Alas, RL pwns Maou-squeeage
So, because one of my colleagues got ill, I'm pinch-hitting at a teachers-parents-children thing for families with disabled children this weekend. It goes from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon, which means, sadly - no Maou squeeing from me until late Sunday night! *sad
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I'm still downloading, but I've already heard the rip of the song and I think it might turn into one of my most favourite Arashi songs! *_______*
I love that Aiba's voice is the second to join in after Ohno - he's got such a beautiful singing voice and his voice really sounds well in fast songs, and I love how his voice sounds with Ohno's here.
Speaking of Ohno's voice - they're really working his range here, aren't they? I think it might be more noticable when the whole song is out, but the song at least makes him go to the limits of his range in the lower parts and I wouldn't be surprised if it also contained a part where his voice goes to its higher limits, which would be awesome, because Ohno has the biggest range in Arashi (I think? The only other one with a rather big range is Sho, I guess partly because his voice is the deepest, but he's still able to sing in falsett; but I don't think he's got the same range as Ohno) and it's so awesome to have a song that is tailored to show off Ohno's voice! *________*
Speaking of Sho - I think he's the one singing my absolute favourite part of the song! The one part that goes a whole tone up, then up six tones (I have no idea about the proper terms in English, so I have to describe this rather as well as I can) and down a half-tone, that is sung in the background to Ohno's longer-drawn notes. It builds up such a great dynamic and is a lovely counterpoint to Ohno's strong, clear voice. I love it so much. *________*
That picture is just LOVE big time. Ohno and Sho are so great together sometimes! *_________________*
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I've watched and rewatched the Maou opening so many times now. XD Isn't the song amazing? It's just got amazing power the way the melody just builds and builds to the chorus and it just hits me right in the gut the way that Pikanchi Double and Sakura Sake do. ^_^
Ahhh, Aiba's voice is nice. It works so nicely low and furry (I'm not sure how else to describe the timbre of his voice :P) and blends with Ohno's so well. And they do harmony! :O And yeah, I think it is Sho who does that counterpoint when Ohno's got the long notes. I'm not sure who else is singing with him, it doesn't sound like it's only him though. Though heh, the sound mixer's good, because for a lot of parts they all blend pretty well and I can't *quite* discern who's who.
You know what's interesting? Jun has such a...distinct voice when he's going solo, but he's pretty good at blending with the others in the group parts, I usually have a hard time picking him out in the cd versions of songs. It's a little easier with lives. :P
Mmm, the ending where they all go a little falsetto and it feels like it should end on a minor key but it resolves. Soooo nice. *purrs* This song seriously feels like it could be an anime theme song, though I feel that way about a lot of Arashi songs. :P Oh, I can't wait for when they do promotions for this song. I hope they do promotions for this song. *_*
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YES! EXACTLY! *______*
Pikanchi Double and Sakura Sake are two of my most favourite Arashi songs (actually, I think Pikanchi Double is my absolute favourite Arashi song), together with "Right Back To You", because they've got such powerful dynamics and interesting vocal parts and, as you say, hit you right in the gut. And "Truth" is just like that. *_______*
Aiba's voice is nice. It works so nicely low and furry (I'm not sure how else to describe the timbre of his voice :P) and blends with Ohno's so well
"Furry" works pretty well, considering that his voice is so hard to describe. Like, it's a bit husky, but also warm and smooth at the same time and there's really not a word to describe it properly. I think of it as melted dark chocolate. ^___^
And it does blend with Ohno's voice well - I'm not too bad at discerning the guys' voices, but there are some songs where it's really hard for me to tell whether it's Aiba or Ohno singing with one of the other guys at a certain part, because Aiba's singing voice sounds rather different from his speaking voice and Ohno's really good at blending with the other guys voices.
I think it is Sho who does that counterpoint when Ohno's got the long notes. I'm not sure who else is singing with him, it doesn't sound like it's only him though.
I've been wondering about that too! ^__^
I think it has to be Nino, because while Nino's voice is normally really distinctive, Sho's got the power to "over-sing" him, so Nino's voice would add to the power of the counterpoint, but without being very audible as 'Nino's voice'.
My guess as to who's singing what would be this:
Ohno - Ohno&Aiba - Ohno&Jun/Sho&NinoCP - Ohno/Sho&NinoCP - Ohno&Aiba[1] - Ohno&Aiba&Jun/Sho&NinoCP - Aiba&Jun?[2]/Sho&NinoCP - Ohno&Arashi[3]
[1] I'm REALLY unsure about this - it's a little part before Jun definitely comes in again, and I can hear that someone's singing with Ohno, only I have no idea who it is. It might be Aiba&Ohno&Jun, with Jun's voice blending in really well.
[2] Again, very unsure - it sounds as if it's just Aiba and Jun, but Ohno is probably just be blending in with those two very well. But, on the other hand, we definitely have Ohno coming in very strongly again at the next part, so it might actually be Aiba and Jun alone.
