Michiru Yamane / Castlevania: The Concert **New Interview**

http://spelintryck.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/michiru-yamane.jpg

Wow, talk about some absolutely devastating news for those that love the Castlevania series. It has been confirmed that Michiru Yamane, composer on multiple Castlevania games, has split from Konami. Yamane worked on/contributed to countless Castlevania titles, including all the GBA/DS outings. I am absolutely shocked, and now very worried for future soundtracks on Castlevania games.

Apparently Yamane left Konami awhile ago, but the confirmation of this news only popped up a few weeks back. Looks like word traveled slowly on this one.

http://gonintendo.com/viewstory.php?id=112024

About Michiru Yamane

Michiru Yamane (山根 ミチル, Yamane Michiru?, born 1963) is a Japanese video game composer and musician. She is known primarily for her work on the Castlevania series and other Konami games, including Suikoden. Her debut composition was Twinbee (prequel of the released Stinger in the United States). She left Konami in 2008 and became an independent music composer.

Michiru Yamane performed her music from the Castlevania series live on cembalo and - as a surprise act - on pipe organ at the Symphonic Game Music Concert series in Leipzig, Germany in 2006 and 2007.

She will perform her music at "Castlevania - The Concert" on Stockholm, Sweden. February 19, 2010.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michiru_Yamane

Found this while reading Michiru wikipedia page, added it in cause you guys might be interest on going to the concert(If you can that is).

Castlevania: The Concert(February 19, 2010)

The immensely popular and award winning videogame-series Castlevania has always been known for it´s superior music, which will be celebrated next year at the Stockholm Concerthall (Konserthuset), led by David Westerlund and featuring among others The Stockholm Youth Symphony orchestra, a rockband, singers and The Grand Organ.

This historic event will also be attended by series composer Michiru Yamane (Symphony of the Night, etc), who is flying in from Japan not only to attend the concert and meet with fans, but also to perform some of her own music live on stage!

The concert is arranged by Levande Musik Sverige in co-operation with David Westerlund, who is a musician and gamer, educated at the Royal College of Music, Sweden, where he also lectures about the subject of videogame-music. He is mainly known for the celebrated "FINAL FANTASY-Piano and Vocal Collections on TOUR" which was performed during the summer of 2009.

http://www.castlevaniaconcert.com/index2_enn.html Click inside to read News revolving about the Concert, also if you want to buy a Ticket to go watch the show, just click into the link above than click Tickets ;).

Michiru Yamane Profile Page from the Site

Michiru Yamane was born in Kagawa-ken, Japan, September 23rd, 1963. She received lessons in piano and organ during her childhood and composed her first piece at the age of 11. After studying music in high school she began studying composition at the Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music in Japan. That´s where she also started using computers and synthesizers to record her music.

After graduating, Michiru got a job at Konami where she worked for the following 20 years. During this time she was very productive and wrote music for over 40 games, including one of the most important soundtracks in the history of videogame music: "CASTLEVANIA: Symphony of the Night". She recently left Konami to work independently as a composer.

Michiru is very happy to be a part of this project and the opportunity to visit and perform music for all her fans in Sweden, and certainly this is a great honor for us as well.

http://www.castlevaniaconcert.com/michiruinfo_en.html

Michiru's Music Samples(Some of her music, to listen to some more go to Youtube)

Castlevania: Bloodlines Reincarnated Soul

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Dracula's Castle

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance Vampire Killer 2002

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow Ruined Castle Corridor

Castlevania: Lament of Innocence Garden Forgotten

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow The Abyss

Castlevania: Curse of Darkness Abandoned Castle

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin Name Entry

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia A Clashing of Waves

Special Thanks to Castlevania Wikia for helping me out a bit on knowing what music Michiru Yamane has work on :D, as alway it sad to see someone famous/talented leave a company they work with for so long but I wish her the best now that she a Freelance Music Composer and hopefully we'll hear more great music from her :D, Also I hope you guys enjoy this(it being my 1st here)Thread and let start the discussion :D. P.S. Chang resquested I did this thread so here it is ;).

It is sad that she left Konami :cry:, but that doesn't mean that she will not still compose music for Konami as a free lance artist. We can only hope..... :D

Great job on finding all of the detailed information and thanks! :D This was a great, but potentially sad finding though.....

This has been known for over a year. I'm fairly certain I made a mention of it here, that she's now freelance.

How are people just know catching this?

