Joe Hisaishi

[bitflipper]

One of the most epic performances of all time, with a huge orchestra and choir that would have had melted Beethoven's face. There must have been over 300 people on that stage. This just ticks all my boxes: lush strings, epic brass, big dynamic shifts, sweeping melodies, and a children's choir. (Anybody else a fan of Omnisphere's "Japanese Childrens' Choir" patch?) 

After years of searching for a proper recording of this to purchase, I finally resorted to an audio grab of the YouTube video so that I can fall asleep to this music whenever I like. (btw, the best audio capture plugin I've found for my browser (Brave) is called Smart Audio Capture). The video is easy to find online; the one I've linked below is my favorite, which has had all the talking (all in Japanese, which I don't understand anyway) and applause edited out.

This is at Budokan, an arena in Tokyo originally built for martial arts competitions but its size and great acoustics have made it Japan's Kennedy Center - if the Kennedy Center was the size of a dirigible hangar. There aren't a lot of indoor venues that could accommodate as big an orchestra and still have room for an audience. The Beatles played there. Led Zeppelin, ELO and Fleetwood Mac all made live records there. 

Joe Hisaishi is to Ghibli Studios what John Williams is to Steven Spielberg. That's Joe conducting as well as playing piano, and the singer in white is his daughter.  If you're unfamiliar with Ghibli, they make, um, cartoons. But saying they make cartoons is like saying Stradivari made fiddles. Everything they do is classy, from the metaphorical fantasy story lines to great soundtracks that stand on their own.

This is the kind of music I'd create if I was good enough.

 

[pwal³]

Their cartoons are wonderful

[Grem]

1 hour ago, bitflipper said:

best audio capture plugin I've found for my browser (Brave) is called Smart Audio Capture)

Thanks. 

[craigb]

Nice!  Another famous one from there is Cheap Trick's Live At Budokan.

That's my kind of piano in the beginning too.  If you like that as well, check out Keiko Matsui!  I've been playing her discography a lot lately.

Here are two example albums from her:

 

 

[Starship Krupa]

On 6/25/2024 at 10:26 AM, bitflipper said:

Everything they do is classy

I love love love Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki. This began with the US premiere of Princess Mononoke, which an anime fan friend of mine got me to see at Embarcadero Center in San Francisco. I was immediately hooked.

It was Princess Mononoke getting a US release on DVD that was my trigger for buying a DVD player.

The anime love stuck, too. I had been a fan of Japanese cartoons as a child, Wonder/Amazing Three, Astro Boy, Speed Racer, and Gigantor. Princess Mononoke reminded me of how great those were, how much more complex and nuanced the stories were compared to American animated shows.

Since then I've watched as much as I can get hold of. Particularly a fan of Neon Genesis: Evangelion.

When you said "everything they do is classy," I did wonder if you include Pom Poko, which I haven't yet seen, but which reportedly features body humor in the form of mythical heroic raccoon dogs who parasail using their nutsacks. Some things just don't translate well, I guess.

I love Hisaishi's scores, but find his choice of instruments in the earlier stuff....wanting? It sounds like he used a Roland Sound Canvas while writing it, then instead of giving it to an orchestra, shipped the Sound Canvas recordings. Very "General MIDI" sounding. I was happy when he ditched that approach.

Have you seen my Cakewalk theme that was inspired by Neon Genesis: Evangelion?