Yasunori Mitsuda
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese video game composer, sound programmer, and musician
. He has composed music for or worked on over 35 games, and has contributed to over 15 other albums. He is best known for his compositions for the video games Chrono Trigger
, Chrono Cross
, Mario Party
, Shadow Hearts
, Shadow Hearts: Covenant
, Xenogears
, Xenosaga Episode I
, Soma Bringer
, Xenoblade
, and Inazuma Eleven
. He began composing video game music for his own games in high school, and after graduation attended Junior College of Music in Tokyo
. In 1992 upon graduation he joined Square
(now Square Enix
) as a composer after seeing a magazine advertisement in an office he was visiting with his professor.
Despite his job title as a composer, Mitsuda worked for two years as a sound engineer. In 1994, after threatening to quit to Square's vice president, Hironobu Sakaguchi
, he was assigned to compose the soundtrack to Chrono Trigger. After the game's success and the music's acclaim, he went on to compose several other games for Square, including Xenogears. In 1998 Mitsuda left Square to work as a freelance composer, founding his own music production studio, Procyon Studio, in 2001 as well as his own record label, Sleigh Bells. The company has since expanded to nine employees, and Mitsuda continues to compose for video games, as well as for anime series and his own independent albums.
, Japan
, on January 21, 1972 and was raised in Kumage District
. He took piano
lessons beginning at the age of five, but he was more interested in sport
s and never took music seriously, quitting by the age of six. For a while, he wanted to become a professional golf
er. While in high school, Mitsuda rediscovered music, inspired by Vangelis
' Blade Runner
and Henry Mancini
's The Pink Panther
film scores. After watching Railman, he decided to become a music composer. He became interested in PCs
after his father bought him one, which was a rare item at the time. He started to program
computer games and compose music for them, as well as take more technically-oriented classes.
After high school, Mitsuda decided to leave town and become independent. With encouragement from his father and sister, he moved to Tokyo
and enrolled in the Junior College of Music. Despite the school's low prestige, Mitsuda received solid instruction from his professors, most of them practicing musicians who would take Mitsuda to gigs with them to help carry and set up equipment. At the cost of being used for free physical labor, Mitsuda got a first-hand view of the Japanese music world and valuable training both in and out of the classroom. He also during his time at the school worked for six months as an assistant to one of the professors at a video game sound department.
During this work experience, with his school term ending, Mitsuda saw an advertisement for a sound producer at Square
in a copy of Famitsu
magazine at a game company he was visiting. With no clear plans as to what he wanted to do after school, he applied for the position. Mitsuda sent a demo which won him an interview at the game studio. Despite the self-described "disastrous" interview with composer Nobuo Uematsu
and sound programmer Minoru Akao, in which he claimed to only want the job as a "stepping stone" in his career and admitted that he had never played many of Square's biggest games, such as the Final Fantasy
series, Mitsuda was offered a position on the company's sound team in April 1992.
, Secret of Mana
and Romancing SaGa 2
. In 1994, realizing that he would never get a chance to move up to a real composition duty without some drastic action and feeling concerned about his low pay, he gave Square's vice president, Hironobu Sakaguchi
, an ultimatum
: let him compose, or he would quit. Sakaguchi assigned the young musician to the team working on Chrono Trigger
, telling him that "after you finish it, maybe your salary will go up". Mitsuda was assigned as the sole composer for the game, in the end creating 54 tracks for the final release. Mitsuda drove himself to work hard on the score, frequently working until he passed out, and would awake with ideas for songs such as the ending theme for the game. He worked so hard that he developed stomach ulcers and had to be hospitalized, which led Uematsu to offer to finish the remaining tracks for him; Uematsu ended up composing ten tracks, one of which he was assisted on by Noriko Matsueda
.
Chrono Trigger proved a great success, and the soundtrack proved extremely popular with fans. Mitsuda claims that it is his "landmark" title, which "matured" him and his music. He attributes its success with fans to his use of folk and jazz styling, rather than the "semi-orchestral" style popular in game music at the time. Following Chrono Trigger, Mitsuda composed the soundtrack for Front Mission: Gun Hazard
, again with Uematsu. According to Uematsu, Mitsuda again worked so much that he eventually defecated blood out of stress and physical problems. Mitsuda worked on three more titles for Square: Tobal No. 1
(Square's first PlayStation
game) and Radical Dreamers: Nusumenai Hōseki both in 1996, and Xenogears
in 1998, which featured the first ballad
in a Square game, the Celtic ending theme "Small Two of Pieces"
sung by Joanne Hogg
. Mitsuda also during this period produced albums of arranged music of his original scores, creating acid jazz
remixes in Chrono Trigger Arranged Version: The Brink of Time and a Celtic arrangement album of Xenogears music, Creid
. In 1998, following up on what he had said in his original interview with the company, Mitsuda left Square to work as a freelance composer, the first of several of Square's composers to do so.
Following his leaving, Mitsuda has only worked on one more original game with Square, composing for 1999's Chrono Cross
, the sequel to Chrono Trigger. He has worked on over a dozen games since then, including the spiritual sequel to Xenogears, Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht
, and major titles such as Shadow Hearts
and Luminous Arc
. In addition to video games, Mitsuda has composed music for the anime Inazuma Eleven
and for the independent album Kirite
. On November 22, 2001, Mitsuda formed Procyon Studio as a company to produce his music, along with a record label, Sleigh Bells. The company consisted of only Mitsuda as composer along with a few sound producers for several years, but has expanded since to include nine employees, including other composers. Mitsuda and Procyon Studio have also produced more arranged albums, such as Sailing to the World
and 2009's Colours of Light
, a compilation album
of vocal pieces Mitsuda has composed. The studio was also involved in programming the KORG DS-10
synthesizer program for the Nintendo DS
, while Mitsuda himself produced and composed for an iPhone
game, bQLSI Star Laser. According to an April 2009 interview with Nintendo Power
, Mitsuda is currently working on "undisclosed projects" for the Nintendo DS, Wii
, and PlayStation 3
. Mitsuda claims that, for the projects Procyon has been working on for the past few years, he has been focusing more on working as a music producer for a team of artists rather than just as a composer.
in 1996 at the Orchestral Game Concert
in Tokyo, Japan, and released on an accompanying album. The first symphonic performance of his music outside of Japan took place in 2005 at the Symphonic Game Music Concert
in Leipzig, Germany when music from Chrono Cross was presented. Mitsuda has arranged versions of music from Trigger and Cross for Play! A Video Game Symphony
video game music concerts in 2006. Music from the two games has also been performed in other video game concert tours such as the Video Games Live
concert series and in concerts by the Eminence Orchestra. Music written by Yasunori Mitsuda for Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross made up one fourth of the music of the Symphonic Fantasies concerts in September 2009 which were produced by the creators of the Symphonic Game Music Concert series and conducted by Arnie Roth. "Scars of Time" from Chrono Cross was played at the Fantasy Comes Alive concert in Singapore
on April 30, 2010.
