Chapter 1
Toward the end of January 2005, an in-house New Year's party was held.
As usual, the party was held at a nearby izakaya (Japanese-style pub), where people were soaking up the alcohol and enjoying games and strange acrobatic tricks. As the time passed and the alcohol was in everyone's system, Niya Tomita, the day's organizer, stood up and began to speak to everyone.
Niya Tomita said, "I have an important announcement to make to you all."
Everyone said, "What, what, what, what...?
Nya Tomita: "Actually, we have planned to create a theme song for the restaurant."
All "？？？？？"
Niya Tomita: "We're going to have everyone play some part, and we're going to make a CD and sell it."
Who's going to buy it?"
Niya-Tomita: "...It won't sell, but what about the songs before that?"
He was bearish even before he started the project.
Niya Tomita: "We may not sell many songs. But we all have to stick together with one goal in mind, and if we do sell some of the songs, we will donate some of the money to a charity like the Japanese Red Cross."
Yes, we have done nothing in response to the recent disasters, such as the Sumatra earthquake and tsunami and the Niigata earthquake, but maybe we can do something about it. However, we might be able to do this. Rather than simply donating money, it would be healthier for us to help while enjoying ourselves.
Who's going to buy them? Myself and my parents and siblings. ・・・・ It may be only a few dozen at most, but that's good.
Let's have fun!
Now that the project has started, where do we start? Name of the project, composition, lyrics, parts, schedule, recording method, etc...
These things will be decided gradually in the communication on the company bulletin board.
For the lyrics and music composition, we will ask for demo songs from everyone and decide on one of them. The name of the project should be "TC Aid" and the parts should be decided after the song is decided. Recording will be done with Niya Tomita's personal "ProTools LE" and "Apple iBook G4". I got permission to use the equipment from the store, and I can't spend a lot of money on it.
Well, anyway, let's get to the music, the music!
Two weeks later, it was the last day to submit demos. The demos collected were ・・・・2 songs.
Was the time too short or was it left to others?
In the end, a majority vote was taken and a song was chosen to be our theme song. It was composed by Heege Tabe.
Now the song was decided. We would start the project with Heege Tabe as the producer and Niya Tomita as the technical director in charge of recording.
Chapter 2
The parts were decided early on, as each of us had to choose an instrument that we could play. There were many guitar parts in proportion to the general public, but that could not be helped.
Guitar part meeting
Demossa Ogouchi, Yamete Kogure, Lamene Kashida, and Niya Tomita gathered at the meeting. Heege Tabe of the same part was unable to attend due to the flu, so the first meeting began with these four members.
「・・・」
While everyone was waiting for someone to make the first comment, YAMETE Kogure suddenly brought the Fernandez TEJ on display.
Yamete Kogure says, "I'll go with this! I'll go with the sustainer!"
He is very brave and daring.
They all said, "What? Okay, that's fine.
Are you sure?
Well, let's start with the backing.
I guess we'll have to leave the acoustic guitar to Heegee Tabe, and maybe mix in an electric guitar. So, who will it be?
「・・・」
The staff members were very proactive.
Let's decide on a solo first!
The solo part is a few bars long, so we'll divide it into four parts and order them...
Okay, then, what's the first solo?
「・・・」
I'm very motivated.
Let's leave it to Mr. Heegee Tabe...he's not here..."
All of them said, "Yeah, yeah.
The top batter was decided.
It's not fair.
Next up was rock-paper-scissors-scissors. Yes, rock, paper, scissors... Oh, Demossa Kogochi. And the destructive TEJ Sustainer was next. And finally, Ramane Kashida.
And the ending of the song was left to Niya Tomita. Then, it's decided. Best regards!
Vocal parts meeting
Ockerle Matsui and Suimasen Imoto are in charge.
Let's harmonize on the C melody...and sing A and B in turn.
Well, let's just go with it.
The end.
Ha!
Chapter Three.
Isa Recording.
