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  #1  
Old Dec 6, 2015, 04:38 AM
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layzee layzee is offline
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Default -Project Saitama- The S.S.H. Fan Site (Saitama Saisyu Heiki)

I've decided to make it my quest to find out who this S.S.H. guy is, this guy who has steadfastly remained my personal favourite musical artist since about 20 years ago. Who is this not only faceless, but nameless person that offered so much metal bliss to my ears for a decade, and continues to do so?

-Project Saitama- The S.S.H. Fan Site

-Website To Do List-
1. Translate/search through his website for interesting/useful information (100% finished).
2. Translate/search through his Twitter account/tweets for interesting/useful information (100%).
3. Translate/search through his .txt files (accompanied with .mp3) and album liner notes for interesting/useful information (1%).
4. Continued updating of artist profile/biography and webpage (ongoing%).
5. Make the artist biography page look better (low priority).
6. Go through the archives of relevant old websites and archive them onto my website (WIP%).
7. A decent S.S.H. banner for the website. I don't know what the design would be like but the main words in big font will be "プロジェクトさたいま" and the words in smaller font will be "Project Saitama - The S.S.H. Fan Site" or something.


-Challenges-
1. A few booklets of albums from his discography still need to be viewed. Possible interesting/useful information may be obtained.
2. Pre-2013 tweets from his Twitter account: Are they retrievable? (high priority).
3. Pre-2012 website/website posts: Are they retrievable? 2018: Yes they are. (high priority).
4. The recovery of long lost S.S.H. compositions from his early days. There's about 30 in my list so far, quite likely there are more. (high priority).
5. Obtain brand new and sealed copy of "Rain Drop" (SHAT-0005) and "A Weekend of a Certain Satan".

-Future Goals-
1. Play my favourite S.S.H. songs on guitar competently, share the video online if it's good enough, then die happy.
2. Start an S.S.H. fan club. Similar to the one on lastfm or here. Instead of having S.S.H. fans scattered around the world, they can all join in a centralised location instead (perhaps via my site?). This may call for regular S.S.H. news postings/blogs (which I will take responsibility for). Any ideas on how to being and manage the fan club?
3. Linked to the above, promotion of S.S.H. albums and S.S.H. as an artist. Because as far as I am concerned, he is criminally under-appreciated and I want him to make more money, because he deserves it.
4. Gathering suitable questions and then conducting an interview with S.S.H. (if you met S.S.H., what would you ask him?) (5%).
5. If S.S.H. was to perform in a concert in Japan, I would probably seriously consider dropping everything I am doing (in real life) and boarding the next plane.

If you have any questions, comments and/or useful info/suggestions for this project, please post in this thread and/or email/PM me.

Last edited by layzee; Aug 14, 2021 at 09:14 AM.
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  #2  
Old Dec 28, 2015, 07:23 PM
gackerjr gackerjr is offline
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Well, I can't add much other than I thought it'd be fun to bring one of his tracks to life on my guitar. I'd be keenly interested on any info you can dig up -- I tried to contact him, but no response.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCAw...ature=youtu.be
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  #3  
Old Dec 29, 2015, 02:56 AM
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layzee layzee is offline
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Originally Posted by gackerjr View Post
Well, I can't add much other than I thought it'd be fun to bring one of his tracks to life on my guitar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCAw...ature=youtu.be
Is that you in the video? If so, then well done. You reminded me that I want to do the same thing, so I added this omission to the first post:

Quote:
1. Play my favourite S.S.H. songs on guitar competently, then die happy.
Unfortunately, I'm still very much a beginner so I don't see it happening for a while yet. It's one of my life goals though (S.S.H. is 50% the reason why I decided to learn the guitar) so it will happen eventually. Hopefully.

Also, if you haven't seen it already, here's the same song played by another guy, which you may appreciate. It was done almost a decade ago so it's a pretty early S.S.H. cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIc_SpETzP8

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Originally Posted by gackerjr View Post
I'd be keenly interested on any info you can dig up -- I tried to contact him, but no response.
If you tried to access my site but was unsuccessful, then it was because the domain name expired so feel free to check again (check link in main post). Feel free to let me know if you have any questions or feedback.

I also tried to contact him by email many years ago (in Japanese, albeit unnatural textbook style Japanese) but for whatever reason, I didn't receive a reply, so that was the end of that.

Last edited by layzee; Dec 29, 2015 at 03:00 AM.
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  #4  
Old Dec 29, 2015, 06:21 AM
gackerjr gackerjr is offline
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Quote:
Is that you in the video? If so, then well done.
Indeed, it was me. Thanks! A little off at times, but I got tired of trying to perfect it at such insane BPM.

Quote:
Unfortunately, I'm still very much a beginner so I don't see it happening for a while yet.
It comes faster than you think, but let me know if I can help with anything on theory or fingering techniques, etc...

Quote:
Also, if you haven't seen it already, here's the same song played by another guy, which you may appreciate.
Ahhh, thanks for that -- awesome stuff! I've subscribed to his channel.

Quote:
If you tried to access my site but was unsuccessful, then it was because the domain name expired so feel free to check again (check link in main post). Feel free to let me know if you have any questions or feedback.
Will read through in more detail later, but I think there is a typo at the end of the second paragraph -- in 2013 he would be 31. Thanks for putting all this info together! I had tried to email him as well, though my Japanese is far too broken to even attempt it, so I wrote in English.
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  #5  
Old Jan 2, 2016, 04:43 PM
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Originally Posted by gackerjr View Post
Indeed, it was me. Thanks! A little off at times, but I got tired of trying to perfect it at such insane BPM.

It comes faster than you think, but let me know if I can help with anything on theory or fingering techniques, etc...
Are you playing off of guitar tabs written by someone else or did you have to go by ear and make it yourself?

Getting good at guitar is one thing and hard enough, replicating a song that has no guitar tabs available is another...
At the moment, I'm using Rocksmith 2014 (spending a lot of time on the Guitarcade) and trying out simpler 8-bit/16-bit console generation tunes (using tabs from GameTabs which has the worst server ever).

One of my current favourite songs right now is "The Secret Underground Passage" from his 2014 album "Forgotten Ruins". There is a "karaoke" version of the track (with the main guitar part excluded) so it would be a dream come true if I could somehow fill that role. But like I said, the lack of guitar tabs is an issue. Worst case scenario, I would probably have to offer a bounty for someone to make tabs or even possibly ask S.S.H. himself for it.

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Originally Posted by gackerjr View Post
Will read through in more detail later, but I think there is a typo at the end of the second paragraph -- in 2013 he would be 31.
Cheers. Fixed 2013 to 2003.
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  #6  
Old Jan 3, 2016, 05:31 PM
gackerjr gackerjr is offline
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Are you playing off of guitar tabs written by someone else or did you have to go by ear and make it yourself?
Mostly by ear. I initially looked at a tab for the original theme from the game, which are pretty readily available, but as you might suspect, this version includes a lot of accompaniment and parts that simply are not in the original. One trick I use to help with the faster parts is to slow the song down to 50%. It makes the notes more distinguishable. Part of it is also just playing for a long time. You get to recognize patterns by their sounds and can more quickly pinpoint the correct notes. And, as you probably noticed, I'm not perfect. I was definitely off in a few areas.

Quote:
At the moment, I'm using Rocksmith 2014 (spending a lot of time on the Guitarcade) and trying out simpler 8-bit/16-bit console generation tunes
That's really cool. I played the original Rocksmith and thought it'd be a great learning tool for someone starting out on guitar.

Way back in the day I did a bunch of renditions of music from the Castlevania series (mostly the original Castlevania and Simon's Quest). The recording quality was crap, but they are very interesting pieces musically.

