Footage of 'Romeo x Juliet' recordings
 

Okay, this is not really VGM, but this is quite close since the soundtrack of 'Romeo x Juliet' (a new TV series currently aired in Japan) was composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto. Maybe some of you had the opportunity to watch the first episode--the music is pretty good!

As you may already know, the soundtrack of 'Romeo x Juliet' is orchestrated! As far as I know, Sakimoto+orchestra=awesome (Staff Roll from Vagrant Story? :tpg: ). It's orchestrated by Basiscape member Noriyuki Kamikura, but has a real Sakimoto feel. Here is a footage from the orchestra recordings in Australia:

http://www.romejuli.jp/g_move480_1.html

Don't you think the music is gorgeous? :erm: (Well, I do)

Soundtrack please. :deadhorse:

Ah, I was hoping for something like this. Thanks for the link!

The music is really sweeping, terrific stuff. It's got Sakimoto written all over it, but also a hint of some of my favorite film scores (oddly, the one that comes to mind is "Rescuers Down Under"). I'll have to do a rip of the audio from that video and add it to my "Upcoming Sakimoto Works" file.

Beautiful, and I'll get to hear RomeoXJuliet live in the next Eminence concert as well.

Its gonna be beautiful.

http://www.romejuli.jp/g_move320_2.html

Here's another snippet of music; the first two minutes of this trailer are all Sakimoto before it bursts into seizure-inducing J-Pop.

Oh my god, slight off topic, but that's the Japanese version of You Raise Me Up! Its composed by the celtic group Secret Garden, Josh Groban made the song famous by singing it, and now its the theme song for this anime!

I LOVE Secret Garden and their works!

But the arrangement is crap.. Bah. Singer isn't bad though. All this song needs a piano and a orchestra, and that is it.

So this isn't J pop Orion. :P

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Raise_Me_Up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na4sM-yCZuA

Hitoshi Sakimoto is one of the arrangers of that version :)

Singer is Lena Park, a Korean.

And how is it "seizure-inducing"......?

Maybe crap was a strong word, but I'm sick of that song being arranged into a rock/pop song over and over again. I want the good old fashioned acoustic arrangement. The original from the secret garden album was beautiful and I'm tired of it getting the mainstream arrangment.

Still I probably like to request the audio file, and if there's a karaoke file, hell, I want it. For once I want a karaoke version that is actually in a female key.

And I just noticed the video link to the orchestra footage, the end part was You Raise me up, I cant believe I fail to noticed that. The orchestral arrangment is amazing, I bet Secret Garden will love this version.

Bah I'm ignorant, the music is recorded by none other than Eminence.

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/pres...romeo-x-juliet

Ah, how far they have gone...

Because it induced a seizure!

Seriously, I hate this arrangement style with a passion--it's like nails on a chalkboard to me. It may not technically be "J-pop" per se, but I tend to use that as a blanket term for Oriental pop arrangements that I don't like.

If anyone makes an mp3 of the recording, please share :)!

I think this proves once again that Sakimoto and an orchestra are a win-win situation, period. I love the music here. This sounds a bit like John Williams, and that certainly is a good thing!

Recording the soundtrack for R x J was great fun (and alot of work!) for all of Eminence.

Regarding 'you raise me up', i think the orchestral version is better hehe... there is also another version we recorded with solo violin + piano, but i dont know whether it made the final cut yet.

If you want to know more, heres a 5 page article in Hyper magazine (plz buy their mag if you're in Australia!), which talks about the collaboration between Sakimoto and Eminence, and R x J in general:
http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/2404/rxj01pu6.jpg
http://img118.imageshack.us/img118/5257/rxj02kz5.jpg
http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/5999/rxj03px1.jpg

I wish i could post some footage from the recordings, but im busy with our concert 'A Night in Fantasia 2007: Symphonic Games Edition' at the moment. Plus, approval from Gonzo is needed.

In the end, there are some really powerful and emotional songs, which fit perfectly with the anime. Please buy the soundtrack when it is released ^^.

Demetri

As long as BOTH versions are on the soundtrack CD, I'm ok with it. I'm sick of pop arrangments of the song with drums and electric guitars... The original version from the Secret Garden album is so much better than the 100 knock offs.

Goddamit I need to find Hyper magazine. Whats the cover?

So a soundtrack release is happening?

The calibur of this initial recording for Romeo and Juliet was what I was expecting in place of Final Fantasy XII's score.
That is, the piece is beyond amazing. The instrumentation of this piece has depth and melodic and harmonic confidence accompanies at various intersections of development. Wow.

Simply put, after hearing that first recording, I am quite convinced that the soundtrack for 'Romeo and Juliet' will be nothing short of a masterpiece. Congrats to Eminence for producing such a fine recording.
Way to go Sakimoto. I freaking love you.

It's an anime, so naturally there'll be a soundtrack album. Unless GONZO decides to package it as a DVD bonus like they did with Kaleido Star, but I don't think that's likely.

I'll be purchasing this off CDJapan when it's released.

The stuff I've heard in the first episode is damn good. Can't wait for a soundtrack.

The Piano + Solo Violin version already appeared in the second episode. Very beautiful indeed.

I'm thinking of translating that article to my native language, to 'spread the good words' of Sakimoto. ^_^

If it appears in the episode, its defintly will be on the OST.

When is it out?! :)

I seem to be in a Sakimoto-a-thon as all I've been listening to are Vagrant Story and FFXII. I can't wait to buy Romeo X Juliet! Hopefully it's released soon!

Maybe some of you watched the three first episodes -- I did, and I think the music is wonderful. As expected, orchestrated Sakimoto sounds brilliant. I really want a soundtrack!

I guess this means we will be seeing a lot more of Sakimoto in the anime industry. I hope that he does start to use more orchestral sound in his recent VG commisions.

I'm not sure if there is anyone who is curious about the score and doesn't mind watching it in Japanese even without subs, but you can watch the first 3 episodes for free (at the moment, it has only the first ep). Just select the bandwidth on the site below.
http://anime.goo.ne.jp/special/gonzo...vie/index.html

http://anime.goo.ne.jp/special/gonzo...move480_1.html

The music heard from this video was played at Eminence's Night in Fantasia 2007 concert, head to the topic and read my report on it! The theme is called Hisyou.

The music in that video was very inspiring. Any word yet on where more of this music is available?

Well, when I first learned of the anime, I was hoping for arrangement/ renditions of the classics 'Romeo and Juliet' ballet themes, but I still like the soundtracks as it is so far.

Episode 7 features the English version of You Raise me up, and Lena defintly knows her English, so shes ok in my book.

YouTube Video

Still hate the arrangement though, I WANT SAKIMOTO STYLE ORCHESTRAL ARRANGEMENT WITH VOCALS!!

*Prays to be such version in the soundtrack.*

Or at least some sort of acoustic arrangment, just have Lena and a acoustic piano, that would be totally ok in my book.

As a treat, here's the VERY FIRST performance of You Raise me Up, with Secret Garden who created the song, and Brian Kennedy as vocals, which so far no other singer has performed as well as he did. (Josh Groban sucks compared to him, his vocal techniques are not up to snuff capared to Brian's.)

YouTube Video

This sounds EXACTLY like the one on the Secret Garden album. God I wish I bought it with me...