Animenz puts his own classical spin on all of his covers. When you mentioned the bridge between pop and classical music, you were spot on because that is animenz's style
Yes, but it's is also a big part of far eastern pop music, mostly Japanese and Korean (not the generic K-pop with no melody, but the Davichi duo would be a good example), with Chinese more likely to use their own traditional musical elements and progressions.
My dearest will always forever be one of my favorite songs, and his piano arrangement of it is amazing. I would agree that song is kinda like his magnum opus.
My favorite part of Animenz's arrangement styles is that his left hands usually plays 2 melodies at once, creating the iconic 3 hand melodies that make the covers sound orchestral and rich.
Sadness and sorrow is beautifully written by Animenz. It’s so interesting how he changes up the time signature that the song feels different but keeps its essence
4:39 it does seem that they're just arpeggios, but that part is actually one of the hardest parts. Since alot of people have covers of this cover like its a chopin etude, this part is usually what i see people struggle with. Idk what rhythm the right hand is, but it's a bit faster than 16th notes, and playing cleanly at this this tempo is not that easy. But like i said, they aren't just arpeggios. The ascending arpeggio with the 9th is fine, but with the descent, the 11th makes it really awkward. Playing that with the dotted 8th on the left is probably why most struggle to keep the tempo consistent.
You are right, it is no just arpeggios they are in 16th notes grouped in 5 and 6 with pauses and not in a clear pattern and you have to accentuate in the most awkward places irrespective of the rhythm in the left hand and have to be played with the weakest and most awkward finger some of the time (the ring finger). Concerto level difficulty although just for a brief moment.
bro same i struggle cos its so fast. i dont think ive implemented the right finger uses in the top part especially, maybe thats why i struggle but like bro its fast asf and trippy
I don't really watch any anime, but I have to say I love animenz's arrangements. His ability to just arrange things in a classical style like this is absolutely amazing. With that said, I liked this reaction as you gave some cool insight, just wish you did one thing, which was listen to the original anime songs so you could see how his arrangements compare with the original.
Bruh, this sounds nothing like a classical style 🗿they're just modern arrangements of modern music with a bunch of fast runs, arpeggios, and an astonishing technique. Of course, I'm not saying these arrangements have nothing special, they're really impressive actually as we can see how well trained he is, but, if we talk about a "classical style" this has nothing to do with it... The harmonies, the melodies, the voicings, the DINAMICS or whatever you can think of, they're not close enough to be considered a classical kinda thing.
ofc the melody will be the modern music as it is literally modern music. What he's doing is literally a classical version of it.... you do realize if you classify a song, it'll still sound similar to the original, because if it doesn't sound like the roiginal song, it's the wrong song being played.... Fun fact, Animenz has literally gone to music school for classical music. Fun fact, his professors originally were annoyed that he was playing pop music (anime music), but surprisingly changed after seeing what he was doing with music and making his classical versions. I think his music professors know a lot better than a comment like this. Also I've been playing piano myself for quite a while, this is definitely. classical style (from someone who's played a bunch of classical music as a kid)
@@LevelUpPiano honestly, I'm curious to know what are you listening in animenz arrangements to consider them as classical style or version from the originals. You can still be able to make a classical version of a modern song without making rough changes to the main melody to the point it is not recognizable anymore. I say all of this because I study piano and to be more specific, I study classical music. Recently finished the conservatory so I'm in the position to talk about this. This is not just a random comment from a random guy
@@LevelUpPiano you can search a standard jazz piece in the style of classical composers, like, autumn leaves for example, and you'll see what really means to make a popular songs or piece in the style of a certain period like Baroque or Romantic music. You have to make the song of your desire more approachable to what style you wanna sound like.
You said it yourself, you can make a classical style and but it will be unrecognizable.... And that's one huge reason to why he doesn't do what you talk about. In addition, if he did this, the songs would just become classical music and that would be honestly pointless. These anime pop songs aren't made with the intention of being fully 100% classical like you talk about. If so, it wouldn't sound good because that's not what it was made for. With that said, you're taking the "classical style" too literal. It's more so that he's adding a lot of classical touches to the piece to help it sound better on the piano, while keeping a lot of important elements from the original making a unique "Animenz" style.
