Let's say you could ask Jun Senoue anything.

I think Jun would say the prominent pop rockjazz style from Sonic 3 & Knuckles leading all the way to Sonic Heroes, I mean, he did actually create most of this. Of course, not to say that those Sonic games ONLY had that style of music, because it varied depending on trope, but Sonic has generally stuck to that pop rock style, starting with Dreams Come True.

 

===What did you do for Knuckles' Chaotix?===

I'd like to ask him something I noticed with the Generations-era soundtrack releases.

On History of Sonic Music 20th Anniversary Edition Shiratsu is credited regularly for Midnight Greenhouse but on the Generations OST both Choatix-derived tracks (Tube Panic and Door into Summer) are given the "SEGA" treatment as if Chaotix were Sonic 3 [Nanba is also credited regularly on both albums]

Does this mean Senoue composed them, given that he doesn't credit himself for composition of tracks that are undoubtedly his from Sonic 3 (as proven by ICEKnight's hack) that have been reused so consistently to the point that it's inherently obvious that they're his?

Or could it have been someone else, be it credited (Kouzaki, Kashima [unlikely given information on his website] or Makino or Hataya [both under "Special Thanks"]) or uncredited (like with Masafumi Ogata and Sonic Drift).


TL;DR
I guess the short and sweet version is "What did you do for Knuckles' Chaotix?"


NOTE1: Senoue is credited under Special Thanks for Chaotix.
NOTE2: Senoue doesn't mention that title on his old Wave Master profile (archived), unlike Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles. [Hataya does the same]



Also...

You are right about the bonus stages. ICEKnight's hack confirms Gumball, and the beginning of Slot Machine was pitched up and used just before the loop of the beta Bonus Stage theme for Sonic 3D (MD). Magnetic Orbs was confirmed by Senoue himself when he was asked what his favorite track from Sonic 3 was. Senoue, however, did not do the Special Stage; Yoshiaki "Milpo" Kashima did as his sole composition for the game.

 

I guess I'd mostly ask Jun what it has been like working with other musicians, both inside and outside the walks of Sega, because he has worked with CJ Szuter from Magna-Fi and voice actress Junko Noda. I wonder if there are different demands that need to be met when working with different people; if it's easier to collaborate or work on something solo.

Speaking of, I always kind of wondered if Johnny ever brings any influence from Hardline or Axel Rudi Pell when they get together to work on Crush 40 stuff. I often wonder if it's limiting working in a band, seeing as how the majority of the band members usually decide what direction they are going in, and if you're not on board then you're free to leave. After Sonic Heroes, I've fallen in and out of love with Crush 40's music. Can't put my finger on it, but there was a stylistic change in Crush 40's music that didn't always connect with me. I still look forward to any new music they make, but I'm not head over heals for every little thing they do.

Speaking of which, wasn't there a time after the Shadow the Hedgehog game where Crush 40 said they wanted to start making heavier and darker rock music? Whatever happened to that? Glad they didn't go that way, but I never did get the full story on that.

 

It's possible, but unlikely. Jun wasn't credited in Dark Wizard, but he still claimed to have composed for it and I believed he had it listed on his old Wave Master profile. Although anytime you see a composer listed under special thanks, it's possible they did a jingle or something, as was the case with Ristar.

Jun is the guy responsible for all Sonic related releases on Wave Master, so I'm pretty sure it's him giving the generic SEGA credits to stuff when we know who's it is. But the question is why?

Also, did Kashima ever say he ONLY did one track for Sonic 3? If not, then I'm inclined to believe the Data Select theme was his as well.

 

Well he could have either composed or arranged them. If he composed, he would have the liberty to isolate his stuff from Shiratsu and Nanba without impairing the logic of the already properly-credited Midnight Greenhouse. If he arranged, though, he would overwrite the composition credit entirely. This is seen on the Sonic Generations: Blue Blur OST for the track "Jingle : Timer", since the Colors OST had no issues crediting Yukifumi Makino for that jingle's composition.

