I`d have to name about three. And they are, Masato Nakamura (Sonic the hedgehog 2), Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy series) and finnaly, Akira Yamaoka (Silent hill series). And they would all contend for first place for me.

Who would you pick?

Nobuo.

As if that wasn't a gimme. ;)

I'm going to have to disagree with your selection of Yamoaka, Dirge. His hate for VGM really wrecks the passion :-(

However, my favorite composers are (a lot of them and in no particular order):

Hitoshi Sakimoto
Noriyuki Iwadare
Nobuyoshi Sano
Shinji Hosoe
Takayuki Aihara
Yasunori Mitsuda (Yes, I still have faith in him)
Yuzo Koshiro (He emailed me)
The ever changing group behind Sound Team JDK
Hisayoshi Ogura (OGR)
Masato Nakamara
Spencer Nilson
Daisuke Ishiwatari
Meiko Ishikawa
Motoi Sakuraba
Hideaki Kobayashi
Fumie Kumatani
Ryuji Sasai
Koichi Sugiyama
Miki Higashino
Masaharu Iwata
Masashi Hamauzu
And I couldn't leave out master arranger, Ryo Yonemitsu, Falcom's best (Missing since 1994 :-( )

I'm sure I left a few out, but this will do for now...

I'm going to have to disagree with your selection of Yamoaka, Dirge. His hate for VGM really wrecks the passion :-(


But his inventive "industrial" Silent Hill 3 OST was a breath of fresh air. Excellent imo.

you guys left the best composer out:

Hideki Okugawa (Street Fighter 3rd Strike)

I gotta say my fav is miki higashino(Suikoden 1+2) its my fav ost goin

Harry Gregson Williams by far.

I mean, he did Metal Gear Solid AND Man on Fire.

people seriously lacking mentions from this thread: jeremy soule. (total annihilation, guild wars, icewind dale, neverwinter nights, baldur's gate: dark alliance, etc)

symphony OSTs ftw.

people seriously lacking mentions from this thread: jeremy soule. (total annihilation, guild wars, icewind dale, neverwinter nights, baldur's gate: dark alliance, etc)

symphony OSTs ftw.

Jeremy and Julian Soule are both talented and, alongside Harry Gregson Williams, are the best western VGM composers. His best work? Secret of Evermore, with Julian.

the person who made final fantasy

rofl

Koji Kondo, Yasunori Mitsuda, Nobuo Uematsu, and Michiru Yamane are some of my favs.

I can't believe no one else mentioned Koji Kondo!

I can't believe no one else mentioned Koji Kondo!

Because Koji Kondo, while he hasn't lost inspiration, isn't remarkable. Sure, he has worked on both the Mario and Zelda series, but his compositions are completely lifeless.

Hmm, some of my favourites I can remember of the top of my head at the moment:

Nobuo Uematsu (FF series)
Michiru Yamane (Castlevania Symphony of the Night)
Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross)
Yozo Koshiro (Streets of Rage series, Act Raiser)
Masaharu Iwata (FF Tactics)
Hitoshi Sakimoto (FF Tactics)
Masaki Iluza aka MASA (Dynasty Warriors series)
Naofumi Hataya (Sonic CD)
Masafumi Ogata (Sonic CD)
Naoshi Mizuta (FFXI)
Noriyuki Iwadare (Grandia series, Lunar series)
Shinichi Sakamoto (Wonderboy III ~ The Dragon's Trap - an oldie but a goodie)

Naturally, Uematsu is at the top of my list. ;)

Nobuo Uematsu, Yasanori Mitsuda, Koji Kondo and and Yoshiko Kawamoto (in their collaboration in OOT).

Because Koji Kondo, while he hasn't lost inspiration, isn't remarkable. Sure, he has worked on both the Mario and Zelda series, but his compositions are completely lifeless.
you stupid fuck
theres a difference in composing a tune for an upbeat platformer and an epic rpg

anyway
Koji Kondo, Nobuo Uematsu, Kenji Yamamoto, Keith Arem, Stephane Picq, Kumi Tanioka

and some games whose composer i dont know/cant remember
Jet set radio(dreamcast version, xbox version was crap)
Metroid Prime has one of the greatest
GTA2 had some great tunes
Breath of Fire 4
..
all i remember for now

you stupid fuck
theres a difference in composing a tune for an upbeat platformer and an epic rpg

Excuse me? I'm a VGM expert, I know this stuff, you however, aren't one. So, therefore, you suck at analyzing VGM.

Of course there is a difference. Did I even say that they were the same? No, you're just making up stuff in order sound cool. Retard.

Kondo creates unremarkable music. So what? Uematsu does the same.

Next time, don't go around making false assumptions

Kondo creates unremarkable music. So what? Uematsu does the same.

:')

You have no idea what you're talking about.

:')

You have no idea what you're talking about.

Yes I do.

Please, tell me, besides the Mario and Zelda Main themes, what compositions by Kondo have stood out?

As for Uematsu, his contributions to FFX are a very good example of how burnt out he's got.

TranceKuja...

Just because you know a lot about video game soundtracks does not make you an expert on the quality of the music. That is something that can only be determined by personal taste. Just because you feel something is no good does not mean everyone else that likes it are wrong. I feel that Kondo's work was very inspiritational and creative, thus I was surprised no one mentioned him before me. Most successful artists of any medium usually only have a handful of highly renown works on a large scale. Just because Kondo only has two famous works doesn't take away from his skill.

That is of course, my opinion. Have mercy, oh great one.

On another note, consider the enormous number of songs Uematsu had composed by the time FF10 came out. Any hint of "being burnt out" should be pretty understandable. I've not personally heard his work after FF9, but regardless, I consider him a wonderful composer, and despite what you feel, there are many of his works that have in fact been extremely moving to me.

TranceKuja...

Just because you know a lot about video game soundtracks does not make you an expert on the quality of the music. That is something that can only be determined by personal taste. Just because you feel something is no good does not mean everyone else that likes it are wrong. I feel that Kondo's work was very inspiritational and creative, thus I was surprised no one mentioned him before me. Most successful artists of any medium usually only have a handful of highly renown works on a large scale. Just because Kondo only has two famous works doesn't take away from his skill.



