Osamu Kubota

Doujin, Game Music

Get Your Holidays Started with a Composer-Collaborative Album!

December 1, 2016 | Brenna Wilkes | 2 Comments Share this

It is now officially the holiday season, and we can no longer deny the onslaught of questionably festive music that started well before December graced 2016. The good news is that there tend to be a good handful of arrangement albums and collaborative efforts each year towards building fun and interesting holiday music albums, both video game related and not, to keep us all mostly sane. The fine people of Scarlet Moon Records have kicked off the season with one of our first offerings of such sanity-saving musical projects with their Scarlet Moon Christmas Album 2016.

Featuring joint contributions from both video game and film composers, including Hiroki Kikuta (Secret of Mana), Dale North (Silent Horror), Vince DiCola (Transformers, Rocky IV), Robyn Miller (Myst, Riven) and more over nine tracks, Scarlet Moon Christmas Album 2016 is a charming and subtle way of easing yourself into more festive feelings.

“Dale North and I are both massive fans of Christmas music. After releasing the Scarlet Moon Christmas EP in 2014, we wanted to rekindle that passion by creating even more Christmas-themed tracks to get music fans of all ages and genres in the spirit of the season. And as it would turn out, most of the artists on the roster love Christmas music just as much as we do!” – Jayson Napolitano, Producer

The track listing gives you an idea of what to expect to hear, including both video game music arrangements and arrangements of classic Christmas tunes.

01. “Jingle Bells” by Vince DiCola
02. “Christmas Garden (Yoshi’s Island)” by Mustin
03. “Peaceful Christmas (Chrono Trigger)” by Dale North
04. “Some Small Hope (Cherubic Hymn by A. Kastorsky)” by Osamu Kubota
05. “Angels We Have Heard on High” by Hiroki Kikuta
06. “Christmas Comes to Myst (Myst)” by Robyn Miller
07. “Rainbow Road (Mario Kart 64)” by Justin Lassen
08. “Melodies of Life (Final Fantasy IX)” by Goomin “Nauts” Nam
09. “Aspertia City – Winter (Pokémon Black & White 2)” by Materia

“Jingle Bells” (sample) – Vince DiCola

Even if you’re not a huge Christmas person, the album is worth checking out. I myself have a hard time getting into any festive mood around the holidays, but when Vince DiCola’s rendition of “Jingle Bells” makes me envision a Transformers Christmas Special (Complete with transforming reindeer, because why not?), it’s hard not to get a little into the holiday spirit.

Scarlet Moon Christmas Album 2016 is available now for purchase on LOUDr, and soon on iTunes and Spotify.
Game Music, Music Production

Scarlet Moon Artists – Bringing the Composer to YOU!

June 4, 2014 | Brenna Wilkes | 1 Comment Share this

Have you ever wanted a place where you could go and pick from a pool of video game composers to find someone to create your game’s soundtrack? Well, that’s what our friends over at Scarlet Moon Productions decided to make available.

Scarlet Moon Artists is a group of talented game and media composers from around the globe who have come together to offer their services to game developers of any caliber in order to broaden their musical reach. And it’s a fantastic lineup of composers to be sure, spanning decades of experience. The group currently consists of:

Vince DiCola & Kenny Meriedeth (Rocky IV, Saturday Morning RPG, Transformers: The Movie)
Shinji Hosoe (Mega Man Network Transmission, Ridge Racer series, Tekken Tag Tournament 2)
Hiroki Kikuta (Koudelka, Secret of Mana, Soul Calibur V)
Osamu Kubota (Beatmania, Granado Espada)
Justin Lassen (Herbert the Misanthropic Fly, Otomedius Excllent, Synaethesia)
Goomin Nam (Bar Oasis series, Monarch: Heroes of a New Age, TalesWeaver)
Dale North (Dragon Fantasy Book II, OverClocked ReMix contributions, Silent Horror)
Jinbae Park (PangYa Portable, Ragnarok Online, Ridge Racer 7)
Hitoshi Sakimoto (Final Fantasy XII, Gradius V, Valkyria Chronicles series)

So if you’re looking for a splash of musical excellence in a game you’re working on, why not check out Scarlet Moon Artists and see what they can do for you!
Game Music

Granado Espada: Return to Orpesia Live Event Coverage + Gallery

November 2, 2012 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on Granado Espada: Return to Orpesia Live Event Coverage + Gallery Share this

I doubt you knew about this. Hell, we didn’t even know about it until the day before it happened. As it turns out, Granado Espada is getting a big update in the near future, and to promote some of the upcoming changes, an event was held in Japan that included some commentary, a live voice acting session with artwork displayed on screens situated around the stage, and a concert headed Osamu Kubota.

