K-On! - Music discussion (OP/ED & OST, etc.)

[Marcus H.]

Organ? o.o Never thought of that, lol.

EDIT: Ok, I just used the 60's Drawbar Organ from the Yamaha PSR sound set in my Sibelius 3 and it works well. I got a Korg Triton sound set, but it seems that it's not working well. Sad.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Marcus H.

Organ? o.o Never thought of that, lol.

EDIT: Ok, I just used the 60's Drawbar Organ from the Yamaha PSR sound set in my Sibelius 3 and it works well. I got a Korg Triton sound set, but it seems that it's not working well. Sad.

Play the higher notes or increase the pitch using Audacity. Remember electronic keyboards are usually limited to 76 keys, much less than a regular piano with 88 keys, and that organs have even more available pitch and timbre due to the pedalboard despite only having 61 keys.

[Bikerider]

There are some people who have made Hammond B3 emulations. It's a difficult organ to replicate. It's a "rotary" organ. It uses spinning wheels for the notes to pass through. Not sure of the particulars. The B3 is the heaviest organ on the planet.

[Vexx]

Finally opened up Azusa's character music CD ... they did a good job of emulating a focused, skilled, but tiny musician whose voice hasn't quite caught up with her instrumental skills.

I particularly liked her vocals and energy in 'Watashi ha Watashi no Michi wo Yuku'. That was fun.
OTOH, 'Jaja Uma Way To Go' was more uncomfortable, like I was being required to attend a daughter's band recital.
'Let's Go' is a shouty anthem song so almost any voice can make it through that.

[TremendousLion]

Am I the only one who thinks Mio voice actor can sing better than Yui's? Yui sound almost too girly, where Mio has a mature voice...
idk

:cower:

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by TremendousLion

Am I the only one who thinks Mio voice actor can sing better than Yui's? Yui sound almost too girly, where Mio has a mature voice...
idk

:cower:

No......Mio and Mugi sings the best IMO...

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by TremendousLion

Am I the only one who thinks Mio voice actor can sing better than Yui's? Yui sound almost too girly, where Mio has a mature voice...
idk

:cower:

Any time the words, "Am I the only one who thinks...?" - stop right there. I *guarantee* you that many, many other people have had the same thoughts.

However, it isn't that "Yui sings worse" or that "Mio sings better" ... Yui's voice actress is affecting Yui's voice for the role. It is simply very high pitched and uncomfortable to Western ears (listen to traditional music from Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, etc sung by young women). Mio's voice is lower-pitched (more appealing to Westerners on average). Both of them hit their notes and fill them out.

However, Mio's VA has a bit more timbre and depth - and she can do things with the tail-end of notes that make her more interesting to listen to.

Mugi's VA has a singing careerr already in progress and she probably sings more professionally than the rest.

And finally, of course, "auto-tune" makes it quite difficult to assess -- wait for the live performances and you'll see very quickly who needs multiple studio takes and engineering to sound right.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Any time the words, "Am I the only one who thinks...?" - stop right there. I *guarantee* you that many, many other people have had the same thoughts.

However, it isn't that "Yui sings worse" or that "Mio sings better" ... Yui's voice actress is affecting Yui's voice for the role. It is simply very high pitched and uncomfortable to Western ears (listen to traditional music from Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, etc sung by young women). Mio's voice is lower-pitched (more appealing to Westerners on average). Both of them hit their notes and fill them out.

However, Mio's VA has a bit more timbre and depth - and she can do things with the tail-end of notes that make her more interesting to listen to.

Mugi's VA has a singing careerr already in progress and she probably sings more professionally than the rest.

And finally, of course, "auto-tune" makes it quite difficult to assess -- wait for the live performances and you'll see very quickly who needs multiple studio takes and engineering to sound right.

Well the way they sing are supposed to fit their respective characters in the anime. You don't hear Ayana Takatetsu singing the same way in Kiss x Sis or Minato Kotobuki sing the same way in Chuu-Bra!.

In this case, Aki Toyosaki is just singing in like an airhead high on adrenaline, making her sound more like what Yui is : a completely dense schoolgirl motivated by her K-ON club.

[Lord of Fire]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Mugi's VA has a singing careerr already in progress and she probably sings more professionally than the rest.