I understand where you are coming from. I'll sum up my thoughts on Kondo: He has the ability, but fails to use it. There :)




On another note, consider the enormous number of songs Uematsu had composed by the time FF10 came out. Any hint of "being burnt out" should be pretty understandable. I've not personally heard his work after FF9, but regardless, I consider him a wonderful composer, and despite what you feel, there are many of his works that have in fact been extremely moving to me.

I feel that he is overated. There are so many better composers out there that have composed a far better variety of tunes (Sakimoto for instance)

Makichiko Furukawa (Tales of Symphonia) Nobuo Uematsu (final fantasy series) and the baiton katios composer does any one know what he's called :confused:

i like Makichiko Furukawa (Tales of Symphonia) Nobuo Uematsu (final fantasy series) and the baiton katios composer.Listen to them on my mp3 and put them as my ringtones

My favourite composers would be:
1. Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono series, Xenogears)
2. Nobuo Uematsu (FF series)
3. Norihiko Hibino, Harry Gregson Williams (Metal Gear series)

And other favourites:
Maki Kirioka (Zone of the Enders series)
Dennis Martin, Takao Miratsu (Legend of Dragoon)
Akari Kaida, Yoshino Aoki (Breath of Fire series)
Yasunori Shiono (Lufia series)
Noriyuki Iwadare (Lunar series)
Hiroki Kikuta (Mana series)
Yuzo Koshiro (Streets of Rage series)

i like Makichiko Furukawa (Tales of Symphonia) Nobuo Uematsu (final fantasy series) and the baiton katios composer.Listen to them on my mp3 and put them as my ringtones

Motoi Sakuraba and Shinji Tamura are the composers for Tales of Symphonia, while the former composed for Baten Kaitos as well.


Hiroki Kikuta (Mana series)

He actually only did 2 of the games, Seiken Densetsu 2 and 3. Kenji Ito is the main composer for the series.


Noboyuki Iwadare (Lunar series)

It's Noriyuki Iwadare

He actually only did 2 of the games, Seiken Densetsu 2 and 3. Kenji Ito is the main composer for the series.
Kenji Ito only composed Seiken Densetsu (Sword of Mana/Final Fantasy Adventures), while Hiroki Kikuta composed Seiken Densetsu 2 (Secret of Mana) and Seiken Densetsu 3, which were both my favourite soundtracks in the series.


It's Noriyuki Iwadare
Thanks for spotting that. I just fixed it now.

...I accidently double-posted. ^_^'

You triple posted now :-P


Kenji Ito only composed Seiken Densetsu (Sword of Mana/Final Fantasy Adventures)

They still had different scores with arranging and composing. So, he composed for 2 games.

I didn't like Shimomura's Legend of Mana much, did you?

Well Legend of Mana's soundtrack is my least favourite in the series but that doesn't mean I didn't like it because I did like the opening theme and some of the field & cave tracks. Seiken Densetsu 1-3 just had much better music though.

1 - Noriyuki Iwadare
2 - Nobuo Uematsu
3 - Yuki Kajiura (with her trance-vocal type of orchestration)

1-Nobuo Uematsu
2-Koichi Sugiyama

Nobuo U and the guy who did the first crash bandicoot game music.

Mark Seibert

she composed music from Quest for Glory and Kings Quest (amongst other Sierra games)

at the risk of sounding unoriginal, Nubuo for me :)

My favorite VGM composer is definitly Michael Giacchino. His music in Medal of Honor games is simply GENIUS!!! He,of course,received several awards for his work not to mention he worked with Steven Spielberg on those games and on top of all he won an Emmy for his music on Lost this year! So there you go;pure genius.

mine will be:
Yasunori Mitsuda
Nobuo Uematsu
Hitoshi Sakimoto

Some great Composers would be: Michiru Yamane, Daisuke Ishiwatari, Nobuo Uematsu, Harry Gregson Williams

And some guys I forgot their names, but their works on VG are superb:
Megaman X, Star Ocean 3, Clock Tower(SNES), Silent Hill

Aye, Daisuke Ishiwatari is the man!!

Nobuo. Plain and simple.

Nobuo. Plain and simple.

Well, you must admit he has gotten a little bit...how you say...errr...shitty recently.

Well, you must admit he has gotten a little bit...how you say...errr...shitty recently.

well I'll admit he isn't perfect. But I absolutely love the job he did on VII and VIII.

His work on VI was excellent too. His older stuff was excellent. I personally love his work on FFIX the most.

Banda Sonora (Castlevania Symphony of the Night)
Akira Yamaoka (The Silent Hill games)

Akira Yamaoka even had a special thanks given to him in the credits for the Symphony of the Night soundtrack, which makes him even cooler.

this thread is seriously lacking mention of Motoi Sakuraba

Prolly because people got tired of the same old formulae he uses game after game with little variation?

Don't get me wrong, I love the guy and his works, this guy is quite well versed in keyboarding. Even went so far as to buy the Tales of Destiny 2 OST which he had a major part in composing and Valkyrie Profile OST which he had composed solo.

With that said, here's my list (The higher up the list, the more I feel is skilled):

- Noriyuki Iwadare
- Hiroki Kikuta
- Yoko Shimomura
- Go Shiina
- Motoi Sakuraba
- Falcom Sound Team JDK
- Kenji ito

Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill)
Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy)
Norihiko Hibino (Metal Gear Solid)
Masami Ueda (Resident Evil)

There are some I haven't gave credit for, reason being, I can't remember their names. ; ) ;

My all time fav. must be Hiroshi Tamawari (Vandal Hearts 2) o_O! That guy knows how to make beutiful vgm. ^___^ <3

Then it must be the Star Ocean 2nd Story music o_O oh my man...That music is so nice ^___^!!!

