Yuta Nakano's blog post about Rock'n'Roll Circus - Ayumi Hamasaki Sekai
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  #1  
Old 12th May 2010, 10:04 AM
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Yuta Nakano's blog post about Rock'n'Roll Circus

He posted this a little less than a month ago, but he barely updates his blog, so here it is.

Quote:
僕も制作に参加させてもらった、浜崎あゆみさんのNew Album『Rock'n'Roll Circus』
が発売になりましたので、少しロンドンでのレコーディングのあれこれを書きたいと思います。

浜崎さんのレコーディングでは、過去2度「Talkin' 2 Myself」と「NEXT LEVEL」でロサンゼルスに
連れて行ってもらってるんですが、今回はダークな世界観という事でロンドンでの作業になりまし た。

ロンドンでまず印象に残ったのは、「空が重たっ(笑)」でした。
なんかずっとドンヨリしてるんですよね。自然と気持ちが外でなく内側を向いてくるというか。
少なからず、作品の音に影響が出てる気がします。

ロンドンの人達はスタジオの皆さんも含め、おっとりと優しかったです。
街ですれ違う綺麗なお姉さんも微笑んでくれました(笑)。

『Microphone』では現地のストリングスを録ったのですが、非常に上手でした。僕が指揮してたんで すが、それを見るメンバーの眼差しは鋭く、微妙なニュアンスも汲み取ってくれました。(別に日本がそうじゃ ないって意味じゃないです。念のため。^_^汗)
ただ、僕の背が低い為に始めはメンバーは指揮を見にくそうで、それを解消すべく応急処置でこの歳にもなって 補助台みたいなものにのるハメに....。メンバーは必死に笑いをこらえてる感じでした。汗

あとイントロは当初ハープシコードとバイオリンでバロックな感じだったのですが、AYUさんのアイデアでパ イプオルガンに差し替えました。おかげで曲が一層荘厳な感じになったと思います。

『Sexy little things』は普段使い慣れたものを封印して新しいものを探す、が勝手に僕の中ではテーマでした。開けた 事の無い引き出しから物を探す感覚で、非常に苦労したんですが収穫も大きかったと
思います。

この曲、聴いて頂くと判るんですがひたすらバックコーラスのトラック数が多いんです。コーラス 録音
の時に、さんざん声をAYUさんが重ねて録音した後に「もう終わりだっけ?」と聞かれて「スミ マセン
、まだあります。」と僕が答えたら「のび太め。」と言われたのが印象に残ってます。笑

『Don't look back』はCMJKさんアレンジです。僕が言うのもナンですが、JKさんの変態ワールド炸裂で非常に尖っ た、それゆえに切ない、みたいな世界観になってます。はじめスタジオでアレンジをチラ聴きした時、ビックリ したのと同時に妙に納得できて「子供が立派な家に嫁いだ親のような気持ちだ」とJKさんに言ったら「気持ち 悪ぃ~」(笑)と言われました。

でもそのJKさんアレンジ、間奏のコードも秀逸で同じルートでメジャーコードとマイナーコードが行ったり来 たりする辺り、見事にAYUさんの「進むのか 進まないのか」という歌詞とシンクロしてます。

なんか色んな事を書き漏らしてる気もしますが、また思い出したら書こうと思います。
よかったら「Rock'n'Roll Circus」聴いてください。^_^
From the AMAZING Misa-chan:
I got the chance to participate in the production of Hamasaki Ayumi's new album 『Rock'n'Roll Circus』. Now that it's released, I'd really like to write down some of my thoughts about the recordings done at London.

With regards to Hamasaki-san's recordings, I have been invited over to Los Angeles for the past 2 times, when we did 「Talkin' 2 Myself」 and 「NEXT LEVEL」. This time, because we needed a dark perspective, we worked in London instead.

The first impression I had of London was "The sky's really heavy (laugh)".
It's just somehow always so dark. The environment, the feelings, they all seem to close in on themselves.
And we realized that this had a considerable effect on the sound of our works too.

The people of London, including the studio staff, were all really quiet and kind.
Even the pretty girls passing by on the street smiled at me. (laugh)

『Microphone』 was recorded by a local strings group, and they were unexpectedly good. I was conducting them, and just a pointed look or the slightest nuance was enough for them to understand me. (Not to mean that the Japanese groups aren't like this too. This is just to stress my point. (sweatdrop) ^_^)
However, because I'm so short, the members could not really see me at first. To solve that, they had to resort to emergency measures, and for someone my age to mount something like a stand is a little... The members probably were trying so hard not to laugh. (sweatdrop)

When we did the introduction, we were going to use the harpsichord and violin to give a Baroque feel at first, but after ayu-san gave an idea, we changed it to a pipe organ instead. Because of that, I think that the song was given an extra layer of solemnity.

