
English: 
When you think of the all-time great game
music composers, a few names immediately jump
to mind: Koji Kondo, Nobuo Uematsu, Jesper
Kyd, David Wise.
The usual suspects - men who have forged the
musical identities of major gaming franchises,
brought unique sounds and styles to the medium,
and written some unforgettable tunes.
They are all obviously completely deserving
of this praise, but it’s strange how it’s
an accolade seemingly reserved for men, especially
considering just how many women have done
exactly the same thing.
In fact since the very beginning, women have
been integral in developing the sound of video
game music and pioneering the genre.
Before the Mario Overworld theme became a
household tune, the domain of video games

Chinese: 
说起那些最伟大的游戏作曲家们
你肯定会想到这些名字
近藤浩治
植松伸夫
加斯帕·基德
大卫·怀斯
我们通常认为
是那些造就了著名游戏系列音乐形象的男性
带来了独特的声响与风格
谱写出令人难忘的旋律
尽管他们赢得的赞誉实至名归
但奇怪的是，这份荣耀似乎只属于男性
哪怕众多女性作曲家同样居功至伟
其实从一开始
女性就是游戏音乐创作不可或缺的力量
乃至先锋
在马力欧主题曲家喻户晓之前
电子游戏的主战场是街机

English: 
was the arcade.
Arcade games in the early 80’s featured
music that was rudimentary at best - repetitive,
oscillating tones that could easily be mistaken
for sound effects, and little jingles throughout
to punctuate, often just written by the game’s
own designers.
However, there was one company in particular
that was pushing the cabinets’ audio capabilities:
Namco.
Yuriko Keino was one of the very first dedicated
game music composers, premiering in April
of 1982 with Namco’s Dig Dug.
This was an early title to feature legitimate
background music during gameplay, and it even
had a primitive dynamic audio system that
would only play when the player moved, and

Chinese: 
80年代初的街机音乐可以用“原始”来形容
忽高忽低的重复调子很容易被当成普通音效
和不时蹦出的短调
通常还是游戏设计师亲自编写
然而，有一家游戏公司
致力于强化街机的音频性能
南梦宫
庆野由利子是最早的专职游戏作曲家之一
她的处女作是南梦宫1982年的《打空气》
这是最早一批为游戏过程加入背景音乐的作品
它甚至有个原始的动态音频系统
只在玩家操作时播音乐
它还会在只剩一个敌人时加速播放

Chinese: 
庆野很快又参与了《铁板阵》
一年之内就为两款最受欢迎的街机游戏配乐
但庆野并非南梦宫仅有的女作曲家
到了《打空气2》
小泽纯子加入行列
她凭借1984年的《迷宫塔》配乐一举成名
这款里程碑式的游戏
不仅让奇幻类型成为电子游戏主流
它的原声，还以浓重的古典气息与无与伦比的管弦编曲
展现了专职作曲家的价值
它为后来者树立典范
大大拓宽了游戏音乐的可能性与期望值
没过几年，小泽纯子的影响力就不容小覷了
后来的配乐如《塞尔达传说》
（近藤浩治）
《勇者斗恶龙》
（椙山浩一）

English: 
sped up when there was only one enemy remaining
on screen.
Keino quickly followed it up with Xevious,
scoring two of the most popular arcade games
in the same year.
But Keino wasn’t alone at Namco.
For Dig Dug's sequel she was joined by Junko
Ozawa, who made a name for herself in 1984
with The Tower of Druaga.
This was a landmark title that not only established
the fantasy genre as a mainstay of video games,
but its soundtrack, with its heavy classical
inspiration and unmatched orchestration, showcased
the value of having a dedicated composer.
It set a precedent moving forward, dramatically
raising the bar for what was possible and
expected out of video game music.
It would only be a couple of years before
Junko Ozawa’s influence was undeniable,

Chinese: 
和《最终幻想》
（植松伸夫）
无一不受《迷宫塔》音乐的启发
但南梦宫并不孤单
卡普空声音团队在80年代末及90年代颇负盛名
不仅因为他们作曲优秀
还因为他们的成员以女性为主
1987年
卡普空创造了游戏史上最具标志性的角色之一
洛克人
它的日本名“Rock Man（摇滚男）”源自摇滚乐
音乐一直是这蓝色投弹手的重要标志
松前真奈美塑造了洛克人的音乐形象
动人的流行旋律与摇滚节奏相融合
而刺耳的NES电子音效
更是为它增添了机器人特质