Quote:
One of my current favourite songs right now is "The Secret Underground Passage" from his 2014 album "Forgotten Ruins". There is a "karaoke" version of the track (with the main guitar part excluded) so it would be a dream come true if I could somehow fill that role. But like I said, the lack of guitar tabs is an issue. Worst case scenario, I would probably have to offer a bounty for someone to make tabs or even possibly ask S.S.H. himself for it.
I tried asking him for the MIDI for FF6, but got no response. That's probably a longshot. I'm not familiar with the song, but if you shoot me a link to it (and also the karaoke version) I can take a listen and see if it's something I could quickly figure out.
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  #7  
Old Jan 4, 2016, 06:59 AM
josejl1987 josejl1987 is offline
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Default The Decisive Battle MIDI

Hey there.

I'm also a big S.S.H. fan too.

I have a bunch of the MIDIs he uploaded back in 2001 and 2002 I got using Archive.org a few years ago.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...6-tdb2_ssh.rar

I'm not a guitar player,so I can't know for sure,but the guitar parts seem a bit strange as they are programmed for Yamaha MU2000 synth,but I think it might be useful for you.

By the way,I think he's part of Hellion Sounds (compare the guitar synth sound in some tracks,for example compare Battle 1 from FF Mystic Quest arrange from the first Hellion Sounds CD to some 2004 S.S.H. music,and also the Etrian Odyssey arrangement from the latest Hellion Sounds to Forgotten Ruins,which were released in the same year).
I also think that he went by Ges.M in some Woodsoft albums (the Afterburner arrange in AGES sounds like it uses the same sound setup as Atelier Iris Deceitful Wings to me),although,I have don't have definitive evidence of this.
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  #8  
Old Jan 4, 2016, 09:48 AM
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layzee layzee is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gackerjr View Post
Mostly by ear. I initially looked at a tab for the original theme from the game, which are pretty readily available, but as you might suspect, this version includes a lot of accompaniment and parts that simply are not in the original. One trick I use to help with the faster parts is to slow the song down to 50%. It makes the notes more distinguishable. Part of it is also just playing for a long time. You get to recognize patterns by their sounds and can more quickly pinpoint the correct notes. And, as you probably noticed, I'm not perfect. I was definitely off in a few areas.
Well, looks like I've got my work cut out for me. Visually memorising where all the frets etc are by heart is hard enough, but it seems like I'll have to aurally memorise it too (if I want to make my own guitar tabs or at least, play songs that don't have tablature for it).

Quote:
Originally Posted by gackerjr View Post
That's really cool. I played the original Rocksmith and thought it'd be a great learning tool for someone starting out on guitar.
I'd say the best thing about it is the Guitarcade (though it does still have some flaws). What should be grinding (getting to "know" the guitar you are holding) becomes fun and the Guitarcade might convince someone who is considering giving up to give it a second chance. If you break your previous score, that means you are improving, and nothing helps motivation than proof that you are improving.

Quote:
Originally Posted by gackerjr View Post
Way back in the day I did a bunch of renditions of music from the Castlevania series (mostly the original Castlevania and Simon's Quest). The recording quality was crap, but they are very interesting pieces musically.
I haven't really properly explored any Castlevania/Akumajou Dracula tunes yet but "The Silence of Daylight" (town theme) which I did try, seems doable for me. I'd also love to try the "The Forest of Monsters" (second stage) from Castlevania 4/Akumajou Dracula - the bass part is simply awesome.

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Originally Posted by gackerjr View Post
I tried asking him for the MIDI for FF6, but got no response. That's probably a longshot. I'm not familiar with the song, but if you shoot me a link to it (and also the karaoke version) I can take a listen and see if it's something I could quickly figure out.
Seems like the poster below you has kindly taken care of your request. As for mine, I don't have a link but I'll upload the tune to my web host later. It's basically a pure guitar song through and through.
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  #9  
Old Jan 4, 2016, 09:52 AM
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Originally Posted by josejl1987 View Post
Hey there.

I'm also a big S.S.H. fan too.

By the way,I think he's part of Hellion Sounds (compare the guitar synth sound in some tracks,for example compare Battle 1 from FF Mystic Quest arrange from the first Hellion Sounds CD to some 2004 S.S.H. music,and also the Etrian Odyssey arrangement from the latest Hellion Sounds to Forgotten Ruins,which were released in the same year).
Yo,

Regarding Hellion Sounds, I actually raised (barely remember even making that post) this still unresolved issue some years ago here: http://vgmdb.net/forums/showthread.php?t=10290

Back then in the mid-2000s, when I was active in hunting down and listening to doujin music, "Hellion Sounds" was by far, the most similar sounding to S.S.H. However, I just assumed they were two different people who happened to have very similar styles. If S.S.H. and Hellion Sounds are indeed the same person, then that makes him even more awesome: That Final Fantasy USA: Mystic Quest "Battle 1" arrange was the best FFMQ arrange back then, perhaps even now.

As for the "Battlefield's Awakening | Shin Sekaiju no Meikyuu Millennium no Shoujo" track from the "Red Re:zome" album, you might be onto something here. The guitar solo starting at about 2:40 sounds suspiciously S.S.H.-like. Forgive me for any incorrect guitar terminology, but for starters, you've got the obvious post-2012 raw general S.S.H. sound, the how-do-I-say... "unclean" picking of notes reminiscent of any track from S.S.H.'s "Forgotten Ruins" album, and furthermore, the long sustained vibratos and high notes (see the two pairs of three long notes in the "Ninja vs Vampire" track from 2:25 to 2:50).

Quote:
Originally Posted by josejl1987 View Post
I also think that he went by Ges.M in some Woodsoft albums (the Afterburner arrange in AGES sounds like it uses the same sound setup as Atelier Iris Deceitful Wings to me),although,I have don't have definitive evidence of this.
The Woodsoft "Kleene" album was also an album that I played a decent amount back then, though I didn't make any S.S.H. connections at the time. I gave it (the "Ges.M" tracks) another listen.

The non-guitar synth from the "Glacies" track does sound similar to the one used in the Sega Ages PS2 remake of Gainground, to be more specific: "Origin ~Awaken~ (Theme of Heroes) [BGM1]" (also from 2004).

Moving onto "The Gods of the Four Winds", the intro immediately reminds me of "Thunder Light" from the "Sixty Nine 2 Original Soundtrack".

Thirdly, the happy positive sounding "Like a Wind" reminds me of "Believe In Yourself" and "Daylight" (also from Sixty Nine 2).

Finally, a few of the artists involved with Kleene were involved in other albums that S.S.H. was also part of.

I'm not sure if I listened to the right rendition of it but the PS2 Sega Ages Afterburner music didn't really express "S.S.H." to me. One possible relevant note is that Gainground (composed by S.S.H.) is Sega Ages Vol. 9 while Afterburner is Vol. 10 so at least the time frame is consistent.

Having said all that, maybe everything here is just a coincidence, but I can only share my observations and thoughts. Also, I don't recall S.S.H. ever specifically mentioning in his blog posts etc Hellion Sounds or this Ges.M but I'll have to double check my, archives, you could call it.
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Old Jan 4, 2016, 11:08 AM
josejl1987 josejl1987 is offline
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Oops,my bad. I got the Woodsoft album name wrong.
I meant the After Burner arrangement in this one http://vgmdb.net/album/10575.

The only information I ever found on this Ges.M was this:
http://soj.razor.jp/old2005.htm.

As for Hellion Sounds,I've been reading S.S.H.'s web diary and Twitter since 2007 or so,and other than retweeting the albums releases,I don't remember any mention either.

Also the Hellion Sounds Legacy album has live guitar performance which reminds me a lot of his real guitar performance (The Evil Lord Exdeath and Fighting of the Spirit,compare it to Faraway (you know,the vocaloid one),which I think is the last song he's used real guitar).
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Old Jan 4, 2016, 11:36 AM
gackerjr gackerjr is offline
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Quote:
I haven't really properly explored any Castlevania/Akumajou Dracula tunes yet but "The Silence of Daylight" (town theme) which I did try, seems doable for me.
Not sure what MIDI you are using for the CV stuff, but these were the most accurate ones I found back about a decade ago when I was recording them. It's got most of the themes from CV1 and CV2: Simon's Quest.

