Now this is MUSIC!

[BobSch]

Maybe there is hope for the latest generation of kids.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7N6slVrQeY

[sailor55330]

99% certain the music is dubbed. That is from a movie and having played that song 100's of times, I can tell you they aren't playing it.

The rendition isn't bad, but it's not the girl band in the video.

[cabinetman]

Maybe there is hope for the latest generation of kids.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7N6slVrQeY

They were pretty darn good despite some dirty instruments.

.

[Ed62]

99% certain the music is dubbed. That is from a movie and having played that song 100's of times, I can tell you they aren't playing it.

The rendition isn't bad, but it's not the girl band in the video.

I also think they didn't play it. I only listened to a very short part of it, but I think that's Benny Goodman.

Ed

[Ed62]

Just listened to the whole thing. I guess it wasn't Benny, but it's pretty good.

Ed

[leehljp]

Having been to concerts and even restaurant entertainment in Japan, I am not persuaded to believe it was dubbed. It could have been, but to just listen and say it was dubbed is to underestimate the Japanese culture. The writing under the captions gives the description of the event and high school that did it.

Japanese have TV programs that do nothing but show Japanese performing US song and music acts (as well as German and other languages at times) in which it is hard to believe that they could do that. And those are not dubbed. On occasion, LOML and I could tell an accent slip and know that it was not dubbed. Mimicking is an art form there.

I never will forget the first time I heard this type of music and song back in '87 in a hotel in the dining room a fellow sang several very good country and western songs in the genre of Autry. The two guitar players with him were great too. NO Karioke machines were there. It was live. It sounded EXACTLY like him and his music. Then I went to him afterwards and commented in English to him how great it was. His reply shocked me: "Solly, Noo speeek Engrish." I am not kidding.

We also had the privilege of visiting a fellow (we knew his daughter and her family well) and listened to him sing in his home - a song that he imitated or mimicked so well that we could not tell the difference from the American performer. Now I will concede that my hearing is not that great but LOML sings and performs and has a musician's ear. In learning tonal languages, the ability to mimic comes to life. While mimicking is usually relegated to "singing" in music, it also happens with music only and is widely done in Japan.

I went to a Tokyo Symphony Orchestra rendition of Beethoven's ninth Choral performance in the early '90s and listened to what looked like about 100 Japanese singing that Choral part in perfect German. And I would bet that no more than half a dozen could actually speak German. I will say that I don't know German that well or dialects but a musician friend that went with me said that their enunciation was perfect!


One thing that often bothered me about Japanese TV commercials that involved dance, singing and music performances was that they were always "too" perfect. It was somewhat like the transition from 33 rpm analog albums to Digital CD. Japanese are disciplinarians in performances, and that is often their downfall. The Western world loves that "human" sounding performance, and are used to it - the places where the ever so slight differences in timing between players or singers bring "life" to a performance and make it sound "live". Japanese listen to a rendition and "Copy" those differences - and no, they are not dubbing are not dubbing for the most part, they are copying. Much like "Data" of Star Trek TNG who copied and performed the nuances of a musician that he listened to. Japanese are like that.

Again, I am not saying that it was not dubbed, but to say that it is just by listening is to underestimate another culture.

[LCHIEN]

According to the title its a clip from Swing Girls, I presumed a Japanese film. Wikipedia has an article on it, it says that the girl actors played the music. It went on to say that the some of the girls learned to play the instruments for the film, in 5 months, and later went on a tour and released a CD to show that they could play.

The following is from the Wiki article:

Swing Girls (スウィングガールズ Suwingu Gāruzu?) is a 2004 comedy film co-written and directed by the Japanese filmmaker Shinobu Yaguchi about the efforts of a group of high school girls to form a jazz band.
Swing Girls is set in rural Yamagata prefecture, in northern Japan and the characters often use the local Yamagata-ben dialect for comic effect.
The film ranked 8th at the Japanese box office in 2004, and won seven prizes at the 2005 Japanese Academy Awards, including 'Most Popular Film' and 'Newcomer of the Year' awards for Yūta Hiraoka and Juri Ueno.
The cast includes Yūta Hiraoka (Takuo, the leader of the band), Juri Ueno (Tomoko), Shihori Kanjiya (Yoshie), Yuika Motokariya (Sekiguchi) and Yukari Toyashima (Naomi). The actors performed their own music for the film.
This film was not particularly popular outside of Japan, but was released onto DVD in region 4 format after its release in Japan.
.....
Many of the girls really could not play these instruments,[1] and they did play the performances in the film, after training for only 5 months.[2] To prove this was not movie-magic, a tour was organized after the film with a live CD released shortly after.[3]

the entire article may be found at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swing_Girls

