Iwata Asks is a series of interviews conducted by former Nintendo Global President Satoru Iwata with key creators behind the making of Nintendo games and hardware.






Volume 1 : Shigeru Miyamoto

Shigeru Miyamoto's Early Encounters with Music

Iwata

Thank you for taking the time to speak with me today.

Miyamoto

My pleasure.

Iwata

Today we're going to talk about Wii Music. I'd like to begin by asking about your early encounters with music.

Miyamoto

My early encounters with music? Whew...

Iwata

Like the types of instruments you played, or your favorite songs...

Miyamoto

The first instrument I played was the ukulele.

Iwata

The ukulele? When was that?

Miyamoto

Junior high. I don't know what they were thinking, but my parents bought me a ukulele for Christmas.

Iwata

Are you sure you didn't ask for one?

Miyamoto

No. Maybe they misunderstood something. (laughs) Anyway, for some reason my parents bought me a ukulele when I was in junior high. So I started practicing... Uh, am I going into too much detail?

Iwata

No, not at all. (laughs)

Miyamoto

Okay, here I go. (laughs) I am a person who loves practicing many things and I wanted to practice the ukulele at night without having to worry about the noise, so I made a ukulele neck without a body. I cut wood to create a fingerboard, then added markings and yarn.

Iwata

Just as I thought! You were already in love with the idea of creating something with your hands when you were that small (laughs)

Miyamoto

Yeah. (laughs) So at first I used that to practice chords.

Iwata

That's quite something. What did you do next?

Miyamoto

Um, that was about it. I didn't get any better.

Iwata

Even after all that work?

Miyamoto

Yeah. I quit without ever improving or playing together with anyone. Another early encounter with music that I remember is the first record I bought. This also was during junior high. Of course, I didn't have much money then, so buying a record took a lot of courage. Back then, there were small records called 45s…

Iwata

Yes, I remember. It was called Extended Play Record, or EPs.

Miyamoto

Right. The first one I bought was a great buy. It had four songs on it!

Iwata

Four? I thought 45s usually only had two songs.

Miyamoto

I know. They were overtures, sort of like marches. For some reason, I bought a record with four of them on it.

Iwata

Marches? Why?

Miyamoto

I liked brass bands. I would often go listen to the school band practicing.

Iwata

You weren't in the band yourself?

Miyamoto

No, I never was. There's an explanation for it, but it's a little complicated. In junior high, I was in basketball, but I wanted to start a manga club. One of my senior teammate told me I couldn't be in a sports club and a literary club at the same time, and we got into a big fight. In the end, even though I was a starter on the basketball team, I quit and formed a manga club. So I just ended up listening to the brass band.

Iwata

I see. (laughs)

Miyamoto

Anyway, what were we talking about? Oh yeah, the record. It had songs like Pomp and Circumstance, Light Cavalry Overture, French Military March Music and the Radetzky March on it. While listening to it at home alone, I'd be, like (closes eyes and mimics conducting), da-dum, da-da-dum-dum, da-da-dum-dum-dummmm!

Iwata

You were conducting? Wow! So that's why you were able to conduct in front of all those people at the Kodak Theatre. (* In 2006, Shigeru Miyamoto opened the Nintendo press conference at the Kodak Theatre by performing a demo for Wii Music.)

Miyamoto

No, I don't think they're related. (laughs) I wasn't doing anything particular, I was just enjoying the music and moving however the feeling struck me.

Iwata

(laughs)

Miyamoto

While I was doing that, the Beatles boom hit. My older brother introduced me to them, and in high school I joined the popular music club. Everyone but me could play guitar, so they taught me how to play simple 4/4 beats on the drums. I learned how to play those, but not much else.

Iwata

It seems like you tried out a little of just about everything. I'm a little surprised.

Miyamoto

I quit everything halfway through, though. Then I started going to concerts and learning to play Ventures tunes. In college, I was big into Takuro Yoshida (a Japanese singer songwriter who became extremely popular in the 70s). My brother had a guitar and banjo, so I even took an interest in folk music. In college, I saved up money and bought a guitar and stereo as soon as I could. Back then, folk musicians in Japan were mostly copying the older style of folk music from America. Then I started listening to the originals. During my college days I was crazy about that music. Well...does that answer your question? (laughs)

Iwata

Yes. Thank you. (laughs)

Miyamoto

Why am I getting so into this? (laughs)

Iwata

It's fascinating. If you hadn't experienced music in so many different ways, you might never have made some of the games that you have. For example, you might not have paid as much attention to the music in the Mario games, and Wii Music might never have been made at all.

Miyamoto

Oh, well, you're half right about that, and half overestimating me. As much as I've shown an interest in music, the truth is, I don't really understand it.

Iwata

Really?

Miyamoto

I just don't have the skills. That's one reason. The other is that basically I've only copied other people's music. So, while I like music, I have this complex about not making any music myself.

Iwata

But everything you've mentioned connects to Wii Music.

Miyamoto

Hmm, maybe you're right. (laughs) Anyway, I didn't think I stood a chance of becoming a musician, so after graduating, I entered Nintendo. At the time, not many people at Nintendo were seriously into music. That was good for me because then I could throw my weight around on musical matters. As soon as Koji Kondo and others who know a lot about music joined, that came to a screeching halt. I thought it best to keep my mouth shut about music. (laughs)

Iwata

(laughs)

Miyamoto

After that, the number of staff members knowledgeable about music grew rapidly. I had my own ideas about music and wanted to share them, but everyone else was on a much higher level, so I couldn't. To this day I have a complex about it.

Iwata

Listening to you talk, I can tell.

Miyamoto

Yeah, so there you have it. (laughs) When it comes to music games—as opposed to music for games—a lot of good games have been developed that require pressing buttons in line with a musical score, but they don't represent the idea I have of music very well.

Iwata

In other words, most music games are fun as games, but you feel music is enjoyed in a different way from your perspective.

Miyamoto

That's the basic idea. When I heard that director Kazumi Totaka wanted to take Wii Music in a different direction than conventional music games, I thought, "Let's do it! It'll be great, so do it!" I cheered him on.