Chrono Trigger: Corridor of Time by Yasunori Mitsuda

This is one of my favourite tracks from the SNES game Chrono Trigger, the tone is so mystic and relaxing, I’ve had a difficult time stopping myself from simply just ripping this off. The instruments and the tone of the piece are exactly what I’m looking to create with my tracks.

Spryo 3 Year of the Dragon: Bamboo Terrace by Stewart Copeland

This track is much more fast-paced, resulting in something much less calm and relaxed. What I like about this piece is its constant change in tone and layering of instruments. For level two of Hanami which uses bamboo in its background throughout, I want to create a similar rhythmic style with a subtle bamboo flute layered in patches!

Aqueous Transmissions by Incubus

This track consists of almost all traditional Japanese instruments, and sets a VERY relaxed scene. The backing track (and the vocals, to a large extent) are very repetitive, especially the Pipa riff which repeats throughout the track. This underlying repetition is something I’ve been doing without really thinking about it, as it provides a solid base for all other instruments to follow.

As well as being inspired by the relaxing tones of the tracks above, I’ve been trying to think of ways of making a much harsher sound for the final Boss theme. I can’t seem to think of any games that use traditional Japanese instruments in their boss theme music, so it will be interesting to take a generic sounding boss theme tune and replace the normal instruments with those similar to the tracks above!

In the BRILLIANT video below, you can hear a collection of all the boss themes from the Final Fantasy series. Composer Nobuo Uematsu really knows how to capture the tension of the moment with epic battle music…