{"id":24340,"date":"2016-12-11T23:33:58","date_gmt":"2016-12-12T07:33:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/?p=24340"},"modified":"2019-05-12T11:46:15","modified_gmt":"2019-05-12T18:46:15","slug":"279a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/279a\/","title":{"rendered":"Akira Miyagawa interview, October 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Reviving the sound of Yamato<\/em> by facing the music left behind by the father!<\/h3>\n

Yamato 2202<\/em> Composer Akira Miyagawa interview!<\/h2>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Interview by Junichi Tsukagoshi<\/em><\/p>\n

Published by Akiba Souken<\/em>, October 9, 2017. See the original post here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Chapter 3 of Yamato 2202, Pure Love Chapter<\/em>, premieres on Saturday, October 14, 2017. Akira Miyagawa, who was in charge of the music for Yamato 2199<\/em>, is the son of composer Hiroshi Miyagawa who created the music for the original Space Battleship Yamato<\/em> series, which is the basis for this work. In this long interview, he talks about undertaking the music of Yamato<\/em> and \u201cWhat is Yamato<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n

Undertaking the Yamato<\/em> sound by the enthusiasm of General Director Izubuchi<\/h3>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> How did you come to be in charge of the music for Yamato 2199<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Miyagawa:<\/em><\/span> I\u2019m of the Yamato<\/em> generation. I was an eighth-grader when it was broadcast on TV in 1974, so I can say that I was the first customer and I trembled with the feeling of history being made! That was my honest feeling. But after that I felt there was too much of Yamato<\/em>. Why would Be Forever<\/em> come out in 1980 after they said Farewell<\/em> in 1978? When I think about it, it seems like a half-joke, and I wasn\u2019t up to it any more.<\/p>\n

I was the first customer and I was very proud of my father\u2019s music and the entire work from design to story, so when I heard about Yamato 2199<\/em> I went to the meeting intending to preach a sermon of \u201cAre you really trying to do it again?\u201d I\u2019d gotten the call from Naoto Otomo [conductor of the Japan Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra for Yamato Resurrection<\/em>], and I honestly intended not to do it. I wasn\u2019t going to take the job. My intention was to decline.<\/p>\n

But I was told that Director Yutaka Izubuchi wanted to meet with me by all means, so I went to meet him for the first time. At that time I might have said why I didn\u2019t want to work on it, and Mr. Izubuchi said, \u201cI feel the same way, too.\u201d Moreover, he said, \u201cI thought the first 26 episodes were really creative, and I\u2019m going to make them again this time.\u201d If that was going to be the case, I didn\u2019t want someone else to do it. It would be a shock to see \u201cMusic by Takayuki Hattori\u201d there. (Laughs) <\/p>\n

Of course, I\u2019m joking. I once saw Takayuki Hattori ask my father to sign his copy of Symphonic Suite Yamato<\/em>, and that had a big impact. Yamato<\/em> was a work that surpassed both the Hattori family and the Miyagawa family. I would have suffered if I didn\u2019t do the work myself, so I immediately said to let me do it. As a result, it was a good thing.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Did you feel Mr. Izubuchi\u2019s enthusiasm?<\/p>\n

Miyagawa:<\/em><\/span> It could be considered enthusiasm and a unique perspective. He wasn\u2019t someone who would just reassemble the story in the anime. I hadn\u2019t realized it, but he had the stance of talking about outer space all the way into the morning. He didn\u2019t start from the generalization of making Yamato<\/em> for Yamato<\/em> fans, it was about \u201cthe wonders of the universe\u201d and \u201cthe wonder of life\u201d and \u201cdiscovering miracles\u201d and how \u201cgood and evil are twins.\u201d He\u2019s a person who has something like a space philosophy, so it was fun to talk.<\/p>\n

Most musicians and artists talk about big things. (Laughs) A bureaucrat talks about ten years ahead, a politician talks about 100 years ahead, but I think it takes an artist to talk about 1,000 years ahead. Do you know what I mean? Starting with that kind of flow, we\u2019ve now arrived at Yamato 2202<\/em>. <\/p>\n

