Meanwhile in another Zimmer score with Benjamin Wallfisch (Gamba)... https://youtu.be/7RC9Ak9gz7s

It seems Zimmer scores get the better end of the stick when it's animated featured films.

It seems Zimmer scores get the better end of the stick when it's animated featured films.
Seems to be the case, given Lion King and Prince of Egypt. Animation in general seems to bring out the best of composers, like it did with Horner's Land Before Time and Goldsmith's Mulan. Even Sausage Party had some interesting moments.

Some of the music that's been coming out for western animated shorts recently has been really surprising me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzaL8mJLbX8

The whole piece has more interesting usage of electronics than any western film I've seen from the past 5 years. And from 1:39 onward, it creates a more developed cue than most recent film main titles. And 3:10 to 3:48 is a combo of strings and electronics reminiscent of Gatchaman Crowds that I think even Iwasaki would be impressed by.

I don't have a problem with Zimmer. He has a particular style and he does it better than anyone else. He doesn't pretend to be more than what he is unlike Giacchino and Bates and dozens of other Hollywood hacks. Not to mention that his symphonic attempts have been far more successful than theirs.

Speaking of animated film scores, what are the thoughts of those here regarding Michael Giacchino's Pixar scores? Do you find it closer in quality to his early Medal of Honor level of excellence, or to his more underwhelming recent work?

They're not as bad as Spiderman Homecoming, but they're incredibly bland piano cues and often short 30-second cues of varying styles tied together without having a singular identity or any proper development of a theme. It's almost as if he was taking notes from the director for "use a sad Italian sound here" and then transitioned to "use a generic happy-go-lucky beat here", not to mention that the main focus of his animated scores is usually some kind of insert song not written by him. This was how I felt about Up, Ratatouille and Inside Out. The Incredibles is probably his one Pixar score with the most clear voice, but even it is a poor John Barry pastiche.

Compared to even John Powell or Thomas Newman, he doesn't hold up.

Goldsmith: Mulan is great but NIMH is glorious

Powell is alright: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUDCbOVmSdU (still his best)

Giacchino's animated scores in my opinion are usually his best, specially his old Pixar. As for John Powell, he too, excels greatly in animation where he, like theo others, can greatly let their imagination go wild. Powell is one of my many favourite composers due to that.

I planned to keep this as a surprise, but seeing I'm in extreme need of technical help if I want to go on with it, I have to make a reveal. Yesterday I was listening to Nichijou's wondeful BGM again, and I decided it was time for me to substitute my rips with no logs/cue with something proper more worthy of this wonderful score. So, I set out on the "adventure" to find the CDs online to download (since, as much as I'd love to own them physically, is near impossible due to them being in expensive BD/DVD boxes that will be out of stock eventually) to give them a proper, worthy rip. I started going through chinese rips and Google, but I had no luck with it. At a last resort, I went through some RAW torrent packs of the anime and eventually luckily managed to grab the full Nichijou music collection in cue/log/flac ready to split, and the Bonus CD's in another batch in .wav format with cue and log. Also, I found some neat behind the scenes video of the BGM recording of the anime.

My plan was to re-rip the CD's with EAC, using a virtual drive, and mounting the .cue on it and doing the work. Eventually, EAC would rip the discs almost as if I was ripping it physically, would create a new log, etc.. in short, it'd create a new, proper presentation of the CD's, the best there will be for now, unless someone has the CD's in hand and does a 100% rip himself. I was planning to do this, and recompile and upload them all here in this thread, alongside the bonus behind the recording videos. But, alas, my plan isn't going well so far.

There seems to be a problem. When I try to mount the BGM CD's cues to my Alcohol Portable Virtual Drive, there's an error. It says it can't recognize the disc, that maybe it's formated. And apparently it does this for the whole 13 bonus CD's, including the second batch of rips that even have .wav files instead of .flac. This error that I don't know where it comes from, is haulting my plan so far. It isn't a format problem; what's inside the cue is in japanese, but in true UTF-8, so it's alright, that can't be the issue... and the other CD's that aren't bonus CD's, can be readable and ripped with the cue mounting..

Also, I found some neat behind the scenes video of the BGM recording of the anime.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NErjOyP928

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NErjOyP928

Yes, basically that. :P But on .mkv and complete.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NErjOyP928I've always been amazed at how good Kyoto Animation is with their scheduling and logistics. Most other anime studios wouldn't even give their composers a proper storyboard or even a script for a TV show.

Can anybody help me with my cue/mounting on virtual drive problem?

Also, I really love how the japanese sometimes don't mind giving a budget for a proper orchestra music in their anime. Any other country would just go cheap computer music and done.

Ah crapbaskets, should have checked Tanaka's blog sooner,

he was featured on the Japanese Television program "Enter the Music" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tSPdQJ3xSM), a 30 minute concert performance with the Kansai Philharmonic. He also announced that he is delighted to give concert performances all around the world (recently in China) to push "Cool Japan".

I feel that right now, despite Hisaishi being far more famous, he's slowly reaching Willams level of prestige.

It was broadcasted on BS Japan, July 24, 23:00.

He also announced that he is delighted to give concert performances all around the world (recently in China) to push "Cool Japan".

I feel that right now, despite Hisaishi being far more famous, he's slowly reaching Willams level of prestige.I hate "Cool Japan" and everything it stands for, but this is great news. If Hisaishi is the Williams of Japan, Tanaka is the Goldsmith. He's worked on dozens of cornerstone big-name franchises, so him getting this recognition is well-deserved. And despite being in his mid-60s, age doesn't slow him down in the slightest. I hope he continues for at least another decade.

Well, I think Tanaka meant it in a joking manner, like "Cool Japan is really a thing, huh?" and not the actual campaign.
The program specifically lists Tanaka as a composer that "represents" Japan/Anime Music, whatever that counts.


And if Williams is up for Episode IX if health allows it, Tanaka's work is far from over ;)

So what he's doing is not affiliated with Cool Japan then? I guess that clears things up, because someone like him is usually not the type of musician that program tries to promote.

You can rest assured: He got nothing to do with it. But you have to admit, this picture would actually fit :D



Regarding Goldsmith, I think a more adequate equivalent would be Sahashi, who scored a few major franchises but otherwise got not the extremely popular ones and scores "under the radar" for most people. Not to mention Sahashi quotes him over and over again in his work.


I feel Tanaka is very similar to 80s experimental Jerry, but you have to give it to him that he sounds completely unique.

You won't find a score like Gravity Daze 2 anywhere on the planet and for that he has my greatest respect (and for many other things).


One day he writes an operatic stageplay, the other day he jams with his band and the next day he fills a full concert of people just with his piano and voice. And all the time it seems like he enjoyed it all more than even the audience.

Well, I was speaking more of their reputations rather than their music, which is where the Williams-Hisaishi comparison came from. I don't think Sahashi gets as much renown in Japan as Tanaka, especially in recent years since he's been far less active than before. I would say that Sahashi is more comparable to Morricone, in as how Morricone gave the definitive musical style to westerns and cowboy films, Sahashi did so for giant robot anime (and possibly Sentai works, which I am not as familiar with). In fact, I think Sahashi has worked on more mecha anime than any other composer out there. He's given it a definitive, distinctive sound that gets emulated to this day even in games like Ace Combat.

Musically, I find Tanaka is far closer to Williams than either Sahashi or Hisaishi, including his shared jazz pianist roots with Williams.

Say that to Kohei "Morricone Jr." Tanaka :D


And sorry, no, Tanaka is THE king of mecha, and he scored two completely different Gundam entries.

Gunbuster - THE Mecha with the most famous march in the genre.
GaoGaiGar - Mecha with one of the most well known tunes from the genre.
Sakura Wars - (Steampunk) Mecha with some of the greatest tunes ever
Overman King Gainer - Mecha with one of the most smashing openings ever
08th MS Team - Mecha with a glorious symphony attached
G Gundam - Mecha with kickass 80s goodness
Diebuster - Mecha with famous march v2


Sahashi was Gundam at its peak but otherwise there's what, FMP and Big O? Hardly as influental. I wouldn't classify him as a "mecha composer" at all.
In the Tokusatsu world Sahashi had far more of an impact. But his style in that soundworld is not entirely unique and has some imitators.
His work for it made him the king of orchestral funk and this style is imitated by Hiromi Mizutani this very season.

What makes Sahashi glorious are works like Simoun, Element Hunters, Kurumi, Gunslinger Girl and Cyber Forumula, hardly mecha.
So why not skip the "robot" part and conclude that Sahashi was the king of the anime score in the 2000s, but in the long run, Tanaka won.



Morricone gave the definitive musical style to westerns and cowboy films

I would also throw Copland and Bernstein into the pot.


(btw love talking about this)

There's also Dendoh, Wataru, Rayearth, Ryu Knight, and Sacred Seven (sort of mecha). SEED was two seasons and FMP was three, and if all goes well he might be back for the fourth. I would definitely include Cyber Formula as well since the story had a lot of Gundam elements and was made by the same director as SEED. And also given his extensive involvement with Tokusatsu, which is at times an extension of mecha, I think that puts him over Tanaka when it comes to just numbers. I would also consider Diebuster and Gunbuster to be part of the same series. But you are right- Tanaka has produced music for more iconic mecha shows. But I still hear more Sahashi impressions nowadays than Tanaka ones. Even Iwasaki, who almost never emulates other Japanese composers, did so freely once for Sahashi (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wjf-ChOkzq4), and for a mecha franchise no less. That big-band, brash, brassy heroic sound of mecha is something that I think Sahashi really carved into everyone's minds when it came to that genre.

I really hope he comes back for FMP.

And yes, you're right about Copland and Bernstein. But Morricone and Clint Eastwood are the first things most people will think of when you hear anyone talking about westerns.

Always fun when western composers get to do Japanese movies - Don Davis' live action Japanese remake of Tokyo Ghoul just released overseas, but it's pretty obvious where they tempted his Matrix scores - 'SUV Upside Down' would have fit right into Mona Lisa Overdrive. On the other hand, a new Davis score!
https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B071SJS17G/ref=ya_st_dp_summary?ie=UTF8&psc=1

@Zipper: That was my point, you have plenty of candidates for the "Sahashi" sound but NONE for Tanaka. I think it's simply because NOBODY ELSE CAN. He is what I call a prodigy. You just can't imitate him. The best we got are numerous quotes of the Gunbuster march. That he was/still is an anime and game geek that tries to watch every season and still catch up with the video game scene (recently posted about Breath of the Wild) also makes him very popular among the younger crowd. His Gravity Daze 2 band events were smashing successes. He knows how the fandom operates and revels in it.

By putting himself in the spotlight he now has aquired the status of a composer that "represents" an industry (and the nation). But, to keep myself in touch with reality, still a bit far of from John Williams today who is America's composer #1 and the most influental film composer around the world. In that sense Tanaka is nowhere near Hisaishi. But he's getting up there... Budokan concert incoming????



Sahashi by contrast avoids the spotlight and chose a more refined way to get a prestige status "under the radar", remember he was too humble to conduct a symphony orchestra up to this point and suddenly he helms an opera for a prestigeous Wolrd Masterpiece Theater event. Nowadays he established various connections in the theater and opera scene that I'm sure will pay of.

I bet he will return for more conventional anime projects too. You don't have anime figurines on your work desk well up in your 50s if you are no longer burning for the medium.


EDIT: Regarding the "brass-heavy" sound, Tatsumi Yano and Yasunori Iwasaki did it before Sahashi put his own spin on it.

And regarding the other shows, Dendoh is a show nobody even heared about except us soundtrack connoisseur, Wataru was gold thanks to Asakawa and not Sahashi (at the time) and the show itself is forgotten today, Sacred Saven is more Tokusatsu than mecha (but let's not get into details).

Yes Seed was two seasons, but Destiny was an extension of SEED and not a complete 180 turn in concept and tone and I would consider it as one project.

Today, only Seed and FMP are relevant but can you actually binpoint any big tune out of FMP, other than the A-Team?


By contrast Sakura Wars is EVERYWHERE, and I mean everywhere. One Piece is a global phenomenon and Gravity Daze a smashing hit in Japan. It's like comparing Star Trek: The Motion Picture to Star Wars. Both are milestones in film scoring but only one of them stays relevant today.



@uminoken: Well, Matrix 2 and 3 are extremely anime to begin with (back when Hollywood adaption of Japanese ideas/concepts had great music).


Come to think of it, pretty much all cheese of the 80s like Masters of the Universe (smashing score by Conti) was extremely "Tokusatsu".
And a really ironic anectode of history: One of the greatest killer themes of all time was in essence for a Hollywood copy of a Japanese film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iteRKvRKFA
But today you have a better chance of a Japanese composer quoting Magnificent Seven than Samurai Seven...

Can anybody help me with my cue/mounting on virtual drive problem?

Also, I really love how the japanese sometimes don't mind giving a budget for a proper orchestra music in their anime. Any other country would just go cheap computer music and done.

Why don't you just split the large FLAC files using a proper splitter? Taking the extra step of burning them or mounting them and then ripping them is unnecessary. If they are range rips (entire disc is one large FLAC file) then just split it into tracks.

I wonder what Hokoyama is doing at Abbey Road Studios today?: https://www.instagram.com/p/BXFvnxZFr_F/

Something spooky going on here for sure.


Discussion about Tanaka retiring... and then he smacks us with one new project after the other.
Discussion about Sahashi retiring... and then he announces three projects!
Discussion about one hit wonders Souhei Kanno and Katsuro Tajima wasting away... and then something new shows up!
Discussion about Hokoyama should be at Abbey Road... and then he is!


I think we should get a Hirano discussion going soon :D

Why don't you just split the large FLAC files using a proper splitter? Taking the extra step of burning them or mounting them and then ripping them is unnecessary. If they are range rips (entire disc is one large FLAC file) then just split it into tracks.

I am not burning them at all. I just want to mount them to be recognized like a CD and ripped by EAC because then you get a new, better proper rip and log. It just won't work with some cues and I have no idea why..

---------- Post added at 05:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:13 PM ----------


I wonder what Hokoyama is doing at Abbey Road Studios today?: https://www.instagram.com/p/BXFvnxZFr_F/

Hokoyama is great, and at Abbey Road? Something lovely and orchestrated, for sure. One can only hope. I am happy if it sounds close to AFRIKA.

I am not burning them at all. I just want to mount them to be recognized like a CD and ripped by EAC because then you get a new, better proper rip and log. It just won't work with some cues and I have no idea why..[COLOR="Silver"].
... You are not gaining ANYTHING by doing this. You realize by "ripping" from the mounted virtual drive, whatever errors the original CD image had will be preserved? Just split the image with the bundled cue.

Uhh.... so I accidentally stumbled into a gold mine of orchestral music by young Japanese composers.

Yuya Mori (b. 1986)
Triumphant Return of the Hero (http://picosong.com/vVe8/)
Ride the Prairie (http://picosong.com/vVep/)
Big with Hope (http://picosong.com/vVLY/)

Kenichiro Suehiro (b. 1980)
Athletic Meet of the Space (http://picosong.com/vVC4/)

Natsumi Tabuchi (b. 1989)
Hyper Man (http://picosong.com/vVYe/)
Let's Prepare for the Party! (http://picosong.com/vVeF/)

Kana Shibue (b. 1991)
Heroic Corps (http://picosong.com/vVYP/)
Anthem (http://picosong.com/vVsz/)

Masahiro Tokuda (b. 1984)
Overture (http://picosong.com/vVL6/)


Edit: So most of this is apparently production music (except for Shibue's "Anthem"). I can see some more on a currently inaccessible website (not sure how long it's been down).

... You are not gaining ANYTHING by doing this. You realize by "ripping" from the mounted virtual drive, whatever errors the original CD image had will be preserved? Just split the image with the bundled cue.

You have your ways and I have mine.

---------- Post added at 05:11 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:32 AM ----------

Dragon Quest XI has launched in Japan, and due to the sheer, complete dumbness of "MUH NOSTALGIA" the game has once more been released with (OUTDATED) MIDI music. No sort of live performance aside from the intro. They didn't even bother to actually update the synth to 2017 standards. Just same MIDI the series has been known for. Thing is, the series has been known too for having symphonic music since like, the moment it was born, but it couldn't be done due to limitations. But today there's none, so why do we have to keep listening to MIDI to NEW games of DQ that obviously have the capacities to store live music?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vY9fcvGSGAU

This is a double-edged sword. Same case with Yamato 2199/2202 and other old franchises. On the one hand our misguided mentality "old franchise had symphonic orchestral operatic music, but let's hire some fuckwit and let him play on the dronepatch a bit for our new and improved remake/reboot, that will do" simply doesn't exist over there and they respect the original music to such absurd degree that it makes the original composer blush, but on the other hand that respect goes most often hand in hand with stubornness:

"Don't change anything!!!!" seems to be the credo when it comes to the music for a lot of these projects. Problem is do you want a "remaster" or a "remake", "nostalgia" or something that "will create nostalgia". In Yamato's case the music is absolutely wonderful to hear in our time. 60s and 70s TV music par excellence, absolutely delicious vibraphone WITH THE ROTOR ON!!! and scoring techniques NOBODY EXCEPT THE JAPANESE seems to be able to do anymore, BUT the music often clashes with the updated visuals, at least when its used as stock material.

I can only dream what a locked-picture of Yamato 2199 with reprise of the familiar themes would have sounded like in contrast to updating the original material. The actual original material like the Gamilas theme or the Ark from the movie are superb SciFi scoring, so I really wish there was far more than what we got. BUT if you arrange the various soundtrack albums and listen back-to-back Yamato 2199 is one hell of a revival of 60s and 70s TV glory.

Likewise the wonderful cutscenes from Dragon Quest just clash with completely out of date samples. If it were 2d I would understand but this "pixaresque" quality is wasted thanks to the sound. But on an album the music might work as a nostalgia trip.

I hope the symphonic album more than makes up for this missed opportunity.





@nextday: Now this makes me really depressed that Yuya Mori didn't get Black Clover (TV). Is the OVA score at least bundled with something?

I mean I can understand with the 3DS port, for example, or with older entries. But a new, BIG main entry in 2017 with such updated visuals, with seriously OUT DATED 2000s MIDI? It just takes you completely out of the marvelous visuals. They could've at least tried to update the MIDI and go with streams, there are some surprisingly good of those today that almost sound like a real orchestra. Why instead just make intentionally the same old MIDI we heard in the 2000s due to limitation of hardware, just for the sake of "muh nostalgia"?

The Symphonic Album will hopefully fix this, but it'll be a selection of tracks, instead of the full score, and won't be heard in the game this time, unless someone mods the PS4 or somehow adds the album to the 3DS which is a bit more possible. It's not like, if the music had been done for 2017 standards, the whole score wouldn't have been full orchestrated, probably only the most important games, and the rest is computerized sound that sounds similar, or at least not like it was made in the 90s or super cheap.

Akashi San is absolutely right, and I will add that doing fake rips so that you can offer a LOG and a CUE does NOT make a better rip. In the past, you've attacked some of my earlier rips in the past for their lack of these files, and now you're looking for ways to make pretend rips and fabricate better ones so your uploads will look superior to their original sources? C'mon man, really? ;)

@nextday: Now this makes me really depressed that Yuya Mori didn't get Black Clover (TV). Is the OVA score at least bundled with something?
OVA scores rarely get released. Especially for one that's less than half an hour long. Aside from Mori, I want to hear more from Kana Shibue who wasn't even on my radar before (she works at the same company as Mori).

Ponyo: wav/flac isn't a mountable disc image. You can't (virtually) make a rip from it or get EAC hardware error checking logs out of it. The cue file only says where the individual tracks start and end inside the full-album file.

What you want is something like http://www.digital-inn.de/threads/how-to-repair-rips-using-cuetools.42274/#post-157002

This will compare your download to their database, and hopefully several people did do proper rips of Nichijou which were submitted to the database. No disc mounting required there. It'll repair the file if it's got a minor enough error. Then you save the cuetools log :)

(Also, you can open up the .cue file in a text editor and look for a line near the top like "REM COMMENT "ExactAudioCopy v1.1"". That may at least partially assure you that the rip was probably done right, or not.)

You have your ways and I have mine.


And sometimes, there are right and wrong ways of accomplishing the same thing

Akashi San is absolutely right, and I will add that doing fake rips so that you can offer a LOG and a CUE does NOT make a better rip. In the past, you've attacked some of my earlier rips in the past for their lack of these files, and now you're looking for ways to make pretend rips and fabricate better ones so your uploads will look superior to their original sources? C'mon man, really? ;)


Ponyo: wav/flac isn't a mountable disc image. You can't (virtually) make a rip from it or get EAC hardware error checking logs out of it. The cue file only says where the individual tracks start and end inside the full-album file. What you want is something like http://www.digital-inn.de/threads/how-to-repair-rips-using-cuetools.42274/#post-157002. This will compare your download to their database, and hopefully several people did do proper rips of Nichijou which were submitted to the database. No disc mounting required there. It'll repair the file if it's got a minor enough error. Then you save the cuetools log :)

(Also, you can open up the .cue file in a text editor and look for a line near the top like "REM COMMENT "ExactAudioCopy v1.1"". That may at least partially assure you that the rip was probably done right, or not.)


