Admittedly I have yet to experience all the Little Busters soundtrack has to offer but from what I’ve seen so far my favorites are: Waking up in the Morning, Boys don’t Cry, and In the Town of Incessant Rain.
One more that I haven’t seen in game yet but I found on YouTube that is on the Little Busters soundtrack is Song of Friends and I’m absolutely loving that one.
The Boys’ Farewell ~Piano only~
Here’s another contender for my top 10 LitBus tracks - I assume the title means there’s another version that I haven’t yet uncovered. I can’t remember where I first heard this but the arpeggios give the tune a “restless” feel, like an urge to keep moving on and not settle. But you also have the ritenuto, a little sudden slowing down as if denoting a hesitation. It reminds me a little of the song “Walking in Memphis”.
Song for friends both instrumental and vocal is my favourite. At the end of mio’s route when midori dissappear and in the refrain both open up the sea of emotion inside me. I feel sad for them going away but i also smile when thinking about the good times we spent with each other.
Glassware is also a good ost from ex, it’s a little simple but hey sometimes simple catches your mind.
Will & wish is also a good one.
Approaching light which plays a lot of time during mio’s route is also very good. It’s comforting piano lullaby.
On the other hand this remix( https://youtu.be/lo1pq38YlAg)
Is an energetic guitar music.
How could i forget to mention “Born in this world” my man Riki’s theme. This theme is connected directly to us ‘the player’ cause we are the one who make the choices along with Riki, we are the one who learn along with Riki as he helps komari accept the sad things, diffuse the hatred between two sisters (kanata and haruka), save mio from herself and many more. As we complete the route and start back in the endless semester’s beginning it’s almost like being born again and again. Riki doesn’t become perfect by any means but nevertheless he grows little by little till he exceeds Kyousuke’s expectations. this song inspires me to improve myself.
Edit :- I found English versions of some songs in little busters. They are very well done.
Little busters (https://youtu.be/KQE_OFNeKto)
Boys be smile (https://youtu.be/HEd1ecjbsMQ)
Kimi to no nakushi mono (https://youtu.be/qhufp6TPpT0)
Loving all the music discussion here. Wish we could get @therationalpi on to offer his thoughts, I miss his music analysis!
Shoot I forgot to analyze Ring Ring Ring… I mean I guess it kinda further emphasizes Rin = bell/ringing. But anyways, I want to focus on Mio’s theme, Approaching the Light.
Approaching the Light tells a lot about Mio in contrast to the rest of the LB crew. This track is easily the slowest of all the character themes, consistent with her reserved personality. The song is very calm and the string instruments in the background have this sort of slow wave of high notes and low notes. I’m not really good at analyzing music so that’s kinda the biggest thing that stood out to me. Here’s a Key point for the podcasters (if you see this question). What does the title, “Approaching the Light” mean?
I have my own kinda theories for it. Or maybe more like observations. I’m curious as to what you guys think. To me, (Mio route spoilers) Approaching the Light seems to suggest reaching out towards the light. But Mio has this whole thing with her shadow that if she was exposed to light, her shadowless self will be revealed.
光に寄せて - I’ve also seen it translated as “Gather the light” but since I don’t speak Japanese I don’t know which is a “better” translation. “Gather…” doesn’t quite seem to fit the character theme as well as “approaching” though as I tend to agree with your spoilered text that in the end, metaphorically speaking, (end of route spoiler) reaching out/accepting the light as she importantly discards the parasol but she could also be said to be in idiom “catching some rays”
Kud Wafter theme “One’s Future” is now available as a free DLC on Steam. I wonder if this foreshadows something?
‘Sha la la ecstasy’
Its brainwashed translunar opening took me by storm, the way ‘sha la la’ and ‘ecstasy’ form the quintessence of ethereal aural climax is astounding and then the transitions to ‘ooh aaah’, the gentle trembling swells of the melody which reveal the ultimate escape from urban-industrial noirscapes. Completely assumed masterpiece where overt exhibitionism and effacement hold fleshy hands in descriptive time and where the whole tremendous rumpus knots and rots in the viscous membranes between gorgeous neutral pauses and sudden ecstatic rushes of motion which provisionally combine scenic frameworks with intimate detail.
Er, or something…
EDIT: well back to normal…
’Thin Chronicle’
This has been worming its way into my head over the repeated playthroughs. This is a bit of a schizophrenic song, we have a nice and deceptive intro with sleigh bells that just sounds like taking a jolly gentle ride down a snow covered path on a crisp and sunny winter’s morning. But then under that we have some unexpected dissonance breaking in; it’s subtle, not that upfront, just enough to suggest that not everything is quite right under the surface of this Christmas Card image. It’s another good use of music to alert us that not all is as it seems…
’Song for Friends’ (Instrumental Version)
Honestly the vocal songs haven’t done that much for me in LB! but I really like the keyboards on this short instrumental version. Same goes for ‘Faraway’.
