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Favorite Composers


Gregzilla

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Who likes music??

 

tumblr_lyrxviQmCL1r4glwho1_500.gif

 

WHO DOESN'T.

 

I like music.  You like music.  We all like music.  But hey, music don't grow on trees, and it's gotta come from somewhere.  Without music composers, our favorite games and films would feel pretty naked, and it's something I think deserves a ton of appreciation.  With all the advancements in orchestras, digital music creation, and the sheer number of musicians out there, it can be pretty tough to stand out from the crowd.  So here's a topic dedicated to appreciating our favorite composers!  (It can be for music in pretty much any form, but when making this topic I mostly had games and films in mind).

 

Personally I find it difficult to nail down one favorite, but lately I've been especially appreciative of Akira Yamaoka.

 

 

Yamaoka is primarily known as the main sound designer and musician of most of the Silent Hill games.  As a big fan of the first three games of the series, I can safely say that they wouldn't be anywhere near as good experiences without his sound work.  He has an amazing talent over a very wide range of music - at times he creates beautiful piano pieces, other times it's some otherworldly ambience, other times it's hard rock, and sometimes it's just unsettling noise that seems nonsensical and yet sticks with you remarkably.  It all pieces together to form an incredibly uncomfortable, and yet somehow beautiful atmosphere.

 

 

At the end of the day his work, to me, is just strange and intriguing.  It is some of the most interesting music out there.  And to me that's something I can admire - I love hearing things I've never heard before, music that can't be mistaken for anyone else, sounds that no one else would even think to put together.  It's the same as visual or interactive art; my favorite kinds are the ones that take me to another world.

 

So that's one thing I like in a composer.  But music comes in many forms and styles, and everyone's got their tastes.  Now's a chance to introduce others to your favorites!

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My absolute favourite composer, who has composed my ultimate pieces of video game music is undoubtedly Yoko Shimomura. I'm a huge sucker for orchestra, and primarily piano and violin, and what she can do with them is amazing. She can make the most beautiful sounding music, to something enchanting or something that get you pumping for an epic fight. 

 

 

Kingdom Hearts is where her music shines the brightest, and rightly so - it's still arguably some of the best music in video games. She can capture characters themes brilliantly and creates music perfectly encapsulating worlds the source material is based off. Probably her most recognised piece from the titles is Dearly Beloved, which always sound amazing regardless of the interpretation. 

 

 

But Dearly Beloved isn't her favourite track of mine - my favourite piece is probably Vector to the Heavens. Something that so beautifully balances the melancholy of fighting this final boss with the stakes at hand, and the emotions of the journey travelled with her. I dunno how but it balances action, drama and emotion perfectly. It sounds great in 358/2 HD, but her interpretation in memoria! is incredible. 

 

 

I have other favourites but she is my absolute top. *ahem* okay done gushing 

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Whoever composed Freedom Planet's soundtrack probably shot up to the top. I don't know who composed it, though, so to google I go!

 

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So yeahh, those folks in the purple part. My god, it's hard to use Lightshot's highlighter feature.

 

In all seriousness, it may be a bit of a stretch to refer to that little trio as my favorite videogame composers of all time due to a lack of collaborative work outside of Freedom Planet as well as the fact that the only time I've heard any music composed by the trio is in the soundtrack for the game itself, but I do feel this soundtrack to be an absolute master stroke in every way. I haven't stopped listening to it since I started playing the game - it works great as a standalone soundtrack, as well as doing its job to enhance the gameplay perfectly. It fits so well with the game and it works just as well by itself. 

 

Just a masterpiece of a soundtrack, honestly, and I love it enough to feel comfortable elevating those three above any other videogame or movie composers that I know of.

 

A couple of my favorites from the soundtrack:

 

 

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One of my favorite composers is Masakazu Sugimori, I really would like his name to be more well known, what did he bring us?

https://youtu.be/wq1jknZp0ic

 

That's right this is the guy who composed a lot of music for the Ace Attorney games, in specific he composed for the first game, which has one of my favorite soundtracks in the series, bringing a sense of excitement in every battle of objections and hold its and fitting theme music when meeting the eccentric cast out of court.

 

He also composed some music for Viewtiful Joe and Ghost Trick, when it comes to music, he is one of Capcom's best.

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Yoko Shimomura also happens to be on of the best composers I've ever heard, like holy crap

 

 

the Kingdom Hearts musicccccccc

 

But moving on, I'm going to touch on another composer that I really like. He's not my super super favorite, but his music is pretty much great in every single video game he does.