First, let me introduce the recording equipment. As mentioned earlier, the Apple iBook G4 and ProTools LE are Niya Tomita's personal belongings. Although USB 2.0 is faster in catalog speed, FireWire (IEEE1394) is faster in execution speed. I would like to thank Niya Tomita for all her help throughout this project.
The first step was to input the drums. Kurosawa Kurosawa, the bootyaketa in charge of the drums, is on standby. By the way, why was this novice in charge?
It was a year ago... He had played live drums a few times at a studio for the purpose of "getting rid of the lack of exercise! He had been playing live drums a few times in the studio for the purpose of "getting rid of lack of exercise," but gave it up because of tendonitis in his wrist. He wanted to take this opportunity to force himself to practice drums.
Can't you do it, really?
Back to the recording, it is very difficult to record live drums.
Not liking hard and difficult things, we turned our attention to a product on the sales floor, the Yamaha DT-X eledra.
Let's try this one.♪」
We plugged the two out jacks into the interface connected to the Mac, and voila, recording.
Oh no, I hear my sound slightly delayed. It seems to be a specification, a fate of DTM. However, I could not play with this problem. So, without monitoring my own sound, I just listened to the demo song and strummed along with it.
When one take was over,
Heegee Tabe: "Um, the bass drum sounds a little different..."
Buchiyaketa-Kurosawa: "Oh, yeah. I know, I can't do it, it's like a rhythm machine."
Hige・Tabe: "..."
And after a few takes, it was over. Is it okay like this?
But you can fix anything that's wrong with a Mac, right?"
He is completely dependent on the editing skills of the software.
Niya/Tomita: "What? Well, technically it's possible..."
Okay, then, good-bye~."
Okay, good-bye.
Actually, the "Roland TD series" eredrums came in later that day. This one sounded better, so I decided to play it again....
According to Buchiyaketa Kurosawa, drums are not a way to get rid of lack of exercise!
Then came the bass recording. Dakara Yoshiba appeared.
He has been with us since the beginning of this project.
"I'm a behind-the-scenes guy, so I'll be the bass player. He had already made up his mind that he would be the bass player.
It was a sound decision, since the staff was overwhelmingly made up of guitarists. The logic of "bass = backstage. Well, that sounds like a repairman.
The setup was direct in line, with the bass amp as a monitor, listening to the clicks and demo sounds as we started the show.
One take, two takes, three takes...
Dakara and Yoshiba bring out a screwdriver and start adjusting the octave. He has good skills, but the pitch problem and the unexpected bass line led to an on-the-spot discussion with Heege and Tabe.
In the end, they switched the bass to a 70's Fender JB, and finished the bass line that Tossa had decided to play without any difficulty. The project was successfully completed. It seems that the composer respected Heege Tabe's image while playing the piece.
According to Dakara Yoshiba, simple is best.
Then came the acoustic guitar. It was Heege Tabe's turn.
He used a Gibson SJ '65 that was in the store.
When recording live guitars, there are many things to be careful about, such as the position of the microphone. This time, two microphones were used, one facing the soundhole and the other from the direction of the endpin on the body.
As expected, it was very difficult to position the microphones. The goal was to create a sound with a good punch that would bring out the raw sound. Since the song was written by Heege Tabe himself, once the microphone position was determined, the rest was easy.
Since I could not monitor the rhythm through the speakers, I had to use one side of the headphones to monitor the click sound, and the other side was removed to monitor my guitar. After a few takes, we were done.
I learned at this time that this demo song was originally an acoustic song.
According to Heege Tabe, the real thing is better!
Next came Ramane Kashida.
He was in charge of backing and lead solos on the electric guitar.
He used his own FENDER STRAT '70, FENDER/CUSTOM SHOP VIBROKING COMBO, and BOSS OD-2 and CE-3.
This was my first recording experience of any kind. Since I was not allowed to be in front of the other instruments for backing, I thought I was trying to look cool so as not to disturb the other instruments.