Now that I have uncovered all the songs on the game I would say that none really stand out in my memory as much as some in Clannad but there are certainly many lovely tunes here, and I’m going to have to think about my top 10 for LB a bit longer.
The title is literally “approach the light”, or “get closer to the light”. I’m afraid “Gather the light” isn’t right as a translation, no matter how much I think about it. As for the meaning… I don’t have a clear interpretation either. I had never thought too much about the meaning behind the prettiness of the words.
Now that I’m on topic of translations… when I saw シンクロニクル, I thought it was meant as “Synchronicle” (as in synchro + chronicle), and was actually really surprised when everyone referred to it as “Thin chronicle”.
I guess that’s the correct interpretation if the official English version uses it… but I’m not completely convinced about it.
It actually is called Synchronicle on the iTunes store, even in English, so I don’t think you’re incorrect in your way of thinking. Just something that got overlooked, I suppose.
I see! And here I was starting to think that my interpretation could’ve been completely wrong, thanks!
Alright, it took quite a while, but it’s finally finished (kinda). I present you the interpretation of the Saya’s Song Piano Arragement featured in the Ripresa Album.
The arrangement itself is a more calmed take on the original Saya’s Song theme. The sheets are available from the official webpage in case anyone wants them. I left the link in the video description. The version I played has some reaaaally minor modifications that I made on the fly, as well as an extremely subjective interpretation of the tempo, although I tried to stick to the dynamics indicated in the sheet music. I went a bit heavy on the pedal though (that’s just my style).
I haven’t given a lot of thought to the lyrics of the actual song, that’s something that I’ll look into once her route comes up in the bookclub, but the music in this arrangement is fun to play. It’s basically 3 main parts with a couple of different passages that link them together, but every part or melody that is repeated has a slightly different accompaniment that makes it very easy to improvise on. Something curious is how while it’s written in G major, there’s a couple of times where the music goes into G’s relative minor and, while staying in key, hints some minor passages.
So all in all, a fun piece to learn, but hard to master due to all the different ways that you can play it (slow and deep, jumpy without much pedal, quick and lively, etc). Also, if you’re looking to arrange a piece, this one is very easy due to the simple chord progressions and how the melody accepts almost any kind of accompaniment. So yeah a great piece of music.
Enjoy it and let me know your thougths.
I hope to analyze the lyrics of Saya’s song soon and then I’ll let you take over the actual sound portion 
Ooh great job! I don’t know much about piano so I can’t comment on your performance all that much, but that was a joy to listen to 
@Draconyan @Rincchi
I believe that the song titles are very carefully considered and chosen to express an idea that the writers want to convey, so the correct or at least best translation is important. ‘Synchronicle’ appears to be quite a difficult one to analyse as it’s not a word that exists in English as such but I presume is derived from “synchronicity”:
is a concept, first introduced by analytical psychologist Carl Jung, which holds that events are “meaningful coincidences” if they occur with no causal relationship yet seem to be meaningfully related.
Which is a bit hard to make sense of in plain English, but applied to LB it makes more sense than “Thin Chronicle”!
I dunno how it never occurred to me, but Little Melody is a version of the OP, slowed down to like half. (its fun to sing the lyrics slowly in your head as it plays~)
if only I had realized it in time haha
but uhh
Now there’s a whole 'nother level of depth to every scene with Little Melody to look into. And now we know why it’s called Little Melody.
I made a 1:1 version of the single cover for anyone like me who gets upset because the cover isn’t a perfect square.
The soundtrack of Key VNs is quite impressive because it not only manages to fit the scene and/or provide good BGM, but also proves to be great music to listen to in general.
From LB my personal favorites are:
Two Sugars: If i could rename this track i would call it “Enjoying the Little Things in Life” because that’s what it makes me feel, and in my experience it plays after shenanigans and such moments of playful action have settled down, further remarking the theme of “these are our golden days of youth”.
Lamplight: This track feels like a hybrid between CLANNAD’s Roaring Tides a track that feels like bad things are happening and we are immensely sad about them and Rewrite’s Scene Shifts There an epic track of superation, this combination gives a feeling of “yes bad things are happening, but we can get through them and come out better than at the start” which is quite beautiful.
And how can i forget A World is Born: as it has been said plenty of times already this is a nostalgic track that evokes childhood memories and feelings of longing. Another feeling id like to analyze is its use in (Saya route spoilers) Saya’s backstory, in this case this track feels analogous to Rewrite’s Remembrace that is played during the time Kotarou spends in similar war torn areas, in this case the track highlights the alien situation we see the characters in.
My favorite tracks in the Litlle Busters would be a Heroic Battle and Mortal Combat.
From Ending themes i realy like Kurugaya and Mio Ending themes. It’s realy hard to choose i love all songs.
Magic Ensemble - I like lively music, and when the song ends its first minute, it plays a part that always makes me dance. I look like crazy every time she plays.
Mission Possible - When this song plays, I really feel like I have to do a mission. lol
Mortal Combat - It’s very easy to be taken by the guitar of this song.
There are many others I like, but those were the first three that came into my head right now.
