先日公開されたVo.原田のnoteですが、より多くの方に読んでいただければと
この度英訳版をアップいたしました！
日本にいる原田と、遠い異国の地で暮らすRainychという2人のアーティストが
まさに国境も、言葉も、性別も、年齢も超え、
「音楽」を通して出会い繋がることが出来たプロジェクトでした。
たくさんの人と音を共有できた時、音楽が届いた時、
音楽は言葉を超えるのかもしれない。
そんなことをチーム一同実感しました。
この曲をリアレンジするにあたって、原田がどんな思いをこの楽曲に込めたのか、
ぜひたくさんの方に読んでいただけたらと思います😊
日本語版URLも貼ってありますので、ご興味のある方はそちらも読んでみてくださいね！
Rainych's third cover project, the release of "Ride on Time" by Tatsuro Yamashita
Collaboration for the third time with Rainych followed by “Mayonaka No Door〜Stay with me” and “Blind Curve”. I remember being so excited when I was asked to rearrange “Mayonaka No Door”. Well, I was aware of Rainych before this project. She covered one of my songs “Summertime” and this video was viewed over million times. She sang my song in Japanese so fluently while the spread of awareness of my song didn’t feel real yet. I was just watching her video as the song seemed like it was not mine.
“Mayonaka No Door” was listened to by people even more after Rainych covered it on her Youtube video. It became a hit as the original song was ranked first in the Spotify global viral chart. “Mayonaka No Door” was released in 1979 so it means that the world rediscovered this song after 41 years. For “Blind Curve”, her cover was delivered to the original singer Momoko Kikuchi’s ear, visualizing the circle of music crossing the wall of language. I feel proud of myself for being a part of this project.
“Ride on Time” by Tatsurou Yamashita is also a masterpiece that is handed down over 40 years since the release in 1980. As well as Tetsuji Hayashi who composed “Mayonaka No Door”, my sense of music was significantly influenced by Tatsurou Yamashita. I was under pressure rearranging these popular songs, perhaps more than composing my own songs. Although it seems conceiting, this cover may also be heard by Tatsurou Yamashita…
So, while rearranging this cover, I had several things that I kept in mind. Groove, the skill of the instruments, and how to play around with the completed arrangement. However, competing against the original is overweening so I rearranged with a sense of humor and love towards the original. And more than anything, arrange it to fit Rainych’s persona.
In terms of humor, I felt I packed in a lot of stuff. For example, which a fan would soon discover, in the second verse, I sang the chorus using a different song from Tatsurou Yamashita. I added a lot of chorus in other places too. Like Eichi Takizawa, I admire their strategy of the song arranging. I hope my way of arranging leads the cover singers to sing other songs by Tatsurou Yamashita. It’s my favorite part of my arrangement.
(Project screen of Rainych/Ride on Time)
The original song is arranged excellently by live instrument and performance but in this cover, I used many synthetic and glittering sound effects to emphasize the cute voice of Rainych (also because of home recording). Maybe these are elements that are not aware by listeners but it plays a huge role consisting the song. The god dwells in the details.
I am not especially into becoming an arranger, however, there are many things that I can earn on this project. Needless to say, I will need to thoroughly analyze the original song to rearrange. Chords, of course, the relation between harmony and melody, tone and rhythm, all of them. When I do this, I use my ears completely differently from when I casually listen to music. Doing this makes me re-experience the process of producing a masterpiece and I learn many things from it.
What does it mean for music to be loved for over 40 years? I think I got a little hint for its requirements. In the end, theories are just a tool but the passion of the creator is the most significant thing (In the 2009 “Shinshun Houdan”, Tatsurou Yamashita and Eichi Takiyama talked that “theories are bad, they don’t last long”). The point is that how much you can be passionate and greedy about what you are creating. I was taught a lesson. Light up a fire in your heart!