Hitoshi Sakimoto News and Updates Thread

[Jormungand]

Hmm, I'd be reluctant about a piano arrangement album unless (in all seriousness) Hamauzu is the one arranging.

I'm actually a bit upset about this new international version. I haven't even finished FFXII yet but I can definitely say it would be a much better game (though it's already awesome) if the characters could access unique micro-boards within the larger license board. For once it's the North Americans who are getting screwed. :p

In other news, everyone knows cocoebiz is selling that Wizardry Audio Collections cd right? I was so surprised to find it when randomly browsing last week. I don't remember anyone posting about it, and I read everything on this board so...not sure how it slipped by.

[Lierre]

http://www.ffta2.com/

Click 'ムービー', and then 'SQEXパーティー', you can view a trailer ... while "Main Theme" has more 'loud' harpshichord and harp, this movie borrows "Boss Battle" even from FFXII. Probably Sakimoto has yet worked on this game to the degree of giving a new composition at the moment...

[Lierre]

A new sample is online.

http://os.atlusnet.jp/sound/index.html

This is arranged and performed by Shanachie (http://www.cocoebiz.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4328&postcount=250). After "Prologue Movie", "Ivalice, the Other World" and some pieces of music from Legaia, it's a pretty unusual Celtic effort for Sakimoto, despite having someone else arranging it.

[Lierre]

As anticipated, it seems beside Sakimoto some other composers (obviously, Iwata) from Basiscape work on Odin Sphere too. Since the game looks really hard to beat though, it will take give or take one week for me to confirm the credit.

Maybe Odin Sphere will confirm what I've thought: Basiscape has expanded to give other composers a huge opportunity in the name of Hitoshi Sakimoto of FFT and FFXII fame (Of course excepted for Namiki, who obviously is a self-sustaining composer in the company), although I know it doesn't matter as long as they are talented and can interest Sakimoto fans.


EDIT:There are 44 to 47 tracks in the disc, some of them being just jingles. If I'm not wrong, only two tracks have live recordings:the main theme and the ending theme, with the latter being entirely arranged and performed by shanachie about one year ago.

In my initial impression, Odin Sphere has nothing innovative. The score pretty much is based on his usual orchestral, epic, exciting, tense and dark approach with some of his typical light-hearted pieces and one or two of Celtic contributions by the external musicians. However, I'm quite overlooking the bright side of things, since I've yet to play the game.

[Pastor Of Muppets]

"although I know it doesn't matter as long as they are talented and can interest Sakimoto fans."

Yeah, if their music is good it doesn't matter, no one knew who Nakano was before FF10 for example.
If you had to make an estimate though, about how much of the music is by Sakimoto/Iwata?

[Lierre]

If you had to make an estimate though, about how much of the music is by Sakimoto/Iwata?

First of all, I've not given a proper listen to the soundtrack (rip) at all, and I'm in the very early stage of the game. From what I heard in the gameplay (not the rip) though, were only Sakimoto and Iwata the composers, I'd say Sakimoto did 70 percent, and Iwata 30 percent, of all themes. Maybe some contributions would be Keneda or Kamikura's (E.G. one castle theme and one castle town theme), but as of this moment, I still think the bulk of Odin Sphere is composed by Sakimoto and Iwata.

Though I'm not certain if Odin Sphere is particularly memorable or remarkble, this is a very emotional and functional score. Even a simple strings or chorus creation really fits the sequence quite well. Sakimoto is a very good choice for this game, but a more serious and melancholic color, and less heavy orchestration would be really appreciated, since some field and dungeon themes (especially Iwata's) sound to me as if an innocent child teared around, while the story of Odin Sphere basically is a fairly dark and somber.

Btw, the game is pretty enjoyable and one of the most beautiful games in history, but it's a insanely lengthy, and therefore, repetitious game. It's too bad I currently have little time in playing such a game.

[Ovelia]

I found the lighter, woodwind-driven moment very enjoyable. I've found some Steve Reich imitations too, not sure who composed that witty little piece. :D

The ending song is so beautiful that it made me cry... This soundtrack is a must buy just for that song alone!

[Lierre]

Music composer
Hitoshi Sakimoto
Masaharu Iwata
Kimihiro Abe
Mitsuhiro Kaneda
Manabu Namiki
Music, sound and voice are totally produced by Basiscape (Miki Ito serves even as a VA).

