Takayuki Aihara
 

I absolutely love his work from Sledge Blow, Phantom Kingdom, and his arrangement work in Rogue Galaxy. He is quite versatile and is one of the best orchestral composers that I've heard of in a while. He is quite a musician as well. This is evident in his arrangement of "The Labyrinth" from Rogue Galaxy. He manipulated the flute sampling to be slightly off key. He created the illusion of a performance. This guy is talented, but I can't find much works by him out there. Anyone know of his discography or even if there will be another soundtrack by him in the future?

The guy is a Super Sweep composer, though he is far more famous for his arrangements.

http://www.squaresound.com/composers/supersweep.html
Not too hard to find, just below Hosoe.

I'm suprised that you find him one of the best orchestral composers, to be honest, though usually I'm the one with the odd insights. He is much more versatile and has arranged far more than just orchestral music.

I really love how he utilizes the orchetstra (like in Phantom Kingdom and Sledge Blow). His orchestral arrangement of Labyrinth, however, got me hooked to him. I just hope he composes for a larger project soon.

Nice thread. He's not actually a Super Sweep composer, owner of Studio Carnaval, but has been known for endless collaborations with Ayako Saso and Shinji Hosoe. The Super Sweep page was to be renovated, but SquareSound is going to be 'changing'.

Anyway, Takayuki Aihara is one of my favourite composers. He's immensely versatile, having worked on everything from Drag-on Dragoon to Street Fighter EX to Hajime no Ippo, but constantly stands out for being innovative, creative, and refined.

I agree Phantom Kingdom, "The Labyrinth", and Sledge Blow are excellent. His arrangements on Phantasy Star Online Premium Arrange, Mahou Shoujou Ai 2 ''transformation'''s arrange album, and Street Fighter Tribute Album are interesting too.

He's well-known for intense and somewhat inaccessible electronica, though, so it'd be interesting if you like his Namco, Street Fighter EX, and Square works. Drag-on Dragoon should be interesting for you. Not sure how the heck you'll take it.

You can be guaranteed another soundtrack from him. He's been a massive name for over one and half decades now. ;)

Takayuki Aihara is a very versatile composer, talented for both orchestral and electronica. I would really like to hear his work for Children of Mana...

Aihara is a great composer. Aside from the works some of you already have mentioned, his contributions to the many Troubadour Record albums such as Be filled with feeling, T*O*U*R*S and some of the Sampling Masters albums are worth checking out as well. Also, Hajime no Ippo VICTORIOUS BOXERS and Namco Game Sound Express Vol.9 Knuckle Heads are damn good albums too. I cant wait to hear his next project. His work on Chidren of Mana should be interesting.

Mr. Maul,

Actually I've tried listening to Drag on Dragoon before. I didn't really get into it. I stopped at about halfway through the first volume. I might try it again if I feel experimental again. But I will certainly check out the others you have mentioned. I was wondering... didn't Aihara and Yano compose the cinematic music for Drakenguard 2? Is there a rip somewhere of that?

On another note, I'm REALLY excited to hear his work for Children of Mana. I can't wait to see what Aihara and Ito will do with it.

You do know that Masaharu Iwata (FF Tactics, Ogre Battle, Baroque, Stella Deus, etc..) is also involved, right ?

On topic, you really should seek out the Hajime no Ippo game OST, as Aihara shows a nice variety of styles like electronica, rock, jazz and yes, even orchestral. And Aihara did arrange some tracks on the Nightmare of Druaga OST(The majority of the tracks were by Masashi Yano), knowing you really like orchestral music, you really ought to check that one out.

Thank you Dragon God :)! I will check those out! As for Iwata, I didn't know he was involved in that. Nonetheless, I think the score will be great )!

All I'm really familiar with is Takayuki Aihara's arrangements on
Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Premium Arrange and Famicom 20th Anniversary Arrange Soundtracks, which are excellent. I'll have to check out more of his work.

I have to admit that I've never heard T·O·U·R·S, but really want to. It's interesting to see how Hayato Matsuo (Imagine), Hitoshi Sakimoto (Basiscape), Shinji Hosoe and Ayako Saso (Super Sweep), Takayuki Aihara (Studio Carnaval), Ken'ichi Koyano (Eighting/Raizing), and many others are interlinked by Troubadour Records. I guess the earliest Troubadour albums explains many of their various collaborations in the future in the general game music field.

As for Iwata's involvement, you make it sound like a bad thing. At least in my perspective, it's not. Iwata's one of my favourite composers and I vastly prefer he and Aihara to Ito. :)

EDIT: Oh, I forgot about Famicom Anniversary. I hated that album, but Yack and Aihara made it just about worthwhile.

Hm... is Hajime no Ippo an anime also? Because I cannot find the music to the game at all.

Yeah, front top to bottom, T·O·U·R·S is a great album. It's definitely worth having a listen.


Yeah, the game is based off of the anime. Here is the info concernnig the game OST: http://chudahs-corner.com/soundtrack...talog=OMCP-8~9

There IS an anime (I assume it's based off the game, or vice versa), but the soundtrack in question is Hajime no Ippo - Victorious Boxers.