CV MIDI

And I did manage to find an old recording of me attempting to play them. It has Prelude, Vampire Killer, Wicked Child, and Heart of Fire from CV1 followed by CV2's Silence of Daylight (around 5:20), Bloody Tears (outdoor daylight music, also the most famous from that game), and Dwelling of Doom (inside the castles). It's been forever since I played any of these, but they were very handy to help learn techniques on guitar for various musical concepts (pedal notes in Heart of Fire & Bloody Tears, diminished runs in Dwelling of Doom, etc...). The hardest part of Silence of Daylight is keeping the two voices in time with each other.

CV Recording

Quote:
I have a bunch of the MIDIs he uploaded back in 2001 and 2002 I got using Archive.org a few years ago.
You rock! If only I had this a few weeks ago before I did the recording :P I definitely plan to look at the guitar voices and pinpoint some of the areas I didn't quite get right.
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Old Jan 5, 2016, 08:36 AM
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A few more updates made to the first post:

Quote:
Originally Posted by layzee
Challenges
4. The recovery of long lost S.S.H. compositions from his early days. There's about 30 in my list so far, quite likely there are more. (high priority).
Thanks to a kind user here, I have just received one of these long lost tunes. That prompted and reminded me to add this challenge. I'll provide further details later but for now, if you think you have what you think is a super rare unknown S.S.H. composition, please let me know.

Quote:
Originally Posted by layzee
Future Goals
4. Gathering suitable questions and then conducting an interview with S.S.H. (if you met S.S.H., what would you ask him?)
I doubt it will happen anytime soon, but I'm open to any suggestions. It can be related to music or not (based on his writing style and answering questions from others, he seems pretty casual and random).

Quote:
Originally Posted by josejl1987 View Post
Oops,my bad. I got the Woodsoft album name wrong.
I meant the After Burner arrangement in this one http://vgmdb.net/album/10575.
Ah okay, I did do a quick search for that track but I wasn't able to find it. If you could upload it to your dropbox so I can give it a listen, that would be great.

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Originally Posted by josejl1987 View Post
The only information I ever found on this Ges.M was this:
http://soj.razor.jp/old2005.htm..
「に参加されているGes.M氏(笑)のアレンジにギターで参加しております。」

"I (Toshinori Hiramatsu) participated via guitar to Mr Ges.M's (lol) arrange (in the album)"

Well, apparently something is funny here. We just have to figure out the joke.

Quote:
Originally Posted by josejl1987 View Post
As for Hellion Sounds,I've been reading S.S.H.'s web diary and Twitter since 2007 or so,and other than retweeting the albums releases,I don't remember any mention either.
Slightly off topic but do you by any chance have S.S.H.'s pre-2012 website saved on your HDD? How about his Twitter tweets from the beginning to 2013? If you do and you could share it, it would be much appreciated. Any useful/interesting information will be added to my website. From memory, I think his old website had a more detailed profile page including things like the audio equipment he uses.

Quote:
Originally Posted by gackerjr View Post
Silence of Daylight
Oh no, I just meant I tried playing that song using its guitar tabs. The noise that came out of my guitar somewhat resembles the song (laughs). I'll give your tune a listen later.

Last edited by layzee; Jan 5, 2016 at 09:46 AM.
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Old Jan 5, 2016, 08:59 AM
josejl1987 josejl1987 is offline
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Ah okay, I did do a quick search for that track but I wasn't able to find it. If you could upload it to your dropbox so I can give it a listen, that would be great.
There you go.https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...r%20Burner.ogg



Quote:
Originally Posted by layzee View Post
Slightly off topic but do you by any chance have S.S.H.'s pre-2012 website saved on your HDD? How about his Twitter tweets from the beginning to 2013? If you do and you could share it, it would be much appreciated. Any useful/interesting information will be added to my website. From memory, I think his old website had a more detailed profile page including things like the audio equipment he uses.
I'm afraid I don't,and since he blacklisted archive.org on his website,I have no idea on how to recover it.
By memory I do remember some stuff (I'm really interested on synths and music production).
He started with Yamaha MU synths (MU1000 and MU2000 at least).
I remember he mentioned that he used a Roland Fantom XR for Atelier Iris 2 Arrangement CD and that since 2009 he stopped using hardware synths.

I remember him mentioning Prominy V-Metal for guitar,Spectrasonics Trilian for bass and Superior Drummer 2 for drums.
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Old Jan 5, 2016, 09:38 AM
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Originally Posted by josejl1987 View Post
Cheers. I can't say for sure if S.S.H. had anything to do with this song but I'd say the fast keyboard playing starting at 5:00 sounds like something he would do.

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Originally Posted by josejl1987 View Post
I'm afraid I don't,and since he blacklisted archive.org on his website,I have no idea on how to recover it.
Oh well, that's too bad. It does seem to appear that S.S.H. is pretty forward looking, not just the lack of pre-2012 website content but the purging of his old music too.

Anyway, hopefully a fellow S.S.H. fan who had the foresight to archive everything comes across this thread in the future.
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Old Jan 24, 2016, 09:01 AM
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I was on a bit of a hiatus but I'm back and hopefully I can get some work done.

Thanks to josejl1987, we've managed to literally recover, from a dead hard drive no less, some what-I-thought-to-be long lost S.S.H. tunes. As most of you S.S.H. fans should know, he had some fairly humble beginnings, composing arranged (and some original) tunes with his good ol' synth guitar and sharing it on the Japanese Internet. I believe most of them are in good hands but a few, probably his very early ones, eluded my grasp until now. The file names of said .mp3 files are mostly corrupted so I am currently in the process of re-organising and re-cataloguing my collection so I can determine exactly what I have and what I don't have. I will hopefully have the results on my website in a week or so. I will also commence the public search for the missing items at this time (once I figure out exactly what's missing). As always, if you have anything that you think might be useful to me, be sure to let me know.

In other news, S.S.H. has provided some background info (more than one year later the release date) about his "Forgotten Ruins" album. The general gist is as follows:

Quote:
It was sometime in 2002 in when he first thought about making an original album. Due to being busy and due to being unsure of what the final product should look like (he had some thoughts about it being a proper full album but he decided on a mini album), progress was delayed for as long as a decade, until the album's actual release in 2014.

He may call it an "original album" but one could view it as an arranged soundtrack that arranges the music of a hypothetical 8-bit generation game (e.g. Nintendo Famicom). An '80s/'90s-style "Super Arrange Version" album, if you will, using the original sound source of an 8-bit game. To express that vision, he provides a chiptune version of the first track of the album "Room Guarder" on his Soundcloud account.

Furthermore, this isn't just an 8-bit game, it's an 8-bit game with 3D dungeons. If someone decides to make this hypothetical game a reality, he hopes for the game to have a cyberpunk theme (I'm guessing he has Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei I & II for Nintendo Famicom in mind). To enrich your listening of the album, he provides the following annotations:

Room Guarder [Battle 1]
The Secret Underground Passage [Dungeon BGM1]
Jumble of Wheat And Tares [SHOP]
Burial Chamber [Dungeon BGM2]
Ninja vs Vampire [Battle 2]

http://www.ssh.ne.jp/index.php/archives/703
While I'm at it, I might as well give my opinion on the album.

The album begins with a battle theme - "Room Guarder". It follows what seems to be the now standard S.S.H. formula of a keyboard/synth melody played once or twice, before the same (more or less) melody is played using the guitar. The song takes a breather at about 2:30 with a nice bass section.

Apart from the short intro in the dungeon theme "The Secret Underground Passage", this is straight metal bliss the whole way, akin to 玉座の間 (Throne Room theme) from the Koihime Musou fighting game. In other words, guitars every second. My favourite and most played track.

