Swing Girls (and a boy)

[po0t]

bmwracer wrote:

Guess that means she wears contacts?

not sure if wearing contacts..

[dabigkahuna]

Well, the first video link tells us they arrived in NY on Oct 4, 2004. I'm still pretty sure the First and Last Concert was December (27-28th?).

An odd thing in the 2nd video is here it seems Juri is posing like the Statue of Liberty - but with the wrong arm up!

[bmwracer]

po0t wrote:

not sure if wearing contacts..

I'd like to find out first hand.

[pete08757]

I wonder when the SG were in NYC if they took time to ride ride A train since that tune was used so often in the movie. I would guess that there is a good chance they don't know how that song's title came to be. Doesn't matter I guess. I am looking into the SG time line of events out of general curiosity. I would be interested in knowing when they started the music lessons and the filming. I tried to look at the Utube "Making" clip but I didn't notice any dates there and, as already mentioned, if the dates were spoken I would never know. I did find a Utube link to a performance they did in Nango on 8/30/04: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYU5OVSRpOs

and I found this one too where Ueno Juri does her brandy sniffing routine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LwCEkhcrz1o

BTW if these links were already posted and you have seen them I apologize, 90 something pages are a lot to go through.

I got the last 2 videos downloaded, thanks.

[pete08757]

I viewed the LA and Tokyo videos and for some reason the sound is garbled, if yours is OK then I guess something went in the transfer process. I use Windows media Player but I don't think that would be the cause. Oh well. The Tokyo video looks like it's a good one. Thanks again for seeding these.

[dabigkahuna]

pete08757 wrote:

I am looking into the SG time line of events out of general curiosity. I would be interested in knowing when they started the music lessons and the filming. I tried to look at the Utube "Making" clip but I didn't notice any dates there and, as already mentioned, if the dates were spoken I would never know.

I haven't got time to go back and find it, but I posted a lot of this stuff here already - mostly recently would be in December since that is when I got the translation of the first "Making of" vid.

As I recall, they started learning the instruments 3 months before filming (not all of them - some had not been selected yet - I think the drummer and boy were last).

The last scene done (the winter scene playing on the roof) occurred 10 months after the first lessons. That scene was in February of 2004. The scene done before that (the concert) was made in December of 2003. Guess they had to wait for snow!

So, basic math, they must have started about April, filming starting in July.

I've been through so much information that sometimes I just can't keep track without looking back at what I've written!

[bmwracer]

pete08757 wrote:

I viewed the LA and Tokyo videos and for some reason the sound is garbled, if yours is OK then I guess something went in the transfer process. I use Windows media Player but I don't think that would be the cause. Oh well. The Tokyo video looks like it's a good one. Thanks again for seeding these.

Garbled?

[pete08757]

As per the videos, yes the sound is distorted on both of them, sounds like it's cutting in and out real fast. I have no clue why that would happen. If the sound on the 2 files you seeded is ok then I guess there isn't much that can be done. I do appreciate you going thru all the trouble. The sound on the NY video was fine.

I apologize for not looking back into this forum, I will do that over the next few days. I had guessed that they started in the spring of '03 (like you said) and filmed the summer shots first that July. I was just wondering how long they had been playing before recording the sound track for the final concert in the movie. I hear a lot of "it's impossible" for them to be as good as they were in 5 months but if it was 10 months or more (assuming they practiced between the summer and winter shoots) it is very well possible. So it looks like they were together for close to a year and a half before their "final" concert in December of '04. In any event they accomplished quite a lot and did quite well in my view. I played the drums in high school and can tell you after 10 months of playing I would not been able to do what Toyoshima Yukari did.

[dabigkahuna]

pete08757 wrote:

I had guessed that they started in the spring of '03 (like you said) and filmed the summer shots first that July. I was just wondering how long they had been playing before recording the sound track for the final concert in the movie. I hear a lot of "it's impossible" for them to be as good as they were in 5 months but if it was 10 months or more (assuming they practiced between the summer and winter shoots) it is very well possible. So it looks like they were together for close to a year and a half before their "final" concert in December of '04. In any event they accomplished quite a lot and did quite well in my view. I played the drums in high school and can tell you after 10 months of playing I would not been able to do what Toyoshima Yukari did.

