Press Start once more—what was the first sound that moved you?
Sean · Question
When you first received the invitation to work on CITY LIGHTS ─ JALECO Legends, what landscape, movement, or color came to mind as you heard JALECO’s music again, putting technical analysis aside for a moment? This project reimagines JALECO game music, mainly from the 1980s and 1990s, through a contemporary sensibility. Could each of you describe the first moment that caught your imagination—a melody, a timbre, or even the smallest rhythm—and why it made you want to take the music further?
Yoshimi KudoYOSHIMI KUDO
The Famicom port of City Connection was one of the very first games I played, and the PC Engine port of Saint Dragon holds special memories for me: my parents bought it for me as a Christmas present. To be honest, there isn’t much that I consciously recognize as a direct influence from JALECO’s music. But revisiting it made me realize that quite a lot of it formed the foundations of my childhood experiences of games and music—I simply hadn’t been aware of it.
Noriyuki IwadareNORIYUKI IWADARE
I may have played some JALECO games in arcades, perhaps? But I’d never played City Connection itself. Other developers were also doing this quite often at the time: taking phrases from well-known classical pieces and using them as game music. I still think that’s a wonderful approach. It’s fascinating.
Do fewer voices make a composer’s individuality stand out?
Sean · Question
Early game music was created under severe limits on polyphony, memory, and playback conditions. Today’s production environments have almost none of those same constraints. Did those restrictions actually encourage composers to make clearer, more sharply defined choices? If we removed the 8-bit or 16-bit timbres and kept only the melody, rhythm, and structure, what would still make us recognize “the sound of that era,” or even “the JALECO sound”? If possible, please tell us about specific musical phrases.
Yoshimi KudoYOSHIMI KUDO
There are various views on this, so this is only my personal opinion, but I don’t think fewer voices necessarily make someone’s individuality stand out. Modern games have dialogue, sound effects, realistic environmental sounds, and even the music alone offers a wealth of timbres and a full-range sound. By comparison, games of the 8-bit and 16-bit eras had fewer components, which may make their outlines easier to grasp and more memorable. I’m also a little embarrassed to say that I don’t have the comprehensive knowledge to characterize “the JALECO sound.” But in Wind Dancer, which I arranged for this album, the limited voices are used for an irregular arpeggio that sounds almost like a propeller sound effect. I found that wonderfully distinctive.
Noriyuki IwadareNORIYUKI IWADARE
With fewer voices, the music gets stripped back further and further. On the Famicom, for example, you have three PSG voices, so you have to choose what the listener will hear—which of the sounds playing in your head you’re going to keep. Your individuality comes through in that choice. Then you have to work out how to make those choices into a complete piece. A sound effect might come in and take that part away—what do you do then? You wrestle with issues that have nothing to do with music itself, and I think the choices you reach through that struggle become each creator’s individuality. I’d love to talk to the composers and the people who wrote the music drivers back then.
“Retro × Modern” means more than dressing an old melody in new clothes.
Sean · Question
The central concept of this album is “Retro Meets Modern.” Our aim is neither simply to layer nostalgic timbres nor to make the originals sound bigger and more lavish. Arrangement is more like translation across time: first locating the emotions that the original evokes, then finding ways to evoke them again through modern harmony, rhythm, sound design, and a combination of acoustic instruments and electronic production. When you approach an original piece, what do you consider indispensable? Is it the melody and harmony, groove, timbre, or the sense of speed and scenery that remains in players’ memories? Once an arrangement is finished, how do you check that its core is still there?
Yoshimi KudoYOSHIMI KUDO
I don’t think there is any musical element that is absolutely indispensable. If I had to name something, it would be the motivation for arranging these pieces now. There are already many wonderful arrangements of older game music, from professional releases to fan-made work. So I think you need a reason for making this particular arrangement yourself, at this moment. In other words, a concept, or a motivation. That differs from piece to piece and arranger to arranger, but the arranger at least needs to be conscious of it. And when the piece is finished, the arranger will know better than anyone whether they followed that motivation through.
Noriyuki IwadareNORIYUKI IWADARE
What I usually keep in mind when arranging is “don’t change the impression of the original.” An arrangement that puts the arranger’s personality right out in front may sound fresh at first, but listeners might ultimately feel, “Isn’t this something else entirely?” So I don’t make major changes to the melody, I keep the chord progression as faithful as possible, and I retain distinctive accents, phrases, and rhythms wherever I can. Whether I then make the piece more lavish, more refined, or tighter depends on the direction suggested by the original.
Which decisions tell you how far you can change a piece?
