Just a housekeeping post for me, because I realize that with trying to get Hana Project back up on its feet/caught up, I've put off a lot of independent projects that I've had going on. So for my own benefit, stuff that I need to mix/record for:
Need to Mix
Only You -- with Suiren & Aoi
Sukiyaki -- for Rae (only making instrumental)
Need to Record
Only You -- Sugaya Risako -- for Suiren & Aoi
Rainbow 7 Album -- Niigaki Risa -- for Aki
In The Club -- C.L. -- for Mandy
Jounestu no Kisu wo Hitotsu -- Takahashi Ai -- for Super Chouette
Love Like Crazy -- Takahashi Ai -- for Buggy & Aki
Junai no Crescendo -- Takahashi Minami -- for Buggy & Aki
Kimi no Koto ga Suki Dakara -- Fujie Reina -- for AKB48 Triple Dub
Tobenai Agehachou -- Ohori Megumi -- for AKB48 Triple Dub
Tsuyokimono yo -- Matsui Jurina -- for AKB48 Triple Dub
Nanchuu Koi wo Yatteru YOU KNOW? -- Natsuyaki Miyabi -- for RANCHII
Sakura wa Raku sa -- Natsuyaki Miyabi -- for RANCHII
Sukiyaki -- Kusumi Koharu -- for Rae
...jfc SOMEONE MAKE ME STOP JOINING THINGS.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
004... "I don't think of myself as giving interviews. I just have conversations. that gets me in trouble."
For those of you who listen to shockingbuggy's YouTube production, Dubber's Radio , you may have heard that on Episode 3 I get the honor of being a guest and doing an interview with her--about HP, about dubbing, and a little bit about me thrown in there. I'm pretty bad with talking "live", and talking about myself in general, but I was excited for the chance to do it and flattered that she asked me.
Well, we officially recorded it last night, and it was a blast. I think it wouldn't have been as good of an experience had I not known my interviewer, but because Buggy and I are good friends it turned into what every good interview should be--a conversation, much more than a bunch of questions and responses. I believe our final recording time was an hour and a half (don't worry, you won't have to listen to all of that!)--counting all the times we got distracted and watched Power Rangers and talked about religion--and the bulk of that hour-thirty I think brought out some really good questions (and hopefully good answers!) that I hope the YouTube audience will enjoy listening to.
I don't know how much I should say about it or how much 'suspense' Buggy wants built up, but to give you a little taste, some of the questions asked were about how I got into dubbing and the things I like about it most, how Hana Project started and why, what my opinions and thoughts are on the success of Hana Project, how we deal with the haters that come with the YouTube 'popularity', etc. I gave a lot of long answers that I'm sure she's going to have to cut down some (sorry I'm so verbose!), and there were even some that she gave her insight on as well, being a sub-leader.
In the end, I also was asked to sit in and help do critique at the end, which was a dub (won't name off which one just yet!) by HoshizoraDubs. It ended up being a long critique, but one that I think the producer of that group can be really helped by and get a lot out of--which is what a critique should be, so yay on that!
Anyway, not sure when the episode will be edited and up on YouTube, especially since there's a lot of editing to do to get it down to manageable length, but it should be soon, so look forward to it!
Well, we officially recorded it last night, and it was a blast. I think it wouldn't have been as good of an experience had I not known my interviewer, but because Buggy and I are good friends it turned into what every good interview should be--a conversation, much more than a bunch of questions and responses. I believe our final recording time was an hour and a half (don't worry, you won't have to listen to all of that!)--counting all the times we got distracted and watched Power Rangers and talked about religion--and the bulk of that hour-thirty I think brought out some really good questions (and hopefully good answers!) that I hope the YouTube audience will enjoy listening to.
I don't know how much I should say about it or how much 'suspense' Buggy wants built up, but to give you a little taste, some of the questions asked were about how I got into dubbing and the things I like about it most, how Hana Project started and why, what my opinions and thoughts are on the success of Hana Project, how we deal with the haters that come with the YouTube 'popularity', etc. I gave a lot of long answers that I'm sure she's going to have to cut down some (sorry I'm so verbose!), and there were even some that she gave her insight on as well, being a sub-leader.