Mitsuda's music has been heavily remixed by fans, sparking several albums. These include the officially licensed Time & Space - A Tribute to Yasunori Mitsuda, released by OneUp Studios on October 7, 2001 and containing 18 remixes, with a second version of the album released on June 17, 2003. Another popular album release was Chrono Symphonic, an unofficial download-only album release by the remix website OverClocked ReMix
on January 3, 2006 containing 25 remixes over 2 "discs". A related popular album release was Radical Dreamers: Thieves of Fate, an unofficial download-only album release by the OverClocked ReMix on January 5, 2008 containing 15 remixes of the soundtrack to Radical Dreamers. Mitsuda's music for Xenogears has also sparked fan-made albums; an officially-licensed tribute album
titled Xenogears Light: An Arranged Album, was published in limited quantities by the fan group OneUp Studios in 2005. The album features 20 tracks arranged from the Xenogears score and performed with acoustic instruments, such as piano, flute, guitar and violin. Another, unofficial album of remixes titled Humans + Gears was produced as a digital album by OverClocked Remix on October 19, 2009 consisting of 33 tracks on two "discs". Selections of remixes of Mitsuda's work also appear on Japanese remix albums, called Dōjin
, and on English remixing websites such as OverClocked Remix.
Music from the Chrono Trigger soundtrack has been arranged for the piano and published as sheet music by DOREMI Music Publishing. Sheet music for Chrono Cross tracks arranged for both solo guitar and guitar duets has been released by Procyon Studio.
, and he has cited Minimalism as an influence. His final battle themes for Chrono Trigger and Xenogears are based on only a few chords each, with the latter containing only two. Mitsuda has listened to a great number of musical genres throughout his life, which he learned from his father, and is especially inspired by jazz
music. He is also inspired by Celtic music
, and has created two albums of music in that style. His soundtrack for Chrono Trigger also shows the influence of Asian music, including the sounds of Japanese
shakuhachi
flutes and Indian
tabla
drums. He has cited Maurice Ravel
, J.S. Bach, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Claude Debussy
, Robert Schumann
, Antonín Dvořák
, and Gustav Holst
as his favorite classical
composers, claiming that his modern influences are too numerous to name as he listens to so much music.
Mitsuda names his favorite works as the soundtracks to the Chrono series, Xenogears, Xenosaga Episode I, and the original album Kirite, though he also says that all of his soundtracks are "representational works", as they represent who he was as a composer when he made them. His favorite pieces overall are "The Girl Who Closed Her Heart" and "Pain" from Xenosaga Episode I and pieces from Kirite. When he starts to compose a soundtrack, he first takes one month to gather information and artwork about the game world and scenario, so that his music will fit in with the game. He also finds it easier to be inspired if he has a visual representation. Mitsuda claims that he does not save his best work for more popular games, as he tries to compose each piece to correspond to how it is going to be used in a specific game. He also tries to compose good pieces even for games he feels do not live up to them, so that they will be a redeeming point about the game for the players. The majority of his video game soundtracks are for role-playing games
, but he likes projects that are different from what he has done before and is interested in working in other genres.
Arrangement
Sound design
Sound production
Arrangement
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
. He has composed music for or worked on over 35 games, and has contributed to over 15 other albums. He is best known for his compositions for the video games Chrono Trigger
Chrono Trigger
is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1995. Chrono Triggers development team included three designers that Square dubbed the "Dream Team": Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of Square's Final Fantasy series; Yuji Horii, a...
, Chrono Cross
Chrono Cross
is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation video game console. It is the sequel to Chrono Trigger, which was released in 1995 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System...
, Mario Party
Mario Party
is a party video game for the Nintendo 64 game console, developed by Hudson Soft and published by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on December 14, 1998, in North America on February 8, 1999, and in Europe on March 9, 1999...
, Shadow Hearts
Shadow Hearts
is a series of role playing games for the PlayStation 2. The original Shadow Hearts was developed by Sacnoth and released by Midway in the United States on December 11, 2001. The sequel, Shadow Hearts: Covenant , was also made by the same group, although Sacnoth reformed itself into a company...
, Shadow Hearts: Covenant
Shadow Hearts: Covenant
Shadow Hearts: Covenant is a console role-playing game developed by Nautilus and published by Midway in 2004. It is a direct continuation of Shadow Hearts and the second official game in the Shadow Hearts series. The game features two DVD-ROM discs instead of the usual one, which provides,...
, Xenogears
Xenogears
is a science-fiction console role-playing game developed and published by Square for Sony's PlayStation. It was released on February 11, 1998 in Japan and on October 20, 1998 in North America. The game was never released in PAL territories...
, Xenosaga Episode I
Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht
is a console role-playing game for the PlayStation 2 and the first title in the Xenosaga series. Der Wille zur Macht, "The Will to Power", is a reference to Friedrich Nietzsche's posthumous collection of notes and unused aphorisms, which was intended to become his magnum opus...
, Soma Bringer
Soma Bringer
is a video game developed by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. It was released in Japan on February 28, 2008, and while it has not been announced for any other region, there is a fan-translation into English that is complete with the exception of the in-game...
, Xenoblade
Xenoblade
Xenoblade Chronicles, known in Japan as , is a role-playing video game published by Nintendo and developed by Monolith Soft for the Wii console. The game was announced during E3 2009, when a trailer was released to media...
, and Inazuma Eleven
Inazuma Eleven
is a role-playing and sports video game for the Nintendo DS developed and published by Level-5. It was released on August 22, 2008 in Japan. A European release was confirmed by Nintendo and was released on January 29, 2011, three years after the Japanese release...
. He began composing video game music for his own games in high school, and after graduation attended Junior College of Music in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
. In 1992 upon graduation he joined Square
Square Co.
was a Japanese video game company founded in September 1983 by Masafumi Miyamoto. It merged with Enix in 2003 and became part of Square Enix...
(now Square Enix
Square Enix
is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...
) as a composer after seeing a magazine advertisement in an office he was visiting with his professor.