To be honest, when 2202<\/em> came up there was no such ritual of me deciding to decline. (Laughs) However, undertaking it was no heaven. I was going to see both heaven and hell. That\u2019s what Yamato<\/em> is to me. I compare it to supporting a family and raising a child. What could you learn about yourself if it was just fun, or just heaven? Yamato<\/em> isn\u2019t only about that, is it?<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Did you taste heaven and hell when it came to 2199<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Miyagawa:<\/em><\/span> In 2199<\/em>, it was like I ate all the sweet parts at first, and then there were parts where I ate all the fatty bits. It was kind of like, \u201cI\u2019ll get you later!\u201d (Laughs)<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Have there been any changes in going from Mr. Izubuchi to Mr. Habara directing Yamato 2202<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Miyagawa:<\/em><\/span> It\u2019s completely different. Mr. Habara isn\u2019t the type to enter it philosophically. I haven\u2019t had a chance to talk about this yet, but he seems to be a very good judge. Which one should we pick, this or this? And so on. My impression is that he\u2019s very a good at choosing what\u2019s closer to the goal. <\/p>\n

Since Mr. Izubuchi came into it philosophically, he struggled to come to terms with things he had said earlier, and I think there were places where he fell into his own traps. I think it\u2019s bold for an artist, but Mr. Habara never gets caught in traps. He makes his way by choosing wisely. So there is a great sense of security. When I see the finished work, it\u2019s wonderful, isn\u2019t it? The pacing is very smart and dignified, and there\u2019s no waste. I got the impression when I saw the work a few days ago \u201cThis is so well made.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cStruggling\u201d and \u201cagony\u201d is the essence of Yamato<\/em>!<\/h3>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> At the time of Yamato 2199<\/em>, the story was that there was no score left behind, so you had to write the sheet music by ear. How was it this time?<\/p>\n

Miyagawa:<\/em><\/span> It was the same this time. But I knew there was no musical score. My father had a library, but there weren\u2019t really any Yamato<\/em> scores in it. I think the multi-recording sound sources were still around, but I decided to record it all over again.<\/p>\n

After all, the amount of visual information would change radically in both production and design, but the first thing is the texture. In old anime, there\u2019s a place where it feels like a flip-book and that was the flavor, but there is more CG now, and the density of the music no longer matches the density of these times. Therefore, I understood the significance of re-recording, and in order to record it again, you need sheet music.<\/p>\n

At the time of 2199<\/em>, Mr. Izubuchi seemed sort of interested. He asked me, \u201cDoes this mean you\u2019re making ear-copies?\u201d And I said, \u201cWell, those things happen sometimes.\u201d (Laughs) He felt like it would be a big topic, and I thought, \u201cAre you serious?\u201d But on my side, I was very excited. I would get to write the sheet music for that piece! What\u2019s the structure of that song? Writing the score is meant to clarify it, not just try to understand it again. So when you try it, it\u2019s fun! <\/p>\n

A composer who graduates from music college can generally make an ear-copy, so it felt like I was taking classes again, and it was fun. I had lessons like, \u201cFather made this one-minute piece into two minutes!\u201d (Laughs) Also, it\u2019s good to have those skills. It\u2019s cheap, but so good! And then when you try to do it, you know you can say, \u201cI wrote this song in 30 minutes!\u201d<\/p>\n

I made a lot of discoveries while I was doing it, and though some of them were just elements, my dream would expand so much by just a semitone modulation here or there! I didn\u2019t even notice during a normal listening, and I was happy to gain a better understanding of it by making a copy. Some of it is really genius-like. I think God resides in a few of those pieces. I thought it was great. I wasn\u2019t wrong about Hiroshi Miyagawa, was I?<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Do you have the same feeling with 2202<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Miyagawa:<\/em><\/span> If I was going to copy it by ear, I clearly understood from the beginning that, \u201cRight from the start, I will try to differentiate it musically from the first Yamato<\/em>.\u201d There are a lot of strange string parts. The first Yamato<\/em> mainly used a rock system. There were a lot of scenes where the rhythm section played an active part, and 2202<\/em> has a large number of pieces based around the string section. I talked about that from the first meeting, since there are a lot of places where the strings replace the previous rhythm section. My father wasn\u2019t trying to make the exact same thing over again, so I thought it was necessary to make changes in order to maintain my motivation. <\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Does it feel like classical?<\/p>\n