@semi: I don't know why... I'm certain you mentioned it in a thread called "BTW Yamane Bailed"... maybe lost in the pages of glitchspot *sigh* 

e1shw: Yeah, it sad to hear but like you said there a chance they could bring her back for a future Castlevania, if not than maybe another game, also glad you like the thread :D.

Semi: Sorry about that than, I just found out about it while I browsing around Gonintendo the other day.

@serbine and e1: hey! no prob! yeah, that thread was even before e1 joined our ranks, it was not mentioned a lot since it was by the time LoS was announced, and we knew that she wasn't going to be there. and as e1 said, thanx for that compilation, she is a really important part of what made castevania so awesome for the past 15 years or so. I expect her to work again with Iga though, so don't count her out YET. :)

great update serbine...

@semi: no confirmation was publish until a few weeks ago... even thus we knew about it.. (and for some reason I was hoping that "personal reasons" as said back then, was going to change...

now Castlevania fans can officially cry..

Nice update man. :) CV rules.

Can't wait or the songs in CV:LOS

Thanks glad you like it Edge09 :D, yeah I wonder how the music in Lord of Shadows will be like.

Just bring back the previous artists who wrote the classic bgms.HOE9

The concert is tonight. I don't have a camera so I won't be able to record anything, but I called Konserthuset, and they said they were gonna record the whole thing. I presume they'll be selling the video -- why else would they make it, right? -- so I'll see if I can pick a copy up.Icemael

Jawesome. I frothingly anticipate this

Ok, I've got some good news, and some bad news.

The good:

• The concert was magnificent.
• In addition to the obvious -- Vampire Killer, Bloody Tears, The Beginning et cetera -- they also performed some of the series' more obscure tracks, like the level themes from Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge.
• The concert was fantastic.
• Yamane herself performed Wood Carving Partita and Dancel of Pales, which happen to be my two favorite Castlevania tracks.
• The concert was sublime.

The bad:

• I recorded a significant portion of the concert on my cell phone. When I had finished recording, I got some sort of error message(which is odd, because I've never had problems recording stuff with my phone before), and for some reason, none of the data was saved. Sorry, guys. 
• I never got a chance to ask if they were actually gonna sell their recording, so while I do think there's a good chance they will, I'm not completely sure. I'm gonna ask tomorrow; if they're selling it, I'll make sure to get it.

Icemael!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Doode, you have been MIA.....good to see you again! :D

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Man, I wish I could have been there. :( Sounds like you had a blast and thanks for trying to record it for us! Also, if you find out that they are selling a DVD of the concert I might be interested in buying one. Keep us updated. :D

I want to steal your memories and mash them into my skullsemianonymous

I second this, get ready for brain surgery! :twisted: :lol:

The intermissions aren't from the concert, but the parts where you see the orchestra playing are.

I've e-mailed Konserthuset regarding the recording, and am currently waiting for the response.

Yamane herself performed Wood Carving Partita and Dancel of Pales, which happen to be my two favorite Castlevania tracks.Icemael

I want to steal your memories and mash them into my skullsemianonymous

I`m happy with just stealing his memories of Wood Carving Partita perfomed by Yamane HERSELF!!! 

Man you are so freaking lucky...

I recorded a significant portion of the concert on my cell phone. When I had finished recording, I got some sort of error message(which is odd, because I've never had problems recording stuff with my phone before), and for some reason, none of the data was saved. Sorry, guys. Icemael

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *crawls into a corner*

*I third the brain surgery..

The intermissions aren't from the concert, but the parts where you see the orchestra playing are.

I've e-mailed Konserthuset regarding the recording, and am currently waiting for the response.Icemael

lets us know.. bc I`ll buy it for sure... 

YAMANE GET YOUR ASS TO NA!!!! EAST COAST!!!

I found this while browsing around YouTube. It is the intro to the concert. :D

**It was posted on 02/19**

Saw Michiru performing in Wood Carving Partita in one of those videos.

Did they cover An Empty Tome? =?

Nope, they didn't play that one.

