Category: music composition

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There is a sad truth we must discuss at the beginning of this article (though it’s a truth we don’t want to acknowledge): life is…short. You think you have all the time in the world and before you know it you’re married with kids, you have a mortgage, and it seems that exclusive shows to watch on streaming services are vast and daunting. You wake up one day and realize there is no possible way you are going to watch everything you want to watch. What becomes even sadder is when you realize one of your favorite animes of all time – Dragon Ball Z – has 291 episodes to watch with roughly half of the show being filler.

You start to wonder if you will ever have time to relive your favorite childhood show. This is where you get some good news. About ten years ago Toei Animation decided to celebrate one of the many anniversaries of the series by doing a recut of the show called Dragon Ball Z Kai. This ‘new’ series would edit out the filler, fix animation errors, and rescore the show making it feel more modern (and it will certainly take up less of your time). The show releases without a hitch at first, but soon there is an issue with the music that can very well get the show in some serious legal trouble if not taken care of.

Why Was the Music Changed for Dragon Ball Z Kai?

The music of Dragon Ball Z was composed by Shunsuke Kikuchi, whose themes are iconic to viewers of the series who watch it in Japanese (if you watched the series in English you most likely got a different score). While the music IS iconic, producers wanted to introduce Dragon Ball Z to a new generation. With the restoration of the animation being done, it was decided to rescore the series as well. Not only would this make sense since the editing required a re-purposed score anyway, they could also modernize the sound of the series.

RELATED: How Much Did it Cost to Own All of Dragon Ball Z on Home Media?

They wanted the music to sound modern, epic, and maybe even a little like a Hollywood action movie. They decided to hire Kenji Yamamoto for the task. Yamamoto was no stranger to the Dragon Ball Z franchise; he was the composer for various Dragon Ball video games including Dragon Ball Z: Budokai, so it was safe to assume that he would be a good choice to make a modern sounding soundtrack for Dragon Ball Z Kai. While opinions on the new score received mixed reviews, with some praising the new music and others longing for the older score, others were pointing out that certain tracks sounded a little familiar…

Accusations of Plagiarism Arise

It should be noted that Kenji Yamamoto has been composing music for Japanese shows for years. He had put decades of his life into the business before he became involved with Dragon Ball. He was also a fan of American music, and tended to sample many American songs and scores for other shows he wrote music for. The reason he was never caught was simple: most of the shows he worked on never came to America, so there was no one to really catch on that some of his music was plagiarized.

Even with the Budokai games, plagiarized music wasn’t as likely to be picked up, as the game (bestsellers though they may have been) did not have the reach for the right people to pick up on what was going on. Dragon Ball Z Kai was a whole different situation, as this show WAS viewed by millions of Americans (some of them on Nickelodeon), and those viewers tended to watch the kind of movies Yamamoto was “borrowing” music from!

Music samples were picked up from hit movies like Avatar and Terminator: Salvation. Popular bands like Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin tunes also made “cameo” appearances in Kai. In an age of YouTube, fans started making comparison videos where the music was compared side by side, and some of the examples were irrefutable. Yamamoto wasn’t simply paying homage: he was stealing other musicians music. As more episodes aired and more examples became apparent, what started out as a fun Easter egg for fans to discover was quickly becoming a legal problem for Toei Animation, and they knew they would have to respond.

What Had to be Done

When it became clear that part of the music was compromised Toei knew that none of it could be trusted. Yamamoto was fired with Toei issuing a public apology. Though it went counter to what they wanted to achieve with the sound of Dragon Ball Z Kai, they ultimately reinstated re-purposed tracks from Shunsuke Kikuchi. While this meant the show sounded like it came from the 80s again, at least for some fans the iconic Dragon Ball Z music was back.