English: 
with the likes of The Legend of Zelda, Dragon
Quest and Final Fantasy all building upon
the foundations laid by The Tower of Druaga.
It wasn’t just Namco, though.
Capcom’s sound team was famous throughout
the late 80’s and 90’s, not only for the
strength of their compositions, but also for
the fact that it was primarily made up of
women.
In 1987, Capcom introduced us to one of gaming’s
most iconic characters: Mega Man.
Named Rock Man in Japan after rock n roll,
music has always been an important point of
reference for the blue bomber.
Manami Matsumae defined Mega Man’s sonic
identity, fusing catchy pop melodies with
driving rock rhythms, and the harsh electronic
sound palette of the NES only added to the
robotic nature of the character.

Chinese: 
松前的混搭手法不仅影响了后来的游戏音乐风格
还是芯片音乐的一大先驱
启发了新一代年轻音乐家对电子音乐的探索
虽然“洛克人”系列一直没有固定的作曲家
但历代以女性为主的作曲家延续了松前的典范
没有辜负“Rock Man（摇滚男）”这个名字
卡普空的成就远非昙花一现
1991年
它凭一己之力带来街机行业的复苏
推出了《街头霸王2》
卡普空将这款明星作品的配乐
交给了一位年轻的后起之秀
下村阳子
她很擅长为格斗游戏配乐
因为她曾参与几款横版动作游戏的作曲

English: 
Matsumae’s genre-blending style would not
only influence the sound of video game music
to come, but it was also a major progenitor
of the chiptune scene, inspiring a new generation
of young musicians to experiment with electronic
music.
While the Mega Man series has never held a
single consistent composer, it has been primarily
women who have continued Matsumae’s legacy
and helped Rock Man live up to his name.
Capcom were far from being a one-hit wonder
though.
In 1991 they single-handedly ushered in an
arcade revival with the release of Street
Fighter II.
Capcom entrusted the soundtrack of their crown
jewel to a young up-and-comer in the company
named Yoko Shimomura.
She was a perfect fit for the fighting game,
having previously worked on a couple of their
side-scrolling brawlers.

English: 
But what truly separated Street Fighter II’s
soundtrack apart as exceptional was its diversity
of sound - with a roster of characters from
all across the world and theme songs inspired
by the musical flavours of their homeland.
Street Fighter II revealed Shimomura as one
of the most diverse and broadly-talented game
composers of her time, which is essentially
the entire history of video games.
She is one of the only composers I can think
of who was active in the 80’s and still
to this day writing entire soundtracks - most
recently, Kingdom Hearts 3.
While she is perhaps now most famous for mastering
the impossible sound of the endearing yet
outrageous Disney-JRPG hybrid, throughout
her prolific career she has ranged from chiptune
beat-em-ups and survival horror titles, to
epic orchestral fantasies and light-hearted
Mario games.

Chinese: 
但《街霸2》配乐脱颖而出的真正原因
在于风格多样
游戏角色来自不同国度
角色主题曲也受到各国风情的启发
《街霸2》证明了下村阳子…
是当时天赋广泛、最具多样性的作曲家之一
她的创作贯穿整个电子游戏史
她是我所知唯一一个曾活跃在80年代
至今仍在产出的作曲家
最新作有《王国之心3》
虽然她现在最为人所知的是将迪士尼与JRPG的碰撞…
那种离奇却讨喜的风格锻造得浑然天成
但她丰富的履历中不乏芯片音乐风的清版游戏
生存恐怖游戏
管弦风的史诗幻想大作
和轻松愉快的马力欧游戏

English: 
Yoko Shimomura is by far the hardest working,
most prolific, diverse and yet consistent
game composer in history.
The Donkey Kong Country series is famous for
having some of the most beautifully atmospheric
soundtracks out there.
Composer David Wise deserves every drop of
praise that he receives for them - that is
except for all the tracks he didn't write.
Eveline Novokovic nee Fischer is commonly
overlooked as one of the original trilogy’s
composers.
She wrote some of the first game's finest
tracks including the map theme Simian Segue,
the ambient Ice Cave Chant, and fan-favourite
Voices of the Temple.
She was also the primary composer of the third
game, Dixie Kong’s Double Trouble.
She's so good, you didn't even realise she
wasn't David.

