The soundtrack for the TV anime "CITY THE ANIMATION," based on the manga "CITY" by Arawi Keiichi, who is also known for "Nichijou" and other works, is somehow mysterious. It doesn't contain strings, horns, or synthesizers, but rather the pleasant sound of melodica. It's an extremely simple sound, and unusual for an anime soundtrack, but it fits perfectly into the world of the work. The soundtrack was created by the band "Piranians," which has a simple lineup of melodica, guitar, double bass, and percussion. "Piranians" has been active since around 1991, but this is their first time working on a soundtrack for a movie. Why did they fall for this unusual music? We spoke to Pianica Maeda, who plays melodica in "Piranians."
◇The topic is abstract words
"CITY" is a manga that was serialized in "Morning" (Kodansha) from 2016 to 2021 and is currently making a comeback. It depicts the lives of the somewhat fun-loving people who live in an ordinary "CITY," including university student Nagumo Midori, Nikura, and Izumi Wako. The anime is directed by Ishidate Taichi, known for "Violet Evergarden," and produced by Kyoto Animation. It is currently airing on ABC TV, TOKYO MX, and other channels.
Shinichi Nakamura, the music producer for the anime, explains how he came to be in charge of the music for "Piranians," saying, "Director Ishidate had the policy of not leaving it at the door and being aggressive. Rather than playing it safe, I wanted to create a soundtrack that was unlike anything anyone had ever heard before."
Nakamura thought the "Piranhans" sound would be a perfect fit, but when interviewing Director Ishidate, he said, "Nakamura recommended the Piranhans to me, and to be honest, I was a little skeptical at first. But when we started dubbing, I realized they were a perfect match! They're cute, kind, intelligent, and a perfect fit. I had to beg Nakamura (laughs)." Nakamura seemed confident that they would be a perfect fit, but the other staff members were skeptical at first.
Pianica Maeda said that he had not had much connection with anime or manga in his musical career up until now, and that he was "surprised" when he received this offer.
"I'm really sorry, but I was involved in arranging and supervising a project to publish a collection of Ghibli music for melodica, and at the time I watched Ghibli animations intently, but I didn't know much about them. I wasn't confident and wondered if I could do it. But when I heard that I could do it with the band members, I started to think, maybe I could do it."
The premise was that it had to be "Piranhans music," so the order was different from that of a typical soundtrack. Abstract words were the theme, and the music was created to match them. The production method was also unusual for soundtracks.
"At first, I was asked to create something with a summery image in mind, so I worked on it bit by bit. The request was quite light, and I was told to make it more striking, so I tried speeding up the tempo, but it was still slow... I was given themes like, 'What he's saying is true, but it's difficult to use' and 'Everyone is equally unfortunate,' and I created the piece based on those. It was quite difficult to figure out how to interpret this. The theme 'Everyone is equally unfortunate' led to the song 'Lucky Draw', and I added a marimba to give the impression of a lucky draw spinning around."
◇Don't be too conscious of it being an anime
The original author, Arai, had requested that "I want you to use a marimba," but there were no other requests regarding instruments. "It's background music, so I thought there might be talk of using strings or horns, but there wasn't anything in particular," he said. Although it was based on the premise that it was music from "Piranhans," it ended up sounding different from anything he had done before.
"We weren't too conscious of the fact that it was an anime when we were making it. It's different from how we create our own works. We usually make songs that are four to five minutes long, but this time I condensed it down to about a minute and a half and submitted it. It's so intense that it makes me laugh at myself. It broadened the scope of Piranhas' music. We didn't actually play reggae in the Piranhas, but we went all out for it. We were surrounded by a lot of reggae musicians, so we stubbornly refused to do it. Someone suggested that reggae would be good, and each of the members has played reggae in their own activities, and we're good at it, so we gave it a go. We've never layered the melodica sounds to this extent before. We usually write songs that we can reproduce live."
Upon the release of the soundtrack, he commented, "This was the first time for Piranhas to compose and arrange soundtrack for a film, so the process was full of twists and turns and many difficulties."
"There were some things we don't usually do, so it was hard to explain to the members. And then there was the schedule. Everyone was doing their own activities separately, so it was hard to get everyone together in the studio. I wrote "seven falls, eight falls," but that's wrong. In "seven falls, eight falls," the person stays down, but they get up properly. I meant to write it as "seven falls, eight rises," but I made a mistake."
The music for "Piranhans" may be unusual for an anime soundtrack, but it's strange how it fits so well that it doesn't feel out of place, and it feels like it couldn't get any better.
"Naturally, I was surprised at how it moved. There were parts of the movement that I couldn't imagine. I had no experience with music for films, so there were some things I didn't understand, and when I saw the blue of the sky in the anime, I thought I should have made it look bluer, but I was happy that sound director Tsuruoka Yota was able to use the music in a really nice way."
◇Playing the melodica for over 40 years
Pianica Maeda has been active as a keyboard harmonica player for over 40 years. He says he "has never had a teacher," and has honed his skills through self-study.
"There are a few players like Augustus Pablo, but it's different from that. It's like I'm struggling, but it's not like I'm struggling... I don't know what I should be struggling with. It's not like I'm keeping my technique a secret or anything. I'm sharing it, but it hasn't really taken hold (laughs)."
Throughout their activities, they have expanded the possibilities of the keyboard harmonica as an instrument.
"As I continued to delve deeper, the possibilities of expression gradually became clear. By slowly understanding things, I was able to respond to a variety of music. Little by little, I systematically came to understand things like how to breathe and how much pressure to apply to the keys. I used to tend to strain my fingers, but that's gone now. I can now bend like on the saxophone or harmonica, and approach things like the accordion or string instruments. I've been doing this for about 40 years, so some might say I'm slow!"
The unique sound that Pianica Maeda has honed over the years is a perfect fit for "CITY THE ANIMATION." The soundtrack is also available, so please take a listen.