This didn’t end with the anime though. Re-releases of Dragon Ball Z: Budokai that Yamamoto has scored had their score replaced in re-releases and HD remasters. For those who are interested in hearing the plagiarized score, DVDs and BluRay’s of Dragon Ball Z Kai WERE pressed before the problem was noticed, and more than half of the episodes were released in the states with the Yamamoto score. These discs are out of print and getting pricey though, as collectors seek them out. It’s a shame because Yamamoto’s score did exactly what Toei wanted: it brought a Hollywood feel to the franchise. Maybe it was a little TOO Hollywood though…?!

MORE: How Dragon Ball Almost Sunk the Biggest Anime Company in America

There’s no doubt that a good piece of music has always been appreciated in our nation, however, it had a whole different vibe to it, back in the 90s. While the recent music comprises fast-paced remixes and pop of shades in the videos, two decades back, there was nothing like an original composition.

However, there are just a handful of songs which have the best concoction of all good things and one such song is Ek Din Aap from the movie Yes Boss (1997).

This introduction song, which introduces the actors and the romantic plotline of the movie, has a separate fanbase. Let’s be honest, we used to tune into this song during our first-love phrase, didn’t we?

Packed full of emotions and love, this soul-stirring piece takes us to a dreamy land. The duo donned white-hued clothes, against the white backdrop, and gave us some serious fashion goals.

From his transparent white shirt to her stunning white desi attire, we were all lost in the song.

While there are a gazillion props and decoration items in music videos in recent times, this music video used simpler things like coloured frames, arc flashes and the most romantic props of all times – roses.

In the video, a single piece of rose is seen being transferred from one person to another, which depicted their connection with each other.

The song talks about how our lives can change after the right person and we can’t even imagine it. It depicts the sweet, sweet feeling that envelops our hearts after falling in love, deeply and madly. It talks about how meeting the right person can make us feel like floating in the midst of the clouds.

“Ek din iss tarah hosh kho jaayenge, paas aaye toh madhosh ho jaayenge, maine socha na tha.”

Now, coming down to the three best things about the song – the heartwarming lyrics, soulful voices and the brilliant music. With its comforting lyrics penned by Javed Akhtar, this song, sung by Kumar Sanu and Alka Yagnik, will definitely provide solace to your tired soul with its music by Jatin and Lalit. 

There’s no doubt that this song has been an important and indispensable part of our lives, ever since it was released. And, still is. We thank this movie for blessing us with this beautiful gem.

You can listen to this song on a loop here:

When Opera Parallèle unveiled its adaptation of the opera “Everest” in 2021, it represented a new hybrid genre perfectly adapted for development during the pandemic shutdown: a video-opera-graphic novel that used the narrative elements of all three forms to telling effect.

Now the company has repurposed the work yet again, this time for a live audience.

“Everest: An Immersive Experience,” which is scheduled to open Feb. 3 at Z Space in San Francisco, places the audience at the center of a space designed to simulate the opera’s Himalayan setting.

“The film will be projected in 360-degree surrounding sound,” said director Brian Staufenbiel, who conceived the project. “It’s as if you enter the film. You feel the storm on your body.”

“Everest,” with a score by the British composer Joby Talbot and a libretto by Gene Scheer, tells the story of the 1996 mountaineering disaster that was also the basis for Jon Krakauer’s 1997 bestselling book, “Into Thin Air.” The piece had its live premiere in 2015 at the Dallas Opera, conducted by Nicole Paiement — Opera Parallèle’s artistic director, and also Staufenbiel’s wife and longtime collaborator.

During the 2020 lockdown prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Staufenbiel worked with illustrator Mark Simmons and director of photography David Murakami to turn “Everest” into a video that combined a recorded performance of the opera with visuals drawing on the language of the graphic novel.

The new version, Staufenbiel said, will add a new physical dimension to the work.

“The audience will be wearing white ponchos, which we can provide, so that they’re part of a uniform white surface that the film is projected on. The performance space is 55 feet by 40 feet, so there’s enough space for everyone to sit.”

The prerecorded cast includes mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke and baritones Nathan Granner and Hadleigh Adams.

