Ayako Saso

is a video game composer and arranger primarily of arcade games. She has written tracks for a variety of titles (usually working collaboratively), including: Ridge Racer, Ridge Racer 2, Rave Racer, Street Fighter EX2, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Rolling Thunder 2, Galaxian³: Project Dragoon, Galaxian³: Attack of the Zolgear, Tekken 2 and Folklore. She is a long-time colaborator of Shinji Hosoe. She is currently Senior Vice President and sound designer for Super Sweep Records.
Biography
Born in Miyazaki, Japan, she began taking piano lessons at the age of seven, giving it up when she joined a brass band in high school. Saso went to music school, originally with the intention of becoming a professional electronic organ player. After leaving the music school in 1987 she won the Silver Prize for a Yamaha Electone Festival contest. A fan of video games, Saso often made game music in her spare time. In 1989 she joined the Namco sound team to work on her first game, Stealth Bomber. In 1991, she composed the soundtrack to Rolling Thunder 2, and the following year she scored the shooter game Galaxian 3 along with Takayuki Aihara and Shinji Hosoe; she arranged the sequel Attack of the Zolgear in 1994. The same year she composed several pieces for the racing game Ridge Racer 2. In 1995 she worked on Cyber Cycles, Rave Racer, and Tekken 2.
Musical style and influences
Saso claims her musical influences include: Fumitaka Anzai, John Williams, Duran Duran, Alfred Reed, Shakataku, Jimmy Smith, YMO, Casiopea, Square, Michael Jackson, Glenn Miller Orchestra, Prodigy, Holly Noise, and independent bands from the 1980s.

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