i can't see any comment talking about animenz's arrangement of "grand escape", which imo is one of his most interesting arrangements and quite different from a lot of the other anime music he's covered on his channel
YES I'm so happy you did this! psst: Animenz Kantai Collection soundtrack is really underrated as it's nearly harder than unravel and has some really moving themes all tied together perfectly (a lot more contrasts in mood than unravel which is always upbeat)
Please react to his my dearest arrangement. He has two, the original version and the 2020 version he made for his channel's 10th anniversary, the first version is more technical whereas the anniversary version is more musical, would love to see you react to both :)
i'm really happy you did a video about animenz cause he's a great player and i heard in some of your videos for example the one of frank tedesco (edit: my point is showed at 20seconds haha) that you weren't very familiar with anime music but that from what you've heard you could like it so yeah i'm starting to watch the video right away
Ive been watching Animenz for over 10 years, he was the one who got me into playing the piano. I always found it amazing how he learns the songs by ear and adds his own touches
ANIME OST, is just as crazy as classical/romantic pieces tbh and a lot are done on guitar, so it's not even close to speed because of picking and articulation , but you're def missing out, Studio Gibli and Anime Osts are crazy good, the japanese /asians don't fuck around and the syncopation is so good on the drums. They really are on another level . (Not bach level but still) the only thing that is a cliche is it's usually starts, 4, 5, 6, or bVI , bVII , I to get the blood and momentum going, but the way they use modal mixture and chroamtic mediants at the same time with melodies they make are almost film score on steroids, Nothing like it in the music genre. J rock / J pop is also crazy a f too. You will have a trap song go into a jazz voicing, into a metal , in dubstep . like J pop essentials on apple music is on craziness. Plus Tokyo blue . even friedman from megadeath said their harmony is nothing like american pop. some of them are super jazzy too. like Spy family OST or JJK , and the themes change every arc (season) , so it's always something new. not that C minor Ameircan bullshit in every theme. on HBo lol
@@matticawood ua-cam.com/video/K1SAtJ8QIcc/v-deo.htmlsi=7IuhQtK4dGzorLIN AND ua-cam.com/video/aRYkmMtt3tE/v-deo.htmlsi=KVUWbsBaInLlLb3I he also covered it haha.
I find is so impressive how you can just play some parts by just watching and listening. It might be not so hard for a pianist (i don't know), but for a person outside it looks so amazing!
Arpeggios are not unimpressive by any means. Sure they are pattern based but the difference between a regular player doing it vs a virtuoso is night and day. You have to play each note with different strengths to bring out certain melodies. It takes an incredible amount of control and practice imo
No doubt it takes practice to be able to play them well, as with most techniques on the piano! However, it’s a simple technique to understand and a very commonly used one, so it can be mastered in weeks/months rather than years with some dedicated practice. 😊
Now that I've watched it, RE 5:51: Animenz started his channel to promote the sheets he wrote, and thus started with a write sheet first -> perform the sheet exactly workflow; he changed that around 2019 or so and now sheets come after the performance! Overall, you seem to have an emphasis on harmony in your analysis and I think you're spot on in pointing out what makes anime music great - it uses catchy progressions but with lots of variety so it doesn't wear them out!
A few of his pieces where he really hit it for me was his rendition of Grand Escape (Weathering With You) and Sincerely (Violet Evergarden). Grand Escape to me was very technically impressive. Sincerely was very much an Animenz arranged piece given how he completely added his parts and changed it to convert more emotions and to remember those who passed away in the KyoAni arson attack.
Very cool to see your analysis of what makes anime (and really, most japanese pop music) chord choices different than western pop. A lot of Japanese pop music seems to be happy to take inspiration from more jazzy chords and rhythms - something that western pop really never does.
For the question of whether he wrote the sheet music before or after performing Unravel, this was back in his younger Uni days where he would finish making the sheet music 100% before even touching the piano for the piece. I play the piano but I'm nowhere near classically trained so for me that is absolutely astounding.
thank you for commenting on the pieces! I think if you listen to the original songs as well once it might be easier to notice the unique-ness of the arrangements:) For recommendations, would love for you to go over him version of Kick Back, his rhythm there is kinda funky
The chord progression I think you identified around 8:00 with the my dearest is the Kokuma chord progression or the royal road chord profresssion it’s popular among Japanese composers.
Great video. You just gave me a dejavu when you mentioned his left hand by the way. I remembered that I commented on the original video about a year ago that that pianist's left hand was just crazy - it's the one thing that impressed me the most about his playing. INSANE left hand.
The way you summarized it as (paraphrased) "a lot of anime music is like a hybrid of pop music and classical music" is a very intelligent and accurate way to put it, I feel. Another might be to say that it tends to "modernize" classical music writing. Same for Japanese game music, really. It takes the best parts of both worlds - the in-your-ear quality of pop music, and the free creative expression and depth of classical music - and brings them together.
I believe that he writes his pieces before playing them. Usualy he takes month to write and practice a new piece. And when you actualy take a look at the sheet, they are actually incredibly well written
Have been waiting for this vid for ages! Glad it came! Highly recommend you grab the sheet music for unravel. The more time you spend with it the more you realise how amazing it is :).
One thing you must know about the arrangement for unravel is that , he was practising lot of difficult classical pieces , and one among them was ravel’s gaspard de la unit . You can check the statements/comments made on his books which are for sale
It's a bit of a shame you went in without first hearing the originals. I think part of why Animenz is so well respected is because of how well done his arrangements are, and that's pretty hard to guage without having heard the original song before hand. As far as I'm aware, he spends a fair bit of time working out the exact arrangement, then practicing it until he can execute it properly on camera.