In the middle we have "Jumble of Wheat And Tares". If your local supermarket played this kind of music, I'd go shopping more often! Admittedly, this is my least played track, not that I'm saying there's anything wrong with the song, it's just a different style compared to the rest. Speaking of which, I know this song style has a name but my music terminology/theory is not good enough to figure it out. When I listen to the song, my mind conjures up cowboys and horses, get the gist?

The second dungeon theme "Burial Chamber" is the most electronic/techno of the lot. In the first half it sort of meanders a bit and takes a bit of time to get going. Then the main guitar enters at 2:45 to remind you that this is also a heavy metal song. Third time's the charm as the guitar joins the keyboard to play the main melody.

To round off the album, we have another straight metal song with "Ninja vs Vampire" the second "battle theme" with the combatants being probably the aforementioned. I'm guessing the shamisen-ish sounding instrument represents the Ninja but what about the Vampire? Is it that instrument in the first few seconds? It might be just me but it sounds almost exactly like the same instrument used in the boss theme of 2004 PS2 game Gainground (Medieval era "giant armoured knight" boss - extra game mode AKA unofficial track title "Knight of Thunder"). Anyway, highlight of this track are the six "wailing" notes. You'll know it when you hear it.

The last five "Main Melody Ver" track seems to be "karaoke" or "instrumental" versions with the main melody removed. If you have the skill, perhaps you can play the main part?

Overall, this album is an easy 5/5. If you're a fan of S.S.H. then it's a no-brainer - you will like/love the album. If you're a fan of heavy metal, then I would find it hard to believe if you didn't at least like it.

Can his next album "Click & Metal" live up to expectations? Stay tuned.

Last edited by layzee; Jan 24, 2016 at 09:05 AM.
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Old Feb 29, 2016, 09:20 AM
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I will hopefully have the results on my website in a week or so.
One week?! More like one month. I painstakingly went through the S.S.H. files with a fine-tooth comb (and decided to rerip my S.S.H. albums into .flac because why not) as well as attempt to put some order into the mp3 tags and file names (I'm still convinced Tag&Rename is the best music file tag tool in the market), and I am now finally satisfied with the results. You can call this result an SSHdb of sorts. See for yourself: click here.

I was hoping to present the information nicely in tables or something and giving myself blank space to comment on the songs but I don't really know how to do it (or how to do it neatly) so for now, I will have to make do with a quick and easy copy/paste. I haven't gone through the text files in full detail yet. I just briefly perused it but can confirm there can be useful or interesting information in there (e.g. you don't have to go through the trouble of figuring out which band/song he is referencing in the intro of a particular song, he'll outright state it in the liner notes).

Anyway, the most important thing as far as I'm concerned, is that now that we actually have a database of S.S.H.'s works, I would like to announce the commencement of the (albeit 10 years too late) search for the missing S.S.H. songs. If you have any info that might help, let me know.

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Originally Posted by layzee View Post
Can his next album "Click & Metal" live up to expectations? Stay tuned.
Now that I got myself a copy of the album, I'm going to sound like a broken record again: 5 out of 5. This one I think is more consistently good. While for the Forgotten Ruins album I would focus on listening to 1 or 2 (or 3) tracks, I don't really have a clear favourite track in Click & Metal, I just listen to it from start to finish than back again.

Then there's the 恋姫†演武 (Koihime Enbu) soundtrack which I don't have yet but had a taste of. The new intro theme is great, and the remixed ending theme beats the pants of the previous game's (which was good too to be fair). Then the meat of the soundtrack: the theme songs for the three new characters. "Horse girl with spear" theme is probably the crowd favourite with the well polished "begin with keyboard/synth then bring in the main guitar about the halfway point" formula. "Fist fighting girl with tail" theme is a straightforward no-nonsense rockin' guitar affair like "Throne Room" theme from the previous game. I'm loving all of the tracks I just mentioned so far, but the one that turned out to be my favourite is the "Ninja girl" theme. I think it's that awesome riff right at the beginning that I love so much. Not surprisingly and naturally, this song has a Japanese feel to it which I also personally like (saying this as a Baiken theme song from Guilty Gear fan). Oh and fun fact: the sound/audio effects for the game is none other than kt2.

I'll be back in this thread tomorrow but for now, I must back up my stuff lest all my hard work be gone from an unlucky crash or similar.

Cheerio.

Last edited by layzee; Feb 29, 2016 at 09:43 AM.
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Old Feb 29, 2016, 01:06 PM
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"Horse girl with spear" = 馬超 = Bachou
"Fist fighting girl with tail" = 楽進 = Gakushin
"Ninja girl" = 周泰 = Shuutai

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Old Mar 2, 2016, 08:52 AM
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"Horse girl with spear" = 馬超 = Bachou
"Fist fighting girl with tail" = 楽進 = Gakushin
"Ninja girl" = 周泰 = Shuutai

Yep, but I just went with my own more "descriptive" track titles for the sake of readers. Then again, she herself has horse in her name...
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Old Mar 2, 2016, 09:18 AM
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Today, I would like to talk about S.S.H.'s music in the PS2 remake of Gain Ground. But first, a bit of history.

If you follow S.S.H. or if you read the bio on my website, you would know that he was fairly active in the "doujin"/amateur scene making a name for himself by doing arranges of popular (and not-so-popular) games as well as his own original compositions. His first big break or his entry into the "pro" world would arguably be in 2003/early 2004, with of course, his involvement in the big budget Lost Child visual novel PC game (with basic battle elements uncommon for a game of its type). But, if you personally, with lofty standards and/or strict adherence to whatever definition you have of "professional", don't count that as pro, then his participation in the PS2 remake of the Sega game Gain Ground undoubtably and definitely fits the criteria.

It would appear to me, that this happened with little fanfare (I can't speak for S.S.H. fans inside Japan). In fact, my discovery of this was by complete accident. By this point in time (late 2004 or early 2005), I was already a devoted S.S.H. fan. One day, the "Sega Ages Soundtrack the Best Plus" (KDSD-00051~2) was on my playlist. This album is basically a disc of selected tunes from selected classic Arcade Sega games and another disc of those same tunes, except arranged by whoever for the PS2 remake. There are three tracks from Gain Ground and when I came across the arranged versions, I was like "...wait a minute... this sounds familiar..." and listened to them again and again. The album booklet was not too helpful in terms of information but I was over 90% sure that S.S.H. was responsible for this. A quick search on Japanese websites raised this percentage to 100%.

As far as the game is concerned, other websites have already adequately described the way it works. What I will say here is that indeed, although on first impressions this may look like an action game, that is only one side of the story. And the other side, the stronger factor, is strategy. This is a thinking man's game and it's about resource management (the multiple characters you control), enemy awareness, route planning and time management. Funnily enough, time will kill you more than your enemies. Heck, enemies can only kill you one at a time, if you run out of time, then time gets angry and will inflict genocide on your characters (play the game to see what I mean).

PS2 Gain Ground is probably S.S.H.'s debut when it comes to arranging music professionally. And he doesn't disappoint at all (does he ever?). The original non-arranged first stage music 原始~起~(勇者達のテーマ) (neanderthal stage with cavemen enemies) is actually pretty catchy already, but S.S.H. dials it up with his arrange. Same goes for the other tracks, he stays true to the original while at the same time giving the song his own "voice". However, there is an extra set of music that can be unlocked by completing the game which opens up the "EXTRA GAME", which is basically an arranged version of the game. On top of that, normally each set of 10 stages has a "boss stage" which doesn't have a song of its own (i.e. the stage theme of the previous 9 stages also plays on the 10th boss stage). However, in the extra game, S.S.H. composes an original song for you to enjoy. Chances are you won't survive that long (or finish the stage too quick) for the song to finish its loop though. I myself have never completed the game legitimately. Believe me, I've tried. I've come close a few times but I'm prone to making mistakes, most which happen in the futuristic stages (the 4th set of ten stages). My desire to experience the extra game's music in context was strong enough that I broke down and downloaded a completed 100% save file. I'm surprised I even managed to find one.