Despite his job title as a composer, Mitsuda worked for two years as a sound engineer. In 1994, after threatening to quit to Square's vice president, Hironobu Sakaguchi
Hironobu Sakaguchi
is a Japanese game designer, game director and game producer. He is world famous as the creator of the Final Fantasy series, and has had a long career in gaming with over 100 million units of video games sold worldwide...
, he was assigned to compose the soundtrack to Chrono Trigger. After the game's success and the music's acclaim, he went on to compose several other games for Square, including Xenogears. In 1998 Mitsuda left Square to work as a freelance composer, founding his own music production studio, Procyon Studio, in 2001 as well as his own record label, Sleigh Bells. The company has since expanded to nine employees, and Mitsuda continues to compose for video games, as well as for anime series and his own independent albums.
Early life
Mitsuda was born in TokuyamaTokuyama, Yamaguchi
was a city located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan.On April 21, 2003 Tokuyama was merged with the city of Shinnan'yō, the town of Kumage, from Kumage District, and the town of Kano, from Tsuno District, to form the new city of Shūnan....
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, on January 21, 1972 and was raised in Kumage District
Kumage District, Yamaguchi
Kumage is a district located in Yamaguchi, Japan.As of 2003, the district has an estimated population of 42,778 and a density of 282.12 persons per km²...
. He took piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
lessons beginning at the age of five, but he was more interested in sport
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
s and never took music seriously, quitting by the age of six. For a while, he wanted to become a professional golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
er. While in high school, Mitsuda rediscovered music, inspired by Vangelis
Vangelis
Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou is a Greek composer of electronic, progressive, ambient, jazz, pop rock and orchestral music, under the artist name Vangelis...
' Blade Runner
Blade Runner
Blade Runner is a 1982 American science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young. The screenplay, written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, is loosely based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K...
and Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini was an American composer, conductor and arranger, best remembered for his film and television scores. He won a record number of Grammy Awards , plus a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously in 1995...
's The Pink Panther
The Pink Panther
The Pink Panther is a series of comedy films featuring the bungling French police detective Jacques Clouseau that began in 1963 with the release of the film of the same name. The role was originated by, and is most closely associated with, Peter Sellers...
film scores. After watching Railman, he decided to become a music composer. He became interested in PCs
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
after his father bought him one, which was a rare item at the time. He started to program
Computer programming
Computer programming is the process of designing, writing, testing, debugging, and maintaining the source code of computer programs. This source code is written in one or more programming languages. The purpose of programming is to create a program that performs specific operations or exhibits a...
computer games and compose music for them, as well as take more technically-oriented classes.
After high school, Mitsuda decided to leave town and become independent. With encouragement from his father and sister, he moved to Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
and enrolled in the Junior College of Music. Despite the school's low prestige, Mitsuda received solid instruction from his professors, most of them practicing musicians who would take Mitsuda to gigs with them to help carry and set up equipment. At the cost of being used for free physical labor, Mitsuda got a first-hand view of the Japanese music world and valuable training both in and out of the classroom. He also during his time at the school worked for six months as an assistant to one of the professors at a video game sound department.
During this work experience, with his school term ending, Mitsuda saw an advertisement for a sound producer at Square
Square Co.
was a Japanese video game company founded in September 1983 by Masafumi Miyamoto. It merged with Enix in 2003 and became part of Square Enix...
in a copy of Famitsu
Famitsu
is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. Currently, there are five Famitsū magazines: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS3 + PSP, Famitsū Xbox 360, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD...
magazine at a game company he was visiting. With no clear plans as to what he wanted to do after school, he applied for the position. Mitsuda sent a demo which won him an interview at the game studio. Despite the self-described "disastrous" interview with composer Nobuo Uematsu
Nobuo Uematsu
is a Japanese video game composer, best known for scoring the majority of titles in the Final Fantasy series. He is considered as one of the most famous and respected composers in the video game community...
and sound programmer Minoru Akao, in which he claimed to only want the job as a "stepping stone" in his career and admitted that he had never played many of Square's biggest games, such as the Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy
is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and is developed and owned by Square Enix . The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science-fantasy role-playing video games , but includes motion pictures, anime, printed media, and other merchandise...
series, Mitsuda was offered a position on the company's sound team in April 1992.
Career
Although his official job title was "composer", Mitsuda found himself working more as a sound engineer. Over the next two years, he created sound effects for Hanjuku Hero, Final Fantasy VFinal Fantasy V
is a medieval-fantasy role-playing video game developed and published by Square in 1992 as a part of the Final Fantasy series. The game first appeared only in Japan on Nintendo's Super Famicom . It has been ported with minor differences to Sony's PlayStation and Nintendo's Game Boy Advance...
, Secret of Mana
Secret of Mana
Secret of Mana is an action role-playing game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System developed and published by Square in 1993. The game was re-released for the Wii's Virtual Console in 2008, and was ported to Japanese mobile phones in 2009...
and Romancing SaGa 2
Romancing SaGa 2
is a role-playing video game developed by Square and released exclusively for the Super Famicom system in Japan on December 10, 1993. It is the fifth title in the SaGa series. Video game music composer Kenji Ito composed the score.-Gameplay:...
. In 1994, realizing that he would never get a chance to move up to a real composition duty without some drastic action and feeling concerned about his low pay, he gave Square's vice president, Hironobu Sakaguchi
Hironobu Sakaguchi
is a Japanese game designer, game director and game producer. He is world famous as the creator of the Final Fantasy series, and has had a long career in gaming with over 100 million units of video games sold worldwide...
, an ultimatum
Ultimatum
An ultimatum is a demand whose fulfillment is requested in a specified period of time and which is backed up by a threat to be followed through in case of noncompliance. An ultimatum is generally the final demand in a series of requests...
: let him compose, or he would quit. Sakaguchi assigned the young musician to the team working on Chrono Trigger
Chrono Trigger
is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1995. Chrono Triggers development team included three designers that Square dubbed the "Dream Team": Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of Square's Final Fantasy series; Yuji Horii, a...
, telling him that "after you finish it, maybe your salary will go up". Mitsuda was assigned as the sole composer for the game, in the end creating 54 tracks for the final release. Mitsuda drove himself to work hard on the score, frequently working until he passed out, and would awake with ideas for songs such as the ending theme for the game. He worked so hard that he developed stomach ulcers and had to be hospitalized, which led Uematsu to offer to finish the remaining tracks for him; Uematsu ended up composing ten tracks, one of which he was assisted on by Noriko Matsueda
Noriko Matsueda
is a Japanese former video game composer. She is best known for her work on the Front Mission series, The Bouncer, and Final Fantasy X-2. Matsueda collaborated with fellow composer Takahito Eguchi on several games. Composing music at an early age, she began studying the piano and electronic organ...
