Kinuyo Yamashita

Kinuyo Yamashita
Also known as Yamako
James Banana
Kinuyo Ueda
Born Amagasaki, Hyōgo, Japan
Genres Electronic, jazz
Occupation(s) Composer, sound producer
Instruments Electronic keyboard, piano, saxophone
Years active 1986–present
Labels Rocketeers Music
Associated acts Honey Honey

Kinuyo Yamashita (山下 絹代, Yamashita Kinuyo) is a Japanese video game music composer and sound producer. Her best known soundtrack is Konami's Castlevania,[1] which was also her debut work. She was credited under the pseudonym James Banana for her work on the Nintendo Entertainment System version of the game. This pseudonym was a pun of the name James Bernard, the film composer of the 1958 film Dracula.[2][3]

Life

Yamashita was born in Amagasaki, Hyōgo, Japan. She began playing the piano at the age of four and took piano lessons as a child. After studying electronic engineering at the two-year college Osaka Electro-Communication University, she graduated in 1986 and went to work for Konami.[4] After leaving Konami, Yamashita established a career as an independent composer. She moved to the United States in 2010, and currently resides in Montague, New Jersey.

Career

In 1986, Yamashita composed her first soundtrack to the video game Castlevania under strict hardware constraints.[5] After her success in composing the Castlevania soundtrack, Yamashita composed for other games with Konami, including Esper Dream, Arumana no Kiseki, Stinger, Maze of Galious, Knightmare III: Shalom, and Parodius.[6] She was part of the original Konami Kukeiha Club in-house band. In 1989, she left Konami to become a freelance composer.[4]

As an independent composer, Yamashita continued to score soundtracks for video games, including Mega Man X3, but she also worked on various Natsume games, including Power Blade, the Medabot series, Zen-Nippon Pro Wrestling series, Bass Masters Classic (Game Boy Color), Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue (GBC), WWF Wrestlemania 2000 (GBC), among others. Yamashita continued to compose independently in the new millennium, working on titles such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Game Boy Advance), Croc 2 (GBC), Monsters, Inc. (GBA), WWF Road to WrestleMania (GBA), Power Rangers: Dino Thunder (GBA), Keitai Denjū Telefang (GBC), and other games in the Medabot series.[4]

From 1991 to 1995, Yamashita formed a duo ensemble called "Honey Honey" which performed live covers of American Pop and Jazz music. She played the piano, alto saxophone and sang background vocals. Yamashita also composes J-Pop songs for Japanese artists under the independent label Rocketeers and R&B songs independently for American artists.[4]

In 2009, Yamashita completed the arrangement for "Stage 4" on the Dodonpachi Dai-Ō-Jō remix CD released in Japan.[7] She also composed a song for the Wii game Walk It Out. In September 2009, Yamashita was invited as a special guest to Video Games Live at their concert event in Tokyo, where she appeared on stage after a performance of Castlevania produced by Tommy Tallarico.[6][8] In 2010 and 2011, she continued to make appearances with Video Games Live performing "Castlevania Rock" with orchestras at venues including NJPAC in New Jersey, the Tilles Center in New York City and the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.

