Michiru Yamane

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Michiru Yamane
山根ミチル
Born (1963-09-23) September 23, 1963 (age 61)
Video game composer, pianist
Years active1988–present
EmployerKonami (1988–2008)
Notable workCastlevania series

Michiru Yamane (

classical and rock traditions, with both Johann Sebastian Bach and Yellow Magic Orchestra as prominent influences. She is best known for her two decades of work at the gaming company Konami, with her compositions for the Castlevania
series among her most recognized work.

Yamane grew an interest in music at an early age, practicing on the

Symphony of the Night
(1997).

Early life and education

Yamane was born in

Famicom at the time.[3][7]

Career

Konami

Yamane started working for Konami in 1988, shortly before her fourth year at college.[4][7] She held a teaching license at the time, and was teaching part-time, though she felt the job did not suit her.[4] She applied to Konami after finding an open position through her college recruitment office, and was hired.[4] She had never considered specifically becoming a game composer, although she liked games and music.[7]

At Konami, Yamane was a member of the

Inventions and Sinfonias", which also only used two or three simultaneous notes.[5]

Yamane's first job as a lead composer was with Ganbare Goemon 2 (1989).[4][5][6] With this game, she learned how to edit programmable sound generator samples from senior sound programmers.[5] Although she is credited in Contra: Hard Corps, Yamane does not have any memory of composing music for it. She believes it is possible she contributed a few pieces as the sound team was busy with multiple projects at the time.[5] She also worked on Rocket Knight Adventures (1993) and its two sequels; writing music for Sparkster and creating sound effects for Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2.[4][5] Akira Yamaoka joined Konami around this time, and worked with Yamane on the latter.[5]

Castlevania

"Reincarnated Soul, Part 2"
"Reincarnated Soul, Part 2" from the opening stage in Castlevania: Bloodlines. Yamane's Bach influences can be heard.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Yamane is primarily known for her work on the Castlevania series.[5] After moving to Konami's Tokyo office from Kobe, her boss thought she would be a good fit for the Castlevania game in development, Castlevania: Bloodlines (1994).[3] Since the series was already popular and known for good music, she felt pressure to perform well. She was asked to write music based on pre-existing themes introduced in earlier games.[7] Yamane felt there was a link with the game's vampiric themes and the classical music she had grown up with. She worked to integrate her classical style with the rock themes previously introduced in the series.[5] When working on Mega Drive games, Yamane was required to program the music into the game, on top of composition.[4] GamesRadar+ called Bloodlines her first "breakthrough" game soundtrack.[10]

Yamane worked closely with Koji Igarashi, producer for the Castlevania series.

The next game in the series, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1997), was developed for the PlayStation.[5] The art director, Osamu Kasai, requested Yamane to join the team.[6] Because it used CD-ROMs, the system was capable of much higher quality music and sound.[6] Yamane felt more expressive freedom as she was no longer limited to FM chips and could use real sounds.[5][7] For Symphony of the Night, she drew heavy inspiration from concept artwork by Ayami Kojima.[5] She used an Akai sampler connected to a computer running Logic Pro and Pro Tools to record music.[7] The soundtrack was the first time she attempted placing rock music in a game.[7] It remains one of her most popular soundtracks.[5] In addition to the soundtrack, she also produced all the sound effects due to a shortage of staff.[6]

Yamane continued to remain deeply involved with

Aria of Sorrow (2003), Portrait of Ruin, and Order of Ecclesia.[5]

While working on the Castlevania series, Yamane also composed for other games. She contributed to Suikoden III (2002) and Suikoden IV (2004), following in the tracks of Miki Higashino's work on the first two games.[5] After Sota Fujimori joined Konami in 1998, Yamane worked with him on Gungage (1999) and Elder Gate (2000), mixing her classic symphonic style with his modern electronic music.[5] She also worked on the Winning Eleven series and The Sword of Etheria (2005).[5]

Freelance

After writing music for over 40 games at Konami,[1] Yamane left the company in 2008 to become a freelance composer.[5] She came to this decision after getting a pet cat, and growing a desire to slow down her career and move to working from home. She desired to have more freedom to do projects she wanted, and manage her own time.[5][7] Since becoming a freelance composer, Yamane has continued to compose for video games, as well as films, commercials, television, and anime.[11][3][2] She has considered making a solo album.[7][2] Games that she has composed for include Otomedius Excellent (2011)[12] and Skullgirls (2012).[11] Although no longer working directly for Konami, she has continued working with the company on Castlevania music.[7] She has also composed for Koji Igarashi's Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.[13]

