Birth by Sleep Countdown: Music

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Published on September 1, 2010 @ 06:47 am

Hey all!

Greetings to those of you joining us for the forth day of our Birth by Sleep Countdown, with just three days to go till the release of Birth by Sleep! Want to have your say about Birth by Sleep before the game's out? Check out details here!
Every new Kingdom Hearts game add to the series' impressive repertoire, and it's here that we take a look at what could be the best addition yet.

Between Yoko Shimomura, Kaoru Wada and Utada Hikaru, the Kingdom Hearts games have enduringly been unique creations of musical distinction. The latest addition to Square-Enix's hit series, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep continues this trend, with familiar tunes both adjusted and unchanged, and new songs once again stretching the composers' talents with stunning results. Strings and percussion are a much more prominent aspect in the music of Birth by Sleep when compared with other games, and the specific interplay between these elements draws out the essence and emotion of every song.

Utada Hikaru's Simple and Clean (Hikari in its Japanese form) returns as the main theme, an inclusive decision fans of the first game will no doubt revel in. What was supposedly the final Birth by Sleep trailer (released August 18th) was re-released virtually unchanged two days later, save for Simple and Clean taking the place of a previous song. Will this sudden change prove indicative of something in the game itself?

The menu theme of Dearly Beloved in Birth by Sleep is once again different to its predecessors - no longer a purely preparatory piece to a playthrough, this Dearly Beloved has become a thematic ensemble unto itself. Violin and harp now play an integral role, aiding the crescendo towards a powerful finish. The finale brings to mind elements of March Caprice and Fantasia alla Marcia, the ending credit songs of Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2. Dearly Beloved truly feels like the beginning of something great, so expect to delay your playing of Birth by Sleep numerous times simply to listen to the series' musical staple in its newer, invigorated form.

Various fan favourites make returns in the form of welcome additions to Birth by Sleep's own original and Disney themes. Fast-paced themes such as Another Side and Rage Awakened come back in their purest, unchanged form, and popular battle themes like Destiny's Force, Go for it and The Encounter return very much as they were. Radiant Garden, with its subtle changes, brings to mind the productive and industrious world that preceded Hollow Bastion, while its battle theme - Scherzo di Notte - has been adjusted for its third outing, with rolling drums and chorus suiting the song perfectly to the game. The purely choral Destati will have any returning fan remembering their first visit to the Station of Awakening, and other calming pieces such as Destiny Islands and Organization XIII set a fitting contrast between contented relaxation and sadness.

Character-based songs in Birth by Sleep are carefully-selected and -crafted affairs, so much so that after having listened to any given theme, even newcomers will immediately understand the subject character. Terra's theme is a stern and simple arrangement of violin, idiophone and percussion, bringing to the ears and mind a sense of soldierly dedication. The inclusion of The Other Promise - even ignoring its context in previous games - to Aqua's theme and the delicate violin work therein glimpse a determined and hugely compassionate character. Ven's theme is the pinnacle of the main trio's music, and among the most memorable of any character theme across all Kingdom Hearts games. A fantastic variation on The Other Promise'and Roxas, this beautiful combination of strings and piano evokes a character of supreme hope and sadness. Vanitas' battle themes are as chaotic as the character himself, with numerous jumps between what one would think are entirely different songs. What significance could the inclusion of parts of Roxas' and Sora's themes into Vantias' theme hold?

While the music of Birth by Sleep shines brightest around it's original and character themes, Disney themes are never something merely tacked onto the soundtrack of Kingdom Hearts games. A talent wholly maximised by Yoko Shimomura is the ability to enter into and absorb the feeling and emotion of Disney films. With more new worlds than in previous games, Birth by Sleep opens up to the player a whole new array of sounds to experience during any stroll or battle across the worlds.

Ever reliable, the members of the KHInsider Forums have their own things to say about Birth by Sleep and its music.

