Subscribe
now to receive all the new
music
19'40" creates,
including this release
and 25 back-catalog releases,
delivered instantly to you via the Bandcamp app for iOS and Android.
Learn more.
Between 1984 and 1986 Mori worked as a composer for the Japanese production house Capcom (Capsule Computer), signing a good dozen titles including SonSon, 1942, Gunsmoke, Trojan and indeed Ghosts 'n Goblins. Sometimes she appears under the pseudonym of Wood and at other times with that of Kinchaku Aya.
That generation of composers ventured into a territory that, from the point of view of a musician, was absolutely inhospitable: MIDI protocols were only in an experimental phase, and it was not common practice (as it was from the Nineties onwards) to comfortably ferry ideas to a computer using the black and white keys of a keyboard. It was necessary to program, to write music by numbers.
Musicians like Ayako Mori and Tim Follin are undoubtedly authentic talents: With the limitations of the Arcade Game technology of the time, it is likely that composing music for video games was a real challenge for them. In a 1986 interview, Mori says more or less this: “The hardware I work with today greatly restricts my expressive possibilities. I have a multitrack that does not exceed 6 or 8 channels and I would like at least 10…”.
With this release, we pay homage to two of the most representative platform games of all time, which despite the technical limitations of programming boast sensational soundtracks. Timothy John Follin (born in 1970), brother of Geoff and Mike respectively, audio programmer and video game producer, was the prototype nerd teenager of the genius type: he did not simply compose the music, but he "programmed" it with a very complicated chisel of codes and strings and he did it probably in a basement similar to that of the 1985 film Explorers.
Transcribing this selection of music on paper was like applying oil paints to a fluorescent painting. The opportunity to study this music material came with the second edition of ContempoRarities at the Santeria Social Club in 2018, with a special gig called "Arcade Music", in which Ghouls 'n Ghosts was paired with 7 Triostücke für 3 Trautonien by Paul Hindemith and some music excerpts by the so-called Chino Goia Sornisi (see 19m40s_08).
credits
released April 14, 2021
Ghosts ’n Goblins Soundtrack
Music by Ayako Mori, 1985
Transcription for Harpsichord and Clavinet: Sebastiano De Gennaro
Harpsichord, Clavinet D6 Hohner: Enrico Gabrielli, Sebastiano De Gennaro
Ghouls ’n Ghosts Soundtrack (selection)
Music by Timothy John Follin, 1988
Transcription for Wind instruments: Enrico Gabrielli
Percussion Arrangement: Sebastiano De Gennaro
Comprising 32 takes on iconic Robert Schumann compositions, the emergent pianist's Pentatone debut is a must-hear for classical fans. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 11, 2024