 

220px-JeremySouleByAE2011.jpg

 

That's right, i'm talking about Jeremy Soule. From Skyrim to the Harry Potter video games, he never ceases to amaze me with songs that have epic choruses and great orchestral sounds. While I like the work he's done on the Elder Scrolls games, I'm more fond of the music he did in the Harry Potter video games.

 

That's right, the Harry Potter video games.

 

https://youtu.be/X4MNAs1SXug

 

Holy crap, I swear for the early 2000s this was some of the best music I've heard at a young age. It would totally fit in a Harry Potter movie but it's on it's own just great music that also happens to accompany with a surprisingly not trash tie-in games. The tracks in these games have touched me for ages and to this day they are part of what made me a lover of video games. They are what made me who I am. Basically.

 

There's so many other composers I like, but that's for another day, right?

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I needed this topic. So, so much. There's so many musicians I want to talk about later, but I have one in particular that my words simply can't even do justice towards because his work is just so utterly phenomenal.

 

Joe_Hisaishi_2011.jpg

 

See this old guy? He looks nice, don't he? That's Joe Hisaishi. Any of you who are into anime or Japanese culture in general may at least have heard his name even once, and for damn good reason may I add. To me, he's basically the Japanese John Williams. His music is just as recognizable, exuberant, epic and touching all the same, even possibly moreso than good ol' Johnny's. A huge part is due to how much of a sucker I am for orchestral/classic music, and hot damn does Joe's music deliver. Joe has composed and condudcted the music to all of Hayao Miyazaki's films, the two worked together for twenty-nine years. Castle in the Sky? Kiki's Delivery Service? Princess Mononoke? Spirited Away? Howl's Moving Castle? And that's only some of the films he's done for Miyazaki. Now with that said, he's a particular track I love, and what I consider to be his greatest film score:

 

 

The de-facto main theme to Howl's Moving Castle. Seriously, just listen to it. THAT FUCKIN' VIOLIN.

 

And I've got another track I've always loved in particular, going to share another one after this:

 

 

This is just so damn adventurous and rousing. If Ghibli were to have ever done Zelda movie, Joe would've been perfect for the music.

 

And last, but not least...

 

 

My favorite track from my favorite film of all-time, Spirited Away. It's even better when in actual context with the scene it accompanies, it's just so serene yet sorrowful, and made me feel emotions that I couldn't even describe myself when I first saw the film.

 

So yeah, I'm done gushing. I just really love Hisaishi's music.

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For a dude who has only composed three complete soundtracks in his career (from what I know), Masakazu Sugimori has made some of the most memorable soundtracks in Capcom's repertoire. It kind of blows my mind that he's never been brought back to do another Ace Attorney game; Iwadare's stuff is pretty good, but it lacks that special punch that Sugimori brought to the first game's most intense, dramatic moments. Naturally, he brings a similar strength to Ghost Trick, and his music in Viewtiful Joe is one of the many prominent factors that cements it as one of my favorite games of all time. VJ2's soundtrack is pretty okay, but you can tell it was by someone else trying to imitate Sugimori, and there are fewer tracks I think are as strong.

 

Another fave is Jake Kaufman. His music for Shantae is pretty nice; I actually don't listen to their soundtracks a whole lot except while playing the games though. I think his best work is for both Mighty Switch Force games. The first one is amazing in just about every way, but somehow he managed to outdo himself in the second one and then some. Ultimately, I think my personal favorite OST by him is DuckTales Remastered - it's not just the remixes that are great but also the few original tracks too; Mount Vesuvius is the final level theme the original NES game deserved but never had. Plus, while The Moon was my favorite song in the NES version, Jake's takes on The Amazon and Transylvania go above and beyond and are my actual favorite returning tracks.

 

Jun Ishikawa is basically the Koji Kondo of the Kirby games. Hirokazu Ando, his frequent partner in crime, has taken over his role as the main Kirby guy (kind of like how Ohtani is currently Sonic's head composer in lieu of Jun Senoue), but I think Jun's stuff is ever so slightly better and more memorable than Ando's. Aside from the cutscene music, he did the entirety of Kirby 64, which has level music unparalleled in the platforming genre. He was also responsible for all of Kirby's Dream Land 1 and 3, and most of Super Star's. I don't know much else of what he's done outside of the Kirby series, particularly since HAL rarely ventures into other IPs these days, so like Masakazu Sugimori, my love for him is based on a select few soundtracks I believe are indicative of his talent.

