John UM
Animation and music are inseparable, and animation works can gain the support of the world, and it is also inseparable from the power of music. Today, Japanese animated songs are just as widely lauded as J-POP, and the quality of the soundtrack is no less than that of a real person. How did the current animated music come into being?
“Keyboard Magazine” Autumn 2019 produced the special topic “Relationship between Animation and Music”. Please visit a lot of people related to animation music and animation songs, listen to the testimonies of the parties, trace the tracks of the masters, analyze the scores of famous songs, and answer the animation. The process and technique of forming this relationship with music
The music production group Elements Garden, dominated by Uematsu Fankang, has created many animated songs loved by the audience. In recent years, “BanG Dream!”, Which describes the life of a high school girl band, has attracted more attention. Elements Garden once had an American member, Evan Call (quit in 2016), and many music lovers who want to come to China dream of becoming one of them
Fujita Ryutaro joined the music production group Elements Garden in 2014, and has since been deeply involved in the “BanG Dream!” Series. In an interview, he tells his story with Elements Garden and BanG Dream !
Fujinaga didn’t learn musical instruments when he was young, but his parents liked Ryuichi Sakamoto, so he also practiced “energy flow”. The music really started when he was close to junior high school and formed a three-member band with friends. He was responsible for bass. After entering high school, he joined the Light Department, formed a band outside school, and began performing at Live House. Unconsciously, music became the center of his life
Fujiyoshi began to get in touch with bands such as copy ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION and BUMP OF CHICKEN. It was at the heyday of ELLEGARDEN, so he also played melody hardcore punk. Later, he helped metal and pop bands, and his exposure to music became wider and wider. In addition, affected by his parents, he will also play Beatles. After checking it out, in the band affected by Beatles, he liked a lot. Although he doesn’t play, he also likes Liszt in classical music
When high school was about to graduate, the band decided to write an original song. Fujiyoshi bought a guitar and began to compose on his own. He wrote a song with guitar genre, melody and ears, and fast tempo. It is an easy-to-understand song suitable for A side. He sang again, turning from bass to guitar and lead singer
In college, he played cover songs at Qingyin Fanhui, and formed an original band outside the school. During this time, he also earned income by playing guitar. When he started to apply for a job, he had the idea of using music as a job and started looking for music-related companies. He started looking for a job at a record company, but after much consideration, he still wanted to write his own music. So when the junior year was almost over, he simply gave up his job search and planned to go to a music school first. He convinced his parents to study at the Muse Conservatory for two years
Represented by the representative of Uematsu Fankang, many composers of Elements Garden is from Muse Conservatory, and Uematsu has also been a lecturer at this school. At that time, Elements Garden was just recruiting writer candidates, and sent Daisuke Kikuda and Ishibashi Iwahashi to their alma mater to recruit new ones. Fujinaga felt that the opportunity was rare. He applied for his name and was fortunate to be hired
At the time, Fujinaga felt that as long as he could work with music, he could do anything. He has been watching animation since high school and also likes animation songs. But for high school students playing music, animated songs are too difficult. He used to copy songs written by Uematsu to Nana Mizuki, and was very handsome. So, animated songs were also included in his work options. He has also submitted resumes to several music production companies outside Elements Garden, but because he feels that the music he writes may be suitable for animated songs, the target he chose is also the company that favors animated songs
Generally speaking, when a newcomer enters Elements Garden, he starts with an assistant and waits for the assistant to expire before being tested as a writer. But once, Takayaga Taro received a proposal for an arrangement. Uematsu wrote the melody, and everyone arranged it separately. I asked Elega’s predecessor composers to listen to it. Fujinaga received a good evaluation
A few days later, Uematsu suddenly opened the door of the assistant’s room and said, “Fujiyoshi, it’s time for you to play. Make this song for me before tomorrow.”