The production is initially slated for eight performances, running Feb. 3-12, but Staufenbiel said the company anticipates adding more performances as required to meet audience demand.

“Everest: An Immersive Experience”: Opera Parallèle. Feb. 3-12. $20-$75. Z Space, 450 Florida St., S.F. www.operaparallele.org

Licensed tie-in video games were once the norm. Just looking at the history of one multimedia franchise like SpongeBob SquarePants uncovers numerous games based on specials throughout the 2000s, from the official movie game to Atlantis SquarePantis and Truth or Square. A handful still appear on modern hardware, such as WayForward’s The Mummy Demastered in 2017, but this and other brand-name titles like Marvel’s Spider-Man tend to contribute their own canon to existing names. DreamWorks Dragons: Legends of the Nine Realms is in a similar boat.

Following the success of its How to Train Your Dragon film trilogy, loosely based on a series of children’s books by Cressida Cowell, DreamWorks has upheld the brand through endeavors like the 2021 streaming series Dragons: The Nine Realms. While The Nine Realms takes place some 1,300 years after the main series, Legends is more of an “inspired” reimagining of its story that sees dragons Thunder, Plowhorn, Feathers, and Wu & Wei seeking Thunder’s lost family – without human aid. Even so, composer Chris Whiter spoke to Game Rant about the importance of respecting and contributing to an existing musical canon.

RELATED: Former Nickelodeon, DreamWorks Animator Talks Cloudscape and Kickstarter

Whiter’s Work with Licensed Games is Life Falling into Place

The British musician’s career began playing flute and saxophone, but his University experience with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra cemented an interest in composing. He went on to work with live music, film, and developing sound libraries, and Whiter said “all of those individual facets led to where I am now on the game audio side.” While one can make plans for their future, Whiter said life often falls into place in unexpected ways.

Whiter had smaller jobs doing session work for games, but his first culminating experience in the industry was being invited onto the audio team for Get Packed by friend and collaborator Vince Webb. That connection with publisher Coatsink opened a “right place, right time” opportunity to compose for Transformers: Battlegrounds, published by Outright Games. Through Outright, Whiter has touched other major children’s brands like PAW Patrol and How to Train Your Dragon. “It’s simultaneously lovely, because obviously they’re names everyone knows really well, but it’s also really daunting.”

Tying Dragons: Legends of the Nine Realms into an Existing Sound World

A name that people are aware of is one they’ll have a certain attachment to, according to Whiter. In the case of DreamWorks’ popular film series, he said that’s as much of an attachment to the “sound world” as it is the dragons themselves. Whiter said it’s especially daunting to follow the work of How to Train Your Dragon‘s composer John Powell.

“Being part of any musical canon, you have to be aware of what has gone before and ensure you respect that and understand why that canon was appraised. Then make sure you’re contributing to it.”

It’s “a real pleasure to be able to have that opportunity,” Whiter said, especially when the source material offers so much to work with. Whiter tries tracing elements that people associate and love about the style of the original music so that he can “bring those nuances into this new sound world.” That musical canon also includes Dragons: The Nine Realms, which builds upon Powell’s work in its own unique way.

RELATED: DreamWorks Dragons: Legends of the Nine Realms Composer Feels Kids Games Don’t Need ‘Oversimplified’ Music

AHEARTFUL OF GAMES’ DreamWorks Dragons: Legends of the Nine Realms stands out in this regard, according to Whiter. It ties in with the ongoing streaming series, and Outright Games even released a recording of the game’s main theme being performed by Whiter and the Fames Orchestra to celebrate the November 17 launch of The Nine Realms Season 4 on Peacock and Hulu. Yet Legends is “not set necessarily at the same time,” meaning the composer had to be aware of how this project related to the series’ world.