『Sexy little things』 was done because I wanted to seal away the things which I normally do and that I'm accustomed to, and to look for something new. The process of looking for something which I have never touched on before was really tough, but I think the reward I got from it was really big too.

When you listen to this song, you'll realize that there are really lots of back vocal tracks. During recording of the back choruses, after finishing pile upon pile of scattered back voice tracks, ayu-san asked "Are we finally done?", to which I replied "Sorry, there's more". Her whines of "Nobita!" are such a memory for me. (laugh)

『Don't look back』 was arranged by CMJK-san. If I may say so myself, CMJK-san put the song through a whole explosive world of change, to give it a really sharp and therefore miserable perspective. When I first heard the arrangement in the studio, I was so shocked, but I also felt a strange assent for it. I told JK-san "You must feel like a proud parent whose finally marrying off your kid into a rich family" to which he replied "That's so gross~". (laugh)

But JK-san's arrangement of the chords during the bridge was excellent, with major and minor chords both coming and going at the same time, so that synchronized really well with ayu-san's lyrics "Can I go on? Can I not go on?".

Somehow, I feel like I've forgotten to write about so many things. When I remember them, I'll come write again.
If you can, please listen to 「Rock'n'Roll Circus」. ^_^

http://ameblo.jp/nobiblog/entry-10509164469.html

Last edited by truehappiness; 15th May 2010 at 10:36 AM.
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  #2  
Old 12th May 2010, 11:36 AM
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Mr. Hamazaki appears again!! LOL
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  #3  
Old 12th May 2010, 03:13 PM
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waiting for better translation
thanks for sharing anyway
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Old 12th May 2010, 03:35 PM
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thank you so much, interesting review
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  #5  
Old 12th May 2010, 03:54 PM
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Seems like a really interesting review from someone on the inside!

Thanks!!
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  #6  
Old 12th May 2010, 06:12 PM
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coming~
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Old 12th May 2010, 07:29 PM
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wow.... I like this...

thanks!

but still waiting for the better translation..
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Old 12th May 2010, 10:12 PM
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Thanks for sharing Waiting for Misa-chan
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Old 13th May 2010, 08:36 AM
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misa oh misa where are you... haha~!
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Old 13th May 2010, 09:27 AM
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Mr. Hamazaki xD
Thanks for this
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  #11  
Old 13th May 2010, 08:03 PM
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Very cool, thanks for the translation!
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  #12  
Old 14th May 2010, 03:21 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chloeM View Post
misa oh misa where are you... haha~!
Here!~ Lol!!

Quote:
I got the chance to participate in the production of Hamasaki Ayumi's new album 『Rock'n'Roll Circus』. Now that it's released, I'd really like to write down some of my thoughts about the recordings done at London.

With regards to Hamasaki-san's recordings, I have been invited over to Los Angeles for the past 2 times, when we did 「Talkin' 2 Myself」 and 「NEXT LEVEL」. This time, because we needed a dark perspective, we worked in London instead.

The first impression I had of London was "The sky's really heavy (laugh)".
It's just somehow always so dark. The environment, the feelings, they all seem to close in on themselves.
And we realized that this had a considerable effect on the sound of our works too.

The people of London, including the studio staff, were all really quiet and kind.
Even the pretty girls passing by on the street smiled at me. (laugh)

『Microphone』 was recorded by a local strings group, and they were unexpectedly good. I was conducting them, and just a pointed look or the slightest nuance was enough for them to understand me. (Not to mean that the Japanese groups aren't like this too. This is just to stress my point. (sweatdrop) ^_^)
However, because I'm so short, the members could not really see me at first. To solve that, they had to resort to emergency measures, and for someone my age to mount something like a stand is a little... The members probably were trying so hard not to laugh. (sweatdrop)

When we did the introduction, we were going to use the harpsichord and violin to give a Baroque feel at first, but after ayu-san gave an idea, we changed it to a pipe organ instead. Because of that, I think that the song was given an extra layer of solemnity.

『Sexy little things』 was done because I wanted to seal away the things which I normally do and that I'm accustomed to, and to look for something new. The process of looking for something which I have never touched on before was really tough, but I think the reward I got from it was really big too.