Thereafter it must be the final fantasy guy (Nobue...Argh cant spell his name >_<)

And uhm...The person who made Castlevania's sounds is also very good ^___^ AND! The one who made Shadow Hearts sounds <3

Probably Richard Jacques for me, he composed Headhunter. Just incredible you can actually feel the music when listening to it, I recommend anyone to listen to it.

1 - Josh Mancell - Crash Bandicoot 1,2,3,4 and CTR
2 - Mark Mothersbaugh - Crash Bandicoot Games Theme
3 - Spiralmouth ex-aequo Steve Duckworth - Twinsanity and TTR/Crash Bash
4 - Harry Gregson Williams - Metal Gear Solid 2,3 and 4(?)OST
5 - Ashif Hakik and Todd Masten - Crash Nitro Kart OST

Jeremy and Julian Soule are both talented and, alongside Harry Gregson Williams, are the best western VGM composers. His best work? Secret of Evermore, with Julian.
I totally agree!
Harry Gregson-Williams is one of best composer (he only made 2 Videogamsoundtracks) but his Movie Scores are absolutly GREAT.
Have you ever heard Operation Dinner Out from Spy Game! Great Cue!
Jeremy Soule is also great!

4 - Harry Gregson Williams - Metal Gear Solid 2,3 and 4(?)OST
Harry Gregson Williams will NOT do Metal Gear Solid 4!
As far as I know will Nobuko Toda be the composer!

Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill)
Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy)
Norihiko Hibino (Metal Gear Solid)
Masami Ueda (Resident Evil)
;

He likes all the same as me... i agree

Tenpei Sato (Disgaea) Tsukasa Masuko (Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne Games)

I like the composers of all Resident Evil games music too.

I don't know if this counts, but whoever did the Final Fantasy Piano Collection Arrangements has gotten my vote, but then technically he didn't compose the pieces, he arranged ^^

the one who did "harry potter & the sorcerors stone" background music.
neverwinter nights background music creator.
Nobuo Uematsu.

Nobuo Uematsu
Makichiko Furukawa Tales of symphonia
Norihiko Hibino Metal Gear Solid

i like Makichiko Furukawa (Tales of Symphonia) Nobuo Uematsu (final fantasy series) and the baiton katios composer.Listen to them on my mp3 and put them as my ringtones

well I agree though Motoi Sakurabas best work, IMO was Golden Sun I & II

well I agree though Motoi Sakurabas best work, IMO was Golden Sun I & II

I didn't really like Baiton Kaitos's music except for the guitar version of The True Mirrors and i never really cared much about the Golden Sun music

Tut tut, you should lend my copy again just so you can relive the expirience.

1-Philippe Vachey (Little big Adventure 1, 2, and hopefully 3)
2-St�phane Bellanger (Rayman 1)
3-Go Shiina (Tales of Legendia)

Masafumi Takada and Jun Fukuda = Killer7, Samurai Champloo (game), Michigan and the upcoming game "Heroes"

Yoshiyuki Usui = Phantom Dust

Koji Kondo = I like his work in Star fox 64, and for the Forest temple song in OOT.

Hideaki Kobayashi = Phantasy Star Online Series

I say that Dave Wise, Nobuo Uematsu, Graem Norgate, Motoi Sakuraba, and Koji Kondo are my favorites.

Yuki Kajiura
Yasunori Mitsuda
Noriyuki Iwadare
Motoi Sakuraba

They're my favorites :D

the one who did "harry potter & the sorcerors stone" background music.
neverwinter nights background music creator.
Nobuo Uematsu.
Jeremy Soule and Jeremy Soule :)
one of the best composer!

I'm going to have to disagree with your selection of Yamoaka, Dirge. His hate for VGM really wrecks the passion :-(

However, my favorite composers are (a lot of them and in no particular order):

Hitoshi Sakimoto
Noriyuki Iwadare
Nobuyoshi Sano
Shinji Hosoe
Takayuki Aihara
Yasunori Mitsuda (Yes, I still have faith in him)
Yuzo Koshiro (He emailed me)
The ever changing group behind Sound Team JDK
Hisayoshi Ogura (OGR)
Masato Nakamara
Spencer Nilson
Daisuke Ishiwatari
Meiko Ishikawa
Motoi Sakuraba
Hideaki Kobayashi
Fumie Kumatani
Ryuji Sasai
Koichi Sugiyama
Miki Higashino
Masaharu Iwata
Masashi Hamauzu
And I couldn't leave out master arranger, Ryo Yonemitsu, Falcom's best (Missing since 1994 :-( )

I'm sure I left a few out, but this will do for now...

Where did you hear this about Yamaoka for his dislike in VGM? He is a VGM composer afterall :confused:

Anyway, few favs of mine:
Kow Otani (Shadow of the Colossus)
Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill)
Koji Kondo (zelda)
Michiru Oshima/pentagon (ICO)

Also, if anyone has any idea who composed these games, would be much appreciated.
NES castlevania, faxanadu and tokyo highway challenge.

Jeremy Soule and Jeremy Soule :)
one of the best composer!



Yeeeees. <3

I loved Kow Otani's work in Shadow of the Colossus... I'm not sure what other video games he's worked on, though. I can name some anime...?

He has also worked on Sky Odyssey (PS2), and Philosoma (PS)

1 - Josh Mancell - Crash Bandicoot 1,2,3,4 and CTR
2 - Mark Mothersbaugh - Crash Bandicoot Games Theme
3 - Spiralmouth ex-aequo Steve Duckworth - Twinsanity and TTR/Crash Bash
4 - Harry Gregson Williams - Metal Gear Solid 2,3 and 4(?)OST
5 - Ashif Hakik and Todd Masten - Crash Nitro Kart OST


Neat, I made it on someone's top five on a final fantasy forum. That is seriously something I thought would never happen, and probably will never happen again.

FF music is one of the main reasons I decided to get into video game music as well as focus on making better orchestral scores.