The ‘Irreplaceability’ of Live Musical Performances

One major aspect of Whiter’s composition on Legends of the Nine Realms was bringing in a variety of woodwinds and Celtic flutes to capture the Viking-inspired world of How to Train Your Dragon. “I always had it in the back of my mind.” His long-time experience as a flutist let him bring his understanding of that soundscape into the project – though Whiter doesn’t necessarily write himself roles in a composition unless he feels it will fit into the work. Often this might be if it needs something he’s handy with late into development, sometimes as a solo part to lay overtop.

“Especially composing these days, you tend to find sometimes you’re multifaceted. You’re not only the composer, there are often many roles you take on. If you have a certain skill set that suits certain projects, there’s no reason not to utilize that.”

Though not every project needs live music, and Whiter said assets like sound libraries can be “useful and powerful” tools, he feels the opportunity to work with musicians is “irreplaceable.” He always aims to work with live musicians when he can, be it in orchestras or layering individual recordings to an existing sound. “It can make the difference between music sounding alive and feeling not quite as alive as it could be.”

Working with an orchestra on Legends of the Nine Realms was one of the great pleasures of the project for Whiter. “Huge thanks go to Outright Games and AHEARTFUL OF GAMES. As a sound world, it’s great to be involved in some way.” While he can’t speak much to the marketing side of the industry, he knows how much audio can bring to both gameplay and narrative immersion, and appreciates how “Universal and the other cogs involved with Dragons” were open to highlighting the hard work of talented musicians and audio teams.

DreamWorks Dragons: Legends of the Nine Realms is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

MORE: Tom Stalta, Composer on Deathloop, Discusses ‘Tough’ 60s/70s Music, Defining Your Sound

It’s the fight song that begat a motto for an entire university — and this year it turns 100.

This Saturday, the Trojan Marching Band will celebrate the centennial of its iconic fight song, “Fight On!,” at USC football’s regular season finale at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Although now considered one of the greatest college fight songs, when the song’s composers entered it into a campus song contest in 1923, it came in second.

The story of “Fight On!” dates back a year earlier, to 1922. Vaudeville-performer-turned-dental-student Milo Sweet was playing the song’s melody on a piano at USC’s on-campus YMCA when religious studies major and USC band saxophonist Glen Grant passed by. Listening in, he told Sweet the tune would make a great fight song. Grant helped Sweet write the lyrics, and “Fight On!” was born.

Most traditional fight songs are written in a straightforward 2/4 or cut-time meter, suited to musicians marching down the field. “Fight On!” was uniquely composed in the compound 6/8 time signature. This provided more opportunity for rhythmic and melodic variation and gives it its jaunty lilt.

Traditionally, three choruses of the song are played. The first chorus has the trumpets leading the melody, the second chorus is led by the sousaphones and drums keeping time and the third chorus hands the melody to the trombones with high brass and woodwinds playing flourishes underneath.

In November 1923, “Fight On!” was entered into a song contest held by USC’s Rally Committee. Thirty songs were evaluated by the committee, including “Cardinal and Gold” by Al Wesson. Earlier that year, Wesson had written what would be become the university’s official alma mater, “All Hail,” and was on the committee to find a song that would “generally represent the school, one that will be adaptible [sic] for all occasions and not characteristic of a season or single game,” according to the Daily Trojan.

Early piano sheet music for “Fight On!” While many traditional fight songs are written in a straight-forward 2/4 time signature, “Fight On!” is in a 6/8 time signature that gives it a jaunty lilt. (Photo/Trojan Marching Band archives)

Wesson’s entry ended up winning the contest and the $100 grand prize, but he later confessed the best song didn’t come out on top. Wesson, who went on to be USC’s first sports information director, admitted as much in a 1965 letter to the Los Angeles Times.

“To show how nuts people can be, the music committee awarded first prize to my song and second to ‘Fight On!’ ‘Fight On!’ has become probably the equal of the Notre Dame fight song in the country,” he wrote. “As a campus musician, I was on the committee, and I’m glad to say I had sense enough to vote for ‘Fight On!’ over my own piece.”