Miyagawa:<\/em><\/span> It is, generally speaking. Besides, there\u2019s the pipe organ music in there.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> A pipe organ was used for the impressive White Comet, and there\u2019s a widely-known story that you played that pipe organ when you were a high school student. This time it was re-recorded in a form close to the original. Was there something in particular that synced up?<\/p>\n

Miyagawa:<\/em><\/span> That also started as an ear-copy. I remembered that when I played it my impression was that the sheet music was definitely like this, and I listened to my high school performance many times to prepare perfect sheet music that I handed to the organist, Ms. Hiroko Yoneyama. I had the option of playing it myself, but I thought that would be a joke, so I stopped it. (Laughs) <\/p>\n

She plays the pipe organ in the recording, and I decided the tone and how to play it. \u201cGradually slow it down there.\u201d I found out that she had studied it very closely. When I asked her, she said, \u201cI had a CD.\u201d And I said, \u201cYou studied the version I played as a high school student?\u201d (Laughs) I thought that would have been ridiculous. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, I was standing next to her and leading here like, \u201cIt\u2019s different here, play it a little more slowly, and add one beat to play it stronger here.\u201d At that moment, I remembered, \u201cThat was me, too!\u201d Hiroshi Miyagawa was conducting right beside me, and I was inspired by how he explained the music. I\u2019d almost forgotten about that. As for me, my head was full of trying to play it without a mistake, and even if he was talking about musical things, I was like, \u201cThat\u2019s not the problem, dad!\u201d (Laughs) So I forgot all about it. But Hiroshi Miyagawa was certainly conducting.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s the passing of various batons, from musician to musician, from musicians to performers, from parents to children, and I thought it was good to remember the various meanings of that. And so, when it comes to my own children, I\u2019ve spent every day repenting that. Not just showing them my back, but occasionally passing on what needs to be passed on.<\/p>\n

I even did it where my own father was concerned. He\u2019d come home once in a while and stir things up before disappearing off to the Ginza again, and I thought he was a good, domestic father but he was no such thing. (Laughs) When I thought about that, I conveyed specific things, and from that day I started thinking about how to pass that raw baton, so it was an unexpected phenomenon.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> I think there are also some pieces in 2202<\/em> that you composed yourself. What did you think about in order to make the original songs and your songs live together?<\/p>\n

Miyagawa:<\/em><\/span> To answer that question correctly, I have to say I didn\u2019t think about it, because in the beginning I didn\u2019t have much confidence. I had musical director Tomohiro Yoshida listen to it, to which he said \u201cThis is good, isn\u2019t it?\u201d and such, after a lot of hemming and hawing. When I finally sorted them all out at the recording, I felt there was no mismatch at all! My style is different, and I\u2019d dared to write music that my father wouldn\u2019t write.<\/p>\n

After all, it was good to sow some seeds with 2199<\/em>. Mr. Izubuchi had prepared some of my work. For the anthem of the Garmillas Empire, he asked me to make up a school song from a military academy. He asked if I could make a melody that would embrace the aspirations of the young. That plan seemed extremely logical to me. Since I was prepared to say that I had no song like that, this was easy to do. And when I tried to finish it, I was glad that I wasn\u2019t the only one feeling uncomfortable, but apparently my guest did, too. Like father, like son, I guess.<\/p>\n

Whether a song is similar or not, I think they are all influenced by something. Whether you\u2019re longing for \u201ca fashionable harmony\u201d or \u201ca cool rhythm\u201d or \u201ca curvaceous melody like a great dragon,\u201d everyone has something similar. I don\u2019t know whether it comes from experience or DNA, but that\u2019s what\u2019s in the tunes of Yamato<\/em>.<\/p>\n

After that, I suppose I have a strong desire to decidedly express the era. That can be true even if you don\u2019t use a computer. Like Hiroshi Miyagawa, I\u2019m not using it because I can\u2019t, it\u2019s because I think the music needs to be recorded in one shot. And so the Miyagawa parts may sound a little different\u2026 However, it feels like Miyagawa music, and joins together naturally.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> What do you feel when confronting a piece of Hiroshi Miyagawa music?<\/p>\n

