Takenobu Mitsuyoshi may just be Sega's best composer

[OzGuy]

Sega. Just - Sega. (THIS PART DELETED OUT OF SHEER WTF-NESS, SERIOUSLY. DUMBEST THING I HAVE EVER SAID...)

And Daytona USA... just... holy crap!

Takenobu Mitsuyoshi is just what this game needed. It's optimistic, catchy, and just plain awesome. I want to download the XBLA version just for the music.

I'm not sure I can describe it any better. You guys continue the love for Mitsuyoshi-san.

Edited April 12, 2019 by OzGuy

[DarkeSword]

1 hour ago, OzGuy said:

Sega. Just - Sega. Of all the companies in the world, it's their music that comes out on top. Uematsu is a moron with a Fisher-Price keyboard compared to what these guys can do.

And Daytona USA... just... holy crap!

Takenobu Mitsuyoshi is just what this game needed. It's optimistic, catchy, and just plain awesome. I want to download the XBLA version just for the music.

I'm not sure I can describe it any better. You guys continue the love for Mitsuyoshi-san.

 

What you said about Uematsu is a pretty bold—and frankly, very rude—claim. Given that this subforum specifically is meant to encourage a more analytical discussion of video game music, please elaborate: what about Mitsuyoshi's work on Daytona USA stands out and elevates him to such a degree over Uematsu's impressive and expansive body of work?

[Garpocalypse]

3 hours ago, OzGuy said:

Sega. Just - Sega. Of all the companies in the world, it's their music that comes out on top. Uematsu is a moron with a Fisher-Price keyboard compared to what these guys can do.

And Daytona USA... just... holy crap!

Takenobu Mitsuyoshi is just what this game needed. It's optimistic, catchy, and just plain awesome. I want to download the XBLA version just for the music.

I'm not sure I can describe it any better. You guys continue the love for Mitsuyoshi-san.

That's a bit over the line considering how supportive Uematsu has been to the community here. 

HOWEVER!! your outspoken passion for SEGA and Takenobu Mitsuyoshi is deeply reciprocated!  Can't go a summer without listening to Daytona's Skyhigh a few hundred dozen times.  Don't forget the other classic SEGA greats like Hideaki Miyamoto, Hiroshi Kawaguchi and Yuzo Koshiro!    

 

[OzGuy]

51 minutes ago, DarkeSword said:

What you said about Uematsu is a pretty bold—and frankly, very rude—claim. Given that this subforum specifically is meant to encourage a more analytical discussion of video game music, please elaborate: what about Mitsuyoshi's work on Daytona USA stands out and elevates him to such a degree over Uematsu's impressive and expansive body of work?

Okay, I take that back. Uematsu is undoubtedly a very good composer. However, his work is about being epic and mystical. Mitsuyoshi (and Sega, for that matter) makes music that's optimistic, cheerful, and fun-kay!

[OzGuy]

I would like to say that I am sorry about what I said about Uematsu. He is definitely not a moron - I've listened to his work, and it's amazing. I was drunk on Sega hype and I'd like to say that I wish not to practice such appalling netiquette ever again. I believe you can rule a line through sentences in posts? Because I seriously regret saying that.

Now that that's out of the way, let's get back to raving about Mitsuyoshi and never ever speak of that embarrassing post again.

[OzGuy]

You know what? How about someone delete this forum and we just talk about how great ALL of Sega's musicians are?

[OzGuy]

Well, after my... embarrassing Takenobu Mitsuyoshi praise-a-thon came to fruition and I sorta kinda bad-mouthed Nobuo Uematsu (which I take back more than anything I have ever said in my 14-year life, he's awesome) I had an idea. Why praise/discuss one Sega musician when you can praise/discuss all of them? Seriously! Sega has one hell of a music team!

Not as good/important/influential as Uematsu, but really close. We're talking yoctometers.

[Starphoenix]

While your enthusiasm is appreciated, might want to dial it back just a tad. Probably don't need two threads for what are, loosely, the same topic.

Having said that, Super Monkey Ball 2 has an absolutely phenomenal soundtrack that happens to be one of my personal favorites. Couldn't tell you who composed the soundtrack, and I'm too lazy to check right now.

 

 

 

[OzGuy]

Hidernori Shoji and Haruyoshi Tomita. You're welcome.

[DarkeSword]

Fellas, I feel as though we're not understanding the goal of the History and Study subforum. This is not a place to just post tracks you like and walk away, especially if you're "too lazy to check" who the composers of those tracks are. It's also not a place to just make a thread to say "this composer is really good" or "this composer is my favorite" and leave it at that. History and Study is, as @BardicKnowledge outlined in his welcome post, "to help describe why and how we have certain reactions to music, and to ask questions when we don't yet have that understanding.  Sometimes it might be what the music is doing in the context of something else -- gameplay, art direction, etc.  Sometimes it might be something neat about how the music is constructed or orchestrated.  Sometimes it might be how the music relates to other pieces of game, film, or art music."