Ashif "Ash" Hakik

P.S.

if anyone is interested in the various music styles besides the crash stuff check out the website

www.musicyouneed.com

and/or Myspace page (where I sometimes post new demo ideas)

www.myspace.com/thedbo

Jeremy Soule

and second (but way lower on the list) Jason Hayes

Nobuo Uematsu: I really can't not include him, being as he's really the first composer who got me to pay more attention to videogame music. I don't fawn over everything he composes, but he does have his brilliantly shining moments. Among these, I must mention "Dancing Mad," which is so baroque and Bach-esque in some parts that I can't help but love it. As cliche as it may be, I must also admit to my liking of "One-Winged Angel," but its Hendrix-inspired beginning and contemporary/opera overtones deserve at least some of the recognition it has gained.

I don't know who the arrangers were for the Final Fantasy Piano Collections series, but they are definitely on my list as well.

Hitoshi Sakimoto: While I was originally unimpressed by his work in the Tactics series, I must admit that he has grown on me. In particular, "The Battle for Freedom" from FFXII is an amazing piece, and I was surprised by how impressive it was the first time I listened to it.

Koji Kondo: a.k.a. Nintendo's Nobuo.

Saitama Saisyu Heiki: His arrangements and orginal works are all very well done.

Stewart Copeland: Spyro the Dragon. "Lofty Castle." 'Nuff said.

Keiki Kobayashi (Ace Combat Series)
Kow Otani (Shadow of the Colossus)

For me, video game soundtracks has gotten better since the MIDI 8-bit sounds.
My favorite composers are:

Nobuo Uematsu
Jeremy Soule
Inon Zur
Yoko Shimomura
Koji Kondo

Whats with all the japanese composers?

I vote graeme norgate Timesplitter series.

Many great names have been metioned but i have to add
Toshiharu Yamanishi for his work on the Thunder force series.

I feel saying Nobuo Uematsu is redundant...but anyway, he is great.

And Akira Yamaoka is GOD, he's in very few people's lists because he doesn't go for the common symphonic or orchestral approach, but a more industrial "let's see if throwing my phone against the wall makes a sound I can use as percussion" sound. Still he's a creative man, if there's any, and he definitely knows how to create the mood he sets out to create.

If you want emotional "Not Tomorrow" from SH1's Lisa's death scene, is almost unbeatable. If you've played SH1, you'll remember that scene, but most of all you'll remember the music.

Michiru Yamane breathed new life into Castlevania, she is incredible, but can't do percussion worth a damn. In fact Akira Yamaoka took care of percussion in Symphony of the Night, which is the only decent percussion in a Castlevania soundtrack since Yamane took over. But her melodies and compositions are incredible nonetheless.

So you're saying that this (http://bluelaguna.net/downloads/mp3s/zmajoraost/245%20Calling%20The%20Four%20Giants.mp3) is a bad song? I happen to think it's very moving and powerful. (By Koji Kondo.)

My three top favorite composers would be:

1. Koji Kondo
2. Motoi Sakuraba
3. Kazuo Sawa

Chris Tilton or Jesper Kyd

Motoi Sakuraba, Yasunori Mitsuda, and Nobuo Uematsu(of course). My favorite western composers would be Frank Klepacki, Jeremy Soule, and Harry Gregson Williams. I was also really impressed with the overall mood of Masashi Hamauzu's Dirge of Cerberus soundtrack, though no songs really stick out as amazing.

Masashi Hamauzu - I really liked his work on DoC
Nobou Uematsu - of couse, A source of many unforgetable classics. (FF)
Harry Gregson Williams - Metal Gear. Need I say more?

I've been listening to vgm for years and have been through many composer phases- Nobuo Uematsu, Yasunori Mitsuda, Akira Yamaoka... but four composers have been real standouts in my mind:

Mamoru Samuragoch - His "Crime and Punishment" and "Rising-Sun" works are unmatched in vgm
Koichi Sugiyama - Consistent quality with the Dragon Quest series
Yuzo Koshiro - Pure versatility: ActRaiser, Bare Knuckle II, Wangan
Hitoshi Sakimoto - Floors in sound quality with complex orchestral and electronic music

That's easy. Noriyuki Iwadare.

My current favorite video game composers, as of right now, are Kō Ōtani (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C5%8D_%C5%8Ctani) (Shadow of the Colossus) and Masami Ueda (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masami_Ueda) (Okami). Motoi Sakuraba is awesome too. :)

Yuzo Koshiro - because of his obvious talent and the fact he inspired me to learn how to create music.
Hideki Naganuma - A breath of fresh air with his funky tracks.
Richard Jacques - very good at what he does and a nice chap to boot helped me with my own music a couple of times.
Michiru Yamane - Castlevania nuff said
Rob Hubbard


and some others who i can't think of just yet

1. Motoi Sakuraba: Synthisizers + Violins + Precussion = Awesome Music! Catchy, action-packed tunes to suit any emotional state.
2. GO Shiina: His style is so... different. Can't explain it, but can't stop listening to it either.
3. Masashi Hamauzu: You think DoC was good? Check out his work on the SaGa series!

Silly me, I forgot my favorite American composers.

1. Michael Giacchino
2. Tommy Tallarico
3. Christoper Lennertz

That's easy Uematsu Nobuo (Final Fantasy series)!!!!!!

Didn't anybody mention Kenichiro Fukui? His work on the "Einhander" soundtrack is amazing.

I also have three favourites who deserve the first place all together:

Nobuo Uematsu from the Final Fantasy series
Akira Yamaoka from Silent Hill
and last but not least
Harry Gregson-Williams who did a great job on Metal Gear Solid and many other great things

Hitoshi Sakimoto after hearing Vagrant Story soundtrack, the staff roll Phantom Pain track is unforgottable

I love Miki Higashino *-* She's my favourite <3
I like Nobuo Uematsu, Yoko Kanno and Susumu Hirasawa too :3

2 months ago I've been to the yearly "Symphonic Game Music Concert" in Leipzig (Germany). Michiru Yamane and Nobuo Uematsu were there. I got autographs from both! :) Michiru signed my SOTN CD and Nobuo signed my TBM CD. Yamane played the "Woodcarving Partita" LIVE on the Cembalo. That was a great moment.

