is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

video game composer Video game music (or VGM) is the soundtrack that accompanies video games. Early video game music was once limited to sounds of early sound chips, such as programmable sound generators (PSG) or FM synthesis chips. These limitations have led to ...

best known for her works in the '' Suikoden'' series.

Biography

Miki Higashino first began composing video game music as a student employed by

Konami , is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machines, slot machines, and arcade cabinets. Konami has casino ...

and contributed to various minor products, often uncredited or under the alias MIKI-CHAN or MIKI-CHANG. Her substantial early works include the ''

Gradius is a series of shooter video games, introduced in 1985, developed and published by Konami for a variety of portable, console and arcade platforms. In many games in the series, the player controls a ship known as the Vic Viper. Games *''Scra ...

'' soundtrack in collaboration with the

Konami Kukeiha Club is Konami's sound team. It is often confused with 矩形波倶楽部 ( Kukeiha Club), Konami's in-house band that has released albums consisting of their studio performances. They are primarily responsible for the sound and music in the majorit ...

in 1985. Higashino has since been involved in over a dozen projects and compilations. Aside from being the primary composer for the original '' Suikoden'' soundtrack, she also worked on the '' Suikoden II'' soundtrack, a 105 track effort which she composed in its entirety save 7 songs by Keiko Fukami and 1 song by Tappy Iwase. In 2001 Higashino left Konami on maternity leave but later collaborated with videogame composer

Yasunori Mitsuda is a Japanese composer, musician, and sound producer. He is best known for his work in video games, primarily for the ''Chrono'', '' Xeno'', ''Shadow Hearts'', and ''Inazuma Eleven'' franchises, among various others. Mitsuda began composing musi ...

in 2005 on the '' Tsukiyo ni Saraba (Moonlit Shadow)'' soundtrack. Arranged versions of her original Suikoden music appear on the ''

Suikoden IV is a role-playing video game developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo and published by Konami exclusively for the PlayStation 2 video game console and is the fourth installment of the '' Suikoden'' video game series. It was released in ...

'' and '' Suikoden V'' soundtracks.

Musical style and influences

Higashino cites Maurice Ravel, Gabriel Fauré,

Lúnasa Lughnasadh or Lughnasa ( , ) is a Gaelic festival marking the beginning of the harvest season. Historically, it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. In Modern Irish it is called , in gd, Lùnastal, and in gv, ...

, and

Hevia José Ángel Hevia Velasco, known professionally as Hevia (born October 11, 1967 in Villaviciosa, Asturias), is a Spanish bagpiper – specifically, an Asturian gaita player. He commonly performs with his sister, María José, on drums. I ...

as musical influences.

Discography

Composer *''

'' (1985) *''

Yie Ar Kung-Fu () is an arcade fighting game developed by Konami. It first had a limited Japanese release in October 1984, before having a wide release nationwide in January 1985 and then internationally in March 1985. Along with ''Karate Champ'' (1984), which ...

'' (1985) *''

Salamander Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All t ...

'' (1986) *'' Life Force'' (1986) *''

Knightmare ''Knightmare'' is a British children's adventure game show, created by Tim Child, and broadcast over eight series on CITV from 7 September 1987 to 11 November 1994. The general format of the show is of a team of four children – one who tak ...

'' (1986) *'' Salamander (MSX)'' (1987) – with Motoaki Furukawa and Masahiro Ikariko *''

Gradius III ''Gradius III'' is a 1989 scrolling shooter video game developed and published by Konami, originally released for the arcades in Japan and other parts of Asia on December 11, 1989. It is the third game in the ''Gradius'' series. The game was por ...

'' (1989) – with Seiichi Fukami, Keizo Nakamura, Mutsuhiko Izumi, and Junichiro Kaneda *''

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael, four anthropomorphic turtle brothers (named after It ...

'' (1989) – with Mutsuhiko Izumi *''Surprise Attack'' (1990) – with Hidenori Maezawa and Keizo Nakamura *'' Contra III: The Alien Wars'' (1992) – with Masanori Adachi and Tappi Iwase *''Premier Soccer'' (1993) *''Mōryō Senki MADARA 2'' (1993) – with Masanori Adachi and Tappi Iwase *'' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters'' (

Mega Drive/Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...

version) (1993) *'' Double Dribble: The Playoff Edition'' (1994) *''

Tokimeki Memorial is a dating simulation series by Konami. It consists of six main games in addition to many spin-offs. The games are notable in the dating sim genre for being highly nonlinear. Their nickname amongst their fans is the contraction ''TokiMemo''. ...

'' (1994) – with Mikio Saito, Seiya Murai, and Hiroe Noguchi *'' Suikoden'' (1995) – with Tappi Iwase, Hiroshi Tamawari, Setsu Taniguchi, Mayuko Kagesita *''

Gradius Deluxe Pack is a 1996 video game compilation developed and published by Konami. It was originally released for the Sega Saturn and PlayStation, and later for Windows computers a year later. It includes the first two games in the company's ''Gradius'' series ...

'' (1996) (Staff roll music) – with

Akira Yamaoka is a Japanese composer and music producer. He is best known for composing music for several video games in the '' Silent Hill'' series by Konami, among other games. Yamaoka also worked as a producer on the series, as well as composing for the ' ...

, Kiyohiko Yamane, and Motoaki Furukawa *''

Vandal Hearts Vandal Hearts, known in Japan as is a turn-based tactical role-playing video game developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo for the PlayStation and later ported to the Sega Saturn by Konami Computer Entertainment Nagoya. The PlayStation ...

: Ancient Lost Civilization'' (1996) – with Hiroshi Tamawari, Kosuke Soeda, Masahiro Yamauchi *'' Moon: Remix RPG Adventure'' (1997) – with Hirofumi Taniguchi, Masanori Adachi, Taro Kudou of the Thelonious Monkees *'' Suikoden II'' (1998) – with Keiko Fukami *'' Gensō Suikogaiden Vol. 1'' (2000) – with Keiko Fukami *'' Gensō Suikogaiden Vol. 2'' (2001) – with Keiko Fukami *''

10,000 Bullets ''10,000 Bullets'', known in Japan as , is a third-person shooter video game developed by Blue Moon Studio with Metro Corporation and published by Taito for the PlayStation 2 console. It was released in Japan in 2005, and distributed in Europe b ...

'' (2005) – with

*'' Pop'n Music: Adventure'' (2007)

References

External links

VGMdb - Miki Higashino

Artist: Miki Higashino - Composer - OverClocked ReMix

the Official Website of

Interview with Miki Higashino at Game Music Online
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Higashino, Miki 1968 births 21st-century Japanese composers 21st-century Japanese pianists 21st-century jazz composers 21st-century women composers Freelance musicians Japanese jazz composers Japanese jazz pianists Japanese women composers Japanese women pianists Konami people Living people Recruit (company) Video game composers Women jazz composers Women jazz pianists 21st-century women pianists