EDIT: Beaten. :(

(game and anime are based off the manga)

I still can't find a download anywhere, :(... It must be a rare find.

Make a request thread for it in Audio Requests and I'll upload it for you.

Nevermind... I found it, but I didn;t download it yet. Because I am downloading Nightmare of Druaga - Dungeon of Mystery. I see that on www.gmronline.com states that Aihara arranged the entire soundtrack. Anyways, I REALLY enjoy this soundtrack. Up until now, I wasn't familiar with Yano's music, but from what I'm hearing, I'm quite impressed.

Time to bump this thread!

Children of Mana is out :D! Anyone listen to the music yet? I don't know if an official soundtrack was released or not, but I am in the process of retrieving it. It's two discs of musical excellence. Aihara's tracks are amazing. My fav of his is Track 14 - The Wind Sings Louldy. It reminds me of Kikuta's style. Ito composed some cool tracks as well and I was impressed by Iwata, too. The tracklist is as follows:

Seiken Densetsu DS: Children of Mana Original Soundtrack
Music Composed by Kenji Ito, Takayuki Aihara, and Masaharu Iwata

DISC ONE

1. Breath of MANA-for the Glory - Kenji Ito
2. Rising Sun - Kenji Ito
3. The Ensemble of Children - Masaharu Iwata
4. Tale of the Distant Sun - Kenji Ito
5. Longing - Kenji Ito
6. Creeping Pulsation - Masaharu Iwata
7. Emergency - Takayuki Aihara
8. Beyond the Blue Sky - Kenji Ito
9. Tower of the Flickering Prayer - Masaharu Iwata
10. Peaceful Underground Lake - Masaharu Iwata
11. Storm of the Red Sand - Masaharu Iwata
12. Frozen Majesty - Masaharu Iwata
13. Monster of the Forest - Takayuki Aihara
14. The Wind Sings Loudly - Takayuki Aihara
15. King of Chaos - Takayuki Aihara
16. The Blocking Menace - Kenji Ito
17. Evil Beast - Masaharu Iwata
18. Triumphant Return - Kenji Ito
19. The Desire Vanishes - Kenji Ito

DISC TWO

1. Together With Comrade-in-Arms - Takayuki Aihara
2. Singing Voice of Light - Masaharu Iwata
3. Challenge - Kenji Ito
4. The Ruined Ground - Takayuki Aihara
5. Fate - Takayuki Aihara
6. Rut of the Crystal - Takayuki Aihara
7. The Shaking Earth - Masaharu Iwata
8. The Sky's Lamentation - Takayuki Aihara
9. Grasslands of Eternity - Kenji Ito
10. Trial - Takayuki Aihara
11. The Thunder Emperor's Aloofness - Kenji Ito
12. Infant of Mana - Kenji Ito
13. The Desire Not Forgotten - Kenji Ito
14. The Beginning of a New Legend - Kenji Ito

Children of Mana's soundtrack is being sold on itunes japan for about Y1800
I don't know if it's going to have it's own cd release, but still, great music from all three composers.

What do people think of his work on Drag-on Dragoon with Nobuyoshi Sano?
I feel that the music is a bit juvenile as it sounds like recordings have been broken up and reshuffled into a noisy mess.

The thing is I sometimes feel like listening to it, but other times it gives be a headache!

It angers me that most of the best video game music is being released on Itunes. Not everyone has an I-pod, and I have no desire to even have one. I don't mean to rant, but I have wanted to listen to Jeremy Soule's latest score from the game Prey, and haven't been able to because I don't have an I-pod and will not support Itunes.

As for Drag-on Dragoon, it is....different. I really can't say that I totally dislike it now, but I don't love it either. My feelings on the score are wierd, heh.

Takayuki Aihara recently did an arrangement medley for the Bonus CD included with the PS2 remake (?) of Haunted Castle, the arcade Castlevania game. Tracks in the medley are Cross your Heart, Don't wait until Night and Bloody Tears.

You can check it out here: http://rapidshare.de/files/21515299/akumajou.mp3.html

Happy listening !

After hearing that piece, I would have no qualms if Konami decides to hire him over Michiru Yamane for one future Castlevania game as he's quite suited for the job :D

This track is pretty good indeed! It has a drier sound than Yamane's, yet it's refreshing, so yeah, I agree it'd be nice if he would work on a future Castlevania game, either in solo or on par with Yamane.

I never had the time to get into his work (there's just too much music existing!). I've heard his contribution on the "2197" album though, which I liked a good deal. Nice electronic music with a beat!

Takayuki Aihara -Carnaval
 

You can download it here with other 2 TROUBADOUR RECORD Albums
http://www.gm-realm.net/?page=torrentinfo&tid=126


Also,I have upload one of Takayuki Aihara Solo album for you.It is a fusion Jazz or bossanova album.enjoy!
http://img03.shop-pro.jp/PA01002/810/product/578917.jpg
1. Satanas onipotente
2. Vermilion Aphrodite
3. cool voice
4. namoon
5. calnaval
6. estela norte
http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.ph...F1F22A74A6C89C

Thanks for posting this torrent (and the Aihara solo album) shylph. Too bad there aren't any seeders anymore :(