Michiharu Hasuya

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Michiharu Hasuya
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Local 蓮舎 道治 (はすや みちはる)
Born 1954-05-19
Birth Place Fujioka-shi, Gunma, Japan
Nationality Japanese   Japan.svg
Aliases Hasuya, M. Hasuya, Michiharu Hasutani, おじさん HASUYA (Uncle Hasuya), T. Hasuya, Mr.Hasuya, 蓮谷 通治 (alternate spelling)

Michiharu Hasuya is a Japanese composer, sound designer and programmer. He started off working for Tecmo with his first game being the arcade game Solomon's Key. Hasuya also did other arcade and NES games for Tecmo. He also finished up the soundtrack on Mighty Bomb Jack after Tsukasa Masuko left the company. Around 1988, Hasuya left Tecmo to become a freelance musician, and started composing music and sound for games by Vic Tokai. This was because Vic Tokai worked closely with Tecmo and liked Hasuya's music, so the company would hire Hasuya as a contractor. Around the same time, Hasuya started composing music and sound effects for Advance Communication Company, alongside Osamu Kasai and Masaaki Harada. Based on the credits in Niji no Silkroad Image Album: Windy Road, he appears to have been a full-time employee of the company, but his works with Vic Tokai around the same time suggest he may have worked for the company as a freelance composer. After his work on the 1994 Super Famicom title Sansara Naga 2, it appears Hasuya retired from the game industry.

Some of his most notable works include the NES games Rygar, Clash at Demonhead, Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Ys III.

Hasuya worked on many VSTs and had a blog. However, he appears to be inactive from social media since 2016.

Musical Style

There are a few key elements to identifying Michiharu's iconic NES sound. He wrote many tunes in the 12/8 time signature. He also used lower-volume instruments to simulate echos in many of his tracks. He did this without having to use both square waves on the NES. Another key element is that he almost never used the NES's triangle channel for music. He also almost never used the 50% and 75% square waves offered by the NES, and usually only used the 12.5% and 25% square waves.

Keith Courage in Alpha Zones (TG16)

In Keith Courage in Alpha Zones (TG16), the composers use undecipherable aliases. However, Michiharu's musical style is present throughout the game. For example, Title sounds similar to the title music of Combat (NES). Town 2 uses the Hungarian minor scale, similar to that of his works in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (NES) (title screen music) and the second cutscene theme from Circus Caper (NES), as well as music from Last Armageddon (FC). The song's bass line also resembles Michiharu's style. Also, the Battle Stage 1 music sounds similar to Stage 1: Sueru Mountain in Rygar (NES).

Audio Development

NES

Hasuya started off using Yoshiaki Inose's sound driver. To do this, he wrote the music in 6502 assembly using hexadecimal numbers. During his time with Vic Tokai, Hasuya used a heavily modified version of the same driver. Because he is credited for sound programming in Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode, it is believed that he made the modifications himself. When working for Advance Communication, he started off using this driver, before once again using a heavily modified version of it.

Some listeners have suggested his NES music sounds similar to Paul Webb's.

SNES

For most of his games on the SNES, Hasuya used Advance Communication's variant of Nintendo's Kankichi-kun. For Ys III, he used a custom sound driver, which he may have programmed himself.

For Sansaara Naga 2, Hasuya used Victor Entertainment's custom sound driver.