The concert was fantastic, and Michiru Yamane's performance was one of the highlights for me. I never played Castlevania, but just listening to her (and watching her), and to the medley afterwards, made me wish so much that I had dedicated some time to it. I do not know her enough to really call her one of my favourite composers, but she is without a doubt awesome.

My favourite is still Nobuo Uematsu. Not just because he makes great music, but also because he is such a nice guy. He was so friendly and patient after the concert, and now I have not just his autograph but also a photo of him and me, and a Smile Please! button that he just gave to me randomly. :D
Seriously, he made great, great music for my favourite videogame series, and I don't care if it's boring to say "Nobuo Uematsu" in these threads: he is my favourite, and will stay my favourite for quite some time. ;)

And listening to this performance of Dancing Mad just filled me with awe, by the way. Really, I am dying to listen to the song again in this arrangement. The choir! ;_; The Final Fantasy music can just really touch me. I wish there was a recording. :/

My favourite is Yoko Kanno. She is more known for his cinematic soundtracks (Cowboy Bebop), but She also did the Uncharted Waters soundtrack for the snes. Fabulous.

Psssst... Yoko Kanno is a woman.

Psssst... Yoko Kanno is a woman.

And WHAT a woman...I would never have guessed that. I guess I should have guessed though after all...Yoko ONO...both musicians, except I'd rather guzzle bottles of Diarrhea than listen to the latter one.

Yuki Kajiura
Yasunori Mitsuda
Yoko Shimomura
Motoi Sakuraba

and, Seth Jeffery...

Nobuo Uematsu is an undisputed master, but I find my heart resonating more to the others that I list. And the last one is a young British composer/computer programmer whose video game tracks show incredible potential.

The Guy that scored for Chrono Trigger.
ORSUM MUSIC AYE!

Top 5 Favourite Composers:

Hands down, Toshiko Tasaki, Kenichi Tsuchiya & Masaki Kurokawa (Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, Persona 2: Innocent Sin) would be first. Second would be Yuzo Koshiro for the Streets of Rage and Shinobi series. Third would be Akira Yamaoka for Silent Hill 2 and Kensei: Sacred Fist. Fourth Yoko Shimomura for Parasite Eve. Fifth the person(s) who composed the Maken X OST.

I would say mine are (not in order):

Noriyuki Asakura
Akira Yamaoka
Hitoshi Sakimoto
Yoshitaka Hirota
Takayuki Nakamura
Nobuyoshi Sano
Akitaka Tohyama
Masami Ueda (sp?)
Manabu Namiki
Shinji Hosoe
Yasunori Mitsuda
Kota Hoshino
Yukio Nakajima
Hisayoshi Ogura
Tomayo
Fumie Kumatani
Masaharu Iwata

Not in the order of preference

Nobou Uemastu
Koji Kondo
Yuka Tsujiyoko - Fire Emblem series
Masato Nakamura

Gou Ichinose, Hitomi Satou and Junichi Masuda, composers for the Pokemon series. I especially like the battle songs since they're so upbeat and energetic.

The rest are pretty standard I guess. Motoi Sakuraba and Hiroki Kikuta are favorites of mine.

Oh, I didn't know there was already a topic on this...

Koji Kondo, Yoko Shimomura, Yasunori Mitsuda, Hirokazu Ando, David Wise and Eric Chevalier.

Jun Chikuma (竹間淳)

I don't really have one. I like Akira Yamaoka, Nobuo Uematsu, Koji Kondo, Masami Ueda, Norihiko Hibino and many more.

I don't really have one. I like Akira Yamaoka, Nobuo Uematsu, Koji Kondo, Masami Ueda, Norihiko Hibino and many more.

Some of those have composed Biohazard's music,no?
And Norihiko Hibino have composed Twin Snakes' music =)

That's correct. You will usually find Masami Ueda composes in the Biohazard Series although I'm not sure if she does for all of them. I like Akira Yamaoka for all of the Silent Hill series; Norihiko Hibino for the Metal Gear Solid Series; Koji Kondo for Super Mario & ICO and Nobuo Uematsu for the Final Fantasy Series.

Biohazard Symphony Op. 91 - Crime and Punishment is done by Mamoru Samuragoch

Akira Yamaoka, Nobuo Uematsu (and Shiro Hamaguchi for his arrangements), Yasunori Mitsuda, Harry Gregson-Williams, Graeme Revell (Call of Duty 2) and Michael Giacchino.


Michael Giacchino is never mentioned in these kind of threads, even though he's one of the best composers in America full-stop, not just video games. He composed the music for every Medal of Honor up until Rising Sun and now the new game, along with Call of Duty, Lost, MI:3 and in the Incredibles, and was also the first to use a real orchestra for a game soundtrack.

Current favorites (mostly composing for shmups):

Sakuraba Motoi (Golden Sun series, Star Ocean series, Tales of Symphonia)
Yuge Masanori (parts of Sky Shark, Zero Wing, and Twin Cobra, Truxton, Fire Shark, Truxton II, Grind Stormer)
Tsukumo Hyakutarou (Blast Wind, Hyper Duel, Thunder Force V)
Yamanishi Toshiharu (most stages for Thunder Force III, Elemental Master)
Motoyama Atsuhiro (Mahou Daisakusen, Battle Bakraid)
Uemura Tatsuya (the other parts of Sky Shark and Twin Cobra, most other parts of Zero Wing, Hellfire, Dogyuun)
Ogura Hisayoshi (Darius series, Ninja Warriors, parts of Night Striker)
Satou Akira (Raiden series)

Shusaku Uchiyama, Resident Evil

Anyone mention Daisuke Ishiwatari who does most of the music for Guilty Gear? He's one of my faves including:
Motoi Sakuraba Star Ocean 3 and Golden Sun
Hitoshi Sakimoto Vagrant Story, Dragon Quarter and FFTactics Advance
Yasunori Mitsuda KH n Chrono Trigger
Nobuo Uematsu FF series
Not sure of what their names are but, I remember one Yuki Tadahera (I think it was)the composers that do most of the music for the Streetfighter series and Capcom Marvel crossovers.