At this point, there were almost no other sounds, so in a sense, I could have played freely.
A few hours of more takes went by, and when I looked at my watch, it was 1:00 am! I looked at my watch and it was 1:00 a.m.!
I had heard it was a slow starter, but it was a little too late!
According to him, he was so nervous that he made a lot of mistakes. He said he was as nervous as when he went to a karaoke bar alone with a girl for the first time.
In the end, he was satisfied with the take he recorded.
Now, at a later date, we decided to record the solo part.
I was in charge of the last four bars, and I was unusually thoughtful about how to end it, how to assemble it, and so on.
Armed with a FENDER JAPAN ham-modified Strat guitar, BRUNO COW TIPPER amp, and BOSS OD-2 effects pedal, I began the take.
It didn't turn out exactly as I had imagined, but I was satisfied. I'm happy with it," said Ramane Kashida.
Like everyone, there is no end to the things I should have done afterwards.
The ability to burn the just-recorded sound to a CD and hand it over is very DTM-like, but it definitely makes you say, "One more time, please. It's convenient, but it's not going to be enough.
It was a good experience, and I think I'll take this opportunity to get into MTRs.
According to Kashida, recording is scary!
Chapter 4
It was Yamete Kogure's turn for her solo.
His solo is so impressive that it can be easily recognized by listening to the music. After all, he used a sustainer and played a white ball.
It may sound like I'm playing in a silly way, but I was very careful about the timing of arming and pitch.
It's the most (hilarious?!) original part of this song. It's the most (hilarious!?) original part of the song.
Yamete Kogure says, "Can I be a sustainer again next time?
Meanwhile, it was Demossa Kogochi's turn.
He, too, was in charge of soloing on the electric guitar.
The solo part was more nerve-wracking than I had expected.
The sustainer solo by Yamete Kogure was surprisingly good.
I had thought it was a bit silly, so I had to do my best.
I used a LINE6 POD2 and recorded directly with a Providence buffer as I had originally planned, but I was a little concerned about noise and loss.
In the end, I decided to create the sound by connecting a BOSS MD-2 and a CE-2 to a TUBEWORKS amp.
With my individuality and personality, I was immersed in my own world, almost ignoring the flow of the music around me.
After a while, Niya Tomita asked me, "Why don't you use a wah? I came back to myself.
I thought to myself, "Oh, yes, I do! Let's use it."
I chose the Jim Dunlop GCB-95Q.
I didn't want to compromise, but it didn't go smoothly, because even if I was OK with it, others were not, and vice versa.
Yes, the guitar is a personally owned Shaktar Strat-type. It was a leftover from a sale at our store? The guitar is a strat-type guitar, which was purchased from a leftover from our shop, and modified.
After the solo, I recorded the guitar quartet part, but I heard that it was difficult to keep the tempo with everyone.
Demossa Ogouchi said, "Give me four more bars!
Now that most of the guitar parts had been recorded, the vocalist came on stage.
The male vocalist, Ockerle Matsui, appeared on the scene saying, "Good job!
I was happy when it was decided that I would be in charge of singing, and I am glad to be able to sing something other than karaoke," he said jubilantly. I am happy to sing something other than karaoke," said Ockerle Matsui, who expressed his joy by doing push-ups.
How was the practice before the performance? The lyrics had been written in advance, so we printed them out. He and his female vocal partner, Suimasen Imoto, had decided on their parts, and they were single-mindedly converting the lyrics of their parts into katakana!
And the evidence, confiscated >>
The studio was full for the pre-practice, so I went into the karaoke bar with my acoustic guitar. I was worried about the eyes of the waiter, but I just went in with a blank face. Hey, don't peek through the window.
I was nervous about the show. My voice was hoarse, and everything I had remembered was a complete blank. But after recording one take, I felt a little better and tried to sing naturally.
I felt like I was following the lead of Imoto-san, who is a very good singer," said Ockerle Matsui. I was just following him," said Ockerle Matsui.
