Paltheos
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Edit: Oh helpful moderator team, would you please move over to Gaming side? 
Sorry.
Today marks the 10th anniversary of the death of Wataru Ishibashi, mostly remembered as a composer at Nihon Falcom from 1999 to 2006. Ishibashi was an incredibly talented musician, capable of deftly weaving a variety of instruments into his compositions for just as many genres. As a lover of video game music and long-time admirer of Falcom's music in particular, I thought I'd spend a little time today sharing some of my favorites of his, many fans' favorites, and a few other points of interest. If you have any favorites of yours (... if anyone will even post in this rather obscure topic), feel free to share. Linked to here is a playlist of 127 of Ishibashi's compositions and arrangements at Falcom (there are some arrangements missing, actually, which are noteworthy enough to me that I'll mention further down)
Important to note: Falcom's policies do not credit any of their composers for individual tracks, so crediting has been speculated on by devoted fans, comparing pieces from in-game to other music from the man and against other composers' music for/at Falcom.
The Merciless Savior (Trails in the Sky 2): Often hailed as Ishibashi's last and great masterpiece, a beautiful and bittersweet violin and choral piece that uses Trails in the Sky 1's vocal opening Hoshi no Arika as its backbone although Ishibashi incorporates elements from various tracks in Trails in the Sky into it. The segment from 5:55-6:20, as the violin sings of an end to the long journey, is probably my favorite part.
Mighty Obstacle (Ys VI): In my opinion, the most important track to modern Falcom's sound today, even more than Takahiro Unisuga's The Final Choice. The portion from 1:10-1:23 has come to define Falcom's sound ever since.
Silver Will (Trails in the Sky 1): Another iconic Ishibashi track. In Falcom-run polls, this song often appears at or near the top of all-time favorites.
Treacherous Woods (Xanadu Next): My favorite unknown gem from Ishibashi's catalogue. It's a beautiful piece with a great ensemble of instruments - the harsh guitar and the softer woodwinds capture the beauty and danger of the setting - and has absolutely magical moments of subtlety. The piano revisiting the earlier motifs before trailing off at 2:18-2:23, lost in the percussion, kinda like the player is lost in the woods(!), is just brilliant. Also love the shaker throughout.
The Phantom World (Gurumin): Emblematic of Ishibashi's insane versatility. The instrument that plays at the very start is called an angklung, a percussion instrument of Indonesian origin. The track is also probably my favorite from Gurumin for its great sense of ambience.
Sophisticated Fight (Trails in the Sky 1): The smoothest jam of a battle track you've ever heard. Not that over the top tracks are bad by any means (they're generally my favorites), but this one's notable for being exciting with little more than a piano, woodwinds, and light percussion.
Ernst (Ys VI): A fan favorite - It's a high-energy rock track that captures the chaos of the situation. The screeching at the start, like crows coming to peck at their prey, is on the nose but I can't help but like it.
The Ruined City "Kishgal" (Ys VI): In which Ishibashi demonstrates he can also do techno apparently. Ys VI has allot of tracks arranged by different composers than their original writer, and this is probably my favorite track from the game composed and arranged by the same musician.
Mythical Land Serpentina (Zwei): Just a fun and exciting track to mark the end of the story. I wanted to list something from Zwei on here, but I also like this track quite a bit so it's not just a token mention.
Factory City of Zeiss (Trails in the Sky 1): A fantastic take on a techno city. The hard-hitting bass emphasizes how all-encompassing technology is to the people of Zeiss, but the light piano and other high-pitched instrumentation captures their energy and positive enthusiasm. It's just such a wonderful track to cruise to (as I find excuses to talk to all the NPCs so I can keep on listening)
Hollowed Light of the Sealed Land (Trails in the Sky 1): An exciting finale track and an oft cited favorite by fans. The segment at 3:20-3:35, where most of the foreground instruments cut and the synth rises and falls, feels like peeking above the clouds in the sky. Just an inspired cut.
www.youtube.com
List is far from exhaustive, and Ishibashi's also done some fantastic arranges, particularly in Ys VI. Some like, Release at the Far West Ocean, are obvious to see Ishibashi's influence - The simple guitar melody is textbook Hayato Sonoda, but the lively percussion, the synth beats at :25-:32, the woodwinds/bassline combo at :49, and the chorus that kicks in around the minute mark are all creative and energetic enough to me to seem Ishibashi. Ultramarine Deep and The Depth Napishtim aren't as clear to me anyway, but they're both fantastic pieces regardless, and the latter might be the most classy Falcom's ever been (shoutout to the original composer, Maiko Hattori, on these two).