Chinese: 
下村阳子可谓游戏史上最努力
最多产
最多变却又发挥稳定的游戏作曲家
“森喜刚国度”系列
以其多首优美无比的氛围式配乐闻名
作曲家大卫·怀斯从中收获的每一份赞誉实至名归
但并非所有配乐都出自他手
伊夫琳·费舍尔
作为最初三部曲的作曲家之一，经常被忽略
其实她创作了初代中不少出色配乐
包括地图界面“Simian Segue”
氛围音乐“Ice Cave Chant”
和粉丝最爱的“Voices of the Temple”
她还是第三作的主要作曲家
即《迪西刚的双重麻烦》
她如此出色
以至于你还以为那是大卫·怀斯所作

English: 
And this is a common story for women working
in the industry, in which their work is often
mistaken for that of a man’s.
This is especially true in the West for Japanese
composers, whose names may not be obviously
feminine to the untrained Western eye.
Take Minako Hamano for instance - she helped
compose the soundtrack to Super Metroid, but
is commonly mistaken for a man or just forgotten
altogether in favour of Kenji Yamamoto, even
though she wrote some of the game's most enduring
tracks such as Ridley's theme.
Minako Hamano is also responsible for the
soundtracks of the most underrated titles
for two of Nintendo’s biggest series: Metroid
Fusion and The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening.
These are easily among the most celebrated
games on the Game Boy system, and soundtracks
of their respective franchises.

Chinese: 
这就是女性在游戏行业面对的普遍现象
她们的努力常被误认为是男人的功劳
西方人看待日本作曲家时尤为如此
因为西方人不能一眼认出那些女性化名字
以滨野美奈子为例
她曾参与《超级银河战士》作曲
却经常被误认为是男的
或者被山本健志的锋芒盖过
尽管游戏里多首经典配乐均出自她手
如Ridley主题曲
滨野美奈子主导过的配乐
还包括任天堂两大系列中最被低估的两款作品
《银河战士：融合》
和《塞尔达传说：织梦岛》
这两款游戏都是Game Boy上最知名的作品
有着所属系列的经典配乐

Chinese: 
滨野美奈子可以说是任天堂的秘密武器
我这还有一个女性借男性名或假名成名的例子
《恶魔城》的作曲家“James Banana”
其实是两位女士
山下绢代
和寺岛里恵
“James Banana” 其实是向《恐怖德古拉》（1958）作曲家詹姆斯·伯纳德致敬
暗黑的哥特式古典乐，搭配时髦的现代摇滚
Banana用音乐塑造了独特的恶魔城风格
跟其它游戏配乐截然不同
随着“恶魔城”超高辨识度的音乐名气大涨
系列的配乐重任最终落在山根实知琉身上
（又名“山根美智留”）
她在《恶魔城X：月下夜想曲》打造了该系列的代表曲目

English: 
Minako Hamano truly is Nintendo's hidden weapon.
There’s also the case of women being credited
under a male or ambiguous pseudonym.
Castlevania’s score was credited to “James
Banana”, who was actually two women - Kinuyo
Yamashita and Satoe Terashima - “James Banana”
being a goofy reference to Dracula composer
James Bernard.
Blending dark gothic classical music with
groovy modern rock, Banana’s music set a
distinct tone that was perfectly Castlevania
and unlike anything else from a video game.
With the series growing famous for its unmistakable
musical identity, the reins of its soundtracks
were eventually entrusted to Michiru Yamane,
who gave the franchise its magnum opus soundtrack

Chinese: 
先进的PS硬件技术让哥特摇滚风的完美实现成为可能
山根还为乐曲注入一些金属味
并将她独特的声音混入某些低保真氛围式合成器流行
“Crystal Teardrops”这曲可谓25年前蒸汽波音乐的雏形
（蒸汽波音乐诞生于2010年）
山根实知琉后来为“恶魔城”系列的五款续作谱曲
留下不朽的音乐遗产
事实上，许多经久不衰的游戏系列
从一开始就不乏女性主导配乐的身影
“火焰之纹章”系列或许过去十年才在西方引起关注
但1990年推出以来，它在日本一直广受欢迎

English: 
in Symphony of the Night.
The Playstation’s advanced hardware allowed
for a fully realised version of the established
goth rock style, with Yamane pushing it even
further into metal, and bringing her own distinct
voice with some atmospheric lo-fi synthpop.
Crystal Teardrops is basically a vaporwave
song 25 years before the genre even existed.
Michiru Yamane would go on to compose five
more soundtracks for the Castlevania series,
creating an immortal musical legacy.
In fact, a number of the longest running video
game franchises have had women at the helm
of their soundtracks from the very beginning.
Fire Emblem may have only caught the attention
of the west in the past decade, but it’s
been a hit in Japan ever since its debut in
1990.

