Introductio

[SurgamIdentidem]

Hi everyone!

In winter 11/12 I watched a certain anime called "Puella Magi Madoka Magica". While I'm usually not very much into anime (a friend of mine encouraged me to watch this show) I was completely blown away by the complex, innovative screenplay, the surreal visuals and the touching BGM of this one. But what caught my special attention was the ending theme "Magia" by Kalafina. It was (and still is) one of the most impressive songs I've ever heard in my ENTIRE life! Of course I immediately searched the internet about who Kalafina was and especially WHO COMPOSED THIS AMAZING SH*T!
Yeah..... That's how I found out about Yuki Kajiura.

I listened to all Kalafina songs, all FictionJunction songs, all Yuki Kajiura BGM pieces wich were released after Kara no Kyoukai.
I LOVE them all!

I'm from Switzerland and currently studying classical music in Bern... and I play the very uncommon combination of these two instruments: pipe organ and drums



(Please forgive my moderate english )

 

[chrisgarci]

Welcome to CPM!

Wow. I want to hear how you play your unusual combination of instruments. Think you can do a rendition of any music of Yuki Kajiura?

By the way, there is this pipe organ in our country that is entirely made of bamboo and is maintained well so that it can produce a nicely unique sound. Hope you can check this out.

Yes, I also liked PMMM, but I discovered the world of Yuki Kajiura through Pandora Hearts. Have you watched it? The music's awesome as well.

Hope you have fun in the forums!

 

[Kugayama]

Hi everyone!
...
Yeah..... That's how I found out about Yuki Kajiura.

I listened to all Kalafina songs, all FictionJunction songs, all Yuki Kajiura BGM pieces wich were released after Kara no Kyoukai.
I LOVE them all!

I'm from Switzerland and currently studying classical music in Bern... and I play the very uncommon combination of these two instruments: pipe organ and drums

(Please forgive my moderate english )

Hi SurgamIdentidem, and welcome to canta-per-me.net (or cpm for short).

I can also recommend the music of See-Saw and Chiaki Ishikawa, and try to get to see a live performance of Yuki Kajiura's music sometime!

 

[MichaelTomoe]

welcome~
i'm new too~
play violin~
and PMMM made me join this forum~
please enjoy your stay~

 

[Hime_Wakana]

Welcome to cpm!! Nice to meet you *_____*

 

[george1234]

Welcome SurgamIdentidem! You are the first from Switzerland in this forum

I was also blown up by Magia when I first heard it at the anime (especially the slowed version of the first episode was so awesome because everyone thought it was Keiko singing it, while later was proven to be Hikaru XD). The only problem with the music direction of PMMM is how many times "sis puella magica" was used almost at every episode

We have an article about Kalafina here http://canta-per-me.net/yukis-vocalists/kalafina/ which we try to keep up to date, please take a look. Are you a boy or a girl? you sound like a boy.

If you know how to play pipe please try covering "Labirynth" from .hack or "Le Grand Retour" from Noir (both anime OST are by Yuki and these 2 tracks have bagpipes - "Red Rose" from Fiction I (this one has drums too) and 'Image theme of Xenosaga II" have too.)

 

[SurgamIdentidem]

@chrisgarci
Thanks! I'd definitely love to play this organ, but I doubt they'd give me the permission
And yes, I watched Pandora Hearts (mainly because of Yuki's involvement) but sadly the show was not my cup of tea... Nevertheless, the music was great, especially "everytime you kissed me" This song is just beautiful... and harmonically complex , too many key changes!! It was her second song I tried to cover on piano (magia was the first one) and I had quite a bit of a problem at first (Yes, I also play the piano)

@Kugayama
No fear, I'll eventually check out all of her music!

@MichaelTomoe
Hello! We should make music together! Violin and organ fit very nicely!

By the way: This is even my first time I join a forum in general!

@HimeWakana
Nice to meet you too!

