Kota Hoshino
星野 康太
Born (1975-04-23) April 23, 1975
Tokyo, Japan
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Composer
  • sound designer
Instrument(s)
Years active1998–present
LabelsFROMSOUND RECORDS

Kota Hoshino (星野 康太, Hoshino Kōta) (born April 23, 1975) is a Japanese composer and sound designer. As part of FromSoftware's sound team, Hoshino is best known for composing multiple games in the Armored Core series and as the bassist and vocalist of FreQuency.

Career

Kota Hoshino was born in Tokyo, Japan on April 23, 1975, and studied at Surugadai University.[1] Hoshino began working at FromSoftware in spring of 1998, feeling that his music would complement the games' visuals. His first role was composing music for Shadow Tower for the PlayStation. As the game uses very little music, many of Hoshino's contributions were unused, though some unused tracks were later used in Evergrace. The same year, he contributed music for Echo Night.[1] In 1999, Hoshino composed the soundtrack of Armored Core: Master of Arena with Tsukasa Saitoh and Keiichiro Segawa, and had since written music for the series. During the FromSoftware Games Event Autumn 2018 in Osaka, Hoshino said that the game's opening theme, "Apex in Circle," was a challenging composition as it had to match the development of the intro cutscene.[2] Hoshino stated that he cannot read music, so he usually does not compose orchestral scores. Hoshino was the composer and sound designer for Evergrace, which released in 2000 for the PlayStation 2. For the soundtrack, Hoshino used voices as the primary instrument, editing samples of his own with Sound Forge to create an "ethnic" sound, in addition to instruments including shakuhachi, shamisen, and synthesized percussion.[1] Hoshino composed for Armored Core: Verdict Day with Yuka Kitamura, which released in 2013.[3] Following the game's release, Hoshino worked mainly on sound design, including Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Elden Ring, and returned to music duties with Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon as lead composer. During development, Hoshino was given keywords by game director Masaru Yamamaura in order to set the game's tone and evoke a "sense of loneliness and nostalgia."[4]

FreQuency

Hoshino is the bassist and vocalist of FreQuency,[5] a band composed of members of FromSoftware's sound team, led with Tsukasa Saitoh.[6] The band released songs through the FROMSOUND RECORDS label.[7] In 2011, the band released its debut album, Armored Core Reprises, which contains arrangements of music from the Armored Core series.[8][9] In 2013, the band released its second album, Sunrise, composed of original songs and arrangements.[10][11] FreQuency performed Day After Day, a song for the trailer of Armored Core: Verdict Day.[12] Following positive reception, the song alongside an instrumental version and two tracks released as an extended play of the same name in 2014.[13] FreQuency composed and performed "Fallout," which was used for the trailer of Metal Wolf Chaos XD, a 2019 remaster of the 2004 Xbox title.[14]

