Melodic Sensibility

I've been having more and more Japanese composers recommended to me by YouTube and the like, probably as a result of binging Hisaishi.

Listening to a lot of this, and thinking about Mike's relationship with Japanese directors (I think he's mentioned a few? Or at least one?): is it just me, or does the melodic sensibility live far more strongly in Japan these days? They've always have a strong focus on the melodic, as far as I can tell (historically), but I look at music from shows like this, and while there are some too-fast string runs and while not exactly long-form in a traditional sense, this music is leaps and bounds stronger than I've encountered from literally any TV show I can think of in recent memory and there are consistent, recurring themes.

 

They've certainly got a more sophisticated and thorough appreciation for art and culture than we tend to, on average. Music permeates their history. It's interesting reading about Bushido and how Samurai (some, anyway) were required to learn the "Japanese guitar" (shamisen?), specifically for carrying sorrowful folk melodies to instill a sense of tenderness and grace to balance their constant confrontation with the horrors of warfare. I'm embarrassingly ignorant of proper names, but look at something like their tea ceremony -- it was created during a time of intense bloodshed and turmoil, as an outlet to incorporate grace and beauty into an otherwise ordinary event. While these practices may only be shadows of their former selves, art permeates their cultural practices and heritage. We don't really have any history like this in North America.

 

Great point! I've noticed that with a lot of kids shows. Unfortunately it's not something I'll sit down to watch, but I pay a lot more attention if it's on. I'm not sure why good writing tends to be more prevalent in animation. Maybe there's less of an obsession with homogenized work that panders to the masses. Family Guy has surprisingly fantastic music. I'll look up Teen Titans -- heard of it, but never heard it.

Have you heard Hisaishi's music?

 

Thanks for all the shares! Looking forward to exploring more.

Maybe I need to learn this forum better, but some features like "following" a particular person seem a bit frustratingly non-intuitive. I follow you and don't get notifications for your posts. Will check it out! Not sure how I missed that.

Oh man. He's just so obvious I forget to include him. I've listened to the first Distant Worlds symphony dozens of times. I remember burning all FFVII songs onto a CD player for my diskman in highschool. The music definitely made this game. This particular iteration had some pretty mature themes and emotional arcs that really stuck with me as a teenager. Such an amazing score. Not a coincidence that Uematsu is a big Deep Purple and prog rock fan. If anyone has sheet music for the Distant Worlds, or other symphonies, I'd really love a PM.

Love this theme too:

PS -- Doug will probably love the choral misinterpretation in this one. 3:33: "Many many many ass, everybody touching ass". Sounds apocalyptic rather than provocative.

 

Something I've noticed in a handful of Japanese shows: there often seems to be complete songs, or pieces of music written for a show, which are reused throughout the series. It almost seems to be the way video game music is used. I actually think I prefer this: the pieces are more memorable and are generally complete pieces; the pieces get reused almost as motifs, and overall, you end up with a more listenable soundtrack. What I don't like about the vast majority of TV scores is the fact that the music tends to be pretty forgettable in the long run, considering how much music they have to churn out every week or two. It's difficult to create anything lasting that way.

 

Can't forget Koji Kondo