The biggest disappointment (apart from me sucking at the game) is the fact that the soundtrack has never had an official release (apart from the few tracks from the aforementioned album in paragraph 2). The biggest anti-disappointment however, is that, with a certain easy-to-use program, the music can be easily extracted from the game disc's files. Which brings me to what I actually wanted to talk about: a hypothetical release of this soundtrack.

Soundtracks need track titles and from past Gain Ground albums, we already have most of them. So the issue that needs to be solved is what to name the original songs that don't have titles. Looking at the official titles, we can see that they are pretty straightforward. They're just a description of the type of stage it is (e.g. Middle Ages Europe). So, in keeping with the spirit of the original titles, our new titles will also be straightforward descriptors, which makes this exercise a lot easier.

I now present to you, a hypothetical example of what an official Sega Ages PS2 Gain Ground soundtrack might look like:

セガ エイジス 2500 シリーズ Vol.9 Gain Ground Original Soundtrack
Catalog Number SLPM-62445
Release Date Feb 26, 2004
Publish Format Commercial
Release Price 3000 JPY
Media Format 1 CD
Classification Original Soundtrack, Arrangement
Published by Sega
Composed by You Takada, Katsuhiro Hayashi
Arranged by Saitama Saisyu Heiki

Tracklist
01 戦争本能[OPENING] (2:08)
02 原始~起~(勇者達のテーマ)[BGM1] (5:58)
03 原始~起~(勇者達のテーマ)[EXTRA GAME BGM1] (4:31)
04 双頭悪魔[EXTRA GAME BOSS BGM1] (5:11)
05 中世欧州~承~[BGM2] (5:26)
06 中世欧州~承~[EXTRA GAME BGM2] (5:01)
07 サンダーナイト[EXTRA GAME BOSS BGM2] (4:57)
08 革命前中国~転~[BGM3] (4:57)
09 革命前中国~転~[EXTRA GAME BGM3] (4:23)
10 刀双子[EXTRA GAME BOSS BGM3] (4:32)
11 未来ロボット~結~[BGM4] (5:41)
12 未来ロボット~結~[EXTRA GAME BGM4] (5:59)
13 ゲイングランド防衛システム[LAST BOSS BGM] (5:31)
14 ゲイングランド防衛システム[EXTRA GAME LAST BOSS] (5:22)
15 時空の扉[ENDING] (1:26)
16 時空の扉[EXTRA GAME ENDING] (1:28)
17 Great Gainer[RANKING] (4:39)
Disc length 77:09

01 戦争本能
Or in English, "War Instinct". For the logic behind this track title, we (literally) turn to the background prologue to the game... by turning the pages of the instruction manual. And it's actually interesting. In the year xxxx (yes even the first digit is an x), mankind has reached its highest state of evolution. The failings of mankind like poverty and discrimination now only exist as definitions in a dictionary. But a new crisis emerges in the form of 種の滅亡 (Species Destruction?). Everywhere around the world, there are increasing rates of suicide among young males. The World Federation Government researches and finds out the cause of the suicides: Peace that has continued for too long or 戦争本能の未分化 (Undifferentiated? War Instinct). I don't understand the last three medical Kanji but I think that term basically means a lack of will to live, the lack of something to fight for, something like that. Anyway, the Government attempts to give people a purpose of their existence by stimulating their "war instinct". They then build a 疑似戦闘体験システム (Simulated War Experience System) which they call "ゲイングランド" (Gain Ground). Of course, just like The Matrix, things go wrong: one day, the computer stops receiving inputs from humans and the humans that were "logged in" are trapped and unable escape. Those who remain trapped either go mad or revert to suicide. The Government tries to send in support but they are captured by the system's robot soldiers. Time passes and the situation gradually worsens. In an last ditch effort, the Government sends in their best three warriors (the three characters you see on the front cover art). It's all or nothing. Press Start.

So now you know where I got the track title from. I think it's the most suitable one as it represents what the game is about, and suits the music too. These are also possible alternate track titles for track 01 (obviously all from the instruction book):
種の滅亡
戦争本能の未分化
疑似戦闘体験システム
GAIN GROUND
Gain Ground
ゲイングランド

02 原始~起~(勇者達のテーマ)[BGM1]
03 原始~起~(勇者達のテーマ)[EXTRA GAME BGM1]
Eng: Primeval~Origin/Source/Beginning/etc~ (Theme of Heroes)
Official track title. I just added the "EXTRA GAME" to track 3 to differentiate between them.

04 双頭悪魔[EXTRA GAME BOSS BGM1]
Eng: Twin-head Demon
From memory, the first boss is a two-headed demon that shoots fireballs. I think in the normal game, it only has one head. Note that, in keeping with the spirit of the rest of the track titles, I will not be using/minimising the usage of particles. Note also that, for the same reason, this will also apply to katakana.
Alternate title: 2つの頭悪魔 (2-Head Demon). I still chose the one I chose because I got it from 双頭の怪物 which seems like a legitimate word, based on Japanese web pages.


05 中世欧州~承~[BGM2]
06 中世欧州~承~[EXTRA GAME BGM2]
Eng: Middle Ages Europe~?~
Official track title. I'm not sure what the Kanji 承 is supposed to represent.

07 サンダーナイト[EXTRA GAME BOSS BGM2]
Eng: Thunder Knight
Yes, I know there's katakana but there's a ファイアナイト (Fire Knight) and ウォータナイト (Water Knight) in the instruction manual, so why not a Thunder Knight? Speaking of which, the boss is a big knight with a big sword that can shoot thunder, hence the name.
Alternative title: サンダー騎士 (Thunder Knight)

08 革命前中国~転~[BGM3]
09 革命前中国~転~[EXTRA GAME BGM3]
Eng: China Before Revolution~Kanji that represents revolving, turning, etc~
Official track title.

10 刀双子[EXTRA GAME BOSS BGM3]
Eng: Sword Twins
The boss is a pair of... I can't remember, Chinese-style warriors maybe? But I do remember they're palette swapped versions of each other and they both have swords. I use 刀 instead of 剣 to give the title a bit of Chinese-ness.
Alternative title: 刀兄弟 (Sword Brothers). I'm perfectly happy with this one too.

11 未来ロボット~結~[BGM4]
12 未来ロボット~結~[EXTRA GAME BGM4]
Eng: Future Robot~Conclusion~
Official track title.

13 ゲイングランド防衛システム[LAST BOSS BGM]
14 ゲイングランド防衛システム[EXTRA GAME LAST BOSS]
Eng: Gain Ground Defence System
Last boss is a big robot/mech that can spray danmaku-style bullets. Considering some of the character's walking speeds... I think the Extra Game last boss looks different from the normal game, can't remember.
Alternative title: Your imagination is the limit. I just went with a pretty generic title, like the rest of the tracks.

15 時空の扉[ENDING]
16 時空の扉[EXTRA GAME ENDING]
Eng: Door of Time and Space
The ending is pretty funny (or was it the extra game ending). Anyway, the game's characters walk onto the screen and die and their corpses make a word (can't remember what).

17 Great Gainer[RANKING]
Eng: Oh wait, it's already in English. It's the token English track title. But seriously, it's the game's ranking screen music and on that screen, the words "Great Gainer" is helpfully displayed.
Alternative title: グレイトゲイナー (Guess what this means)

18 戦士の休息[STAGE CLEAR]
Eng: Warrior's Rest.
Official track title. Short 2-3 second stage clear jingle. Unfortunately, I cannot find this track to extract from the game disc. Can anyone help?