That song is not an animated song, but “ い ろ は に ほ へ と de ヴ ァ ン パ イ ア “ by the idol group drop, which was co-arranged by Fujii and predecessor Daisuke Kikuda and made their debut in the music scene.Since then, he has continued working as an assistant while working part-time as a writer
Although I have published my own work, Fujinaga has no real feeling for a long time, and I feel that it is not different from that of the former play team. However, when the music he participated in was performed at a concert, this concept was suddenly changed. He watched his music perform on a big stage that he had never appeared on before, and the audience was enthusiastic before he realized: “So many people are listening to my music. What I do is more important than I thought Ah. “Of course this is a kind of pressure, but being able to make so many people high also makes him happy
In the fall of Elements Garden, Fujinaga participated in the animated work for the first time and composed two episodes of Daisuke Kikuta in “Detective Opera Milky Holmes” “ ミ ル キ ィ ろけ ん ろ ー “and” ハ ー ト Goes on! “Is the arranger. Although he thought, “Let me be in charge of the animated episode, can you do it?” But he said to him, “You have played a band, and you should be good at band songs, right?” Thick “Ha ー ト Goes on!”. But what the film side wanted was a more direct rock song, and he rewritten it again. As a result, both capitals were adopted
Although it is a song written for seiyuu, the melody interval and singing part allocation that take care of the seiyuu singing skills are responsible for Kikuda. Fujiyoshi just added guitar and bass as he pleased, and didn’t consider these issues. Especially “Ha ー ト Goes on!” Is the brisk and simple rock of Beatles, which is not much different from the songs sung by ordinary singers
About BanG Dream !, which has become one of the masterpieces of Elements Garden, because this is a band work, Fujinaga participated as an assistant during the project establishment meeting. At that time, even the name “BanG Dream!” Not settled yet. In the summer of the same year, the voice actors began to practice, and Fujiyoshi would also go to the rehearsal. So he was involved in the BanG Dream! Project very early. Even while producing the aforementioned “Detective Opera”, “BanG Dream!” Also produced the first original song. So, Fujiyoshi was responsible for the arrangement of “Yes! BanG_Dream!”
The voice actors involved in “BanG Dream!” Were mostly just touching musical instruments. Therefore, when Fujiyoshi arranges, he pays attention to writing simple and handsome phrases that novices can also play. Elements Garden—especially Uematsu—has written music that is dazzling, fast, and very difficult to play. This is already the stage of composing, which makes Fujinaga very headache, how to arrange this thing. It’s not that you just need to add some handsome phrases, but you have to be able to actually play them on Live to make the fans fall. In the end, he came up with a set of methods: if it is a guitar, then the octave is the main, and then add arpeggios that sound like continuous repeats. The finger position is completely fixed. Just remember it and pop it up Or something like that
But then the second song “ ぽ っ ぴ ん ‘ し ゃ っ ふ る “ “is a cheerful song that saw a ghost, 220 bpm, Fujiyaga Silent: Do you really want voice actors to play this? !! When I got the third song “STAR BEAT! ~ %% @@ ホ シ ノ コ ド ウ ~”, when I composed the song, it was already 8 beats at 190 bpm, and Fujinaga felt that there was nothing he could do
What he was most worried about was Aya Ito, an inexperienced keyboard player at the time. In the first song, there is no keyboard, and the tambourine is used to enhance the atmosphere; in the second song, the organ is started, and the writing is relatively simple, just playing chords; and in the third song, she has to challenge the piano. Fujiyoshi arranges left-hand standby and right-hand arpeggio. At first, she only planned to let her play with her right hand, but the editor was about to use her left hand. Fujinaga still made her try a challenge
Fujinaga himself played the piano before, so you can try to play it by yourself, if you think it is wrong, re-record it. On the other hand, he has not studied piano, so he has a feeling of being close to the novice, thinking that he feels that simple phrases and voice actors can also play. He thought that the phrase popped up by people who really played the keyboard would make it difficult for people who have never played the band to play. So Fujinaga decided to believe his feelings. Although he didn’t know if what he wrote was correct as a keyboard phrase, his keyboard level improved with “BanG Dream!”
