To Tab or Not to Tab, that is the question... the JASRAC issue

Been getting requests for tablatures for the transposed songs that I played and posted in this blog and youtube.

I have this question circling my head for some time - Do I tab my transpositions or do I not? Now, I can play the songs from memory, but in time I may forget them. watercolour had encouraged me to write them down, but I don't know. While it's a good idea to write them down so I don't forget, I would need lots of motivation (which is another way of saying that I'm lazy ^_^)

Have asked around for suggestions of notations software that I can use for writing down them songs in scoresheets (Cos Doing it in pen and paper is just too painful for me).

I used to use Magix Notation, but the installation CD is lost. Have experimented with other softwares that tabs the song while I play, but that requires a REALLY quiet environment.

Transposing the chords is not a problem. It's tabbing the songs which requires time and effort. Since it's in classical version, so I'm dealing with scoresheets and the black bean sprouts (the musical notes). Don't intend to tab it in numbers and frets, that will be too much. (and I can't read those). That's when notations softwares come in handy, because some of them automatically tab it for you.

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Now, when I think about it carefully, it's probably NOT a good idea to tab my works because that may bring me trouble - I'm worried that JASRAC would come breathing fire down the back of my neck. JASRAC (Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers) was established in 1939 as a non-profit making organization, and is the largest musical copyright administration society in Japan. Lately they've been cracking down materials in Youtube and arresting people in Japan that uses copyrighted material without permission.

Santos pointed out a case before. Though I must say Santos exaggerated it just a little bit. Firstly, you need to pay the entertainment tax in order to perform in your own pub, because it involves public performance. If that doesn't cover the copyright issue, then an extra application is needed, (namely registering with JASRAC) and it's all for formality's sake. Probably that pub owner didn't do either. But my point is, I don't want to draw attention to myself more than I needed to.

Back on topic, there's this guy at Youtube given a warning by JASRAC, and Youtube admins subsequently removed his video from his account, just because he posted a video of himself playing a JPop song on his piano. Apparently public performance is not permitted and is considered as copyright infringement. On that note - Do my playing of Momusu songs here mean that I have trespassed the copyright law as well? If not, then I don't want to give JASRAC something extra for them to bite on me by tabbing my works.

Sure, I can write down my transpositions, and I should be OK as long as I do not distribute it publicly. Also, I can always justify myself with the reason of "fair use" as my lawful defense, saying that my videos are just for hobby, educational reference and tutorial purpose. Or I can say that my playings are by-ear interpretations and therefore not subjected to copyright law, because it is not taken directly from the scoresheets of the original compositions. But after looking at the fate of major guitar-tabbing websites like GuitarTabs.com in the USA, still fighting a lawsuit with the copyrighters and facing a possible shutdown by their service provider, I grew more worried.

Now, I only wonder... will the activities of us bloggers showing vidcaps, blogging, reviews and sharing audio/videos of Hello! Project materials amongst ourselves, count as copyright infringement?

In conclusion, I don't want them JASRAC dudes cracking down my Youtube account nor asking Blogger to close down this blog. So.... after some long thinking, I'm afraid the answer to the question on topic is -->
Nope, sorry guys, I cannot tab my transposed songs.
:(


...unless you got some ideas that can convince me otherwise...
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Manatsu no Kousen on Classical Guitar

Manatsu no Kousen (Ray of Light in Midsummer) by Morning Musume, played slow and ballady, much like the Hawaiian version in "Hawaiian de Kiku Morning Musume Single Collection" album. I haven't heard the Hawaiian version in full, only snippets here and there. It was performed by Coconuts Musume, Fujimoto Miki and Ishii Rika.

Manatsu no Kousen is listed by Music Station as one of top 111 summer songs of all time in Japan. Every time I hear this song, it certainly puts a smile to my face. An absolute "summer of love" kind of feel.

So here's what I got...


Video link

Lyrics and Romaji | Translation
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Otaku Intermission...

It's tough being an otaku. Seriously. The health problems that comes with it is not a matter to be joked with. Gotta give props to those otaku dudes in Japan for being able to stay fit while committing in a such a unstable lifestyle.

So I took a break from songwriting, crawling and writing for a few days, to make sure I can drive to work safely. My headache is confirmed to be caused by hypertension and high blood pressure. It's inherited from my family, plus the lack of sleep and caffeine. It's not serious yet, but I'm under some medication now.