In the end, I also was asked to sit in and help do critique at the end, which was a dub (won't name off which one just yet!) by HoshizoraDubs. It ended up being a long critique, but one that I think the producer of that group can be really helped by and get a lot out of--which is what a critique should be, so yay on that!
Anyway, not sure when the episode will be edited and up on YouTube, especially since there's a lot of editing to do to get it down to manageable length, but it should be soon, so look forward to it!
Sunday, March 21, 2010
003... "smile... it's the second best thing you can do with your lips."
Blah, I've done a fine job of posting in here, haven't I?
To tell the truth, I really haven't had the time recently to think about this blog, but here we go. All it takes is a mix I'm not thrilled to be doing to drive me to find things to procrastinate on, like updating this!
I haven't really been mixing much lately compared to what I usually do, but I feel like it's been a lot for some reason. I think concert mixes always make me feel this way, though. It's not like there's much more to them than there is to mixing with a PV, but I always feel like I'm putting so much more work and thought into them than others--and they're always so much more exciting to me. Something about that live sound gets me pumped up and wanting to do more.
So maybe you're wondering (or not wondering) what concert mixing I'm talking about. I'm actually referring to a recent project I've taken on--a group by the ever-obvious name of Egao 9, which is dubbing with me Morning Musume's most recent concert, Nine Smile. I fell in love with the setlist the second it was released all those months ago, about died of happy when I got a hold of a fan recording of Tokyo Night back on December 6th, and had a nerdgasm the day the DVD was released. It's probably my favorite MM concert with the 9nin lineup to date, and I'm lucky enough that at least eight other people were willing to oblige me and dub this. I'm thrilled that I basically got to hand-pick my cast, and not only have they been prompt (early, even!) with handing in lines, but they've obviously all put their everything into what they've given me. What more could I ask for? :P
In the past few days, we finished up the first batch of songs from the concert, consisting of 321 BREAKIN' OUT and HOW DO YOU LIKE JAPAN ~Nihon wa Donna Kanji Dekka?~. I need to tl;dr about them, so let's get to it!
Takahashi Ai : Kappa [ xmikipinkux ]
Niigaki Risa : Ajisai [ homeschooledchick16 ]
Kamei Eri : Mandy [ tokidokihaato ]
Tanaka Reina : Palla [ nephiminechan ]
Michishige Sayumi : Buggy [ shockingbuggy ]
Kusumi Koharu : Aoi [ chocolateblakberri ]
Mitsui Aika : Giselle [ giselledesu ]
JunJun : Yume [ yumeangel29 ]
LinLin : Rae [ singingondemand ]
Okay, first of all, I asked everyone for tons of energy and they seriously delivered. I've seen a lot of 321 dubs, and concert dubs in general, fall flat on their face because of a lack of energy, but every last set of lines was full of it. Awesome.
Even though I ended up singing more harmonies than Takahashi is coded for, I was actually kinda thrilled to do it. Basically, I never know the harmonies to songs, so in instances like this when I do know them, I like to really go all out and have fun. I LOVE singing harmonies, you guys. I just never know them. D:
Stand-out performers in this song I think were Suiren (g'aww girl I'm so happy to have you as my Reina again. IT'S LIKE COMING HOME~ okay yeah idk it's almost 4 AM stfu) and... Idk who else! Everyone was pretty equal, which is so cool to have.
Downfalls are in the mixing. Some of my harmonies are loud, some are soft, which is something I probably would have fixed had it not been 8 AM and had I been less tl;dr that Suiren had gotten her lines in. :P Then some of the lines are a bit more staticy than I would like, from experimenting with what to do with a couple of bad mics in here. That's the thing that annoys me most, I think--probably should have run a De Esser over it a few more times for good measure, but alas. You live and learn.
I'm so in love with both songs, but I had to pick, I'm definitely more fond of this one. If 321 was awesome, this one might just actually be "epic"--and if you don't know, I have a hard time seriously bragging about any dubs I do, because I think it's unclassy, but... Yeah, this one might just be a first.
Okay, I think it goes without saying that Ajisai is my favorite Risa ever blah blah I won't boost her anymore. Just know that when I listened to her lines a cappella, I giggled SO HARD; not just because they were hilarious, but because I KNEW this was the perfect song for her and I was so excited to get this mixed.