Oh boy! I have a LONG list here!



My favorite video game music composers:


- David/Dave Wise (he did the music from the Donkey Kong games, but I like him for his work on Diddy Kong Racing)

- Robin Beanland (Conker's Bad Fur Day)

- Mark Mothersbaugh (Crash Bandicoot games for the Playstation)

- Stewart Copeland (Spyro games for the Playstation - my god, I LOVE those songs!!)

- Junichi Masuda (composer for the Pokemon games)

- Shinji Miyazaki (composer for the Pokemon anime, by the way those remixes are AWESOME!!!! *___*)

- Hirokazu Ando (did the music for SSBM)

Yoko Shimomura (Parasite Eve and Kingdom Hearts)
Nobou Uematsu (If you don't know what he's done you need to be shot)
Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill series)
Maki Kirioka, Akihiro Honda, Norihiko Hibino, Toshiyuki Kakuta (they all worked on Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner)
Kow Itani (Legendary work with Shadow of the Colossus)
Harry Gregson-Williams (Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3)
Yuzo Koshiro (Actraiser)
Kenji Yamamoto (Super Metroid)
Hiroshi Lunchi (Ikaruga)

There so many others I can list, but I think these stand out as the top brass for music in my opinion.

Michiru Yamane owns!!!

By the way this is my firsts pots Hello Everyone

Motoi Sakuraba would win by a longshot.

Other favorites include: Koichi Sugiyama, Noriyuki Iwadare, Nobuo Uematsu, and Yasunori Mitsuda.

Yasunori Mitsuda
Masafumi Takada
Go Shiina

My favorites are....

Nobuo Uematsu - his name hais come up so many times most of you already know what he composed, but I'll say anyway, Final Fantasy

Motoi Sakuraba - Star Ocean: Till the End of time and Tales of Symphonia

Yoko Shimomura - the Kingdom Hearts series

Takayuki Hattori - Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits

Yozo Kishiro - Shenmue

Ryuji Iuchi - Shenmue

and few other good ones, including the piano player of Tifa vs. Loz, whose name escapes me... I know Uematsu was the composer, but who played it??? I can't remember his name...

Yasunori Mitsuda or Motoi Sakuraba

Overall Nobuo Uematsu but Norihiko Hibino and Akira Yamaoka have made some of my absolute favourites!

Yuzo Koshiro is really flawless.
Tommy Tallerico (composed the perfect Earthworm Jim series' music tracks).
Ryuji Iuchi
Norihiko Hibino
Akira Yamaoka
Motoaki Furukawa (Policenauts)

Mett Uleman is an awesome composer. (Did the diablo series)

Because Koji Kondo, while he hasn't lost inspiration, isn't remarkable. Sure, he has worked on both the Mario and Zelda series, but his compositions are completely lifeless.

i hate noobs like you that talk like that. If you think Koji kondo does lifeless work, then you are most certainly the lifeless one.

And btw, Jeremy soule, FTW, not for all the other games ppl mentioned, but for morrowind and especially OBLIVION!!

Obviously Nobuo Uematsu, Hitoshi Sakimoto, umm.... Kenji Ito,

Gummi Bears I am completely in agreeance with you on Miki Higashino!

And i havnt read all the posts but i dont think anyone has mentioned Koichi Sugiyama, Dragon Quest music is SUGOI!! And Motio Sakuraba Has to be on my top three, Michiru Yamane as well, after I found out she was actually a woman(all my life I thought she was a man) I liked her even more =P

For anyone that wants to know, i thought Michiru Yamane was a man because i never thought a woman can produce such dark and cool tunes as seen in SOTN and other castlevanias. BUt boy was i wrong, sorry ladies, XD I have a new respect for woman now.

Harry-Gregson Williams

Excuse me? I'm a VGM expert, I know this stuff, you however, aren't one. So, therefore, you suck at analyzing VGM.

Of course there is a difference. Did I even say that they were the same? No, you're just making up stuff in order sound cool. Retard.

Kondo creates unremarkable music. So what? Uematsu does the same.

Next time, don't go around making false assumptions

Interesting. Do you attribute their popularity then to the success of the games with which they are associated?

Uematsu does some really awkward work, and some of Kondo's orchestration is downright cheesy. But what both have been able to do is create themes that have ingrained themselves into the public consciousness years after they were written, that have become popular outside the relm of the game itself. While someone like Sakimoto is more consistently good, he's rarely great.

For example, I can instantly recall several amazing tunes from final fantasy 1-10 right off the top of my head. (though, admittedly, the score to 10 was mostly forgettable) However, though I can remember Sakimoto's work in XII sounding good and generally fitting the scenario, the only melody of his that I can instantly bring to mind is the character selection screen from the original Final Fantasy Tactics.

Has anyone mentioned Shiro Hamaguchi yet? He's responsible for many of the orchestral arrangements of Uematsu's work, and for the piano collections. Uematsu doesn't have classical training, so his voice leading and orchestration are sometimes shoddy, and Hamaguchi cleans them up nicely.

Also, Jack Wall is a fantastic producer, and deserves mentioning here. The Myst stuff sounds amazing, and his Splinter Cell score is very well done.

I honestly, REALLY, dont see what is so earth shaking special about Nobuo Uematsu. Sure he is good for what he does, but I truly cannot see any grand unique musician in him. Composers like Noriyuki Iwadare or Michiru Yamane easily can out-compose Uematsu.

Just to even out the western crowed here.

Jesper Kyd
Tom Salta
Gustaf Grefeberg
Jeremey Soul
Rom Di prisco
Paul Haslinger (r6 Vegas)
Cris velasco


Most of my stuff contains Western VGM music and ive been collecting it ever since because its so rare and it saddens me that mostly japanese game VGM's get praise.