 

Also, Fumie Kumatani is the absolute best Sonic has ever had and I am so fucking disappointed that she's apparently no longer with Sega and has dropped off the face of the planet. Name any game she had involvement in and chances are she's done some of its best pieces. I think she shines best in Sonic Unleashed, doing only one day stage BUT handling a lot of the werehog music and hub themes. Her style complements Naofumi Hataya and Tomoko Sasaki extremely well in NiGHTS into Dreams, which I love about as much as Unleashed's soundtrack. While we're on Sonic I'm also gonna mention Kenichi Tokoi here; I tend to group him and Fumie as a pair, and together they helped bring many 3D Sonic games to life.

 

But my actual favorite video game composer is probably David Wise. Donkey Kong Country 2 is one of the rare soundtracks where every song is good. I think it blows DKC1's music out of the water, which had excellent ambient stuff but for the most part didn't have actual melodies accompanying the pieces, so I tend to not like listening to it outside of the game. His music for the GBA version of DKC3 is some of the most amazing shit to come out of that handheld's abysmal sound chip, although ironically I don't think it fits the game nearly as well as Eveline Fischer's soundtrack; some of it is a little too good for DKC3, most notably Stilt Village, which I think is a much better song than the SNES version but doesn't fit the basic, tame nature of the level itself. So I think both soundtracks are pretty great, just for different reasons.

 

However I think Tropical Freeze is David's best work yet. I'm not entirely sure if the game was a solo production by him, since he has indicated in interviews that he collaborated with Kenji Yamamoto and Scott Petersen, but the game's credits list him as the sole composer with Kenji as the music supervisor. Nevertheless, the majority of the game's music is in line with his style, so I'm pretty certain he at least did the lion's share, and if not then I can admire the other musicians for maintaining a consistent quality throughout the game. I can name a shitload of music that could qualify as my favorites: the remixes for Stickerbush Symphony and Lockjaw's Saga, Grassland Groove, Busted Bayou, Harvest Hazards (and its underwater version), Homecoming Hijinxs, Punch Bowl... These new songs have a charm that isn't found in DKCR's overwhelmingly bland soundtrack and matches, and at times even surpasses, David's work on the SNES.

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I'm pretty sure it's not even possible to pirate most of his music seeing as how he offers them for free on his site

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I'm pretty sure it's not even possible to pirate most of his music seeing as how he offers them for free on his site

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I know we're mostly talking about composers for games and movies and stuff, but my all-time favorite composer is the Late Romantic composer, Guillaume Lekeu.  His music is perhaps the most perfect blend of what is both acceptable from a classical standpoint as well as what is familiar to us from a modern perspective.  This is music that you don't necessarily need to develop an ear for classical music in order to appreciate.  His most prolific work is his Violin Sonata in G. Major.  It's a 30 minute piece so sit down and enjoy the feels.

 

https://youtu.be/0CqhCxKeTs4

 

This piece was written towards the very end of his life, so we sadly will never know how he may have matured and improved (or relapsed, if that were the case) as time went on.  Why must the good die young?! ;_;

 

Another really poignant and emotional piece is Adagio pour Quatuor d'Orchestre.  Listen to just five seconds of this piece and you'll see what I mean.  So much emotion flows through those strings before the lead violin even steps in.  It's a hauntingly beautiful piece of work.

 

https://youtu.be/gdOMn468FN8

 

Since we're discussing video game composers, I feel I should give a mention to Kenta Nagata, whom you might recognize from Mario Kart 64.  Every single track in that game is a hit.  All of them.  My favorites being Toad's Turnpike and, of course, Rainbow Road.

 

https://youtu.be/0tmFmp7Gw80

 

https://youtu.be/G2vA6Dngzhs

 

Beautiful, beautiful pieces of music.

 

Koji Kondo and Hajime Wakai.  They wrote the staff credits to Starfox 64 and holy shit.  God dammit I love it. <3

 

https://youtu.be/cpeTnDCvsNI

 

Last N64 title I swear.  Also by Koji Kondo

 

https://youtu.be/eVKj3u8JUm0

 

Puts me in tears every time.

 

https://youtu.be/e4XCk2HFdNc

 

David Wise is a genius.