Ok, here are ALL of the videos I could find on YouTube from the concert. Icemael, can you let me know the order that they were in? I will fix the list so that they will fall in order for everyone to view, and if I am missing anything let me know. :D I will probably move it to the appropriate post at the begenning of the thread to include the links once they are in order. :)

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_______________________________________________________________________________

Castlevania: The Concert
_______________________________________________________________________________

Introduction & Opposing Bloodlines

Dracula's Castle

Lost Painting

Wood Carving Partita

Dance of Pales

Theme of Simon Belmont

Entrance Hall & Chandeliers

Old-School Medley (CV 1/2/3)

Dance of Illusions

Ripe Seeds & Psycho Warrior

Tragic Prince

_______________________________________________________________________________

Castlevania: The Concert Extras
_______________________________________________________________________________

Castlevania: The Concert - Teaser

Castlevania: The Concert - The Making Of

e1... YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY F-ING AWESOME!!!! thanx for finding these vids!!!! Just watched the first one and it gave me chicken skin :lol: (I... take music deeply :P ) And they played Chandeliers!!!!!!!!!! (Many of you should now by now my obsession with that song :) ) Now if someone found a vid of Toccata Into Blood Soaked Darkness I would be very very VERY happy :)

ARGH!!! Chandeliers left me very pumped, I'm definitely gonna play SCV4 today :lol: 

Thanks for listing them out, awesome!

HOE9: I need to try and find that video than :D.Serbine

The one I found on Youtube through the related videos, it's removed by the user already, it has a better video quality. :(

There is a better quality of Simon's theme. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJD6yuSBj1E&feature=related

Here's a chronological list of everything they played:

ACT I

Introduction - Legacy of Darkness

Dracula's Castle - Symphony of the Night

Moonlight Nocturne - Symphony of the Night

Theme of Simon Belmont - Super Castlevania IV

Prayer - Symphony of the Night

Lost Painting - Symphony of the Night

Entrance Hall - Super Castlevania IV

Chandeliers - Super Castlevania IV

New Messiah(Crystal Castle) - Belmont's Revenge

Praying Hands(Cloud Castle) - Belmont's Revenge

The Sinking Old Sanctuary - Bloodlines

Calling From Heaven - Bloodlines

Wood Carving Partita(performed by Yamane) - Symphony of the Night

Old-School Medley(Vampire Killer, Bloody Tears, Beginning)

ACT II

Introduction - Castlevania 64

Opposing Bloodlines - Rondo of Blood

Waltz of the Pearls(better known as Dance of Pales(special, new arrangement, composed and performed by Yamane)) - Symphony of the Night

Clocktower -Aria of Sorrow 

Wicked Child - Castlevania

Ripe Seeds(Plant Castle) - Belmont's Revenge

Psycho Warrior(Rock Castle) - Belmont's Revenge

Requiem for the Gods - Symphony of the Night

Organ Medley(Chromatische Phantasie - Bach , Passepied - Debussy, Clockwork - Castlevania III)

Tragic Prince - Symphony of the Night

Dance of Illusions - Symphony of the Night

Ending Theme - Super Castlevania IV

Extra track(can't remember what it was, but Yamane performed it)

By the way, I still haven't got any response from Konserthuset. I just sent them another e-mail; if they don't respond to that, I'll just call them. 

@Polter: :lol: No problem bro, glad you are enjoying them! :D

@Ice: Thanks for the program list! :D I will work on this some more tonight and see if I can get all of them. ;)

Hey Ice, in the first video I found they played Toccata into Blood Soaked Darkness... they didn't play that one? I'm confused and very very sad :(Poltergeist86

If we're talkinga bout the same video, that was music from the Video Game Live! yearly concert. They play a set collection of Castlevania songs, iirc it goes Vampire Killer->Wicked Child->Toccata to Blood Soaked Darkness, or something like that.

Got a response from the guy responsible for the concert:

"As of today, there are no plans to release an official video of the concert, but those plans can change. Keep an eye on www. castlevaniaconcert.com for news."

Why not in the South :lol: just kidding, though it would be nice if they did it in the US too and other regions.Serbine

NOT FUNNY!!! :evil: ..... :P

Got a response from the guy responsible for the concert:"As of today, there are no plans to release an official video of the concert, but those plans can change. Keep an eye on www. castlevaniaconcert.com for news."Icemael

:cry: ....

@Thx fo the awesome clips and program .... *sigh* ... what are teh chance that we would get this in NA one day.. and NO JUST WEST freaking I hate that coast-coast :P

e1shw: I was finally able to sit down to watch these videos, great job on finding them e1 :D Michiru and the symphony orchestra did an amazing job with the Castlevania music they play :D.

HOE9: Thanks alot for linking us to another video of the concert :D.

Chang: :lol: at your expression but yeah they need to do it here.

Also I found this a special message from Kinuyo Yamash!ta regarding the Castlevania Concert

Glad you got to watch the videos. :D I still plan to seek out more videos from the concert, but the last time I looked there wasn't any footage I haven't already linked to.

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Here is another video of Kinuyo thanking everyone for visiting her site. The reason I am posting this is because after watching it, it just makes you want to be nice to everyone. :lol: