Hirokazu Ando
Hirokazu Ando (安藤浩和 Ando Hirokazu, born March 2, 1969) is a senior sound composer at HAL Laboratory, one of the main composers of the Kirby series, and the composer of Super Smash Bros.. He is best known for his collaboration with Jun Ishikawa and his recent preference for acoustic themes and orchestrated pieces in games such as Kirby's Epic Yarn and Kirby's Return to Dream Land.
Hirokazu Ando's artistic influences include classical pianist Claude Debussy, Ryuchi Sakamoto of the band Yellow Magic Orchestra, Dragon Quest composer Koichi Sugiyama, and Jun Ishikawa.[1] On his songs, he plays live bass, ukelele, and melodica.
List of works
Hirokazu Ando is credited as a composer unless otherwise noted:
Kirby series
- Kirby's Adventure (Lead, with Jun Ishikawa[2])
- Kirby's Dream Course
- Kirby's Dream Land 2 (with Tadashi Ikegami)
- Kirby's Avalanche (music arranged by Einosuke Nagao)
- Kirby's Star Stacker (Game Boy)
- Kirby's Star Stacker (SNES) (with Jun Ishikawa)
- Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (with Jun Ishikawa)
- Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land (with Shogo Sakai, Jun Ishikawa, and Tadashi Ikegami)
- Kirby Air Ride (Lead, with Shogo Sakai, Tadashi Ikegami, and Jun Ishikawa)
- Kirby: Canvas Curse - Special Thanks
- Kirby: Squeak Squad (with Jun Ishikawa, Tadashi Ikegami, and Shogo Sakai)
- Kirby Super Star Ultra (with Jun Ishikawa)
- Kirby's Epic Yarn (with Tomoya Tomita, Tadashi Ikegami, and Jun Ishikawa)
- Kirby's Return to Dream Land (with Jun Ishikawa)
- Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition (with Jun Ishikawa and Shogo Sakai)
- Kirby: Triple Deluxe (with Jun Ishikawa)
- Kirby Fighters Deluxe
- Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe
- Kirby: Planet Robobot (Lead, with Jun Ishikawa)
- Team Kirby Clash Deluxe (Lead, with Jun Ishikawa)
- Kirby's Blowout Blast (Lead, with Jun Ishikawa)
- Kirby Star Allies (Lead, with Jun Ishikawa and Yuuta Ogasawara)
- Super Kirby Clash (with Jun Ishikawa and Kiyoshi Hazemoto)
- Kirby Fighters 2 (with Jun Ishikawa, Kiyoshi Hazemoto, and Yuki Shimooka)
- Kirby and the Forgotten Land (Lead Music; with Yuuta Ogasawara, Jun Ishikawa, and Yuki Shimooka)
- Kirby's Dream Buffet (with Yuuta Ogasawara, Jun Ishikawa, Shogo Sakai, Megumi Ohara, and Yuki Shimooka)
- Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe (Lead Music with Yuki Shimooka; with Jun Ishikawa, Kiyoshi Hazemoto, Yuuta Ogasawara, and Yuki Kato)
Kirby albums
- Kirby Ultra Super Deluxe Original Sound Track (with Jun Ishikawa and Tadashi Ikegami; arrangement for "Milky Way Wishes: Staff Credits / Orchestra ver.", melodicas, bass, and ukulele for "Stage Medley / Acoustic ver.")
- The Sound of Kirby Café (with Jun Ishikawa, Shogo Sakai, and Megumi Ohara)
- Kirby Memorial Arrangements (with Jun Ishikawa, Shogo Sakai, and Megumi Ohara)
- The Sound of Kirby Café 2 (with Jun Ishikawa, Shogo Sakai, Megumi Ohara, Yuuta Ogasawara, and Yuki Shimooka)
- Kirby 30th Anniversary Music Festival (bass for "King Dedede Medley")
Super Smash Bros. series
- Super Smash Bros.
- Super Smash Bros. Melee (with Tadashi Ikegami, Shogo Sakai, and Takuto Kitsuta)
BoxBoy! series
- BoxBoy! (with Jun Ishikawa)
- BoxBoxBoy! (with Jun Ishikawa)
- Bye-Bye BoxBoy! (with Jun Ishikawa)
- BoxBoy! + BoxGirl! (with Jun Ishikawa and Yuuta Ogasawara)
Other selected works
- HyperZone (with Jun Ishikawa)
- Arcana (with Jun Ishikawa)
- Picross 3D (with Jun Ishikawa and Yasumasa Yamada)
- Picross 3D: Round 2 (with Shogo Sakai and Megumi Ohara)
Song credits
The following are all Kirby songs Hirokazu Ando has been credited for being in charge of:
Kirby's Adventure
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Kirby's Dream Course
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Kirby's Dream Land 2
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Kirby's Star Stacker (Game Boy)
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Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
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Kirby Air Ride
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Kirby Super Star Ultra
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Kirby Ultra Super Deluxe Original Sound Track
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Kirby's Epic Yarn
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Kirby's Return to Dream Land
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Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition
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Kirby: Triple Deluxe
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Kirby Fighters Deluxe
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Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe
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Kirby: Planet Robobot
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Team Kirby Clash Deluxe
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Kirby's Blowout Blast
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Kirby Star Allies
Super Kirby Clash
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Kirby Fighters 2
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Kirby and the Forgotten Land
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Kirby's Dream Buffet
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Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe
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Trivia
- Although Hirokazu Ando joined the compositions of the Kirby series later than Jun Ishikawa, Ando has been the lead sound composer of the Kirby series in recent works.
- Since Kirby: Triple Deluxe, Hirokazu Ando's compositions are indicated with blue musical notes in the Jukebox.
- Hirokazu Ando has voiced the following characters:
- Magolor
- Taranza (starting with his mask in Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe and carrying over to future games)
- Void Termina (Phase 4, with Shinya Kumazaki, Yuuta Ogasawara, and Yumi Todo)[3]
- Hirokazu Ando has a pet chicken named Nago[4] (not named after Nago, but after a breed of chicken, Nagoya Cochin) whose voice was sampled for Star Dream's weathercock. In joking reference to this, Ando is referred to as "Weathercock Ando" in interviews on Kirby: Planet Robobot's Japanese website.[5] He wore shirts with chickens on them for his interviews in Iwata Asks: Kirby's Epic Yarn, the Kirby 25th Anniversary Orchestra Concert, Kirby Star Allies: The Original Soundtrack's booklet, and the Kirby 30th Anniversary Music Festival, and signed a piece of commemorative artwork and his interview in the Orchestra Concert and Music Fest booklets with drawings of chickens.
- Ando's favorite piece that he has composed is the ending credits theme of Kirby: Planet Robobot, "Memories (I'll Never Forget You)". His favorite theme by Jun Ishikawa is "Beautiful Prison" from Kirby: Triple Deluxe.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Music Of Kirby: Still Tickling Gamers Pink
- ↑ Iwata Asks: Kirby's Epic Yarn
- ↑ Translation of the preview of the "Sound Staff Round-table Discussion"
- ↑ Kirby: Planet Robobot's official Japanese website, special report 7; Rough translation of the report
- ↑ Kirby: Planet Robobot official website (Japanese)