And sometimes, there are right and wrong ways of accomplishing the same thing

I'm afraid you guys haven't got an idea of what I'm trying to do. I don't blame you; I explain myself awfully, and I don't think it's the language barrier, in Spanish I get the same problem sometimes. But what I intended to do, was to mount the cue on a virtual drive, so EAC would detect it, and I would rip it. In other words, mostly wanted a split of the image by EAC, which also makes a new, better proper log than the original while at it. And no, don't tell me it can't be done - I've done it. I already ripped two or three albums with this method, and the results is a rip which the log scores 95% in the logchecker. A rip which is perfectly good to anyone's standards, the only exception is that it can't be checked for accuracy, which is probably what matters the most to the most hardcore audiophiles.

Honestly, though I used to be like that, only caring about 100% log rips, in fact, to an extent I still do, always prefering a 100% rip when available, but I've changed, now I can deal with a MP3 with no problem til a FLAC comes about, or even a flac without cue/log does me right, for I've learned what matters is the music. Now, considering I want to rip the music so I can get a 95% result in logchecker you'd think that comes off as hypocrite from me, but.. in honesty, what I wanted to do with this, was to get something, at least to me, than what we already had. The Nichijou CD's are super expensive and included in BD-boxes, so I'm pretty aware getting 100% rips or those is something impossible. So what I want is indeed to split the albums, and CueTools is what I used, and it's perfect for that; but it keeps the original log and cue files of the chinese/japanese split files, and that really doesn't check for any torrent tracker as a good rip or any audiophile, at all. The method I wanted to use, makes EAC do a "split" of the image, or a new "rip" that eventually makes a new, better, complete split log from the files. And EAC is the best for that; I assume you can do it with cuetools but it wouldn't count as everyone uses EAC.

I use Alcohol 120% now, mounting the cues to a virtual drive; but it's really weird. It works with some albums, and others doensn't. Some, Alcohol will easily detect the cue with the music inside, but in others, it just won't, and will see the .cue as a .kb file without the music inside, even if it is. And I'm certain, also, that even though the rips are japanese/chinese, they are nicely done.

The point is the log you will be creating is fraudulent. A virtual rip cannot by definition have ripping errors because it is not actually ripping anything, so your "rip" can be full of errors and will nonetheless get a perfect log.

It *can* be done, it just *shouldn't* be done.

If you're doing this to satisfy over-zealous torrent tracker rules, I could understand that - but isn't this the thin edge of the wedge? If you can't rip the CD yourself, you're limited to the LOG provided with the rip you *do* have.

Anything else, and this applies. ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qKcJF4fOPs

I'm doing this to satisfy myself, mostly, the torrent tracker is just a very, very secondary choice.

Okay, then I want to make a new, better log from the image file. How? Still, EAC does it best.. (and in the very secondary choice of trackers, is the only one that they'd accept.)

I just, can split with CueTools, and I know it's magnificent, but you still get the original log, which is from the image file. It barely works to "verify" the rip or to content myself

Intermission for all you passionate folks. From the recent discussion with Zipper I found this very well put together summary of the Sakura Wars franchise, and in english no less (only minor complaints are mispronunciation of names and some narrative kitsch). It was quite interesting how even games like Persona 5 share its roots with this franchise. I for one didn't know there was actually supposed to be a Sakura Wars VI set in Germany... now that's a Tanaka score I would have loved to hear.

Anyway, the video is quite long, touching every little step of this franchise and just how much passion and talent went into it, from choosing VAs that have "lyrical quality" in their voice to the importance of theater and opera.
But here's the most relevant part: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjNeJv1o86A&t=55m32s

I for one feel that this franchise has something big on the horizon. All these recent concert tribute announcments with Sakura Wars as Tanaka's poser work and even this little surprise from the last anime season: http://picosong.com/vXzg/

Something has to happen in the next months/years.

You know what? Fuck it, I've had it with this shit. CueTools is it. Like I've done before. If I want a log and a cue to make me feel better about the rip even if they don't mean shit at all, at least I can do it like this and save me the constant trouble by trying to figure this out.

new, better proper log
You keep saying this and I don't understa-

but it keeps the original log and cue files of the chinese/japanese split files, and that really doesn't check for any torrent tracker as a good rip or any audiophile, at all. The method I wanted to use, makes EAC do a "split" of the image, or a new "rip" that eventually makes a new, better, complete split log

Oh. Ohhhh. The translation issue is the word "better". You mean: you need the cue/log to match the final split form because those trackers actually check that. It's not actually "better" in a quality sense, you only need to make one that matches your final file set because audiophiles have become an EAC log cargo cult. I can get cuetools to generate a new cue, and save a log of its accuraterip check, but it won't do an EAC rip log because it's not EAC and it's not ripping.

Possibly it can't be helped, and this ends with you enjoying Nichijou and that tracker group, um, not enjoying Nichijou.

Nah, don't worry about it. I decided to leave it, and just enjoy the music as it is like I've been doing ever since I got it. But if you know how to do the log thing with cuetools, better.

That is disappointing (RE DQXI) The best part about DQVIII was that part of the music was orchestral. Why the hell would they not even bother with this one? God that will probably make the game un-playable for me with the stock music. Though at this point we don't even know if it will be released at all in the US.

The best part about DQVIII was that part of the music was orchestral.
Actually, the orchestral score was something that was only added with the Western localization of that game (mainly by re-using cues from its Symphonic Suite, a collection of orchestral arrangements that Sugiyama periodically makes for each DQ). The original Japanese release only contained synthesized music, in what I assume was an attempt to save disk space for what was considered to be more important content like areas and events (which was also why the PS1-era Final Fantasy games used MIDIs).

I imagine that if a Symphonic Suite is released some time soon, there's a possibility that Square-Enix could use its music for the game's international release. And I say specifically the Symphonic Suite music would be used, since I don't think any of the Dragon Quest games have used real orchestras for the games; they prefer to use already existing orchestral arrangements if they can (even the PS2 re-release of DQV re-used orchestral arrangements from an album made several years beforehand). I'd like that to be the case, since I really like some of the Symphonic Suites' music, but we'll just have to wait and see.

Actually, the orchestral score was something that was only added with the Western localization of that game (mainly by re-using cues from its Symphonic Suite, a collection of orchestral arrangements that Sugiyama periodically makes for each DQ). The original Japanese release only contained synthesized music, in what I assume was an attempt to save disk space for what was considered to be more important content like areas and events (which was also why the PS1-era Final Fantasy games used MIDIs).

I imagine that if a Symphonic Suite is released some time soon, there's a possibility that Square-Enix could use its music for the game's international release. And I say specifically the Symphonic Suite music would be used, since I don't think any of the Dragon Quest games have used real orchestras for the games; they prefer to use already existing orchestral arrangements if they can (even the PS2 re-release of DQV re-used orchestral arrangements from an album made several years beforehand). I'd like that to be the case, since I really like some of the Symphonic Suites' music, but we'll just have to wait and see.

You are absolutely right; and that is why the orchestral music in the game sometimes sounds a bit off if you listen hard and notice that it sounds like a live recording in a big hall (which is basically what it is) instead of a studio recording where the music doesn't have.. let's say that echo or reverb? At start that threw me off, but the arrangements were so much better I learned to ignore it. Honestly though, don't expect a western release to have the symphonic music. In fact, the re-releases in 3DS of the Dragon Quest games didn't have the orchestral parts in the Western. So I don't think they'd add it.

Right but trying to make that up myself is difficult. As in to replace the game's audio with the proper tracks for the entirety of the game is more difficult than simply playing a symphonic suite in the background while I play the game. I hope they don't force me to do that. Because I sure as hell couldn't finish a game with full on midi score.

It was confirmed either today or yesterday that Dragon Quest XI will be released for us Westerners. If it is anything like DQVIII, they will most likely release the game with the Symphonic Suite tracks.

Also, I was the guy who mentioned FFXII Zodiac Age would be performed by a full orchestra. I found out from a friend of mine who was dining with Sakimoto who said that he (Sakimoto) said that there would be a full orchestra used. I later found out that the strings were recorded in Boston by the VGO and the rest were recorded in Australia (presumably by the same musicians who did that shoddy recording of Tactics Ogre).

What I do not understand (and probably never will) is why the hell would Square hire the LSO for Brave Exvius and Dissidia and not for one of the most mature and cinematic FF scores in the entirety of the series?

They could have easily hired Matsuo or Miyano to orchestrate the music.

Speaking of which, the second album with the rest of the LSO recording will be out Aug, 30.

I just don't understand that Square did go all out for the recording in Prague for Dissidia012, yet for the big event LSO there's little more than a few cues of already recorded music (sans the orchestral pop).

I keep hearing people saying Brave Exvius was performed by the LSO. It wasn't. It was performed by a Japanese studio ensemble, and it sounds like it - C-grade Elements Garden shite with an orchestra.

Right but trying to make that up myself is difficult. As in to replace the game's audio with the proper tracks for the entirety of the game is more difficult than simply playing a symphonic suite in the background while I play the game. I hope they don't force me to do that. Because I sure as hell couldn't finish a game with full on midi score.

Don't get your hopes up - I'm 100% sure the game won't come with orchestral soundtrack in the West.. You'll have to do that.

Hello, everyone! I just added two Takashi Kako's nice orchestral scores:
Saigo No Chuushingura (The Last Ronin) (2010)

https://mega.nz/#F!Q3QCnKga!FpJPhHTACOeRo4ltmZEpmA
and
Taiheiyou No Kiseki: Fokkusu To Yobareta Otoko (Oba: The Last Samurai) (2011)

https://mega.nz/#F!xuJwhb5R!uSI9-lZzU-pKIdKtyVD3vA
both mp3@320
Hope you enjoy it!

Huh, suposedly DQX (the online game) just came out in the latest one-in-all bundle in PS4, Switch, etc. And surprisingly I see orchestral BGM there, in the PS4 version but MIDI in the Switch. I think they let you choose, because there's BGM option. Who knows? Maybe that means the western version of DQ11 may have orchestra after all.

Thanks for these, sysel.

Thank you for this rare album!

Hey guys, I got a question about ripping music from a CD: how do you rip lossless music from a CD, or at least rip music at the best possible quality?

I'm asking because I'm planning to rip music from a rare soundtrack CD for Last of the Summer Wine, and I'd like to get the highest possible quality in case I decide to post it onto the internet. Just for reference, my only knowledge of ripping CDs is doing it in iTunes, and I have a feeling that might not produce the best rips. If anyone can give me some pointers (or at least a better understanding of things like FLACs, lossless, etc.), I'd really appreciate it. Thank you.

You're going to want to look into a program called EAC (Exact Audio Copy). I'm on my phone right now so I can't get into details, but there's plenty of beginner guides on Google. Or just wait and see if someone here will explain it.

PM me, I will give you my EAC profile and some more indications and I will save you the trouble

Use the guides on this link: http://wcdwikimirror.tk/ - EAC for Windows, XLD for MacOS

Rip to lossless (e.g., FLAC, ALAC) for archiving but for sound quality, lossy codecs (MP3, AAC, OGG) are audibly transparent past certain bitrates.

iTunes (now) produces good rips, but it's not the gold standard. EAC is good, though it's getting on a bit and it's somewhat underdeveloped - but it was the ONLY game in town for so many years that it's been kinda hard-wired into people's heads as the only way to produce a quality rip.

dBpoweramp is better, these days - though it costs.


Rip to lossless (e.g., FLAC, ALAC) for archiving but for sound quality

This doesn't quite tell the whole story - a rip to lossless preserves, 100%, mathematically verified, the audio quality on the original CD. If you want your rip to be of the same quality of the CD - which, frankly, should be the absolute MINIMUM standard to be attained in any sort of music listening - a rip must be lossless.


...lossy codecs (MP3, AAC, OGG) are audibly transparent past certain bitrates.

Sometimes, for some people, at massively different bitrates depending on the listener, the type of music, the quality of the original recording, and the quality of the playback.

My issue is this - the CD specification was developed in the 1970s and finalised in 1980 - and that specification was arrived at in a very deliberate way - to adequately reproduce sound at a quality that matches (and, in fact, marginally exceeds) the hearing capability of a human being. If we cannot decide that an audio format that was being created when Michael Jackson was still black, Wendy Carlos was still a man, Queen was at #1, McDonalds had no such thing as as a Happy Meal, Disco was the biggest music genre, and Indiana Jones didn't exist, we might as well return to Edison cylinders and long-wave radio.

MP3 and other lossy codecs were designed out of necessity - to enable us to fit more music in a smaller space, and therefore download more music through slower internet connections - and is useful in applications which DO still have a built-in space limit. Sharing music on the internet, in the year 2017, is not such an application.

We need to stop pushing FLAC and other lossless encoding as some unnecessary extravagance that we don't need to use. It's not. It's CD quality - which is a standard which has stood the test of time because it was designed to do that. Sure, other systems with bigger numbers have come up, and marketing people have successfully created a whole industry around this and people who think they're audiophiles and are willing to say that what they think is more accurate than mathematics and manifestly factual aspects of human physical construction... but that's all meaningless. CD quality, which was created to be good enough forever, and IS good enough forever, is easily enjoyed and transmitted and disseminated electronically. I wish we could simply say "OK, let's stop making actual technical regressions and justify it by saying 'the regression is still good enough for most people most of the time' and just agree to maintain one basic, forty year-old standard that is technically uncomplicated, universally available, and completely trivial to implement in all conditions."

A nextday / Vinphonic co-Production


Taizo Takemoto conducts the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra

Kemono Friends ~Concert in the Forest~

Music composed by Akiyuki Tateyama and Masayoshi Oishi
Arrangements by Erika Fukasawa and Shota Fukagawa



PW: SafariWaltz (https://anon.click/wepon91)

Sample 1 (http://picosong.com/vJWZ) / Sample 2 (http://picosong.com/vJWi)

Concert provided by nextday. Arranged and edited by Vinphonic.
Recorded at Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall, July 30.

EDIT: New version is up with fixed tracks (no clicking) and new (lovely) cover by nextday.


It's more than surprising for me that this went not in the direction of Miku Symphony and actually has far more meat than you would expect and even more music than Kirby!
And despite the obvious "Otaku impression", the concert audience was stellar. Appropiately dressed and dead quiet only letting their excitement show at the very end (but I guess that is the norm in Japan thanks to stellar cultural music programs).

Kemono Friends is one of those weird Japanese phenomenoms you can't quite grasp unless you actually live at the heart of the anime and game culture (like Sakura Wars). When this show started, made with the budget of a McDonalds Happy Meal (Tangotm), could you imagine this would get a full-blown orchestral concert with some really good concerto-esque moments?! And medleys TWICE as long as Kirby despite the fact that this show had no orchestral score whatsoever and not any quality tunes to speak of.

The lion's share of this achievment that this actually sounds good belongs to the arrangers and Erika Fukasawa is surprise, surprise, director of JAGMO.

https://static.wixstatic.com/media/ec5d9b_c4bda8141f9643d7bd8a97205c2377bd.png/v1/fill/w_212,h_237,al_c,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01/ec5d9b_c4bda8141f9643d7bd8a97205c2377bd.png

I can only repeat what I've dug up in various research work. JAGMO is crazy. They completely throw the old-fashioned notion (that still exists in parts of the world) that Japanese musicians are robots out of the window. You can really hear the passion of the players, arrangers and conductors. The more I listen to the existing JAGMO material, the more I am convienced some serious talent is assembled there, and not just music. The presentations of these concerts are absolutely nuts, incredibly charming and not commercial in the negative sense. They have passion en masse but in contrast to many orchestral indy groups, they have the talent and funding to back it up. I hope one of their concerts makes it out on Blu-Ray somehow.



And the concert craze is on full throttle now. The next big one, aside from Tanaka and Mother, is Macross, which should be mostly a tribute concert to legendary Kentaro Haneda but who knows if other entries appear.

The craziest part is that the show premiered in JANUARY of this year. That's right - it took only 7 months for this show to receive a full orchestra concert. Meanwhile, other franchises are coming up on 20 or 30 years without a single concert. Fukasawa has other projects in the works, however I don't think you'll be seeing a JAGMO concert any time soon. I would assume it's an issue with the rights. The way I've seen it explained is that there are three kinds of rights involved with concerts - arrangement, performance, and publication. Often times, the organizers will only obtain the arrangement and performance rights. In order to publish the concert in any form they would need the publication rights, which are held by another entity. Unfortunately for us, that means that a good chunk of these concerts will never see the light of day.


Edit: I'm aware of clicking sounds in track 3. I am re-recording it. An update will be available soon.

Thank you Sysel for these two scores.

Vinphonic - As I should have expected from the cover, this concert is quite whimsical and lighthearted. Not really my style but the recording sounds solid at least.

Yeah, this is not Monster Strike Symphony but it's overall a very nice listen throughout. I enjoyed it a great deal. Certainly unexpected if you actually take the source material into consideration. A very enjoyable afternoon listen.

The quality of sound is alright, not as pristine as Kirby but still more than sufficent. I hope nextday and I can get our hands on far more concerts than what is currently available (but still pretty much impossible to find outside Japan).
So far at best it's another Monster Strike and at worst a nice surprise like Kemono, so as soon as more concerts become available, I'm sure they'll turn up here ;)



...I will also try my luck now: You know what would be really nice, a Souhei Kano concert suite of Fractale (by a symphony orchestra) and a Sahashi tribute concert, but those things will surely never ever happen *wink*

I'm kind of annoyed that neither of Keiji Inai's recent works have turned up anywhere. Sword Oratoria's soundtrack was released over a month ago and it still hasn't hit the internet. The Royal Tutor finished airing over a month ago and, despite above average sales, hasn't even had a soundtrack announcement. I guess it really is difficult for a traditionalist like Inai to gain a following in today's climate.

Inai at least keeps scoring new projects and with decent ensembles. I'm sure when the second soundtrack is available it will be up. Sahashi didn't have a massive fan-following and yet he scored at least two projects a year in the 2000s.
We better hope he knows the right producers and if he has an agent, that he's a top player.

Btw I really miss Sahashi in the anime scene. Now is such a good time to return too. He would have killed Princess Principal (ok, Tanaka as well). This series has some really good background art and Victorian steampunk setting with a spy-movie flair that I feel Sahashi would have nailed it to perfection: The ballroom scene for example would have sounded like real classical music and not some pastiche by Kajiura who sounds like usual, except with saxes.

Thankfully we have Virgin Soul, and Ike did go all out for the recent Romance Episode. On that note Virgin Soul is almost a softer version of a fantasy SEED Destiny for me. Great music, bigger budget and more craft in every art departement... but story, setting and characters are or turned unbearable.


And now that Netflix entered the anime business in full force and since they got some real talent on their projects and Ike already being revealed as a composer, I hope Sahashi gets his grand return for the Saint Seiya Remake.
EDIT: Nevermind Lost Song, while this is an original project, Netflix has only the publishing rights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWEeqQe-S7w

Sahashi won't come back. Sure, he might still score an odd project here and there, but it's very obvious that he's left anime behind him as a career - and equally clear that anime has left him behind as a composer. Call me when we start getting regular (at least annual) Sahashi scores for anime. Masamichi Amano hasn't scored anything for a decade. Sahashi's last anime score - which is now coming on for three years ago - had a lot to enjoy but was embarrassing in comparison to his prior works. Yamashita doesn't do anything except orchestrate for imbeciles and occasionally score cheap shitty kids shows. Kameoka's career as a composer lasted for precisely one series and one movie. Hamaguchi isn't even 50 and his career is basically over. Hisaishi has effectively retired. Hirano is dead to me. Sato barely works. Wada barely works and never really impressed me anyway. Shinji Miyazaki does nothing but Pokemon and really has just turned out the same score repeatedly for over twenty years. Matsuo does barely anything, managing a genuinely good score about every five to ten years. Tanaka is still fairly busy in between turning in outstandingly lazy and cheap synth scores for One Piece, but did his best work nearly twenty years ago. Senju is pretty much invisible now, except for occasionally surfacing with a "new" score that's actually a progressively-less interesting lazy duplicate of his last. (The Museum piece is nice and everything, but only because it's the exact same piece of music Senju has written and re-written and recorded and re-recorded about 500 times over the last twenty-five years.

This is not a good time for anime music... :(

Hisaishi has never really been an "anime composer". He's a film composer that just happened to score some very popular animated movies. When you look at his complete discography, the anime works only make up a small portion.

He's always done a bit of everything. I mean, just look at his recent projects:



A classical album which he conducts, an original contemporary album, a classical concert where he performs piano, a live action movie, a TV special, and a video game.


Edit:

EDIT: Nevermind Lost Song, while this is an original project, Netflix has only the publishing rights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWEeqQe-S7w
That's an odd choice of music. I guarantee that the show will not feature a single piece of orchestral music. Very misleading.

Some truth in it for sure, but masterpieces don't come around every month. Remember how many scores are there around by Horner, Goldsmith, Silvestri and Williams, from start to finish. And how many would you actually label "great" or even "masterpieces". And those were and are the greatest silver age film composers by level of skill. Compared to the overall workload, not as much greatness as one would think. For one Poltergeist, ten scores on autopilot, for one Krull ten imitations and Williams best period from the 80s to late 90s was preceded (and followed) by decades of work that was in comparison childsplay.