.
Chrono Trigger proved a great success, and the soundtrack proved extremely popular with fans. Mitsuda claims that it is his "landmark" title, which "matured" him and his music. He attributes its success with fans to his use of folk and jazz styling, rather than the "semi-orchestral" style popular in game music at the time. Following Chrono Trigger, Mitsuda composed the soundtrack for Front Mission: Gun Hazard
Front Mission: Gun Hazard
is a side-scrolling shooter video game developed by Omiya Soft and published by Square Co., Ltd., and was released in Japan on February 23, 1996 for the Nintendo Super Famicom game console. Front Mission: Gun Hazard is the first spin-off entry and the second entry overall in the Front Mission series...
, again with Uematsu. According to Uematsu, Mitsuda again worked so much that he eventually defecated blood out of stress and physical problems. Mitsuda worked on three more titles for Square: Tobal No. 1
Tobal No. 1
is a fighting game for the PlayStation developed by DreamFactory and published by Square in 1996. The game was DreamFactory's first release, as well as Square's first release on the CD-based console....
(Square's first PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
game) and Radical Dreamers: Nusumenai Hōseki both in 1996, and Xenogears
Xenogears
is a science-fiction console role-playing game developed and published by Square for Sony's PlayStation. It was released on February 11, 1998 in Japan and on October 20, 1998 in North America. The game was never released in PAL territories...
in 1998, which featured the first ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
in a Square game, the Celtic ending theme "Small Two of Pieces"
Xenogears Original Soundtrack
The Xenogears Original Soundtrack is the official soundtrack to Square's console role-playing game Xenogears. It was composed by Yasunori Mitsuda and contains 44 tracks, including a Bulgarian choral song and two pieces performed by the Irish singer Joanne Hogg...
sung by Joanne Hogg
Joanne Hogg
Joanne Hogg is an Irish singer and songwriter for the band Iona.-Biography:Hogg was born in Ballymena, Northern Ireland and is best known as the lead singer and songwriter with the Christian progressive Celtic/pop/rock band Iona . Her father is a Presbyterian minister, her mother a nurse; her...
. Mitsuda also during this period produced albums of arranged music of his original scores, creating acid jazz
Acid jazz
Acid jazz is a musical genre that combines elements of jazz, funk and hip-hop, particularly looped beats. It developed in the UK over the 1980s and 1990s and could be seen as tacking the sound of jazz-funk onto electronic dance: jazz-funk musicians such as Roy Ayers, Donald Byrd and Grant Green are...
remixes in Chrono Trigger Arranged Version: The Brink of Time and a Celtic arrangement album of Xenogears music, Creid
CREID
Creid is the arranged soundtrack to Square's console role-playing game Xenogears. It was written by the game's composer Yasunori Mitsuda and performed by a musical ensemble dubbed Millennial Fair. It was released on April 22, 1998 in Japan by DigiCube, and re-released by Square Enix on June 29, 2005...
. In 1998, following up on what he had said in his original interview with the company, Mitsuda left Square to work as a freelance composer, the first of several of Square's composers to do so.
Following his leaving, Mitsuda has only worked on one more original game with Square, composing for 1999's Chrono Cross
Chrono Cross
is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation video game console. It is the sequel to Chrono Trigger, which was released in 1995 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System...
, the sequel to Chrono Trigger. He has worked on over a dozen games since then, including the spiritual sequel to Xenogears, Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht
Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht
is a console role-playing game for the PlayStation 2 and the first title in the Xenosaga series. Der Wille zur Macht, "The Will to Power", is a reference to Friedrich Nietzsche's posthumous collection of notes and unused aphorisms, which was intended to become his magnum opus...
, and major titles such as Shadow Hearts
Shadow Hearts
is a series of role playing games for the PlayStation 2. The original Shadow Hearts was developed by Sacnoth and released by Midway in the United States on December 11, 2001. The sequel, Shadow Hearts: Covenant , was also made by the same group, although Sacnoth reformed itself into a company...
and Luminous Arc
Luminous Arc
is a tactical role-playing game from Marvelous for the Nintendo DS. Luminous Arc was released in Japan on February 8, 2007 and August 14, 2007 in North America by Atlus. The game was released in Europe on October 12, 2007 by Rising Star Games....
. In addition to video games, Mitsuda has composed music for the anime Inazuma Eleven
Inazuma Eleven
is a role-playing and sports video game for the Nintendo DS developed and published by Level-5. It was released on August 22, 2008 in Japan. A European release was confirmed by Nintendo and was released on January 29, 2011, three years after the Japanese release...
and for the independent album Kirite
Kirite
, officially typeset , is a 2005 album composed by Yasunori Mitsuda based on The Five Seasons of Kirite, a story by Masato Kato...
. On November 22, 2001, Mitsuda formed Procyon Studio as a company to produce his music, along with a record label, Sleigh Bells. The company consisted of only Mitsuda as composer along with a few sound producers for several years, but has expanded since to include nine employees, including other composers. Mitsuda and Procyon Studio have also produced more arranged albums, such as Sailing to the World
Sailing to the World
Sailing to the World is an album arrangement by composer Yasunori Mitsuda of the soundtrack from a little-known Taiwanese PC game that Mitsuda scored called Seventh Seal. Possessing all but one track from the original soundtrack, the album is a display of Mitsuda's various styles , and is...
and 2009's Colours of Light
Colours of Light
Colours of Light is the compilation album of vocal pieces by Yasunori Mitsuda. It was released on August 26, 2009 in Japan by Sleigh Bells. The album is composed of 14 remastered songs from games and soundtracks that he has composed, and one piece from an album of original songs by game music...
, a compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
of vocal pieces Mitsuda has composed. The studio was also involved in programming the KORG DS-10
KORG DS-10
KORG DS-10 is a music creation program for the Nintendo DS that emulates the Korg MS range of synthesizers. Frequently people refer to the Korg MS-10 but this is a single oscillator monosynth. The DS-10 adds sync which the MS-20 is lacking...
synthesizer program for the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
, while Mitsuda himself produced and composed for an iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
game, bQLSI Star Laser. According to an April 2009 interview with Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
, Mitsuda is currently working on "undisclosed projects" for the Nintendo DS, Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
, and PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
. Mitsuda claims that, for the projects Procyon has been working on for the past few years, he has been focusing more on working as a music producer for a team of artists rather than just as a composer.
