Piano Collections

Game Music

The Chris Huelsbeck Piano Collection Kickstarter Down to Its Last Days

January 6, 2015 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on The Chris Huelsbeck Piano Collection Kickstarter Down to Its Last Days Share this

If you haven’t gotten in on Chris Huelsbeck’s “The Piano Collection” Album and Score Book Kickstarter, you only have a few more days to do so. The campaign, which shattered records by making its goal with 66 minutes of going live (just another notch on Mr. Huelsbeck’s belt after the fantastic success of his Turrican Soundtrack Anthology project), features a piano album performed by Patrick Nevian of Huelsbeck’s greatest musical compositions (Turrican, R-Type, etc.), and includes a score book of the piano sheet music and autobiography by former OSV writer Audun Sorlie available to certain tiers.

There’s a limited amount of physical printed copies remaining, so get in on them while you can. Digital copies and several other pledge tiers are also still open, and stretch goals of a roundtable team video and an original arrangement album release are still on the horizon. If this project is anything like Huelsbeck’s other works, it should be top-quality for all who pledge.

Chris Huelsbeck – The Piano Collection & Limited Score Book
Game Music, Reviews

PIANO OPERA FINAL FANTASY I/II/III: It Finally Exists! (Review)

February 27, 2012 | Jayson Napolitano | 7 Comments Share this

While we were ecstatic to hear that Square Enix had taken us up on the suggestion we made to them over two years ago to release a piano collections CD from the first three games, I think we were all a little confused as to the change in naming convention from ‘piano collections’ to ‘piano opera.’ Can’t Square Enix stick to ANY of their conventions?

In any case, the title aside, this is the piano collections CD that you always wanted from the first three games.

Hit the jump for our full review. (more…)
Game Music

It’s Called Piano Opera Final Fantasy I/II/III

December 22, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | 6 Comments Share this

I’m somewhat of a stickler for convention, so I will say I’m not a fan of the album title (what was wrong with Piano Collections Final Fantasy I – II – III?), but I do admit that the name has me intrigued. Yes, I’m referring to the piano album celebrating the first three games in the series that we at OSV (and especially Patrick for offering the question) will be taking credit for suggesting the idea to Izumi Tsukushi and Akio Shiraishi two years ago.

Does the opera suggest that the album will tell a tale, and that the pieces will somehow be linked in some way? We’ll hopefully find out soon. What we do know, thanks to VGMdb, is that Hiroyuki Nakayama will be the performer and that it will be out on February 29, 2012 for 2,800 Yen.

Are you looking forward to this album, and what tracks are you hoping to hear arrangements for?
Game Music

Big Surprises on Square Enix’s Tokyo Game Show Sampler CD

September 16, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on Big Surprises on Square Enix’s Tokyo Game Show Sampler CD Share this

It’s actually kind of strange that Square Enix is forgoing making announcements about some of their upcoming albums by sneaking them onto this sampler CD without much fanfare. As it turns out, the sampler CD will feature tracks from Final Fantasy XIII-2, the newly announced (and incredibly beautiful) Bravely Default, Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy (essentially confirming that a soundtrack release is in the works), and Final Fantasy XI -PLUS-.

In terms of arrangement albums, there’s a track from Cafe SQ and Re:Birth / Seiken Densetsu, but most interestingly tracks from Piano Collections I – II – III (it’s actually happening, and I’m throwing credit Patrick’s way for pushing the idea on Izumi Tsukushi and Akio Shiraishi last year) and Elshaddai & The Astrals are featured. It looks like the arrangement album for El Shaddai is not only in the works, but will also be published by Square Enix. The only thing missing is a track from the NieR piano album!

We’re looking forward to getting our hands on the disc, and will have impressions soon, but in the meantime, which releases are you looking forward to the most? Are you surprised that Square Enix allowed these titles to be announced via a sampler CD rather than a more formal method?

[via VGMdb]
Game Music

Final Fantasy XIII Piano Collections Coming This July

June 5, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 8 Comments Share this

While many have long suspected it, it’s finally been made official that a Piano Collections FINAL FANTASY XIII album is in the works. A posting was recently added to VGMdb, and it looks like we won’t have to wait long as the release date is listed as July 21, 2010. More so, it seems as though Piano Collections FINAL FANTASY X performer Aki Kuroda will be handling the recording.

Having just finished Final Fantasy XIII yesterday, the timing of this announcement couldn’t have come at a better time! Many of us here feel that the music from Final Fantasy XIII is some of the best that the series and Masashi Hamauzu have to offer, and given his strong background in piano, I for one am extremely excited to hear what they come up with.

Are you at all surprised that this album is on its way? Are you looking forward to hearing Masashi Hamauzu and Aki Kuroda team up once again?

[via VGMdb]
Featured, Game Music

OSV’s (Semi)-Exclusive Two-Act Interview With Nobuo Uematsu At Anime Boston

April 20, 2010 | Patrick Gann | 45 Comments Share this

This is Patrick Gann of OSV here. Many OSV staff members have had their chance to bask in the presence of Nobuo Uematsu. I never thought I’d have my own opportunity, but on April 3rd, 2010, at Anime Boston, it happened.

My own experience started at a small press panel with five or six individuals asking questions, including (among others) myself and some lovely folks at Japanator. Afterwards, I went to dinner with Uematsu, Hiroki Ogawa (manager of Dog Ear Records), and Shota Nakama (founder of Video Game Orchestra). So, part of the transcripted interview below you’ll find with the other journalists present, whereas the latter half is OSV exclusive. Hence the “semi-exclusive” in the headline. During the press panel, Geoff Tebbetts translated, whereas Nakama-san did translation during dinner.

The following transcript includes questions from both the press panel and the following dinner. Questions asked by myself are designated as “OSV.” We also included some questions from other organizations, and we’ll list those organizations for you. We’ve broken it into two acts to help you follow the action!

What will you find out regarding Uematsu-san in this interview? Current and future projects, perspective and opinions on the industry as it currently stands (as well as current trends such as the resurgence of chiptunes); all of this and more after the jump! (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Birth by Sleep and 358/2: Piano Collections Kingdom Hearts: Field & Battle (Review)

January 27, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 8 Comments Share this

Is one Kingdom Hearts Piano Collections album not enough for you? Lucky for you then, Square Enix has released a second album dedicated to piano arrangements from the series, and this time it’s admittedly more diverse in its selections from the series. That’s right, you’ll not only be hearing tracks from Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts II, and Chain of Memories, all of which were featured on the first album, but also one track each from Birth by Sleep and 358/2 Days.

As usual, all music is composed by Yoko Shimomura, but there is actually a surprising number of performers this time around. There are four pianists covering just 9 tracks, with each performing about two track a piece. Also of note is the fact that the subtitle for this album, “Field & Battle” shows a shift in focus to some of the less iconic themes from the series, which I think is a good thing.

Find out what’s here in our review of Piano Collections Kingdom Hearts: Field & Battle after the jump! (more…)