Many composer only achieve one great score and then never climb that high again. The league we're talking about is so high up there compared to the rest and has nothing to prove anymore. Simply hearing more of their work would be enough for some. The conditions for a great score or masterpiece are often once in a lifetime.

In Oshima's case, can Fullmetal Alchemist ever happen again? I somehow doubt it. While Tempest and others are more refined than ever there is not that "spark" that makes FMA one of my favorite scores of all time. Perhaps it was a young and enthusiastic Oshima, perhaps because FMA (2003) was a project with philosophical and ancient tragic concepts, perhaps it was the Moscow Orchestra that really gave it their all that day, perhaps it was the specific room and recording, but for me it was a special alignment of planets that made this happen.

Likewise Sahashi might be content after Gundam Symphony, he's got nothing left to prove. He made it to the very top of the world. "Well, what's left? My lifelong dream fulfilled, what do I do now?". Perhaps we have been witnessing him searching for the answer the past 8 years.

And in Matsuo's case I prefer a score like Hellsing and Drifters every five years instead of ten Jojo: Part 1. He really put his mind to it but really, it happened because Hellsing Ultimate is such fullblown extravaganza that only a majestic operatic score could do it justice. The subject matter of his Warsaw scores were fullblown armageddon of ideologies, cultures, clans and myths. Such projects don't come along often.



And regarding the old guard out of business or not welcome in the current anime climate, Oshima, Iwasaki and Sawada still work annually. Technically Sato scores at least two anime projects every year. Right now three films.
Kameoka has Kantai S2 on the horizon, so its not over yet. Matsuo and Saito went to Warsaw for anime projects "only yesterday". We, and especially a certain someone were/was positivly surprised by scores from complete rookies, not even a year ago ;)

Virgin Soul is an anime project that is "scored to picture" for almost every episode. Re:Zero was partially scored to picture. Nichijou was partially scored to picture. Zero Kara was partially scored to picture. And the list goes on. More and more OVAs and film projects are getting scored to picture as well. I say now is a pretty good time to try your luck in the anime business...

I will agree Amano has gone underground (probably to avoid getting sued) but he still works annually, at least I can hear a Warsaw cue conducted by him every year for the last five years. MAGI is by some stretch his score.

Some composers like Ike and Iwashiro actually got "better" or "out of a slump" by scoring anime annually in recent years. So it's not always downhill like Hirano and Hattori.

And technically Sahashi's opera IS an "anime" project. And this would be my hook that he will return for "old" franchise and then get back. I just can't comprehend (as a composer) how you could see and hear your music performed by the LSO three times thanks to a TV anime and not want to continue getting there again. I just can't comprehend that he doesn't care about the chance of an album of his work with the LSO ala Melodyphony. Hell, the LSO would love it too, considering the enormous cheer they gave him.

Hamaguchi: I would object that one's "career" is over if one is attached to two big franchises that print money. And the crew that made Ah My Goddess and Princess and the Pilot is still around, but there are many cases where an anime film or OVA project can take up to ten years to be completed, so there might be another smashing score waiting for us.


Speaking of Hamaguchi, was this ever shared? It's a smashing score I've yet to obtain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DGbKTB_93U&t=2m8s

Spotted this: https://www.facebook.com/marco.streccioni/posts/10211764434539589

Recording session - Anime "Haikara-san"
Music by Michiru Oshima
Performed by: Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra
Orchestra Manager: Slav Slavtchev
Conducted by: Grigor Palikarov
Sound Engineer: Marco Streccioni
Assistant: Gabriele Conti

Oshima is unstoppable right now. :D

Hirano is dead to me.Top 10 Anime Betrayals

But in all seriousness, aren't you being a bit too harsh? Hirano hasn't had a good project in years.

I'm willing to bet everything that Sahashi is going to return in earnest for the new FMP.

I've just popped over to the EAC website (http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/en/), and I gotta be honest, it looks a bit dodgy. Ads all over the shop that seem placed to trick you into downloading other things that you think are the EAC, or ads for similarly named products. Am I going to the right website, or is there a way to easily navigate the website that I'm simply not aware of? On that subject, there's something about registering; is that needed in order to use EAC?

A crap Goldsmith is better than most other people's masterpiece. It's all relative.

Well, OK, Hamaguchi still has a career but just like everybody else who's still working, it results in the production of music that's a mere shadow of what's gone before. Before we had Ah My Goddess recorded in Warsaw, orchestrations for Nobuo Uematsu on Final Fantasy, etc. Please name a substantial orchestral score he's written in the past decade. Girls Und Panzer is a possible candidate but is it substantial the way Goddess was substantial? Kiddy Grade? Etc?

Hirano hasn't had any good projects for years, granted - but with his recent works (I think specifically of Drive Head) he's proven that he doesn't give a shit any more. When a composer stops caring about their music, I stop caring about them. Hirano is still an excellent composer and I expect we'll continue to hear wonderful things from him in the classical world, but again, call me when he writes an anime score up there with Silk Road Boy Yuto.

Amano, yes, we all know he's doing most of the heavy lifting for Sagisu, but the fact remains he hasn't done a solo score for a decade and there are no signs that he ever will again.

I make the point that anime music is NOT as good as it used to be, and that NOBODY in anime is writing at their best or even close to it - Oshima possibly excepted. Good scores still turn up but at nowhere near the rate they used to. Big orchestras still get hired, but at nowhere near the rate they used to. New composers still turn up, but nowhere near the rate they used to.

Do you really think that in 2017 it's possible for a cheap synth hentai composer to suddenly become attached to a runaway mainstream franchise and record eight hours of music for it with the Warsaw Philharmonic, while still in his thirties? There's no work even for the LAST generation, let alone the new one. We've got Kosuke Yamashita scoring Nurse Witch Komugi-Chan when he should be going to Warsaw every six months and scoring Gundam. We've got Takaki doing Precure and now doing *nothing* when he launched his career with a big sci-fi score for NHK recorded with the Kanagawa Philharmonic. We've got Souhei Kano orchestrating for j-pop concerts when he should be in Warsaw too. Higuchi has written half a dozen scores in thirty years.

No, those days are gone. We are witnessing the dying gasps of media music in Japan. The skill is out there but the jobs aren't.

Do you really think that in 2017 it's possible for a cheap synth hentai composer to suddenly become attached to a runaway mainstream franchise and record eight hours of music for it with the Warsaw Philharmonic, while still in his thirties?

Sure, if that composer knows the right people and works for a director/producer that has a certain type of project in the works with enough budget to spent and really loves the sound of a big orchestra, then it could happen today. Have you not seen how obsessed for orchestral music some anime directors are, to the point that it annoys Iwasaki: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGlugB_pnh4

And we both know many famous respected artists and actors over there come from the hentai/AV scene and still continue their original profession despite working on prestige projects.

My point was that for great scores certain conditions must be met, they don't drop out from the sky just because the composer decided he suddenly cares for a project. Take Sakura Wars the Movie, there's something about this project (style, setting, a certain sense of panache) that was perfect for Tanaka's film score sensibilities and he got the chance to score to picture. Likewise, Bastard!! has much in common with the fanatsy aesthetics of the 80s ala Conan that its no wonder Tanaka delivered a Poledouris-esque fantasy score.

Girls und Panzer is lighthearted carefree feel-good bravado for Tank-nerds without any serious stakes so of course Hamaguchi can not go all-out. Just take his Galileo Donna Main Theme or Tamagochi. Give him a real fantasy adventure with 26 episodes and he would knock it out of the park.


The gripe you have comes from composers we love not getting enough or should I say more adequate work that can actually make use of their talents and skills. Frankly, we are not hearing as much good music from them because they are not getting enough projects that are worth a damn.

But I have to say, in no way could you spin the story that media music in Japan is on the decline because some of our favorites are not getting as much work as they used to.

In a year where Yoko Kanno and Hayato Matsuo gave us two of the best orchestral works you can find over there, Hisaishi recorded over an hour of fantastic orchestral music for Revenant Kingdom and smartphone games get genuine symphonic music by Oshima... sorry, I do not see it.

Name any of your favorite Japanese composers. Matsuo? Kanno? Oshima? Sahashi? Amano? They're all in their 50s and 60s. Hisaishi turns 67 this year. This is to say that the "old guard" will only be around for another decade or two at most. I think the point tango is trying to make is that there's going to be no one to replace them when they're gone. The sad fact of the matter is that the young composers of today are not being afforded the same opportunities as previous generations.

RACHEL WORBY
conducts music by
John Williams

(2002)


Track Listing

CD 1 (40:42)

1. The Cowboys: Suite (10:42)
2. E.T.: Adventures On Earth (11:20)
3. Saving Private Ryan: Hymn To The Fallen (6:34)
4. Schindler's List: Theme (4:13)
5. Harry Potter: Suite (7:33) (Arr.: Brubaker)

CD 2 (53:12)

1. Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Raiders March (5:34)
2. Angela's Ashes: Suite (7:24)
3. JFK: Suite (13:03)
4. Star Wars: Main Theme (6:12)
5. Princess Leia's Theme (4:56)
6. The Imperial March (3:10)
7. Yoda's Theme (3:43)
8. The Throne Room and Finale (8:43)

search album lien upload please



Slovak
Philharmonic
Orchestra
SWASHBUCKLERS

(2010)


Track Listing

John Williams: Star Wars Suite
01. I. Main Title (5:39)
02. II. Princess Leia's Theme (5:02)
03. III. The Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme) (3:02)
04. IV. Yoda's Theme (3:51)
05. V. Throne Room & End Title (8:32)

John Williams: The Adventures of Indiana Jones
06. I. Swashbuckler (The Adventures of Mutt) (3:35)
07. II. Marion's Theme (4:26)
08. III. The Crystal Spell (3:43)
09. IV. A Whirl Through Academe (4:01)
10. V. Irina's Theme (4:21)
11. VI. Raiders March (from Raiders of the Lost Ark) (6:30)

John Williams: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Suite for Orchestra)
12. I. Hedwig's Theme (5:11)
13. II. The Sorcerer's Stone (3:23)
14. III. Nimbus 2000 (2:07)
15. IV. Harry's Wondrous World (5:04)

John Williams: E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
16. Adventures On Earth (11:30)

Search album lien upload please



Live from the
HOLLYWOOD
BOWL

(1995)

Track Listing

CD 1 (41:42)

JFK
1. Arlington (5:29)
THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK
2. Balloon Sequence/Devil's Dance (10:07)
FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
3. Suite (9:21)
SCHINDLER'S LIST
4. Remembrances and Theme (11:56)
MIDWAY
5. March from Midway(4:46)
CD 2 (42:18)

JAWS
1. Out To Sea/The Shark Cage Fugue (5:34)
HOOK
2. The Face of Pan (5:07)
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK/RETURN OF THE JEDI
3. The Asteroid Field/Luke And Leia/Parade Of The Ewoks (14:26)
E.T. - THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL
4. The Flying Theme (4:26)
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK
5. Raiders of the Lost Ark (7:09)
FINALE
6. Stars And Stripes Forever (4:48)
7. Wrap-up by Hosts Alex Trebek & Tyne Daly (0:45)

Search album lien upload please



JOHN WILLIAMS
at
The Royal Academy
of Music

(1996)


Track Listing

CD 1 (50:21)

1. Theme from Jaws (2:52)
2. "My biggest joy always..." (2:26)
3. Adventures of Earth from E.T. (9:26)
4. "A poignant farewell to his earth friends..." (1:40)
5. Theme from Jurassic Park (5:22)
6. "Vintage Williams..." (3:39)
7. Five Sacred Trees (Judith LeClaire, bassoon) (24:52)

CD 2 (32:10)

1. "The five trees soliloquizing..." (1:39)
2. Suite from Close Encounters of the Third Kind (7:16)
3. "When life forms from the other end..." (1:16)
4. Remembrances from Schindler's List (Nicola Laud, violin) (6:27)
5. "Remembrances from Schindler's List..." (1:00)
6. Throne Room and Finale from Star Wars (7:32)
7. "Star Wars, the budding Luke Skywalker's..." (2:25)
8. Theme from Superman the Movie (4:17)
9. "Superman, score composed and conducted by..." (0:14)

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JOHN WILLIAMS

LONDON SYMPHONY
ORCHESTRA

LIVE 1998

CD 1 (73:38)

1. Audience (0:35)
2. Audience (0:30)
3. LIVE: Dance of the Witches (5:04)
4. LIVE: Close Encounters (7:44)
5. LIVE: The Lost World (4:01)
6. LIVE: Sabrina (5:56)
7. Episode I Trailer (3:02)
8. Hook (End Titles) (6:07)
9. Feature/Jurassic Park 1 (1:02)
10. Feature/Jurassic Park 2 (0:59)
11. Feature/Jurassic Park 3 (0:47)
12. The Raiders March (1:48)
(Radio Promotional Edit, 1989)

IMAGES (1972)

13. In Search of Unicorns (04:05)
14. The House (02:37)
15. Dogs, Ponies & Old Ruins (02:15)
16. Visitations (02:54)
17. Reflections (03:16)
18. The Killing of Marcel (03:14)
19. The Love Montage (04:49)
20. Blood Moon (03:16)
21. Land of the Ums (01:45)
22. Nightwatch Rise (02:55)
23. The Waterfall and the Final Chapter (04:21)

CD 2 (72:45)

1. Audience (0:29)
2. LIVE: The Cowboys (9:26)
3. Tuba-Concerto (17:59)
4. LIVE: The Reivers (with Narration) (18:17)
5. LIVE: JW salutes the LSO/Raiders of the Lost Ark (6:30)
6. LIVE: Star Wars: Throne Room and Finale (10:31)
7. Fox Fanfare/Star-Wars-Mix (9:33)

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BOSTON POPS ESPLANADE
ORCHESTRA

LIVE FROM TANGLEWOOD

(1999)

Track Listing

John Williams: Hook
1. The Banquet Scene (5:38)
2. The Face Of The Pan (4:51)
3. Flight To Neverland (4:53)

Max Steiner (arr. John Williams)
4. Now, Voyager! (7:34)

David Raksin (arr. Angela Morley)
5. Laura (3:48)

John Williams: The Phantom Menace
6. The Flag Parade (4:37)
7. Anakin's Theme (4:22)
8. Duel Of The Fates (Without Chorus) (5:44)

John Williams: Star Wars
9. Main Title (5:44)

John Williams: E.T.
10. Flying Theme (3:43)

Bonus Track (Recorded at the Millennium Gala, Dec 31, 1999)
11. Excerpt from 'The Unfinished Journey' (2:30)

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I use Alcohol 120% now...

Holy crap---it's amazing you get anything done with that kind of drinking.

[Edited: I need to cheer up and go to sleep.] :)

[Edited: No! I enjoyed our discussion and you made many good points.] ;)

I don't see the future looking as bad as tangotreats sees it. Sure, with Hollywood, it's fucked, there's barely a hope with it, too mainstream. But Japanese? There are so many talented people, and the Japanese have a love towards music, and somehow, unlike the US, production companies don't have a trouble shelling out some money for a TV show, documentary, anything, having a orchestral score. I've been surprised how many slice of life, common, normal ordinary anime have had great orchestral music, so it's obvious there'll hopefully be some surprises in the future.

Ponyo!

Thank you.

In that case, I will repeat (actually, I say repeat - but I can't remember if I've said it before) my theory: Japan is Hollywood 20 years ago:

Hollywood 1960s = Japan 1980s - Orchestral scoring has substantially given way to scoring in styles that more closely represent contemporary popular music. Nonetheless, good scores still come in..
Hollywood 1970s = Japan 1990s - Orchestral scoring comes back, we get some genuine classics of the genre - history will remember this as the golden age of film music.
Hollywood 1980s = Japan 2000s - Orchestral scoring is still around, and the old guard make subtle changes to their styles - streamlining here and there - but by and large fantastic scores still occur on a pretty frequent basis.
Hollywood 1990s = Japan 2010s - The rot begins to set in - superb scores ARE still written but less often and at a markedly reduced quality to previously - but the overall trend is downwards. The old guard choose to change their styles even further to stay relevant, stick with their original styles and only score projects that specifically want a throwback, or retire. A handful of newcomers arrive who seem extremely promising but start big and decline very rapidly after their first score. Most newcomers are terrible and generic but they rise quickly and before you know it they're scoring almost every major franchise. Identity falls away.

I therefore predict...

Hollywood 2000s = Japan 2020s - All bets are off - most of the old guys are retired or semi-retired, although some of them re-appear from time to time to write a fairly lightweight score that is not in any way comparable to their works of 15-20 years previous. Almost all of the new guys are terrible. Of those who aren't, none manage to sustain a career in composition and move to arrangement, the concert hall, or completely leave the industry. Very occasionally something that bucks the trend will come out but it will likely become a deliberate throwback.

and

Hollywood 2010s = Japan 2030s - Quality scoring effectively dead. Sometimes something comes up that is only 97% crap and we cry with joy because "things are going in the right direction again" - but we all know the truth because the writing's been on the wall for twenty years.

Even before my team of researchers dives into this, I think it's far too early to determine that with absolute certainty. I would get behind that notion IF until 2020 nothing substantial gets written by all of the usual suspects.
Until then I remain skeptical of this issue.

With Hollywood we can say with absolute certainty because it's a trend that lasted now a good 20 years and has gotten to the point that a wall of computer-generated noise is now praised as a "score of the year" by default. The bottom is already breached.

As I see it now, most often its simply a matter of a WRONG choice of composer and not that the circumstances are wildly different. The actual approach of using an orchestra the old way and even scoring some scenes to picture is still very much envoke and desired.
Last year Wada still scored his projects the same way as 20 years ago. Tanaka recorded music the same way he did 20 years ago (Endride is proof enough) and the year before Kantai, Rokka, Shirayuki and Gate (synth aside a Hollywood score) happened. And the year before we got Bahamut. And that's just the TV scene. And we should not forget that Yamashita, Senju, Tanaka, and others are also University professors. That takes a huge chunk of worktime.



I would also add that it's a whole other level from Hollywood. Afterall that industry started with Ben-Hur, Taras Bulba and Psycho and the 80s workload of Japan at that time doesn't compare in my opinion.

But to go along with that theory... IF it turns out you're absolutely spot on about all of this... then where the fuck am I supposed to get my kicks from in the future? Waiting all three years until a Spanish indy film drops? Hope that 90 year old Oshima is scoring yet another remake of Casshan? Or just back to Beethoven? Nah, that won't happen...

Tango:

https://media.tenor.com/images/1a816b95bdf805797e14ddaade664db0/tenor.gif

Edit: It's a joke. Please don't riot at me yet.

My little brony!

Hollywood 1990s = Japan 2010s - The rot begins to set in - superb scores ARE still written but less often and at a markedly reduced quality to previously - but the overall trend is downwards. The old guard choose to change their styles even further to stay relevant, stick with their original styles and only score projects that specifically want a throwback, or retire. A handful of newcomers arrive who seem extremely promising but start big and decline very rapidly after their first score. Most newcomers are terrible and generic but they rise quickly and before you know it they're scoring almost every major franchise. Identity falls away.

I therefore predict...

Hollywood 2000s = Japan 2020s - All bets are off - most of the old guys are retired or semi-retired, although some of them re-appear from time to time to write a fairly lightweight score that is not in any way comparable to their works of 15-20 years previous. Almost all of the new guys are terrible. Of those who aren't, none manage to sustain a career in composition and move to arrangement, the concert hall, or completely leave the industry. Very occasionally something that bucks the trend will come out but it will likely become a deliberate throwback.

and

Hollywood 2010s = Japan 2030s - Quality scoring effectively dead. Sometimes something comes up that is only 97% crap and we cry with joy because "things are going in the right direction again" - but we all know the truth because the writing's been on the wall for twenty years.The problem with your comparison is that in Japan, studio execs are not actively temp-tracking their composers, nor are they demanding a certain specific musical style. Every composer old and new is still given nearly total freedom (with a few suggestions by the director) and allowed to score with whatever means they want depending on the budget. If they want to go to Warsaw to record their music, money is the only thing stopping them, not some big producer wanting them to sound like Zimmer. This may happen in the future, but as it is now, I see no signs that the anime industry is going to start treating its musicians like in Hollywood.

I also think you're viewing the 90s with rose-tinted glasses. Most of the music I remember from that era was cheap synth of the worst quality, with very few composers having access to even a small ensemble. Nowadays, any musical project in Japan is guaranteed at the very least a decently-sized string ensemble with a couple other instruments thrown in. Meanwhile in Hollywood right now, most composers like Mr. Holkenborg would gladly "compose" the whole soundtrack with just their sample library and pads.

Anime music continues to have tons of variety and individual styles shining through, with no limit to any genres or styles of music being composed. That level of freedom to write anything is something that no other current film music industry in the world has the luxury of having. What pisses me off the most about Hollywood is that composers are often giving all the resources they need, with an 80+ piece symphony orchestra at their disposal, yet they don't have the freedom or time or skill to use it as they please. It's the complete opposite of Japan's musical problems, where skilled composers do not have enough money or resources to bring out their full vision.