Fujita Ryutaro has been mainly arranger since he entered Elements Garden. At the end of the first year, Elements Garden wanted to write an album recording for the voice actress Shoko Aoi, and the company decided to let its assistants write a try as well, and held an internal competition. A song submitted by Fujinaga was adopted, which was later “SETSUNA DROP”
Arrangement will be subject to various restrictions: what is the melody and composer’s intentions, especially for animated songs, it is also necessary to consider what kind of music the work wants. He wants to think about how to arrange the music within these restrictions to make the music more interesting. And composition is different, he will know the overall directionality, in this directionality, stuff everything he can take out 100%. Arrangement is to carry forward the benefits of songs written by others, from 1 to 10, so it can better reflect your own values. He can compare with the directionality he gets, make all kinds of judgments, and control the speed of the music
In “BanG Dream!”, Fujiyoshi is also responsible for the composition of many songs, mainly poppin’Party and Roselia two bands. He composed the first time for “BanG Dream!”, Which is “ キ ラ だ と か 梦 だ と か %% @ @ ～ Sing Girls ～》. He had been an arranger before, so the thought came to him: if I could compose Poppin’Party, I would write it like this
Uematsu Fankang himself is a piano player. The atmosphere of the songs he writes is not the same as the band Fujinaga has done, and it will reflect the feeling of Uematsu ’s favorite western band. Fujinaga wants to try something else, “ キ ラ だ と か %% @ @ 梦 だ と か ～ Sing In Girls ~, he realized the challenge he wanted to do for the first time. The same is true of “Yes! BanG_Dream!”, Which he participated as an arranger, adding Dadd9 and D (onG), which are often played by band guitarists, which are very authentic band sounds
When I was young, I listened to bands such as BUMP OF CHICKEN, and I had the conciseness of J-ROCK. So when he wrote songs for Poppin’Party, he was writing in that direction. However, Fujinaga also played a more “heavy” genre of music, although for a short period, he also formed a metal band in high school
Since entering college, metal nuclear bands such as Memphis May Fire and Attack Attack! Have also become popular in Japan. Fujiyoshi heard and wanted to play such music. Although this genre is very close to animated songs, he has not made such music since he entered Elements Garden. The songs written by the seniors are not as heavy as the band. So, when it came time to form Roselia, Fujiyoshi wanted to look at the real direction
But in fact, Poppin’Party ’s guitar is harder than Roselia, he wrote it according to the so-called J-ROCK guitarist’s vigorous playing method. Roselia valued the voice, and writing too loudly and confusingly would make it hard to hear, so he asked the voice actress to play it easier. However, if it is always a tune, then both sides will be too tied, so he is gradually mixing the two playing styles
As for the keyboard, Poppin’Party basically uses piano and organ to make the CD and Live sounds the same. Occasionally, the synthesizer sounds are superimposed. Roselia not only uses multi-layered synthesizer sounds, but is also full of synchronization. There are many synthesizers, strings and pianos, and sometimes programs that keyboard players can’t play
Roselia’s two keyboard players have played the keyboard, Fujinaga dare to write the keyboard is difficult and dazzling. But because they played the piano, Fujinaga didn’t write the band’s keyboard as a piano. Instead, he added a lot of handsome quick phrases and advanced modes of Emo music that many people who can’t play the piano write Phrase
In addition, as mentioned earlier, Uematsu Fankang himself can play the piano, so Fujinaga will also make good use of the piano played by Uematsu. Because the upper hand is large, the octave amplitude is also large when you play the piano, and the female vocalist’s small hand can’t cope, so Fujiyoshi also needs to split the octave to adjust with the keyboard player
Among the many songs created for “BanG Dream!”, Fujinaga’s deepest feeling is the OP “ キ ズ ナ ミ ュ ー ジ ッ ク ♪” in the 2nd animation. As an animated theme song, this is the most important song he wrote for the series, so he felt like writing the song as if he wanted to stuff all his feelings along the way. He meticulously hid Poppin’Party’s previous guitar phrases and the rounds between the instruments into this piece, so it was hard to play. Although at first glance it is a song that wins with momentum, but the details are very rich