Yamane occasionally performs in live concerts.[11][2] Her first live performance was a song from Symphony of the Night at the Symphonic Game Music Concert in Leipzig in 2006.[7] She wrote music for a Castlevania arrangement box set,[5] and played live at Castlevania: The Concert in Stockholm in 2010.[7] In 2015, she played with other Japanese composers at the Game Sound Maniax concert in China.[14][15]

Musical style and influences

Game Developer magazine called Yamane's music "old, gothic,

The Eagles.[2]

Yamane has expressed enjoying music from other game composers, particularly Nobuo Uematsu, Hitoshi Sakimoto, Yoko Kanno, and Motoi Sakuraba.[7][6] She also explained that Tomb Raider and its sequel influenced the way she thought about sound design.[4]

Works

Yamane contributed music to over 40 games at Konami.[1] As a member of the Konami Kukeiha Club, Yamane frequently collaborated with other composers, arrangers, and sound programmers.[5]

Year Game Co-worker(s)
1988 King's Valley II[9] Music with Kazuhiko Uehara, Masahiro Ikariko, Kinuyo Yamashita, Motoaki Furukawa
1989 Ganbare Goemon 2[16] Music
Nemesis 3: The Eve of Destruction[5] Music with Kazuhiko Uehara, Motoaki Furukawa, Yukie Morimoto, Masahiro Ikariko
1990 Nemesis[5] Music with Tomoya Tomita
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Foot Clan[17] Music
1991 Detana!! TwinBee[18] Music with Hidenori Maezawa and Masae Nakashima
Vendetta Music
1992 Asterix Music with Mutsuhiko Izumi, Mariko Egawa, Junya Nakano, Ayako Nishigaki
1993 Pop'n TwinBee Music with Kazuhiko Uehara, Masahiro Ikariko, Hideto Inoue et al.
Rocket Knight Adventures[4] Music with Masanori Oouchi, Aki Hata, Masanori Adachi, Hiroshi Kobayashi
1994 Sparkster[5] Music with Masahiro Ikariko, Minako Matsuhira, Akira Yamaoka
Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2[5] Music with Akira Yamaoka
Castlevania: Bloodlines[17] Music
1997 Castlevania: Symphony of the Night[19] Music
1999 Gungage[19] Music with Sota Fujimori
2000 Elder Gate[5] Music
2001 Pro Evolution Soccer[5] Music with Norikazu Miura
2002 Pro Evolution Soccer 2[17] Music with Sota Fujimori
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance Music with Soshiro Hokkai
Suikoden III[20] Music with Takashi Yoshida and Masahiko Kimura
2003 Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow[21] Music with Takashi Yoshida and Soshiro Hokkai
Castlevania: Lament of Innocence[19] Music
2004 Suikoden IV[20] Music with Masahiko Kimura and Norikazu Miura
2005 The Sword of Etheria[16] Music
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow Music with Masahiko Kimura
Castlevania: Curse of Darkness[22] Music with Yuka Watanabe
2006 Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin[23] Music with Yuzo Koshiro
Elebits Music with Naoyuki Sato
2008 Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia[24] Music with Yasuhiro Ichihashi
2010
Mushihime-sama Bug Panic[25]
 Music with several others
2011 Otomedius Excellent[12] Music with several others
2012 Skullgirls[26] Music with Brenton Kossak and Blaine McGurty
2016 NightCry[27] Music with
Nobuko Toda
2018 Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon[28] Music with several others
Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom[29] Music with Yuzo Koshiro, Motoi Sakuraba, Keiki Kobayashi, Takeshi Yanagawa
2019 Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night[13] Music with Keisuke Ito and Ryusuke Fujioka
Arcalast[30] Music
2023 9 Years of Shadows[31] Music with Miguel Hasson and Norihiko Hibino