Grant Kirkhope all the way. The stuff he did on Goldeneye and Perfect Dark is simply beautiful. If a movie of Perfect Dark is ever made, they should pick him for the movie because nobody did it better than him!

Ashif Hakik, Mutato Muzika, Stewart Copeland & Yoko Shimomura

Michiko Naruke & Shogo Sakai. =)

Two of my favorites are Ken Nakagawa and Noriyuki Iwadare, but Motoi Sakuraba is my favorite of all time.

Shoji Meguro

He makes some goddamn good rpg music.

Funny, I scanned the first page and it took me awhile to realize the OP was in 2005 wow. Anyway, with recent influences (list would have been different a few years ago) mine goes, in no particular order:

Shoji Meguro
Yasunori Mitsuda
Nobuo Uematsu
Koichi Sugiyama
Masashi Hamauzu

Akira Yamaoka and Yasunori Mitsuda

My favourite composers:

Nobuo Uematsu
Frank Klepacki
Akira Yamaoka
Jesper Kyd
Yuzo Koshiro
Howard Drossin
St�phane Picq
Tommy Tallarico
Dan Forden
Bobby Prince

My favourites (in order of sheer amount I have of them) are:

Mutato Muzika
Jun Senoue
Stewart Copeland
Greame Norgate
and Masato Nakamura

Uematsu

Heh heh.... Favorite composer eh?

For me it would have to be a tie between Shoji Meguro and Akira Yamaoka.

However, Yasunori Mitsuda, Nobuo Uematsu (his Square works), Daisuke Ishiwatari, and Masashi Hamauzu are there as well.

The one and only - Nobuo Uematsu.

Nobuo Uematsu, Koichi Sugiyama, Yasunori Mitsuda, Motoi Sakuraba, Haruka Shimotsuki.

mmm... Tough to decide.

Hitoshi Sakimoto (This guy evokes a lot of atmospheres and tells you a story through his music)
Yasunori Mitsuda (Flutes and string instruments FTW)
Nobuo Uematsu (70's Rock influences gave it fruits in video games)
Michiru Yamane (J.S. Bach fan N�1, XD)
Tappy Iwase (The first MGS is the one and only that I really deeply love, the ones by Gregson Williams were good but they lack the thing that gets the melody around your head)
Akira Yamaoka (This guy gives you a headache, I love it =D, a proper composer for the silent hill series)
I don't know who composed the Super Castlevania IV Soundtrack but that person have my deepest blessings.
Kurt Harland (Very mystic are the legacy of kain Soundtracks)
Paul Arnold (The Medievil Soundtrack sounds very closely to Danny Elfman, but in someway has it's originality and it's a very nostalgic sound, I love it)
Yoko Shimomura (She did a great job for the Legend of Mana and for the first Parasite Eve)

Video Game music FTW!!!!!!!

Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy) and Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill) are definitely my favorites. I also enjoy some work by Hitoshi Sakimoto (Final Fantasy Tactics), Motoi Sakuraba (Tales of Symphonia) and Michiru Yamane (Castlevania: Symphony of the Night).

I don't know who composed the Super Castlevania IV Soundtrack but that person have my deepest blessings.


Taro Kudou and Masanori Adachi, who both also worked on Axelay.

Thanks arthurgolden, Axelay ost sounds good. Do you have anything else for recommendation from this composers? =D

Masanori Adachi also did Contra III: Alien Wars. You might want to check that out. But neither of them did much otherwise. I should say that Super Castlevania IV has a much stronger soundtrack than Axelay or Contra III, so you might be disappointed in the other stuff.

Nobuo Uematsu
Yoko Shimomura (Legend of Mana, Kingom Hearts, Mario & Luigi RPG series)
Hideki Naganuma (Jet Set/Grind Radio, Ollie King, Sonic Rush)
Masato Nakamura (Sonic 1 and 2, I'm not sure about the third one, I forgot! D: )
Motoi Sakuraba (several Tales games, several Star Ocean games, Golden Sun)

my favorites are michiru yamane[ castlevania]
yuzo koshiro-[streets of rage]
tomohito nishuira-[dark cloud]
yoko shimomura-[kingdom hearts],koji kondo-[zelda series] tetsuya shibata-[devil may cry 2]there are too many to mention.they all rock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yuzo Koshiro (Streets of Rage, Shinobi) and Daisuke Ishiwatari (Guilty Gear series)

Top 5

Nobuo Uematsu
Motoi Sakuraba
Chris H�lsbeck
Yuzo Koshiro
Shinji Hosoe

Shinji Hosoe

Hey Jessie--what do you recommend as his best work? I've only heard Bushido Blade and Tekken (arcade version), neither of which left a big impression on me. But I trust your opinion and Top 5 is a pretty big endorsement.

Being a big fan of the early Ridge Racer games is what got me liking his music. I'd recommend Ridge Racer, Ridge Racer 2 and Rage Racer, Dragon Saber is another good one.

I guess it depends on what you like music wise, though.

I like just about everything. Thanks! I'll check them out.

Also, my favourite composer is Alexander Brandon (Deus Ex, Deus Ex Invisible War). :)

Ashif Hakik - Sly Cooper and the thievius raccoonus, Crash Nitro Kart
Stewart Copeland - Spyro 1,2,3 and ETD
Mutato Muzika - Crash Bandicoot PS1 and Jak Series PS2
Justin Scharvona - Croc 1 & 2
Whoever did Tekken 3

Ashif Hakik - Sly Cooper and the thievius raccoonus, Crash Nitro Kart
Stewart Copeland - Spyro 1,2,3 and ETD
Mutato Muzika - Crash Bandicoot PS1 and Jak Series PS2
Justin Scharvona - Croc 1 & 2
Whoever did Tekken 3

Jak series music was composed by Mark Mothersbaugh (except for The Lost Frontier which was composed by James Dooley). Just letting you know.

As for me I would have to say:
Nobuo Uematsu(obviously)
Yoko Shimomura
Matt Uelmen
Masashi Hamauzu
Frank Klepacki
Koichi Sugiyama
Hitoshi Sakimoto
Derek Duke
Glenn Stanford
David Bergeaud
and since The Lost Frontier was released James Dooley is also a fave. The soundtrack of the game is astounding. Although he's not much of a game score composer.

