Michiko Naruke
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese
video game music composer, well-known for her work in the Wild Arms
series.
and Riot, but many people who worked for these two companies left, and along with Naruke, later started working for Media.Vision
. She has composed music for games outside of the Wild ARMs series, such as Psycho Dream
on the Super Famicom
and the Tenshi no Uta series on the PC Engine
. While it has been speculated that Naruke composed under the psudonym "Hassy" for the @MIDI albums, the composer herself has stated that Hassy is a separate individual.
She has made a number of songs for Media.Vision's Wild ARMs series. Occasionally, the main theme and ending theme of the Wild ARMs songs will contain lyrics, formerly being sang by Machiko Watanabe and Kaori Asoh
. Most recently, for the tenth anniversary, a new vocalist has been introduced, Nana Mizuki
. Her compositions in the Wild ARMs series include her signature whistling parts, whistled by Naoki Takao. Naruke has composed more than 400 songs for the Wild ARMs series. However, during the development of Wild ARMs: The 4th Detonator, Naruke fell ill, marking the first time in the Wild ARMs series that she did not compose the entire soundtrack.
), it is possible that one of her musical inspirations is Ennio Morricone
. The fact that she has two memorial items from two composers implies that other inspirations were Jerrald King Goldsmith
and Johann Sebastian Bach
.
In an interview for Wild ARMs: Piece of Tears, Naruke revealed items which she values, including her keyboard and rhythm machine, a pamphlet of Jerry Goldsmith, a figure of Kurokishi from "Gingaman", an original score of Bach, and a memorial vinyl disc.
Kanako Ito's Orchestra
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
video game music composer, well-known for her work in the Wild Arms
Wild Arms
is a role-playing game developed by software company Media.Vision and originally released in Japan in 1996 for the Sony PlayStation video game console and was later translated and released in North America in 1997 and Europe in 1998 by Sony Computer Entertainment...
series.
Composing career
She used to work for Telenet JapanTelenet Japan
was a Japanese video game and software developer founded in October 1983 by Kazuyuki Fukushima. The company was also known as Nippon Telenet . The company was best known for the Valis series as well as its Wolfteam & RiOT divisions...
and Riot, but many people who worked for these two companies left, and along with Naruke, later started working for Media.Vision
Media.Vision
Media.Vision is a Japanese video game developer best known for the Wild Arms series of video game RPGs.-PlayStation:* Crime Crackers* Crime Crackers 2...
. She has composed music for games outside of the Wild ARMs series, such as Psycho Dream
Psycho Dream
is a 1992 video game for the Super Famicom. An attempt to release it in North America as Dream Probe failed; so it remained in exclusively in the Japanese market.-Summary:...
on the Super Famicom
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
and the Tenshi no Uta series on the PC Engine
TurboGrafx-16
TurboGrafx-16, fully titled as TurboGrafx-16 Entertainment SuperSystem and known in Japan as the , is a video game console developed by Hudson Soft and NEC, released in Japan on October 30, 1987, and in North America on August 29, 1989....
. While it has been speculated that Naruke composed under the psudonym "Hassy" for the @MIDI albums, the composer herself has stated that Hassy is a separate individual.
She has made a number of songs for Media.Vision's Wild ARMs series. Occasionally, the main theme and ending theme of the Wild ARMs songs will contain lyrics, formerly being sang by Machiko Watanabe and Kaori Asoh
Kaori Asoh
' is a Japanese actress and voice actress.*Originally she was an actor.*She did a voice work in Nurse Angel Ririka SOS. She also sang two of the ending themes.*After this work, she performed to the supervisor work of Daichi Akitaro....
. Most recently, for the tenth anniversary, a new vocalist has been introduced, Nana Mizuki
Nana Mizuki
is a popular Japanese singer-songwriter and voice actress. She was born and raised in Niihama, Ehime, Japan, Mizuki was trained as an enka singer. She made her debut as a voice actress in 1998; however, she released her debut single "Omoi", under the King Records label on December 6, 2000...
. Her compositions in the Wild ARMs series include her signature whistling parts, whistled by Naoki Takao. Naruke has composed more than 400 songs for the Wild ARMs series. However, during the development of Wild ARMs: The 4th Detonator, Naruke fell ill, marking the first time in the Wild ARMs series that she did not compose the entire soundtrack.
Possible inspirations
Naruke's music has an old-western feel to it, using guitars, whistling, banjos, harmonicas, et cetera. Because several of her melodies are taken from classic old-western film soundtracks (such as The Ecstasy of GoldThe Ecstasy of Gold
"The Ecstasy of Gold" is a musical composition by Ennio Morricone, part of his score for the Sergio Leone film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly...
), it is possible that one of her musical inspirations is Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone, Grand Officer OMRI, , is an Italian composer and conductor, who wrote music to more than 500 motion pictures and television series, in a career lasting over 50 years. His scores have been included in over 20 award-winning films as well as several symphonic and choral pieces...
. The fact that she has two memorial items from two composers implies that other inspirations were Jerrald King Goldsmith
Jerry Goldsmith
Jerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer and conductor most known for his work in film and television scoring....
and Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
.
In an interview for Wild ARMs: Piece of Tears, Naruke revealed items which she values, including her keyboard and rhythm machine, a pamphlet of Jerry Goldsmith, a figure of Kurokishi from "Gingaman", an original score of Bach, and a memorial vinyl disc.
Musicians
Recurring musicians- Female Voice: Machiko Watanabe, Kaori AsohKaori Asoh' is a Japanese actress and voice actress.*Originally she was an actor.*She did a voice work in Nurse Angel Ririka SOS. She also sang two of the ending themes.*After this work, she performed to the supervisor work of Daichi Akitaro....
