Little-O's Recording Report

The original web page can be found here: https://www.gamecity.ne.jp/products/GITAROO-MAN/variety/record.htm

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Little-O's "COIL End of the Century Recording" Report!

Bibibi and biii!

You may refer to me as “Little-O No. 11.” While collecting information about Earth, I came across the recording site of COIL, the music producer for Gitaroo Man. All right, I will now sneak into the studio, biii.

Today is, don’t you know, December 31st in the year 2000 according to this planet’s calendar! It’s the last day of the century, and I’m impressed they’re working on such a day, biii.

The place is Ropeland Studio in Tsunashima. It’s COIL’s studio. As the name "Toyoko System Twisted Unit" implies, the studio is, in fact, located along the Toyoko Line.

…They call it a studio, but isn’t this a regular house? Right, COIL is an icon of home recording, so this must be fine. But are they really making sound here?

Wow, Koei's producer (P) is dead in the corner of the room. Let’s listen to what he has to say.

“Biii- uh, Mr. P, are you ok?”

“...It’s close to the company, so I’m fine…”

※The Koei headquarters is in the Hiyoshi area along the Toyoko Line. Hiyoshi Station is the next station down from this studio.

“Umm, what are the reasons why you chose COIL to produce your music…?”

“...It’s close to the company, so—”

…Weeell, this won’t do.

Mr. P is already dead, so whatever. I’ll look around by myself.

I'm a little surprised to see so much old analog equipment. Is this what home recording is like? Why analog? Is it because they’re broke?, I wondered, and asked. They say they like the way it sounds. It seems that analog recordings have more guts and warmth than today's mainstream digital recordings. You may be convinced if you listen to COIL’s CDs.

I’ve learned that the audio produced by COIL in analog is fed directly into the computer.

Because COIL doesn’t use computer mixing, which is the mainstream nowadays, each recording is a one-shot like a live performance, they said. They tell me it will never sound the same again. It must be a lot of work. Or is that the strong point?

Then after that, they plan to convert it to 24-bit at another studio before putting it into the game.

Why do they do it in such a roundabout way? Well, whatever. The whole staff seems committed to creating a game sound unlike anything before, so I'm looking forward to the game coming out.

The audio is partway done. I was surprised when I heard it! Th-this is the sound you can make in just an ordinary room? When I asked the COIL manager about this, he said, "Yes, and everyone laughs out loud at the sight of it.”

They do a little bit here and a little bit there, like mess around with the guitar, fiddle with the machine knobs… I was like, what’s going on, then all of a sudden, bam, a cool sound out of nowhere. What can I do but laugh? What's more, it doesn't feel like synthesized or computer-made music at all. What the heck is this? Hmmm, have I just witnessed the essence of home recording?

When I ask about the sound concept of this project, everyone says “tamashii” this and “tamashii” that. Apparently they’re talking about "soul." Hmm, partway through the conversation, I wasn’t sure whether they were referring to Gitaroo Man's music concept or COIL's new album, but anyway, they say things like "There’s no soul" or "More tamashii!" as they work, so I'm sure it's a key word.

Having an appreciation for ParaPara, I said that I’d love for them to create ParaPara music with tamashii for me, but I was told that basic recording was finished and Mr. Harada was working on sound making. Please don’t forget my request, biii.

“But Mr. P makes so many demands and is so nit-picky and such a pain in the—”

I-is he talking about a struggle or an internal conflict? Oh, I see—this Mr. P, who’s laying right there like a dead tuna, is rather annoying. Gitaroo Man seems to use the regular studio and also Koei's studio, but COIL basically finished the project right here. Incredible.

Meanwhile, I start to hear people around me going “Ahhh, it’s over~” and “It’s done, it’s done~”

Is it done? What’s done? The Gitaroo Man recording is finished? This century is over?

It looks like the work of the 20th century has wrapped up for now, biii. Good job, everyone. I hope you all have a safe and happy New Year!

But this sound COIL creates! This is really the sound you get from home recording? So if you’re thinking about recording music in your own room, you should definitely check this out, biii! I heard them recording all kinds of music, so I can’t wait for the game to come out!

By the way, according to my research, it is customary for people on this planet to visit their hometowns during the New Year. I, too, kind of miss the Gravillians, biii. Reporting to the boss can wait, I’ll just go ahead and visit home for a bit.