VocaJazz
It was on /a/ that I first stumbled on a couple of rather charming soft jazz Vocaloid songs arranged (and illustrated) by a Nico Nico denizen named Cocoacigarette-P, which I twittered about a couple of days ago. DKellis from Moe Check! also pointed out just how well they’re arranged, from a technical point of view, as well as their cute sense of humour. I was impressed, and after scratching the surface a bit more, I found that Cocoacigarette-P‘s works are just a few of many that march under the banner of “VocaJazz”, a genre of Vocaloid remixes of well recognized anime (and VN) songs that have had a jazz infusion. (Source of OP image).
I don’t think this should be pointed out as some sort of landmark in Vocaloid (my ignorance would be exposed for all to see if I suggested that), as I think people on the Japanese side have probably recognized the immense potential of Vocaloid since whenever it first came out. This, I think, is a very neat demonstration of a couple of things though, not least of which being what Vocaloid can do in the hands of some very creative people. In fact, if there’s one thing about otaku culture that I am just digging so much right now, it’s the user generated content coming out of sites like Nico Nico Douga. Some of the stuff is very creative, and has been put together by some very multi-talented people. And that makes it fun and exciting. VocaJazz is one thing, and Vocaloid in general has inspired some very interesting stuff, but there’s also groups of artists like the Nico Nico Chorus with their underground hit “Just Be Friends” (which has had its own Vocaloid cover) and Nico medleys and endless Sand Canyons (of varying entertainment value), etc.
There’s a richness of culture and music in… well, whatever offshoot of otaku culture this is… that we, in the West, are only getting a glimpse of, I feel. I, for one, certainly can’t claim to have my finger on the pulse of what’s going on at Nico Nico Douga and 2ch, the language barrier being such an issue for me that I’ve never even bothered to make myself an account at the former, simply relying on whatever scraps that get uploaded to Youtube to tide me over. What I’m interested in is whether there’s any organization to what Nico is doing with this type of stuff (eg, Nico medleys and Vocaloid covers/remixes) in general and, more specifically, with Vocajazz. I tried to do some research looking to see if this had gotten any traction, but quick searches on AnimeNano, Google and the AnimeSuki Forums turned up virtually nada. Youtube isn’t all that much more helpful; from what I’ve gathered, videos that turn up in a search for “Vocajazz” are by a small group of artists, but all but a few aren’t either credited in Japanese (makes sense) or in the video itself (also makes sense to an extent, but the bitty resolution of Youtube makes some of the names hard to read) or not at all (which is either careless or rude). So I’m hoping to have some light shed on the matter. It’d be nice to know whether this is a genre growing through close collaborations or memetic propagation (or, more likely, a combination of the two), and who are the important artists at the coalface of it all. Why? Because I like to think understanding what’s going on in a music scene is one of the best ways to spread it around.
And, while we’re talking Vocaloid, why not take the opportunity to share a couple of your favourites. I’ll start. Sticking with the VocaJazz theme:
(When you realize where this is from, you’ll bawww).
(Not VocaJazz, but still a really nice demonstration of what Vocaloid can do).
Heh, I’ve pretty much been entranced by a lot of these mixes because as much as I enjoy jazz, it’s not something I get exposed to a whole lot compared to classical stuff. In this instance, the fact that we have jazz renditions of well-known anime themes makes it all the sweeter because there’s just so much creativity that can go into it; the improvisations that go on while keeping to the core melodic themes make it a fantastic experience. I get the same reaction from listening to video game remixes and I just wished that the anime scene had some more arranging and remixing going on. It’d add a whole new dimension to anime music, that’s for sure.
Oh well, before I go on too long, I’ll just share a track that’s been stuck in my head for the longest time. Though not jazz, I still find this attempt at Broadway showtunes to be quite enjoyable:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3NNaDDXeQ4
^I was planning on mentioning Miracle Paint, too. Very fun song. A lot of Oster Project songs sound sort of jazzy/showtuney, actually. Cool stuff, didn’t know there was a whole “Vocajazz” subgenre.
If you’re into this stuff it’s definitely worth getting a Nico account, if you ask me, even if you can’t read most of the site. It’s not hard to Google up a tutorial on how to sign up, and there’s loads of great content that never makes it to YouTube. For one thing, searching “Vocajazz” by tag turns up a full eight pages of results.
Also, wasn’t “Just Be Friends” a Vocaloid original song? At least thats what Nicopedia says. Most of the time the “chorus” videos are just a compilation of various different covers of the song; there’s not really a definite group of people who make up a “Nico Nico Chorus” so far as I know (though there is that ridiculous Nico Nico Orchestra).
@zzeroparticle
Well, the thing is, there does seem to be a lot of creative arranging and remixing of anime songs going on, it’s just not really happening on our side of the pond as much as it is in Japan. I think part of the reason is basically exposure. Anime might still be largely made for the otaku, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t at least permeate a lot of Japanese pop culture. So I think it stands a better chance of attracting talented people to the fandom than it does in the West where it’s still, at its most widely influential, a cultural curiosity. Sure, anime does attract talented people in the West, but these tend to be more visual-minded folk than musically-minded. So there’s a lot of anime inspired art coming out of Western fandom (particularly digital stuff, but some critical people might question the amount of creativity required to make digital art), but not much in the way of music. Video games, on the other hand, have the advantage of having a fairly wide influence in pop culture on both sides of the pond, so it’s probably not a huge surprise there’s a lot of kick-ass user generated video game inspired music stuff. Cool song, too.
@Raiga
I’ve never been one to shirk the advice of people who take the time to comment on this blog, especially when it’s good advice, so I’ll make a Nico account. You’re probably right about “Just Be Friends”. I’d trust Nicopedia before I’d trust what I write, because it’s just so hard to find info about this sort of stuff on English websites. An English Nicopedia would be just delightful, but it’s hardly practical, considering the non-existent demand for it.
I quickly looked up the Nico Nico Orchestra. Holy cow! That stuff is epic, and looks like it was a blast to make. A project that ambitious… it must have taken so much to organize and pull off.
Well, if there’s any arranging, I guess I’ve just never been alerted to them. While I can count a lot of doujin VGM releases from the Japanese side (mostly Touhou, some other remixes by Magical Trick Society, etc), the only albums that have reached my ears are TAMusic’s arrangements from Key’s VNs and Haruhi. And I really don’t like TAM’s treatment of a lot of the material :\
Anyhow, I don’t doubt that they do exist. Just consider this comment a cry for someone out there to drop an anime remix/arrangement my way :p
Oh man, jazz Natsukage… I feel like the song is telling me to be happy, but I can’t ;_;
As for the music itself, I don’t have much to add other than that it’s a nice subgenre. I’m quite new to the Vocaloid scene, but I’m impressed at the amount of genres the technology is capable of covering, though my favourite is still the pop/trance stuff. The best thing about jazz arrangements is that they’re fairly uncommon in anime fandom, so they earn bonus point for being totally different from what we’re used to hearing.