Legacy
Mitsuda's music from Chrono Trigger was first performed live by the Tokyo Symphony OrchestraTokyo Symphony Orchestra
The , or TSO, was established in 1946 as the Toho Symphony Orchestra . It assumed its present name in 1951.Based in Kawasaki, the TSO performs in numerous concert halls and serves as the pit ensemble for some productions at New National Theatre, Tokyo, the city's leading opera house...
in 1996 at the Orchestral Game Concert
Orchestral Game Concert
The were a series of Japanese video game music concerts. The events took place in Tokyo from 1991 to 1996 and were performed by different orchestras. Recordings of the concerts were released as a series of albums, which are known for their rarity....
in Tokyo, Japan, and released on an accompanying album. The first symphonic performance of his music outside of Japan took place in 2005 at the Symphonic Game Music Concert
Symphonic Game Music Concert
The Symphonic Game Music Concerts are a series of award-winning, annual German video game music concerts initiated in 2003, notable for being the longest running and the first of their kind outside of Japan...
in Leipzig, Germany when music from Chrono Cross was presented. Mitsuda has arranged versions of music from Trigger and Cross for Play! A Video Game Symphony
Play! A Video Game Symphony
PLAY! A Video Game Symphony is a concert series that features music from video games performed by a live orchestra. The concerts from 2006 to 2010 were conducted by Arnie Roth...
video game music concerts in 2006. Music from the two games has also been performed in other video game concert tours such as the Video Games Live
Video Games Live
Video Games Live is a concert series created and produced by industry veterans and video game composers Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall. The concerts consist of segments of video game music performed by a live orchestra with video footage and synchronized lighting and effects, as well as several...
concert series and in concerts by the Eminence Orchestra. Music written by Yasunori Mitsuda for Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross made up one fourth of the music of the Symphonic Fantasies concerts in September 2009 which were produced by the creators of the Symphonic Game Music Concert series and conducted by Arnie Roth. "Scars of Time" from Chrono Cross was played at the Fantasy Comes Alive concert in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
on April 30, 2010.
Mitsuda's music has been heavily remixed by fans, sparking several albums. These include the officially licensed Time & Space - A Tribute to Yasunori Mitsuda, released by OneUp Studios on October 7, 2001 and containing 18 remixes, with a second version of the album released on June 17, 2003. Another popular album release was Chrono Symphonic, an unofficial download-only album release by the remix website OverClocked ReMix
OverClocked ReMix
OverClocked ReMix, also known as OC ReMix and OCR, is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and paying tribute to video game music through arranging and re-interpreting the songs with new technology and software, as well as by various traditional means...
on January 3, 2006 containing 25 remixes over 2 "discs". A related popular album release was Radical Dreamers: Thieves of Fate, an unofficial download-only album release by the OverClocked ReMix on January 5, 2008 containing 15 remixes of the soundtrack to Radical Dreamers. Mitsuda's music for Xenogears has also sparked fan-made albums; an officially-licensed tribute album
Tribute album
A tribute album is a recorded collection of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. Its concept may be either various artists making a tribute to a single artist, a single artist making a tribute to various artists, or a single artist making a tribute to another single artist.There...
titled Xenogears Light: An Arranged Album, was published in limited quantities by the fan group OneUp Studios in 2005. The album features 20 tracks arranged from the Xenogears score and performed with acoustic instruments, such as piano, flute, guitar and violin. Another, unofficial album of remixes titled Humans + Gears was produced as a digital album by OverClocked Remix on October 19, 2009 consisting of 33 tracks on two "discs". Selections of remixes of Mitsuda's work also appear on Japanese remix albums, called Dōjin
Dojin
, often romanized as doujin, is a general Japanese term for a group of people or friends who share an interest, activity, hobbies, or achievement...
, and on English remixing websites such as OverClocked Remix.
Music from the Chrono Trigger soundtrack has been arranged for the piano and published as sheet music by DOREMI Music Publishing. Sheet music for Chrono Cross tracks arranged for both solo guitar and guitar duets has been released by Procyon Studio.
Musical style and influences
Mitsuda claims to compose by "just fool[ing] around on my keyboard" and letting the melodies come to him. He also sometimes comes up with songs while asleep, including the ending theme to Chrono Trigger and "Bonds of Sea and Fire" from Xenogears, though his main inspiration is visual items, "paintings or other things". His music is frequently minimalisticMinimalist music
Minimal music is a style of music associated with the work of American composers La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass. It originated in the New York Downtown scene of the 1960s and was initially viewed as a form of experimental music called the New York Hypnotic School....
, and he has cited Minimalism as an influence. His final battle themes for Chrono Trigger and Xenogears are based on only a few chords each, with the latter containing only two. Mitsuda has listened to a great number of musical genres throughout his life, which he learned from his father, and is especially inspired by jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
music. He is also inspired by Celtic music
Celtic music
Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...
, and has created two albums of music in that style. His soundtrack for Chrono Trigger also shows the influence of Asian music, including the sounds of Japanese
Music of Japan
The music of Japan includes a wide array of performers in distinct styles both traditional and modern. The word for music in Japanese is 音楽 , combining the kanji 音 with the kanji 楽...
shakuhachi
Shakuhachi
The is a Japanese end-blown flute. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but versions now exist in ABS and hardwoods. It was used by the monks of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism in the practice of...
flutes and Indian
Music of India
The music of India includes multiple varieties of folk, popular, pop, classical music and R&B. India's classical music tradition, including Carnatic and Hindustani music, has a history spanning millennia and developed over several eras. It remains fundamental to the lives of Indians today as...
tabla
Tabla
The tabla is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in Hindustani classical music and in popular and devotional music of the Indian subcontinent. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres...
drums. He has cited Maurice Ravel
Maurice Ravel
Joseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
, J.S. Bach, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Claude Debussy
Claude Debussy
Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
, Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
, Antonín Dvořák
Antonín Dvorák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
, and Gustav Holst
Gustav Holst
Gustav Theodore Holst was an English composer. He is most famous for his orchestral suite The Planets....
as his favorite classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
composers, claiming that his modern influences are too numerous to name as he listens to so much music.
