Who will replace Sugiyama?

Hayato Matsuo would be the best choice. He has already worked with Sugiyama on Magical Knight Rayearth, Idataki Street Special, and all of the Dragon Quest CD Theater albums (where he was an arranger). Matsuo would do a lot with the series and is an incredible musician.

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Originally Posted by jb1234

Matsuo's tracks in FFXII aren't all that great. I haven't heard any of his other works.

I don't think anyone could replace Sugiyama. His sound is simply too ingrained in the games. Let's hope he lives a long life...

Well, he did orchestrate and partly compose the Opening and Ending themes, though I agree that his original tracks weren't all that interesting upon first impressions.

EDIT: Just found out that Matsuo used to be a pupil of Sugiyama's.

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Heh? Now that's interesting, wonder why this guy doesnt have more project. I really liked his contribution on FFXII.

He's had plenty of projects, but not all of them are well-known.

Like most Imagine composers, he dabbles in the field of anime too. His anime works are listed here. He's also a major contributor to the Troubadour series of non-game albums.

Here is a list of scores he has worked on:

Original Scores

Battle Garegga Perfect Soundtrack (arrangement)
Dragon Force II ~ When the Gods Abandoned Earth
Final Fantasy XII Original Soundtrack
Front Mission 3 Original Soundtrack
Front Mission 5 ~Scars of the War~ Original Soundtrack (reprise from FM3)
Front Mission Online Original Soundtrack (reprises from FM3 - announced soundtrack, but no details as yet)
Master of Monsters
Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber Original Soundtracks
Ogre Battle, All Sounds of
Panzer Dragoon Orta Original Soundtrack (arrangement)
Panzer Dragoon RPG, Azel (arrangement)

Arranged Albums

Ogre Battle Image Album ~ The Entrance
Ogre ~Grand Repeat~
Sakura Taisen III Music Collection ~ Paris Music Hall
Sakura Taisen V ~Farewell, Loved Ones~ Music Collection New York Music Hall
Sakura Taisen V ~Farewell, Loved Ones~ Vocal Collection New York Songs Collection
Shenmue Orchestra Version
Sword Maniac

Other Albums

Dragon Quest I CD Theater
Dragon Quest II CD Theater
Dragon Quest III CD Theater
Dragon Quest IV CD Theater Vol. 1
Dragon Quest IV CD Theater Vol. 2
Dragon Quest IV CD Theater Vol. 3
Dragon Quest V CD Theater Vol. 1
Dragon Quest V CD Theater Vol. 2
Dragon Quest V CD Theater Vol. 3
Dragon Quest VI CD Theater Vol. 1
Dragon Quest VI CD Theater Vol. 2
Game Music Concert ~The Best Selection~
Game Music Concert 2 ~The Best Selection~
Game Music Concert 4 ~The Best Selection~
Panzer Dragoon RPG Mini Album, Azel

I'm still not 100% sure about whether he composed all CD Theater albums, but the translator I work with from time-to-time seems to think so. There might be other Sakura Taisen and possibly Tengai Makyou albums as well, so if anyone can confirm them, tell me.

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Originally Posted by eriol

Hmm... he arranged Ogre Battle Grand Repeat and... Ogre Battle Image Album Enterance? Interesting... he actually arranged both one jewel and one crappiest album in VGM history.

I should explain... For an album to be listed as featuring him, it simply means compositions or arrangements of his feature. The Panzer Dragoon albums are arranged by him, but feature no original compositions. Grand Repeat features compositions from him (one, if I remember correctly), but he doesn't take an active arranging role. Sorry if this is confusing!

The credits for Ogre Battle Image Album state that Hitoshi Sakimoto, Masaharu Iwata, and Hayato Matsuo were the arrangers. That baffles me, as none of them have ever produced another bad work. Masatsugu Shinozaki (a master violinist) was the arranger of Grand Repeat.

IMO, Shenmue Orchestra Version was the pinnacle of Hayato Matsuo's orchestral arrangements.

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As far as the Dragon Quest CD theaters are concered, he actually didn't work on the first one (ECD-001), as Sugiyama is credited solely for both music and arranging. I can confirm that he did work as an arranger on the second one (ECD-002) though, together with Sugiyama. (there's really no mistaking this as the credits are all in English for these two cds) Hope that helps

That was helpful, yet confusing! The only two DQ CD Theaters that I've seen solid English confirmation that Hayato Matsuo was the arranger were the first and second (that source was RPGFan). Thanks for revealing this anyhow; it makes everything much more complex for me, but at least I won't be publishing any inaccurate information now.

I'll do some searching of '松尾早人 ' and see what I come up with.

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You guys automatically dismissed Nobuo Uematsu, but there's absolutely no reason why Uematsu couldn't handle the Dragon Quest series. Uematsu, short of Sugiyama himself, is the most melodic game composer out there. He's explicitly said that when composing he always develops the melody first and then builds the song around that. Uematsu is also the only composer I know of to not even really *have* a distinctive style of his own. He's completely versatile, having demonstrated mastery over orchestras and operas as well as synthesizers, and can compose in basically any style of music effectively. I have no doubt he could take over the Dragon Quest series.

Difference is that Nobuo Uematsu really hasn't demonstrated mastery over orchestras. Practically all FF orchestrations (in-game or arranged album) were done by another arranger, most often Shiro Hamaguchi. Hamaguchi produced the orchestrations in the FFVII Reunion Tracks, FFVIII FITHOS LUSEC WECOS VINOSEC, Tour de Japon, Dear Friends, and 20020220, and was principally responsible for a wide number of in-game gems -- including "FFXI Opening Theme," "Liberi Fatali," "Suteki Da Ne" (orchestral and original), FFVIII's ending theme, "Eyes on Me," "Melodies of Life," and "One Winged Angel."

Nobuo Uematsu isn't trained in orchestration, whereas Koichi Sugiyama received extensive training and is one of the most technically proficient composers out there. Some things don't require training, but orchestration certainly does (I should know). There'd be an incredible regression in technical quality were Nobuo to take over.

Hamaguchi + Dragon Quest wouldn't be ideal, IMO. Hamaguchi is melodramatic, in my opinion, and would make DQ overstated. Hayato Matsuo would be far more appropriate, though both come from the same company (Imagine). Besides, Hamaguchi is away from Japan for some time, receiving education in Boston.

Not sure about Masashi Hamauzu's skills as an orchestrator... Coi Vanni Gialli was rather good, though Dirge of Cerberus required an external orchestrator.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by seanne

That's strange. I guess whoever made the review of the first one must have made a mistake then. He is credited as music producer for it though, together with a few other people.

To be honest, from the review, it didn't seem like they had listened to the album at all, so I guess there was a misunderstanding down the line.

Music producer, eh? Very interesting. Thanks for the help, seanne.

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Originally Posted by Namakemono

He arranged Dear Friends, if I remeber correctly.

Yup and Final Fantasy III Eternal Legend of Wind.

FELIPE NO

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Is there any proof that he helped with composing those pieces? They sounded strictly Sakimoto to me (with Matsuo's orchestrations).

He composed 3:50 to 4:25 of the "Opening," but didn't compose any specific section of the ending theme, though orchestration often involves some composition as well.

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