It’s very intentional 😊 I prefer to have a genuine reaction of the first time I’ve heard it. I might be wrong, but if I heard the original…it might take away some of the “newness” that I got from listening to just the piano arrangement in isolation. The melody and chords where for the most part pretty clear though, so I could generally tell what was likely to be part of the original song or some arrangement choices. I’ve also listened to them since and they were what I imagined they might sound like based on the Animenz’ version! 😊
I love your reactions ❤ imd love to see you react to bios (10th anni arrangement) and colors ( my personal all time favorite of animenz, playing it myself as well and it's so much fun )
I highly recommend checking his arrangements of "Here - Mahoutsukai no Yome OP" and "My Dearest - Guilty Crown OP [10 Year Anniversary Edition]". They are one of the most difficult pieces Animenz has done and I'm certain you will love them.
I recommend Animenz’s Crying For Rain, The Everlasting Guilty Crown, bios(10th anniversary ver.) and Sincerely. His technique and storytelling are absolutely gorgeous.
He made the Unravel cover in a week, and got the recording finished in 1 try, and somehow it's become his most popular cover which people even rank among the top piano pieces in the world. It's crazy. Also, you managed to react to my 2 favorite Animenz arrangements! Not that it's an unpopular opinion, though. You should totally listen to his remastered version of "This Game" in 2021! He fixed some mistakes and added parts he never managed to back when he made the first one.
Animenz has sooo many good arrangements. His Attack on Titan arrangements are all very good. But lately my favourite piece to listen to is Sakayume. Such great dynamics in that piece.
some of my favourite animenz piece are, -A cruel angel thesis (nice opening) -Kaibutsu (js a very hype song and constant key change) -mixed nut (crazy left hand) -traitor's requim (got some rly cool mood changes) -grand escape (nice opening) -merry-go-round of life (popular song , should be the best piano ver. )
Definitely check out Animenz's Kuusou Mesorogiwi!! He transformed the original into a Baroque-inspired crazy piece that switches styles so often it's phenomenal
Puella Magi Madoka Magica - Soundtrack Medley by Animenz. A carefully arranged piece from 4 soundtracks of one of the greatest magical girl shows ever that revolutionized the genre, inspiring many copycats that ultimately failed to come close to it...
I would love it if you reacted to some more recent stuff by Animenz as he has developed to a more musically detailed style! :) One of my favourite arrangements by him is Grand Escape from weathering with you! :D Also the My Dearest 10 year anniversary is one of his best works in my opinion!
The way your able to decipher what chords in what sequence is amazing to me. Some things I aspire to do even tho I play guitar but I assume everything can be translated to piano chords too.
There’s an appregio from the mirai Niki (future diary) he plays up the scale with one hand and back down the scale with the other. Animenz is an extremely skilled pianist.
so happy you did a video about animenz, now waiting for the one of patrik he's got many great pieces hope you'll do how to train your dragon and others xD
First of all, great video. It's nice to hear people talk more about the chords instead of just the playing. I would recommend checking out Animenz's Kantai Collection Medley. It's very exciting with LOTS of changes in the music. The playing is as virtuosic with many interesting techniques. It's also 8 min long, which is perfect for recording a full-length video. Granted, it's not his most popular arrangement and you will probably not get a ton of views, but I think you will have lots of fun.
for unravel,not sure about his other pieces, the sheets came before the performance. having tried his unravel myself, there are many sections that are much too difficult to improvise, like around 40 seconds there are simultaneous jumps in bith hands that are ridiculously hard even having practiced for several months, also at the end, the final chorus has sone crazy left hand jumps, also before that with repeated notes is insanely hard at tempo. i believe he arranged unravel while studying at a conservatory and he says that it is the hardest piece he ever has or ever will arrange.
also whats truly impressive about his playing is how much musicality he puts into these hard pieces. the melody is always super clear over the bass, and his dynamics are super clean. in unravel for example, in the intro when there are two right hand melodies, the higher one is clean and distinct where the lower almost melts into the bass
another common thing in his arrangements, not as notable in unravel, is "three hand technique" which is super apparent in "crying for rain" he often trades the melody between left and right hands while playing fills above or below, or sometimes he will use a break in a melody to jump up and add something. he also sometimes will add elements from the song that cant exactly be transposed into piano, like in "idol" during the pre-chorus theres the effect of a crowd chanting on beats 2 and 4 which he adds in the base with chords. overall hes just super thorough and faithful to the source material, while still adding his own spin, usually classically inspired. hes just a super cool dude
He also rewrote it later, so he could play less punishing version at concerts, because as he stated that even for him it is really hard to play without mistakes, which makes original Unravel arrangement unfit for live performance.