Don't wanna blab too much here, will talk more on my personal blog later on.

I got some articles drafted out, will be published once I've done with the editing. Basically, it's some news about Aibon, Nono, Biyuuden, and the doujin parody of Momusu. So stay tuned! :)

Been thinking lately, that I've spent too much time blogging about Momusu and the gang. I should start blogging something about Berryz Koubou. This blog is supposed to cover Hello!Project after all...

Thanks, Love and Peace ^_^
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Morning Musume makes history

Taken from the sources listed below, here is a rough translation-summary:

With the No. 1 single achievement of Morning Musume's 31st Single "Aruiteru", Morning Musume has now officially surpassed Pink Lady to have the most No. 1 singles in Japan in the female group category. In addition to that, Morning Musume is also crowned as the female group to have the most singles to rank within the top ten - 31 singles. That's ALL singles ever released by Momusu.

Total No.1 Singles (Female Group) Rank Singles Artiste 1 10 Morning Musume 2 9 Pink Lady 3 6 Onyanko Club

Total top 10 Singles (Female Group) Rank Singles Artiste 1 31 Morning Musume 2 15 Wink 3 15 MAX

Past No. 1 singles:
Daite Hold on Me! - 1998
Love Machine - 1999
Happy Summer Wedding - 2000
I Wish - 2000
The Peace - 2001
Mr Moonlight ~ Ai no Big Band - 2001
Souda! We're Alive - 2002
Koko ni Iru ze - 2002
As For One Day - 2003

This also marks as the first time for 6th generation members - Fujimoto Miki, Kamei Eri, Michishige Sayumi and Tanaka Reina, and 7th generation member - Koharu Kusumi, to achieve the No. 1 single since joining the group. Furthermore, this means every member of Morning Musume, past and present, have achieved No. 1 single at least once.

Yoshizawa Hitomi (current Morning Musume leader) comments that she was happy with the No. 1 single achievement, but is very surprised to learn that Momusu is now the female group with the most No. 1 singles, and she thanks for all the fans' support on behalf of Momusu. She adds that no matter what happens, Momusu will continue to move forward, and give their best with singing. She hopes that when the fans listen to the song (Aruiteru) will also move forward with them.


Amazing, isn't it? ^_^

Sources
http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/rankmusic/38950/
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20061114-00000006-dal-ent
[ADDED 16-12-2006]
http://magazine.music.yahoo.co.jp/rep/20061215_001/

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Why has it got to be Aruiteru?

This post has been in draft mode for a few days. Been busy at work, and pushing up all-nighters. Still a raw write-up but thought I'd push this out soon, before the news gets stale. :)

Firstly, according to ikimasshoi, Morning Musume's 31st Single "Aruiteru" is the Weekly No.1 on Oricon ranking, selling 41,000 copies on the first week. Source here
You don't see this on the Oricon website yet, they're kinda slow on updating the site, I think. And probably the guys at ikimasshoi had an Oricon member's account. The sales figure is correct though. EDIT: Weekly rank Updated

Oricon Weekly Chart

Oricon Daily Chart

From the Oricon chart we see Aruiteru has dropped six places to 7 now. However, it's great to see BoA on the top spot now, really love "Winter Love". A touch of K-Pop feel with a ELT-like sound - absolutely my type of music. ^_^

Ya know, I wished Konno Asami and Ogawa Makoto was still around to experience the Aruiteru wave......

.... okay, back on topic: Why? Why has it got to be Aruiteru reaching the top spot? Why not "Sexy Boy ~ Soyokaze ni Yorisotte"? Why not "Ambitious Yashitenki Ii Jyan"?


To be sure, although I am really excited to see Morning Musume on top of the Oricon charts, up till now I still cannot bring myself to enjoy Aruiteru. It's just not the type of song I play in my car on the way to office, nor playing in the background while I'm whipping up web-application codes. So I sat and thought about it for a long time, looking for an explanation on why a simple song like Aruiteru can fetch the no. 1 spot. (My penchant for analyzing things can find no end, it seems ^_^)

Finally, I had a flashback.
A few years ago, I was introduced to a branch manager of the previously mentioned recording label that I was affiliated with. She came from Taiwan to visit our country, to give some valuable advice for us budding songwriters. We discussed and summed up some answers to that million-dollar question: What makes a hit song (especially in the East Asia)?