Finally, let's actually talk about the music itself.
01 戦争本能[OPENING]
No guitar is heard until literally the halfway mark. Awesome.
02 原始~起~(勇者達のテーマ)[BGM1]
03 原始~起~(勇者達のテーマ)[EXTRA GAME BGM1]
Just as catchy as the original, if not more.
04 双頭悪魔[EXTRA GAME BOSS BGM1]
Very slow burn and suitably demonic-sounding song.
05 中世欧州~承~[BGM2]
06 中世欧州~承~[EXTRA GAME BGM2]
The original is a medieval-sounding, with minimal guitars, and somewhat meandering, somewhat dull tune, and might send you to sleep. The extra game BGM is also medieval-sounding but better and more exciting to listen to.
07 サンダーナイト[EXTRA GAME BOSS BGM2]
The first of my two favourite songs. Full use of guitars. Full of awesome.
08 革命前中国~転~[BGM3]
Chinese-sounding tune, and can be pretty groovy at times. Chinese-style song practice for Koihime Musou/Enbu 10 years later?
09 革命前中国~転~[EXTRA GAME BGM3]
The second of my two favourite songs. The chinese-style notes are toned down slightly and the guitars are brought in. Awesome.
10 刀双子[EXTRA GAME BOSS BGM3]
He shows off some of the bass here. Awesome.
11 未来ロボット~結~[BGM4]
12 未来ロボット~結~[EXTRA GAME BGM4]
Original is another slow-burning and futuristic sounding tune. The extra game BGM ups the BPM and techno-lises it. Awesome.
13 ゲイングランド防衛システム[LAST BOSS BGM]
14 ゲイングランド防衛システム[EXTRA GAME LAST BOSS]
Normal game briefly references the theme from the first stage. Awesome. And awesome. Both equally awesome.
15 時空の扉[ENDING]
16 時空の扉[EXTRA GAME ENDING]
Extra game ending tune adds a bit more instrumentation to the original (e.g. bass).
17 Great Gainer[RANKING]
Short. Still awesome.
18 戦士の休息[STAGE CLEAR]
It's a two second stage clear theme.

That's all for today/tonight. Next time, I will talk a bit about Project Cerberus (as well as a possible request for help). Less wall of text this time.

Also, just for fun, I took photos of my S.S.H. collection. Check it out in my first post or on my website.

PS. My best case scenario, whoever is in charge will release the soundtrack using my tracklist. I'm pretty sure that has happened before with one of the Makaimura albums I think (releasing an official album using an unofficial fan tracklist).

Last edited by layzee; Mar 2, 2016 at 09:51 AM.
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  #20  
Old Mar 2, 2016, 02:59 PM
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I'm not sure what the Kanji 承 is supposed to represent.
The subtitles of the stage themes, 起 / 承 / 転 / 結, refer to this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kishōtenketsu
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Old Mar 3, 2016, 04:12 AM
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Originally Posted by CHz View Post
The subtitles of the stage themes, 起 / 承 / 転 / 結, refer to this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kishōtenketsu
Ah, so it's like the 1st/2nd/3rd act concept of movie plots etc...

Strange, considering the game has absolutely no narrative/plot outside of the opening movie and the prologue in the instruction manual...
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Old Mar 6, 2016, 08:47 PM
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Project Cerberus is an arcade (and later PSP) versus fighting game as well as a Lost Child spinoff. It was released a few years after the Lost Child visual novel PC game (and the release of the PC game was more than two years after the release of the first Lost Child soundtrack mind you, but that's neither here nor there).

It made complete sense: the battle elements of the visual novel lends itself nicely to the traditional 1-on-1 combat of Street Fighter-style fighting games. But let's be honest, the final retail results were somewhat substandard, and that's putting it nicely. But what was up to standard was the music, fortunately.

The bulk of the music was composed/arranged by, of course, S.S.H. but this time accompanied by Taka (also known as Crow's Claw) who provides the live guitar (similar to the S.S.H./Toshinori Hiramatsu pairing from the Atelier Iris arrange albums). There are two Project Cerberus related albums. The first is PROJECT CERBERUS Phase 0.01 SSH with six tracks and the second is PROJECT CERBERUS SECRET CD-ROM with seven "tracks". In actuality, these albums are somewhat incomplete. A few S.S.H./Taka tunes are missing as well as some songs from kt2 (and maybe Soshi Hosoi, can't remember).

Like the PS2 Sega Ages Gain Ground game, fortunately the music files were able to be identified and extracted and the results are as shown below. Similar to my previous post, I present the hypothetical official (full) soundtrack release of Project Cerberus.

Project Cerberus Original Soundtrack
Catalog Number ULJM-05636
Release Date August 26, 2010
Publish Format Commercial
Release Price 3000 JPY
Media Format 1 CD
Classification Original Soundtrack, Arrangement
Published by MILESTONE/HOBIBOX
Composed by Saitama Saisyu Heiki
Arranged by Saitama Saisyu Heiki
Performed by Taka

01 Advertise (1:29)
02 Main Title (4:43)
03 Character Select (4:09)
04 Challenger (0:08)
05 Cerberus (5:07)
06 Fencer (5:02)
07 Sledge Hammer (4:44)
08 Rambling Feather (5:14)
09 Crafty Huntsman (4:58)
10 Nemesis (5:20)
11 Trickmaster (5:13)
12 Ortrus (5:40)
13 Kusanagi (5:26)
14 Valkyrie (5:27)
15 Cerberus Burst Mastering (5:35)
16 Fencer Burst Mastering (5:17)
17 Kusanagi Mastering (5:24)
18 Result (0:15)
19 Continue (1:11)
20 Game Over (0:13)
21 Menu (0:45)
22 Daily (2:18)
23 Sad (1:40)
24 Anxious (1:46)
25 Before Battle (1:22)
26 Rain (0:34)
27 Ending (8:10)
Disc length 97:09

Everything up to track 20 is by S.S.H./Taka. Track 21 to 27 is probably by kt2 (and/or maybe Soshi Hosoi). The track titles mainly reflect their original file names so that was easy. The main change was more logical track ordering (using the Koihime Musou/Enbu soundtracks as a guide). There are also some technical issues with a few of the track's lengths - some songs end well before the displayed end time (e.g. track 27 ending should only be 4 minutes or so long). Apparently there were some changes when it came to in-game use of the music or mistakes were made on the original track titles: the songs/tracks on the incomplete official soundtracks do not match the song/titles of the above so there are some inconsistencies. For more details on this issue, see below:

01 Advertise (1:29) ※is Projecet Cerberus ~メインテーマ~ from Project Cerberus Phase 0.01 SSH
02 Main Title (4:43) ※is Alert! ~アドバタイズ~ from Project Cerberus Phase 0.01 SSH
03 Character Select (4:09) ※is Rambling feather from Project Cerberus Secret CD-ROM
04 Challenger (0:08) ※New track
05 Cerberus (5:07) ※is Boosted Arm ~ケルベルスのテーマ~ from Project Cerberus Phase 0.01 SSH
06 Fencer (5:02) ※is Crimson Fire ~フェンサーのテーマ~ from Project Cerberus Phase 0.01 SSH
07 Sledge Hammer (4:44) ※is 'more than enough!!!' ~スレッジ・ハマーのテーマ~ from Project Cerberus Phase 0.01 SSH
08 Rambling Feather (5:14) ※is kusanagi from Project Cerberus Secret CD-ROM
09 Crafty Huntsman (4:58) ※is Amitto from Project Cerberus Secret CD-ROM
10 Nemesis (5:20) ※is Cyber Space 303 from Project Cerberus Secret CD-ROM
11 Trickmaster (5:13) ※New track
12 Ortrus (5:40) ※is Rapid Fire from Project Cerberus Secret CD-ROM
13 Kusanagi (5:26) ※is nemesis from Project Cerberus Secret CD-ROM
14 Valkyrie (5:27) ※New track
15 Cerberus Burst Mastering (5:35) ※New track
16 Fencer Burst Mastering (5:17) ※New track
17 Kusanagi Mastering (5:24) ※New track
18 Result (0:15) ※is result from Project Cerberus Secret CD-ROM
19 Continue (1:11) ※New track
20 Game Over (0:13) ※New track
21 Menu (0:45) ※New track
22 Daily (2:18) ※New track
23 Sad (1:40) ※New track
24 Anxious (1:46) ※New track
25 Before Battle (1:22) ※New track
26 Rain (0:34) ※New track
27 Ending (8:10) ※New track