Obviously Nobuo Uematsu..

Daisuke Ishiwatari
Dave Wise
Motoi Sakuraba
Go Shiina
Jun Senoue
Junichi Nakatsuru
Taiki (Angeraze, Ake-Bre)
SoundTeMP (Composers, yes, but easier to lump them all in one.)
Shinji Hosoe (When he works on shooters.)
Hyakutaro Tsukumo
Saitama Saisyu Heiki

Uhm, I think I don't have one.

My #1 would have to be the dude in my avatar.....Hyakutaro Tsukumo.

My other favorites include...

Tomomi Ohtani
Kenji Yamamoto
Shinji Hosoe
Chris H�lsbeck
Rafael Dyll
Yasuhisa Watanabe
Yuzo Koshiro
Michiru Yamane
Toshihiko Horiyama (mainly for RockMan X4)
Kow Otani (mainly for Shadow of the Colossus OST)
Hisayoshi Ogura (Zuntata)

Nobuo Uematsu is number one and Akira Yamaoka is great as well.

Somebody forgot to include Michiko Naruke, the composer for Wild Arms series. She is a brilliant composer at the peak of her career. Just listen to her soundtrack here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxMvToVHe7Y

I have a lot of composers and here's a few:

Koji Kondo (Mario series, Zelda series)
Ryo Nagamatsu (Wii Sports Resort, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Mario Kart Wii)
Hideki Abe (Puyo Pop Fever series)
Jun Senoue (Sonic series)
Kazumi Totaka (Yoshi's Story, Luigi's Mansion)
David Wise (DK series)
Yoko Shimomura (Mario & Luigi series, Kingdom Hearts series)
Shinobu Tanaka (Mario Kart: Double Dash!! & DS)

I don't know if anyone has put HIDEYUKI FUKASAWA my personal favorite Video Game & Anime composer..............and all the other superior composer's.

Koji Kondo is the best.

For me it's (and in no particular order):

Koji Kondo
David Wise
Shinsekai Gakkyoku Zatsugidan (if you don't know, they're the artist group that did KOF series)
Jun Senoue (since Sonic 3)
Grant Kirkhope
Graeme Norgate
Robin Beanland
Motoi Sakuraba (For the Nintendo arrangements)
Jun'ichi Masuda
Go Ichinose

In no particular order

Alexander Brandon
Motoi Sakuraba
Nobou Uematsu
Yasunori Mitsuda
Yoko Shimomura
Shoji meguro
Akira Yamaoka
Chikayo Fukuda composer for the cyber conect games(.hack series,and naruto)
the composers who worked on the shenmue ost
Michael Land
the composer of the nier ost "Keiichi Okabe" i think (great ost btw)
Masashi Hamauzu
masato nakamura

Koji Kondo (Mario and Zelda)
Junichi Masuda and Go Ichinose (Pokemon)
Keiichi Suzuki (Mother/EarthBound)
Grant Kirkhope (Banjo-Kazooie)
Yoko Shimomura (Super Mario RPG, Mario & Luigi and Kingdom Hearts)
Michael Land (Monkey Island)
Hirokazu Tanaka (Mother/EarthBound, Super Mario Land)
Kazumi Totaka (Luigi's Mansion, Animal Crossing)
Jun Senoue (Sonic Adventure 1 and 2)

Hirokazu "Hip" Tanaka (Mother/EarthBound, Super Mario Land)
Kazumi Totaka (Luigi's Mansion, Animal Crossing)


Bloody hell, I forgot about those two!

Garry Schyman (Bioshock)
Jeremy Soule (The Elder Scrolls Series)
Vincent Diamante (Flower)
Jamie Christopherson (Lost Planet 1 & 2)
Naoshi Mizuta (FFXI)
Koh Ohtani (Shadow of the Colossus)

YmoHS (Hitoshi Sakimoto) - Radiant Silvergun,Odin Sphere,FFT
Nakany (Tetsukazu Nakanishi) - AC3 (-AceCombat series)
sanodg (Nobuyoshi Sano) - Ridge Racer series
Susumu Hirasawa - Berserk

Or Mahito Yokota

Daisuke Ishiwatari for Guilty Gear and BlazBlue have amazing soundtracks (I prefer the former)
Koji Kondo, for self explanatory reasons
Jun Senoue for Sonic Adventure Battle 2's music
Rei Kondoh for my favorites in Okami

Anyone mention Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori for the Soundtrack of all the Halo (Except the 4) ?
And Adam Skorupa/Paweł Błaszczak for The Witcher ? (Awesome !)
Stephan Rippy and Kevin McMullan for Age of Empires
Garry Schyman (I only listen to Bioshock)
Russell Shaw (for Fable) with the theme from Danny Elfman !

That's some of my favorit (but they are lot of other mention in the topic like Jeremy Soule or Inon Zur)

ZUN

Alexander Brandon/Straylight Productions.

merci bien

Keike Kobayashi (Ace Combat)

Man, the first page of this thread is depressing. Someone actually thought (2005...) that both Kondo AND Uematsu are lifeless? Why?

Anyway, my favs:

Koji Kondo
Nobuo Uematsu
Yuzo Koshiro
Kenji Yamamoto (Exclusively for his work on Metroid Prime)
David Wise
Shinji Hosoe
Yasoruni Mitsuda
Michiru Yamane
Yoko Shimomura
Daisuke Ishiwatari
Shoji Meguro

edit: forgot about Meguro and Ishiwatari!

Oh wow, that's a hard question lol

Guess I'd name Hitoshi Sakimoto for top favorite. His work on Vagrant Story made me fall in love into VGM, and the game is still my favorite!
But I admire Yoko Shimomura and ZUN quite a lot. Needless to say, Yasunori Mitsuda too (who doesn't?!).

Yasunori Mitsuda for me as well. I love Xenogears' soundtrack especially.