We don't have every detail - like how much they practiced each day. But you can be sure it was measured at least in hours. I'd say a minimum of several hours in the morning and arguably more after a break in the afternoon.

The concert in December 2004 was the FIRST AND LAST CONCERT (public performance). The movie concert was done in December 2003 - a full year earlier and after about 8 months after they started learning.

So far I have nothing that tells us if they practiced much before the winter shoot - that was just one song that they probably learned during the earlier shooting and just needed a little work. Someplace in all the videos I've seen, you can hear that performance live - it is ROUGH. Remember that they dubbed themselves. That is what you are hearing in the movie (the recording made in studio conditions and lots of opportunity to do things over). All the live versions, including the public concerts, are far rougher.

Until I, hopefully, learn more from translation of the other "making of" vids, I can only make some guesses (I'm a band director). I figure they spent a few days rehearsing the music before the winter shot for the movie, but, since they would be dubbed, it didn't have to be great.

A bigger question to me is what they did between the last filming and their concerts in the winter (which seem to have started October 6, 2004). My guess would be that they didn't play together at all for most of that time. A lot depends on when they decided it would be good to do the concerts. I had heard they did them to prove they could really play.

So, it is quite possible that it was not planned in advance and only came about in response to people talking about a successful movie (at least in Japan - apparently didn't do much here).

Also consider when these concerts happened - all I know of happened AFTER the movie was released rather than before in an effort to create interest in the movie. And in December (for the best known one)???? Don't know how things work in Japan, but pretty much any movie in the U.S. that was released in September would be out of the theaters by then!

Odd time for a promotion!

If I had to guess, I would say it wasn't planned in advance. So, with the first one maybe October 6th, I think they had 25 days to get ready after the movie release. figure some days before they decided to make that commitment, but it would still leave enough time, when that is your only focus, to do as well as they did on their tour.

As for how fast they learned, consider they were not focused on long term teaching. They had to learn, originally 7 songs and everything could be based on just doing those things which pertained to those songs.

I often hear bands at a festival or contest that are outstanding. And then I hear them on their regular concerts and they aren't good at all! They simply spend most of their year teaching a few pieces for festival, much of it by rote.

Then there is the advantage of have expert teachers there, probably all the time. Lots of individual attention. Then the motivation that they HAD to get it right. Being older (I think the youngest was 14 or 15 and the oldest was maybe 22?), they would learn faster than some kid is 4th-6th grade when most people learn band instrument.

Not to mention the Japanese standard for excellence.

Which brings me to two videos. The first is terrible quality, but well worth watching. The second is stunning. If you just listened to it without seeing the people in it or reading about who they are, you would never believe who it is you are listening to:

http://www.msbanddirector.com/video/japanese-prek-marching-band

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAfy5e6uXs8

Enjoy!

[bmwracer]

pete08757 wrote:

As per the videos, yes the sound is distorted on both of them, sounds like it's cutting in and out real fast. I have no clue why that would happen. If the sound on the 2 files you seeded is ok then I guess there isn't much that can be done. I do appreciate you going thru all the trouble. The sound on the NY video was fine.

I checked the videos and they're OK... No distortion at all.

If you want to try downloading it again, I can re-seed.

[dabigkahuna]

I just looked back - all the stuff I posted AFTER getting a translation for the first "making of" video starts from December 26, 2012 (on my computer, that is page 91 of this thread).

Lots of discussion before that, but that marks the point where I had a lot of new information.

[dabigkahuna]

BTW, about the ability to learn that well in such a short time.

I have a 5th grade trumpet who moved in after school started so she didn't start band until October. So about 4 months so far.