He was concerned that the quality of his voice was not suitable for hamo, but it matched beautifully. But it matched beautifully. He seemed to feel good.
He had a great time. I want to do it again! And I didn't do push-ups ・・・・, but good, good, good. Singing is a drug. He said, "Singing is a drug. Can't stop, huh?
Don't forget to play the folk guitar at karaoke, according to Ockerle Matsui!
Next up was the female vocalist, Swimmerisen Imoto.
I was very sorry to be in charge of the vocals," said Imoto. Of course, this was my first recording, and I had never sung this type of song before, so it was fresh and interesting. She commented, "It was my first time to record a song like this.
Before the performance, she went into the studio to practice by herself. He had neither band nor karaoke recently, so he started from the beginning by speaking out.
The two of them practiced the "hammoly" part of the song together, but Nantes was having trouble with it, too.
The actual recording site was also my sales floor, and I made it easy for them to sing again, so they had fun, didn't they?
After the recording was over, my impression was that the recording was a little rough, because I focused on momentum. And we had a hard time getting the two of us to match up. Yes, we did.
According to Suimasen Imoto, what doesn't fit, doesn't fit!
He is absolutely right.
Chapter 5
Heege Tabe, in charge of acoustic guitar, and Niya Tomita, in charge of recording, agreed to re-record the acoustic guitar. At first I thought it was good, but as the other parts came in, I began to worry about the balance and tone, so we went back and re-recorded it.
This time, the microphone position was improved? I repeated the process of recording and listening to the song. In this take, I made changes in several places, such as changing the rhythm pattern and adding an acoustic guitar arrangement.
I had a particularly hard time getting the solo part to match the bass pattern, but in the end it ended up matching the bass.
After a few takes, it was done. I was satisfied with the result and it was perfect.
A voice could be heard from far away... "Talk it over from the beginning!
That's true, but....
Now, on to the solo recording.
The equipment was FENDER/J STRAT EXTRAD 80'S, my personal favorite machine, FENDER Custom Shop DUAL PROFFESIONAL, and my own TURBO RAT, TUBE SCREAMER, GUYA DELAY, etc. Effectors were my own TURBO RAT, TUBE SCREAMER, GUYA DELAY, etc.
Actually, I first used Fender TWIN, but for some reason it didn't work well with RAT (the bass was distorted all the time), so I changed to Dual Proffesional in a hurry. However, it was quite good. Now, the sound creation was decided.
The four bars I was in charge of were almost exactly as in the demo, and out of the four guitarists, it was the most rock-like," he said! said the guitarist himself.
He thought of the "hamori" part on the spot and played it so as not to destroy the atmosphere. He felt the solo was too short. It's the guitarist's showpiece, you know.
The second half of the concert began, and this is where the wind instruments came into their own.
Since the goal of the festival was to have "everyone play together," it was a bit forced, but since there was a wind section, the wind instruments had to make an appearance.
Taking the lead, Totankai Mizumoto stood by with his trumpet.
He had played the saxophone and flugelhorn in advance, but eventually he settled on the trumpet.
By the way, I wondered how he was going to record the performance, but he brought a condenser microphone for brass. I attached it to the end of the trumpet, and that was it. How convenient!♪
I was a little confused about how to set the sound, but here we go.
Fa~!♪Ph~~♪
Sober.
Oh, he's blowing into the tuner. He seems to be playing while checking the pitch.
You're very dexterous, aren't you?
After a few re-recordings, he was getting tired. I was getting tired of playing continuously, just like the vocalist.
However, I was determined. We did it.
According to Tottankai Mizumoto, I asked him to use the handle "Missouri Yaegashi.
In the wind instrument section, there is another repair person, Sonandeska Nakajima.
Let's ask her to join us on clarinet.
I tried to force the condenser microphone from earlier into the trumpet, but the result was NG...too unbalanced between the high and low end to be usable.
Rejected.
I regretted that I was a bit aggressive, and decided to record with a normal microphone.