Even then, it seems to me like you're upset not because of this state of affairs, but because the composers that you like are not writing music in the style that you most enjoy hearing from them, and are not as active as before. And no matter what the newer guys write, you will never ever see them surpassing the Hirano and Amano and all the others that you worship. You sound like one of the old baby boomers on VSL who constantly complain about how the Silver Age composers are all watered-drown trash compared to the Golden Age. I understand your disappointment, but this situation is incomparable to Hollywood's.

Until Sawano is able to establish a large ring of composers working under his name and his musical style becomes the norm that all directors and producers demand their composers to write like, I don't see any cause for panic.


Have you not seen how obsessed for orchestral music some anime directors are, to the point that it annoys Iwasaki: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGlugB_pnh4He clearly was not on good terms with the director due to the temp tracks, but going from that video I would say he gave the conductor a much harder time. If he knew Polish, I have no doubt that Iwasaki would kick him off the podium and take control himself. Mario Klemens isn't just some nobody that you can boss around, but that didn't faze Iwasaki one bit. What I found strange was that not only were many of the recorded Warsaw cues used in the film not included in the soundtrack for Agito, Iwasaki also personally re-recorded some of the cues with his own smaller Japanese ensemble, and for whatever reason, threw both the original Warsaw cue and his own cue onto the soundtrack as a way of saying "I did better than you!" to Klemens (i.e. replacing "Chikara no Bousou" with "Soukougeki"- he also didn't give many of the Warsaw cues proper names beside the usual generic "M-##"). I often wonder if his forays into other genres was because if his own standards for pure orchestra were too demanding/time consuming for him to properly accomplish.

I honestly agree with you in your point of view of this, The Zipper.

If I limit myself to the anime front, here's what I've dug up:

So after I compared my favorite anime scores from each decade I can conlude that the 2000s were just as strong as the 90s, if not more so. The 2000s have an insane output of scores that are masterpieces to me, from Gundam SEED to Fullmetal Alchemist.

BUT Tango is right that the current decade has far fewer great stuff (for me) than the previous two.

We have Fractale, Nichijou, Drifters, Broken Blade, Bahamut, Virgin Soul, Dantalian, King of Thorn, Sawada's Island of Miracles and Mermaid King, Tempest, Shirayuki, Rokka, Gunbuster Symphonic Poem, Arslan Symphonic Poem, World still Beautiful, Chihayafuru, Codebreaker, Victini, Princess and the Pilot, MAGI, Girls und Panzer, (Berserk = Amano), Fafner, (Kado = Parts of it), and more I'm not quite remembering right now.

BUT this decade is not over yet and it has probably the most scores I enjoyed or find interesting out of them all, from Captain Earth to Alderamin to Re:Zero to Izetta.
Aside from the orchestral stuff we also have more diverse quality of music in anime projects, from Funk to Jazz. And more and more TV shows turned "cinematic" with real opening and ending title scrolls, and are getting scored to picture.

Many talented composers assembled their own companies to assure their creative freedom, from Tanaka's IMAGINE to Yugo Kanno's OneMusic.

It's no wonder Hollywood composers let this happen. If you actually watch any videos of them sitting together, you get visual contempt from Elfman for Zimmer and Powell responds to the question if he listens to the music of his colleagues with "No, why would I listen to Film music in my freetime?!". We find out they pretty much live in the same street together but they never meet, they stay separate and they hate each others guts, probably. Mike literally lives two streets away from Williams but never met the master. That's just the nature of LA/Hollywood.

Meanwhile, Japanese composers are incredibly close-knit (except Sahashi somehow), drink together and buy each others music and comment on it. I get prallels to the classical and romantic period, because composer of that era commented on each others music all the time, there was rivalry, laughs and friendship. There was an international community of musicianship. Ravel studied under Korsakov and Mahler effectivly sent Korngold to Hollywood and bam... Sea Hawk and King's Row. You can trace it all back: From Willams to Korngold, from Korngold to Mahler and the list goes on.

A similar kind of musicianship and community exists in Japan today.

Right now a current generation of media composers is trained by Tanaka, Senju, Yamashita and Sahashi. Whether that will turn out well, is questionable, considering Kato trained under Haneda but at least they try their hardest to teach their skills to a new generation. Senju is pretty much the king on campus, he even has his own recording facilities. NOBODY would dare dictating something to him. Same goes for "Prof. Yamashita" and "Prof. Tanaka".

I have researched time and time again that they take music incredibly serious. Even if current anime is not graced by their presence, there's more quality music made around it.

If you actually watch any videos of them sitting together, you get visual contempt from Elfman for Zimmer and Powell responds to the question if he listens to the music of his colleagues with "No, why would I listen to Film music in my freetime?!". We find out they pretty much live in the same street together but they never meet, they stay separate and they hate each others guts, probably. Mike literally lives two streets away from Williams but never met the master. That's just the nature of LA/Hollywood.

Meanwhile, Japanese composers are incredibly close-knit (except Sahashi somehow), drink together and buy each others music and comment on it. I get prallels to the classical and romantic period, because composer of that era commented on each others music all the time, there was rivalry, laughs and friendship. There was an international community of musicianship. Ravel studied under Korsakov and Mahler effectivly sent Korngold to Hollywood and bam... Sea Hawk and King's Row. You can trace it all back: From Willams to Korngold, from Korngold to Mahler and the list goes on.I think this is especially significant when you consider that most people have a tendency to keep to themselves in Japanese society. For all the composers to be so close to one another and be actively commenting on one another's work shows how lively their community is in comparison to not only Hollywood, but the rest of Japan. Composers of all ranges of personality types and all styles of music are able to not only get along with one another, but to treat each other as friends and friendly rivals, all while sharing a beer.

Sure, there may be less pure symphonic orchestral soundtracks than before, but that has less to do with the composers and more to do with the current types of anime being made. Your typical isekai harem crap is not going to need a full-blown Warsaw concert.

Sure, there may be less pure symphonic orchestral soundtracks than before, but that has less to do with the composers and more to do with the current types of anime being made. Your typical isekai harem crap is not going to need a full-blown Warsaw concert.

Hahahahaha... Escaflowne is Isekai! and Harem with orchestral scores were not unusual back in the day ;) Right now Masato Coda demonstrates that big orchestral scores for Isekai shows are very much desired. I can repeat that it's not the climate but purely the choice of composer that will determine a score's quality, for better or worse. If Yoko Kanno had scored Knights & Magic we would have Escaflowne crossed with Macross Frontier recorded in Warsaw, if Sato scored it we would have another Eureka Seven scored by a domestic studio orchestra... (I'm not talking about the quality, just the sound we would get)

It all depends on who gets the job, and so far Yamashita and friends are occupied with other things that prevent focusing on getting the big gigs.

I believe we're not giving enough credit to the newer generation of composers that keeps popping up: Souhei Kano, Yoshiaki Fujisawa , Go Sakabe, Taku Matsushiba, MICHIRU, Taisei Iwasaki, etc. Sure, some of them are currently much more active than others right now in the anime scene, but they show promise nevertheless, and the living proof that THERE IS in fact young japanese composers willing to go the extra mile and continue the work of the old giants.

I'll say this though, there has been less artists nowadays that has develop less of a "distinct voice", for the exception of Souhei Kano, and more to do with the fact that "her/his music is so Sahashi-esque!!!". As much as I wouldn't mind hearing more tributes to said composers, I want to hear them developing their own pastiche rather than being living clones in the future, a little of inspiration won't do much damage either. Back then, five or less notes of music were enough for me to differentiate that this was Hisaishi, Oshima, Tanaka, Hirano, Asakawa, Kanno, Matsuo, Hattori, Hamaguchi, Amano, and so many others!

Compare this to Hollywood were there's almost to none for a brand new "generation"... or just Williams wannabe's, yeah not so bright, is it? :(

Anyone knows if there's been reissues of the first Nichijou volumes without the bonus CDs? I'm seeing them in Amazon JP at a lower price than usual, and it's making me wary if these are just one warehouse wanting to rid of one copy, or a reissue without the CD and just a normal case, like here:

https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B004V1ZBY4/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_8?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2OB84F7ILT32F

It's really annoying that the only way to physically possess and support this show and its wonderful BGM is by having to go through 13 expensive volumes... why hasn't all of the BGM been released in a commercial disc?

Your best bet is probably waiting a few years until the 10th anniversary. Haruhi and Lucky Star both got CD boxes for their 10th. If we're lucky, maybe other KyoAni shows like Nichijou and Hyouka will receive the same treatment.

Then again, Haruhi and LS were extremely popular and sold 30-40k copies per volume. Hyouka performed above average at around 10k, but Nichijou only sold a break-even 3k.

I finally gave it a try to actually watch episodes instead of skits in Youtube, and damn, is it hilarious.. and addictive. I don't even realize the time that passes when I'm watching an episode and I wanna go directly after the next one. I really think a few years later the show has gotten a bit more of love. Don't think it's gonna get a second season ever (I wish) but damn, is it good and funny.

Well. I hope they listen to you and it happens even if I have to wait. After all, really, is a bit of a dumb way of thinking. Having such good, expensively produced BGM and not selling it out of the original BD volumes.. I guess they wanted to make them special just due to that. But I really can't wait for a proper complete CD release. What's the Lucky Star CD box you're talking about?

Then again, 3k is too little. I think it wasn't because people didn't like it, more because it was released while the 2011 accident happened.

Hahahahaha... Escaflowne is Isekai! and Harem with orchestral scores were not unusual back in the day ;) Right now Masato Coda demonstrates that big orchestral scores for Isekai shows are very much desired. I can repeat that it's not the climate but purely the choice of composer that will determine a score's quality, for better or worse. Escaflowne is far from what I would consider "typical"- I was referring more to shows like "In Another World With My Smartphone" and the upcoming "Death March to a Parallel World". Those are the types of shows that currently dominate the market, and very very few of them take themselves more seriously than your typical romcom. I question if any of these shows even have 1/10th the budget of Escaflowne, nevermind how much of that money is put into music. To compare Escaflowne to those kinds of shows is just mocking it.

I see new composers pop up all the time with distinct voices, most recently with Michiru from Izetta and Yuta Bandoh from (YoI). Yes, they clearly have been inspired by their contemporaries (In Michiru's case, a blend of Kanno and Kajiura), but the same could be said for most Silver Age composers compared to their Golden Age contemporaries. Not to mention, pretty much every new composer out there is extremely well-educated and could single-handedly spank most of current Hollywood with just a paper and pencil.

Many of the best composers out there will take at least a decade or so of working before they can even establish a distinct voice for themselves- even people like Williams had to go through that process. But at the very least, they have all the fundamentals ready with money being the only thing really preventing most of them from delivering a symphonic masterpiece.

Remember, unlike Hollywood, people like Sawano and Masaru Yokoyama are in the minority.

Meanwhile, Japanese composers are incredibly close-knit (except Sahashi somehow), drink together and buy each others music and comment on it. I get prallels to the classical and romantic period, because composer of that era commented on each others music all the time, there was rivalry, laughs and friendship.
I think there was a time when Hollywood was like this. In the Golden Age composers worked for studios directly, so there would have been rivalries and friendship among colleagues. Even up until the 80s there was a lot of respect from the younger composers towards their seniors. Horner, for example, was known for sitting in on Goldsmith's scoring sessions.

And now you have young composers arrogantly trashtalk orchestral players because the sound can't match what they conjured up on their workstations... progress!







EDIT: At this point anime scoring is a roulette game... after years of nothing, Conisch returns, so yay for more Silvestri!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B8Ie4bxabo

More to come later, but THAT is a surprise! And it sounds like he has a budget. There was something I really liked about Linebarrels. It was really modern and really old-fashioned at the same time. Plus who can hate a score with the Ondes Martinot? It was one of the few modern scores where electronics and the dreaded over-percussion actually really works well together.

Pokemon The Movie 20: I Choose You! Suite
Shinji Miyazaki, Akifumi Tada, Junichi Masuda, Hirokazu Tanaka, Shota Kageyama, Go Ichinose

Orchestral/Funk/Rock



(Arrangement by pensquwak)



MP3 (https://www.mediafire.com/file/xunv545gk7wl9xr/PKM20ICY%20MP3.mp3)


FLAC (https://www.mediafire.com/file/ygihr3x96za1k2o/PKM20ICY%20FLAC.flac)

So it has finally arrived, and I can't help but feel a little nostalgic. Shinji Miyazaki was always worth my respect, ever since his great incorporation from the Pokemon games themes translated into the anime from the 90's, while adding his own spice into the orchestra, he's everything I also adore from Tanaka: superb sense of melody, harmonious passages, and a wide array of styles, not as much as the latter lately, but well incorporated as he does. I saw some posts ago from this thread if there was ever a candidate in similar style and fashion to Tanaka's music, and Miyazaki always comes to my mind, in fact, he was involved in the arrangement of the many songs and tracks from the Sakura Wars anime franchise led by Tanaka, accompanied at times with Akifumi Tada, who's been collabing with Miyazaki for years already now (You can even hear that famous SW bell synth used here).

Back to the main reason of this post, despite all, one of the main known flaws from his music has been always been it's length. IT'S SO DAMN SHORT and it's a frustrating fact that there's some much that he could expand, but sadly restrained from the pacing of the show. The newest addition of Pokemon movies is not the exception, so I decided to make my own suite piece by selecting 36 tracks from 54, it was perhaps my hardest task yet to think of the order it would go. As I finished, I realized, the music is a ton more enjoyable when you get the sense of flow from piece to piece that tells a story, and I'm very proud with the results! I did both mp3 and flac links if you're interested enough. No plugins added, just my arranging ear and a bit of your typical hair pulling and headdesking process. Enjoy!

Gotta turn a 180 and jump behind Tango. This is a massive disappointment for me and a perfect example of the nostalgia problem I've addressed before.
This would have been a prime chance for another Victini or something even greater but NO, just rehash (rerecord) the same old music that has been recycled for over a decade.

For a supposed anniversary, something really special, and some really stellar artwork, I expected far more than what we got and had to pass on the soundtrack, despite some stellar moments. Like pretty much all the movie scores as of late. He and his colleagues are miles better in the recent TV scores but they won't get released for years and won't be complete.

"Don't change anything" mentality has another victim :(


But rest assured, your arrangement is the only worthwhile thing from this wasted opportunity and is actually saving it for me (listening as I type ;))

Thank you :)

I agree - the remixes are pretty dissapointing and sound way more amateurish and worse than the originals which is a lot. Some sound the exact same, others with just slight variations. The new cues, some are good, some are dissapointing. I miss Ol' Shinji..

I somewhat agree, the recycling can be as cheap as appealing the old fans nostalgia. Then again, it's a retelling from the first season incorporating elements from the latest, I was already expecting for them to reuse a lot of the already old written work, so I guess I was less dissapointed in that aspect... HOWEVER, recording with a similar sized orchestra... and that's another missed opportunity, it's an anniversary, why couldn't he at least re-arrange the music a little and have, say, the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra?

On the other hand, I gotta ask myself how much new material was written and how much of it was reused (There's even a reuse of an unreleased track from the Entei movie). I really like for instance the track I merged at 5:57 but not sure if it was rehashed or if it's new. Gonna have to dust my Miyazaki discography for a reminder.

Yeah, and I smiled while listening to the Entei cue - because it's one of the good cues when Pok�mon music was so good..

But there's one long-running franchise that has yet to truely disappoint me with ANY of its music entries and from the sounds of it that won't change anytime soon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=In6ot6_gxcM

Ponyo! pokemon!

But there's one long-running franchise that has yet to truely disappoint me with ANY of its music entries and from the sounds of it that won't change anytime soon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=In6ot6_gxcM

Uh... who is this?! It doesn't sound like Masako Otsuka... it doesn't sound like Yamashita... it sounds like the most Kanno-esque Nobunaga since Kanno herself... it has shades of Kanno (the fanfare at the front of the PV at about 0:06, re-appearing at 1:02) but overall I don't think it's Kanno. Listen to that key-change in the fanfare at 0:35... that is deliciously unconventional and doesn't set off any "oh, that's XXXX" in my head. But the orchestration is at times quite Kanno-esque... I want to hear this... AND I WANT TO KNOW WHO WROTE IT!!!

Has a bit of that grand Warsaw sound to me... who might've gotten the honor if that were the case? (We might have to wait till November). The transitions are at times very classical reminiscent than Japanese at some points, especially in the brass sections... it's hard to be sure if this were Kanno, not in a musical but in a more realistic standpoint. Last score for a video game with her name was what, six years ago? (make it 10 if it were with Warsaw). Call me surprised if it were actually the case, but I'm gonna keep on my skepticals and go with another guy, until further information gets confirmed that is.

I agree - the remixes are pretty dissapointing and sound way more amateurish and worse than the originals which is a lot. Some sound the exact same, others with just slight variations. The new cues, some are good, some are dissapointing. I miss Ol' Shinji..
Unsurprising if the music takes a step down. The anime has been going downhill for 12 straight seasons. I think that a series or soundtrack rewrite/retelling is a stupid idea, just like movie remakes.

Darkrai is still best ost

links of both hv downed already... is it prossible to hv them re-up~? thanks in advance~!!




Hello, everyone! I just added two Takashi Kako's nice orchestral scores:
Saigo No Chuushingura (The Last Ronin) (2010)

https://mega.nz/#F!Q3QCnKga!FpJPhHTACOeRo4ltmZEpmA
and
Taiheiyou No Kiseki: Fokkusu To Yobareta Otoko (Oba: The Last Samurai) (2011)

https://mega.nz/#F!xuJwhb5R!uSI9-lZzU-pKIdKtyVD3vA
both mp3@320
Hope you enjoy it!

@pensquawk: As someone that tried to artificially recreate the accoustics of the "Warsaw sound", let me tell you it doesn't sound like the Filharmonia Narodowa (Klub Przyjaci�ł Filharmonii Narodowej), the famous hall where our anime masterpieces are recorded. It sounds like a soundstage, a big one. I'm guessing either Hollywood, Toho, or the stage where they recorded Naotora.

@Tango: Consider this... the game has a tie-in with Naotora, the music is one of its main advertising points ("beauty in harmony and sound") which only really happens if you have a composer with established prestige (but there are exceptions of course) and from an interview, the music will be very "TV (Taiga) Drama-esque". I know who I would bet on, considering it sounds like it was recorded in the same room as Naotora. Of course I also have two possible women I named fangirls of that certain someone, one scoring yuri projects and another the big-event film of the year with the same setting as the game. So I would at least suspect whoever did this is female.

Unsurprising if the music takes a step down. The anime has been going downhill for 12 straight seasons. I think that a series or soundtrack rewrite/retelling is a stupid idea, just like movie remakes.

Darkrai is still best ost

I mean, probably Shinji is tired of doing Pok�mon, now has it as a chore and is out of ideas, inspiration or passion, or something similar, but imo it's been like.. two or three movies? Since 2015 or 2016 that it started, by him continuing to reuse cues from other better movies (for example the Swordsmen of Justice theme, which made me think they were gonna be in the 2015 movie..) or more in 2016 and on.. you must compare new Shinji with old Shinji and it's two different things. In my opinion my favourite scores of his that stand out the most are movie 8 and 15 (2005 and 2012, Lucario and Keldeo) those are my favourite and why I finally own them physically. But I know there's a couple other movies where he does amazing too but I haven't given them a full listen.

@Vinphonic: Upon second inspection, this time with a proper set of mixing headphones rather than ipod earphones, you're correct. Especially Hollywood after I could compare that very musically japanese part from 0:21 - 0:31 with this piece (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZs2JXNgswI) that was also recorded in Hollywood.

Speaking of Naotora

http://picosong.com/vBs8/

There's some stuff to look forward for OST 3 :D

@pensquawk: As someone that tried to artificially recreate the accoustics of the "Warsaw sound", let me tell you it doesn't sound like the Filharmonia Narodowa (Klub Przyjaci�ł Filharmonii Narodowej), the famous hall where our anime masterpieces are recorded. It sounds like a soundstage, a big one. I'm guessing either Hollywood, Toho, or the stage where they recorded Naotora.

@Tango: Consider this... the game has a tie-in with Naotora, the music is one of its main advertising points ("beauty in harmony and sound") which only really happens if you have a composer with established prestige (but there are exceptions of course) and from an interview, the music will be very "TV (Taiga) Drama-esque". I know who I would bet on, considering it sounds like it was recorded in the same room as Naotora. Of course I also have two possible women I named fangirls of that certain someone, one scoring yuri projects and another the big-event film of the year with the same setting as the game. So I would at least suspect whoever did this is female.

Yeah, it's definitely not Warsaw... but it doesn't sound like the same stage Kanno used in Naotora, either... It sounds like you're wanting say "It's Kanno" but not quite wanting to actually say it. ;)

Unless I'm misreading...

My dear friend, whatever do you mean... :p


But if it isn't Kanno or her fangirls that would mean yet another composer who can do it, so either way, we win :D

The implication here is VERY interesting... What if we are seeing the orchestral debut of Kanno #2?

