Editing Chrono Trigger (section)

=== Music ===
{{Main|Music of Chrono Trigger}}

{{Listen
 |header=Music samples:
 |filename=Chrono trigger sample.ogg
 |title="Chrono Trigger"
 |description=A 30-second sample of the game's main theme, illustrating ''Chrono Trigger''{{'s}} aural style and aesthetic.
 |filename2=Chrono trigger brink of time sample.ogg
 |title2="Zeal Palace"
 |description2= A 30-second sample of "Zeal Palace" from ''The Brink of Time'', demonstrating the acid-jazz style of the arranged album.
}}

''Chrono Trigger'' was scored primarily by [[Yasunori Mitsuda]], with contributions from veteran ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' composer [[Nobuo Uematsu]] and one track by [[Noriko Matsueda]]. A sound programmer at the time, Mitsuda was unhappy with his pay and threatened to leave Square if he could not compose music.<ref name="powerup">{{Cite book |year=2004 |first=Chris |last=Kohler |title=Power-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life |publisher=DK Publishing |isbn=0-7440-0424-1}}</ref> [[Hironobu Sakaguchi]] suggested he score ''Chrono Trigger'', remarking, "maybe your salary will go up."<ref name="mitsuda2008" /> Mitsuda composed new music and drew on a personal collection of pieces composed over the previous two years.<ref name="dsultimania" /> He reflected, "I wanted to create music that wouldn't fit into any established genre [...] music of an imaginary world. The game's director, Masato Kato, was my close friend, and so I'd always talk with him about the setting and the scene before going into writing."<ref name="powerup" /> Mitsuda slept in his studio several nights, and attributed certain pieces—such as the game's ending theme, "To Far Away Times"—to inspiring dreams.<ref name="mitsuda2008" /> He later attributed this song to an idea he was developing before ''Chrono Trigger'', reflecting that the tune was made in dedication to "a certain person with whom [he] wanted to share a generation".<ref name="ctdsmitsudainterview" /> He also tried to use [[leitmotif]]s of the ''Chrono Trigger'' main theme to create a sense of consistency in the soundtrack.<ref name="sekitopsx" /> Mitsuda wrote each tune to be around two minutes long before repeating, unusual for Square's games at the time.<ref name="gamest" /> Mitsuda suffered a [[hard drive]] crash that lost around forty in-progress tracks.<ref name="famitsujuly2008">{{cite magazine |year=2008 |magazine=[[Famitsu]] |title=Chrono Trigger DS |url=http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/July_2008_Weekly_Famitsu_Interview_with_Yasunori_Mitsuda.html |pages=67–70 |language=ja |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090613004048/http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/July_2008_Weekly_Famitsu_Interview_with_Yasunori_Mitsuda.html |archive-date=June 13, 2009}}</ref> After Mitsuda contracted [[Peptic ulcer|stomach ulcers]], Uematsu joined the project to compose ten pieces and finish the score.<ref name="powerup" /> Mitsuda returned to watch the ending with the staff before the game's release, crying upon seeing the finished scene.<ref name="famitsujuly2008" />

[[File:Yasunori Mitsuda (2019).jpg|thumb|upright|left|alt=A photograph of a thin, dark-haired Japanese man|[[Yasunori Mitsuda]] composed the bulk of the music for ''Chrono Trigger'' and would later serve as composer for ''[[Chrono Cross]]''.]]