Gameography

Released Title Sample Notes
1986-??-?? Solomon's Key (ARC) (ソロモンの鍵) With Mikio Saito.
1986-??-?? Tee'd Off (ARC) With Mikio Saito.[1]
1986-04-24 Mighty Bomb Jack (NES) (マイティボンジャック) With Tsukasa Masuko.
1986-07-30 Solomon's Key (NES) (ソロモンの鍵) With Mikio Saito.
1986-11-21 Aigiina no Yogen: Balubalouk no Densetsu Yori (FC) (アイギーナの予言 バルバルークの伝説より) With Tsukasa Masuko.
1987-04-17 Rygar (NES) (アルゴスの戦士 はちゃめちゃ大進撃)
1987-06-02 Reflect World (FDS) (リフレクトワールド) Composer?
1987-07-30 Chester Field: Ankoku Shin e no Chousen (FC) (チェスター・フィールド EPISODEII 暗黒神への挑戦) With Mikio Saito.
1987-08-28 Hikari no Senshi Photon: The Ultimate Game on Planet Earth (FC) (光の戦士フォトン 惑星ゾルディアスの戦い)
1988-03-17 Tsuri Kichi Sanpei: Blue Marlin Hen (FC) (釣りキチ三平 ブルーマーリン編)
1988-03-26 Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode (NES) (ゴルゴ13 第一章 神々の黄昏)
1988-04-08 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (NES) (ジーキル博士の彷魔が刻)
1988-07-22 Kid Kool and the Quest for the Seven Wonder Herbs (NES) (カケフ君のジャンプ天国 ダッシュ地獄)
1988-08-26 Ys (FC) (イース) Sound Driver?
1988-08-30 Keith Courage in Alpha Zones (TG16)
With Osamu Kasai and Masaaki Harada.
1988-12-17 Cycle Race Road Man (FC) (サイクルレース ロードマン)
1989-01-24 Patlabor: The Mobile Police (FDS)
1989-01-27 Clash at Demonhead (NES) (電撃ビッグバン!)
1989-02-23 Tama & Friends: 3 Choume Daibouken (FDS)
Sound Driver?
1989-07-05 Oishinbo: Kyukyoku no Menu 3bon Syoubu (FC) (美味しんぼ 究極のメニュー三本勝負) Sound Driver?
1989-08-08 Moeru! Oniisan (FC) Sound Driver?
1989-10-20 Tatsu no Ko Fighter (TG16) (竜の子ファイター) With Osamu Kasai, Masaaki Harada, and Nobuhito Nakayama.
1989-12-01 Conflict (NES) (コンフリクト)
1989-12-08 Seirei Gari (FC) (星霊狩り) Sound Driver?
1990-03-23 Sansara Naga (FC) (サンサーラ・ナーガ)
Sound Driver?
1990-04-?? Dynowarz: The Destruction of Spondylus (NES)
Sound Driver?
1990-05-25 Ys II (FC) (イースⅡ)
Sound Driver?
1990-07-?? Circus Caper (NES)
1990-11-10 Last Armageddon (NES) (ラストアルマゲドン) With Osamu Kasai, Masaaki Harada, and Hiroyasu Nishiyama.
1990-12-07 Chibi Maruko-Chan Okozukai Daisakusen! (GB) (ちびまる子ちゃん おこづかい大作戦!) Composer?
1990-12-26 Heavy Unit: Mega Drive Special (SMD) (ヘビーユニット メガドライブ・スペシャル) With Osamu Kasai and Masaaki Harada.
1991-02-22 Niji no Silkroad: Zigzag Boukenki (FC) (虹のシルクロード 〜ジグザグ冒険記〜) Sound Programming with Osamu Kasai and Masaaki Harada.
1991-03-15 Fushigi no Umi no Nadia (FC) (ふしぎの海のナディア)
With Masaaki Harada.
1991-06-21 Ys III: Wanderers from Ys (SNES) (イースⅢ ワンダラーズ フロム イース) With Osamu Kasai and Masaaki Harada.
1991-06-28 Jinsei Game Densetsu (GB) (人生ゲーム伝説) With Osamu Kasai and Masaaki Harada.
1991-07-31 Otaku no Seiza: An Adventure in the Otaku Galaxy (FC) (おたくの星座) Sound Driver?
1991-09-27 Ys III: Wanderers from Ys (FC)
With Osamu Kasai and Masaaki Harada.
1991-11-15 Shounen Ashibe: Nepal Daibouken no Maki (FC) (少年アシベ ネパール大冒険の巻) Composer?
1992-10-30 Cyber Knight (SFC) (サイバーナイト) With Osamu Kasai and Junko Yokoyama
1992-12-04 Mecarobot Golf (SNES)
With Osamu Kasai and Takashi Tsurutani.
1993-12-22 Super Godzilla (SNES) (超ゴジラ) With Junko Yokoyama.
Arranged Akira Ifukube's music.
1994-07-15 Sansara Naga 2 (SFC) (サンサーラ・ナーガ2) Music Manipulator

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