I was talking to Mandy last night, and she said something to me about how it's all so weird how well the cast fits the roles, because those of us who are "reprising" roles in a way, whether it be from Junran or from the 2009 Hana Project concert, sort of just happened into them by chance. Somehow it just all ended up working--add on the 7th and 8th Gen roles and it makes me so geekily happy to see this cast now because it's just... no, it's not every dubber's dream cast, but it's my dream cast. It's a bit nostalgic, a bit new, and just oh-so-cool to hear all together.
Anyway, I could flail forever. I could also talk about the parts of this that I don't like (mixing, again! Who'dve guessed!), but why ruin the good mood this dub puts me in? I'll just leave it at that. ;]
Despite that Kimagure Princess is my dreaded Song from Hell, I can't say I'm not excited about it after this. And Nanchatte will be fun to revisit to see how different an experience it is to sing from seven months ago (yeah, I actually haven't been in a dub of that since Junran's. I know, way to limit myself, huh?)... I just hope we can keep up the good streak we've started out on. If so, I think this could be one really Epic (yes, I admit it!) concert dub. Awww yeah.
To tell the truth, I really haven't had the time recently to think about this blog, but here we go. All it takes is a mix I'm not thrilled to be doing to drive me to find things to procrastinate on, like updating this!
I haven't really been mixing much lately compared to what I usually do, but I feel like it's been a lot for some reason. I think concert mixes always make me feel this way, though. It's not like there's much more to them than there is to mixing with a PV, but I always feel like I'm putting so much more work and thought into them than others--and they're always so much more exciting to me. Something about that live sound gets me pumped up and wanting to do more.
So maybe you're wondering (or not wondering) what concert mixing I'm talking about. I'm actually referring to a recent project I've taken on--a group by the ever-obvious name of Egao 9, which is dubbing with me Morning Musume's most recent concert, Nine Smile. I fell in love with the setlist the second it was released all those months ago, about died of happy when I got a hold of a fan recording of Tokyo Night back on December 6th, and had a nerdgasm the day the DVD was released. It's probably my favorite MM concert with the 9nin lineup to date, and I'm lucky enough that at least eight other people were willing to oblige me and dub this. I'm thrilled that I basically got to hand-pick my cast, and not only have they been prompt (early, even!) with handing in lines, but they've obviously all put their everything into what they've given me. What more could I ask for? :P
In the past few days, we finished up the first batch of songs from the concert, consisting of 321 BREAKIN' OUT and HOW DO YOU LIKE JAPAN ~Nihon wa Donna Kanji Dekka?~. I need to tl;dr about them, so let's get to it!
Takahashi Ai : Kappa [ xmikipinkux ]
Niigaki Risa : Ajisai [ homeschooledchick16 ]
Kamei Eri : Mandy [ tokidokihaato ]
Tanaka Reina : Palla [ nephiminechan ]
Michishige Sayumi : Buggy [ shockingbuggy ]
Kusumi Koharu : Aoi [ chocolateblakberri ]
Mitsui Aika : Giselle [ giselledesu ]
JunJun : Yume [ yumeangel29 ]
LinLin : Rae [ singingondemand ]
Okay, first of all, I asked everyone for tons of energy and they seriously delivered. I've seen a lot of 321 dubs, and concert dubs in general, fall flat on their face because of a lack of energy, but every last set of lines was full of it. Awesome.
Even though I ended up singing more harmonies than Takahashi is coded for, I was actually kinda thrilled to do it. Basically, I never know the harmonies to songs, so in instances like this when I do know them, I like to really go all out and have fun. I LOVE singing harmonies, you guys. I just never know them. D:
Stand-out performers in this song I think were Suiren (g'aww girl I'm so happy to have you as my Reina again. IT'S LIKE COMING HOME~ okay yeah idk it's almost 4 AM stfu) and... Idk who else! Everyone was pretty equal, which is so cool to have.
Downfalls are in the mixing. Some of my harmonies are loud, some are soft, which is something I probably would have fixed had it not been 8 AM and had I been less tl;dr that Suiren had gotten her lines in. :P Then some of the lines are a bit more staticy than I would like, from experimenting with what to do with a couple of bad mics in here. That's the thing that annoys me most, I think--probably should have run a De Esser over it a few more times for good measure, but alas. You live and learn.
