It is recognised that any soundtrack bearing the Key Sounds Label is undoubtly high quality. Having fallen in love with the tunes from Clannad and Kanon, I decided to bring those 2 soundtracks in first from Himeya Shop, probably the only place on the internet that exports Key soundtracks to most countries. But of course I couldn’t stop there, and I’ve brought in 5 more soundtracks, which was triggered after listening to the piano version of “Nagisa” (Clannad OST track 5) from Clannad episode 19.

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Top Row (wrapper removed): Clannad OST, Kanon OST

Middle row (unopened): Clannad Vocal Album Sorarado (insert song in episode 18 taken from here), Clannad Vocal Album Sorarado Append

Bottom row (unopened): Kanon and Air Piano Arrange Album ~Refeel~, Air OST, Clannad/Tomoyo After Piano Arranged Album ~Piano no Mori~

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I listen to Clannad OST disc 1 and Kanon OST almost everyday. I’ve listened to Clannad OST’s Disc 1 about 50+ times over already and realised that only 2 songs are almost completely instrumental. It is also through these two songs that I hope to show how high quality Key’s music really is.

Clannad OST Disc 1 Track 7: Etude pour les petites supercordes (click to listen)

This song is actually Kotomi’s character song and is broken into 3 distinct segments with 1 loop.

Instruments used in 1st segment: Purely strings

Instruments used in 2nd segment: Organ (melody), strings (support), Triangle, Castanets

Instruments used in 3rd segment: Organ (melody), Xylophone (support), Base Drum, Glockenspeil

If you just listen to Kotomi’s theme without thinking much, it sounds abit irritating. In fact, I thought that there was a violin playing throughout the entire song the first time I heard it.

But if you pay closer attention, you’ll realise that the song progresses ingeniusly and sluggishly, underscoring Kotomi’s slow and eccentric nature. In the last segment Kotomi’s signature instrument, the violin, cuts off completely, which in a sense describes how she has progressed past her initial naive stage and manages to live a much more colourful life (with more instruments mixed in) without depending on the need to play a violin.

Clannad OST Disc 1 Track 8: Hurry, Starfish (は～りぃすたーふぃしゅ) (click to listen)

This song is actually Fuuko’s character song and is broken into 2 distinct segments with 1 loop.

The amount of instruments used in this song is incredible, and it is my second favourite piece in the entire soundtrack second only to Track 9 (Tomoyo’s character song).

Instruments used in 1st segment: Oboe (melody), strings (support), Piccolo (auxillary), Euphonium, Glockenspeil, Castanets, Triangle, Tambourine, Cymbals (Drum Set)

Instruments used in 2nd segment: Glockenspeil (melody), strings (support), Clarinet (auxillary), Euphonium, Cymbals (Drum Set).

A wonderfully crafted whimsical piece which describes Fuuko perfectly. The title made me laugh out loud XD

The instrument shifts are not as significant as in Etude pour les petites supercordes, and doesn’t describe the sadness of Fuuko’s arc either.

Oh, and these have been ripped by Windows Media Player, so the sound quality is nothing compared to the uncompressed CD. If you like good instrumental music, or good modern music Key style, I highly recommend picking a few Key soundtracks up. Yes, they are quite expensive, but worth every single cent :)