Sean · Question
If respect for the original becomes a constraint, an arrangement may amount to little more than adding thickness. Change too much, though, and the original may lose its identity. Perhaps the real difficulty is not choosing a style, but deciding when to bring your own musical character into the work. Could you describe actual choices involving tempo, structure, harmony, instrumentation, or timbre? Which decision made you feel, “From here, I can make a bold change”? Were there ideas you loved but ultimately let go for the sake of the whole piece?
Yoshimi KudoYOSHIMI KUDO
Everything depends on the piece and the concept. Expressing respect through an arrangement can be the concept, but so can boldly taking the original apart in pursuit of musical innovation. Either is a valid choice. This time, I felt that the original had a simply lovely melody. I focused on two things: bringing out as much of that melody’s appeal as possible, and reintroducing the interesting arpeggio line I mentioned earlier. Those elements worked well with the reinterpreted retro sensibility found in contemporary internet aesthetics such as the Backrooms and dreamcore, so I chose that direction. I wasn’t particularly conscious of imposing my own color or musical personality. It was more a matter of arranging what interested me through my own filter.
Noriyuki IwadareNORIYUKI IWADARE
Hmm… I don’t really think in terms of putting my own musical personality into a piece, so that’s a difficult question. But generally, from the second verse onward, I feel that it’s fine to make fairly bold changes. In the first verse, you let people hear the original clearly; from the second, you present variations on it. In classical terms, it’s a little like an exposition and development, isn’t it? Add a recapitulation and you have a miniature sonata form!
As for Clarice’s Journey, which I arranged for this album, I’ll give a fuller answer in the next question.
How did Clarice’s Journey become a real journey, rather than a sequence of game cues?
Sean · Question
Listening to your Clarice’s Journey, Mr. Iwadare, I felt that it was more than a medley of pieces from City Connection. It seemed like a complete work depicting Clarice traveling around the world, encountering turning points, and finally returning home. Alongside the musical material representing different countries, the opening and ending also incorporate elements from Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. How did you build a narrative of “departure—journey—return” from these short game cues? Which sections represent setting out, a change of course, and homecoming?
Noriyuki IwadareNORIYUKI IWADARE
When I listened to the music from City Connection, including the arcade version, I found that the famous theme from the first movement of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 had been made into pieces bearing the names of different countries. Since the material had already been arranged, I decided to begin by bringing in Tchaikovsky’s music as it was.
Next came the instrumentation. Because I wanted to use Tchaikovsky’s music directly at the opening, I centered the arrangement on orchestral instruments. There were also plenty of band-oriented pieces, so I added a four-part rhythm section: drums, bass, piano, and guitar. The country themes spanned techno, hard rock, samba, jazz, and other genres, so I decided to include the instruments characteristic of each.
After that, I analyzed how the themes for the different countries had been arranged, picked the ones that most readily suggested images, and reordered and connected them, initially using only a piano sound. The approaches to melody and chord progression differ slightly from country to country, so I checked those details carefully as I worked. But continuing that way would have meant hearing almost the same melody in the same key over and over… So I introduced a newly composed section partway through. Even there, though, I used the horn phrase from the opening and included phrases and timbres from countries whose themes I couldn’t fit in as complete sections. I don’t think it feels too out of place—what do you think?
For the final coda, I returned to Tchaikovsky and used the end of the first movement to strengthen the connection between the beginning and ending of the piece. It isn’t just the orchestra at that point: the drums, bass, and guitar all head toward the ending together. I think you can feel the instruments coming together as one.
To summarize:
“Departure”: the opening of the first movement of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1.
“Journey”: the United States—Japan—Germany—China—South America—the United Kingdom—Australia—Egypt—India.
“Return”: the end of the first movement of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1.
That’s the route. (My apologies to the countries I couldn’t fit in!)
How did you bring today’s sound into the body of older game music, Mr. Kudo?
Sean · Question
Your arrangement for this album has an unusual Botanica sensibility. Electronic sounds, acoustic instruments, rhythm design, and sound processing don’t obscure one another; they coexist naturally, like different ecosystems. Which element of the original was your starting point? How did you balance the organic and electronic, the nostalgic and avant-garde? And if you had reproduced the original faithfully using only retro timbres, what do you think would have been lost?
