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#329928 01/07/16 12:25 AM
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Hi all,

A Happy New Year!

I made a song once for the poem titled "Hatsu Koi" ("First Love" in English) by Toson Shimazaki, a well-known poet and novelist in Japan around 100 years ago.

I personally like this song very much. I was afraid, however, it may not suitable for the forum members because its lyrics are in old Japanese, so I decided to introduce its instrumental version here.

I have made up this song as classical-style music performed by strings only. I hope you can enjoy the song as a completely independent one from the original vocal version.

https://soundcloud.com/hirokata1121/first-love-instrumental-version

Song summary


Title: First Love (Instrumental Version)
Genre: Classical
Key:C Tempo: 85
Style: STR_QT44.STY (Simple String Quartet 4/4 Style) for the first half, and CHAMBER1.STY (Chamber 1 Orch.) for the second half.
Sonar X3 is used for instrument re-assignment to MIDI tracks and some final tuning.

If you have any interest in the original vocal version, you can find it at:

https://soundcloud.com/hirokata1121/first-love-vocal-version


It is much simpler than the instrumental version. Style is KLADRMAN.STY (Kladerman Piano Style) and that's all except a synth voice (Yamaha Vocaloid 'Mew') is used for the vocal track.

Last edited by HiroshiK; 01/07/16 03:05 AM. Reason: Forgot to mention.
HiroshiK #329960 01/07/16 04:25 AM
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Oh, feel free to sing in Japanese, I would like to hear that. I also understand that the Japanese don't rhyme as much as their western counterparts -- is that true?

Nice composition and a mighty fine listen this morning.

Edited: Just listened to the vocaloid version (was that there this morning? If so, I missed it!). The vocal sounds pretty natural. I like that.

Last edited by Kemmrich; 01/07/16 08:24 AM.

Now at bandcamp: Crows Say Vee-Eh @ bandcamp or soundcloud: Kevin @ soundcloud
HiroshiK #329991 01/07/16 07:45 AM
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Beautiful song and I can see why it is one of your favorites. First loves are rarely if ever forgotten and your music lets me sit back and think of that time when I first fell in love. I enjoyed both versions and I was very eager to hear your vocaloid to which you did a great job of producing. I find vocaloids very interesting and I even looked into it at one time.
Sonny

HiroshiK #330033 01/07/16 10:53 AM
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Very pretty music!! Really like the arrangement and mix. Enjoyed much!! Take care. Greg

Kemmrich #330162 01/08/16 06:00 AM
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Hi Kemmrich,

Thank you for your feedback.

Originally Posted By: Kemmrich
Oh, feel free to sing in Japanese, I would like to hear that. I also understand that the Japanese don't rhyme as much as their western counterparts -- is that true?


I am glad to hear it.

Yes, that is true. Another uniqueness of Japanese when used in songs is that usually each note accommodates only one mono tone as you can hear in the vocal version.

Originally Posted By: Kemmrich
Nice composition and a mighty fine listen this morning.

Edited: Just listened to the vocaloid version (was that there this morning? If so, I missed it!). The vocal sounds pretty natural. I like that.


Thank you again. In the last part of my original post included the link to the vocal version but I forgot to mention Vocaloid thing, so added it later.

I am happy to know you like the vocal version as well as Mew's voice. My only effort in using her voice in my song was just to make it as natural as possible. Actually it was not big effort at all.

Hiroshi

SRP #330166 01/08/16 06:14 AM
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Originally Posted By: SRP
Beautiful song and I can see why it is one of your favorites. First loves are rarely if ever forgotten and your music lets me sit back and think of that time when I first fell in love. I enjoyed both versions and I was very eager to hear your vocaloid to which you did a great job of producing. I find vocaloids very interesting and I even looked into it at one time.
Sonny

Hi Sonny,

Thank you for your feedback. I fully agree with what you mentioned about first loves. I am happy to know you enjoyed the vocaloid version as well. I like Mew's voice very much. It is very natural and soothing.