In a flash, BanG Dream! Has been around for almost 5 years. Fujinaga believes that it can already be said that what he did for Poppin’Party and Roselia became his own color. He really learned a lot from this series. Elements Garden’s music is known for string music, and is a team that is good at animated songs as a whole. But Fujinaga ’s own background and team are different. Since entering Elements Garden, he hopes to make use of his differences and make interesting things. After joining, he actually had a chance to do what he was good at, and he could seriously face the band music and became very interested
From Poppin’Party, he examined the superposition of the guitar sounds, the adjustment of the timbre, and what other phrases can be played and what phrases cannot be played. In Roselia, he has grown experimentally. He learned how to try a simple single-shot guitar phrase first, and then meticulously challenged the method of superimposing guitar sounds
In some music, he will sound three guitars at the same time: at the bottom are powerful chords of 5 and 6 strings, with extended chords of 3 and 4 strings stacked on top, and an octave layer to challenge the Western style Guitar usage. By superimposing the guitar, the musician can play handsome phrases, even though they are simple phrases
Fujinaga doesn’t like it sounds like a master guitar and a rhythm guitar. When he wanted a different way to fill the sound than a rhythm guitar, he took advantage of Roselia’s experience. The settings he used in Poppin’Party can also come in handy in other songs. These things, if not for the band’s work of Zhengerbajing, have no chance to try. So he has written various songs for “BanG Dream!” And everything will help now
In Roselia’s songs, Fujiyoshi’s most painstaking work is the first “Determination Symphony”. Prior to that, he basically played a sliding LR pickup, and in this song, although the guitar only played chords, three notes were superimposed at the same time. It was the engineer who told him, “It seems that the Western Band superimposes the sound.” He listened and tried it himself
When I was playing in a team, Fujiyoshi composed it from Lianduan with a guitar. Nowadays, he basically starts with the melody of the chorus. The most exciting part of the song is the chorus, so he first writes the chorus, and then in order to make the whole song coherent, write the entire story to the chorus
As for the melody, he generally exudes the indifferent impression of “want to write such a song”, and then waits for when the melody will fall from the sky. Of course, there are also some songs that focus on the sense of rhythm, the momentum of the drum, or the piano. At this time, he will also change the composition method. If it was an EDM, he would write Kick first. Basically, instead of deciding on the chord progression and then adding the melody, he is more contemplating the melody while playing
As for the production part, because Fujiyoshi ’s guitars are basically recorded by himself, he will use Avid Pro Tools, because this software can record and it is also easy to use. “BanG Dream!”-Especially the software source used by Roselia, is mainly the regular choices such as Native Instruments Massive, SONICWIRE SERUM, Spectrasonics Omnisphere. Strings mostly use Spitfire Chamber Strings, East West, and 8dio together. The keyboard he played was Roland RD-800, and the piano sound source was Synthogy Ivory. Recently, I heard that Soniccouture the Hammersmith is very realistic. After trying it, I also felt that the sound was good and I used it. Poppin’Party ’s keyboard is easy to understand. Ivory for general pianos and Native Instruments Vintage Organs for organs. When the production was exhausted, he would buy and buy software sources to express pressure, so he bought a lot of sources
For readers who are interested in creating animated songs, Fujinaga suggests that to improve the quality of the music, you need to have a strong will on what you want to do, and clearly convey what you want to do in the song. Now many people just draw the gourd from the gourd, and after listening to the music of others, they make something that seems to be the case. Fujinaga himself did the same before, but now he thinks first, for example, in the chorus, what he wants the audience to hear. If you write the song’s melody and string sub-melody, then the chorus is enough to listen to the song and string. If you stop plugging in guitar arpeggios that you do n’t know the audience can hear, the songs and strings may lose their vitality. Even string music can interfere with the sound of the song, so you can put strings in between the songs. Fujinaga suggests using this method to make clear what you want to do most and arrange priorities. When doing what you want to do carefully, thinking about how to pursue the ultimate is the key to improving quality
When asked what kind of work he would like to participate in the future, Fujiyoshi said that he likes the band 凛 と し て 时 雨, and wants to write hysterical, gloomy, roaring music. In addition, he also wanted to write the backlash of the frantic roar. In addition to the band, he also loves Electronica music, hoping to have the opportunity to write once