Osamu Kubota handled piano and was the emcee for the evening with the new chamber group, GaQdan (recently featured on Hitoshi Sakimoto’s Crimson Shroud soundtrack), founded by artist TaQ, at his back. It was a great evening of music from the amazing Granado Espada soundtrack, including new songs you may not have heard before.

Hit the jump for a quick report and set list. (more…)
Game Music

Video: Heartfelt Message from Osamu Kubota

June 21, 2012 | Patrick Gann | 3 Comments Share this

It’s been awhile since we last mentioned our friend Kubota-san here on OSV. In the above video, which features Kubota recording at CSNO Studios (Czech National Symphony Orchestra) for Hanbitsoft’s MMORPG Heaven of Three Kingdoms, he shares some poignant thoughts and feelings about being a composer. Chief among them is this lovely quote, which I wanted to share with all of our readers:

I really have to redefine myself, every day — every day! Otherwise, I couldn’t survive as a composer. […] Forget about the Osamu Kubota of before […] and just listen to what’s happening.

Kubota goes on to talk about how “small” or “compact” the world becomes with technological advances. Considering I’m watching a video of a Japanese man speaking in English, with Korean subtitles (presumably for the game’s Korean audience), while recording music in Eastern Europe, and I’m sitting in America … yeah. The Internet is pretty awesome in that regard.

Please watch the whole video (it’s been up on YouTube for nearly a year and as of today is still under 200 views … this is a crime of neglect!). Hopefully we’ll be hearing more from Osamu Kubota in the near future. Thanks to our friend Don Kotowski for the link to this video.
Game Music, Reviews

It’s Here: Granado Espada Renaissance OST Volume 3 (Review)

December 6, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 7 Comments Share this

Finally, the day we’ve all been waiting for! Well, at least some of us. The original Granado Espada soundtrack is one of my favorites of all time as you can probably tell from our Soundtrack of the Month article, but I admit I was a bit disappointed by the licensed music featured on Volume 2. Hanbit and IMC Games have fortunately corrected this with the release of the Granado Espada Renaissance Special Limited Edition Original Soundtrack Volume 3 (yes, quite a mouthful).

You saw our unboxing video last week and already know that there are two variations in the packaging, but join us as we dig into the 3-disc collection. Is it worth the wait, and will you be able to get your hands on it? Find out in our review after the jump. (more…)
Featured, Game Music

OSVchannel: Granado Espada Renaissance Soundtrack Volume 3 Unboxing Video

November 30, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 6 Comments Share this

Continuing our series of unboxing videos, this time we’re looking at the highly anticipated Granado Espada Renaissance Original Soundtrack Volume 3 album that was released back in August. Yeah, it took us that long for us to get our hands on it. Apparently it’s not for sale (just like the original Volume 1 album), and the only way to get it is to purchase in-game items in Korea (and maybe Japan?) to get a copy of the limited edition set.

We have Reinassaince Set A here, but there’s also alternate packaging for purchasing Renaissance Set B in the game. These are limited pressings, with 500-1000 copies produced for each. Not sure if it’s 500 each, or if one of the sets has 1000 and the other 500, but in any case, they didn’t make a whole lot of these. I recommend heading over to VGMdb to check out the differences between Set A and Set B. And watch for our review coming soon!

Anyway, enjoy the video, and let us know what you think of the packaging. The magnet is pretty nifty. Which set would you prefer?
Game Music

A Blast From The Past: Granado Espada Sound Department Interview

October 5, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 3 Comments Share this

Before you get too excited, this is not an interview with the game’s team of composers. We’ve already featured interviews with Osamu Kubota, S.F.A., and TaQ about the game, but this interview focuses on the actual sound team in Korea who coordinated the project. At the time this interview was conducted, I had listened, reviewedh, and had fallen in love with the Granado Espada soundtrack, and there were whispers that a Volume 2 album was in the works. We all know how that turned out.

With Volume 3 on the horizon, and Granado Espada being our Soundtrack of the Month, I thought it would be a good time to get this interview back online. I admit the team was rather vague on most points, but there are still a few interesting tidbits tucked away within. Oh, and in case you have no idea what “Sword of the New World” is, it’s the name that Granado Espada was released under in the West.

Hit the jump for a blast from the past! (more…)