THE RETRO-ACTIVE
EXPERIENCE
A project six years in the making
This collection of albums marks the first collaboration between Ninja Gaiden composer Keiji Yamagishi and Brave Wave. It started with the release of Yamagishi's first solo album Retro-Active Pt. 1 in 2015, followed by a remix album and then Pt. 2 in 2016. This new release combines the 3 previous albums, 2 brand new tracks, extra remixes, and a full live album featuring Brave Wave's in-house band Super Strikers.
Keiji Yamagishi is a Famicom-era pioneer and has composed music for some of the most beloved gaming franchises, notably Ninja Gaiden, Tecmo Bowl, Captain Tsubasa and Gitaroo Man. 30 years later Keiji Yamagishi and Brave Wave are releasing the definitive version of his first-ever solo project. Inspired by his Famicom days and fueled with more passion and inventiveness, Keiji Yamagishi sends us all into a "futuristic emotional chiptunes world", as he himself has described it.
Responsibilities
On Retro-Active I took on duties as Mixing Engineer and Co-Producer. I employed a "Destructive Mixing" style, a cross between traditional mixing, sound design and music production, where sounds, synths, instruments and percussion are often radically re-shaped through a variety of sound design plugins, and sometimes recreated from scratch and replaced with new sounds. This style is more labor intensive than traditional mixing, but is especially effective on stems that sound flat, lo-fi, sterile and/or lack texture. The resulting sound is rich, contemporary, and professional. I worked directly with Yamagishi for approval and revisions.
"You have the magic of sound, Marco!"
- Keiji Yamagishi
Press
Listen to this amazing chiptunes album from the composer behind Ninja Gaiden (The Verge)
The Man Behind Iconic Video Game Music Finally Made a Chiptunes Record (Gizmodo)
Listen to a new album from Ninja Gaiden composer Keiji Yamagishi (FACT Magazine)
8-Bit Ninja Gaiden Composer Keiji Yamagishi's New Album (US Gamer)