Music
Games~ |
Composers |
Series Leitmotif
Fledge Rondo attempted to illustrate the series' musical leitmofic here.
Instruments and Samples
Find the samples used at this tracker. (The old tracker was located here.) The new tracker includes Chrono Cross; check the "Square Enix" tab. You can always download a copy of the Google sheet to keep locally (the Compendium maintains a backup as well at this link.
Buying the OSTs
Currently, Amazon Japan is the only official retailer of Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross OSTs, as Amazon US apparently sold out long ago. At the time of this statement, Amazon Japan has both OSTs in stock. However, be mindful of the bootleg warning below as you buy. Amazon Japan will gladly ship products to America or elsewhere in the world, and does offer English assistance with buying Japanese products on the site.
How does browse Amazon.co.jp in English? There are three ways, depending on where you are:
1. If you're on the main page, the option's located at the right top of it, just click in the text that says "In English".
2. If you're browsing an item, the English option is located on top of the Add to Cart button, on the right side of your screen.
3. If you're gonna log in/sign up to check out, the English option is at the upper left of the screen.
There are a few other retailers that sell the Chrono OSTs:
Here are some tips to keep in mind:
- You might not get any results when typing Chrono Trigger/Cross OST in some of these sites... well, try using the composer's name, Yasunori Mitsuda, and they will pop up.
- If you don't have a Credit Card, don't worry! Some of these sites allow alternative payments, like PayPal or Money Order.
- Shipping fees can be a pain when buying Japanese music, be careful with that! Make the Check Out procedures until you get to shipping fees, depending on the site you might have to pay for about 2,000 yen, that's about 22USD just for shipping. As a personal preference, if HMV Japan has the item you're looking for, don't think it twice; they have the lowest fees on the market (1,200 yen). Also, keep in mind that shipping fees vary depending on the country and weight; the more you buy, the more they charge.
- Don't let shipping options scare you; I personally recommend Registered Airmail. It's economic, it has an little insurance on it, it's got a track number, and it arrives within 2 weeks or less. If you're in a hurry, then pick EMS (Express); it's more expensive, but it's fast. It arrives in 3-4 days and shouldn't take more than a week.
- If you're cheap, even if it looks tempting, avoid choosing SAL (Economic shipping), because if the postal service in your country sucks, you will lose your investment because of the lower quality.
If any of you have any kind of questions about purchasing online; post in this thread. (Thanks to Radical Pan for this assistance.)
WARNING
If you plan on purchasing any of the official albums contained within these pages, do so at your own risk. Almost all offers for rare soundtracks and other Chrono material are Chinese bootlegs, meaning they are cheaply copied from the real thing and passed off as a legitimate product, which additionally throws the quality of their bootlegs into question. Importing these rip-offs are also a federal offense in the United States and other countries that have signed the Berne Convention. Buying unofficial goods also shorts the parent, legitimate company of money, and hurts sales. You can usually spot the differences between the real thing and a bootleg by following a few rules, expertly provided over at The Jazz Messengers, a Cowboy Bebop website.
1. Don't buy SonMay or EverAnime.
SonMay and EverAnime are the top bootleggers of CDs in the world. Examples of their trade can be found through labels on their products. Look rigorously for their labels on product pictures and scans.
Examples of company logos:
EverAnime
SonMay
2. Don't buy cheap CDs.
As I've found out, buying the original product often means importing it from Japan; shipping costs usually run above ten dollars. The real Japanese releases aren't cheap, either, and if you see several Chrono products being auctioned for $15, they are almost surely bootlegs.
3. Don't buy from Hong Kong or Taiwan.
Hong Kong and Taiwan are the regional capitals of bootlegging, and products shipped from these locations are almost, without a doubt, bootlegs.
Lastly, DigiCube was the publisher of most Square soundtracks. If a catalogue number reads SSCX-10###, it is an authentic DigiCube production.
Keep these in mind as you search for Chrono products. If you're genuinely interested in learning more, an excellent FAQ exists here.
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