I'm so in love with both songs, but I had to pick, I'm definitely more fond of this one. If 321 was awesome, this one might just actually be "epic"--and if you don't know, I have a hard time seriously bragging about any dubs I do, because I think it's unclassy, but... Yeah, this one might just be a first.
Okay, I think it goes without saying that Ajisai is my favorite Risa ever blah blah I won't boost her anymore. Just know that when I listened to her lines a cappella, I giggled SO HARD; not just because they were hilarious, but because I KNEW this was the perfect song for her and I was so excited to get this mixed.
I was talking to Mandy last night, and she said something to me about how it's all so weird how well the cast fits the roles, because those of us who are "reprising" roles in a way, whether it be from Junran or from the 2009 Hana Project concert, sort of just happened into them by chance. Somehow it just all ended up working--add on the 7th and 8th Gen roles and it makes me so geekily happy to see this cast now because it's just... no, it's not every dubber's dream cast, but it's my dream cast. It's a bit nostalgic, a bit new, and just oh-so-cool to hear all together.
Anyway, I could flail forever. I could also talk about the parts of this that I don't like (mixing, again! Who'dve guessed!), but why ruin the good mood this dub puts me in? I'll just leave it at that. ;]
Despite that Kimagure Princess is my dreaded Song from Hell, I can't say I'm not excited about it after this. And Nanchatte will be fun to revisit to see how different an experience it is to sing from seven months ago (yeah, I actually haven't been in a dub of that since Junran's. I know, way to limit myself, huh?)... I just hope we can keep up the good streak we've started out on. If so, I think this could be one really Epic (yes, I admit it!) concert dub. Awww yeah.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
002.... fml fml fml
I have nothing good to say here today. Just 'fml.' Shit I need to mix before March is over:
Forever Love (Hazakura)
Sakuranbo Solos Pt. 2 (Sakuranbo)
Nanni mo Iwazu ni I LOVE YOU (Yugao)
Hatsuyuki (Suika Kinenbi) <---- BUGGY I STILL NEED YOUR LINES
As for the list of stuff I need to motivate OTHER people to finish mixing before March is over? That is much, much larger. :/ brb going to NAICHAU IN A CORNER. Seriously, if this stuff doesn't get done, I don't really know what to do.
Forever Love (Hazakura)
Sakuranbo Solos Pt. 2 (Sakuranbo)
Nanni mo Iwazu ni I LOVE YOU (Yugao)
Hatsuyuki (Suika Kinenbi) <---- BUGGY I STILL NEED YOUR LINES
As for the list of stuff I need to motivate OTHER people to finish mixing before March is over? That is much, much larger. :/ brb going to NAICHAU IN A CORNER. Seriously, if this stuff doesn't get done, I don't really know what to do.
Friday, March 12, 2010
001 . . . please stand by
We've got to start somewhere, don't we?
I'm not really sure what to say. As I told Rae, it's been over seven years since I last blogged on any regular basis, so I'm not sure how good I'll be at this, but I've noticed that I've... got a LOT of stuff to say when it comes to dubbing. So why not? Maybe I talk too much, maybe I'm going to be ignored and shoved off into this little corner of the internet to chatter myself all the way into a mental hospital, but at least I'll be amusing myself with my unnecessary opinions, right? After all, opinions are like assholes. Everyone has one, and they all stink.
So let's not start with opinions. Let's start with introductions instead.
My name is Kappa. Sort of. Clearly that's not my real name, but for all intents and purposes, we'll just go with that. I started dubbing in November of 2008 after I saw some--to be totally honest--REALLY shitty covers of songs floating around YouTube and thought 'okay wow, even I can do better than this.'
So that's what I did.
I started off with Sera Myu before being introduced to the world of Hello!Project, the latter of which is the bulk of what I dabble in now. Now mind you, prior to that November of 2008, the only singing I'd ever done was in choir class in 5th grade, so despite my embarrassingly musically talented family, and personal experience with instrumental music and music theory, I was very.... VERY green. But despite all of my suck, I adored what I was doing. It was fun, it was exciting, it was something new I could jump face first into and discover. And somehow. some very kindly, suck-forgiving groups took me in so that I could explore even further. Among those wonderful souls were such groups as Color Project, Sugoi Girls, Superstar Project, and Japan Star Project (no longer existant on YouTube).
