Taku Sakakibara

Taku Isaac Sakakibara, better known as TaQ (pronounced "Ta-KU", not "tack"), is a musician who works for Konami, producing songs for Bemani games (though he is no longer affiliated with beatmania IIDX as of 10th style; he has pursued other musical interest outside of Bemani). His productions are mainly electronic music. His style varies greatly and so does not fit neatly into any specific genre such as industrial or trance.

TaQ was born in Maryland and raised in West Germany. He started to play the violin at the age of four, winning second place at the "Jugend Musiziert" concert in Germany later on.

His career as a composer started at the age of eleven, originally as rock with a classical twist, while also participating in various bands. In 1995, he formed his own band, Electro Tunes, to create experimental techno while making traditional techno and producing soundtracks as TaQ.

Since 1999, TaQ has been working as a freelance composer. He has composed numerous songs for Konami's beatmania series, which is one of its most well-known music game titles.

He has also composed music for commercials in Japan for corporations such as Hitachi and Panasonic. Recent works can be heard in the 'Hitachi Woo' commercials. [http://www.hitachi-ad.net/tv/20060823_3427/20060823_3427.html] [http://www.hitachi-ad.net/tv/20060605_25144/20060605_25144.html]

He opened a website in 2000 which has obtained many hits from around the world since its incarnation. Since then, TaQ has become an established name in the world of gaming and music.

TaQ currently resides in Japan.

In 2002, he started a club event known as 'bounce', which attracted more than 4,000 participants during its previous fourteen occasions. His first self-produced live album, Bounce Connected, records these live performances, and sold more than 5,000 within a week.

Outside of Japan, he helped compose Chokucho Chokutan for the Hong Kong actor and singer, Ekin Cheng, which ranked fourteenth on Hong Kong charts. He also participated in "Ekin Cheng Japan Tour" as a violinist at the AX in Shibuya.

Gear

TaQ arranges his music with a PowerMac G4/500 and composes with the following equipment:

* Akai S3200XL
* Akai S900
* Roland TB-303
* Roland TR-707
* Roland MKS-7
* Roland JV1080 w/ Vintage Synth Expansion Board
* Roland U-220
* Yamaha DX7

Discography

Albums

*Bounce Connected (August 2, 2003)
* (April 21, 2004)

DVDs

* (July 22, 2004)

Bemani series

A brief listing of TaQ's works over the Bemani series, by game in which the song first appeared:

beatmania complete Mix 2

*"Release Your Mind"
*"TetraQ"

beatmania IIDX 2nd Style

*"Digital Mind (A/T Libra Mix)"
*"Electro Tuned (The SubS *"Indigo Vision (Full Flavour Hide Around Mix)"

beatmania IIDX 3rd Style

*"era (nostalmix)"
*"Holic"
*"Schlagwerk"

beatmania IIDX 4th Style

*"DXY!"
*"Empathy"
*"era (Step Mix)"
*"Voltage (feat. Hidemaru)"

beatmania IIDX 5th Style

*"QQQ"
*"Radical Faith"
*"still my words" (feat. Meg and Osamu Kubota)
*"Sync" (as OutPhase)

beatmania IIDX 6th Style

*"Summer Vacation (CU Mix)" (as OutPhase)

beatmania IIDX 7th Style

*"Gravity"
*"Stoic"
*"Traces"

beatmania IIDX 8th Style

*"Abstract"
*"Symbolic"
*"Abstract (Radical Mix)"

beatmania IIDX 9th Style

*"Distress" (remix of "beatmania IIDX 5thstyle Opening", originally made by DJ Taka)
*"Karma"
*"Quasar" (as OutPhase)

beatmania IIDX 10th Style

*"Changes"
*"Innocent Walls"

Pop'n Music 10

*"Jack" (as DesQ, a collaboration with Des-ROW)

Other works

*"Paranoia (bounce connected mix)" (remix of "Paranoia", originally made by Naoki Maeda)
*"Rifformatic" (With SubSimon)
*"Things of MaNeRi" (With SubSimon, as ElectroTunes)
*"Random Beat" (DXY! is a remix of this song.)
*"Neo Tokyo"
*"Stromatolite"
*"L09663"
*"Clear Your Mind"
*"Blauer Morgengrau"
*"Marine Snow"
*"Fractal"
*"Distance"
*"Conclusion"
*"May I Dream"
*"Libra Negra" (With Osamu Kubota)
*"...and then" (First recorded work, as per his WorQ page.)
*".59 (Live)" (Live Remix of the same titled track originally composed by DJ Taka, as OutPhase)
*"Digital Mind" (With the collaboration of KoJ)
*"Ionity"
*"Antworte" (Premiered at Carnegie Hall on March 11, 2007)
*"Colors -InPhase Mix-" (remix of Colors, originally made by dj TAKA)

External links

* [http://www.ongaq.com/ OngaQ]
* [http://www.ongaq.com/taq/ TaQ Official Site]
* [http://blog.ongaq.com/ thinq] , TaQ's "BloQ"
*musicbrainz artist|id=ba566fad-879d-49b9-bc4c-e039ac3feab3|name=TaQ