First of all lemme introduce this pair of talented instrumental composers. S.E.N.S stands for Sound Earth Nature Spirit and it was formed in 1988. The group consists of the two composers, man and woman, Akihiko Fukaura and Yukari Katsuki. Akihiko handles composition, synthesizer,
computer programming and mixing. Yukari handles Composition, piano, voice and computer programming. The music is "new age" which is mainly instrumental and electronic, pure non vocal pieces but Yukari "sings" in some pieces, we hear her sweet and soft humming voice in the tunes such as
Fine,
Remembering Me,
Illusion.
They also work on the jdrama soundtracks aside from the main composition. They have worked on a movie soundtrack,
A City of Sadness, a Chinese movie from the late 80's. The movie was awarded at the Venezia international movie festival in 89. I was plannin to rent the movie at the local video rental shop, hopefully they stock the movie. My first experience on the SENS music was from L'oiseau Blue (Aoi Tori/Blue Bird) drama whish was an excellent drama, just simply an unforgettable experience! The touching and magnificent soundtrack made the drama even better overall! I nearly shed tears, very moved. After experiencing L'oiseau Bleu music I had the urge to look for the other music by SENS, I have succeeded at it quite well.
I'll list some jdrama soundtracks SENS has worked on before:
- Asunaro Hakusho
- L'oiseau Bleu
- Kamisama, mou sukoshi dake
- PS. Fine
Not all the pieces are included in the soundtracks,
Love in Song played in L'oiseau Blue, wasn't found in the soundtrack, but rather in
Transparent Music album.
I find SENS music one of the best intrumental music in Japan, the soft tranquil music can ease your mind, the powerful bittersweet music can move you. It's hard to explain music, anyone seen the following dramas mentioned above, the music speaks for themselves.
I just saw a commercial on a chinese tv, SENS' music was played in the background, Remembering Me. I hear the piece also is used in a Kdrama,
Beautiful Days, the humming piece. Not sure though.
Info on the group is rather narrow, google no go. The official site
http://www.sens-company.com/ also in English but very rarely updated, last time July 2004. Better than nothing
Am I a SENS fan? Nope, but so addicted to the music! I'd love to know more about them, ppl have knowledge, pls share, thanks!