The instrumental tracks of the score were programmed with the PlayStation sound module in Tokyo, Japan, while "The Beginning and the End" was recorded live in Sofia, Bulgaria. Hogg's songs were recorded in two days in Dublin, Ireland in 1996; they featured the Riverdance musician Davy Spillane on low whistle. When Titanic premiered in November 1997, Mitsuda noticed coincidental similarities between the film's ending song, Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On", and the Irish-themed music he was composing for Xenogears. He felt irritated and devoted himself to complete the soundtrack's recording before Titanic came out.