Who is it? What relationship do they have to Kanno? If Kanno is fake, is the new person fake? If so, are they the same "root" person? If this is a completely new composer, how are they sounding a) so good and b) so like Kanno at times and so UNLIKE Kanno at other times, with no prior exposure? If it's someone we know, how come we're not getting a familiar vibe from the music? QUESTIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The orchestration sounds like it could be Kanno. It has those prominent winds and a grand, brassy finale that I associate with her orchestral music. The only thing that makes me think it isn't Kanno is the melody is not as strong as her usual adventurous works because it's not channeling classical music in the usual way. Previous Nobunaga's Ambition scores had lots of Tchaikovsky and Wagner and Prokofiev influences. I often cite the order of composition as being the most important factor in composing: 1. strong melody, 2. good counterpoint (bass line/secondary melody), 3. rhythm. The music in the clip sounds like it put rhythm first, which reminds me more of Yoko Shimomura's style, or even Mitsuda's.

You can hear a couple more samples of Nobunaga's Ambition Taishi here:

http://picosong.com/vZ6H/
http://picosong.com/vZ6h/

It isn't Kanno because the soundtrack is only available as a bonus for buying the limited edition version of the game. Kanno's soundtracks have always been released as standalone albums. Also, I doubt the game developer would be silent about hiring one of the most sought after composers in Japan. This is very mysterious though...

Aaargh, that just makes it even more confusing - particularly the first same you posted... there is something very familiar in there, but at the same time not at all. That blast of slightly dissonant woodwind at 0:18, the descending string flourish at 0:31, and the precise fast-paced snare throughout the piece makes me think of Hirano / Hamauzu partnership in Final Fantasy... but the rest of it... I can't place any of it and yet I feel like I should instinctively know who this is. Ironically, there's no Kanno in there apart from the finale at 1:13 which feels completely tacked on and sounds like a safer, blander version of your typical Kanno fanfare coda.

Do you have any other samples? Or any other information? Or anything at all that's going to help me, because this is going to really eat away at me... ;)

If I had anything more, then I'd let you know. Unfortunately I couldn't find anything on news sites or Facebook/Twitter. No one seems to know who it is. :-(

Hopefully we won't have to wait until November to find out...

You don't hear much modern classical music, do you? The genre is sadly stuffed up with music that's so spectacularly clever and complicated, imaginatively orchestrated, virtuosic... and sounding like complete unmitigated shit. The only movement it inspires in its audiences is moving towards the exit of the concert hall. The audience who are left gain great joy in analysing and overcomplicating and performing algebra on the fugal counterpoint... and even get angry when somebody suggests that music should be an emotional experience - because it challenges the "purity" of their music - which is, in a nutshell, a hugely impressive (but completely boring) equation played on musical instruments instead of written on a blackboard.

I have often told the story of a composer friend of mine who wrote really good music, which everybody liked including me. Then he had an epiphany whilst studying at the University of Snobbery, and overnight he started writing music that was completely unmusical. He couldn't understand why people suddenly didn't like it. I told him it was because it was boring and had nothing with which an audience could form an emotional response. His reaction? Fuck 'em - I write for the aficionado, not for Average Joe! And so now he's busily writing obnoxious, arrogant music that normal people detest, and similarly twisted misanthropes spend many a self-congratulatory trumpet-blowing (pardon the pun) hour going over with a fine tooth comb but never actually listening to it and feeling it.

It's a sad, sad world.

What are your thoughts on Sir Anthony Hopkins' classical music?

Andr� Rieu - And The Waltz Goes On (composed by: Anthony Hopkins) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M57Fi19vcSI)

Anthony Hopkins: Composer - Classic FM (http://www.classicfm.com/store/cds/anthony-hopkins-composer/)

Intermission for something out of the ordinary for me, but since I know there are some persona players in here and I personally love P5 (those nearly ten years of development didn't go to waste), here's a treat:



Shoji Meguro feat. Lyn
Persona 5
Live at Yokohama Arena



PW:TakeYourTime (https://anon.click/pohod67)

And here's a little orchestral suite I put together because what else do you expect from a Japanese rock concert?!: http://picosong.com/vxZJ/ (not representative of the concert)

The concert itself made me aware of two things: First, Persona 5 music is miles ahead of the rest of the series in terms of style and enjoyment, and second: You can really squeeze Tap Dance, Ballet and all other forms of theater into a rock concert, even including a little orchestral ensemble spicing up your jam, all while everyone is dressed as characters from the game. The show was as extravagant as the game itself. Also Shoji not only plays the guitar but is also straight out of the 80s.

Another rather peculiar fact is that, aside from featuring ALL worthwhile stuff from the soundtrack, some performances here actually manage to surpass the soundtrack performances. Don't really know what else to add since its a bit out of my comfort zone but if you have a thing for Funk/Soul/Jazz Rock and some amazing vocal performances in the genre (I do), you'll definitely find something to enjoy here.

If you ever see a Japanese concert uploaded on youtube, DOWNLOAD IT. Maybe someone can put it to good use ;) This one was taken down faster than the Evangelion and Kirby concerts (I really wanted to capture Miyashiro's performance for EVA :(). Unfortunately this version was full of artifacts so I had to edit quite a bit. I succeded (mostly) and you probably won't notice it, but if there's any major problems I overlooked, let me know.

Well, let's say that I don't think he should give up his day job... ;)

In Hopkins' defence, it's basically inoffensive but I find it all very bland... I feel like if you're writing music (pure music, that is - film music is obviously a different kettle of fish) there should be a purpose to it, you should have something new to say, or something familiar said in a new and creative way. I am having a hard time understanding what "purpose" his music serves, other than to allow us to say "Wow, he's an actor who writes classical music, COOOOOL!" - Hopkins the composer is a pure novelty. I mean, why else would this music get a release on Decca with the CBSO? One reason, and one reason only - because a famous guy wrote it and people will buy it for the curiosity.

I am having a hard time understanding what "purpose" his music serves, other than to allow us to say "Wow, he's an actor who writes classical music, COOOOOL!" - Hopkins the composer is a pure novelty.

One thing to keep in mind is that he wrote that waltz over 50 years ago (1964, to be precise), and doesn't consider himself to be a professional composer. He was an aspiring composer even before he became an actor, but never was able to get into music college because he didn't get good enough grades in school. Most of his music was written more as a hobby than anything else, and his waltz only came to be played by Andre Rieu because his wife secretly sent Rieu the score. So I'm sure that he would agree with you about "not quitting his day job".

In his words, "I have been writing music and composing for many years, but I never did anything with it � I'd wanted to be a musician when I was younger, but I wasn't a good student as a kid, so I just dabbled around and wrote this piece, "And the Waltz Goes On", in 1964."

I wonder what would have happened if he had gotten into music college? Would he have composed some grand masterpieces, or been brainwashed into composing technically proficient, yet soulless music ("And the Waltz Goes On" clearly isn't that - it's meant to be enjoyable, not browbeat the listener with its proficiency)? We'll never know, but it makes one wonder.

How We Met: Andr� Rieu & Sir Anthony Hopkins - Independent (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/how-we-met-andr-rieu-sir-anthony-hopkins-8294824.html)

Eh, it's a pretty generic waltz, alright.

Do anyone think the pokemon movie 20 soundtrack is badly mixed?

I mean, probably Shinji is tired of doing Pok�mon, now has it as a chore and is out of ideas, inspiration or passion, or something similar, but imo it's been like.. two or three movies? Since 2015 or 2016 that it started, by him continuing to reuse cues from other better movies (for example the Swordsmen of Justice theme, which made me think they were gonna be in the 2015 movie..) or more in 2016 and on.. you must compare new Shinji with old Shinji and it's two different things. In my opinion my favourite scores of his that stand out the most are movie 8 and 15 (2005 and 2012, Lucario and Keldeo) those are my favourite and why I finally own them physically. But I know there's a couple other movies where he does amazing too but I haven't given them a full listen.
The shorter cues aren't helping, either. I think it was fine up until M16, then the music hasn't been as good since

nobunaga errection resurrection the second cumming

In precisely one week Sekigahara (https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E9%96%A2%E3%83%B6%E5%8E%9F-%E5%AF%8C%E8%B2%B4%E6%99%B4%E7%BE%8E/dp/B074G93KRW/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1502302347&sr=1-1&keywords=%E5%AF%8C%E8%B2%B4+%E6%99%B4%E7%BE%8E) will drop and I'm really anxious how this will turn out. Especially if all interviews I could find seem to indicate that this lady has to be the world's biggest Horner fan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00W8mjutQw4

Calling it now; it's going to be terrible and people will say things like "It was a good effort for a new composer!" and "At least it's not Sawano!" ;)

Tango, I wonder if you ever smile. Everything is awful to you.

I do, every now and again. ;)

I guess I'm just jaded. The best solution to being jaded is to be proven wrong multiple times... I'm always open to that!

Trust me, there's nothing I wish for more than good orchestral music that is to your liking to come, so you can smile again and be optimistic with your passion, that is the orchestral/symphonic music.

Interesting that Kosaki seems to be the most active member of MONACA as of late, and with decent ensembles. He's also the member with the most scenes scored to picture as of now. The recent Hanabi film has some film cues that are quite out of time and probably his best efforts since Vanishment in 2010:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTmajrsiYfk (orchestrated by Ken Namba, cue 1 & 3, and Ryuichi Takada, cue 2)


I really anticipate the time Takada gets a similar solo project where he can demonstrate his film scoring talents. And Ken Namba is yet another newcomer, a classical trained contemporary composer that currently works as an arranger/orchestrator for Kosaki and is no doubt responsible for my favorite moments of the Kizumonogatari films (March, 28th and others).

I love Kosaki for many things but he was always the weakest orchestral composer in my eyes, but seeing him return with quite a lot of talent to boost him up makes me anticipate his score for the Fate franchise.

I really anticipate the time Takada gets a similar solo project where he can demonstrate his film scoring talents.
Ultimate Otaku Teacher?

I love Kosaki for many things but he was always the weakest orchestral composer in my eyes, but seeing him return with quite a lot of talent to boost him up makes me anticipate his score for the Fate franchise.I've never seen the appeal of Kosaki other than being associated with some big franchises like Monogatari and Haruhi and many infamous romcoms. He's very much an Otaku's composer. The only work of his that has ever stood out to me was Star Driver, which sounds nothing like his usual style and is no doubt the byproduct of an orchestrator doing the heavy lifting.

The bulk of Star Driver wasn't written by Kosaki - Kakeru Ishihama, Keigo Hoashi, Ryuichi Takada, Keiichi Okabe, and Takahiro Furukawa did most of the hard work.

Kosaki is good at what he's good at, but his range is severely limited and he's been thrust into a world that doesn't fit his talents - presumably as a knock-on from his involvement with Haruhi. Hence, MONACA. Music isn't teamwork and a score should be written by one person - a unique, fully formed vision of one human being.

I want to hear these guys do a good solo score... unfortunately, I doubt it will happen now bearing in mind the direction in which the industry is headed.

Kosaki is good at this kind of music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAXxOE8axW8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDidYfVyJCQ

And, until his hiatus in 2014, he was the king of catchy J-pop tunes (that title has now been taken by Hidekazu Tanaka). When he was on hiatus we got to hear some orchestral music from Hoashi and Takada in the form of Captain Earth, Tenkai Knights, and Nanana's Buried Treasure. We even got other interesting projects like Yuki Yuna. Since he's returned, the number of interesting MONACA scores had definitely decreased. I agree with tango that Kosaki should stick to what he's good at instead of pretending to be something he's not. Unfortunately, though, MONACA likes to use Kosaki for everything because he has name recognition. His name has even been attached to projects where he was not involved. The opening for Captain Earth actually says "Music: MONACA & Satoru Kosaki" despite him not composing a single piece of music for it. It was the same for Star Driver where the other composers did the bulk of the work but only Kosaki got credit in the OP. It must be difficult for the other composers to make a name for themselves in that kind of environment.

Don't remind me of Captain Earth... so much good unreleased music, including a major reprise of the Main Theme, how can you not inlcude that on the disc?

Kosaki is best at writing for small Jazzy ensembles, but if he has good orchestrators like for Vanishment it can be worthwhile (and I like his Star Driver Theme), but I agree, he plays not in the same league as Takada, Hoashi and the others.



Ultimate Otaku Teacher?

Yes, quite a lot of film score and classical works references BUT really only a collection of random cues and not a cohesive film score and also performed by a small ensemble.
Kosaki employs for Hanabi: 35 Strings + 9 Winds + 3 Horns + Asakawa on the harp, which is quite massive by Japanese standards.

Samples for Mitsuda's new Black Butler score sound good: http://www.kuroshitsuji-movie.com/bd-dvd/cd_list.html

But there's 62 tracks and apparently just 1 CD, which doesn't bode well for track lengths.

Let's hope 50 of the tracks are 30 seconds long and the other 10 are three or four minutes...!!!

Satoru Kosaki, Ryuichi Takada, Keigo Hoashi

The Vanishment of Haruhi Suzumiya
Eminence Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Arrangened by Akifumi Tada, Shiro Hamaguchi and Hayato Matsuo



PW: Snowflake (https://mega.nz/#!RyRgHJyA!FNpY45kQYhOuUC216z595z6NfENnG2x4arrftcYKz7E)
One of the great anime scores from this decade (for me at least) that I forgot to mention. I incorporated Satie into the score where it fits to my ears. I have to say it blends rather nicely.


I was expecting a score that was fun and listenable. I really wasn't expecting this, however - a completely grown up, intelligent, fully orchestral score. And one that is strangely full of personality. Kosaki's style is vaguely minimalist here, but more importantly than that, it's never trying to be something it isn't. This score is the master of restraint - the moments where it holds back (Track 17 - a gentle piece for cello and strings, Track 7 - a wonderfully still, tranquil piece just for the woodwinds, Track 19 - a shimmering orchestral arrangement of Erik Satie's Gymnopedie No 2) are in many ways more special than the more traditional crowd pleasing cues (Track 13 - a strident, upbeat brassy cue, and Track 23 - a rousing action piece for full orchestra and choir). There really is a bit of everything, and at the same time it's not quite what you'd expect. It's nearly impossible to explain. I think you have to hear it to know what I'm talking about.

Also present is a selection of Satie's piano music, as recorded especially for this album - all three Gymnopedies, Gnossiennes, and Je Te Veux.
What a wonderfully classy affair. All in all, I find there to be a lot of magic in this album. And, as I say, I don't entirely understand why. I suppose that's the way it goes sometimes. :)





The Music of MONACA



PW: GalaxyKnights (https://mega.nz/#!EvYglL7J!LaIvPJkVS9nHG_Wpb4aTlAlCQ9Ih2uwMQvPrPNXuGxE)


MONACA nails that classic heroic Hollywood sound in Star Driver, Tenkai Knights, and Captain Earth to perfection. Wonderful moments and strong themes are in those scores. And even the fully hybrid/electronic scores liek Nier Autoamata have an air of uniquness and personal voice to them that makes them very endearing. Good composers, good music.

My film score arrangements and my personal mix for Nier Automata from are the game's audiofiles. I sure hope more orchestral projects for MONACA will happen in the future.

Samples for Mitsuda's new Black Butler score sound good: http://www.kuroshitsuji-movie.com/bd-dvd/cd_list.htmlI like Mitsuda, but this sounds rather bland. And maybe it's the sample quality, but why do the strings and brass occasionally sound like synth? At times it sounds like I'm listening to an old Nintendo game. Nevermind comparisons to Iwasaki's first two seasons; Mitsuda should be much better than this.

If the producers had any shred of care for the show, they should have hired Hirano. He would be right in his element.

[]

Sounds like some high quality synths to me.

And maybe it's the sample quality, but why do the strings and brass occasionally sound like synth?

Sounds like some high quality synths to me.
Real musicians.

https://www.facebook.com/yasunori.mitsuda/posts/1326467217386639
https://www.facebook.com/yasunori.mitsuda/posts/1327428507290510
https://www.facebook.com/yasunori.mitsuda/posts/1328396917193669

If none of this is synth, that makes the mastering quality all the more inexcusable. Even then, it's not as if the music lacks clarity, so what is going on here? Guess I'll wait until the full soundtrack is out before making final judgement.

Only 30 seconds of actual music, but Violet Evergarden is looking very promising for Evan Call.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_Zdfcdl3mg

(the show itself will probably be terrible like all other "serious" Kyoani works)

I wouldn't judge any quality of mix/master yet if its compressed and muffled as hell on the website.


@Evergarden

I like Japanese Trailers. Now I already know the scores leitmotif and gimmick (typewritter). I hope Evan has a full orchestra, was that confirmed?

(On a sitenote, I wouldn't put Second Raid, Hyouka, Hibike and Vanishment anywhere close to terrible ;))



Also FMP PV should be out soon, will our hopes and dreams finally be confirmed or crushed...

^(I should have rephrased that, I meant to say "ambitious" and was referring to shows like Beyond the Boundary and Phantom World- and it doesn't help that the director of Evergarden is the same as in BtB)

FMP wasn't my favorite Sahashi (not helped by how the soundtrack for the Second Raid was missing some of the best cues from the show), but I just want his name on there to know that he's still interested in composing for anime.

People who saw the first episode at AX said the music was cinematic (seamless transitions from scene to scene) and that it sounded like it was performed by a full orchestra.

There probably won't be a teaser/trailer for FMP until the end of the year... maybe at Comiket 93.

The 15th Anniversary Ace Attorney Orchestra Concert will be released in CD next month. 2CDs, 13 tracks. September 13, released by Harmonics International. Only available currently in Capcom's shop. Interpreted by the Tokyo Philarmonic Orchestra, directed by Hirofumi Kurita. 3,927 yens. Tracklist here:

Disc 1
Phoenix Wright – Objection!
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies Court Suite
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice Court Suite
Ace Attorney Investigations Meetings Suite
Ace Attorney Investigations Suite ~ The Brilliant Path
Dai Gyakuten Saiban Suite

Disc 2

Great Revival ~ Miles Edgeworth
Maya Fey ~ Turnabout Sisters Theme
Godot ~The Fragrance of Black Coffee
Ace Attorney 1 ~ 3 Court Suite
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Court Suite
Dai Gyakuten Saiban Suite (Continued)
The Steel Samurai





http://www.e-capcom.com/shop/g/gC00001337/

Intermission for something out of the ordinary for me, but since I know there are some persona players in here and I personally love P5 (those nearly ten years of development didn't go to waste), here's a treat:



Shoji Meguro feat. Lyn
Persona 5
Live at Yokohama Arena



PW:TakeYourTime (https://anon.click/pohod67)

And here's a little orchestral suite I put together because what else do you expect from a Japanese rock concert?!: http://picosong.com/vxZJ/ (not representative of the concert)

The concert itself made me aware of two things: First, Persona 5 music is miles ahead of the rest of the series in terms of style and enjoyment, and second: You can really squeeze Tap Dance, Ballet and all other forms of theater into a rock concert, even including a little orchestral ensemble spicing up your jam, all while everyone is dressed as characters from the game. The show was as extravagant as the game itself. Also Shoji not only plays the guitar but is also straight out of the 80s.

Another rather peculiar fact is that, aside from featuring ALL worthwhile stuff from the soundtrack, some performances here actually manage to surpass the soundtrack performances. Don't really know what else to add since its a bit out of my comfort zone but if you have a thing for Funk/Soul/Jazz Rock and some amazing vocal performances in the genre (I do), you'll definitely find something to enjoy here.

If you ever see a Japanese concert uploaded on youtube, DOWNLOAD IT. Maybe someone can put it to good use ;) This one was taken down faster than the Evangelion and Kirby concerts (I really wanted to capture Miyashiro's performance for EVA :(). Unfortunately this version was full of artifacts so I had to edit quite a bit. I succeded (mostly) and you probably won't notice it, but if there's any major problems I overlooked, let me know.

Thanks for sharing this! I actually gave up on Persona 5 because they too perfectly made it the challenge they had been trying to do in previous games. The dungeons are so meticulously crafted that they add extra levels of challenge that weren't there when you had bland random dungeons. I played both P3 and P4 in the original release so I had the benefit of nearly unlimited grinding in a way the designers never wanted you to have it. And to make matters worse P5 has no official strategy guide to help me navigate the game and get sufficient amount done in the time allowed for dungeon crawling. I'm in Futaba's dungeon and it got far too stressful for me even on easy difficulty. I am tempted to switch to safety but don't know if I want to. This is while I have been playing Witcher 3 on Blood and Broken Bones. With such a long game the idea of playing through it twice to see everything is not appealing. It is a shame because this is the first game I am actually able to play with the music on. 3 and 4 I had to mute the music most of the time.

@Sirusjr

Fascinating, I come in as someone that only saw footage of Persona gameplay before 5 and I knew the general gist of it (I've watched some documentaries on SMT) but never actually played a Persona game. It had been ages since I last played a turn-based JRPG too, and since I very much enjoyed Hashino's Catherine and it features the same lead artist and composer, I gave it a shot... well worth the money.

It's a damn great gem, one of the best in the genre with ease, one of my best recent game experiences, and one of the most polished games I've ever played, I've wasted well over 100 hours on one playthrough over the course of three months and was throughly content and entertained by pretty much all of it.

But as you already pointed out the game severly punishes players who don't prepare and plan ahead every step of the way. Mind you I always play on hard and the first time I died an insane amount of times until I got behind the mechanics. In Futaba's Palace, the enemies can be dealt with if you keep up status ailments and use Persona's with curse/bless resistance, also keep enough items that raise evasion and use abilities that lower enemy accuracy in your pocket and stock plenty of revival items which can be obtained as early as Kamoshida's Palace.