[sailor55330]

My reason for saying that it was dubbed is that I played one of the brass instruments in the band for over 10 years. I am familiar with that song to say the least as I played in many jazz/swing bands. I promise you that the musicians trombone section were playing the same piece of music--not a "1st part, 2nd part, 3rd part" etc as the positions they were using were all the same, plus, there were harmonies happening with the trombones, which is correct for the song, but that would mean that the musicians would have been playing different parts, resulting in different slide positions, not the same slide positions by everyone at the same time.

The rendition is nice and not to say that there couldn't have been an all-girl swing band that recorded that version, but it was not being played live in the video.

Sorry to break anyone's hopes.

[leehljp]

My reason for saying that it was dubbed is that I played one of the brass instruments in the band for over 10 years. I am familiar with that song to say the least as I played in many jazz/swing bands. I promise you that the musicians trombone section were playing the same piece of music--not a "1st part, 2nd part, 3rd part" etc as the positions they were using were all the same, plus, there were harmonies happening with the trombones, which is correct for the song, but that would mean that the musicians would have been playing different parts, resulting in different slide positions, not the same slide positions by everyone at the same time.

The rendition is nice and not to say that there couldn't have been an all-girl swing band that recorded that version, but it was not being played live in the video.

Sorry to break anyone's hopes.

You are probably right! You have a goooood eye and ear! That is exactly what LOML does when watching people sing or playing instruments on TV or in a video. She will admit that someone may have recorded a song that they are singing, but is quick to notice if they are "dubbing" or lip syncing that song for that time.

Thanks for taking time to explain. I can't do that, but having watched LOML critique music and then listen to a few others who do the same, I know that it is done.

You and LOML are to music to what some of us are to photos - real or photoshop? Thanks again for the explanation.

[sailor55330]

I hope no one was upset that I let the secret out. I just get tired of everything on the internet as being taken for real, usually by younger generations.

Again, enjoy the music.

In fairness, here is the same group actually performing, so yes, they are musicians that can/did play, just not in the link provided

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVeXM...eature=related

[Tom Slick]

In the first clip's trumpet solo I noticed she was playing fingerings with the 3rd valve only, there are notes played with only the 3rd valve on a trumpet. Also she held the trumpet down low which would cause bad "embouchure" which results in a poor quality sound and her finger position was bad. If she was playing at the caliber portrayed she wouldn't have these bad habits, they are signs of someone new at playing a brass instrument.



I played that song many times when I was in high school band, it brings back memories.

[sailor55330]

[QUOTE=Tom Slick;495705]In the first clip's trumpet solo I noticed she was playing fingerings with the 3rd valve only, there are notes played with only the 3rd valve on a trumpet. Also she held the trumpet down low which would cause bad "embouchure" which results in a poor quality sound and her finger position was bad. If she was playing at the caliber portrayed she wouldn't have these bad habits, they are signs of someone new at playing a brass instrument.



QUOTE]


Exactly my point Tom. Most of the brass embouchure's are lacking plus, dancing and swaying while playing an instrument isn't the easiest. If you look at the link I posted, they are a bit more reserved and concentrating.

[Stytooner]

Well, I noticed that the one horn had a rat on the opening. That rat's tail was not moving at all even though the player was forcing air through.

They may very well have played the piece, but if you know anything about making movies, you know that was not a one time one shot filming. Consider all the cameras and angles. Where are they in the wider shots? Just sayin...

[LCHIEN]

Good point, lee. Being that it is a movie and the final movie is edited, its entirely possible that they WERE playing the music and the recorded music is theirs BUT may not match up to the actual visual footage that was used.
Possibly music they recorded post filming was used to match motions they went through for film sessions. THis might be for several reasons including continuity, better musical performance (e.g. learned all three parts), and better acoustics in a sound room vs. the shooting location.
For that reason its not definitive either way.