Thank you again, Ishibashi, for all the wonderful music.
Sorry.Today marks the 10th anniversary of the death of Wataru Ishibashi, mostly remembered as a composer at Nihon Falcom from 1999 to 2006. Ishibashi was an incredibly talented musician, capable of deftly weaving a variety of instruments into his compositions for just as many genres. As a lover of video game music and long-time admirer of Falcom's music in particular, I thought I'd spend a little time today sharing some of my favorites of his, many fans' favorites, and a few other points of interest. If you have any favorites of yours (... if anyone will even post in this rather obscure topic), feel free to share. Linked to here is a playlist of 127 of Ishibashi's compositions and arrangements at Falcom (there are some arrangements missing, actually, which are noteworthy enough to me that I'll mention further down)
Important to note: Falcom's policies do not credit any of their composers for individual tracks, so crediting has been speculated on by devoted fans, comparing pieces from in-game to other music from the man and against other composers' music for/at Falcom.
The Merciless Savior (Trails in the Sky 2): Often hailed as Ishibashi's last and great masterpiece, a beautiful and bittersweet violin and choral piece that uses Trails in the Sky 1's vocal opening Hoshi no Arika as its backbone although Ishibashi incorporates elements from various tracks in Trails in the Sky into it. The segment from 5:55-6:20, as the violin sings of an end to the long journey, is probably my favorite part.
Mighty Obstacle (Ys VI): In my opinion, the most important track to modern Falcom's sound today, even more than Takahiro Unisuga's The Final Choice. The portion from 1:10-1:23 has come to define Falcom's sound ever since.
Silver Will (Trails in the Sky 1): Another iconic Ishibashi track. In Falcom-run polls, this song often appears at or near the top of all-time favorites.
Treacherous Woods (Xanadu Next): My favorite unknown gem from Ishibashi's catalogue. It's a beautiful piece with a great ensemble of instruments - the harsh guitar and the softer woodwinds capture the beauty and danger of the setting - and has absolutely magical moments of subtlety. The piano revisiting the earlier motifs before trailing off at 2:18-2:23, lost in the percussion, kinda like the player is lost in the woods(!), is just brilliant. Also love the shaker throughout.
The Phantom World (Gurumin): Emblematic of Ishibashi's insane versatility. The instrument that plays at the very start is called an angklung, a percussion instrument of Indonesian origin. The track is also probably my favorite from Gurumin for its great sense of ambience.
Sophisticated Fight (Trails in the Sky 1): The smoothest jam of a battle track you've ever heard. Not that over the top tracks are bad by any means (they're generally my favorites), but this one's notable for being exciting with little more than a piano, woodwinds, and light percussion.
Ernst (Ys VI): A fan favorite - It's a high-energy rock track that captures the chaos of the situation. The screeching at the start, like crows coming to peck at their prey, is on the nose but I can't help but like it.
The Ruined City "Kishgal" (Ys VI): In which Ishibashi demonstrates he can also do techno apparently. Ys VI has allot of tracks arranged by different composers than their original writer, and this is probably my favorite track from the game composed and arranged by the same musician.
Mythical Land Serpentina (Zwei): Just a fun and exciting track to mark the end of the story. I wanted to list something from Zwei on here, but I also like this track quite a bit so it's not just a token mention.
Factory City of Zeiss (Trails in the Sky 1): A fantastic take on a techno city. The hard-hitting bass emphasizes how all-encompassing technology is to the people of Zeiss, but the light piano and other high-pitched instrumentation captures their energy and positive enthusiasm. It's just such a wonderful track to cruise to (as I find excuses to talk to all the NPCs so I can keep on listening)
Hollowed Light of the Sealed Land (Trails in the Sky 1): An exciting finale track and an oft cited favorite by fans. The segment at 3:20-3:35, where most of the foreground instruments cut and the synth rises and falls, feels like peeking above the clouds in the sky. Just an inspired cut.
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List is far from exhaustive, and Ishibashi's also done some fantastic arranges, particularly in Ys VI. Some like, Release at the Far West Ocean, are obvious to see Ishibashi's influence - The simple guitar melody is textbook Hayato Sonoda, but the lively percussion, the synth beats at :25-:32, the woodwinds/bassline combo at :49, and the chorus that kicks in around the minute mark are all creative and energetic enough to me to seem Ishibashi. Ultramarine Deep and The Depth Napishtim aren't as clear to me anyway, but they're both fantastic pieces regardless, and the latter might be the most classy Falcom's ever been (shoutout to the original composer, Maiko Hattori, on these two).
Thank you again, Ishibashi, for all the wonderful music.
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