Looking back, the dubbing world was a different sort of place back then. The quality standard across the board was painfully low. Singing halfway in the right key would get you comments like 'oh my god so EPIC!!!' and 'JUST LIKE TEH ORIGINALLLLZ!!1' and any mixing in which your speakers weren't totally blown out was 'SO PROFESH~'. When I came to start Hana Project in February of 2009, despite my shitty, inexperienced mixing and the fairly weak soloists in the cast, our first single absolutely blew people out of the water. Hell, it blew US out of the water--no one knew any better, that there was a way for dubs to sound NOT completely shitty.
The quality was absolutely deplorable, but at the time... hey, no one knew any better.
I'm not complaining, though, I swear! Had I started any later in the game, had HP started any later in the game, I don't think either it or myself would be where we are now. Not that I really KNOW where we are, mind you...
It's a weird thing. I never came into dubbing wanting to be the best, and I never started HP with the intention of making it a 'high-quality' group (as so many new groups are calling themselves these days). It kinda just happened. We all learned together, we all grew together (we still are, of course!), never really stressing over beating anyone or being "epic"--whatever "epic" really is--and bam. Wake up a year later and you run a project that's got 350 subscribers and that almost 100 people are vying to make it into.
It's kinda trippy, man. Wouldn't you think?
I'll write again later. For now, my loquaciousness meter is lowering with my eyelids, and I think I ought to just... get.. to bed.
I'm not really sure what to say. As I told Rae, it's been over seven years since I last blogged on any regular basis, so I'm not sure how good I'll be at this, but I've noticed that I've... got a LOT of stuff to say when it comes to dubbing. So why not? Maybe I talk too much, maybe I'm going to be ignored and shoved off into this little corner of the internet to chatter myself all the way into a mental hospital, but at least I'll be amusing myself with my unnecessary opinions, right? After all, opinions are like assholes. Everyone has one, and they all stink.
So let's not start with opinions. Let's start with introductions instead.
My name is Kappa. Sort of. Clearly that's not my real name, but for all intents and purposes, we'll just go with that. I started dubbing in November of 2008 after I saw some--to be totally honest--REALLY shitty covers of songs floating around YouTube and thought 'okay wow, even I can do better than this.'
So that's what I did.
I started off with Sera Myu before being introduced to the world of Hello!Project, the latter of which is the bulk of what I dabble in now. Now mind you, prior to that November of 2008, the only singing I'd ever done was in choir class in 5th grade, so despite my embarrassingly musically talented family, and personal experience with instrumental music and music theory, I was very.... VERY green. But despite all of my suck, I adored what I was doing. It was fun, it was exciting, it was something new I could jump face first into and discover. And somehow. some very kindly, suck-forgiving groups took me in so that I could explore even further. Among those wonderful souls were such groups as Color Project, Sugoi Girls, Superstar Project, and Japan Star Project (no longer existant on YouTube).
Looking back, the dubbing world was a different sort of place back then. The quality standard across the board was painfully low. Singing halfway in the right key would get you comments like 'oh my god so EPIC!!!' and 'JUST LIKE TEH ORIGINALLLLZ!!1' and any mixing in which your speakers weren't totally blown out was 'SO PROFESH~'. When I came to start Hana Project in February of 2009, despite my shitty, inexperienced mixing and the fairly weak soloists in the cast, our first single absolutely blew people out of the water. Hell, it blew US out of the water--no one knew any better, that there was a way for dubs to sound NOT completely shitty.
The quality was absolutely deplorable, but at the time... hey, no one knew any better.
I'm not complaining, though, I swear! Had I started any later in the game, had HP started any later in the game, I don't think either it or myself would be where we are now. Not that I really KNOW where we are, mind you...
It's a weird thing. I never came into dubbing wanting to be the best, and I never started HP with the intention of making it a 'high-quality' group (as so many new groups are calling themselves these days). It kinda just happened. We all learned together, we all grew together (we still are, of course!), never really stressing over beating anyone or being "epic"--whatever "epic" really is--and bam. Wake up a year later and you run a project that's got 350 subscribers and that almost 100 people are vying to make it into.
It's kinda trippy, man. Wouldn't you think?
I'll write again later. For now, my loquaciousness meter is lowering with my eyelids, and I think I ought to just... get.. to bed.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