Works

Video games
YearTitleRoleCo-worker(s)
1986CastlevaniaCompositionSatoe Terashima[9][10]
King Kong 2: Ikari no Megaton PunchCompositionShinya Sakamoto, Satoe Terashima, and Kiyohiro Sada
1987Hi no Tori Hououhen: Gaou no BoukenCompositionIku Mizutani and Hidenori Maezawa
Esper DreamComposition/sound effects/sound programming
Arumana no KisekiComposition/sound effects/sound programming
Maze of GaliousCompositionHidenori Maezawa, Shinya Sakamoto, Atsushi Fujio and Kiyohiro Sada
Nemesis 2Composition/arrangementMotoaki Furukawa and Masahiro Ikariko
UşasComposition
1988King's Valley IIComposition/arrangementKazuhiko Uehara, Masahiro Ikariko, Michiru Yamane, and Motoaki Furukawa
Parodius (MSX)Composition
Konami no Uranai SensationComposition
Snatcher (MSX)Sound effects/editingwith many others
1991Power BladeComposition
Hana Taaka Daka!?Composition
1992Power Blade 2Composition
1993Ghost Sweeper Mikami: Joreishi ha Nice BodyComposition
Zen-Nippon Pro WrestlingCompositionIku Mizutani and Hiroyuki Iwatsuki
1994Pocky & Rocky 2CompositionHiroyuki Iwatsuki, Haruo Ohashi and Asuka Yamao
Zen-Nippon Pro Wrestling: Fight da Pon!CompositionIku Mizutani and Shinya Kurahashi
Natsume Championship WrestlingCompositionIku Mizutani and Hiroyuki Iwatsuki
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (SNES)CompositionIku Mizutani
Fishing to BassingCompositionIku Mizutani
Mega Man: The Wily WarsComposition/arrangement
1995Mark Davis' The Fishing MasterCompositionIku Mizutani
Zen-Nippon Pro Wrestling 2CompositionIku Mizutani, Hiroyuki Iwatsuki, and Haruo Ohashi
Heian FuuundenCompositionIku Mizutani
Mega Man X3Composition/arrangement
1997Casper (SFC Japanese version)CompositionIku Mizutani
MedarotComposition
1998Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbou: Jigoku Yuuen Satsujin JikenComposition
Digital Figure IinaCompositionIku Mizutani
Dragon DanceCompositionIku Mizutani
Big Mountain 2000Composition
1999Medarot 2CompositionIku Mizutani
Bass Masters Classic (GBC)Composition
2000Medarot 3Composition
Keitai Denjuu TelefangComposition
Sylvania Melodies: Mori no Nakama to Odori Mashi!Composition
2001Croc 2 (GBC)CompositionIku Mizutani
Medarot 4Composition
Medarot 5Composition
Disney/Pixar Monsters, Inc.CompositionIku Mizutani and Tetsuari Watanabe
2002Medarot GComposition
2003Medarot Nii CoreComposition
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Wrath of the Darkhul KingCompositionIku Mizutani and Tetsuari Watanabe
Medabots InfinityComposition
2004Cinnamon: Yume no DaiboukenComposition
Shinkata MedarotComposition
2007Hello Kitty no Gotouchi Collection: Koi no DokiDoki TroubleComposition
Cinnamon Ball: Kurukuru Sweets ParadiseComposition
Kikansha Thomas: Kokugo Sansuu EigoComposition
Osumitsuki Series: Shokusai Roman Katei de Dekiru! Choumeijin
- Yumei Ryourinin no Original Recipe		Composition
Katei no Igaku: DS de Kitaeru Shokuzai Kenkou TrainingComposition
2008Akagawa Jirou Mystery: YasoukyokuComposition
Shugo Chara! Mittsu no Tamagoto Koisuru JokerComposition
Yokojiku de Manabu Sekai no Rekishi: Yoko-Gaku DSComposition
Kikansha Thomas DS 2: Asonde Manabu DS YouchienComposition
2009Kisou Ryouhei GunhoundComposition
2010Walk It OutComposition
Mr. Balloon's Wonderful TripSound effects/voice acting

References

  1. ↑ Browning, John Edgar; Picart, Caroline Joan; Stoker, Dacre (2010). Dracula in Visual Media: Film, Television, Comic Book and Electronic Game. McFarland & Company. ISBN 0-7864-3365-5.
  2. ↑ "Castlevania (1986) NES credits - MobyGames". MobyGames. mobygames.com. Retrieved January 4, 2011.
  3. ↑ Collins, Karen (2008). Game sound: an introduction to the history, theory, and practice. MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-03378-X.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Yamako. "Ciao". Retrieved January 4, 2011.
  5. ↑ Anthony Broadman (April 16, 2004). "Nintendo is music to the Minibosses". Arizona Daily Star. p. F.
  6. 1 2 Danny Russell (November 29, 2009). "Video Games Live Tokyo 2009". Ready-Up. Retrieved January 4, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Remix Albums 2009". Game Developer. 16 (9): 4. October 1, 2009. |section= ignored (help)
  8. ↑ Parish, Jeremy (September 28, 2009). "Tokyo Game Show's Retro Highlight: Video Games Live in Japan". 1UP.com. Retrieved January 4, 2011.
  9. ↑ "Akumajou Dracula". Message Board. Kinuyo Yamashita (via WebCite). 22 April 2008. Archived from the original on 27 September 2010. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  10. ↑ Konami Industry Co., Ltd. (30 October 1986). Vampire Killer. Konami Industry Co., Ltd. Scene: staff credits.
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