When you listen to this song, you'll realize that there are really lots of back vocal tracks. During recording of the back choruses, after finishing pile upon pile of scattered back voice tracks, ayu-san asked "Are we finally done?", to which I replied "Sorry, there's more". Her whines of "Nobita!" are such a memory for me. (laugh)

『Don't look back』 was arranged by CMJK-san. If I may say so myself, CMJK-san put the song through a whole explosive world of change, to give it a really sharp and therefore miserable perspective. When I first heard the arrangement in the studio, I was so shocked, but I also felt a strange assent for it. I told JK-san "You must feel like a proud parent whose finally marrying off your kid into a rich family" to which he replied "That's so gross~". (laugh)

But JK-san's arrangement of the chords during the bridge was excellent, with major and minor chords both coming and going at the same time, so that synchronized really well with ayu-san's lyrics "Can I go on? Can I not go on?".

Somehow, I feel like I've forgotten to write about so many things. When I remember them, I'll come write again.
If you can, please listen to 「Rock'n'Roll Circus」. ^_^
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Old 14th May 2010, 03:28 PM
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^ Yay, translation!

Quote:
However, because I'm so short, the members could not really see me at first. To solve that, they had to resort to emergency measures, and for someone my age to mount something like a stand is a little... The members probably were trying so hard not to laugh. (sweatdrop)
Poor Nobita XD

...random question. Is his nickname by any chance inspired by Doraemon's Nobita? XD
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Old 15th May 2010, 08:24 AM
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Thanks a lot^^
It's interesting
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Old 15th May 2010, 08:25 AM
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Misa-chan is wonderful. That is all.

Edited first post.

Quote:
When you listen to this song, you'll realize that there are really lots of back vocal tracks. During recording of the back choruses, after finishing pile upon pile of scattered back voice tracks, ayu-san asked "Are we finally done?", to which I replied "Sorry, there's more". Her whines of "Nobita!" are such a memory for me. (laugh)
brb, lolling.

Last edited by truehappiness; 15th May 2010 at 08:34 AM.
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Old 15th May 2010, 08:42 AM
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Thanks so much Misa-chan! I lol'd at these parts:
Quote:
However, because I'm so short, the members could not really see me at first. To solve that, they had to resort to emergency measures, and for someone my age to mount something like a stand is a little... The members probably were trying so hard not to laugh. (sweatdrop)
Quote:
When you listen to this song, you'll realize that there are really lots of back vocal tracks. During recording of the back choruses, after finishing pile upon pile of scattered back voice tracks, ayu-san asked "Are we finally done?", to which I replied "Sorry, there's more". Her whines of "Nobita!" are such a memory for me. (laugh)
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Old 15th May 2010, 09:24 AM
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Amazing!

I actually would have loved for him to give into Ayu's whining for SLT...the backing vocal tracks were distracting for me lol

I think what he said about Microphone is really interesting...she doesn't have any songs that utilize harpsichords, and I really love that sound...however, I think that unless they had a really somber composition, it wouldn't have been as "heavy" as the organ sound...especially since it's kinda fast and not really written in a heavy manner...he's right, the organs give it a much more solemn sound than a harpsichord would have given...

I hope they keep the idea open...for future songs...but somehow I kinda see her moving away from this style...

Dont look back is my <3 I can only imagine his hearing it in the studio for the first time...it's such a special song, very creative, and very different. I agree, I think it's one of the highlights of CMJK's creativity...if not the best example of what he's capable of. The bridge is perfect.


Thank you Misa-chan for the translation
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Old 15th May 2010, 10:01 AM
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Quote:
I hope they keep the idea open...for future songs...but somehow I kinda see her moving away from this style...
I don't think it was Ayu as much as it was Yuta's pushing himself to do something different. He probably felt like his arrangements with Ayu have been rather samey since t2m onward.
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Old 15th May 2010, 10:21 AM
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Hahaha such an informative article, also really really funny!!

Thanks as always!!
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Old 15th May 2010, 10:39 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by truehappiness View Post
I don't think it was Ayu as much as it was Yuta's pushing himself to do something different. He probably felt like his arrangements with Ayu have been rather samey since t2m onward.
I really don't care...I just hope they keep the idea open...as much as I think she may move away from the heavier rock sound...I think she'll always at least have her one rock song that has the melodic instrumental opening and dramatic vocals, etc.

I like harpsichords...so it would be cool if she could incorporate it one day.
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