Inside Kirby Air Riders' Orchestra: Crafting a Signature Soundtrack
Three HAL Laboratory veterans—director Masahiro Sakurai and composers Noriyuki Iwadare and Shogo Sakai—describe how Kirby Air Riders’ music was built as an all-orchestral, sing-along experience centered on a signature melody. They discuss their long-running collaborations, the choice to use orchestral arrangements over Eurobeat or ambient styles, and how course-specific tracks were commissioned using samples to guide composition without copying. The eight courses were divided between Sakai (Mount Amberfalls, Waveflow Waters, Cavernous Corners, Floria Fields) and Iwadare (Airtopia Ruins, Crystalline Fissure, Steamgust Forge, Cyberion Highway), with decisions to include improvisation (a bamboo flute) and, ultimately, to avoid English lyrics for Air Rider. The process relied on direct, rapid feedback via a mailing list, enabling numerous revisions (Galactic Nova alone required eleven) to balance originality with the course atmosphere. Tracks were planned around roughly 1 minute 15 seconds per course, with exceptions like Galactic Nova that’s split into two parts.