@george1234
Hello! A cool site you run here!
1. I fully agree with the overstraining of "sis puella magica" in PMMM!
2. Yes, I'm a guy!
3. I would cover every single song or piece of Yuki, if I had the time.

Nice to meet you all!!

 

[george1234]

^ Oh totally forgot about cynical world, this has LOTs of both drums and bagpipe!

 

[SurgamIdentidem]

Oh yes, I know this one, it's off of her FICTION album (the only old album I listened to). But bagpipe and pipe organ don't have much in common, exept they both have pipes!
So I don't think the bagpipe songs are more suitable for an organ cover than any others. (Ok, it depends on the stops you have and/or use)

 

[george1234]

Re:

@george1234
Hello! A cool site you run here!

Thank you, but I dont run it alone, as specified here http://canta-per-me.net/contact-and-credits/ the admin is Kerahna who also founded it along with 2 other people that are no longer around (naoise and badmin), I just happen to be the one who updates it regularly but occationally various people are helping/have helped on it (some of them are listed there, others under lyrics traslations or texts of the site)

When it comes to old albums make sure to check out the album Dream Field by See-Saw (Yuki was the composer at that group) http://canta-per-me.net/yukis-vocalists/see-saw/ as well as the albums of FictionJunction YUUKA destination and circus http://canta-per-me.net/yukis-vocalists ... on%20YUUKA, there are some very good songs there too

 

[Kugayama]

Re:

@Kugayama
No fear, I'll eventually check out all of her music!

Nice to meet you all!!

Confession time - I've been to Japan four times and each time I've heard Chiaki Ishikawa sing.

PS, I have a step-daughter who is studying music (classical voice) here http://music.adelaide.edu.au/ under people like http://www.adelaide.edu.au/directory/guila.tiver and http://www.adelaide.edu.au/directory/carl.crossin and is now a full member of http://www.adelaidechambersingers.com/index.html - the university has a nice hall too: http://music.adelaide.edu.au/elderhall/ .

Hope your studies go well and that Yuki Kajiura's music enriches them!

 

[wormbook22]

welcome to CPM, SurgamIdentidem!!!!
U play 3 instruments!! Cool

I'm from Switzerland and currently studying classical music in Bern...

Wow nice ^^ Oh, and it seems more ppl with professions related to music have laid their eyes on our YK
And don't worry about yr English Many ppl here aren't from English speaking countries, including me :)
Btw, if u like, there's the Creative Corner in the forum where u can post yr covers

 

[SurgamIdentidem]

Re: Re:

@george1234
Hello! A cool site you run here!

Thank you, but I dont run it alone, as specified here http://canta-per-me.net/contact-and-credits/ the admin is Kerahna who also founded it along with 2 other people that are no longer around (naoise and badmin), I just happen to be the one who updates it regularly but occationally various people are helping/have helped on it (some of them are listed there, others under lyrics traslations or texts of the site)

When it comes to old albums make sure to check out the album Dream Field by See-Saw (Yuki was the composer at that group) http://canta-per-me.net/yukis-vocalists/see-saw/ as well as the albums of FictionJunction YUUKA destination and circus http://canta-per-me.net/yukis-vocalists ... on%20YUUKA, there are some very good songs there too

I had already read (nearly) everything before I joined
Good work (of you and all involved people)!

 

[Kugayama]

PS, there is also a chat area at chat.canta-per-me.net which is more or less busy depending on the time of day and what people are doing.

 

[SurgamIdentidem]

@Kugayama
You are lucky! I never had the oportunity to attend any Kajiura-related acts. Because I'm a student I lack the money (and in near future also the time) to fly to Japan (which is definitely not just around the corner)!

Wow, it's great your step-daughter sings! Does know/like Yuki Kajiura?