But once you really get into the flow, it's probably the best game of its genre I've ever played (I'm sorry FFVI, but Uematsu can't outshine everything). It really shines through that it took them almost ten years to craft it, even considering its a very small studio compared to giants like Square. It's a game created with a strong personal artistic voice. Even the expected cliches play off wonderfully in this game and it has an insane amount of A-Grade VA-Veterans (Jp).
The beauty is always in execution and this game pulls it off with great panache.

I do not "love" all the music in it but its appropiate most of the time, funky, fruity and the songs are catchy. That said, the music is not appropiate for the length of the game, after a certain amount of hours you really notice its repetitive nature. There's one standard battle themes for the entire game and in 2017, that's unacceptable. So I could not resist the urge to replace/add BGM of my own, music I consider more appropiate for certain moments and locations.


On that note I really appricitate how you can switch music on the fly on the PS4... in P5's case I can switch the ingame music on and off in under a second when I feel my custom score is more appropiate:

Persona 5 (PS4): Additional Music (https://mega.nz/#!96ZjyCaA!RqGZUt1DMW3L5d8vzVX3JguxIB9CLo6kyqacLazS1ZE)

broughtons return seems to be everything i�ve hoped for.

A roomate's been playing Persona 5 and I can't help but wish the music was a lil more notey or developed. That's mostly the jazz nerd in me talking, cuz most of the music fits w the chill, stylish vibe of the game most of the time. Most of the music easily reminds me of something else, but that's VGM in a nutshell, I suppose.

broughtons return seems to be everything i�ve hoped for.

For those that haven't heared it yet: http://www.mobypicture.com/user/SethMacFarlane/view/19959591

Also on board are McNeely and John Debney so this will be a TV score through and through.

I only have some small doses of doubt because all other MacFarlane projects so far evoke great film scores (Million Ways to Die being a cross of Magnificent Seven and Tombstone) but are never climbing the stairs to greatness themselves.


I hope it will rank among other TV-SciFi classics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YliHrc12SvE

Or end up with a piece as catchy as another Star Trek spoof made almost 20 years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFdTgHBnlxM&t=1m05s

I like that Bb minor chord at 0:21.

Well, what I hoped for was something that achieves at least *some* of what Star Wars did for the orchestral score. What we've heard so far is a 1970s pastiche sci-fi theme - a very good one, to be sure, but let's call it what it is. Three seconds into the sample, I knew exactly what the rest of the piece was going to sound like.

Ron Jones was a very logical choice to score The Orville - and he's not involved at all. McNeely and Debney are both renowned for their plagiarism and for doing convincing impressions (at least, on the surface) of better composers. Broughton is only scoring one episode. Andrew Cottee is a very interesting choice - he could do great things, but he's also only scoring one episode.

The show has been announced not as a comedy but as a drama with comedy, so there's a chance it could actually become something great... What I don't want is live action Family Guy in space, and so far Seth Macfarlane's other projects have been live action Family Guy in Boston, and live action Family Guy in the old West, with Seth Macfarlane playing Seth Macfarlane on each occasion.

I want good old-fashioned high-concept sci-fi but with a really dirty sense of humour.

For heaven's sake, dude. You don't like NOTHING. That sounds pretty good to me. It sounds old school and pretty much sounding how it should sound. Like a good old score. Those that lack pretty much these days. I cannot believe you're grumpy over it. I do believe your standards are way too high for your own good. In a time where this kind of old school music really lacks in Hollywood this should make you happy..

I didn't say I didn't like it, I said it's unlikely to achieve what I'd hoped for and that it's primarily a pastiche theme... :)

I didn't say I didn't like it, I said it's unlikely to achieve what I'd hoped for and that it's primarily a pastiche theme... :)

I want good old-fashioned high-concept sci-fiI don't think MacFarlene is the guy you should be looking to for that kind of thing, especially from a Star Trek parody, regardless of whatever excuses he throws in interviews. This is the type of show that caters to The Big Bang Theory crowd.

I worry a bit because Lost in Space had a better Main Title overall, and that one was thrown together in a couple of minutes. Usually Broughton's themes are earworms. Maybe its because of the anti-melody environment for film composers today or because the old Hollywood league is out of shape... but it's still wonderful to hear this suff.


Well, what I hoped for was something that achieves at least *some* of what Star Wars did for the orchestral score.

I firmly believe another Star Wars will not happen again in our lifetime. At least not with the same level of cultural impact. It was a very specific period of American history, a whole other dimension of film making and another alignment of planets that made orchestral scores rise again thanks to a single film score.

Not to mention we don't have orchestral prodigies scoring for films anymore and even then, it took Williams, Goldsmith, Horner and Silvestri 20 years of working in the business to get to legendary skill. 20 years of working in a business where Rozsa, North and Steiner were still around and watching over your shoulders. A world were Arthur Fiedler was rocking the sessions. A world were your average TV score was on a level of skill and full of techniques that 99% of composers on our side of the globe today have no ability to reproduce even if they were forced at gunpoint. We don't have orchestral acrobatics anymore, just paralympics.

For me there's only one place on earth right now with a similar environment as past Hollywood were another Star Wars (as in quality of score), could hypothetically happen ;)



On that note, from the recent conisch PV, the second piece is precisely what I mean, the work of an acrobat. It's all over Linebarrels as well. Confidence and showmanship backed by skill.
Another acrobat we haven't heard much of lately on the orchestral front is Masumi Ito:



Masumi Itō (Hikaru Nanase)
The Good Witch of the West
Studio Orchestra



PW: Alias (https://anon.click/zuzen64)
Concert Suite (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lm3mXvUA3UM)

This is the type of show that caters to The Big Bang Theory crowd.

Sorry, but no. This is not a sitcom, for starters.

Talk about under rated composers. Yuji Nomi.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbDQyBc80U8

E7 Hi-Evolution was apparently a crapfest of a film that was 80% disjointed recap clips of the TV series, but everyone is praising the new music to high heaven. Did Sato surpass his own magnum opus? Can't wait to find out.

I don't think MacFarlene is the guy you should be looking to for that kind of thing, especially from a Star Trek parody, regardless of whatever excuses he throws in interviews. This is the type of show that caters to The Big Bang Theory crowd.

MacFarlane is literally the only man standing in Hollywood who has an understanding and respect for how films used to be made, and for the importance of good music. He also obviously loves Star Trek to pieces, as evidenced by the almost endless stream of references, parodies, and actor cameos in all of his shows and movies. It seems logical that when a man like that gets to make a sci-fi show, even if it's going to be a comedy it's got to be a cut above. Star Trek Discovery is starting soon - the first new Trek series in sixteen years - and yet a growing number of "traditional" Star Trek fans are putting their trust in The Orville to be more respectful to Trek's history and to its core values. Every day we get some new piece of news about Discovery that suggests it's going to be just another shitty sci-fi series which happens to be called Star Trek. Maybe a bit of 1980s throwback parody is just what we need - but MacFarlane himself CAN'T not be aware of what's going on - that they are almost counting on him to out-Trek Trek itself and come up with the "real" continuation of the series.

---------- Post added at 04:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:45 PM ----------


Talk about under rated composers. Yuji Nomi.

Unconditional and absolute agreement, there... :)

MacFarlane is literally the only man standing in Hollywood who has an understanding and respect for how films used to be made, and for the importance of good music.

Aren't you forgetting Steven Spielberg?

MacFarlane is literally the only man standing in Hollywood who has an understanding and respect for how films used to be made, and for the importance of good music. He also obviously loves Star Trek to pieces, as evidenced by the almost endless stream of references, parodies, and actor cameos in all of his shows and movies. It seems logical that when a man like that gets to make a sci-fi show, even if it's going to be a comedy it's got to be a cut above. Star Trek Discovery is starting soon - the first new Trek series in sixteen years - and yet a growing number of "traditional" Star Trek fans are putting their trust in The Orville to be more respectful to Trek's history and to its core values. Every day we get some new piece of news about Discovery that suggests it's going to be just another shitty sci-fi series which happens to be called Star Trek. Maybe a bit of 1980s throwback parody is just what we need - but MacFarlane himself CAN'T not be aware of what's going on - that they are almost counting on him to out-Trek Trek itself and come up with the "real" continuation of the series.

---------- Post added at 04:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:45 PM ----------



Unconditional and absolute agreement, there... :)

I'm glad to agree with you, this whole post. And yes, Yuji Nomi is such a great composer with such great music with feelings and good melodies, it's such a pity he's not getting the attention he deserves. He should be composing a lot a year..

Spielberg is 70, and not working at the same level he used to be. He's part of the outgoing generation; MacFarlane is part of the incoming generation.

Additionally, Bridge Of Spies...? ;)

E7 Hi-Evolution was apparently a crapfest of a film that was 80% disjointed recap clips of the TV series, but everyone is praising the new music to high heaven. Did Sato surpass his own magnum opus? Can't wait to find out.

Are you sure they mentioned anything "instrumental, cinematic, old" because that would be a clue they were talking about the actual score and not the acid insert tracks ;)


Coincidentally, what I've heared from people who attended an advanced screening of Evergarden was that the visuals and music are beyond incredible, "it sounded like old movie instrumentals", "full orchestra" and "very cinematic".

Well, I wouldn't put too much faith in those first reactions but it's encouraging that Evergarden, E7 and FMP all share these high-praising impressions for the music.

Sadly the new FMP PV still had no composer credits but considering every new trailer and footage surrounding IV has been Sahashi so far, I remain optimistic.


This october also has another series with the same traits as the titles mention above, "The Ancient Magus Bride". I really enjoyed the music and animation for the OVAs, very cinematic indeed with a real "Main Title" and even the PVs were full on nostalgic early 90s orchestral movie trailer.

Are you sure they mentioned anything "instrumental, cinematic, old" because that would be a clue they were talking about the actual score and not the acid insert tracks
Some of them made specific mention of a spectacular organ piece in the prologue, so I'm certain they aren't talking about the club music. Also this time, only Sato's name was listed in the credits for music, so there may not actually be any insert music at all?

@Vinphonic,

I know how SMT games work. I've played Persona 3, 4, Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2, and SMT 3 Nocturne (which I didn't finish). In the ones I finished, those strategies were necessary for boss fights but you could generally get through regular encounters without worrying too much about strategy. Add to that though P3, P4, and DDS1 and 2 both had essentially unlimited possibility for grinding levels so that the difficulty of regular encounters was lessened. When you combine limited methods for SP regeneration in dungeons with limits on days you can spend in a dungeon while still getting the full story, taking advantage of those strategies in the average battle is that much more difficult. To do that, you need to drain your SP even faster than you would by trying to conserve it. And yes I have SP regeneration accessories and items but as I said I think the balance is a little too much on the side of forcing players to use certain strategies. That is exactly what they wanted to do the whole time as you can see from Persona 3 and 4 and how they tweaked the game in the expansions but it isn't a game I want to spend time playing.

Hmm... I had a different experience overall. I loved that every encounter and Persona mattered and you really had to plan your Persona fusion and your heist if you wanted to clear a palace in 1/2/3 Days and then progress with the social links/Mementos instead of risking not making it in time. But some social rank abilities really change your gameplay or perhaps even your entire strategy so I tried to do the second Palace quickly and then focus on getting them as soon as I figured out its vital to have them.

But SP never really was a dreaded situation for me as you could aquire plenty of items from various locations, you could switch party members when one is running low, most of the time you're able to crit enemies to avoid a battle of attrition or if worse comes to worst you could just sneak past most encounters. After a certain Palace it also becomes much easier to restore SP when needed.

Actually securing your route to the treasure with just barely any SP and HP remaining by the end of the first or second day was a pretty good feeling.

The only downside I find with this game is that it forces you to sleep at times when it made no sense whatsoever, one or two story sections drag a little AND a certain "Mice game" overstays its welcome pretty fast.

The game from a mechanical standpoint is stellar to me but to each his own :)











Recently, for a change, I've been returning to music from the original Island nation of classical grand symphonic music and I can only say it's been far too long (also amazing how much British Film classics you can find in Japanese orchestral work if you listen closely):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rub4q6CiWw0

Original Release: 26.05.1979 (LP)
"Digital Remastered" Re-Release: 19.07.2017 (SHM-CD) | Publisher: Warner Music Japan

YASUO HIGUCHI
Orientation "A Thousand Calabashes" (1978)
Violin Concerto "KOMA" (1979)
The Philharmonia Virtuosi of New York
Mamoru Takahara, Conductor
Oscar Ravina, Solo violin
Richard Kapp, Musical Director



Originally Posted by (Thread 57893) tangotreats (2013/16)：
[ＱＵＯＴＥ] �Yasuo Higuchi is a name that should be foremost in the mind of any music lover. He wrote what is probably my favourite score of all time; for Suguru Sugiyama's breathtaking Phoenix 2772 - both film and score immeasurably ahead of their time in 1980. As irony would have it, he is perhaps the least prolific genius the world has ever known - at 62 65 years of age he has scored only a handful of film and television projects and a similar number of concert hall classical works, two of which are on this album.

Osamu Tezuka came to hear one of these works - the sublime Violin Concerto - and immediately fell in love with it, leading to Higuchi's engagement as composer for Phoenix 2772. Tezuka initially asked permission to simply use the violin concerto in the film, but Higuchi finished up completely re-orchestrating and substantially revising his concerto - it is played almost in full and completely uninterrupted by sound effects and dialogue - and writing a full score based around it. Here, you will be able to hear the original concerto, in its original form for small chamber orchestra.

This is not an album of symphonic acrobatics or virtuosity; it is an album of sublime beauty and intimacy. For those who may worry that Higuchi's foray into "serious" classical music would turn out to be some monstrously pretentious piece of avant garde squeaky-gate nonsense, please let me dispel your worries. Classical Higuchi is warm, romantic, eloquent, approachable, and lyrical.

Here, I will stop - because I am unashamedly biased; I simply adore every note of this album. It is an expression of pure joy. This is music that lives and breathes, and is plainly happy to be alive.

The performance is, likewise, absolutely first rate.

Please enjoy this gorgeous album; 45 minutes of some of the most magnificent music ever written.� [/ＱＵＯＴＥ]

---2017 Remaster by Isao Kikuchi (Warner Music Mastering) on SHM-CD [195mb]---
FLAC rip and booklet scans by me. Rip via dBpoweramp, log.txt included.

<TT>MediaFire (http://links.snahp.it/920CompactDisc)</TT> | Password: Pico

The first re-release on CD in 2002 didn't have any additional 'digital remastering' I know of. In case this new remastering is shite...

[40 piece orchestra tunes up]
[tangotreats clears throat, steps forward]
[Orchestra BLARES, tangotreats sings"]
"Oh....my....DAYYYYYYYYYYS!!!!!"

---tangotreats' April 2016 Vinyl Transfer // 1979 Warner-Pioneer LP (213mb)---
Re-up of tangotreats' vinyl transfer in FLAC 16bit 44kHz. HQ Scans are included.

TT's bonus track: the violin concerto reasonably complete in its full orchestral version by stitching two cues from the film score of Phoenix 2772
(Mariko Senju, violin / Studio orchestra, Japan / Yasuo Higuchi, cond.)

<TT>MediaFire (http://links.snahp.it/519PolyVinylChloride)</TT> | Password: tangotreats

Small things like these is why this thread is the best.

Herr Salat... THANK YOU, my friend.

I have no objection at all to the new remastering and it is so wonderful to hear this in such splendid sound quality.

I love this album as I did back then, maybe more.

You are a gentleman. :)

I concur!

I already had my little gushing meltdown to this album some hundred pages back but such a timeless classic is always a feast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQBltpqLnUs

The quality sucks, but here's a taste of Oshima's 2010 concerto. Her concert pieces really need to be recorded on an album!

There's more range in that piece than in all of Oshima's film work so far; and yet not a single note that doesn't immediately identify her... and that theme... you know the theme I'm talking about... So lovely to hear that even in the concert hall, Oshima doesn't shy away from those delicious, powerful melodies that have made her so sought-after. (But Oshima makes us wait for it, and the feeling of tension as it builds and release as it breaks is quite pulpable - then it turns into a grand, Oshima finale.)

20:39 is fascinating. How many times in solo concerti do we give a soaring melody to the strings and have the soloist play decoration in the lower part of their register? A remarkably democratic concerto; the soloist gets his time in the limelight and so does the orchestra.

This is the kind of music that the concert hall needs more of. Not squeaky gate academia to be listened to for ego masturbation. Not patronising crossover works. Not limp film-music-alike crap disguised as serious music. A genuine, serious, quality composition that's completely accessible, lyrical, candidly and truthfully romantic, and completely idiomatic of its composer. Something to enjoy.

Thank you for posting this. :)

It really makes you wonder what her symphony sounds like. Maybe a video of that will surface one day too. :)

And I know I've mentioned it before, but Lenert did say - back in 2015 - that Columbia Records was planning to release an album of Oshima's sonata and concerto. At the time, I thought he was referring to her upcoming concerto (set to premiere in the near future) but maybe he was actually referring to this one. It's been two years now and they still haven't recorded anything except for the sonata. Hopefully it hasn't been cancelled. The fact that he uploaded this video today must mean that he's still interested in doing it.

I've seen some classically trained people describe Oshima's composition as "simplistic" and her orchestrations as "unambitious and one-note", all the while lapping praise onto Giacchino.

I have to wonder how anyone could even listen to something like this and say such nonsense.

Anyone who says this, no matter where they come from or how long they studied, has ever written one piece of music that is worth remembering.
Good music, at its core, should be simple enough to satiate the heart of everyone who listens yet complex enough to satisfy the brain of those into the subject.
And Oshima nails it here.


This reminds me of another post from another forum about people who frequent concerts not having the slightest clue about the music they listen to:



Here is the story of how I personally discovered that modern concert music just might be kinda bullshit:

When I was a university composition student, I was approached by a soprano friend looking for a contemporary piece to perform for an SAI (music fraternity) performance competition centered around 21st century works. I had the time, so I ended up writing this modal thing that avoided dominant-tonic chord progressions, but was otherwise fairly tame by contemporary concert music standards- strong tonal centers and a recognizable melody that developed and tied the thing together. Piano and voice- it had a pretty vibe I guess, but nothing special. It turned out the be the only piece actually commissioned specifically for the competition, and my friend ended up winning. The "prize" was a public performance at an SAI concert at a large local church. It was the first public performance of one of my works outside an academic setting, and I was actually really excited.

The public performance at the church was a complete disaster. I think the accompanist was trying to sight-read her part without having rehearsed it. She quickly got lost in the introduction, causing the singer to sing the entire first section about a minor third above where she should have been. The singer eventually recovered and got back in key. The pianist did not. I actually believe the accompanist literally got a majority of the notes wrong- it was honestly that bad. Then it ended. And... got about the same applause as almost every other piece. At least until my friend decided to announce that the composer was in the audience and asked me to stand up. Which I did, mortified, to even bigger applause. I wasn't upset with the performers, I was just personally embarrassed to be publicly recognized by an audience who had just listened to that trainwreck and thought that's what I actually meant to write!

The reception was equal parts awkward and surreal. I was just trying to find my friend to say goodbye, but all these elderly retired people from the audience kept approaching me to tell me what a lovely or fascinating piece I had written. What kind of made it worse is that they were all, as far as I could tell, just super-genuine about it. One couple excitedly told me that I was the first living composer they had ever met. They were all really sweet, and I looked them in the eye and shook their hands and tried to be very gracious. I mean, what else was I going to do, tell the sweet old lady that she was mistaken about it being any good and that's not what I meant at all?

After what seemed like forever, my friend came out, and after working her way through the groups of well-wishers that tend to form around performers at those kinds of things, came over to me, apologetic. I made sure she understood that I wasn't upset with her, and then left as soon as I could. Thinking about it on the drive home, I started to wonder about the reaction. The sounds that came off that stage were just objectively awful. So, why had the reaction been so warm? Did it actually even matter what I had written, or meant to write? Or I was I just deeply mistaken about the reaction and everyone had just gone out of their way to blow smoke up my ass? Whatever the answer, I decided I wasn't comfortable working in a medium where I felt like I would always have those questions in the back of my mind.


And anyone who values Giacchino higher than Oshima, no matter whose music they enjoy to listen to more, is a musical illiterate fool. Giacchino himself is uneducated in basic musical repertoire and doesn't even play an instrument properly and has nothing in common with a serious, highly educated, skilled and respectable composer as Oshima.


He hasn't even written a single melody as good and longlasting as your average 80s Cartoon theme:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWigVVh7OXM

I looked up that comment on Oshima, and oh boy:


Michiru Oshima has scored her fair share of popular anime series during the past 2 decades. Her incredible range of projects in terms of genre is made even more interesting, by just how streamlined and…prolifically similar most of her work can be. Certainly, the composer is capable of writing with multiple styles and genres within the same score, as well as morphing into different beasts for different shows, but her distinctive insistence with compositions that are dense in textures and colour, but rather heavy-handed and simplistic in orchestration, has rendered her musical style rather bland to listen to for long, non-stop periods of times.