[3] At this point, they blend (or got blended?) together so well that the only voices I can pick up for sure are Ohno and Jun. But since it's the chorus, it would make sense for all of them to sing together.
As I said, I guess Nino's singing counterpoint together with Sho... but after having listened to the song far too many times in a row, I think he might also be in the Ohno&Jun&Aiba parts, with Sho singing counterpoint alone... *confused* My guess would still be that he's singing counterpoint with Sho, though, simply because the counterpoint isn't all that easy to sing, so Sho might do well with another member to support him there.
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I think of it as melted dark chocolate. ^___^
Mmmm, chocolate. :D That's interesting that you think of his voice as smooth. For me it's definitely warm, but more soft at the edges with a bit more...burr? Buzz? to it, compared to, say Ohno who attacks his notes crisply and cleanly. It actually makes it a bit easier for me to tell his voice.
Hee, your footnotes are cute. I'll go with your analysis, since listening to it so much is making my brain kinda fuzzy, hehe.
Ah, this is a complete and utter tangent, but I'm curious about your thoughts on harmonies. Not just in this song, but in general. Which is to say, who does them? Because I get confused when I hear, for example in Sakura Sake, tenor and almost counter tenor harmonies during the A melody, and I think it's Nino doing it. But then when it's in concert, I'm thinking it can't be Nino because he's one who goes obviously flat a lot once he starts running around and that can be killer for a song harmony. ^^;;; And Ohno's voice is so distinct...
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(And yes, I love good harmonizing too, though for some reason, it's not as important in bubblegum pop for me. ^-^)
Aiba's voice... is so hard to describe! ^^" I think the way his voice sounds is smooth (as I said, like melted chocolate), but you're right, his intonation isn't as sharp as Ohno's (or Nino's, when he's singing correctly) and it's sort of ...blurry around the edges? ...Still hard to describe. ^^"
Harmonies... I find that really hard to say with Arashi.
Generally it seems that Nino does the high harmonies they have in some songs and it makes sense, because he's got the highest voice and when rested he's the best singer after Ohno, and in the Sakura Sake recording (and in the video) it's definitely him doing the counter-tenor stuff; but you're right, in concert he tends to go flat as soon as he's out of breath (which he seems to get more easily than the others), so either he constantly lip-syncs his harmonies, or someone else supports him there. I'd like to think that they don't lip-sync to ALL their songs (and in some songs it's kind of painfully obvious that they don't - thankfully! ^^"), but I don't know who might be supporting him there. It definitely can't be Ohno - apart from his voice being distinct, he's also the lead singer in most songs with harmonies, so he's stuck with the main melody. It can't be Jun, because Jun needs a strong voice to support (and guide ^^") him (hence him getting stuck with Ohno most of the time), so I don't think he could give strength to Nino if his voice went flat. There's only Aiba and Sho left and... I don't know, Aiba and Sho both can obviously do harmonies, and actually, I'm pretty sure that it's Aiba who does most of the lower harmonies, and I think he can do high harmonies (see below), but I'm not sure he's doing it during Sakura Sake.
But I'm really not good at discerning who is doing harmonies. I've been trying to find out who's doing this really high part in "Right Back To You" from the beginning, and I'm still not sure! Actually, I'm not sure who does what part in that song most of the times.
At the beginning, it's definitely Aiba doing the harmonies to Ohno's main melody, but then (around 20 seconds into the song) comes a really short high part that I think might be Aiba still, but am not sure he is.
And then there's the chorus... IF Aiba's the one doing the first short high part, then he could also do that part (and actually, when he's screeching his voice can rise to an amazing pitch, so it would physically be possible to him), but he's doing the main part right after that and I'm not sure that he could go from that high to low and hit the right notes right away, too.
Then there's the "right about time" around 1:20, during Sho's solo part, which might be sung by either Nino or Ohno, but I can't say which of them... and it goes on like that. ^^"
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I usually find it easiest to pick out Jun, actually. Ohno I find much harder, because he's just so good at singing with the others that I sometimes only recognize it's him because he's got such a power behind his voice. Nino is easier a lot of the times, because his voice is very high and sort of nasal, except that in lower ranges, he can blend in with the others too, and then I see a video and suddenly realize that Nino's singing a part where I could have sworn it was just Sho/Aiba/Ohno singing.
Usually Aiba's pretty easy, because he's got this husky/furry timbre. Sho I find rather easy to discern, too, because his voice is powerful, too, but of a darker timbre than Ohno's - or, really, any of the guys.