And yes, Yuki Kajiura influenced my view of music greatly! For a long time I didn't like pop songs at all (even though I liked the style itself), because they often follow a simple pattern. (I'm speaking in particular about american pop). They have about 4-6 chords which always loop through the whole song and the melodies are always very similar. It is composed this way to attract as many people as possible, who don't have to understand anything about music. (An example of a composer who creates such solely success-oriented music is Max Martin.) The ultimate consequence of such methods is the harmonic and melodic impoverishment of music. It gets boring. So I basically just doomed pop music in general. (Also the lyrics are often exactly as superficial as the music is!) So when I discovered Yuki Kajiura, I realized, that there still exists contemporary popular music, which is harmonically and melodically and even stylistically rich! Thank you, Yuki!
(I hope my english was understandable )


@wormbook22

Oh, and it seems more ppl with professions related to music have laid their eyes on our YK

I think what I wrote before is certainly one reason why musicians like Yuki!

Btw, if u like, there's the Creative Corner in the forum where u can post yr covers

Maybe I will post a cover one day

 

[SurgamIdentidem]

^ Oh yes, I picked up drums after I listened to Magia (I love the drum pattern in magia! ) So I'm still a beginner there

 

[george1234]

Re:

(I hope my english was understandable )

You should be kidding, your english are already better than mine (but Im not a native as well but Im in this forum for 6 years) maybe you have an idea that people in english speaking forums spot english mistakes and ban their users if they do too many but that's definetely not this case since this forum has people from all over the world (US, Europe, Latin Amrica, China, NA Asia Australia) the only places we dont have someone from yet are Africa and Middle East So you dont need to worry about your english even if you do 10 spelling mistakes per sentence

I also agree with what you wrote before, same happens with the songs in Greece too (and I guess more countries too) too generic music and way too generic and oversimplified lyrics that even a 5 year-old kid can understand them without any deep meaning or complex feelings, most of them either talk about love in a in a context where the singer wants the other person here and now, or they curse them in case of a broken relationship "you will regret it".

In contradiction, Yuki's lyrics are filled with metaphorical expressions, sceneries and beautiful narations (like the ships she talks about in shinkai no kodoku, matta kaze ga tsuyoku natta, and kouya ruten) and love or sadness in the lyrics is presented with these metaphors more and less directily, I just LOVE her lyrics, even if the melody of a song happens to not be so much my cup of tea, the lyrics aways are.

 

[Kugayama]

Re:

@Kugayama
You are lucky! I never had the oportunity to attend any Kajiura-related acts. Because I'm a student I lack the money (and in near future also the time) to fly to Japan (which is definitely not just around the corner)!

It's a pity that you missed Kalafina at Animagic in Germany then.

Wow, it's great your step-daughter sings! Does know/like Yuki Kajiura?

I'm not sure... she's been in choirs doing everything from Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 and Thomas Tallis' Spem in alium to a live performance of the music of The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, so she is familiar with very complex works.

And yes, Yuki Kajiura influenced my view of music greatly! For a long time I didn't like pop songs at all (even though I liked the style itself), because they often follow a simple pattern. (I'm speaking in particular about american pop). They have about 4-6 chords which always loop through the whole song and the melodies are always very similar. It is composed this way to attract as many people as possible, who don't have to understand anything about music. (An example of a composer who creates such solely success-oriented music is Max Martin.) The ultimate consequence of such methods is the harmonic and melodic impoverishment of music. It gets boring. So I basically just doomed pop music in general. (Also the lyrics are often exactly as superficial as the music is!) So when I discovered Yuki Kajiura, I realized, that there still exists contemporary popular music, which is harmonically and melodically and even stylistically rich! Thank you, Yuki!
(I hope my english was understandable )

Yes, I agree that pop music is forgettable due to its same-ness!
I still like some of the more interesting music of anime though, from Ryuichi Sakamoto's soundtrack for Royal Space Force, to Joe Hisaishi's work with Studio Ghibli to groups like Angela, and composers like Yoko Kanno and Kenji Kawaii (Ghost in The Shell) and Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy) as well as Yuki Kajiura.

PS, your English was very easy to understand!

