit of letting my mind wander while I listened to music. I would imagine new variations on the melodies, or I would mentally add a violin part to certain songs that I liked. As my musical skills progressed and I learned a bit of piano in addition to violin, I was able to compose simple songs on the piano by memory. These songs tended to be a mix of pop and classical music, a la Yanni, whose music I liked at the time. Unfortunately, my ten-year-old self was too lazy to write these songs down on staff paper, so after I quit playing the piano, I forgot them all.
Many years later, I found myself at Berkeley, playing the piano once again in the practice rooms when I needed a break from my studies. I rekindled my desire to compose, and with the variety of music composition software now available, I found it much easier to write and edit my compositions. At the same time, I was exposed to the wide variety of music coming out of the Japanese soundtrack industry, and was inspired by such popular composers as Yuki Kajiura (Noir, .hack//Sign), Joe Hisaishi (Hayao Miyazaki films), Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy games), Taku Iwasaki (Rurouni Kenshin OAVs), and Yoko Kanno (Escaflowne, Cowboy Bebop).
Yuki Kajiura, in particular, fascinated me with her unusual instrumentations and rhythms, but I also loved the variety of emotions that accompanied a Joe Hisaishi piece, and the many alternating layers of Taku Iwasaki's music. Nobuo Uematsu, of course, is famous world-wide for the soundtracks he composed for the legendary Final Fantasy series of role-playing games, and the fantasy-themed "Sea of Miracles" ("Kiseki no Umi" in Japanese) by Yoko Kanno and sung by Maaya Sakamoto, is one of my favorite songs ever.
I've included selections of music from each of my favorite composers below, along with a selection of my own compositions for your listening pleasure.
Musical Influences
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