My first major video game project was Super Push Adventure, which you can find and download here. The actual soundtrack is wholly composed by yours truly, but I didn't arrange it myself. Instead, I had two folks help me with taking my MIDI works and turn them into soundfont-sounding goodness. One was Natasha Gita, a composer from Australia while the other was a good friend of mine, Avery Waddell of Webster University.
The current two WIP soundtracks for two WIP games are for Chickadee and Legends of Adrigal. Unlike the music from Super Push Adventure, the music I'm composing here is something I'm arranging myself via Reaper. For all of my music, check out my Bandcamp page. Everything should be free to listen to and download.
Regardless, let's get to the nitty-gritty and the point of this article after all that introduction! My musical sense and style didn't just come from out of nowhere. No, like most everyone with the ability to, I've been listening to and enjoying music since childhood. However, my preferences even as a child were quite different than normal-- well, if "normal" is such a thing that even exists, but that's a philosophical discussion for another day and a different blog! (Hee-hee.)
Growing up playing video games as my favorite hobby, I remember being so entranced by all the facets of the games I played. One such facet was a game's soundtrack. Before the days I soundtracks being easily obtainable through purchasing them online or through other means like downloading, I used to take a boom box, an empty cassette tape, and record music from games, specifically from their sound test menus if such a thing existed in a given game. Sure, the sound was terrible with its high pitches, feedback, and such, but it allowed me to listen to the catchy themes of games and series like Mega Man X, Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario, Final Fantasy, and more.
I'd like to take the rest of this post to reveal some of the talent and composers that have most influenced and inspired my own musical style and tastes the most, including a brief history of my experience with each talent's works, as well as some included samples from their robust catalogs. (As always with YouTube videos, don't bother to read the comments.)
Yoko Kanno
My first meeting with Yoko Kanno's work was with the 1999 anime Cowboy Bebop (an absolute treasure of a show, anime or not). Here, I was introduced to how flexible of a composer she really is, offering music in genres like jazz, rock, heavy metal, funk, opera, and much more. Immediately I felt the need to peruse her hefty repertoire of music, finding works from shows like Brain Powerd (yes, I spelled that correctly, funnily enough), Turn A Gundam, and then future projects like Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Macross Frontier, Wolf's Rain, and so much more. Her works inspire me to be a better composer, step outside of my comfort zone, try out multiple genres of music, and just try to improve as much as I can with my limited skill set.
Nobuo Uematsu
Without question the video game composer that has influenced my works the most when it concerns material from Legends of Adrigal, Nobuo Uematsu is best known for his work on the Final Fantasy mainline series from the very first Final Fantasy up until Final Fantasy XI. By X and XI, the soundtracks were a collaboration of multiple composers rather than wholly Uematsu's contributions. Regardless, Uematsu's masterful works pushed forward what the idea of a video game soundtrack could be, even offering an entire opera (although in digitized form) in Final Fantasy VI in 1994. He's done other projects since leaving the Final Fantasy series and starting his own company, Smile Please, with soundtracks for games like Fantasy Life for the Nintendo 3DS, and even contributing the main theme to Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. Brawl on Wii.
Koji Kondo
Mostly taking a supervisory role at Nintendo nowadays, Koji Kondo was the musical voice of many of Nintendo's top games from the NES and on, including Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, and more. His ability to create simple yet catchy themes is something that is truly amazing and something he very much has a knack for. As stated, his role at Nintendo now is mostly to oversee other composers' works, but he does still do the occasional new melody or theme, such as his contributions to both Super Mario Galaxy soundtracks and his work with Super Mario Maker, where for the first time in decades he was the main composer.
Motoi Sakuraba
Composer behind the Star Ocean series and many of the games from the Tales franchise, Motoi Sakuraba's music can be described as progressive in every stretch of the word. Whether it's through masterful rock and roll or something more classical like, well, classical music! My favorite works from Sakuraba include the warm sounding synth from the original PlayStation's Star Ocean: The Second Story as well as him contributing some of the most memorable and powerful themes from the Nintendo 3DS game, Kid Icarus: Uprising, which in itself held a motley crew of well known Japanese video game music composers.
Yasunori Mitsuda
A composer that doesn't do much in the way of work for substantially large, incredibly hyped games that much anymore, if you've played games like Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, Xenogears, and even stuff like the original Mario Party, Shadow Hearts, Soma Bringer, Soul Sacrifice, Graffiti Kingdom, or Bomberman 64: The Second Attack, then you've heard his stuff before. His style can be described as minimalistic at times while slightly audacious at others. Regardless of the time, it's always something special. His melodies bestow the listener with a lasting impression that resonates well.
Jon Anderson (and Yes)
Last but certainly (definitely) not least, let's get away from anime and game music for this final musical inspiration and influence. Jon Anderson was a founding member of the progressive rock band Yes, and currently continues his solo work and collaborations with multiple artists. Jon Anderson is the lone vocal artist on this list, and his voice can be described as pure angelic and magical. The only gripe I have with Mr. Anderson is that he sometimes sings at too high of an octave for me to sing along with! His work with Yes is historic and classic, while his solo work is also quite wonderful. The progressive rock styling that Anderson exudes is a grand inspiration, always making me wonder how far I can take my music in the future. Maybe I could add some vocals in the future with some better technology? ...Maybe not! Hee-hee!
I hope you enjoyed this look and listen to some of my favorite influences and inspirations over the years to my own musical styles. To say I'm anywhere near these geniuses with my own compositions would be folly for sure! But I can always try to improve myself and make myself the best I can possibly be by listening to these fantastic musical talents!