She can already play high D above the staff! Not easily, but she can do it. And we never have band more than 3 days a week. She does take lessons from me, but that is still amazing.

I mention this because one of the big problems to get these girls to do so well would have been the issue of range on brass - muscles have to be developed over time.

As it happens, the first trumpet solo's high note is one note lower than high D! And if you watch the various concerts, she often misses it!

[po0t]

dabigkahuna wrote:

Which brings me to two videos. The first is terrible quality, but well worth watching. The second is stunning. If you just listened to it without seeing the people in it or reading about who they are, you would never believe who it is you are listening to: http://www.msbanddirector.com/video/japanese-prek-marching-band https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAfy5e6uXs8 Enjoy!

.....



unreal. hours hours hours every day.

[bmwracer]

dabigkahuna wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAfy5e6uXs8

Looks like the music hall from Nodame.

[pete08757]

Thank you for taking the time to respond in such detail. I do appreciate it and it means more coming from someone who know what he is talking about music wise. I will go back and reread your earlier posts.

I started my Japanese lessons yesterday and when I feel a bit more comfortable with my teacher I will ask her to translate a few bits here and there. Who knows, maybe in time I will be able to do it myself (what... maybe in 10 years?)

I was wondering, do you think it is possible that they recorded every thing at one given time then used those tracks for the movie? A time when they were at their best level.

Those video clips were interesting. The Japanese do take their music seriously, that's for sure. That little kid playing the mini-sax is amazing.

bmwracer - Every .avi video that I downloaded I converted to .wmv in order to make a DVD from it. Let me try to convert the LA video and see how it sounds after. If it is still bad I will ask you to reseed. Thank you.

[bmwracer]

pete08757 wrote:

bmwracer - Every .avi video that I downloaded I converted to .wmv in order to make a DVD from it. Let me try to convert the LA video and see how it sounds after. If it is still bad I will ask you to reseed. Thank you.

How is the .avi before you convert it?

Odd that you have to convert it to .wmv for a DVD, since DVDs are in .mpg format...

[dabigkahuna]

Hey, I'm a big fan and like getting the word out about what these kids accomplished - I often see posts to youtube saying it is fake.

Hard to say how they recorded. They could have done different recordings at different times. In fact, that would make sense. After all, we have them playing very badly in places and then later quite well. If I had to guess, I'd say they recorded the bad performances when they, in fact, were bad players! Why "fake" being bad when you can just record it when you are!

Anything they wanted to be the best probably was recorded in limited time window.

I'll use the video of the Japanese band next week in my class. I'll play various top recordings from groups like the Marine Band, colleges, etc. Then this one - without the video showing though. Let them think it is another professional or college group and then show them the actual video!

My purpose in not to tell them they (a middle school) should play like that. The things bands do to reach such levels are typically NOT things I want to do. Don't know about this band in particular, but they sometimes restrict who can even join their bands to those who pass an extensive aptitude test. I have no intention of NOT teaching kids just because they aren't particularly talented! They sometimes require them to take private lessons. Again, some people just can't afford that.

What I want to see is the focus the kids show and how ever little things - like playing the triangle - are approached very seriously.

To me, attitude is everything.

[po0t]

dabigkahuna wrote:

To me, attitude is everything.

important life lesson right there

[dabigkahuna]

po0t wrote:

important life lesson right there

I'm always telling my students that I don't care how well they play. I care about how they act and the effort they make. Playing takes care of itself if those things are right.

[po0t]

dabigkahuna wrote:

I'm always telling my students that I don't care how well they play. I care about how they act and the effort they make. Playing takes care of itself if those things are right.

i also think that sometimes attitude can make up for sloppy playing : P maybe applies more to rock

this is kind of in line with Shinichi Suzuki's thinking..

Quote:

"character first, ability second" "Teaching music is not my main purpose. I want to make good citizens, noble human beings. If a child hears fine music from the day of his birth, and learns to play it himself, he develops sensitivity, discipline and endurance. He gets beautiful heart."