At the time of the game's release, the number of tracks and sound effects was unprecedented—the soundtrack spanned three discs in its 1995 commercial pressing.<ref name="npreview1">{{Cite magazine |date=July 1995 |volume=74 |magazine=[[Nintendo Power]] |title=Epic Center: Chrono Trigger |page=52}}</ref> Square also released a one-disc [[acid jazz]] arrangement called ''The Brink of Time'' by Guido that year. ''The Brink of Time'' came about because Mitsuda wanted to do something that no one else was doing, and he noted that acid jazz and its related genres were uncommon in the Japanese market.<ref name="sekitopsx" /> Mitsuda considers ''Chrono Trigger'' a landmark game which helped mature his talent.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://palgn.com.au/5478/yasunori-mitsuda-interview/ |title=Yasunori Mitsuda Interview |access-date=May 22, 2007 |first=James |last=Gay |date=October 13, 2006 |website=PALGN|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203045727/http://palgn.com.au/5478/yasunori-mitsuda-interview/ |archive-date=February 3, 2014}}</ref> While Mitsuda later held that the title piece was "rough around the edges", he maintains that it had "significant influence on [his] life as a composer".<ref name="ctdsmitsudainterview" /> In 1999, Square produced another one-disc soundtrack to complement the PlayStation release of the game, featuring [[orchestra]]l tracks used in [[cutscene]]s. [[Tsuyoshi Sekito]] composed four new pieces for the game's bonus features which weren't included on the soundtrack.<ref name="sekitopsx">{{cite web |date=November 24, 2008 |title=Yasunori Mitsuda Talks Chrono Trigger |url=http://www.originalsoundversion.com/?p=915 |publisher=Original Sound Version |access-date=March 13, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110324012728/http://www.originalsoundversion.com/yasunori-mitsuda-talks-chrono-trigger-mysteries-solved-clarifications-made/ |archive-date=March 24, 2011}}</ref> Some fans were displeased by Mitsuda's absence in creating the port, whose instruments sometimes aurally differed from the original game's.<ref name="sekitopsx" /> Mitsuda arranged versions of music from the ''Chrono'' series for [[Play! A Video Game Symphony|Play!]] video game music concerts, presenting the main theme, "Frog's Theme", and "To Far Away Times".<ref name="nsider">{{cite web |date=May 30, 2006 |first=Brandon |last=Driker |title=Play! A Video Game Symphony |url=http://www.n-sider.com/contentview.php?contentid=352 |publisher=N-Sider |access-date=January 7, 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130125053157/http://www.ymm.co.jp/ |archive-date=January 25, 2013}}</ref> He worked with Square Enix to ensure that the music for the [[Nintendo DS]] would sound closer to the Super NES version.<ref name="famitsujuly2008" /> Mitsuda encouraged feedback about the game's soundtrack from contemporary children (who he thought would expect "full symphonic scores blaring out of the speakers").<ref name="dsultimania" /> Fans who preordered the DS version received a special music disc containing two orchestral arrangements of the game's music directed by Natsumi Kameoka; Square Enix also held a random prize drawing for two signed copies of ''Chrono Trigger'' sheet music.<ref name="sekitopsx" /><ref name="ctfanclub">{{cite web |title=Chrono Trigger Fan Club |url=http://member.square-enix.com/jp/special/chronotrigger/ |publisher=Square Enix |access-date=February 20, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090219223950/http://member.square-enix.com/jp/special/chronotrigger/ |archive-date=February 19, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Mitsuda expressed difficulty in selecting the tune for the orchestral medley, eventually picking a tune from each era and certain character themes.<ref name="ctdsmitsudainterview">{{cite web |title=Chrono Trigger DS |format=Flash |url=http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/December_2008_-_CT_DS_Video_Interview_with_Yasunori_Mitsuda.html |publisher=Square Enix |access-date=March 13, 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226222516/http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/December_2008_-_CT_DS_Video_Interview_with_Yasunori_Mitsuda.html |archive-date=February 26, 2009}}</ref> Mitsuda later wrote:

{{Blockquote|I feel that the way we interact with music has changed greatly in the last 13 years, even for me. For better or for worse, I think it would be extremely difficult to create something as "powerful" as I did 13 years ago today. But instead, all that I have learned in these 13 years allows me to compose something much more intricate. To be perfectly honest, I find it so hard to believe that songs from 13 years ago are loved this much. Keeping these feelings in mind, I hope to continue composing songs which are powerful, and yet intricate...I hope that the extras like this bonus CD will help expand the world of Chrono Trigger, especially since we did a live recording. I hope there's another opportunity to release an album of this sort one day.<ref name="ctdsmitsudainterview" />}}