Yoshimi KudoYOSHIMI KUDO
What led me toward a Botanica sensibility was the affinity between the melody I wanted to preserve and the arpeggio line I mentioned earlier. You could say that I expanded two elements of the original in a contemporary way: the organic, almost pastoral melody, and the mechanical arpeggio line. As for what would be lost by faithfully reproducing it with retro timbres, I think it would be difficult to give the piece new meaning when the original already exists. It could certainly be interesting to imagine and recreate what the composer “really wanted to do,” retaining the sound of that era but without its hardware limitations. Still, I also feel that perhaps that space should be left for arrangements by the original composer or by fans.
Does game music gain a second life when it leaves the screen?
Sean · Question
Game music is originally bound up with images, controls, and players’ physical memories. Decades later, this album will be heard not only by people who played JALECO’s games at the time, but also by younger listeners in China, Japan, and elsewhere who have never encountered the originals. When arranging, do you feel closer to reconstructing longtime players’ memories, or to creating a first memory for new listeners? Once the specific context of a game falls away, what does a piece need in order to stand on its own and be passed down across generations and cultures?
Yoshimi KudoYOSHIMI KUDO
It depends on the work, but this arrangement is primarily aimed at people who have an attachment to the original. Whether we realize it or not, we listen to music in relation to our past experiences. I think about what could make an interesting approach in light of that. Of course, an arrangement can also find meaning through its connection to the experience of playing a game, rather than through the music alone. That is one approach to arrangement that is particular to games.
As for what a piece needs to stand independently and be passed down across generations and cultures, I don’t think being game music makes it different. Music originally written for ballet, for example, is now commonly performed in concerts without the ballet. I think game music will remain through a similar process of historical judgment.
Noriyuki IwadareNORIYUKI IWADARE
In my case, the original material is Tchaikovsky, so perhaps I’m reconstructing something that has already been reconstructed! Beyond that, I’ll leave it to the listeners. Game music quite often leaves the game and finds its own feet. Even after doing so, though, it often remains connected to the game. For it to be passed down across generations and cultures, a wider range of people need to hear it and perform it. In another 57 years, it will be 100 years since the Famicom was released. I’m looking forward to seeing what things are like then!
Finally, how would you describe this album in terms other than music?
Sean · Question
This is the first album planned and produced by Charisma Records. Through a great deal of trial and error, we became increasingly certain that this was not a restoration intended to seal old sounds away in a museum. It is an attempt to let nostalgia and freshness, chip sounds and acoustic instruments, individual musical voices and the originals’ identities illuminate one another within a single album. To finish, I have two short questions. First, for you, is “bringing the game music of the past into the present” closest to translation, restoration, reperformance, or recreation? You are welcome to give an answer of your own. Second, if CITY LIGHTS ─ JALECO Legends were a scene in a city at night, what time would it be, what colors would it have, and what would the weather be like? What would be moving through it? When listeners leave that city, what would you like them to take away?
Yoshimi KudoYOSHIMI KUDO
I’m sorry to repeat myself, but the answer to the first question is that its meaning depends on the concept. In my case this time, “offering a new interpretation” seems the most appropriate description. I don’t think every arrangement has to do that. With an unlimited range of choices available, I hope the game-music community will continue to be a place where people can freely express their tastes, discuss them, and accept one another’s choices. The second question is so wonderfully poetic that I’m not quite sure how to answer! Lately, I’ve been taking an hour-long walk along a nearby river at around four in the morning before going to bed. While I’m walking, the sun rises beyond the riverbank, and it feels incredible. But on cloudy or rainy days, it can still be so dark that I can’t see a few meters ahead, even at the time it would normally be getting light. There’s the thrill of feeling as though I might slip off the path, and the anticipation of thinking, “It really needs to get light soon, or this is going to be scary.” In a way, that makes it fun. On some days the morning stays stubbornly dim until around five. Occasionally, sunlight breaks through the clouds, and the gradients are different from usual: mysterious, muddled colors that could be red, blue, or yellow—chaotic and beautiful. So, perhaps somewhere between four and five on a summer morning, when you can’t quite tell whether dawn is going to break. How does that sound?
Noriyuki IwadareNORIYUKI IWADARE
For the first question… I think translation, restoration, reperformance, and recreation all apply. I’d be happy if someone thought, “Just from the music, this sounds like an interesting game. I’d like to play it.” So please let me add one more answer: “a new proposition.”
As for the second question, this is a piece in which Clarice sets out on a journey, so it doesn’t matter whether it’s day or night. Sunny weather would certainly make traveling easier. Is she going by car? By plane? I imagine that wherever she goes, plenty of people will be there to welcome her with a smile.
Sean ZhuCHARISMA RECORDS
I’ll be delighted if you enjoy the album. If this encounter across generations can continue, I’d like to bring even more retro game music into the present.