Mitsuda names his favorite works as the soundtracks to the Chrono series, Xenogears, Xenosaga Episode I, and the original album Kirite, though he also says that all of his soundtracks are "representational works", as they represent who he was as a composer when he made them. His favorite pieces overall are "The Girl Who Closed Her Heart" and "Pain" from Xenosaga Episode I and pieces from Kirite. When he starts to compose a soundtrack, he first takes one month to gather information and artwork about the game world and scenario, so that his music will fit in with the game. He also finds it easier to be inspired if he has a visual representation. Mitsuda claims that he does not save his best work for more popular games, as he tries to compose each piece to correspond to how it is going to be used in a specific game. He also tries to compose good pieces even for games he feels do not live up to them, so that they will be a redeeming point about the game for the players. The majority of his video game soundtracks are for role-playing games
Role-playing game (video games)
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
, but he likes projects that are different from what he has done before and is interested in working in other genres.
Video games
Composition- Chrono TriggerChrono Triggeris a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1995. Chrono Triggers development team included three designers that Square dubbed the "Dream Team": Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of Square's Final Fantasy series; Yuji Horii, a...
(1995) – with Nobuo UematsuNobuo Uematsuis a Japanese video game composer, best known for scoring the majority of titles in the Final Fantasy series. He is considered as one of the most famous and respected composers in the video game community...
and Noriko MatsuedaNoriko Matsuedais a Japanese former video game composer. She is best known for her work on the Front Mission series, The Bouncer, and Final Fantasy X-2. Matsueda collaborated with fellow composer Takahito Eguchi on several games. Composing music at an early age, she began studying the piano and electronic organ... - Front Mission: Gun HazardFront Mission: Gun Hazardis a side-scrolling shooter video game developed by Omiya Soft and published by Square Co., Ltd., and was released in Japan on February 23, 1996 for the Nintendo Super Famicom game console. Front Mission: Gun Hazard is the first spin-off entry and the second entry overall in the Front Mission series...
(1996) – with Nobuo Uematsu, Junya NakanoJunya Nakanois a Japanese video game composer who was employed at Square Enix from 1995 to 2009. He is best known for scoring Threads of Fate and co-composing Final Fantasy X. He has also worked as an arranger for Dawn of Mana and the Nintendo DS version of Final Fantasy IV...
, and Masashi HamauzuMasashi Hamauzuis a Japanese video game composer who was employed at Square Enix from 1996 to 2010. He is best known for his work on the Final Fantasy and SaGa series. Born into a musical family in Germany, Hamauzu was raised in Japan... - Tobal No. 1Tobal No. 1is a fighting game for the PlayStation developed by DreamFactory and published by Square in 1996. The game was DreamFactory's first release, as well as Square's first release on the CD-based console....
(1996) – with Masashi Hamauzu, Junya Nakano, Yasuhiro Kawami, Kenji ItoKenji Ito, also known by the nickname , is a Japanese video game composer and musician. He is best known for his work on the Mana and SaGa series, though he has worked on over 30 video games throughout his career as well as composed or arranged music for over 15 other albums, concerts, and plays...
, Noriko Matsueda, Ryuji SasaiRyuji Sasaiis a Japanese former video game composer and bass guitarist. He is best known for his work on Xak, Final Fantasy Legend III and Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. Sasai is noted for his rock style. His musical career came about when he was 15 years old and he formed a band...
, and Yoko ShimomuraYoko Shimomurais a Japanese video game composer. She has been described as "the most famous female video game music composer in the world". She has worked in the video game music industry since graduating from Osaka College of Music in 1988... - Radical Dreamers: Nusumenai Hōseki (1996)
- XenogearsXenogearsis a science-fiction console role-playing game developed and published by Square for Sony's PlayStation. It was released on February 11, 1998 in Japan and on October 20, 1998 in North America. The game was never released in PAL territories...
(1998) - Mario PartyMario Partyis a party video game for the Nintendo 64 game console, developed by Hudson Soft and published by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on December 14, 1998, in North America on February 8, 1999, and in Europe on March 9, 1999...
(1998) - Bomberman 64: The Second AttackBomberman 64: The Second AttackThe game received mixed to good reviews. Criticism came toward the graphics and sound by GameSpot saying "Although Bomberman 64: The Second Attack is not at all revolutionary, it is not especially well executed in any particular area, and it suffers noticeably in the graphics and sound departments,...
(1999) – with Yoshitaka HirotaYoshitaka Hirotais a Japanese video game composer and bass guitarist. His most notable works include the soundtracks to the Shadow Hearts series. Hirota was previously a sound effects programmer having worked on various Square titles... - Chrono CrossChrono Crossis a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation video game console. It is the sequel to Chrono Trigger, which was released in 1995 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System...
(1999) - Mario Party 2Mario Party 2is the second in a series of board game style video games for Nintendo platforms, featuring popular Nintendo characters. It was released on the Nintendo 64 in Japan on December 17, 1999, followed by a North American release on January 24, 2000 and an European release on October 12, 2000. It was...
(1999) – with Hironao Yamamoto, Syohei Bando, Kazuhiko Sawaguchi - Shadow HeartsShadow Heartsis a series of role playing games for the PlayStation 2. The original Shadow Hearts was developed by Sacnoth and released by Midway in the United States on December 11, 2001. The sequel, Shadow Hearts: Covenant , was also made by the same group, although Sacnoth reformed itself into a company...
(2001) – with Yoshitaka Hirota - Legaia 2: Duel SagaLegaia 2: Duel SagaLegaia 2: Duel Saga, known as in Japan, is a 2001 role-playing video game developed by Contrail and published by Sony in Japan and Eidos Interactive in North America and Europe...
(2001) – with Hitoshi SakimotoHitoshi Sakimotois a Japanese video game composer and arranger. He is best known for scoring the games Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII, though he has composed soundtracks for over 70 games and arranged music for more than 40 others. He began playing music and video games in elementary school, and began...
and Michiru OshimaMichiru Oshima, is a Japanese composer who has worked on several video game, movie, and television titles. Her works include composition for the video games Genghis Khan II: Clan of the Gray Wolf for Super Nintendo, Ico for PlayStation 2, Legend of Legaia for the PlayStation , is a Japanese composer who has... - Tsugunai: AtonementTsugunai: Atonementis a 2001 role-playing game developed by Cattle Call for the PlayStation 2 game console and released by Atlus.-Story:The main character, Reise, is a Raven, a sort of mercenary who takes dangerous jobs to earn a living. The game opens as Reise climbs an ancient tower to retrieve the Treasure Orb, a...