This soundtrack fits the game well, but as I said before, more dark and depressing music as Sakimoto had done on VS and BoF would be really appreciated. However, I remember reading the interview where Sakimoto says "Just because the story or setting is dark doesn't mean the music should stick to that" or something to that effect. Maybe thier intensions are to encourage players, rather than to take them to the somber mood.

I have little idea on what tracks specifically are composed by other than Sakimoto and Iwata since I've yet to hear the rip that much. However, while this game has 8 realms and regions and each has two themes, I suspect the two of Ragnanival castle themes (both are just imitations of Iwata), the two of Ringford themes (the former is also an Iwata imitation, and the latter is very similar to a track in Fantasy Earth to which Namiki also contributed one track), and one of Titania theme (classical guiter and accordion are one of the last things Sakimoto and Iwata would use, even though the clarinet melody reminds me of Sakimoto) are Kaneda, Abe and Namiki's creations. Also, the theme for the first two last battle (very nice) and the old castle theme (Very emotional english horn. Often used in the game as a sorrow theme) are a bit different from Sakimoto and Iwata.


The ending song is so beautiful that it made me cry... This soundtrack is a must buy just for that song alone! For me, that is a sudden Celtic addition. I think the rest of this score which is straightforward orchestral music unfortunately makes the song out-of-place.

[Lierre]

Well, we got the roll back again? Heck, I'm going to repost what I did from 24th to 2th.

On 28th May - Sakimoto arranges one track from Soukyu Gurentai (aka Terra Diver) in this CD (http://www.gmronline.com/info.asp?CatNumber=VGCD-0087)

On 29th May - As for an Odin Sphere soundtrack being not recorded, a SHANACHIE member says they are asked to rerecord thier stuff if a soundtrack is published, and they have not recored it yet. So, I think it will be published a few more months later. (29th May)

On 2th June - 4 more trailers from Opoona. 1 (http://www.famitsu.com/fwtv/?669922) 2 (http://www.jeux-france.com/news20463_opoona-deux-nouvelles-videos.html) 3 (http://www.jeux-france.com/downloads7812_video-opoona.html) 4 (http://www.jeux-france.com/downloads7811_video-opoona.html)

Today - It seems the soundtrack of FFT The Lion war is sequenced on the system's sythesizer, hence it sounds a bit different from the PSX, while I assumed it would just use the original soundtrack and would stream it from the UMD disc (as was the case with VALKYRIE PROFILE PSP). Unless it's not ported by Tose who always use aliases, maybe I need to get the credits (it's confirmed Sakimoto didn't involved in this port).

Today - lastly, it's not related to Sakimoto, but Odin Sphere official site is updated and Iwata (http://os.atlusnet.jp/sound/swf/sound4.swf) and Kaneda (http://os.atlusnet.jp/sound/swf/sound3.swf)'s contributions are online. Whooa, I assumed the boss theme is Iwata's track and the castle theme is by Abe who tries to imitate Iwata. This is a proof of how my ears suck.

[Garamond]

On 28th May - Sakimoto arranges one track from Soukyu Gurentai (aka Terra Diver) in this CD (http://www.gmronline.com/info.asp?CatNumber=VGCD-0087)


I guess it might be "05 Above Satellite Orbit -CD Extra Mix- ", ya?

[Lierre]

Yep.

Sakimoto and Mitsuda will hold a small concert on July with Eminence in Japan, but I have to realized what areas Cocoebiz is for...

[Ovelia]

^ Here is the track list (I only list Sakimoto's since this is his official forum):

http://www.procyon-studio.com/info/info.html

Odin Sphere
Digimon Savers: Another Mission
Deltora Quest
Lia / Colors of Life
Romeo x Juliet

[Lierre]

http://www.bandaigames.channel.or.jp/list/ds_deltora/
http://www.bandaigames.channel.or.jp/movie/dsdeltoracm01_bja84z.asx
The official website of Deltora Quest and a commercial footage are online. The game is going to be released in 20th, September.

I'd assert this game won't sold well. No soundtrack will be released. Not a Sakimoto solo project either (someone called Kamikura and/or Abe do the large portion, while camouflaging thier bland and unimpressive Sakimoto imitations).

[Lierre]

I'm currently thinking of closing this thread. I'm not bored or tired, and I know some members still have visited this thread to read my prosaic posts, which I really appreciate. Yet, as of the moment, I think it better to close this thread for the sake of both the forum and myself.

