Koji Kondo is a Japanese music composer, pianist, sound designer, sound director and music director who works for the video game company Nintendo.
19 Facts About Koji Kondo
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Koji Kondo is best known for his many contributions to the Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda series of video games, among others produced by the company.
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Koji Kondo was born in Nagoya, Japan, on August 13,1961.
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Koji Kondo began taking Yamaha Music classes from kindergarten, where he learned to play the electronic organ from the age of five.
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Koji Kondo later improved his skills with the electronic organ in a cover band that played jazz and rock music.
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Koji Kondo studied at the Art Planning Department of Osaka University of Arts, but was never classically trained or academically dedicated to music.
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Koji Kondo gained experience in composing, arranging pieces and computer programming through using the piano, and a computer to program music into the Famicom using Famicom BASIC, for which Kondo wrote part of the instruction manual in which he demonstrates how to program Japanese popular music into the Famicom using BASIC programming.
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Koji Kondo successfully applied for the job without requiring any demo tapes.
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Koji Kondo's second work at Nintendo was an instruction manual on how to program Japanese popular music into the Famicom using the peripheral Family BASIC.
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Koji Kondo produced four main pieces of background music for the first installment of the series; the overworld theme has become comparable in popularity with the Super Mario Bros.
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Koji Kondo created the soundtrack to Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic, which was later rebranded outside Japan as Super Mario Bros.
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Koji Kondo returned to the Super Mario series to produce the scores to Super Mario Bros.
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Koji Kondo served as the sound director and lead composer of Super Mario Maker and its sequel, Super Mario Maker 2.
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Koji Kondo has worked alongside Brian Tyler to compose for Illumination's The Super Mario Bros.
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Koji Kondo attended and performed in a series of three concerts celebrating the 25th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda series in late 2011.
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Koji Kondo performed piano with the American rock band Imagine Dragons live at The Game Awards 2014 ceremony in December 2014.
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Koji Kondo remarked on the importance of projecting distinct characters through music, so that players know almost immediately where they are within the game.
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Koji Kondo used this contrast in other games he worked on, including Super Mario Bros.
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Koji Kondo has been the recipient of much praise from many other composers such as the renowned Halo and Destiny composer Martin O'Donnell and Elder Scrolls composer Jeremy Soule.