The fruits of evilhamwizard's research on the S3 sound team back in November 2011, found in the "Brad Buxer and the S3 Mid Boss Theme" topic. Post 72:

 

What's your favorite memory of composing Sonic music?

 

Getting slighty off topic, but still semi-relevent to Jun.

From what I've gathered, it seems aloooot of music was written for Sonic 3. So much so that the composers are naive about the others contributions. Takashi Iizuka said in the Sonic Jam Strategy Guide:

Info suggests that the majority of the music was done in-house by the SEGA sound team, with the exception of MJ and his crew, Miyoko Takaoka/CUBE, OPUS, and perhaps Masayuki Nagao. But my question that pertains to Jun is this: Some day in the future, when things are settled (this lawsuit Cirocco told me about could be the reason of the sudden crediting tendecy to generic SEGA), would Jun ever reveal to us everything he knows without hesitation? I remember reading in an article once that Yuki Naka said one day he will reveal everything that pertains to Sonic 3 and MJ. If Naka is willing to talk about THAT then whatever else is there to hide?

On Kashima: But on second though, Setsumaru didn't even know who did Data Select, and he worked closely with Kashima throughout the project, so it's looking like Special Stage was indeed his only contribution (that made it in-game at least).

 

Interesting topic, hmm if I could ask Jun ANYTHING it would probably beeee........

1. What genre of music do you enjoy composing the most?
2. How do you have such awesome hair .A.
3. Who is your personal favorite videogame character/ what is your favorite videogame franchise/what is your favorite game?

 

Although I don't think he ever worked directly on sound coding, he obviously had to work with people who DID do sound coding for the games. I'm curious if he knows anything about the sort of tools that were available to the sound team at the time, such as how they developed the FM synth instruments themselves.

 

I'd ask Jun Senoue the one thing any fan should ask... "Guitar lessons PLZ?"

 

CRACKERS?!

 

They used PC-98s. I'm not sure what type of software they used, but perhaps it was a form of MML?

 

Yay he answered my question! Thanks for the interviewer

 

The question I've had in mind for sometime now to ask would along the lines of this:

"Have you considered doing additional covers of the Sonic 4 tunes in the style you used in the remix for the London 2012 Olympics version of Splash Hill Zone?"


I'm curious about this one because of what tunes like those of Slyvania Castle Act 1, White Park Act 2, and Sky Fortress Act 2 would sound like if they followed a similar "format" using Senoue's guitars and drums he normally loves so much but preserve the leading synth of the melody.

 

Huh, he wanted what I'm made of to be the theme song to Sonic heroes? That would have been strange.

 

No stranger than Manga-Fi's Who I Am being the theme for Shadow the Hedgehog.

Besides, I quickly came up with these comparisons in my head, and I gotta say the correlations are higher than I expected, especially in the context of the game's opening.

"...my two hands...set me free" - Sonic grabbing Tails and Knuckles in the opening
"...fight the feeling...but when it's just too much..." - Shadow
"...Is it me....you're looking for?" - Team Rose looking for Froggy and Chocola
"...who I am and what I'm here for..." - Team Chaotix and their bizarre connection to the plot
First half of chorus - Taking on Eggman and the Egg Fleet
Second half of chorus - Metal Sonic

...

Also, I didn't know this whole "Ask Jun" was for real. I knew all along my types of questions would never make it: they're way too objective. Still, I gotta spread the word somehow.

 

Every question in this topic was considered for the interview, but I didn't actually pull out the list while I was in the room with Jun - I prefer to work a much more informal, chatty interview as you'll find out when the Sumo one goes up. I was reviewing the list of questions until I was invited into the interview and I tried to cover points that people had raised, but that did very much depend on the flow of conversation and the time allocated (there's only so much you can cover in 15 minutes!).

 

Yeah, this was before I discovered Sega Retro. I'm still facepalming that I said that.

 

When I first heard What I'm Made of I immediately thought that this should have been the theme song for Sonic Heroes and questioned why this song was used ONLY for the last boss instead of for both....you know like Open Your Heart and Live and Learn. I was delighted to find out that this was the original intent!