Hiroshi

Greg Johnson #330167 01/08/16 06:16 AM
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Originally Posted By: Greg Johnson
Very pretty music!! Really like the arrangement and mix. Enjoyed much!! Take care. Greg

Hi Greg,

Thank you for your comment. I am glad you like my song.

Hiroshi

HiroshiK #330288 01/09/16 01:01 AM
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Very relaxing listening.
the music is very well played and the strings sound is great

Sergio



Sergio
HiroshiK #330303 01/09/16 04:17 AM
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Beautiful song. Very peaceful


Scott Collingwood
https://soundcloud.com/scottt709
https://soundcloud.com/spiritlevel-ca
https://www.youtube.com/@SpiritLevel-ge3hm/
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Originally Posted By: Sergio Guarneri



Very relaxing listening.
the music is very well played and the strings sound is great

Sergio

Thank you. I am glad you like my music. Hiroshi

Scott C #330416 01/09/16 01:54 PM
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Originally Posted By: Scottt709
Beautiful song. Very peaceful

Thank you. I am glad you enjoyed my song. Hiroshi

HiroshiK #330417 01/09/16 02:01 PM
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Hi, Hiroshi !

This is a very beautiful tune
and referring to the title, I
do agree with those who say
that you´ll never forget your first love !!!

I was even lucky to get to marry my
first love and to go beside her
for 42 years till her death !

Cheers
Dani

PS

I have a cat like the one in
your avatar ! Her name is Naomi

dani48 #330453 01/09/16 06:31 PM
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Hi Dani,

Thank you for your comment.

Yes, I believe first loves have very special meaning to men and are forgettable even when they are old age.

You are a lucky man indeed wink

I have two cats; Mari and Sara. My avatar is made from Sara's silhouette.
They are so cute. "Homage to Cats" were originally made for them.

Say hello to Naomi smile It sounds like a Japanese name.

Hiroshi

HiroshiK #331045 01/13/16 05:32 AM
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Hi Hiroshi,

I enjoyed it. As others have said, it's a nicely relaxing and peaceful track.

Regards,
Noel


MY SONGS...
Audiophile BIAB 2026
Noel96 #331084 01/13/16 01:32 PM
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Hi Noel,

Thank you for your comment. I am glad you enjoyed my music.

Hiroshi

HiroshiK #331100 01/13/16 04:35 PM
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I enjoyed listening to the Vocaloid version. Don't worry about posting Japanese songs - a little variety is nice!


-- David Cuny

My virtual singer development blog
Vocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?

BiaB 2025 | Windows 11 | Reaper | Way too many VSTis.
HiroshiK #331125 01/13/16 09:31 PM
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Hi David,

Thank you for your comment and encouragement. I am more than happy to know you enjoyed the Vocaloid version. I will also continue posting Japanese songs from now on. Thank you again.

Hiroshi

HiroshiK #331487 01/16/16 03:35 AM
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Hiroshi,
This is simply beautiful! I prefer the vocal version.
I'm quite excite about having you be a traditional Japanese style and culture to the forum. We all learn from each other and your postings will be very interesting and entertaining.
I'm looking forward to hearing your next song.
SpaceDog

HiroshiK #331503 01/16/16 04:26 AM
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Nice.... I listened to the vocal version.

The vocaloid works extremely well in certain styles of music and THIS is one of them. The lack of English I think is what makes this work. I suspect they would also work well in Celtic music.

Nice pleasing song


You can find my music at:
www.herbhartley.com
Add nothing that adds nothing to the music.
You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.

The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
HiroshiK #331505 01/16/16 04:38 AM
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Hi SpaceDog,

Thank you for your comment. I am happy to have your message. I am not sure if I could represent Japanese traditional music or style, but I should be able to send you something different or Japanese-like. As a matter of fact, every time my wife finishes listening to my new song, she always say it is of Japanese style though I do not think so. Maybe I am wrong smile

Needless to say but the vocal version of the song is absolutely of Japanese style smile

Hiroshi

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