Now, Sonandeska Nakajima, at first glance she seems to be in a daze, but in fact she is a great blower @o@!
Let's go!
Bo.♪Bo?
Sober.
Can't move like the Swing Girls...
Well, plain is fine. I'm more looking forward to seeing how these wind instruments will fit into the song. Your hard work will not be in vain!
According to Sonandeska Nakajima, are we done?
Chapter Six
Now the recording process is coming to an end.
And then, there was a news.
Apparently, the two vocalists They offered to do it all over again.
Oh, I can feel their motivation. That's wonderful. It would be even better if they could apply that momentum to their work.
So now we will record one person at a time.
We've done this once before, so this time we're going to focus on groove and momentum rather than technicalities!
After all, it's all about "groove," isn't it?
Niya and Tomita seemed satisfied with the sound of the recording as a result.
What? Don't I look like that?
Because I can play. That's the only reason why Ockerle Matsui was hunted out. Let's have you play the keyboard as well.
Since this was not part of our original plan, we asked him to play the keyboard as he thought of it on the spot.
In any case, it was the first time for me to play along with the music. We discussed the assembly with Niya Tomita and Heege Tabe.
Of course, the equipment is our top choice! It's Mr. Eleppi, the No. 1 high-turnover player. Connect the out jack directly to the interface and record Isa.
The result was quite good! It was meant to be an afterthought, but it became an indispensable part of the music this time.
According to Ockerle Matsui, electric guitars are available from 30,000 yen!
One Saturday after closing time. Nine staff members gathered to record the chorus.
It was an important chorus to end the song. Unfortunately, two of us couldn't join the chorus, but I think we'll be fine.
Two microphones were set up in a small corner of the sales floor, and four staff members surrounded one microphone for the main part. On the other side, three members were standing by as a group of harpists. Beege Tabe, who was in charge of tempo, and Niya Tomita, who was in charge of recording, would also sing from the rear.
Now, the rehearsal.
Everyone's voices were not very loud...they seemed to be very reserved. I understand their embarrassment, but I would like them to get their heads up. Second rehearsal.
It's dark...not energetic...
It seems that nothing will change no matter how many times we do it, so let's go on stage right away.
And then, the first time of the show is over.
Well, that's about right, but it's not thick enough. Well, let's try one more time.
Hmmm...was it better earlier?
And then
Niya Tomita: "Let's put two on top of each other.
I see - that way we can double the number of people!
Good idea!♪
So, I tried again with the first chorus and listened to it over and over again.
"Oh, it's thicker now! Is this okay?"
"No, it's not OK."
Lesson learned: Less is more, but more is more!♪
Chapter Seven.
The last part of the session was Niya Tomita's solo recording.
He is standing by in the amp corner on the second floor.
This is the first time for him to see Marshall.
His part was a solo in the chorus part of the latter half of the song. His part is a solo in the chorus part of the second half.
However, it was difficult to get the electric guitar to cut in behind the chorus...
I tried various ways, but it just didn't work.
I tried at home the next day, but the result was the same.
I had no choice but to try a 12-string acoustic with an occassion.
I didn't realize how difficult it was to play without disturbing the song...
I'm usually in a metal band, so I can't play solo.
Niya Tomita said, "Let me play hard next time!
By the way, where's the tambourine?
Oh, yes! I forgot.
And so began the live recording by Heege and Tabe.
A few bars on a loop...no such thing!
You will have to beat the whole thing.
When he was done, his left hand was apparently 1.2 times thicker than his right.
Thank you for your hard work.
Well~ it's over!
It's finally over! Banzai~y!
What? Editing?
Yes, there it is...
But before that, you didn't record the acoustic version.
What should I do?
I'll have to start all over again....
Let's be honest, it's a pain in the ass.
That's right! Let's take one shot!
And on the day of the event.
A special venue has been set up on the third floor of our store, where an acoustic version of the recording is about to begin.