James Schroder
With a game like Kingdom Hearts, story and music are hugely important. I could go on and on about the music. All I have to say about that is that Vanitas' theme is utter win.

Edward Williams
I am in awe at the sheer awesomeness of the music in this game and the voice acting is pretty awesome too. I can't wait for everyone to be wrong about Terra's VA.

Andrew Nunez
I think the reasons I want to play this game the most is just because I want to experience that emotion that I felt when Sora sacrificed himself in Kingdom Hearts or to be strolling around worlds and hearing that happy music turn into a battle theme as unverse come out and fight.

Justin Cuevas
Yoko Shimomura's work has surprised many Kingdom Hearts fans with the music and themes she provides, bringing smiles to people's faces and giving them a choice of favorites fans would love to hear. She can give a scene a magical feeling and characters in the series can relate to their own theme thanks to Yoko!

lyricsmoon29
I actually find this a great aspect of the game and probably one of the reasons I'm so excited for the game. Yoko Shimomura outdid herself in Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, making every piece of music that plays in the game feel like the culmination of the musical theme set up in each game.

(And please excuse me as I prattle on and make a fool of myself with my lack of musical knowledge. I only took Singing for a year and hardly know anything about music except the few terms and notes I learned. Forgive me any music people out there.)

When we started with the first Kingdom Hearts, the music sent chills down our spines, made us feel like children again while we listened to the catchy tones of Disney worlds, and reminded us of what hope truly meant with Shimomura's orchestral composition of "Hikari". We learned the meaning of Darkness within songs like "Forze del Male" and "The End of the World", and found the Light within "Always On My Mind" and the series theme "Dearly Beloved".

New arrangements of thematic songs were added into the later games of the series, like "Scherzo Di Notte" and "Hand in Hand", but as always, Shimomura knew how to take our breaths away with entirely new songs. "Naminé", a simple and melodic arrangement of a piano and harp seemed to capture fans hearts as they played Chain of Memories. The introduction of Organization XIII gave us amazing battaglia like "The XIIIth Struggle", "The Other Promise", "Xion", "A Fight to the Death", "Another Side" and "Lord of the Castle".

The tone of the series was set by these songs and when Birth By Sleep first came out in Japan, it became apparent that game was a musical masterpiece. Each song brings back elements of older songs in the series and forms them into something reborn and astounding.

"Dearly Beloved" sets the tone for the game, giving us the easy-going playing of a piano, before an accompaniment of a harp and violin. The violin then shifts to a low blow of a brass instrument, then replaced again with the violin and a flute. It all gives listeners the feeling of the beginning of something, while still feeling nostalgic and soothing. The song introduces the timbre of a xylophone before slowing down to a calando of a single violin. The evocative tone of the violin makes listeners having this feeling of something that can only be described as wistful and auspicious at the same time. The piano starts up again, crescendoing as the accompanying instruments play along before moving into an allargando. The song exudes hope, then leaves you off on the feeling of "To Be Continued" as the song reaches its end.

And that "had me at ‘hello'", as that one Beyonce song says.

This was only the first song in the game! And I have hardly started with "Rage Awakened", "Sunset Horizons", and "Fate of the Unknown", the first three songs we hear in correlation to Birth By Sleep in Kingdom Hearts II (and KHII: Final Mix).

Those three songs were the starting point of what we know as Birth By Sleep from the first time it was revealed in Kingdom Hearts II's secret ending and expanded on in KHII:FM, to Birth By Sleep now.

I'd keep going but I'm sure this answer is long enough. So I'll just say this: The music in Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep is probably the best in the series yet. With Darkness redefined in Vanitas‘ edgy themes, the trials of friendship expressed in Aqua and Ven's slightly melancholic melodies, and the battle between the virtues and vices of justice in Terra's struggle-filled songs, you are left with your breath taken away and amazed at how far Yoko Shimomura can go with her masterly, heartfelt compositions.