Wave Master

From Sega Retro

Game music has come a long way since the days of shrill beeping noises. The game soundtracks of today consist of rich orchestral scores, multi-layered guitars, and thumping modern beats. Sega has a long history of great game music, and much of it has come from one company -- Wave Master. This award-winning team has created some of the most memorable scores in gaming history. They have also branched out into other endeavors, including game development and music for television.

Wave Master (formerly known as Sega Digital Media) employs nearly 30-40 sound designers and recording engineers at their Tokyo office. The company is overseen by president Yukifumi Makino, a veteran of the game music industry. Makino's love for music began at an early age, where he was influenced by everything from The Beatles to the Jaws soundtrack. Makino has directed and produced some of Sega's most famous soundtracks, including Sonic CD, NiGHTS, and Space Channel 5.

At the heart of Wave Master's operations is their state-of-the-art recording studio. It is composed of three rooms: a control room with a high-end 56-channel mixing console, a 4.6 x 5 meter "live" room with acoustic reflectors, and a 4 x 6.2 meter "dead" room with sound dampening properties.

Many of the most popular Sega soundtracks have come from Wave Master, including Panzer Dragoon Saga, Phantasy Star Online, and the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Wave Master's music has received critical acclaim, and has been recognized by the International Game Developers Association and the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences for excellence in the field. In addition to releasing game scores, Wave Master has put out remixes and compilation albums of their music.

Some of Wave Master's most powerful works feature technology that dynamically changes the music based on game situations. When flying your airship in Skies of Arcadia, the main musical theme subtly changed based on your location in the world. Jet Grind Radio's pumping hip-hop tracks blended together in a way that mirrored a DJ mixing records on turntables. The main theme of Space Channel 5 progressively decomposed the worse you did in the game.

There's more to Wave Master than just game music. In 2000, Wave Master entered the world of game development with a quirky life simulation title called Roommania #203. They also handled the Japanese versions of Visual Concepts' Sega Sports 2K series. Other Wave Master projects include Radio DC (an Internet radio program featuring Sega game music), the Sonic Cafe suite of mobile phone applications, and jingles for TV shows and commercials in Japan.

Wave Master Highlights

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