Works

Video games
Year Title Notes
1998 Shadow Tower
Echo Night with Tsukasa Saitoh and Keiichiro Segawa
1999 Spriggan: Lunar Verse sound design
Armored Core: Master of Arena with Tsukasa Saitoh and Keiichiro Segawa
Echo Night 2: The Lord of Nightmares sound design
Frame Gride
2000 Evergrace also lead sound designer
Armored Core 2 with Yuji Kanda, Ikuya Ichinohe, and Keiichiro Segawa
The Adventures of Cookie & Cream with Ikuya Ichinohe
2001 Forever Kingdom also lead sound designer
2002 Lost Kingdoms also sound design
Armored Core 3 additional music (with Tsukasa Saitoh and Yuki Ichiki)
Murakumo: Renegade Mech Pursuit sound design
2003 Silent Line: Armored Core additional music (with Tsukasa Saitoh and Takeshi Yanagawa)
Lost Kingdoms II composer and lead sound designer
Shadow Tower: Abyss sound design
Otogi 2: Immortal Warriors
2004 Armored Core: Nexus with Tsukasa Saitoh, Yukinori Takada, and Yuji Kanda
Armored Core: Nine Breaker
Metal Wolf Chaos with Shohei Tsuchiya; also lead sound designer
Tenchu: Fatal Shadows "A Reluctant Independence"
2005 Another Century's Episode sound design
Armored Core: Formula Front
2006 Armored Core 4 with Koichi Suenaga and Ayako Minami
Chromehounds
2007 Another Century's Episode 3: The Final sound design
2008 Armored Core: For Answer with Hideyuki Eto
2012 Armored Core V with Yoshikazu Takayama, Tsukasa Saitoh, and Hideyuki Eto
2013 Armored Core: Verdict Day with Yuka Kitamura
2014 Dark Souls II sound design
2015 Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin
2016 Dark Souls III
2019 Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
2022 Elden Ring
2023 Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon with Takashi Onodera and Shoi Miyazawa; also lead sound designer
FreQuency
Year Title
2011 Armored Core Reprises
2013 Sunrise
2014 Day After Day
Other
Year Title Notes
2009 DoDonPachi Dai-Ou-Jou Premium Arrange Album arranged "Red Bee"[15]
Mushihimesama Double Arrange Album arranged "On the Verge of Madness"[16]
2010 GE-ON-DAN Rare Trax Ver. 1.0 "Theme from G.O.D."[17]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "RocketBaby's video game and anime music journal: Interview with Kota Hoshino". RocketBaby.net. 2003. Archived from the original on 24 April 2003. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
  2. ↑ "「ARMORED CORE」の"外せない1曲"1位は「Day After Day」に決定。大阪で行われたフロム・ソフトウェアの新作体験イベントをレポート" (in Japanese). 4Gamer.net. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  3. ↑ "FreQuency | FROMSOUND RECORDS" (in Japanese). Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  4. ↑ "'Despite the intense action, FromSoftware wants Armored Core 6 to have a 'dark old sci-fi feel' with a 'sense of loneliness and nostalgia'". PC Gamer. July 26, 2023. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
  5. ↑ "『闘会議2017 ライブ情報』| FROMSOUND RECORDS Official Blog" (in Japanese). Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  6. ↑ "フロム・ソフトウェア，サウンドチーム「FreQuency」のアルバム第2弾を発売" (in Japanese). 4Gamer.net. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  7. ↑ "FreQuency - About". fromsoundrecords.com (in Japanese).
  8. ↑ "『アーマード・コア』の楽曲をリアレンジしたアルバム『ARMORED CORE REPRISES』発売を記念して、壁紙をプレゼント" (in Japanese). Famitsu. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  9. ↑ "『「ARMORED CORE V」は2012年1月26日に発売。数量限定特典でオリジナルヘッドセット付属＆ACシリーズのアルバム発売の情報も" (in Japanese). 4Gamer.net. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  10. ↑ "フロム・ソフトウェアのサウンドチーム"FreQuency"、第2弾アルバム『SUNRISE』が本日発売" (in Japanese). Famitsu. 22 February 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  11. ↑ "フロム・ソフトウェア，サウンドチーム「FreQuency」のアルバム第2弾を発売" (in Japanese). 4Gamer.net. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  12. ↑ "フロム・ソフトウェア所属のサウンドチーム"FreQuency"の新曲が11月28日に発売決定！ 『AC ヴァーディクト・デイ』のPVに使用された『Day After Day』が待望の音源化" (in Japanese). 4Gamer.net. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  13. ↑ "「ARMORED CORE VERDICT DAY」，最新ムービー「"Day After Day"～ストーリー編～」が公開に。オリジナル楽曲「Day After Day」も要チェック" (in Japanese). Famitsu. 14 November 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  14. ↑ "PlayStation4、Xbox One、用アクションゲーム『METAL WOLF CHAOS XD』発売記念プロモーションテーマソング「Fallout」カラオケ配信決定のお知らせ" (in Japanese). Famitsu. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  15. ↑ Kotowski, Don (August 1, 2012). "DoDonPachi Dai-Ou-Jou Premium Arrange Album". Video Game Music Online. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  16. ↑ Kotowski, Don (August 1, 2012). "Mushihimesama Double Arrange Album". Video Game Music Online. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  17. ↑ Kotowski, Don (August 1, 2012). "GE-ON-DAN Rare Trax Ver. 1.0". Video Game Music Online. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
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