(2001) - Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur MachtXenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Machtis a console role-playing game for the PlayStation 2 and the first title in the Xenosaga series. Der Wille zur Macht, "The Will to Power", is a reference to Friedrich Nietzsche's posthumous collection of notes and unused aphorisms, which was intended to become his magnum opus...
(2002) - The Seventh Seal (2002)
- Shadow Hearts: CovenantShadow Hearts: CovenantShadow Hearts: Covenant is a console role-playing game developed by Nautilus and published by Midway in 2004. It is a direct continuation of Shadow Hearts and the second official game in the Shadow Hearts series. The game features two DVD-ROM discs instead of the usual one, which provides,...
(2003) – with Yoshitaka Hirota, Kenji Ito, and Tomoko Kobayashi - Graffiti KingdomGraffiti KingdomGraffiti Kingdom, known as Rakugaki Ōkoku 2: Maōjō no Tatakai in Japan, is a video game by Taito Corporation and Garakuta Studio, which was published in America by Hot-B for the PlayStation 2 console.-Gameplay:...
(2004) - Deep LabyrinthDeep Labyrinthis a 3D role-playing video game for mobile phones and the Nintendo DS. Key contributors for this game include writer Masato Kato and composer Yasunori Mitsuda.-Plot:...
(2004) - Tsukiyo ni Saraba (2005) – with Miki HigashinoMiki Higashinois a Japanese video game composer best known for her works in the Suikoden series.-Biography:Miki Higashino first entered the music business as a student employed by Konami and contributed to various minor products, often uncredited or under the alias MIKI-CHAN or MIKI-CHANG...
- Tantei Kibukawa Ryosuke Jiken Dan: The Masquerade Lullaby (2005) – with Takanari Ishiyama and Kazumi Mitome
- Monster Kingdom: Jewel SummonerMonster Kingdom: Jewel SummonerMonster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner is a turn-based role-playing video game developed by Gaia and published by Sony Computer Entertainment and Atlus for the PlayStation Portable console. The game was released in February 2006 in Japan and in February 2007 in North America.The game takes place in a...
(2006) – with many others - Luminous ArcLuminous Arcis a tactical role-playing game from Marvelous for the Nintendo DS. Luminous Arc was released in Japan on February 8, 2007 and August 14, 2007 in North America by Atlus. The game was released in Europe on October 12, 2007 by Rising Star Games....
(2007) – with Kazumi Mitome, Akari KaidaAkari Kaidais a video game music composer. She has composed musical scores for Capcom games including Resident Evil, Dino Crisis and Ōkami...
, and Shota Kageyama - Soukou Kihei Armodyne (2007)
- Soma BringerSoma Bringeris a video game developed by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. It was released in Japan on February 28, 2008, and while it has not been announced for any other region, there is a fan-translation into English that is complete with the exception of the in-game...
(2008) - Inazuma ElevenInazuma Elevenis a role-playing and sports video game for the Nintendo DS developed and published by Level-5. It was released on August 22, 2008 in Japan. A European release was confirmed by Nintendo and was released on January 29, 2011, three years after the Japanese release...
(2008) - Sands of Destruction (2008) – with Shunsuke Tsuchiya and Kazumi Mitome
- Arc Rise FantasiaArc Rise Fantasiais a fantasy role-playing game developed by imageepoch and published by Marvelous Entertainment for the Wii. It is imageepoch's first game not developed for a handheld game console. Arc Rise Fantasia was released in Japan on June 4, 2009, and in North America on July 20, 2010.-Gameplay:The game is...
(2009) – with Shunsuke Tsuchiya and Yuki Harada - Lime Odyssey (2009)
- bQLSI Star Laser (2009)
- Inazuma Eleven 2 Kyoui no ShinryakushaInazuma Eleven 2 Kyoui no Shinryakushais a role-playing and sports video game for the Nintendo DS developed and published by Level-5. It was released on October 1, 2009 in Japan.A direct sequel to the game titled Inazuma Eleven 3: Sekai e no Chousen has been announced for the Nintendo DS, as well as a console version of the game titled...
(2009) - Inazuma Eleven 3: Challenge the World (2010) - with Natsumi Kameoka
- XenobladeXenobladeXenoblade Chronicles, known in Japan as , is a role-playing video game published by Nintendo and developed by Monolith Soft for the Wii console. The game was announced during E3 2009, when a trailer was released to media...
(2010) – with ACE+, Manami Kiyota, and Yoko ShimomuraYoko Shimomurais a Japanese video game composer. She has been described as "the most famous female video game music composer in the world". She has worked in the video game music industry since graduating from Osaka College of Music in 1988...
Arrangement
- Mega Man Legends 2Mega Man Legends 2Mega Man Legends 2, known in Japan as , is an action role-playing game released by Capcom in 2000, acting as a sequel to Mega Man Legends. It was released for the PlayStation in April 2000 in Japan, October 2000 in North America and August 2001 in Europe...
(2000) - Super Smash Bros. BrawlSuper Smash Bros. BrawlSuper Smash Bros. Brawl, known in Japan as , often abbreviated as SSBB or simply as Brawl, is the third installment in the Super Smash Bros. series of crossover fighting games, developed by an ad hoc development team consisting of Sora, Game Arts and staff from other developers, and published by...
(2008) ("Vs. Marx", "World Map (Pikmin 2)")
Sound design
- Hanjuku Hero: Aa, Sekaiyo Hanjukunare...! (1992)
- Final Fantasy VFinal Fantasy Vis a medieval-fantasy role-playing video game developed and published by Square in 1992 as a part of the Final Fantasy series. The game first appeared only in Japan on Nintendo's Super Famicom . It has been ported with minor differences to Sony's PlayStation and Nintendo's Game Boy Advance...
(1992) - Secret of ManaSecret of ManaSecret of Mana is an action role-playing game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System developed and published by Square in 1993. The game was re-released for the Wii's Virtual Console in 2008, and was ported to Japanese mobile phones in 2009...
(1993) - Romancing SaGa 2Romancing SaGa 2is a role-playing video game developed by Square and released exclusively for the Super Famicom system in Japan on December 10, 1993. It is the fifth title in the SaGa series. Video game music composer Kenji Ito composed the score.-Gameplay:...
(1993)
Sound production
- Breath of Fire: Dragon QuarterBreath of Fire: Dragon QuarterBreath of Fire: Dragon Quarter, known in Japan as , is a PlayStation 2 game originally released on November 14, 2002. It is the fifth role-playing game in the Breath of Fire series.-Gameplay:...
