‘I’ve never used it and probably never will’: Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu says won’t use AI to make music
Uematsu says it’s the challenge that makes music so rewarding to compose
Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu says he’s not interested in using generative AI to make his music.
In an interview for the website of music association JASRAC (as spotted by Automaton), Uematsu said he has never tried generative AI and doesn’t feel it would be rewarding to do so.
“I’ve never used it, and I probably never will,” Uematsu said. “I think there’s more satisfaction in something you’ve created yourself after some effort and struggle.”
“Also, when people listen to music, part of their enjoyment comes from discovering the background of the person who made it, right? AI doesn’t have that kind of background.”
Uematsu concluded that even when performing existing pieces, music created by humans can be “unstable and unique to each individual”, and it’s “that fluctuation and expansion that makes it so enjoyable”.
Despite having no interest in generative AI, Uematsu has suggested that AI could be used for other elements of audio in games, such as swapping between tracks.
Discussing the evolution of music in video games, Uematsu explained that while each generation of games sees constantly improving graphics, the journey to improve audio was essentially completed with the ability to add studio recorded sounds directly into a game.
“Beyond that, it’s probably spatial audio (binaural sound),” he said. “Final Fantasy X already implemented the idea of spatial audio itself, but the question is how much users will demand it going forward. Another aspect is how smoothly the music that’s being played can be transitioned. That’s an area where AI might handle things well in the future.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Uematsu explained how Koichi Sugiyama, the late composer of rival game Dragon Quest, used to play every Final Fantasy game and give Uematsu feedback on the music.
“After Final Fantasy 1 came out, I suddenly got a call from Mr Sugiyama’s office,” Uematsu recalled. “They just said, ‘he praised your work. That’s all’,” he laughed.
“But I was incredibly happy. After that, he played every game and shared his thoughts with me. Regarding the opera scene music in Final Fantasy 6, he said: ‘You wrote that without knowing anything about opera, didn’t you? You should have consulted me.’ “Well, when you’re composing for Final Fantasy, you can’t exactly consult the Dragon Quest composer, can you?”
Last year Uematsu confirmed that Fantasian Neo Dimension was his last full project as a video game composer, but stressed that he would continue to make music for video games, just not entire soundtracks.
