Being passionate about Gundam since his childhood, the opportunity to score Mobile Suit Gundam: Hyper Classic Operation was especially special to him, though he admittedly found the strict deadlines and specifications frustrating. During his time at the company, he scored anime-to-game adaptations based on the Gundam, Macross, and Gatchaman universes, and relished the opportunity to convey the sounds of some of his favourite animes using both the streaming technology of the FM-Towns and the YM2203 sound chip of the PC-9801. One of his main reasons for creating music was to express his culture and spirit across the world, and in turn he hoped others would do the same and create their own music.Īfter making his debut on the doujin game Hibiki, Umemoto accepted a position at developer Familysoft during 1992. In later years, he would develop an appreciation for Zen Buddhism and went on to apply its philosophy to all aspects of his life, one of these being music composition, and he noted that his music always mathematically adds up to a lucky number in Zen in some way or another. He believed music and sound were instrumental in the process of connecting the player to the world they were interacting with. For Umemoto, game music was something deeper than a profession. However, his choice to enter the video game industry led to an argument with his father and he left home shortly in pursuit of of his dreams.
Umemoto knew he could be successful in this role - he regularly sent demo disks to MSX magazines and soon received requests from small software developers to write their music. His family wanted him to join and eventually inherit their fishing business, but he felt he could cultivate his talents and passions - for music, video games, and mathematics - by becoming a video game composer. The artist also developed a long-term fascination with Monet’s painting at art school.Īfter graduating from high school, Umemoto had an important choice.
He also learned how to program using the MSX and PC-8801, starting to design games and write jingles of his own.
Despite not having any musical training, he soon taught himself how to play synthesizers and drums, going on to form several bands with friends at high school, including the video game-influenced Tailgunner. It was the sound of early video games, combined with the albums of Yellow Magic Orchestra, that inspired his lifelong love of music. In his teenage years, he regularly played on the MSX, NES, and PC-8801. Growing up during the genesis of video games, Umemoto was introduced to arcade games with 1983’s Elevator Action and soon became a massive fan of them - even going on to win an official contest to beat Salamander the fastest.
A curious and imaginative child, he shined at school for his ability in mathematics and adored the Gundam television series to the point of drawing designs of his own. Umemoto was born on Februin Yokohama to a family who owned a fishing business. Ryu Umemoto is a deceased video game composer known for his work on a range of visual novels and shooters.