 

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Brian Eno, responsible for "Music for Airports."  A really beautiful and calming piece.  I don't know a huge deal of his stuff, but everything he does is spectacular.

https://youtu.be/5KGMo9yOaSU

 

There are so many I want to list here but can't because my head is swirling with thoughts and I just want to embed every single video and ugh.  I fucking love music. D8

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How has nobody mentioned Jesper Kyd? He's the composer of Assassins Creed 1, 2 and Brotherhood but most of his most memorable tunes are definitely in the second Ass Creed. His music oozes with atmosphere and sound like they fit very much into the 16th century setting of Renaissance Italy. They're beautiful!

 

 

 

These two in particular are my favourites. I also love how they play in the game while you're wandering the streets of Florence, Venice and other cities. For some reason they don't do that in the latest Ass Creed games anymore, which I think is a shame because the music adds SO much to the setting. Argh.

 

Now Joe Hisaishi has already been mentioned, but what about some of his work on the videogame Ni No Kuni? All I can say is...it's magical. Just pure magic, and best of all? The game doesn't only look like a Ghibli film, but sounds like one!

 

 

 

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Neir Gesault is a interesting game. I like the story, the characters, the dialogue but the gameplay was not great. lol And the soundtrack for this game.... :wub:  my god, the soundtrack is so good, especially the songs. Keiichi Okabe is a great composer and adding Emi Evans for vocal was an absolute perfect fit. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seriously though, this soundtrack is so underrated. It's sad. 

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I will not say favorite, but I love Frederic Francois Chopin's music.

 

Here is a piece you must have heard at some point or another.

 

You might have heard this one of his works at funerals.

 

A lovely piece that I believe was inspired by watching a playful dog.

 

There's also Yui Makino. A seiyuu. singer and also a pianist. She plays the piano in such a beautiful way that it melts the heart into raw joy.

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  • 3 weeks later...

One of my favorite composers is Steve Jablonsky, his work on Transformers is fun, catchy and beautiful in my opinion.

 

I mean, who doesn't know Arrival To Earth?

 

 

The thing I look for in scores is catchy melodies that leave me humming them for days or even years.

 

 

 

Say what you will about any aspect of the Transformers films, but I look forward to its score every film.

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I'm amazed no one has mentioned the one who I call a master of sound.  He helped make icons, tunes you've probably hummed every now and again.

 

John Williams.

 

He made the Superman, the Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Close Encounters, E.T., Jaws and of course, Star Wars icons in the musical world.  He's been Spielberg's wing man when it comes to music and is the most influential person in film score culture.  The man has become a giant in the composing world that continues to grow bigger with every movie and let's face it, no matter how much Force Awakens might possibly fail to impress, at least his score will.

 

On a good day, I'd probably say more, but that'll be my two cents.

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  • 2 months later...

Frank Sinatra... I don't think anymore words are needed.

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Lovely. These composers above sound interesting.

Ok, so..

Kajiura Yuki. She composed scores for mamy animes, games, and TV series/dramas. I have read she mixes popular music with the classical sounds I love her world (singers, musicians, etc). Personally, I loved her own language, "Kajiurago", a bunch of "meaningless", random words, inspired by idioms, such as latin, etc , they let the singers perfom in a "free" style, givin personal meaning and direction to these random words.

Songs like:

etc

 •Shawn Harris. He's just a dude from the punk scene (well, he used to be) I just happen to really praise everything he has done, and everything he's now doing. Currently, he's going solo

 

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Now, these composers below aren't my "favs", they aren't because I'm not fully aware of their works, but they deserve a mention, cause my love is on process, or they are on my target list.

•Sakamoto Ryuchi: A pianistI have heard little of him

 

• Michiru Ooshima: Her work on the Sora no Woto anime soundtrack is something I really praise and love. Someday I'm going to know her more, and no, I don't know where to start

 

 Megumi Mori: A guitarrist and singer. I'm slowly getting to know her. Hehe it's funny how she catch my atention with many of her songs.

 

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*BONUS*, Sonic? someone mentioned Fumie Kumatani, and I say ok :) 

Edited by MegaSonic
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  • 3 weeks later...

Being a worshipper of electronic music, I like the works of Liam Howlett who is the founder of the band The Prodigy. And then I also like some of the works by the German band Kraftwerk (whose real names I don't know). And then there's a really talented French composer who goes by the long and peculiar name of Jean-Michel Jarre, whose earlier works I really love.

I used to like the Italian band Eiffel65 for a while, but nowadays they annoy me for some reason and I avoid them.

I'm assuming that dubstep artists are not considered authentic composers, so I'm omitting them from being mentioned in this post, but I do love their crafts as well.

And then whoever in Japan has composed the soundtrack for Sonic Rush and Sonic Rush Adventure is also regarded as my hero.

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