Reflections on the Composition of "Welcome To Lunatea"

Reflections on composing "Welcome To Lunatea

As in the previous work, I was once again in charge of the BGM for the menu screen.

However, when work on Klonoa 2 began, I was in a state of physical exhaustion due to overwork from Ridge Racer V. I had to stop working on the music for a few days, and I was not able to finish it.

I was hesitant to even participate.

They convinced me that they needed me to be the one to write the music for the exciting parts of the game.

I was really ready to make my last desperate effort now.

The menu screen is the music of the light side, while the dusk and the fall are sublimated as the music of Leolina's charge.

Anyway, it had to be a bright song.

I remember that at the time I was thinking that I had to do it, I was really wounded and had to write this song as if I was squeezing myself.

Aside from my reality, the way I immersed myself in the world is exactly the same as in the previous work.

The previous menu screen was a waltz, with a swinging tempo and pitch to express the rustic flavor of a hand-cranked organ style.

At the beginning, I had decided that the rhythm would be a waltz, following the rhythm of the previous work.

This time, we decided to make the waltz sound more beautiful and complete, since the PlayStation 2 was called the next generation console.

I intentionally incorporated more synths in the musical composition.

Well, this arrangement is based on the Famicom (NES) soundtrack.

By using the NES soundtrack, the tonal information is reduced, allowing the ear to focus more on the content of the composition.

This piece contains motifs from Klonoa 1.

The cue is a motif of Kota Takahashi composed for Klonoa 2.

I worked to make the pitches upward, the note values bouncing, and the tone bright and cheerful.

The final repetition is built around the motif composed by Mr. Imura for Klonoa 1.

Most of Kota Takahashi's compositions for Klonoa are based on motifs from other compositions.

The name insertion and boss relationship in my compositions for both 1 and 2 incorporate motifs from other compositions.

Why I did so.

The trend in games since that time has been to increase capacity, increase the number of stages, and

The number of songs increased, and the number of composing staff had to be increased accordingly.

In the end, we had a total of nine people, and I was one of them.

The increase in the number of composers meant that we all had different areas of expertise.

The style of each piece will be more or less different, and the unique image of the work may become blurred.

When I joined the project, there were already many strong melodies.

I have tried by trial and error to make the songs I create fit into or expand the worldview of that worldview.

I decided to pull motifs from related songs and intersperse them.

Even though the music genres are far apart, by tying them together with the same phrases

I also assumed that the expression of the world view would be three-dimensional and multilayered.

Simply by narrowing down the number of melodies to memorize, each song becomes easier to remember and more memorable.

The composition of the music was based on this conception.

Anyway, I finished all the compositions with this intention.

After this, I became seriously ill and left Namco.

When I finished this piece, I had neither the time nor the strength to correct minor flaws.

This NES version has been made up for my disappointment by working on the musical details that I was unable to do at the time.

All work has a life span.

When it has fulfilled its role, the life of the job is over.

Then we move on to the next.

Part of the middle part of this article is based on the 2019 article. At the time of 2019, I felt lonely as a former composition staff of Klonoa.

This year we have the opportunity to look back in the form of a happy encore, but whether the Klonoa series really has the power to move on to the next depends on the success of the 1 & 2 encore.

I also support you in the shadow!