Both Aki Toyosaki and Minako Kotobuki had singing careers before Yoko Hikasa even started doing voice-acting. Heck, they're even in the same band, so both are already more 'professional' (read: experienced) than Yoko Hikasa (if she even has a singing career at all).

I don't really think one is better than the other. They're all good, irrespective of any singing career they may or may not have.

[Peanutbutter]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Minato Kotobuki sing the same way in Chuu-Bra!.

Her songs in Chuu-Bra! still reminded me of Mugi.

[Sparvid]

From the second Radion Special CD.
Considering the, well, lower quality than usual, is this the seiyuus playing the instruments themselves?

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Lord of Fire

Both Aki Toyosaki and Minako Kotobuki had singing careers before Yoko Hikasa even started doing voice-acting. Heck, they're even in the same band, so both are already more 'professional' (read: experienced) than Yoko Hikasa (if she even has a singing career at all).

I don't really think one is better than the other. They're all good, irrespective of any singing career they may or may not have.

Hmmm, my bad, was working off some blog data about the seiyuu that was misleading. But I certainly meant nothing other than your last sentence. They're all good singers - its just taste or "the baggage the listener brings with them" as to whether one is better or not.

My wife can't tolerate the Yui voice or the Azusa voice for very long DESPITE the fact she sounds pretty much like Azusa when she herself sings. Her listening preferences are from being raised in the US and being exposed to the vocal ranges of western singers.
I still have to steel myself a bit before listening to a Yui song (though I'm utterly fine with Azusa's voicing because it has a gravel component to it).

[Sparvid]

Aki Toyosaki sings with a somewhat lower voice when not in character as Yui:

Spoiler:

I don't know if Minako Kotobuki has done any singles as "herself", but of the top of my head, I haven't noticed much if any difference between her K-On, Chuu-Bra and Sphere songs.

[Vexx]

Sparvid's example youtube is a good demonstration of how some voice actresses can sing *in the voices of their character* (good or not) while having a nice singing voice. That's a lovely little video and nice octave range for her in her real voice.

Probably the most dramatic example of this in the west are the voice actors from Animaniacs (a western animated comedy of the '90s). Tress MacNeille sings in the voice of Dot and of Hello Nurse as well as Lucille Ball (in Yankovic's "Ricky" music video).
Rob Paulsen (voice of Yakko in Animaniacs) can sing fluently in several hundred different voices and multiple languages.
The gods of animated voicing (Mel Blanc and June Foray) did their own singing in their many voices as well.

Originally Posted by the animaniacs database of yakko humor

Yakko: Tokyo wa tottemo omoshiroi tokoro desu ne?
<Tokyo is an extremely interesting place, isn't it.>
Investor: Zehi irasshite kudasai.
<You must go there.>
Yakko: Mada iki basho ga areba ne.
<If there's still a space left for me, eh?>

[Lord of Fire]

Originally Posted by Sparvid

From the second Radion Special CD.
Considering the, well, lower quality than usual, is this the seiyuus playing the instruments themselves?

Yes, no doubt about it.

@Vexx: I didn't really mean anything with my previous comment other than just to correct you on the singing status of the seiyuus.

[Moogie]

hi everyone. I made a guitar cover of Yui's rendition of my love is a stapler from the second season of the first episode. please check it out and give me some advice and stuff. haha ^_^

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQvhixLT9Ak

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Lord of Fire

@Vexx: I didn't really mean anything with my previous comment other than just to correct you on the singing status of the seiyuus.

No, I appreciate it. Sometimes I have bad data as well.. or simply sucked at being clear in what I meant

[FENR1Sdesu]

Just preordered the Limited Edition OP/ED singles.

If my package arrives in 2 weeks after release like my Haruhi merch did before, I'll be so happy. Heck, I had that shipped nearing the holiday season.

[Vexx]

Sawako's inspiration perhaps? (too wild... over the top)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNQK9...eature=related
Jennifer Batten (watch the whole thing... )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuF_9...eature=related (her hair.. the lighting, rofl)

[rockmanxpr]

Band score book for the new OP and ED will be happening in May

http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/k-on/disc/cd_2.html#pagetop