Falcom Music JDK
Falcom Music JDK is the lead musical composition group that works under Nihon Falcom Corporation, a Japanese game development company that primarily releases RPG experiences such as the Ys or Trails series.
It should be noted beforehand that both Falcom Music and the JDK Band derivation are both essentially the same thing, with JDK functioning as the band that would perform music composed by Falcom Music in live performances.
Due to the nature of the music required to portray the story as described in the aforementioned games, most of the music composed would most likely feature a fantasy setting, with a tint of the classic flare you’d find in pieces composed specifically in the JRPG scene.
Although certain compositions may sound typical for the JRPG genre, it is the elements which are hidden that makes compositions from this particular group special. Music from the Trail series is a prime example of some of the outstanding elements that highlights their composition philosophies, with each of the tracks not only fit for their purpose, but also incorporate, and expand certain genres to make music that is truly unique. The track “Factory City of Zeiss” for example, is composed to resemble 80’s Japanese City Pop, and with impressive results too! The sounds and instruments that are used shows a clear contrast to what you’ll find in your regular City Pop playlists, while still maintaining the JRPG experience within it, making it a unique piece by itself to not only tell a story and express personality, but to also provide interesting sounds for the listener to take in.
The aforementioned quality is thoroughly present in most of the tracks composed, in both present and past works! And I believe this is what makes the music composed by Flacom Music to be outstanding when compared to their other contemporaries. Each tracks has a theme of their own, and no one track will have a conflicting theme when compared to each other.
Hence, that is why I personally find them worth mentioning! Perhaps start with any of their playlists for a specific game, or just listen to their Acoustic performance presented to you by the JDK Band, I’m sure some tracks may catch your ears.
When it comes to music from Falcom Music JDK, they are always a hit (up until the recent Ys IX release, that one kinda missed the spot).Throughout the years of composing for Nihon Falcom’s flagship titles’ Trails/Kiseki series and Ys series, they have release a countless amount of bangers, just look at Amber Amour from Trails in the Sky FC, The Dreams Continues from Trails in the Sky SC, Blue destination from Trails of Cold Steel II, and even more from the YS series such as The Great Forest of Celceta, Feena, Gens d’Armes, A to Z and many many more that I don’t think I can include in this paragraph.
All of the soundtrack they composed for Ys and Kiseki series matches the setting and atmosphere that the respective games are going for which makes the music feel natural and fitting, which in turn makes the gameplay more immersive, there is not one game that didn’t have its scenery/scenario in harmony with the soundtrack (except for Ys IX, this is my opinion). So it is quite hard to choose which OST to use in this part of the passage.
One of the OSTs that caught my attention the most is from Trails in the Sky FC, the Madrigal of the white magnolia list of songs that played during the stage play segment in the game. A brief exposition/spoiler for contextual sake, during this part of the game, Estelle and Joshua (The main characters of Trails in the Sky Trilogy) were taking part in a stage play which revolved around a historical event that took place in Liberl. Since this part was a stage play using the original soundtrack as the BGM would sound weird and feel off, so they didn’t use that, but instead they went and composed Madrigal(Music for poetry or stage play) versions of the original ost for this segment, which made the stage play (yes a 15 minute stage play in a 40 hour long game) that more immersive and fun to watch. (You can watch only the stage play segment here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9C18FInB7g)
Going forward, we have Floating City “Liber Ark” one of the final soundtracks for Trails in the Sky SC.This track is played during your “landing” on the Liber Ark, which is also the soundtrack for that whole segment (The final segment of the game), the Liber Ark is said to be something like a lost technology of the past in the Trails Universe, which means to the party that have just landed there, the place is a complete mystery, and for this part the ost does not fail, it not only perfectly capture the feeling of mystery of the place, but at the same time what your party in that game is feeling, the excitement to see lost technology, the thrill to explore a place forgotten by time and space, and the mysterious yet subtle comfort of exploring and going into every room and building you can on the Liber Ark, slowly building you up for the final dungeon of the game. If anything, I would say this is my favorite non-vocal OST in Sky SC, it builds the atmosphere and scenario perfectly with the story, making the player feel what they should/need to feel during that part of the story. (Once again this is my opinion, I feel that giving players too much freedom in a story driven game will ruin the game, so the storytelling method that Nihon Falcom utilises in Trails and Ys is an almost flawless method to tell a story through a game.)
Lastly, as to not leave Ys OST in the shadows, let’s look at A to Z, a soundtrack of Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana. This game, Ys VIII is undoubtedly the magnum opus of the Ys series, it has a story that is both unique and easy to follow all while being immersive and attention grabbing (not once have I booted this game up without 100% concentration and focus for the game), the gameplay is the smoothest out of the whole series, and the soundtrack, to call it the creme de la creme of this game would be an understatement, it is by far the best soundtrack I’ve ever heard from a Nihon Falcom game, the exhilarating soundtrack of sunshine coast as you explore the island, the thrilling yet fast pace track of Gens D’armes, and of course A to Z for the final boss fight.
A to Z as a boss theme is one of the if not greatest decision Falcom had for their game OST, at this point of the story, you are required to go up against god, the literal god that makes up the fabric of the Ys universe, to go up against the purest force of nature to get your companion back. A to Z is a song that is brimming with confidence and resolution, at some point during the final fight, you will realize that this isn’t the boss’s theme, but your theme, as at this point of the game you know you are confident enough to face whatever you need to as your resolve to bring back your closest companion, this song empowers that feeling as you fight against the final boss. Heck even the name A to Z is fitting for this song, as the style for this song is progressive, just like how you would progress from the letter A to the letter Z, like your whole journey on the Isle of Seiren in Ys VIII.
Nihon Falcom games are something I hold in a very special place in my heart, the stories for their games are not only unique compared to other JRPGs, their soundtrack is also brimming with meaningful existence, it is not there just to make a scene look cooler or to tell the player directly in the face what to feel, it is something that feels natural to the game and story. I can’t stress enough about how much I love Nihon Falcom, since Fall is nearing soon, I would highly recommend buying the game during Fall steam sales if not buying it at full price, I guarantee that the games wouldn’t disappoint. (This is not sponsored by them in any means, this is a genuine recommendation coming from a long time fan of the series)