Miyagawa:<\/em><\/span> I don\u2019t think there was any problem my father couldn\u2019t overcome, but when someone says, \u201cWrite something that isn\u2019t similar,\u201d the writer is in big trouble. There\u2019s a lot of good battle scene music, but since the next enemy is different you need to write different music. He built up over 900 pieces. That\u2019s why I call it looking into hell, since he wrote battle scenes over and over again.<\/p>\n

I do think that the previous stuff was fine, though. (Laughs) When doing it, even when out of ammo, I wonder if my father would fight on resolutely and I think he really didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

But I noticed that Yamato<\/em> is itself the act of struggling. Yamato<\/em> is a struggle. Why is it the Battleship Yamato<\/em> from World War II? Why not the Battleship Nagato<\/em>? Anyway, it would be no good if it wasn\u2019t Yamato<\/em>. It wouldn\u2019t be Yamato<\/em> if you didn\u2019t ask yourself that question. I don\u2019t know what kind of feeling viewers have when watching Yamato<\/em>, but I wonder if they think of struggling together. <\/p>\n

I hated the ending of Farewell to Yamato<\/em>. At that time, we were carefully studying the war in the school I attended. For summer vacation I was writing my impressions of Listen to the Voices from the Sea<\/em><\/a>, and when I saw Farewell<\/em> even a high school student could understand that \u201cThis is the same as the Kamikaze unit.\u201d Still, I thought \u201cThis is cool!\u201d \u201cI\u2019d do this scene!\u201d and then I began to question \u201cWho am I?\u201d<\/p>\n

Weapons are cool. A battleship is a weapon, so that\u2019s cool. The tools of killing are cool\u2026so what does that make me? What is a human? That\u2019s the story, isn\u2019t it? So I struggled with that and thought about it, and it\u2019s in the true character of Yamato<\/em> not to give the answer to that debate. I\u2019ve wondered why it was so fascinating to me as a high school student. I guess I\u2019ll be associated with the disease now. Therefore, when I\u2019m working on Yamato<\/em> it is heaven and hell, the relationship between parent and child. I think it will become a true legend.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Are you also struggling now?<\/p>\n

Miyagawa:<\/em><\/span> Last time, I wrote music that wasn\u2019t requested. I came up with melodies and had the staff listen to it, and the story became that we should record it for use separately. We took a lot of time to do it. It took up a lot of studio time. We didn\u2019t know where the music would be used, but I recorded it so there would be something there. I take on the struggle because it\u2019s Yamato<\/em>. It feels like shaking a baton hard.<\/p>\n

When I struggled with the composition it was, \u201cIs this cool? Is it something new? Does it feel like Yamato<\/em>?\u201d It was fun to see which pieces were used. For me, Yamato<\/em> starts from such a place.<\/p>\n

When I was on my own, my father told me to write one piece of music for him for a battle scene, and I thought, \u201cI hope Yoshinobu Nishizaki likes it.\u201d I wanted to return to feeling that starting point again. Sorry about the budget, though. (Laughs) It\u2019s my argument that it isn\u2019t Yamato<\/em> if I don\u2019t do it. Otherwise, if I only made what could sell, all the music would be the same.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The sound supervisor is essential for the Yamato<\/em> sound<\/h3>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> What do you need to compose a piece of music?<\/p>\n

Miyagawa:<\/em><\/span> In my case, it\u2019s a title. I always want to express it in two to four kanji characters. \u201cPassion\u201d or \u201cEmotion\u201d for example. If it\u2019s a fight, it could be \u201cBack and forth\u201d or \u201cVictory streak.\u201d When I write for such a title, the dream expands. After a storyboard is completed, they say they want music from this point to that point, and that\u2019s when I get into it. If I can come up with a very specific title, that\u2019s about enough to stimulate me into action.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> In that sense, the music for the scene when Yamato<\/em> and Andromeda<\/em> pass each other in Episode 5 was breathtaking. It\u2019s a place where the picture and the music combine. Is that technique unique to Yamato<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Miyagawa:<\/em><\/span> That was cool, wasn\u2019t it? But in terms of matching, the sound director Tomohiro Yoshida thinks about everything. From the time it gets recorded, he\u2019s thinking \u201cThere isn\u2019t any music in that scene,\u201d or \u201cLet\u2019s put this on here,\u201d and it seems he\u2019s already putting the puzzle together for Chapter 7. \u201cI\u2019ll use this a lot later.\u201d \u201cThis fits well there.\u201d Or \u201cThis piece is perfect for that spot, I\u2019ll move the one I thought I\u2019d use to somewhere else.\u201d I hear such conversations a lot, so I think about that.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Do you sometimes perform it to the picture if you have a movie?<\/p>\n