A few more notes about this soundtrack:
02 Main Title is an arrange (or has references) of "L.L.". (Lost Child Side-A).
09 Crafty Huntsman is an arrange (or has references) of "Rapid Fire" (Lost Child Side-A).
13 Kusanagi is an arrange of "Wail of Soul" (Lost Child Side-B).
12 Ortrus is an arrange of "Heavy Edge" (Lost Child Side-A).
17 Kusanagi Mastering is an arrange (or has references) of "Wail of Soul" (Lost Child Side-B).
27 Ending - I am 90% sure this kt2 song is not new and can be found on one of his albums.

Here's a one minute sample of track 27 Ending by kt2 (it will be deleted once it is identified).

06 L.L. ~Infinite Beating.ver~ from the Project Cerberus Phase 0.01 SSH album is nowhere to be found and is the only thing missing from the game. Speaking of which, it can probably be considered a bonus track on that album because Taka's guitar doesn't seem to be in it.

I may be missing a few more song references.

So how about the actual music? To be perfectly honest, I feel that the music of Project Cerberus is somewhat "weaker" compared to his other albums. I don't really know how to put it into words, but weaker in the sense that it's a bit forgettable. I'm not saying it's subjectively or "objectively" bad, mind you. It's clearly an S.S.H. composed album and you will get what you expect from him. But somehow, overall, it didn't really click with me, at least not fully.

Having said all that, there were two tracks that did succeed in clicking: track 11 Trickmaster and track 14 Valkyrie. These tracks are the "Rebellion" (BlazBlue) of Project Cerberus: in other words, the tracks I always come back to. What do these tracks have in common? They're both new compositions for one. Secondly, and more interestingly, they are mainly electronic/techno tracks with minimal guitars (either only relegated to the bass or only brought in for a short guitar solo) in the sea of metal. I wonder if other listeners share my experiences.

Also, a few new additions to the main post:

Quote:
Originally Posted by layzee
-Website To Do List-
11. A decent S.S.H. banner for the website. I don't know what the design would be like but the main words in big font will be "プロジェクトさいさいへい -まるごと埼玉最終兵器- All About S.S.H." and the words in smaller font will be "Project SaiSaiHei - The Saitama Saisyu Heiki Fan Site" or something.
Now that the site has a reasonable amount of information, how about a nice banner to make it less boring to look at? But image design skills = non-existent.

Quote:
Originally Posted by layzee
-Future Goals-
5. If S.S.H. was to perform in a concert in Japan, I would probably seriously consider dropping everything I am doing (in real life) and boarding the next plane.
Seriously.

Also, my e-mail has been added to the main site so those without forum accounts can contact me somehow.

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Originally Posted by layzee
Next time,...Less wall of text...
Failed. *shrugs*
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  #23  
Old May 16, 2016, 12:28 AM
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Originally Posted by layzee View Post
In other news, S.S.H. has provided some background info (more than one year later the release date) about his "Forgotten Ruins" album.
Quote:
He may call it an "original album" but one could view it as an arranged soundtrack that arranges the music of a hypothetical 8-bit generation game (e.g. Nintendo Famicom). An '80s/'90s-style "Super Arrange Version" album, if you will, using the original sound source of an 8-bit game.

...

Furthermore, this isn't just an 8-bit game, it's an 8-bit game with 3D dungeons. If someone decides to make this hypothetical game a reality, he hopes for the game to have a cyberpunk theme (I'm guessing he has Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei I & II for Nintendo Famicom in mind).
Just for fun, I thought I'd go ahead and turn this concept into a reality... sort of. The results are as shown below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIqNciUlioE

I would keep the sound effects in except it shares a sound channel with another instrument.

By the way, how do I embed videos, or is it not possible here?
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Last edited by layzee; May 16, 2016 at 12:31 AM.
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  #24  
Old May 20, 2016, 10:41 AM
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A few small updates:

1) I saved select Lost Child-related pages (mainly interviews) from the now defunct website "Project Repeated Scene" and uploaded them to my own website.

2) One of those interviews happen to be one with S.S.H. so a few tidbits and insights were gleaned from it (anything is useful considering we know barely anything) and added to the main biography. Though not within the scope of my site, other users may or may not find value in the two kt2 interviews.

3) Also uploaded another S.S.H. "interview" but only had the text saved, not the web pages themselves. At least half of the material in my S.S.H. biography comes from this "interview".

4) Made a new little S.S.H.-related goods for sale page, 'cos why not.

5) More webpage saving/uploading soon. In hindsight, I should've saved various webpages/websites a long time ago before they were possibly gone for good, but hey, I didn't know I'd be making an S.S.H. "shrine" (to use pre-mainstream Internet lingo) ten years later. Websites I should have saved: S.S.H. old site (pre-2012), tama-soft official website, Project Cerberus official website.
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Old Jun 7, 2016, 11:29 AM
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Today, a bit of history.

The "Explosive MIDI Contest" (爆裂MIDIコンテスト) was a series of competitive web events that ran from 2001 to 2004. Participants would choose a song, arrange it, and share it with the public. After the event ended, a questionnaire was held and the votes were counted up. Each contest ran under a theme (e.g. Kenji Ito works only, original compositions only, etc). The "Industria MiDi Battle" festival (battle themes only) was held in 2002 (probably either September or October). S.S.H. participated in this event with two songs: "Holy Orders -Be Just or Be Dead-" (Guilty Gear) and "Decisive Battle with the Wanted" (Metal Max/Final Fantasy VI). He won first and third place respectively.

Based on various information, those two songs should be the ones shown (heard) below:

https://youtu.be/NS8-i3Mru6M
https://youtu.be/fe7EBpPl8EM

Note the many old names on that page (including Eru of Aether).
Note also this 札幌電脳兵器 dude which looks very similar to 埼玉最終兵器. More about him/her later.
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  #26  
Old Jun 10, 2016, 08:47 AM
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札幌電脳兵器 (Sapporo Dennou Heiki AKA SDH AKA Sapporo Cyber Weapon) is or was a game music/doujin arranger. As you might see from the name, it looks very similar to 埼玉最終兵器. They both have weapon on the end, and a city name in the beginning (Sapporo and Saitama respectively). My memory is very hazy but I do recall visiting his (SDH's) website at one point more than 10 years ago during my doujin music/Guilty Gear binge, and downloading some of his .mp3s (I remember downloading "Meet Again" from Guilty Gear at least).

Apparently his website has been active since 2001 (good ol' pre-mainstream Internet websites) and earlier this year (2016), when I visited it for the first time since 10+ years ago, it was still online. I say "was" because the site finally went offline a few weeks ago. What remains of the website can be found here: https://web.archive.org/web/20151031...o/sdh/mp3.html

As you can see, some of the files can still be downloaded. Others are 404 - even when the website was online, the links were broken regardless. The important items of note are on the bottom, under the 「師匠のアレンジ」 heading (Arrange of Teachers). "The Cold Shade of Night" is a song of unknown origin (so far) and composed by a "Loki" and a "神乃" and this particular version is obviously arranged by SDH. It is also a song that S.S.H. has arranged. "Neon Night", arranged by SDH, appears to be an S.S.H. composition. If you check my Missing List, you'll see it's on there so it's pretty rare since, well, I don't have it. Neither of these files can be downloaded (regardless of online status of the website in general) but thanks to user josejl1987, he/she has held onto those files for who knows how long and shared it with me (earlier this year). It's the reason I went back to this SDH's website in the first place.