, Nana MizukiNana Mizukiis a popular Japanese singer-songwriter and voice actress. She was born and raised in Niihama, Ehime, Japan, Mizuki was trained as an enka singer. She made her debut as a voice actress in 1998; however, she released her debut single "Omoi", under the King Records label on December 6, 2000... - Chorus & Whistle: Naoki Takao
- Chorus: Shin'ichi Naruke
- Guitars: Yoshiharu Izutsu
Kanako Ito's Orchestra
- 1st Violins: Kanako Ito, Emiko Hagino, Takayuki Oshigane, Masako Hamada, Mie Murao, Makiko Yamamoto
- 2nd Violins:Hiroki Muton, Kazuo Watanabe, Izumi Hisanaga, Miyoko Tsubuku
- Violas: Rieko Kouno, Makoto Motoi
- Cellos: Toshihiko Tsuchida, Hajime Terai
- Trumpets: Eric Miyashiro, Koji Nishimura
- Trombones: Satoshi Sano, Mitsuaki Uchida
- Oboe: Toru Himeno
Discography
- Valis III Original Soundtrack [1990] (co-composer)
- Tenshi no Uta [1991] (co-composer with Shinobu Ogawa)
- Psycho Dream [1992]
- Tenshi no Uta 2: Datenshi no Sentaku [1993] (composer)
- Tenshi no Uta: Shiroki Tsubasa no InoriTenshi no Uta: Shiroki Tsubasa no Inoriis a video game published by Telenet Japan for the Super Famicom in 1994. It is the third episode in the Tenshi no Uta RPG series, but is not a true sequel to the first and second episodes previously released on the PC Engine. Many members of Wolfteam were involved with this project...
[1994] (co-composer with Motoi SakurabaMotoi Sakurabais a Japanese composer of video games, anime series, and television dramas as well as independent progressive rock albums.-Biography:Motoi Sakuraba was born in Akita Prefecture, Japan...
) - Wild ARMs Original Game Soundtrack [1996]
- Wild ARMs DRAMA vol. 1 [1998] (composer)
- Wild ARMs: 2nd Ignition Original SoundtrackWild ARMs: 2nd Ignition Original SoundtrackWild Arms: 2nd Ignition Original Soundtrack is the incomplete original score to Media.Vision's 1999 RPG video game, Wild Arms 2. It is the biggest soundtrack through the whole Wild Arms series, containing more than 100 songs.-Information:...
[1999] - Wild ARMs: Advanced 3rd Original SoundtrackWild ARMs: Advanced 3rd Original SoundtrackWild Arms: Advanced 3rd Original Soundtrack is the complete soundtrack to Media.Vision's 2002 RPG, Wild Arms 3. It marks the first time a Wild Arms soundtrack has been released completely, rather than half of the soundtrack being on one disc, or songs being less than one minute.-Information:This...
[2002] - alone the world: Wild ARMs Vocal CollectionAlone the world: Wild ARMs Vocal CollectionAlone the World is a Wild Arms vocal arrangement album.-Information:This is the first arrangement album of the Wild Arms series. It is a vocal arrangement, with all songs sang by Kaori Asoh and composed by Michiko Naruke. Wild Arms Vocal Collection is commonly treasured and praised amongst fans of...
[2002] (composer) - WILD ARMS: 2nd IGNITION ORIGINAL DRAMA [2002] (composer)
- WILD ARMS: Advanced 3rd ORIGINAL DRAMA [2002] (composer)
- The Elegy of the Battle [2003] (original composer for track 8)
- Wild ARMs: Alter Code: F Original Score [2004]
- Wild ARMs: the 4th Detonator Original Score [2005] (co-composer)
- Wild Arms Complete Tracks [2006]
- Wild ARMs Music the Best -feeling wind-Wild ARMs Music the Best -feeling wind-Wild Arms Music the Best is a series of arrangement albums from Media.Vision's Wild Arms series. This is the first album released under the title "Music the Best", -feeling wind-, a piano arrangement album.-Information:...
[2006] (composer) - Wild ARMs Music the Best -rocking heart-Wild ARMs Music the Best -rocking heart-Wild Arms Music the Best is a series of arrangement albums from Media.Vision's Wild Arms series. This is the second album released under the title "Music the Best", -rocking heart-, a rock arrangement album.-Information:Original Composition...
[2006](composer) - FM Sound Module Maniax [2006] (co-composer, arranger)
- Wild ARMs: the Vth Vanguard Original Score vol. 1 [2006] (co-composer)
- Wild ARMs XF: Crossfire [2007] (original composer, lyrist)
- 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...
[2007] (arranger: "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Medley", "Bramble Blast") - RIZ-ZOAWDRIZ-ZOAWDThe Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road, known in Japan as RIZ-ZOAWD, is a role-playing video game for the Nintendo DS. It was developed by the Japanese video game developer Media.Vision. The game is an adaptation of L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, using its...
(co-composer 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...
) - Nora to Toki no Kōbō: Kiri no Mori no MajoNora to Toki no Kōbō: Kiri no Mori no Majois a Japan-exclusive role-playing video game developed by Atlus, which was released on July 21, 2011.-Story:"The island in the lake, a forest inhabited by witch Vera's mist" is a legend in the town of Tenperina....
[2011] (composer)
External links
- Official Website (Japanese language)
- Artist profile at OverClocked ReMixOverClocked ReMixOverClocked 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...
- Wild ARMs Homepage