Balancing “universal sensibility “” personality “: sound creator

※This article is machine translated.

Hello, this is Haru, a recruiting and public relations intern.
Happy New Year everyone!

We will continue the series of interviews with KOKONE employees that started last year, and we will continue it vigorously this year as well!

In this fourth installment of our series, we spoke with sound creator Ms. Fujiwara!

What kind of work do you do?

We compose, arrange, and create sound effects for the sounds played in Cocone’s services. The genres range from seasonal events to gacha background music items.

Please tell us about each of the most rewarding and difficult aspects of your job!

The rewarding part is that we receive many happy comments and reactions to our music from our customers every time.
I have been very motivated by the messages I have received, and by the “plays” ” have been uploaded to the internet at ……!
The hard part is that I have to be able to write songs in all genres. I am good at orchestral tunes, but I have never made a few rock or EDM tunes before, so I have a hard time making them every time. But even if I can’t, I have to do it. …… (lol)
Even if we are good at a certain tune, if we don’t have a lot of drawers, everything will end up looking alike,” “The deadlines are tight! We are always troubled by such problems, but we are struggling to create while suffering and having fun!

Ms Fujiwara, why did you join Cocone?

At my previous job, my main responsibilities were sound effects creation, MA, and progress management, but I always thought to myself ” I want to make background music! I had always wanted to make BGM. I had always been interested in sound development for social network services, and I felt that I could make the most of my strengths at Cocone’s cute and fantasy-inspired services.
I was also attracted to the fact that Cocone is a creator-first company and operates its services in-house. The closeness between the client and the order taker, and the fact that there is no need for a number of people in between, is very reasonable for the work to proceed.

What do you think you have grown the most since you joined the company?

I have been with the company for about four months now, and through repeated repetition of writing a large number of songs and receiving feedback from the sound division staff (……), and being taught daily about musical approaches and techniques, I think that the content of the songs in particular has improved considerably compared to when I first joined the company. I think that the content of the songs, in particular, has improved considerably compared to when I first joined the company. I can’t thank the two sound people enough for their willingness to teach me no matter how many times I ask them questions.
What is missing for me is being highlighted one after another, and I would like to put them into practice one by one to be able to create better quality and more stable songs.

Cocone places great importance on “sensitivity.” What does “sensitivity” mean to you?

I believe that the act of “songwriting ” is the process of translating what I feel in my heart into concrete sounds. Therefore, I guess you could say that “sensitivity” for me is everything that is necessary in the process of songwriting.
While it is natural that “what one feels ” will differ from person to person, I believe that the sensibilities of sound creators need to be ” ” ” a sense. If the sense that “this kind of music will fit perfectly with this image, worldview, or theme!” is too far off, then the miss-match will not happen. If the sensibility is too far off, there will be a mismatch between the two.
Therefore, I am conscious of creating a sound that has both a universal “sensibility” and my own individuality.

Do you have any advice or message for those who are currently considering joining the company?

As a sound creator, the first thing I want to tell you is that you should eliminate as many likes and dislikes and strengths and weaknesses in a ” as possible! I am struggling with this myself. I am struggling with this myself. …… I feel that this is very important because I am in the business of creating music for various themes and genres.
In addition, face-to-face interaction with people is also very important, such as item design and meeting with planning staff to discuss images, so we would be happy to have someone who values communication and is flexible and receptive to other people’s ideas!

Thank you!

I had a selfish image that unique or sharp individuality is important in creative work, so when he said that ” sensibility ” is more important than that in BGM creation, it was an eye-opener for me!

It is rare for people to see the same thing side by side and have exactly the same feelings, and sometimes they may even feel the exact opposite.

The BGM that we usually listen to casually on Cocone’s apps is the fruit of the sound creator’s ingenuity and refined sense of balance, created by weaving in and out of people’s individual “sensibilities” so to speak…! I’m sure it was the culmination of the sound creator’s ingenuity and refined sense of balance…!

In the next installment of the Cocone employee interview series, we plan to interview the item designers~!