Maybe I will post a cover one day

Please do!

 

[SurgamIdentidem]

(I hope my english was understandable )

You should be kidding, your english are already better than mine (but Im not a native as well but Im in this forum for 6 years) maybe you have an idea that people in english speaking forums spot english mistakes and ban their users if they do too many but that's definetely not this case since this forum has people from all over the world (US, Europe, Latin Amrica, China, NA Asia Australia) the only places we dont have someone from yet are Africa and Middle East So you dont need to worry about your english even if you do 10 spelling mistakes per sentence

Thanks, I see that you are all very nice people! But I'm a perfectionist, and as long as my english doesn't have a certain level, I'm not pleased with it.

I also agree with what you wrote before, same happens with the songs in Greece too (and I guess more countries too) too generic music and way too generic and oversimplified lyrics that even a 5 year-old kid can understand them without any deep meaning or complex feelings, most of them either talk about love in a in a context where the singer wants the other person here and now, or they curse them in case of a broken relationship "you will regret it".

In contradiction, Yuki's lyrics are filled with metaphorical expressions, sceneries and beautiful narations (like the ships she talks about in shinkai no kodoku, matta kaze ga tsuyoku natta, and kouya ruten) and love or sadness in the lyrics is presented with these metaphors more and less directily, I just LOVE her lyrics, even if the melody of a song happens to not be so much my cup of tea, the lyrics aways are.

I couldn't agree more with you! But it's very rare, that I don't like her compositions. As an example: I can listen to "After Eden" all day long, and I never have the desire to skip a song. I really love them all! Circus of FictionJunction YUUKA is probably the only Kajiura album I know which contains songs which are not my thing. The opener for example (circus) somehow never reaches me...
But really, they are rare! She managed to keep her very high level through the past years, and there is no end in sight!

@Kugayama

It's a pity that you missed Kalafina at Animagic in Germany then.

Animagic... please don't remind me!
I had exams right then You can't believe how demotivated I was
I just hope they DON'T come at Animagic this year because I'll be in the military then... UNTIL THE FIRST OF AUGUST, AND ANIMAGIC 2013 IS FROM 26. TO 28. JULY!! If they come I
(Switzerland has still a liability to military service)

I'm not sure... she's been in choirs doing everything from Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 and Thomas Tallis' Spem in alium to a live performance of the music of The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, so she is familiar with very complex works.

Howard Shore, The Lord of the Rings

Yes, I agree that pop music is forgettable due to its same-ness!
I still like some of the more interesting music of anime though, from Ryuichi Sakamoto's soundtrack for Royal Space Force, to Joe Hisaishi's work with Studio Ghibli to groups like Angela, and composers like Yoko Kanno and Kenji Kawaii (Ghost in The Shell) and Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy) as well as Yuki Kajiura.

Yes, you are right! I have the imression, that in Japan the "harmonic and melodic impoverishment" is in general not that much of a problem as it is in the US. And Yoko Kanno, I agree, is definitely a good composer. (while, I don't know many pieces of her, but what I heard so far sounded good in my ears!)

 

[Kugayama]

Re:

I couldn't agree more with you! But it's very rare, that I don't like her compositions. As an example: I can listen to "After Eden" all day long, and I never have the desire to skip a song. I really love them all! Circus of FictionJunction YUUKA is probably the only Kajiura album I know which contains songs which are not my thing. The opener for example (circus) somehow never reaches me...
But really, they are rare! She managed to keep her very high level through the past years, and there is no end in sight!

I'm re-listening to Circus from the Circus album and it doesn't grab me like the live version on the video "Yuki Kajiura Live vol. #4 part 1" does. The live version just sounds fully developed, whereas the studio version sounded like it had only just been written and not fully arranged.

And Yoko Kanno, I agree, is definitely a good composer. (while, I don't know many pieces of her, but wat I heard so far sounded good in my ears!)

A very different style to Yuki Kajiura, but I like them both.