How skillful is Yasunori Mitsuda?

I love it when people think that if someone doesn't orchestrate and/or program their music, it means they are a talentless hack. The fact of the matter is that many of the most successful composers in any field have other people orchestrate (or program) their music. It's why there are jobs called "orchestrator" and "synthesizer programmer." While it's true that some composers can do it all themselves, it doesn't make the music inherently better or more skillful. In fact, the majority of my favorite composers have at least some help in getting the music put together.

So that whole question is moot for me when considering Mitsuda's skill as a composer. He's an incredibly skillful melodist in that he's capable of combining a wide variety of influences and styles into a cohesive score. I'm a bit perplexed why anyone would see his music as anything other than orchestral, though; it's synthesized, yes, but synthy sounds don't usually take precedence in his work, nor do wailing electric guitars (though both do make some appearances).

Awhile back, I tried to put together a one-to-one correspondance of my favorite VGM artists and western film score composers. In that figuring, Yasunori Mitsuda = James Horner.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Zanasea

You know, Mitsuda orchestrated the tracks performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra for Xenosaga himself. And he is also skilled as a synthesizer operator, since he also took charge of it on Xenosaga (alongside Masaaki Kaneko). And he was a sound programmer during his first years at Square... so I guess he is truly skilled, after all.

Agreed. I wasn't saying that Mitsuda didn't do those things in my post; I was saying that I don't like it when people look down on those composers that use orchestrators or synth programmers (occasionally to the extent that they give the orchestrator or synthprog full credit).

I bet Mitsuda could write a hell of a film score, if he wanted to.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Mr. Maul

While Shimomura graduated from the Osaka University of Music, her music doesn't reveal much evidence of classical training, much like what Goldfish said. It's often extremely simple, not that this is a bad thing, and don't forget that Kaoru Wada was the orchestrator for the Kingdom Hearts games.

That's pretty much what I was talking about when I complained about people looking down on composers who use specialized helpers. Add to that the implicit assumption that "classical training = good composer."

For the record, I don't think Shimomura's compositions are any "simpler" than Mitsuda's, except perhaps in the realm of synth programming.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Mr. Maul

I'm not sure if you're supporting me or reading something negative into my post, so I jsut thought I'd add that.

Before you clariefied, I was being negative. Now, it's all positive

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