Take her scores for Fullmetal Alchemist, Blast of Tempest and Patema Inverted: all are written with a sense of fantastical grandeur in mind, and for the most part, Oshima succeeded in penning gorgeous outlines of themes for their respective worlds, along with rich live orchestra recordings by the Warsaw Philharmonic and the Russian State Symphony (Oshima’s regular collaborators). But for the meat of the scores, the orchestrations remained unambitious and one-note: it’s either suspense scoring with slashing strings, simple brass fanfare chords, or piano solos.

However, Oshima’s restrained style when it comes to orchestrations does come to a surprisingly well-rendered balance when she pairs it with her enthusiasm for easily identifiable musical themes, and just enough cinematic colour to best utilise her voice. Sections of her work in Little Witch Academia showcased what she can achieve with a memorable fanfare of a theme, and a world of magic and a Trigger-overdose of flare.

Meanwhile, on Giacchino's Jupiter Ascending:


I think it’s safe to say, that this score topped my list for most of the year. Michael Giacchino has rocked the world, with no less than 4 solid entries for blockbuster films in 2015; and so close to each other’s release dates, as well. It’s rather disturbing then, that one of the most unfortunate bombs of 2015, a rare space opera original story, gone wrong with its overly indulgent self-importance and a basic lack of ANY humanity, as told by so many reviewers, commentators and my own friends, had one of the biggest and grandest scores of the year. I lacked the time to check out the film myself, but the score amazed me.

With its two disc and almost two hours runtime, the album echoes the vastness of intergalactic space systems with an almost entirely symphonic personality: big fanfares, brutal action cues and curious passages of majesty that accompanied alien worlds. Jupiter Ascending is definitely Giacchino’s biggest score to date.

The intricate nature of some of the film’s themes were given solid introduction in the album opener’s 4 movement symphonic suite; glorious when played on the loudest volume, and needless to say, the rest of the score followed suit.

As much as I could easily point out the amount of wrong on that Giacchino's Jupiter Ascending review paragraph, I believe the source of those quotes aren't coming from someone who's actually "musically trained" as you mentioned at first. Doesn't change the fact that the person in question has a passion for Giacchino's music that I do not share in the slightest, made in their own list of "Best of Film & Game Music 2016".

Also, the Oshima quote was actually just part of what seem to be singing praise later for her score for "Snow White", describing the music that "soars with romanticized passion in a Disney-esque fairy tale." If Oshima's music is that strong enough to bring the slightest attention even to the most stubborn of "musical illiterate fools", then there's a little hope that these same people will realize eventually the bland hack that Giacchino has always been... hopefully.

Thank you for the share nextday, as for the concert itself, it's frustrating... it's frustrating to hear so much obvious hard work and effort poured from this woman, just imagine, endless hours with nothing more than a pencil, writing and rewriting on sheets of paper to bring us this treat of a masterful concert ... just so it could never see the light of the day until 7 years later and in such a piss poor quality to add more salt to the wound. Now that's pretty messed up right there :(

Edit: Deleted source link for privacy.

I believe the source of those quotes aren't coming from someone who's actually "musically trained" as you mentioned at first.He refers to himself working towards a "Piano Master title". Very vague thing to say, but judging from his reviews, he does understand what harmony, melody, dissonance, etc is, which is more than can be said of most people. And regardless of his actual training, he is much better at articulating his criticisms in musical terms than other reviewers like the guys in charge of Movie Wave and so on.

Anyway, I didn't link the poor guy's site for the sake of his privacy. Anyone could google it if they wanted to, but I doubt most people will care enough to read the rest of his opinions.

He refers to himself working towards a "Piano Master title". Very vague thing to say, but judging from his reviews, he does understand what harmony, melody, dissonance, etc is, which is more than can be said of most people. And regardless of his actual training, he is much better at articulating his criticisms in musical terms than other reviewers like the guys in charge of Movie Wave and so on.

Yeah, it's still pretty vague to me and weird that they included Warsaw in the review, when it's known that Oshima hasn't worked with them in YEARS. Wouldn't unambitious and one-note be a better fit ironically for Giacchino?

He claims that this generic power anthem shows how John Powell "can match John William's mastery over the orchestra":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKLJpH2g5_k

Looking through his posts, he is most definitely not an idiot. Dude really knows his basics, including sound mixing, so is it just his tastes? Maybe the guy just really likes his power anthems? Would explain his love for Giacchino.

Vinphonic's post brings up a really great point- is it just him, or is there something he's hearing that we're all missing?

I think there's a tendency to kneejerk-react here to someone "going after" one of our "own". Broadly speaking, I don't think he's not explicitly wrong in his assessment of Oshima; her strengths are melody, harmony, and texture. I actually agree almost unreservedly with everything he said (about Oshima) - but I do feel that he hasn't realised that the aspects of her style he has identified can actually be strengths. (And I think his musical fluency has fallen apart here; he describes Oshima's orchestrations as "one note" whereas I think what he means to say is that they're not heavy on counterpoint - see below.)

She doesn't do orchestral acrobatics, nor dazzle with multi-part counterpoint, and her orchestrations are more about colouration and mood than anything else. You can see these traits going back even as far as her first recorded composition (Gloria, composed in 1977 age 16) - her style as we know it today was substantially absent but her prioritisation of melody and harmony above all was very notable, right from the start. (Compare Oshima's work against some of the other showpieces on the Electone album - they all had more notes than Oshima did, and more "wow" factor in showing off a thousand different styles, the technical capabilities of their instrument, and their ability to play it, but Oshima is still here 40 years later while the others had their five minutes of fame and almost immediately vanished.)

If you thirst for something orchestrally virtuosic or genre-hopping, Oshima will leave you frustrated and unfulfilled. But if you want something that's pure, searingly honest, luxuriously-textured and filled with some of the most exquisitely-constructed melodies in the business, there's nobody who does it quite like she does. She is never guilty of musical verbiage, and even other darlings of the thread Kanno, Matsuo, and Amano do that from time to time.

As for his comments on Giacchino, well, everybody's entitled to an opinion - I think he's dead wrong but at least he's made his point in a courteous way. I personally believe that as tastes mature, they would shift from Giacchino to Oshima and rarely if ever in the other direction. Once you start looking below the surface, to the heart... Oshima obviously flattens Giacchino every single time... but perhaps it's fair to say that, from a purely technical point of view, some of the tosh put out by Giacchino's army of orchestrators is more impressive on the surface - it is, at the very least, emulating the sound of old Hollywood, where Oshima is stubbornly her own beast playing by her own rules.


Vinphonic's story

Sad, and highly depressing, but not necessarily surprising - "new music" has disconnected so completely from its audience that a litany of cockups now sound indistinguishable from a masterpiece. I firmly and passionately believe that I could go into a concert hall, sit at a piano before five hundred people, "play" completely random, dissonant crap, and receive roughly the same quantity and quality of plaudits as would, say, a piece by Harrison Birtwistle.

I actually have a story of my own that would confirm this. About 15 years ago I went to a "music appreciation" class - basically, a class I was doing had its hours cut so I had to sign up for something else to make up the time in order to go on qualifying for a grant. Basically we would sit and the "teacher" would play records and sometimes play the piano and we'd talk about the music afterwards. A couple of months into the class, on one occasion I'd arrived about thirty minutes early, so I sat down in the empty classroom and started to hammer away at the piano. After a few halting attempts to actually play something, I resorted to just mucking around to pass time, big random chords, lots of pedal, fragments of tunes, big flamboyant gestures, all complete and utter rubbish, just making noises. After the "big finish" - "shave and a hair-cut, two bits!" played all on the black notes and a big cluster chord played by my forearm, I turned around to find the entire class hiding behind the door staring in awe.

"I didn't know you played! What a fascinating metamorphosis on popular melodies! Who is the composer??? That was fascinating!"

I wish I were kidding. I cannot play the piano *AT ALL* and I unwittingly convinced a group of people who were actually into classical music that I was playing a legitimate piece.

The mind truly boggles.

I was under the impression that criticism was uttered by "academics" and thus I was playing abit with words to make the supposed "scholars" the "illiterate fools". It was not intended as an individual attack. Don't take it to heart :)


That said I do believe "musical illiteracy" has infested everything in media these days and if not for dozens of social media channels and forums by friends and likeminded fellows forming a circle to put good music out there (of which I'm now a member in all fields as my part-time job I guess) one could despair.

I especially despair because of little simple basic musical mistakes in million dollar productions, like the new Ducktales Theme sounding like a badly transcribed, badly mixed pop cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUU1HxsHaKM
Here's the original for reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXKcVb25LPI (It also really hurts that Ron Jones score never got an official release)



Just to be clear what exactly I meant, everyone has the right and freedom to enjoy Giacchino more than Oshima. That's personal taste and everyone has every right to express as such. Won't stop me from raising an eyebrow but I can do nothing else but shrug it off.

But everybody should be at least made aware of the fact that Giacchino is nowhere near the best at the craft of film composing nor noteworthy by any kind of music he writes. If you want to know the power of film scores, the beauty of drama and music in motion, and what an orchestral Hollywood score can sound like, you have to go back at least 20 years ago or overseas. Todays film scores (and films) are nowhere near as effective, longlasting and well made as 20 years ago. That's a FACT.

As Mike put it brilliantly: Drama and music are the two cornerstones of film since the era of silent pictures accompanied by piano and as music today gets worse, in a vicious cicle the drama gets worse, and films get worse!


But if you want to access, value and compare music in an at least somewhat objective way, that's a whole different story. Music has objectifiably, quantifiably and measureable standards at its roots. Learning them on a basic level requires maybe a week of study. It's not rocket science but neighter modern art with its "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" bullshit. Shirayuki is beauty and aural skill at first glance and doesn't need a team of hipster searching for meaning in arbitrary places, nor a team of orchestrators polishing a turd so that people can interpret its meaning.

One could get into an argument ala "Beethoven vs Bach" and the merit of technical excellence against raw emotional melody but that would require that two of the participants have demonstrated at least once that they are well skilled in either territory.

To clarify myself as well, my use of such term was not intended as an attack for anyone in particular, I believe everyone has the right to enjoy and hear what they like, Giacchino is no exception, but I also do believe that people inflate his skill to such degree that I can't help but to show them the likes such as Oshima, Hisaishi, etc. Of course, in the end, they'll have the final say if they like what they hear or not, I'll not think any less of them as a person, objectivity can only go so far as a convincing method for the people if they just genuinely like what they hear such as Giacchino's music.



But everybody should be at least made aware of the fact that Giacchino is nowhere near the best at the craft of film composing nor noteworthy by any kind of music he writes. If you want to know the power of film scores, the beauty of drama and music in motion, and what an orchestral Hollywood score can sound like, you have to go back at least 20 years ago or overseas. Todays film scores (and films) are nowhere near as effective, longlasting and well made as 20 years ago. That's a FACT.

Speaking of WHICH (Sorry I just had to for this next post) ;):



Witches
Marc Tim�n Barcelo

Performed by the Lviv Symphony Orchestra

(https://mega.nz/#!NFYAWbTQ!4p6pG570Tlg6WBy-jas-a2ECPaItvmmX50FgkSoLrpk)


Main Theme (http://picosong.com/wsqzd/)


So a few days ago, I finally took hater's advice, were he mentioned that Barcelo's Witches was even better than his already fantastic score for " The Little Wizard", a score that beats within it a "classical heart" when Tango reviewed it. And much to my surprise, hater was right, not only even better, but probably Barcelo's best work to date. It was a must for me to immediately purchase it myself and share it on this thread.

The score won in 2010 The International Jerry Goldsmith Award, and I can see why. Jerry and a bit of Horner are the main noticeable influences in this musical journey, while still remaining truly genuine in it's music. It has all, a Main Theme that starts with a slow lyrical melody that turns into a sweeping wonder of strings, brass and woodwinds all together turning into a heroic bravado with celtic undertones just to delve into an emotional growing piano segment that then gets back to part A, a delightful waltz, love themes to die for and so much more.

I really hope Barcelo's career continue as prosper during the next years and hopefully we can get something of this magnitude from him again, enjoy!

I concur again!
The best we can do is keep sharing and discussing the good stuff and bringing it to peoples attention. I listened to it again awhile back still being impressed. But Spain doesn’t have a strong enough film industry to give all those talented people enough work, sadly. Once I would have said “They need to score in Hollywood” but these days they should stay the hell away.

Allow me to return the courtesy with sharing some good stuff as well ;)




Legacy of Japan
The Music of Kuroishi Hitomi
Film Score Collection



Sample (Barok/Classical) (http://picosong.com/wskbS/) / Sample (Hollywood) (http://picosong.com/wskQ4/) / Sample (very Oshima-esque) (http://picosong.com/wskQZ/) / Sample (Merge of all with class)
(http://picosong.com/wskEc/)

PW: SkyVoice (https://anon.click/qiduc77)


Kuroishi Hitomi is a dream-pop / neoclassical singer-songwriter and composer-orchestrator from Kanazawa, Japan. Her trademark is her own soft voice and use of ethereal choirs and a million references to Hollywood film scores. She is credited simply as Hitomi for her vocals. She formed her own music group “Dolce Triade” (the other members being performers). Hitomi has worked alongside Koutarou Nakagawa on a number of anime soundtracks, such as Planetes, Gun � Sword and Code Geass, but doing mostly just the insert songs.

But while I immensely enjoy Nakagawa’s work, with just a handful of scores Hitomi has demonstrated far greater potential as a film composer that sadly never blossomed. She hasn’t really worked on anything notable outside of projects with Range as lead artist but ID-0 was composed by Hattori so even that no longer applies.

It’s lamentable but hopefully the next Code Geass projects have some composing duties beyond her role as vocalist.

Last Exile is the kind of project that examplifies the Japanese dilemma: The scores deserved the LSO but got a penny-pitching ensemble with half the instruments synth.

But even then she managed to achieve, what is in my opinion, a real gem of the Late-Night anime niche.

Last Exile: Symphonic Saga (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPjlDipOL3c)

Silver Wing: Action Music Suite (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smtDx6PCxK4)

Her scores have everything: From folk to barok, from John Williams “Somewhere in My Memory” to “Curse of the Black Pearl”. But Silvestri seems to be her primary inspiration above all. A composer with such obvious love for and knowledge of good music never really had a career in the 2000s, when anime music was at its peak, and that is a tragedy.

With Shangri-La she got the closest to a full orchestra and it’s a gem as well. Rarely do you see such good use of percussion and classy playfulness, even by TV anime standards and her vocals worked perhaps the best here:

Shangri-La: Soundtrack (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWB1KJB7Z7o)

Last Exile, Silver Wing and Shangri-La are in FLAC, the rest is MP3 and I don’t own the CDs for them.
I should also mention that Hakkenden has a second season soundtrack but that one is pretty much all synth, except for a couple of strings. But even horrible samples can't stop her:

Mummy Returns Demo Tape
(http://picosong.com/wskr5)
And here’s a drinking game: Take a shot each time she references a Hollywood score. I tried it with Silver Wing and scotch and here’s the result:

Literally Anime Jack Sparrow (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnyLP8LMI4o)

Enjoy

Ah good you included Angel Feather Voice. That has most of her songs she did before she started composing her own stuff.

Sahashi preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M638NcEbf18

Sounds like he's ready to come back to Full Metal Panic.

Bloody hell, he's looking old... Still, a potentially good score right there. :)

Bloody hell, he's looking old...Wow yeah. He's only 57 but looks 75. Were his years in hiatus that stressful?

Everything about the new FMP looks very high-budget from the trailers, so I expect Sahashi's score for it to follow suit. I wonder if that ensemble he is using for the smartphone game in the video is the same one he's using for FMP.

The tweed suit and the hairstyle really don't help... ;)

Hard to believe this is still his official publicity photo at Face Music!



As for the orchestra, there are a lot of familiar faces - it seems to be the same guys who show up on pretty much every single domestically-recorded score. And they're in Sound Inn again... IF Sahashi is scoring FMP, it will probably be most of these guys and probably in this studio... :)

I decided to try ripping a music CD through iTunes, and tweaked the import settings to Apple Lossless Encoder, which exports the tracks as ALAC/M4A files. I'm pretty clueless when it comes to music ripping, so I figured I should ask how ALAC/M4A files compared to FLAC (which I've heard is the gold standard when it comes to audio quality). Is ALAC/M4A as good as FLAC, or are there issues that hold it back? Should I try one of those programs y'all mentioned when I asked about music ripping a couple of weeks back? I'd really like to know as many details on the matter as possible, so please let me know. Thanks!

ALAC quality is identical to FLAC quality - although the other programs may handle the actual ripping of the disc better. :)

So there wouldn't be too much of an issue if I uploaded the ALAC files and posted them here in the next couple of days? If I find a way to rip tracks as FLACs, I'd make sure to do those as well and include them with my post.

So there wouldn't be too much of an issue if I uploaded the ALAC files and posted them here in the next couple of days? If I find a way to rip tracks as FLACs, I'd make sure to do those as well and include them with my post.

I don't think anyone would have an issue with it. I did that for years and only got a few people asking for FLAC but those are usually the people who are newer to site. ALAC is a lot more convenient to rip as well :)

And here’s a drinking game: Take a shot each time she references a Hollywood score. I tried it with Silver Wing and scotch and here’s the result:

If only I'd had more drinking lads in real life that could get those references, it be quite the sh*t show, in a good way of course :D. Thanks for this wonderful share, sadly I'm gonna have to buy more premium membership on MEGA if I'm going to be downloading over 2 GB, waiting for days for it to finish is just painful.

And Sahashi is back! The music for the phone game is already shooting some promises, and I can't wait to hear another glorious return from him for FMP! Hopefully we won't get the fake brass section treatment, as you can see, I'm quite scarred enough from those Saint Seya scores to hear another instance of that horror.

Any chance for this to be reupped? It looks interesting.

I wonder if you could give us some clue as to what you'd like re-uploaded?

Wow yeah. He's only 57 but looks 75. Were his years in hiatus that stressful?

I guess its just the video, this is from a recent interview:



From the looks of it he's having a blast right now.



Sounds like he's ready to come back to Full Metal Panic.

And here's what we probably can expect from Tanaka's Princess Connect: http://picosong.com/wsCfC

People I know always think the theme from Full Metal Panic! is the A-Team and I keep having to tell them that's it not. It's not really a big deal to me though.

My only hope is that composers will score these smartphone games like they would any other project. Oshima's Aerial Legends should be the standard - it's scored like a film aside from 1 looping track.

Meanwhile you have games like Black Knight and White Devil which employed five orchestrators and two symphony orchestras, and yet almost all the pieces are 1-minute loops.

HOORRAY!

MARIO + RABBIDS KINGDOM BATTLE COMPOSER ON THE GAME'S MUSICAL STYLE, INCLUDES 50 MINS OF LIVE ORCHESTRA
(https://gonintendo.com/stories/288012-mario-rabbids-kingdom-battle-composer-on-the-game-s-musical-sty)


“I thought there’s really no point – I mean same with Banjo-Kazooie – there was no point [in] me trying to write in a kind of Nintendo, Mario style, like a poppy, jazzy thing, because I can’t do it very well. And they’re really brilliant at it, I’d be wasting my time. So, I had to try to come up with some kind of way of getting that crazy Rabbids thing into this Mario game – and a little bit of me in there as well…

I think the game at the start does sound very pleasant Nintendo-ish, but as the game progresses (and I can’t go into detail because, you know, it’s one of those thing[s]) it just definitely changes. And I think people will be surprised by the end of it how it’s going to turn out.
It’s a mix, it’s a bit like Mario Galaxy, but we’re hoping for that mix. So, we recorded 45 minutes, 50 minutes of live orchestra, and the rest of it’s me, samples out the box kind of thing. But I’ve got to say… I was over there yesterday and Wednesday and we were going through the OST release and going through all the tracks, you know, and the mix and the masters [have] been very good, it’s very similar. I think people who aren’t in the know might be slightly confused to what’s live orchestra and what isn’t.”

50 MINUTES OF KIRHOPE ORCHESTRAL GOODNESS LIVE! THIS IS THE BEST NEWS EVER.

I'm still waiting for Yooka Laylee LIVE though!

---------- Post added at 05:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:07 PM ----------

Okay. Okay. So I found this sample that someone extracted from a gameplay video or something, and.. I'm trying to contain myself to not fangirl but I'm creaming my paints. It already sounds good enough. Holy shit, imagine 50 full minutes of it! This sounds magnificent to me. I really can't wait to hear the whole soundtrack. I'm so hyped. Bless Kirkhope.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8QhvdhcaVE

So there wouldn't be too much of an issue if I uploaded the ALAC files and posted them here in the next couple of days?

Here's my 10 cents worth: ALAC (Mp4) is a proprietary format of Apple, and the software I use to rip and convert formats (XLD on a MAC) won't accept it. I have to import the tracks into iTunes first and then convert them there. So one "downside" of using the ALAC/Mp4 format is that you tie users into using iTunes. If you rip to FLAC instead, most users will still probably want to convert those files into something else (mp3, WAV, AIFF) but they won't have to go through iTunes to do it. It's a small difference (at least to me---I love iTunes!) but I know of others who prefer to avoid anything involving Apple.

ALAC has been open source since 2011. You're not tied into anything.

Also, XLD's website says it can decode ALAC...