I have uploaded "Neon Night" here: https://youtu.be/2SqbDzIGd-U

The music file came with a .txt file/liner notes as shown below:

================================================== ============================
タイトル  Neon Night
作曲者   埼玉最終兵器氏
打ち込み 札幌電脳兵器
作成音源 MU1000+DR150
================================================== ============================
こんにちは、札幌電脳兵器です。

というわけで~。敬愛すべき師匠、埼玉最終兵器氏のオリジナルから
一曲作ってみました(氏には許可を得ています)。

曲そのものは8年前のものでかなり古いですが・・・。
色々と思い出のある曲だったりします。埼玉最終兵器兄殿にかなりお世話になったりと。
2000年と言えば!
当時は、ぶろぉどばんどとかいうものが無く、アナログモデムでちまちまと埼玉氏の曲を
落としていたもんです。MIDIならまだしもMP3になるともう最悪!といった具合に。。。

ちなみに、埼玉氏曰く、この曲は「イングウェイ・ファルコム」ということです。

※転載は厳禁です(埼玉最終兵器氏に直接たずねたりはしないでください)。

メールアドレス 札幌電脳兵器: [email protected]
ホームページ 札幌電脳室 : http://www.p-pr.info/sdh/
================================================== ============================

The main question I am seeking an answer for is: does S.S.H. have any direct involvement in this song?
If not, then another "Neon Night" music file must exist elsewhere. i.e. The source that makes SDH's version possible.
If you, dear reader, happen to have it, then please contact me.

So SDH obviously has positive views on "Saitama Saisyu Heiki Ani Dono" (for those of you who are interested in suffixes). Also, according to S.S.H., this song ("Neon Night") has a(n) "Yngwie/Falcom" feel. No surprise those two items are grouped together. By the way, it is Yngwie as in Yngwie Malmsteen.
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  #27  
Old Jun 21, 2016, 07:58 AM
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I was only planning on uploading a few Lost Child videos but I decided I'd dedicate a separate web page for it filled with (in the future) various information about it. I'll probably spice up the page sooner or later (probably later) with pictures, sound, and translations (no, not the game script, hell naw). Of course, I'm mainly doing this because S.S.H. is related to it - he did compose for the game after all.

Click here for the Lost Child Information web page.

As far as the game itself is concerned, here's a very brief overview:

Quote:
"Lost Child" (ロストチャイルド) is a relatively high budget visual novel PC game developed by tama-soft (たまソフト) and was released in 2006 (after somewhat lengthy delays). Unlike most games of its type (essentially fiction books with sights and sound), Lost Child also incorporated a basic RPG-style battle system. S.S.H. was one of the musicians who contributed to the game's soundtrack and this was also probably his first professional work. About 5 years later, "Project Cerberus" (プロジェクトケルベロス), a versus fighting game spinoff of Lost Child and also composed by S.S.H., was released in the arcades and later, the Sony PlayStation Portable.

The stage is set in "Minamikou", a city where the rain never subsides. Under the gently falling rain, lying in a lukewarm puddle of his own blood, Shouji Tokitou is on the verge of death. Salvation comes in the form of "Ai", a girl who calls herself the "Leiria", and she grants him the power to wear the battle suit "Amitto Cerberus". While this allows Shouji to avoid his demise, it also means that he is led to a separate and tragic path.

"Lost Child" is a "Hero Transformation Adventure Game" and tama-soft dedicates it to anyone who wanted to become a hero.
The videos are mainly promo vids and a few/some probably don't exist on the Internet anymore. Until today that is. If you're an S.S.H. fan, then this is a good opportunity to see his music "in action". Probably worthy of note is "Lost Child - Battle Digest Ver.X.1" which has the song "L.L.2" playing (a reasonably unknown and hard song to find, physically speaking).

Speaking of L.L. (what LL stands for I do not know), a brief history of L.L.:

L.L. (Lost Child Side-A): The original version. Has a short and long version.
L.L.2 (Lost Child Collection Special Disk 2004 Summer): Looks like an arranged version. Has a main melody and non-main melody version (no keyboard).
L.L. (rearrange version) (Lost Child Side-Z): Self-explanatory.
L.L. ~Infinite Beating.ver~ (Project Cerberus): This time with real guitar.
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  #28  
Old Aug 3, 2016, 06:20 PM
Chaosblade Chaosblade is offline
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I'm also a fan of SSH. Not crazy about the Touhou kick lately, I'd much rather see different arrangements and more original music. But more anything is good. Also hope to see more music available internationally, gladly picked up Forgotten Ruins/Click & Metal on Amazon, even though it's missing the versions without leads.

I'll drop you a PM.
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  #29  
Old Aug 4, 2016, 06:21 AM
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Nice to see you honour this thread with your first post since 2013. Your first post, period/full stop, for that matter.

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Originally Posted by Chaosblade View Post
I'm also a fan of SSH. Not crazy about the Touhou kick lately, I'd much rather see different arrangements and more original music. But more anything is good. Also hope to see more music available internationally, gladly picked up Forgotten Ruins/Click & Metal on Amazon, even though it's missing the versions without leads.


Admittedly, I don't listen to his Touhou arrangements as often as I do his other works (it doesn't help that I have no interest in Touhou whatsoever). Having said that, there is no denying that there are top quality tracks with moments of sheer brilliance. e.g. The sampled (?) rap + metal hybrid from Frenzy Frenzy's 上海紅茶館 - a demo of this can be heard on his Soundcloud.

Arrangements of other games would certainly be nice. I don't think we've seen any since 2012's "Blast From The Past". Honestly though, I don't even think arrangements are necessary. S.S.H. has his own "voice" and I think he can succeed on his own compositions and merits instead of piggy-backing off of songs by other musicians. Even if we're talking about S.S.H.'s old game arranges, the most interesting thing about them in general and what I pay attention to, is S.S.H.'s own interpretation of it. Yes, it's an arrange of a classic tune that we all know and love, but it has that distinctive S.S.H. quality to it (e.g. the darker-ish tone to his Rockman 2: Dr. Wily Stage arrange). It's not simply retro game tune + guitars played note for note with no deviation.

Speaking of which, I haven't got bored of listening to Forgotten Ruins and Click & Metal since release date yet. I find myself fantasising about playing the lead guitar of the main melody-less versions of the songs in front of a crowd. One day...
The leadless tracks would also be useful for Rocksmith 2014 as a custom DLC, if someone manages to tab it.

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I'll drop you a PM.
PM replied to. I have a good feeling about this.
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  #30  
Old Aug 5, 2016, 03:27 AM
josejl1987 josejl1987 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by layzee View Post
Arrangements of other games would certainly be nice. I don't think we've seen any since 2012's "Blast From The Past".
.
Well,if you want more game arrangements, you can check the Hellion Sounds CDs.

I can tell by guitar samples which ones were done by S.S.H, or be fairly certain at least since the CDs from 2011 up to now.

Chaotic Labyrinth

Omen
Battle Theme Medley ~ Megami Tensei Series
Explorer ~ Closed-off City (well,I'm not certain about this one since this one is electronic, but it reminds me of electronic stuff)
Battlefield - Shiver
Kichijoji (There's also the rap samples he sometimes uses)
Ginza
Hellfire ~ Rotting Sea of Flames


Last Floor

Ex-convict
Daedalus
Common Battle (more rap samples)
'll Face Myself -Battle + Backside of The TV (I don't really know about this one)
Nemesis
Devil Fusion.exe (don't know either)
STAGE.4

Red Re:zome

Boss Battle
Supreme Lord Exdeath [Ver.RR]
Clash on the Big Bridge [Ver.RR]
Battlefield's Awakening
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