If you want to discuss Takenobu Mitsuyoshi and other composers who have written for Sega's games, that's great. But the discussion needs to go beyond the superficial "I love Sega music composers." It needs to dig into how their music relates to the games they're in. Why does it fit? What does it accomplish? What techniques did the composer use that made this piece so effective in this section of the game?

[Starphoenix]

My bad DarkeSword. Didn't even notice these threads were under the music history forum. Just assumed this was the general music forum. Still no excuse for lazy posting on my part.

Anyhoo, to dive a bit deeper into why I enjoy the Super Monkey Ball 2 soundtrack in context of the game. Besides sounding good, the juxtaposition between these bright environments and characters with music that becomes increasingly more ambient and darker by the time you reach the last two boss worlds gives a unique feel to the game. Maybe if I had a little more music knowledge and experience I could dig into why that is, but just as someone who enjoys games and music the soundtrack did an excellent job of matching the environments, and in a game where you're dying frequently and having to replay stages countless times over, the last thing the music should do is become a nuisance. Perhaps that's why the music becomes more ambient as the game progresses: to not needlessly draw the player's attention as the difficulty of each stage ramps up. May not have been the intention, but definitely an interesting coincedence.

[OzGuy]

I have music knowledge! So I guess I have to talk about one of my fave Sega soundtracks now... um...

Oh! Jet Set Radio!

I actually have the OSTs to both JSR games on my iPhone... and wish to have the entire works of Hideki Naganuma on there one day... so I guess I have no other choice. So...

1. Why does it fit?

Well, first off, the "protagonists" are gangs who listen to a pirate radio station. A pirate radio station usually plays music that isn't considered "mainstream". Back in the early 00s (when JSR came out) that was big beat and indie rock. So what does Naganuma do? He puts his own spin on the Fatboy Slim ethos, brings in little-known band Guitar Vader, and even brings in Rob Zombie for the US soundtrack. This goes even further in JSRF, where the soundtrack has artists like Cibo Matto and Scapegoat Wax that no one has even heard of. 

2. What does it accomplish?

Let's take a look at the title screen of JSR for an example. You boot up the game and you're greeted with the game's logo (as well as Professor K shouting it out) and a Rudie is skating around Shibuya Terminal. But most important of all, Hideki Naganuma's funky-as-hell "Let Mom Sleep" is blaring in the background.

This music makes a statement, and that statement is Hey! You're playing something fresh and funky, yo, and you're about to have a BLAST!

Elsewhere, let's say Final Groove, "Grace and Glory" fits the creepy, demonic atmosphere that the so-called Devil's Contract is supposed be infused with, and in the Kogane residential area mission where "'Bout the City" is playing, it creates a feeling of rocking out and tearing up the establishment - which the Rudies are definitely all about.

In JSRF, "Funky Dealer" is the song that kicks off your graffiti streak, and there's only one thing this song could possibly be saying - WELCOME TO DA CLUB, BIYATCH!

3. What techniques did Hideki Naganuma use that made this piece so effective in this section of the game?

"Let Mom Sleep" has various elements that blend together to make it the bar-setting funkfest that it is. The use of the brass samples at the beginning of the song has to be commended, as they add a funky 'kick' to the end of the first two bars. The organ sample from "Opposites Attract" helps to launch the song, too. Pretty much everything from the drums to the samples of 'Mom' complaining about the radio is used to maintain that all-important, rebellious, Rudie funk.

Going back to "Grace and Glory", the chanting and organ at the start perfectly reinforce what the Devil's Contract is rumoured to do, and the mystical, evil feeling doesn't stop there. Naganuma-san uses samples of people screaming in pain, for crying out loud! The funk's still there, though, in the form of the bassline - though it has just the right soundfont to make you feel spooked out.

That more along the lines of what you wanted, Darke?

[DarkeSword]

Perfect.

[OzGuy]

Great!

Your turn, btw

[BardicKnowledge]

On 3/28/2017 at 0:01 PM, Starphoenix said:

My bad DarkeSword. Didn't even notice these threads were under the music history forum. Just assumed this was the general music forum. Still no excuse for lazy posting on my part.

Anyhoo, to dive a bit deeper into why I enjoy the Super Monkey Ball 2 soundtrack in context of the game. Besides sounding good, the juxtaposition between these bright environments and characters with music that becomes increasingly more ambient and darker by the time you reach the last two boss worlds gives a unique feel to the game. Maybe if I had a little more music knowledge and experience I could dig into why that is, but just as someone who enjoys games and music the soundtrack did an excellent job of matching the environments, and in a game where you're dying frequently and having to replay stages countless times over, the last thing the music should do is become a nuisance. Perhaps that's why the music becomes more ambient as the game progresses: to not needlessly draw the player's attention as the difficulty of each stage ramps up. May not have been the intention, but definitely an interesting coincedence.

Wanted to chime in and say that this is a great analysis.  That it doesn't contain specific jargon I could care less about -- I'm motivated to track down the relevant stages and listen for myself after reading since I missed out on Super Monkey Ball.  From this, I'm reminded a little of the final stage of Katamari Damacy in which the music is particularly less upbeat compared to the euphoric whimsy (visually and aurally) on display in the opening stages.