ALAC fine me - transcoding to FLAC for free tool. glad lossless any format.

Cin�ma Chim�rique - Masamicz Amano (2016)
Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRnJshfabAw) (Bunkyo University Wind Orchestra)

JMSDF DL (Thread 176366)

What are your opinions on Jerry Goldsmith's score for "Legend"? I often see it criticized as being too Disney-like and less atmospheric than the Tangerine Dream score, but my opinion is that it's not only infinitely better than TD's effort (both in and out of the film), but one of Goldsmith's all-time greatest scores. I find the track "Re-United" in particular to be absolutely masterful.

Goldsmith's masterpiece - he channels Debussy and Ravel and mixes them with some of the loveliest melodies of his career. It's well known that the sci-fi and fantasy genres tend to give composers the widest canvas on which to paint, but Jerry took this one to a whole different level and wrote something that almost belongs in the concert hall. The integration of the electronics with the orchestra, so that they play together and for a common goal, and don't sound as if one is trampling on the other, is wonderful. It's dripping in luxuriousness, and yes, atmosphere - it's Jerry's impressionist tone poem.

By comparison, Tangerine Dream wouldn't known atmospheric if it bit them in the crotch. (Luckily, their score was only used in the North American release, with Goldsmith's effort surviving in most other parts of the world - leading to a bizarre situation where one film has two scores - Americans heard a German score, and everyone else heard an American score recorded in England!

Just another in the long and varied list of reasons to punch Ridley Scott's lights out...

Goldsmith's masterpiece

But don't you say that about every Goldsmith ;)


Nothing else to add, it's one of my favorite Goldsmiths. Doesn't top Nimh for me though.



Just another in the long and varied list of reasons to punch Ridley Scott's lights out...

And then he temp-tracked 13th Warrior for Kingdom of Heaven... Anyway Ridley Scott is a rare case of a director destroying what little legacy and integrity he has with his very own shitty remakes/sequels/reboots.




EDIT: Boy oh Boy... Sato's Hi-Evolution :D

^From what I've read about Legend, poor Ridley wasn't to blame for the replacement score, it was the producer, Mr. Sydney "Howard the Duck should get greenlit!" Sheinberg, who replaced Goldsmith with Tangerine Dream to appeal to the younger audience, and he butchered not only Ridley's movie, but both TG and Goldsmith's score.

The new Alien movies are absolute hack rehash crap, but that doesn't mean Ridley started out his career in that direction.

Also, did you watch a camrip of Hi-Evolution or something? It's only been shown at Anime Expo so far. But it sounds like Sato hit a home run with this one.

Sometimes 10 seconds of score are enough ;)
At least now I have less worries its his bad persona "Syntho".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJXbR1beElM



And its not even his only project this year where I have hopes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHyt3ut6Vf8
In addition he also has two other films coming out in Fall/winter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJfQ0JOePFU&t=57s

So there has to be at least one firecracker among them.



I keep forgetting that Sato is just as young as Hamaguchi (47) in composer terms. Roughly at the age when Williams career skyrocketed and he became the composer the world now knows. Sato now has become "the big movie" composer thanks to Stand By Me with already quite the prestige. I just hope for more Priceless, K-20 and Pocket of Rainbows and less Kenshin. The few snipets of score sound at least bare of electronics and drum batteries that plague most of his modern film work. The trilogy will not be complete until 2019 but I hope they relesase the soundtrack for each part individually.

Best case, he put his heart to it, scored to picture and it gets an official release. But we shall see. Best not get too excited for a score that might as well get released in 2020.

@Vinphonic: Speaking of, think you can spare me some of that "Legacy Of Naoki Sato" collection goodness? I was too late to grab it myself before your link got terminated. Otherwise, I would fully understand if that were not a possibility anymore :)

Also I took my time to give a detailed listen to Conisch's Linebarrels Of Iron: call me impressed and pleased, I've never heard that much seamless mixture of jazz, electronics and proper orchestral composition since Ichiko Hashimoto, Iwasaki Taku and a dab of Sahashi in the brass department. It's old fashioned and stylish without being cheap in it's composition, reminds me of Big O at times and that for itself should sum up my impression of it, looking forward for his return this year. Though I'm rather curious as to what's so Silvestri in his music that you guys mentioned?

And finally, not sure if this really counts as a third disc, from what I got, this was dedicated to one of the episodes of the Taiga Drama were it's about the fate on one of the main characters:


Lady Lord Naotora Urgent Special Disc Tsuru's Songs
Yoko Kanno

https://rr.img.naver.jp/mig?src=https%3A%2F%2Fimages-fe.ssl-images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F5112vP6YvxL.jpg&twidth=1200&theight=1200&qlt=80&res_format=jpg&op=r


Download (https://mega.nz/#!ANgSlKBJ!R17TzZJJhy3IFiRnrursvVlZ-GaURWOPUp9xZGFfe34)

(FLAC)

It seems we're reaching towards the dregs of Naotora already, there's some okay stuff, not as great as the prior disc, and barely matches against the first one, were this one reincorporates themes of it's 14 minute tone poem in several tracks (And definitely not the best choir piece we've heard in Kanno's career). All in all, it doesn't seem like this will be the last disc we'll get, there's still some unreleased material from what I've watched so far, that's for sure. Nevertheless, another addition to the collection.

They'll most likely save any remaining music for the inevitable "complete edition" album, like they've done with the last few taigas.


Edit: all the tracks for Black Butler are short, but it still sounds like such a great film score. Hopefully someone can turn it into a suite or something - https://itunes.apple.com/jp/album/id1265010204

The majority of the arrangements were by Mariam Abounnasr, the 27-year-old composer recently hired by Mitsuda. He definitely has an ear for talent. And to anyone who doubted the samples, the orchestra is massive (13 piece wind section and a 21 piece brass section).

@Vinphonic: Speaking of, think you can spare me some of that "Legacy Of Naoki Sato" collection goodness? I was too late to grab it myself before your link got terminated. Otherwise, I would fully understand if that were not a possibility anymore

That depends if anon.click is just temporarely offline. The links themselves are not taken down.



Mitsuda

Ah, good! It just needs a little editing. But I'm not the only good editor here ;)
Where was it recorded? I wonder if Mitsuda expanded his Procyon studios to fit that much musicians into a single room.

His new Inazuma score has sadly been postponed to Spring 2018, it features a big orchestra and probably Abounnasr.


In addition lots of goodies this week:

It's confirmed Hisaishi employs in addition to a symphony orchestra, a full symphonic choir and even some synth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uQcObBSLAg.


A new Anno game was announced with promising music (Sillescu?): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nid1_X7jg5g


EDIT: Another goodie, seems like Don Davis is not the only Hollywood veteran scoring for Japanese movies now/again :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEHhdbzaMxU

サウンド: Mike Verta

Where was it recorded? I wonder if Mitsuda expanded his Procyon studios to fit that much musicians into a single room.

Looks like it was mostly recorded at Avaco's 301 and Victor's 301 - a couple of the usual full orchestra studios.

Another curious thing is that Mitsuda is credited as the sole copyist. Usually he outsources it or has one of his assistants do it.


A new Anno game was announced with promising music (Sillescu?): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nid1_X7jg5g
Sillescu was there when it was announced, so he was probably involved.

Download: https://mega.nz/#!YBtgCKCK!BZGNbweTOp75g4Jgrg42WtBj5bTk87x8q1USClaKo08

Lady Lord Naotora Urgent Special Disc Tsuru's Songs
Yoko Kanno

https://rr.img.naver.jp/mig?src=https%3A%2F%2Fimages-fe.ssl-images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F5112vP6YvxL.jpg&twidth=1200&theight=1200&qlt=80&res_format=jpg&op=r


Download (https://mega.nz/#!ANgSlKBJ!R17TzZJJhy3IFiRnrursvVlZ-GaURWOPUp9xZGFfe34)

(FLAC)
.

Great post, thanks for another lovely Kanno album. Lush, evocative and emotional, just the way I've come to expect.

I was watching a Cyanide and Happiness short, High Noon, the other day. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHK4N8QLtBQ

Around the 2 minute mark is this amazing original music piece that was composed specifically for that animated short, harking back to Spaghetti Western films (The short is a parody of the subgenre after all.)

I'm sharing this because I find it sad that an animated short, which has less of a budget (or no budget at all), puts a lot more effort into composing the music than modern hollywood film music altogether.

Damn it, Mike had no budget :(

But at least he uploaded the whole soundtrack on soundcloud:

https://soundcloud.com/mike-verta/bravestorm-ost-2m3-borg-vs-silver-the-launch


"In terms of "tech talk," Woods are Berlin, with Symphobia for clusters; Brass is Adventure Brass, with some Samplemodeling for solos and layers, and Metropolis Horns in a couple places; Percussion is mostly Spitfire with some other things I can't remember; Strings are mostly Hollywood, with some Symphobia and Metropolis layers. Synths are Diva. Aleatoric stuff is Symphobia. Symphobia 1 turned out to be a way more useful library than I ever imagined. Reflections done with Altiverb 7 and some ReVibe for overall verb.

Creatively, the score - not sure if you can tell or not - is a bit "tired." I did it after 4 months of doing the 5.1 sound design; thousands of robot sounds and lasers and buildings falling over - there's so much stuff in this film. And then at the end, when I was creatively and physically burned out, it was time to do nearly wall-to-wall music. It's just not the best place to be writing from. But we get it done. In the end, I think you can really tell where it gels and where it doesn't, but that may just be me. Also, goes without saying it really needed a live group, but what else is new. It is very hard for me to write under pressure without leaning on things I can expect from an orchestra which don't work so well virtually. That said, the score has the most important thing to me - end-to-end structure. It is an unfolding story in which ideas build upon each other. Oh, speaking of ideas, in 4m1 I finally got to use an idea from Horner's Star Trek III which I've always wanted to steal; maybe not the same notes, but the same concept - it's this little chromatic ascension thing near the end.

I hope my influences shall be ever tasty morsels in the music for those who are musically literate, since the references will go unappreciated by the other 95% :)"

Hopefully Mike can find some more work in Japan. With a budget next time!

But really, what a pity. :-(


Edit: Oshima just posted her latest update. Not much new to report other than that she's living in New York right now and is "composing new choral music and new orchestral music". The first soundtrack for Haikarasan (recorded in Bulgaria) will be released (http://vgmdb.net/album/70940) in November.

Sahashi also has a TV drama coming up, he's back baby :D

Sahashi also has a TV drama coming up, he's back baby :D
Yeah, I saw. His first one in almost 3 years. A few months ago I was skeptical that he would be doing FMP4. But after these recent announcements, it seems like he's coming back for sure.

That game should be out day any day now (official site says summer 2017 release) and, if possible, I'll be sure to rip it.

What's he scoring? Are there any samples, yet? :D

"Sword of Themis"

It airs in september.

No samples yet.




I'm sharing this because I find it sad that an animated short, which has less of a budget (or no budget at all), puts a lot more effort into composing the music than modern hollywood film music altogether.

Of course that is spoken in general terms as we still get some good music once in a while from Hollywood but the larger problem that its an industry on its last breath artistically is very serious and disheartening:

We're at the point where they are even remaking every 90s movie ever, like Dragonheart and Stargate. All out of desperation because apparently nobody over there can make quality movies anymore.

- Filmposters now look like embarassing photoshop attempts and are no longer drawn by artists.
- Model builders, costume designers, painters and other craftsmen of theater are going more and more out of business in favor of CGI rather than using it as a supplement for said arts.
- Filmsets no longer have their own lighting, framing and require actors just standing in front of greenscreens and everything will be added later in post.
- Camerawork and editing in movies these days is beyond atrocious, especially during action
- Writers, directors and producers are no longer storytellers who studied classical literature and music.
- Musicians with training in dramatic writing and symphonic structure are driven out of the business in favor of pop artist and DJs with zero skill in elements of theater.
- Every famous skilled, individual director of past fame is no longer at their top game and has been replaced by studio executives who install their own yes-man as directors.
- Movies now are oversaturated commercials that bank on nostalgia (meaning the talent and craft of past artists) to trick people into thinking they are having a worthwhile time while spending money.

I could continue this list ad infinitum but bottom line... this business is fucked regardless if the music is good or not.


I will always treasure Hollywood for the time films were glorified stageplays with Drama and Music in perfect symbiosis, I owe my passion to that era of filmmaking. But I find it hard to care for it any longer when games have better artistic talent and music, anime has better artistic talent and music, other (indy) film industries have better artistic talent and music and even theme parks have better artistic talent and music these days. With only a tiny percent of exceptions, I feel Hollywood films these days are just a waste of my time.

We're at the point where they are even remaking every 90s movie ever, like Dragonheart and Stargate. All out of desperation because apparently nobody over there can make quality movies anymore.

- Filmposters now look like embarassing photoshop attempts and are no longer drawn by artists.
- Model builders, costume designers, painters and other craftsmen of theater are going more and more out of business in favor of CGI rather than using it as a supplement for said arts.
- Filmsets no longer have their own lighting, framing and require actors just standing in front of greenscreens and everything will be added later in post.
- Camerawork and editing in movies these days is beyond atrocious, especially during action
- Writers, directors and producers are no longer storytellers who studied classical literature and music.
- Musicians with training in dramatic writing and symphonic structure are driven out of the business in favor of pop artist and DJs with zero skill in elements of theater.
- Every famous skilled, individual director of past fame is no longer at their top game and has been replaced by studio executives who install their own yes-man as directors.
- Movies now are oversaturated commercials that bank on nostalgia (meaning the talent and craft of past artists) to trick people into thinking they are having a worthwhile time while spending money.

I could continue this list ad infinitum but bottom line... this business is fucked regardless if the music is good or not.


I will always treasure Hollywood for the time films were glorified stageplays with Drama and Music in perfect symbiosis, I owe my passion to that era of filmmaking. But I find it hard to care for it any longer when games have better artistic talent and music, anime has better artistic talent and music, other (indy) film industries have better artistic talent and music and even theme parks have better artistic talent and music these days. With only a tiny percent of exceptions, I feel Hollywood films these days are just a waste of my time.
That's a pretty pessimistic outlook. I suppose it depends on what you define as Hollywood. I still have a great love for cinema - I probably love it as much as I love music.

If you look past the sequel/reboot crap then there's still plenty of quality, original films being. Hell, there's probably another 20 films I'll see before the end of this year.

Oh I was talking generally and I was refering mostly to the quality of the iconic "big event movie" that made Hollywood known worldwide.

I too very much love cinema, and that tiny "percentage" still keeps me going as well but if I had to choose to discard all films made before 2000 or after I know what I would choose instantly.
If you think I'm pessimistic, people IN the business for over 30 years think far more harshly.

These are just trends I observed and got more or less confirmation of, nothing optimistic or pessimistic about it. Most films today are based on films, tv and commercials from at least 20 years ago, that's just statistics.
What that means for an industry is of course open for interpretation but I don't see it positively.
As far as I can observe all these remakes/reboots/sequels do nothing than make my day harder with typing "original" or "date of film" after every franchise ever in addition to trying to "replace" the orginal with their inferior quality.
Because none of them are as well-made as 20 years ago.

Most directors these days are "yes-man" with no vision of their own. JJ Abrahams is the prime example of a director banking on nostalgia and being a business-man disguised as an artist.
Not to mention these movies have gotten louder and shakier = badly mixed with bass up the ass.

I also don't hear films with theatrical scores and Leitmotifs anymore, unless its Tarantino, MacFarlane or Williams, hence the "tiny percentage".
And Tarantino and MacFarlane also fall into the trap of nostalgia, referencing so many great movies or elements from great films that they are sometimes forgetting that they could make a great film themselves.


To illustrate my point with music, just take this silly 90s cartoon that will surely get a remake soon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qV4EhSE_9eg
The amount of skill in the music is outstanding throughout the whole show and in this scene follow the orchestra closely: Great playfulness, musical ballet jokes and some Batman at the end. I just don't expect this level of skill and confidence from the music in films anymore.

I don't really disagree with anything you're saying. It all rings true. Luckily there's so many films being made that it's easy to ignore all the trash.

And yeah, if there's one thing I hate about modern films it's how they sound. The music, the mixing... it's terrible. But isn't that the reason why we're gathered here? ;)

Animaniacs is indeed getting a reboot/remake, Spielberg confirmed he was looking for investors. Thing is, even if they got back the original people involved, it'd probably suck and try to be too modern, and worst, the animation would actually SUCK and be limited as hell and the character models super limited to be Flash-ified.. :/

Regardless, if only the reboot was done good and had the same loving style, jokes.. and just everything we loved about it, sure, I would be happy. I would love to see Animaniacs making fun of people's shit today :P

BLOODY HELL

BLOODY HELL

http://www.indiewire.com/2017/05/animaniacs-reboot-steven-spielberg-amblin-1201817336/

But it's just a project/idea for now, who knows? Might not become a thing.

In fact it might be fake as hell. So don't worry for now

Well, so far the only thing they all have been doing is cementing my love for the originals tenfold than before they were made ;)

Now I wonder if every film, TV show or commercial from the 90s will be remade someday soon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=063eHiNFfh4

I certainly have found new appreciation for films I previously shrugged off. Can you imagine it, 20 years ago just the music was enough to be your big finale for your epic fantasy film (well Goldsmith's larger than life score does elevate the whole thing)...





EDIT:

@SirusJr: Most excellent. Hadn't checked the thread in a while.

I also encourage everyone to buy a copy because when it comes to hearing Golden Age scores with "modern sound", literally every sale counts:


Interesting how CD sales have dropped so much over the last 10 years for "classic" film music. When I started Tadlow it was not too much trouble to sell 4000 to 5000 of El Cid....by the time QUO VADIS came along you were lucky to sell 3000...now the average seems to be 1500 for some of the most impressive film music of all time! And guess what over that period of time recording costs have risen by double. No wonder very few labels want to invest in recordings that will never recover even a small % of costs! Unless you are an idiot like me? :) :) :)

http://www.tadlowmusic.com/2017/08/ben-hur-miklos-rozsa/

Tadlow's Ben Hur is available to preorder for those who are interested.

sky captain 2cd finally happening

sky captain 2cd finally happening

By who? Label and composer?

By who? Label and composer?

http://creaturefeatures.com/shop/cds/skycaptain/

Never heard of them though.

http://creaturefeatures.com/shop/cds/skycaptain/

Never heard of them though.

The album is coming from La-La Land. Creature Features is a collectibles store in Burbank that is hosting the signing event at the end of September.

The album is coming from La-La Land. Creature Features is a collectibles store in Burbank that is hosting the signing event at the end of September.

Oh, well that was the first hit that I saw in Google. LLL really needs to step up their advertising game if that is the case.

Sky Captain is over-rated but it'll still be very nice to have the missing stuff after all these years. Thanks for the notification! :)

Sky Captain is over-rated but it'll still be very nice to have the missing stuff after all these years. Thanks for the notification! :)

*eye twitches*

Shearmur's best score is The Count of Monte Cristo. It was so good that a theme from it appeared in Horner's Avatar.

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I agree ;)

I also feel Sky Captain is what Captain America would have sounded like if Silvestri was given free hand.


It was so good that a theme from it appeared in Horner's Avatar.

I only really remember Glory appearing in it a lot, but I only really listen to the unoffical WAR suite from this thread (don't remember who put it together).




But alas, enough grumpiness, more joyful talk.


http://picosong.com/wsJWp/

Can't wait for the soundtrack, but it has to be at least four CDs now and god knows how many outtakes. Virgin Soul probably holds now the record for the longest TV Anime scored to picture.


Oh and I wonder if Tanaka finally made his dream come true, considering he helms the Anime Next 100 Project on the music front, which has funding from all kinds of places (Project to ensure the future of the Japanese Animation Industry from 2017 to 2117):


Tanaka: When enough money is accumulated, I would like to finally work with the London Philharmonic. How about selling a new work by the London Philharmonic at Comiket (laugh).

ALAC has been open source since 2011. You're not tied into anything

Tangotreats is right---I should have thought out my reply better. Apple does allow other online stores to sell lossless ALAC files (which I didn't know until now) but since I seldom buy music in that format and could never convert Apple's AAC format using XLD, had wrongly assumed ALAC wouldn't convert either. I usually buy my music from iTunes, which only sells lossy AAC now, and was not up-to-date on ALAC. Apologies for the confusion!

sky captain 2cd finally happening

Finally! There's also a book of Kevin Conran's art for the movie coming out this year from Dynamite. It seems like this is a good year to be a "Sky Captain" fan.

Is it just me, or is Shearmur's "Sky Captain" score one of the most old-fashioned scores of the entire post-1960s era of Hollywood? To me, it has a style that makes it sound more classic (in the sense of actually originating from the Golden Age of Hollywood) than anything John Williams ever composed in the 1970s-onward. I don't mean to say that it's more "classic" than Williams' work in the sense of being better or more iconic or more of a classic in its own right; merely that to my ears it sounds more like an actual 1930s-1940s era Hollywood film score than anything Williams has done from 1970-onward.

Really? I have to give it a try when it comes out, then.

Masako Otsuka has been listed as the composer of Nobunaga's Ambition: Taishi.

Source: https://twitter.com/AimVil_MusicDiv/status/901801723320078337