(2002) – music composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto - Luminous Arc 2 (2008) – music composed by Yoko Shimomura, Akiri Kaida, Yoshino Aoki, Shunsuke Tsuchiya, and ISEPPE
- Luminous Arc 3 (2009)
- Thexder Neo (2009) - sound director
- Treasure Report (2011) - music composed by Maki Kirioka
Other works
Composition- Chrono Trigger Arranged Version: The Brink of Time (1995)
- CreidCREIDCreid is the arranged soundtrack to Square's console role-playing game Xenogears. It was written by the game's composer Yasunori Mitsuda and performed by a musical ensemble dubbed Millennial Fair. It was released on April 22, 1998 in Japan by DigiCube, and re-released by Square Enix on June 29, 2005...
(1998) - Street Fighter Zero 3 Drama AlbumStreet Fighter Alpha 3Street Fighter Alpha 3, known as in Japan and Asia, is a fighting game by Capcom originally released for the CPS II arcade hardware. It is the third game in the Street Fighter Alpha series, following Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams and Street Fighter Alpha 2...
(1999) - Biohazard 2 Drama Album: Chiisana Toubousha Sherry (1999)
- Biohazard 2 Drama Album: Ikiteita Onna Spy Ada (1999)
- 2197 (1999) – with many others
- Ten Plants 2 Childrens Songs (1999) – with many others
- Square Vocal CollectionSquare Vocal CollectionThis is a list of compilation albums of music produced by Square Enix . This music originates or is arranged from video games published by the company, with the exception the Square Enix Music Official Bootleg albums which feature original music.This list contains music originating from multiple...
(2001) – with many others - Sailing to the WorldSailing to the WorldSailing to the World is an album arrangement by composer Yasunori Mitsuda of the soundtrack from a little-known Taiwanese PC game that Mitsuda scored called Seventh Seal. Possessing all but one track from the original soundtrack, the album is a display of Mitsuda's various styles , and is...
(2002) - KiriteKirite, officially typeset , is a 2005 album composed by Yasunori Mitsuda based on The Five Seasons of Kirite, a story by Masato Kato...
(2005) - Novabound (2005)
- Sailing to the World Piano Score (2006)
- Inazuma ElevenInazuma Eleven (manga)is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tenya Yabuno. It is based on the Level-5 video game series of the same title. The manga has been published by Shogakukan in CoroCoro Comic since the June 2008 issue...
(2008) - Colours of Light – Yasunori Mitsuda Vocal Collection -Colours of LightColours of Light is the compilation album of vocal pieces by Yasunori Mitsuda. It was released on August 26, 2009 in Japan by Sleigh Bells. The album is composed of 14 remastered songs from games and soundtracks that he has composed, and one piece from an album of original songs by game music...
(2009) - Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Voice Actor Single Yuichi Nakamura come across Graham AkerMobile Suit Gundam 00is an anime TV series, the eleventh incarnation of Sunrise's long-running Gundam franchise consisting of two seasons. It is directed by Seiji Mizushima and written by Yōsuke Kuroda, and features character designs by Yun Kōga. The twenty-five episode season was officially announced by Sunrise...
(2010) - Inazuma Eleven Saikyō Gundan Ōga ShūraiInazuma Eleven (manga)is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tenya Yabuno. It is based on the Level-5 video game series of the same title. The manga has been published by Shogakukan in CoroCoro Comic since the June 2008 issue...
(2010) - Myth: The Xenogears Orchestral AlbumMyth: The Xenogears Orchestral AlbumMyth: The Xenogears Orchestral Album is an arranged soundtrack to Square Enix's role-playing video game Xenogears. It is the third soundtrack to the game, after Xenogears Original Soundtrack and Creid, another arranged album, both released in 1998...
(2011) - Play For Japan: The Album (2011) – with many others
Arrangement
- Street Fighter EX2 Arrange Album (1998)
- Heijitsu MachineJunko KudōJunko Kudo, alias Junko, Junko Bashment, or Dancehall Queen Junko, is a Japanese professional dancer, specialising in reggae dance, known internationally in reggae circles as the first foreign "Dancehall Queen".-Biography:...
(2000) - It's Okay to Cry / Where Dreams Come TrueFumina Harais a Japanese actress and idol. She has played the role of Usagi Tsukino in the Sailor Moon musicals, and has gone on to a varied career. She has played the love interest in Aishiteruze Baby.-Filmography:*"Gun Crazy 4" *Maiko Haaaan!!!...
(2000) - Love Will Begin ~ Blue Sky, The Sun and The WindFumina Harais a Japanese actress and idol. She has played the role of Usagi Tsukino in the Sailor Moon musicals, and has gone on to a varied career. She has played the love interest in Aishiteruze Baby.-Filmography:*"Gun Crazy 4" *Maiko Haaaan!!!...
(2001) - Street Fighter Tribute AlbumStreet Fighter, commonly abbreviated as SF, is a series of Fighting Games developed in Japan in which the players pit the video games' competitive fighters from around the world, each with his or her own unique fighting style, against one another...
(2003) - Dark Chronicle Premium ArrangeDark ChronicleDark Chronicle , released as Dark Cloud 2 in North America, is a role-playing video game for the PlayStation 2 video game console...
(2004) - near death experience, SHADOW HEARTS ArrangetracksShadow Heartsis a series of role playing games for the PlayStation 2. The original Shadow Hearts was developed by Sacnoth and released by Midway in the United States on December 11, 2001. The sequel, Shadow Hearts: Covenant , was also made by the same group, although Sacnoth reformed itself into a company...
(2005) - Rogue Galaxy Premium ArrangeRogue Galaxyis a science fiction role-playing video game developed by Level-5 and SCE Japan Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. The game was first released in Japan on December 8, 2005, and later in North America on January 30, 2007...
(2006) - An Cinniuint (2008)
- Dariusburst Remix Wonder World (2010)
See also
- Music of Chrono TriggerMusic of Chrono TriggerThe Chrono series is a video game franchise developed and published by Square Enix . It began in 1995 with the time travel console role-playing game Chrono Trigger, which spawned two continuations, Radical Dreamers and Chrono Cross...
- Music of Chrono CrossMusic of Chrono CrossThe Chrono series is a video game franchise developed and published by Square Enix . It began in 1995 with the time travel console role-playing game Chrono Trigger, which spawned two continuations, Radical Dreamers and Chrono Cross. The music of Chrono Cross was composed by Yasunori Mitsuda, the...