The Hook
This is Morning Musume's specialty. Every hit song needs a "hook", it varies from a memorable intro, a catchy chorus, meaningful lyrics, an easily-recognizable melody or even a running bass line. Something that listeners can easily remember and whistle to, even when the song is not playing. Whether you like the song or not, if I ask if you can remember Aruiteru, most of you would probably recall the "A-Ru-I-Te-Ru" part, or the "Na Na Na..." part. If that's true, then the song hook has worked.

The Timing
There is a time when a song strikes a chord with the listener. In Aruiteru's case, as mentioned in ikimasshoi's reference, a lot of youngsters in Japan found a chime with the song and is loving it. Sometimes, you may have the best lyrics and songs but it may not hit, because the time was not right for the majority. I'm sure each of us can name a Momusu song that we love and thought that it should have been a hit, or should have been a A-side song. This "Timing" factor is really subjective, it can be purely luck, but it can be speculated too.

The Audience
Find the target audience and write a song for it. I am thinking that Aruiteru is meant to be easy-listening and appealing to the youth. And for that, you need simple melodies that you can sing along, and meaningful lyrics that they can relate to.

The Frequency
This is probably not related, but I thought I'd mention it anyway. Basically the more songs you write, the more your chances for a eventual hit.

And the evil way...
The Opportunity
A hit song can be "orchestrated". E.g. Create tonnes of promotions and have the radio station play the song to death, and it will eventually grow on the listener. I don't think this is related too.




There are other reasons that I thought about, but not given too much weight:


- The Japanese audience is the main target market. No wonder it doesn't appeal to us from across the ocean.
- It's a memorable occasion, cos' it's the first single with 8 person lineup after Konkon and Mako-chan's graduation. Also the last single with 8 person lineup till next audition intake. It's something people looking forward to see, I think.
- New fanbase. More young girls like Morning Musume, now that Momusu's image makes the girls seem friendlier and approachable.
- The 8th member audition has given Momusu some extra popularity.
- Koharu's solo work and GAM's Fujimoto Miki have brought in some new fans for Momusu.
- Momusu's recent eco-campaign and World Volleyball campaign, has upped their recognition.


Just my two cents... Thanks for reading. ^_^
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Bar Host Swoons Ishikawa Rika

Last week's Hello!Morning show was really entertaining. Yes, the usual zoo documentaries are still around. While it's cool to see the girls in their casual mode, I'm more focussed on the World Pucchi Game corner and Ishikawa Rika. (The last remnant of Haromoni tradition)

In the World Pucchi Game ( ワールド・プッチ・ゲーム ), the girls are to play a nursery game with random guests every week for food.



This time the guest is one Shirosaki Jin. - 城咲仁. A Bar Host in Kabuki-cho. So far he has acted in a couple dramas, and has released a CD.



He starts the show acting like a bar host and has Rika Ishikawa blushing already.


So the game proceeds and ends, but the girls lost most of the rations of the food-prize. Yoshizawa Hitomi then asks Shirosaki to "persuade" Rika, as she is weak for words.



The strategy worked, and had Rika once again blushing (she had to fan herself with her quiz-card to cool down :) ), and so she increased the rations of food-prize. Out of gratitude, Shirosaki offers to feed her. By this time, Rika face is so red that her make-up really couldn't hide it anymore.



Finally, alls well that ends well, the two lovebirds gathered together after the feeding for a memorable two-shot. (While Yossie remarks that Rika's ear was scarlet red in the background.) :D


To me, it's really amazing to see a 21 year-old girl charmed away so easily, with only a few words and gestures. These girls really do not get out much. Kinda dangerous isn't it? I see now how dangerous it is to have boys around the Momusu girls. One wrong move and it's all over.

But then again, that's the always-girlish Ishikawa Rika for you. ^_^


(Didn't have her recent picture.)
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Matsu wa 待つわ - Internet Duet

This is what it means, to say that technology brings the people together.

Song: Matsu wa 待つわ by W(DoubleU)

Performed by:
watercolour (Romania) - Guitar
Paws (Finland) - Vocals

Recorded separately in their respective countries and then edited together by watercolour.


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