If you think I'm complaining with little feedback being posted or few new memebers coming here, it's wrong. I don't think this thread deserves such (since most of my posts are just meh) and actually more memebers than expected have visited here, after all. I know this thread is a bit lame and odd, and as pointed out before, might've made this forum empty and cloistered. It would be really hard for a new comer to get info (if any), and more seriously, I'm not a person who can fascinate people. As you know I'm far from positive, constructive, honest, educated, open-minded and fluent in English, so I wouldn't be surprised if someone is displeased with me.

What strongly saddens and discourages me is I finally understood how its difficult to see Sakimoto loved. In a certain VGM forum of large size, some members always have made it sound as if talking with/voting for Sakimoto were a supreme crime, let alone liking his music, and don't hesitate to troll at all, which is one of the main reasons why I started this thread here. This case might be an extreme, yet I assume it doen't all that different with other forums. After all, this is a pretty heretical thread in the VGM industry.

There is a moderate likelihood of my changing my mind and I honestly no idea as to what to do. Either way, if you want to follow the latest VGM releases, including Sakimoto, it's the best to check GMRonline.

[Jormungand]

Lierre--I read every post you make and am very thankful for every bit of info you post, regardless of whether it's that big of a deal or not. It's very appreciated, just so you know. :)

[Ovelia]

to Lierre: This post is the main info source for me, and I have read every update and frequently made replies. I would be appreciated to see this thread go on.

But regarding the Sakimoto hate, I just recently quitted a Chinese VGM community gathering due to the same reason you have listed. I was planning to create a fansite only dedicated to Sakimoto and Basiscape in general (in Chinese though... not sure I can put up an English version), but the current situation is not quite favorable for me to gather people to work on the project.

Maybe you and I should both cheer up a little bit then. Start by doing little things and we would certainly get better results. :) I still have the SEMO review to write (although it's just for fun and participation now :D)

[Lierre]

You two guys always encourage me, really. After all, it was a really good thing that I started this thread. I may come to a conclusion in weeks and if I don't change my mind, I'll ask Fatigue to close this thread.

On a negative side of things, 2007 is a bad omen of Sakimoto leaning toward a businessman who has to feed his employees, rather than a composer who can afford to get away from mannerism or a thicker orchestration syndrome, and step himself up a notch. Still, he is my favorite comporser (were it not for Keiki Kobayashi, I'd say he is by far #1). Also, from what I heard, RxJ has a solid chance of being a new Sakimoto goodness. I don't worry about Sakimoto's future or my passion for this guy.

Being a Sakimoto fan, we might be at the edge of persecution in VGM communities (I know I'm hilariously overstating, yet some trollers actually say it as if liking/talking about Sakimoto were an absolute crime). As such, it always encourages me when I know there are some people who have the same taste and interest.

Finally, even if this thread discontinues, please keep posting here and starting threads if you want. I won't leave this forum either.

[Ovelia]

The so-called ghostwriter problem in Basiscape seemed to be less of a problem when I look at Media Ventures/Remote Control though. My guess is that Sakimoto/Basiscape has become a new favorite for developers. As long as credits are due, I wouldn't mind. And I don't mind Iwata/Kaneda's contributions as they are also great (I am recently in a Kaneda mode :D)

Regarding Romeo x Juliet... I am listening to Stravinsky right now, and I am trying to imagine Rite of Spring played by synthesizers. :D I'm awed by just the music itself, but I would say that live orchestral sound really added not just one layer to the music.

Edge of persecution is somewhat an overstatement of course, at least in my country. I personally know quite some Sakimoto fans. I only got large portion of negative reviews in general gaming forums where knowledge about VGM composers never exceed that of Uematsu or Mitsuda.

Maybe I'm just curious, but maybe you can PM me a link about those trolls to let me see how they react. I didn't find any (English-language, VGM-related) forums with trolls you mentioned. Those 'haters' (in a neutral sense) that I know as of now (and you probably know them too) are quite reasonable guys.

[RinoaDestiny]

Hitoshi Sakimoto's also currently slated as the guest of honor, appearing with Eminence for Otakon's musical lineup. It's making me go bananas to see if I can go this year or not, because man - it's like seeing the equivalent of a movie star for me. Just to see the man in person would be reward enough.

[Fatigue]

Due to the original author's request, I have closed this thread. Any news relating to Sakimoto should be posted elsewhere in his forum.