English: 
Yuka Tsujioko was the sole composer on every
Fire Emblem game until the mid-2000’s, a
job for which she now supervises a team of
people.
Japanese RPG series Suikoden had its music
spearheaded by Miki Higashino, and just like
Castlevania would be picked up by Michiru
Yamane.
And Jun Chikuma has brought us close to 20
different soundtracks for the Bomberman series,
ranging from the Arabic-folk-flavoured electronica
of its early titles, to the modern UK club
music Jungle and atmospheric drum & bass of
Bomberman Hero, a terrible game that’s now
a cult classic solely off the back of its
terrific soundtrack.

Chinese: 
2003年前，辻横由佳一直是该系列的唯一指定作曲家
现在她是该系列的音效总监
JRPG“幻想水浒传”系列配乐是东野美纪的代表作
就像“恶魔城”之于山根实知琉那样
竹间淳则给我们带来近20首风格各异的“炸弹人”配乐
从早期的阿拉伯民谣风格电子乐
到《炸弹人英雄》的现代英国电音丛林舞曲，及氛围式鼓与贝斯舞曲
一款糟糕的游戏只因其出色的配乐而成为另类经典

English: 
This is not intended to be an exhaustive list
of women game composers.
If it were, I would mention the likes of Soyo
Oka, whose soundtrack for Super Mario Kart
defined the sound of the kart racer for decades
to come, and so many others who have just
written incredible music for great games.
It's just meant to highlight those composers
and franchises that pushed the medium forward
in its early years.
But even to this day, women are still pioneering
video game music and taking it to brand new
places.
Jessica Curry was the co-founder, co-director
and composer for The Chinese Room, the developers
responsible for the experimental games Dear
Esther and Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture,
which rely heavily on their musical score
to tell their story.
Jessica is also a major advocate for video
game music through her radio show High Score
on the UK’s Classic.fm, helping to bring
the genre into legitimacy with other forms
of orchestral music.

Chinese: 
本期节目不是想列举一张游戏女作曲家名单
不过
我还是要提一提岡素世
她的《超级马力欧赛车》配乐
定义了后来几十年赛车游戏的音乐风格
影响了许多为优秀游戏谱写杰出配乐的同行们
我想借此歌颂那些伟大的作曲家及作品
她们推动了游戏业的早期发展
时至今日
女性仍在引领游戏音乐领域走向新方向
杰西卡·库里是The Chinese Room的联合创始人、联合总监及作曲家
这家开发商制作的《亲爱的艾丝特》
和《万众狂欢》
都注重通过音乐来叙事
杰西卡还是游戏音乐的重要推广人
她借助英国Classic FM电台节目《High Score》
（《High Score》是音乐电台Classic FM首个关于游戏音乐的节目）
推动这个新兴音乐流派与管弦乐齐名

Chinese: 
温妮弗里德·菲利普斯
参与的系列包括“刺客信条”
“战神”
和“小小大星球”
她编写的教科书《游戏音乐作曲家指南》
是主流大学电子游戏音乐课程的教材
她真的写了本关于游戏音乐的书
这些女性所作的贡献是如此巨大
容不得被抹杀和忽视
她们一直走在行业前列
不断地开拓创新
塑造着著名游戏系列的音乐形象
为游戏音乐注入未曾探索的风格与多样化声响
谱写出许多令人难忘的标志性旋律
女性同样是电子游戏音乐的先锋
我们是时候承认她们的贡献了

English: 
Winifred Phillips, who has written for series
such as Assassin's Creed, God of War and LittleBigPlanet,
wrote a textbook titled A Composer's Guide
to Game Music, which is used in major universities
to teach students VGM composition.
She literally wrote the book on video game
music.
The legacy that all these women have left
is immense and cannot be ignored or erased.
They have consistently been at the forefront
of the industry, innovating in game music
design, forging the musical identities of
major gaming franchises, bringing previously
unexplored styles and a diversity of sound
to the genre, and just writing some iconic,
unforgettable tunes.
Women were just as much the pioneers of video
game music - it’s time that we finally recognise

English: 
them as such.