Miyagawa:<\/em><\/span> Of course, there is that, too. I think it\u2019s a good mixture. First of all, the image is made up freely by the writer, then it fits tightly into place. But if the music doesn\u2019t quite fit, a scene can change like a puzzle in order to have a special feeling. But in so-called film scoring, it gets recorded according to a measure [of time]. <\/p>\n

I think it\u2019s healthy to do it both ways. If it\u2019s done only as film scoring, the purpose is for it to fit the picture, and there are sometimes cases where the original energy of the music doesn\u2019t go in the direction I want it to. Isn\u2019t that a little dangerous? Leonard Bernstein. (A musician who was a mainstay of the classical music world in the latter 20th century.) There are documents left behind showing that he was angered for some reason and swore not to do movies.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Because there are both the craftsman and the artist sides?<\/p>\n

Miyagawa:<\/em><\/span> Yes. Both sides are the true character of the writer. They are obviously both a craftsman and an artist.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Have there been any moments where a scene used music in a particularly interesting way?<\/p>\n

Miyagawa:<\/em><\/span> I think the most interesting image-matching was the three-way fight between Gatlantis, the Garmillas Empire, and Yamato<\/em> [in Ark of the Stars<\/em>]. That was all film scoring. Garmillas from here! Gatlantis from here! Then that part goes to The White Comet. It was fascinating to make it. When it connects well, that\u2019s when I got a chance to show what I could do as both a craftsman and an artist. It was a real pleasure. The musicians played it hard for the recording, because it is fun.<\/p>\n

Then Mr. Yoshida loosened the reins a little. Since I wrote a piece to match the scene, it was strange when it didn\u2019t perfectly fit every scene, so he said, \u201cjust play it with ease.\u201d Since I did it with my imagination in full bloom, suddenly it didn\u2019t fit. Then they adjusted the picture a little and put in sound effects at certain moments and shortcuts at other moments, and it connected beautifully. In the performance, it maintains consistency, with the technique never racing away. <\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Hearing that, and that the musical director is continuing, is related to the sense of security.<\/p>\n

Miyagawa:<\/em><\/span> Without Mr. Yoshida, the drama of Yamato<\/em> could not be recorded.<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> Final question. You\u2019ve told a lot of stories so far, but who is your favorite character?<\/p>\n

Miyagawa:<\/em><\/span> Who is it? (This was his most troubled moment of the day) That\u2019s hard to say\u2026it\u2019s my personal hobby. All the women are pretty. There\u2019s no help for that. And those uniforms. \u201cWhoah, whoah, whoah!\u201d I feel like, how can I restrain myself? If that\u2019s what I think, I think it\u2019s very cruel to the men of the Yamato<\/em> crew. Therefore, you can\u2019t look at a female crewmember from the front. What could you do if such a pretty person was in front of you every day? I think too much about that. (Laughs)<\/p>\n

Interviewer:<\/em><\/span> I completely agree.<\/p>\n

Miyagawa:<\/em><\/span> Of course, Yuria Misaki is a good one. I really like the beautiful Kaoru Niimi, who wears the glasses. She makes me antsy. The feeling of, \u201cLift up your hair and show yourself.\u201d After that, Makoto Harada is very cute! And Yuki Mori, of course. That\u2019s a formidable lineup.<\/p>\n

But if I had to choose just one, I\u2019d say it\u2019s Analyzer. (Laughs) I\u2019ve liked Analyzer since junior high. Since I really liked such robots, I thought that since Analyzer was there three years before Star Wars<\/em>, I felt the joy of slaying a demon. (Laughs)<\/p>\n

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