Music from the game was performed live by the [[Tokyo Symphony Orchestra]] in 1996 at the Orchestral Game Concert in Tokyo, Japan. A suite of music including ''Chrono Trigger'' is a part of the symphonic world-tour with video game music [[Play! A Video Game Symphony]], where Mitsuda was in attendance for the concert's world-premiere in Chicago on May 27, 2006. His suite of ''Chrono'' music, comprising "Reminiscence", "Chrono Trigger", "Chrono Cross~Time's Scar", "Frog's Theme", and "To Far Away Times" was performed. Mitsuda has also appeared with the [[Eminence Symphony Orchestra]] as a special guest.<ref name="passionreview">{{cite web |url=http://www.squarebrain.net/2007-01/passion-by-eminence-symphony-orchestra-review/ |title=Passion by Eminence Symphony Orchestra Review |date=January 13, 2007 | access-date = April 26, 2014|url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029192617/http://www.squarebrain.net/2007-01/passion-by-eminence-symphony-orchestra-review/|archive-date=October 29, 2013}}</ref> [[Video Games Live]] has also featured medleys from ''Chrono Trigger'' and ''Chrono Cross''.<ref name="vglmedleys">{{cite web |date=April 8, 2009 |title=Video Games Live Pulls the Trigger: Chrono Medley Added to Repertoire |url=http://www.originalsoundversion.com/?p=2404 |publisher=Original Sound Version | access-date=August 10, 2009 |author=David Hsu|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170707230540/http://www.originalsoundversion.com/video-games-live-pulls-the-trigger-chrono-medley-added-to-repertoire/|archive-date=July 7, 2017}}</ref> A medley of Music from ''Chrono Trigger'' made of one of the four suites of the "Symphonic Fantasies" concerts in September 2009 which was produced by the creators of the [[Symphonic Game Music Concert]] series, conducted by [[Arnie Roth]].<ref name="citation">{{Cite book |publisher=Symphonic Fantasies |url=http://www.symphonicfantasies.com/post/78838894/jonne-valtonen-the-award-winning-finnish-composer |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090627120617/http://www.symphonicfantasies.com/post/78838894/jonne-valtonen-the-award-winning-finnish-composer |archive-date=June 27, 2009 |title=Music from classic games arranged by Jonne Valtonen |date=January 22, 2009 |access-date=June 1, 2009}}</ref> Square Enix re-released the game's soundtrack, along with a video interview with Mitsuda in July 2009.<ref name="ctsrerelease">{{cite web |url=https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B002B5WW58 |title=[DS版]クロノ・トリガー オリジナル・サウンドトラック(DVD付) [CD+DVD] |date=July 29, 2009 |access-date=July 30, 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319085341/http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B002B5WW58 |archive-date=March 19, 2015}}</ref> "Frog's Theme" and "Robo's Theme" were among the [[video game music]] performed during the [[2020 Summer Olympics opening ceremony]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Steen |first=Emma |date=July 24, 2021 |title=Explained: the Japanese symbolism you missed at the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony |work=[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]] |url=https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/news/explained-the-japanese-symbolism-you-missed-at-the-tokyo-olympics-opening-ceremony-072421 |access-date=January 30, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210724160051/https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/news/explained-the-japanese-symbolism-you-missed-at-the-tokyo-olympics-opening-ceremony-072421 |archive-date=July 24, 2021 |issn=0049-3910 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=McWhertor |first=Michael |url=https://www.polygon.com/22590146/olympics-2020-games-athletes-parade-of-nations-video-game-music-dragon-quest-kingdom-hearts |title=The Olympic opening ceremony was full of video game music |work=[[Polygon (website)|Polygon]] |date=July 23, 2021 |access-date=January 30, 2024 |archive-date=July 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210724131448/https://www.polygon.com/22590146/olympics-2020-games-athletes-parade-of-nations-video-game-music-dragon-quest-kingdom-hearts |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2022, the main theme continued to feature in the setlist of [[the 8-Bit Big Band]], led by [[Charlie Rosen (musician)|Charlie Rosen]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-8-bit-big-band/2022/north-beach-bandshell-miami-beach-fl-73be1251.html |title=The 8-Bit Big Band Setlist at North Beach Bandshell, Miami Beach, FL, USA on November 5, 2022 |website=setlist.fm |access-date=December 7, 2022 |archive-date=December 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221207184327/https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-8-bit-big-band/2022/north-beach-bandshell-miami-beach-fl-73be1251.html |url-status=live}}</ref>{{Clear}}