In a space of about 6 tatami mats, Heege Tabe, Rameen Kashida, Swimmerseen Imoto, and Ockerle Matsui will be standing by.
The floor is covered with cables, and Niya Tomita and her iBook G4 & Mixer are positioned in the center.
There is no way to record two acoustic guitars and two vocalists in this small space in good balance.
After some trial and error, the rehearsal started.
And then... Jean!♪
Niya Tomita: "Wow, 7 minutes and 20 seconds..."
Everyone "It's too long!
The most troubling thing, however, was the dreaded condenser microphone, which ensures that even if one person sniffs, the sound will be heard.
The microphone was so powerful that it could be heard even when one of us was sniffing.
It's so cold!
Don't sniff your nose in the middle of a show!
Don't walk around so much!
Hey, there, don't breathe!
That's impossible.
Let's get to work.
And so we went on with more takes...
Heegee Tabe's Martin D-18 broke the silence,
Swimmer Sen Imoto's song echoes through the hall...
Rameen Kashida's Gibson SJ makes a rough wave...,
Ockerle Matsui's shouts overloaded the hall...
And just like that, the event was over.
After everyone was finished cleaning up, Niya Tomita and Heege Tabe listened to the sound that had just been recorded.
Aita-ta-ta-ta...
I did it...I screwed up big time!
The balance is not right at all!
I didn't listen to Niya Tomita's advice, and recorded the whole thing on two tracks, so I can't adjust the balance of each source.
I don't have the time or energy to re-record it again - well, let's just put up with the fact that it's a live performance.
Regrettably, it sounds like a pirated version, but I decided to call it good.
Anyway, "Otsukare, Otsukare.
Final Chapter
Although we are professionals in the field of musical instrument sales, we are novices in the field of CD production (DTM).
Some of the staff had never made music on a computer, even though they had made demos on MTRs, and some of them had never even recorded music before.
This time, we happened to be able to use "ProTools LE," a direct and lower version of DTM software used by professionals in the field.
We were also able to use the equipment in the store, but when it came to "how to record," we did not have the know-how, so we worked together with Niya Tomita, who had created a piece of music only once before, to figure it out by ourselves, repeating trial and error.
The recording process took place after the restaurant was closed, and as a result, all the staff gave up their personal time without a single complaint.
We thank them for their support and hope that this experience will help us in our future workplaces.
I would especially like to thank Niya Tomita, who was in charge of recording and was present for all the recordings, and Heege Tabe, who organized all the staff and handled each part in a flexible manner.
Without their efforts, this project would not have been possible. How many times did "0:00" appear on their time cards when they left the office?
Even after recording was complete, Niya and Tomita were left to handle the daunting task of editing the more than 30 tracks.
How many all-nighters did you stay up all night to do the most difficult, solitary, and most responsible work?
This time Heege Tabe, as the producer, wanted to create a good product! With this single-minded determination, he must have sometimes had to give his colleagues a hard time.
I know that he took care behind the scenes to relax the performers during the performance and pay attention to details.
We learned a lot from this experience, both technically and mentally.
We were able to feel each other's different sides of the staff, and we were able to help each other.
We should not forget that we were provided with a very privileged environment where we could try as many of the thousands of instruments on display as we wanted, without worrying about time.
Let's not forget our gratitude to our customers and continue to work with enthusiasm, hard work and teamwork.
Finally, I would like to thank all those who supported this project.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of our customers.
Thank you very much.
Thank you for reading to the end. As a matter of fact, during this work process, we were not only filming with cameras, but also shooting video. A commercially available DV camera (SONY PC-9), which was recorded by a commercial DV camera (SONY PC-9).iMovieand edited in Apple's iMovie.iDVDand distributed to all staff members.
Although it was created as a "remembrance" for everyone, we were encouraged by some of the staff members who said it would be good to make it public, so we are ashamed to disclose a part of this "making of" video.
By the way, even though it is a part of the "making of," it is a 16-minute video and the file size is large. Please watch it with all your might.