Alterna Citizen Program M-00: Init (Test Noise)

Composer Ryo Nagamatsu drew the original concept art for the Salmon Run in-game band, ω-3, himself:

Famitsu: Did you come up with ω-3 etc. while thinking about Salmon Run songs?

Nagamatsu: ω-3 started from thinking about a band. Actually, I’ve got something right here… [takes out illustrations]

Famitsu: Huh? What are these drawings?

Nagamatsu: These are rough sketches of ω-3 I drew [laughs]. Before I explain these, let me explain why ω-3 is composed of a cello, timpani, and DJ. The main sound is played by a cello, but I had a lot of trouble choosing this main instrument. While thinking about instruments with the absolute requirement that they fit in Splatoon 2’s world, I thought that strings would fit in. At the same time, I heard from Toru Minegishi that he considered using strings in Splatoon, but didn’t, so I decided to use one here. Minegishi ultimately recommended the cello out of the many stringed instruments, and while writing a song with cello as the lead it indeed felt right, so I went with it. Also, I think the cello is salmonish.

Famitsu: “Salmonish”?! What about it gives it its salmonness?

Nagamatsu: Maybe the timbre, the instrument, or the size, or the way the bow jumps while playing it…? I can’t explain it very well… As for the timpani, in the setting of Salmon Run, a band on the enemy side is performing to encourage the salmon, so I chose it because it fit the image of a horn signaling a charge on the battlefield, or a fife and drum corps.

Famitsu: I see. And then the DJ comes in.

Nagamatsu: While I was writing a song for Salmon Run, I was talking with Minegishi and had the idea that “even though it’s in 7/8 time, it’d be interesting if it alternated between live-sounding parts and digital-sounding parts.” I thought if it switches between a rock “dun dun dun dun” rhythm and an electronic “duh-duh-duh-ka duh-duh-duh-ka” rhythm^[1], it could create a strange atmosphere we’ve never heard before. So we thought about what could play those kinds of sounds and said, “it’s a DJ.” As a result, this three-piece band came together perfectly—salmon-inspiring timpani, salmonish-sounding cello, and the rest sent by a DJ deliberately acting as a messenger of discomfort—and so the band was born. Then I put those images into these drawings and gave them to the design staff, who created the visual image for the band and so on.

Famitsu: Then the designer finished it, and that’s how that illustration came about.

Nagamatsu: Yeah. The designer, Takahisa Ikejiri, took my sketches and turned them into a real picture, which I was so happy about.

Famitsu: Have you done other illustrations like these, to create an image of the music?

Nagamatsu: Sometimes I’ve drawn pictures to convey stuff in the projects I’ve worked on, but this was the first time I’ve submitted them like this and had them finished up and incorporated into the game’s setting.

He’s so cool I love him