Within a few years of its composition, “Fight On!” had become USC’s most popular fight song and a rival nationally to older, more established anthems like the “Notre Dame Victory March,” “On, Wisconsin!” and Michigan’s “The Victors.” Unlike those songs, “Fight On!” transcended its musical origins to become a motto for USC students and alumni. USC’s sports teams had been nicknamed Trojans in 1912 because of their athletes’ “fighting spirit” against teams who were “bigger and better-equipped,” according to Los Angeles Times sportswriter Owen Bird. Accompanied by fingers formed in the shape of a V for victory, a verbalized “Fight On” became a greeting, an expression of encouragement and a farewell in the Trojan Family vernacular, one that captured the reputation of the ancient Trojans as fighters no matter the odds.

USC fight song goes to war

In 1943, “Fight On!” became legendary outside the university when it inspired U.S. troops to capture an island in the Pacific theater of World War II. As the task force motored ashore to Attu in the Aleutian Islands, music suddenly rang out over the waves. Capt. Hubert D. Long, a USC alumnus, described the scene in a 1944 letter.

“On the deck of our transport our commanding officer had ordered the band to play,” he wrote. “I could hear a cheer in some of the other assault craft, but I could not identify the song until the wind changed. Then I heard, and never again will I ever have such a lump in my throat. Over the waves there came the song that I, that none of us who ever spent our school years at S.C. will ever forget. It was our ‘Fight On’ song. Many, many of us were from California. As all the men heard it, a tremendous roar went up, for here was something tangible. Here was something American to the core, something that pictured to us that for which we fight, and that which we love above all else. We won the island.”

Sweet was proud of his contribution to the war effort and even after he established a successful dental practice in South Pasadena, he continued to write fight songs for other schools. Sweet Music publishing still exists and holds the copyright to numerous songs. After graduating from USC, Grant became an ordained Methodist minister and was serving in the U.S. government as national supervisor of recreation when he passed away in New York in 1941.

In the 1950s, as college football began airing on TV, “Fight On!” became recognized around the country. It was the soundtrack of sunny California at Rose Bowl games on New Year’s Day while the rest of the country was blanketed in snow. It also was featured numerous times in movies and on TV. “Fight On!” was famously included on the soundtrack to Disney’s 1973 film Robin Hood and has been recorded many times over the years.

USC fight song: Part of the band’s ‘choreography’ at football games

When Arthur C. Bartner became director of the Trojan Marching Band in 1970, he incorporated the song into the band’s “choreography” of football games, tailoring musical cues to corresponding action on the field. “Fight On!” became the song that punctuated USC’s offensive drives.

The copyright to “Fight On!” has stayed in the Sweet family through three generations of Milo Sweets. Sweet Music has protected the song and carefully chosen which productions they allow to use the song in media. Milo Sweet III is now the custodian of Sweet Music and also a parent to daughter Sydney, a senior at USC.

USC’s fight song is not only iconic for its meaning to this institution but is as thrilling a march as any composed by John Philip Sousa.

Jacob Vogel, band director

“Every time I’m with her and we’re walking around campus and we’re seeing all the ‘Fight On’ stuff and I’m always like, ‘Hey, without your family, that wouldn’t have existed,’” says the senior Sweet. “I think she’s starting to understand it at this point that it’s a big deal.”

Milo Sweet III and his daughter will be recognized by the Trojan Marching Band on the field at halftime during Saturday’s Notre Dame game. Band Director Jacob Vogel, like his predecessor, is cognizant of the importance of “Fight On!” to the university.

“With any collegiate job, there are traditions and elements that you inherit when you take over a program as lasting as this one,” says Vogel. “I truly am lucky that USC’s fight song is not only iconic for its meaning to this institution but is as thrilling a march as any composed by John Philip Sousa. We’re excited to honor its centennial this Saturday.”

More stories about: Music, Trojan Marching Band, USC History