Nobuyoshi Sano

	Date of Birth:	January 19, 1969 (Kanagawa)
	Instruments:	Piano
	Game Works:	Street Fighter EX, Tekken, Ridge Racer
	Official Web Site:	Sanoweb

Biography

Note: This biography was written exclusively for Square Enix Music Online by Z-Freak and Chris and is under copyright.

Nobuyoshi Sano was born on January 19, 1969 in Kanagawa. He worked at Namco from 1992 until late 2001. While there, he helped to compose the music for a number of Arcade games, including Dancing Eyes, Dirt Dash, Dunk Mania, and Xevious 3D / G+. Here, he also contributed to creating sound effects. In addition, he had a prominent role composing for the Ridge Racer and Tekken popular series. It is these scores that he is most well-known for and there are a number of albums still available that feature his work. Despite lacking training and often composing music simply by 'pressing random keys', Sano had a great feel of rhythm that helped to stimulate gamers in these action games.

In late 2001, Sano left Namco to work with Cavia. He collaborated with Takayuki Aihara in 2002 on Drakengard, which was developed by Cavia, but produced and published by Square Enix. The Original Soundtrack, released in two volumes, was experimental. It consisted of bits and phrases of symphonic compositions, performed by the Tokyo New City Orchestra, mixed and looped to create the feel of chaos and madness in the game's war-torn battlefields. For its more accessible sequel, Sano had the role of sound director but produced no new compositions. His vocal theme from the first game, "Exhausted", received two romantic orchestral arrangements.

In recent years, Sano has produced high-quality contributions to the Premium Arrange series and FM Sound Module Maniax. He also remains active on the Ridge Racer series, creating more intellectual electronica with a few contributions to the 5th, 6th, and 7th instalments. Following a hiatus, he returned to the Tekken series in 2006 with four tracks on the Tekken 5 & Tekken Dark Resurrection Original Soundtrack. Sano is a respected composer, capable of a variety of styles and having links to many of the most important people in the game music industry. Indeed, there will be always something out there that will reflect his sheer talent and creativity.

List of Game Projects for Square Enix

List of Covered Albums