But, of course, the amazing technic the CD producers have at hand don't make stuff easier... *sigh*
Very random, but about Arashi voices: They don't really seem to get categorized in JE, but I'm pretty sure Sho's a baritone, while Ohno's very clearly a tenor, Aiba too; Nino is probably a tenor too, except that sometimes his range extends into that of a counter-tenor, and Jun... would probably be a tenor, if he didn't sound like a duck. v-v" Sorry, Jun. I still love you, it's just that you really sound like you're quacking rather than singing sometimes.v-v"
Mmm, the ending where they all go a little falsetto and it feels like it should end on a minor key but it resolves. Soooo nice.
Total agreement. *__________*
I'm extremely bad at identifying keys, but I think this song is in a major key most of the time? So that's probably the reason they resolved it, even though it would have been interesting if it had ended on the note before the last (whatever that one is ^^").
And yes, Arashi songs do sound like Anime songs a lot of times... probably because Anime usually use j-pop, too. ^-^ But this song has the dramatic quality that a lot of music written for movies has, so it feels even more like an anime/movie song than the other Arashi songs, I think.
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For serious. He's got a pretty good range. You know, for the longest time there was a solo part in "Nemuranai Karada" that I swore was Ohno singing, though I thought he sounded a little...strange, like he was sick or something because the way he attacked the notes and intervals felt a little off, which I attributed it to being a song that they sang in their earlier years and their voices were different then. Then I watched the video of a performance of it and was all- whoa! That's Nino! So they sounded more similar to me when they were younger.
Re: Arashi voices
Hmm, with you on the Sho being a baritone, though he has a decent falsetto. ^^ It always throws me a little that his raps vary between the low end of his voice and then zips up to the high end when he raps happy, but then his solos are mostly in the light, higher end of his range. Hehe, "Can't Let You Go" made me go o.O the first time I heard it.
Most of JE seems to be in the tenor range to me with a few baritones sprinkled through, do you get a similar impression? Which is kinda funny, because my choir had no problem collecting basses and baritones but we practically had to beg guys to come in and sing tenor. Sooo lucky we had two female tenors one year, or we would have been doomed. XD
Jun...is probably a tenor. Maybe. I don't know, I feel like his voice sounds better when he's at the lower end of his range, more open and richer. The songs they sing keep forcing him to sing up when he doesn't have the support and power there, so he's singing from his throat and there's not enough air and..yeah. I've been there. ^^;;; I wonder if they'll give him music later that'll be more comfortably in his range?
I really, really like Aiba's voice. And I think it's the fuzziness that throws me off and makes me think his voice is deeper than it is. XD His and Nino's duo in Step and Go made me melt, for serious. *_*
Oh, just in case you didn't get the comment notification, I wrote you a ficbit in the thread below. ^_^
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And yes, I totally know what you mean when you say that they sounded more similar when they were younger! I don't know why, but I get the same impression. Maybe because both their voices were still not totally formed?
Sho's falsetto! XD I love Sho's falsetto, if only because it's so absolutely hilarious how, even when speaking, he can sound so completely normal - and then something frightenes him or he gets surprised or whatever and immediately his voice goes up about two octaves and he starts screeching. XDD I love Sho screeching so much, it's so amazingly funny. XD
Yes, most of JE are in the tenor range. ^-^ And I've made the same experience in my choir - we had quite a lot of good baritones and basses (including one really deep bass), but we also needed female tenors at some points, because we lacked those male voices. (Though we sang a lot of swing/jazz pieces and our men sang a couple of songs by the "Comedian Harmonists" and those singers did have one amazing counter tenor and some hellishly difficult harmonies, so it was perhaps not all that surprising that our men didn't have the ranges to do that.)
But I think the reason why JE mostly has tenors is that a.) they're Asians, and a lot of them have higher voices than Europeans or North Americans (at least that's my impression with professional singers in opera - there are more Asian tenors than there are baritones and basses), b.) they're young, so their voices are naturally a bit higher (though funny thing is that Ohno once mentioned in an interview that his voice seemed to get higher instead of lower, like you'd expect XD) and c.) they entered JE really early and thus, from the beginning sang songs that were written for tenors. I think, even if they have lower voices later on, after ten years or so in JE, they've found strategies to sing tenor out of pure necessity. Kind of like the Indian female singers, who can sing really high parts even when they might have lower voices, just because that's the ideal for females in India. Of course, both female singers in India and the guys in JE still sometimes sound very screechy as a result, but mostly I think they're better at singing high songs, even if their voices are lower normally, just because that's what they're used to. ^-^
I hadn't thought about Jun being better at the lower end of his range, I'll definitely have to start paying attention to that! Because yes, I often get the impression that the songs they give him are just NOT the right songs for him. :/ My favourite solo of his is "La Familia", because it's easy (at least in range) yet effective and I can't understand why they can't come up with other songs that are similar to that one, at least in range. :(
Fic bit? I very likely DID get the notification, but I'm an easily confused person, so if there are more than 15 emails in my account, I sometimes overlook one, or open it to read it and then accidentally close it again thinking I've read it, or something stupid like that. ^^" So I haven't read that fic bit at all yet! *__* Will get to it right away!
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