References

  1. ^ a b c d Konami. "Michiru Yamane". Castlevania Concert. Archived from the original on January 24, 2010. Retrieved December 10, 2009.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "J-Pop Exchange Exclusive Interview with Michiru Yamane". J-Pop Exchange. April 23, 2011. Archived from the original on January 4, 2012. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Parrish, Jeremy (October 30, 2012). "Catching Up With Castlevania Composer Michiru Yamane, Pt. 1". 1Up.com. Archived from the original on June 25, 2017. Retrieved December 10, 2018. (Page 2)
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Game Developer magazine (December 26, 2013). "A classic interview with Castlevania composer Michiru Yamane". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on December 8, 2017. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap "Interview with Michiru Yamane (February 2010)". Square Enix Music Online. February 2010. Archived from the original on September 17, 2011. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  6. ^
    ISBN 9791093752327
    .
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Köhn, Johan (September 4, 2016). "Interview: Michiru Yamane". Spelmusik.net. Archived from the original on March 16, 2017. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  8. ^ Jensen, K. Thor. "11 Women Who Shaped The World Of Gaming". Geek.com. Archived from the original on December 11, 2018. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  9. ^ a b "Michiru Yamane Interview". CastleKeeper's Chronicles. February 18, 2010. Archived from the original on October 11, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  10. Games Radar. Archived
    from the original on November 24, 2018. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  11. ^ a b c "Profile". Michiru Yamane - Official website (in Japanese). Archived from the original on March 9, 2018. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  12. ^ a b "『オトメディウスX (エクセレント！)』のダウンロードコンテンツが配信開始". Famitsu. November 1, 2011. Archived from the original on August 8, 2013. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  13. ^ a b "Bloodstained Shows Off New Enemy Artwork Plus An Interview With Composer Michiru Yamane". Siliconera. February 12, 2017. Archived from the original on April 9, 2018. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  14. ^ "光田康典氏、山根ミチル氏らゲーム音楽家本人の演奏によるライブコンサート「GAME SOUND MANIAX」が1月17日に中国にて開催". Gamer (in Japanese). January 15, 2015. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
  15. ^ "360张小蝶对话日本顶尖游戏音乐人 谈手游品牌之路". Sina (in Chinese). January 17, 2015. Archived from the original on December 17, 2018. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
  16. ^ a b "【hideのゲーム音楽伝道記】第29回：『悪魔城ドラキュラX 月下の夜想曲』 ― アルカードの戦いを彩る、クラシカルで壮麗な旋律". Inside Games (in Japanese). March 25, 2016. Archived from the original on September 26, 2018. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  17. ^ a b c GMR Staff (August 2003). "Michiru Yamane: The Woman Behind the Music that Moves You". GMR. No. 7. Ziff Davis. p. 16.
  18. Vandal (in Spanish). El Español. Archived
    from the original on February 8, 2018. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
  19. ^ a b c McDonald, Glenn (March 28, 2005). "A History of Video Game Music". Gamespot. Archived from the original on June 16, 2018. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  20. ^ a b Pitcher, Jenna (May 17, 2013). "Skullgirls final DLC character is Macho Man Randy Savage-inspired Beowulf". Polygon. Archived from the original on October 26, 2013. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  21. ^ Varanini, Giancarlo (January 16, 2003). "Hands-onCastlevania: Aria of Sorrow". GameSpot. Retrieved November 2, 2007.
  22. Play
    (US). Vol. 5, no. 1. Fusion Publishing. p. 61.
  23. ^ "Tokyo Game Show 06 Interview: Koji "IGA" Igarashi & Michiru Yamane". Play (US). Fusion Publishing. December 2006. pp. 104–105.
  24. ^ "30 years of night: A musical history of Castlevania". The A.V. Club. September 26, 2016. Archived from the original on October 20, 2018. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  25. ^ "【新作情報】『虫姫さまBUG PANIC』と『デススマイルズ』がAndroidでプレイ可能に". Famitsu. July 22, 2013. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  26. ^ Leo, Jon. "Sound Byte: Meet the Composer - Skullgirls". GameSpot. Retrieved June 17, 2019.
  27. ^ Matulef, Jeffrey (February 4, 2015). "See the first in-game footage of Clock Tower's spiritual successor NightCry". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on June 14, 2018. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  28. ^ Parish, Jeremy (May 30, 2018). "Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon Review". IGN. Archived from the original on July 28, 2018. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  29. ^ "All OST Talents revealed". monsterboy.com. Archived from the original on August 11, 2017. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
  30. ^ Nelva, Giuseppe (April 5, 2019). "Arcalast by Suikoden Veterans Announced with Countdown Website". Twinfinite. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  31. ^ "9 Years of Shadows - Dev Update #1 - Elemental Combat - Steam News". store.steampowered.com. August 24, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2022.

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