BOY - Ousama Ranking OP1 [Piano] / King Gnu, Specialz - Jujutsu Kaisen OP 2, Kakyoin's Theme (Noble Pope) and Traitor's Requiem (Jojo's Bizare Adventure op 9) are some of the songs i'd suggest, Boy especially, Noble Pope is cool because it's the only one here and in your video that isn't an opening but a CHARACTER THEME, so it's a bit different but amazing and interesting. Also CHA LA HEAD CHA LA (Rip Akira Toriyama), the creator of the legebdary series (Dragon Ball Z) sadly passed away, and this is just an iconic, amazing anime theme. Those are some songs i'd want to see reviewed from Animenz. BOY and Specialz are VERY unique openings, Traitor's Requiem is a very fun opening, and CHA LA HEAD CHA LA is just a hyper opening that is a story in a unique and amazing way, very uplifting and great, a classic opening
A video I may recommend is Viola Organista by Sławomir Zubrzycki. Viola organista is the bowed-keyboard instrument invented by Leonardo da Vinci, and built by Sławomir Zubrzycki from Poland. I recommend watching this one, as the sounds it produces are fascinating.
I don’t know Animenz, but I see a really nice curve to those fingers. And a lot of nice arm and wrist action. All of which my piano teacher has been trying to drill into my old brain. lol
Animenzes 1th aniversary BIOS is a beautiful piece which is very technicam. Animemz is also nnown for his 3 hamd technique which he uses. Most prevalent i BIOS and your sincerely
"you would just never get something like that in popular music" at 7:51 Yes you would, in Japan - that's called the "japanese chord progression" in their popular music. That's why you can call it "anime music" because it all sounds the same due to almost all of it having the same or very similar chord progression, although different from the western/american pop music chord progression.
Pretty cool to see Animenz being talked about on this channel, was always curious what you'd have to say about him!
REACT TO FONZI NEXT🗣
REACT TO FONZI 🗣
REACT TO FONZI
I hope my thoughts didn’t disappoint! 😊
Let’s see if the number of “react to Fonzi” comments outdo the Animenz comments before I cave in 😂
React to fonzi
Animenz puts his own classical spin on all of his covers. When you mentioned the bridge between pop and classical music, you were spot on because that is animenz's style
Yes, but it's is also a big part of far eastern pop music, mostly Japanese and Korean (not the generic K-pop with no melody, but the Davichi duo would be a good example), with Chinese more likely to use their own traditional musical elements and progressions.
Animenz - My dearest, gotta check that one out. That was one major milestones in terms of his arrangement style.
Yeah totally. In my opinion (and I think Animenz' agrees as well) it was one of the hardest and most creative and fun pieces of his career❤
Yea, My dearest is kinda his masterpiece. I love that song so very much
yea
To me that his best performance by far (I'm biased for Gulty Crown tho 😋)
The "my dearest" 2020 is his masterpiece, but "Departures" is my favourite, just arranged perfectly.
Agreed however, my rav will probably be euterpe
My dearest will always forever be one of my favorite songs, and his piano arrangement of it is amazing. I would agree that song is kinda like his magnum opus.
Animenz - Crying for Rain
I’m crying to be able to obtain his fingers
i really hoped for crying for rain to be in the video T-T
Please broo one of my fav animenz song
recently listening to that
I was legit just about to type this wtf
My favorite part of Animenz's arrangement styles is that his left hands usually plays 2 melodies at once, creating the iconic 3 hand melodies that make the covers sound orchestral and rich.
Sadness and sorrow is beautifully written by Animenz. It’s so interesting how he changes up the time signature that the song feels different but keeps its essence
Probably my all time favorite arrangement from him
4:39 it does seem that they're just arpeggios, but that part is actually one of the hardest parts. Since alot of people have covers of this cover like its a chopin etude, this part is usually what i see people struggle with. Idk what rhythm the right hand is, but it's a bit faster than 16th notes, and playing cleanly at this this tempo is not that easy. But like i said, they aren't just arpeggios. The ascending arpeggio with the 9th is fine, but with the descent, the 11th makes it really awkward. Playing that with the dotted 8th on the left is probably why most struggle to keep the tempo consistent.
You are right, it is no just arpeggios they are in 16th notes grouped in 5 and 6 with pauses and not in a clear pattern and you have to accentuate in the most awkward places irrespective of the rhythm in the left hand and have to be played with the weakest and most awkward finger some of the time (the ring finger). Concerto level difficulty although just for a brief moment.
bro same i struggle cos its so fast. i dont think ive implemented the right finger uses in the top part especially, maybe thats why i struggle but like bro its fast asf and trippy
Completely agree. I struggle with that part the most too.
If it's true that it was easy, then I would like to see him play the whole unravel then 😅
Bet he can't
Animenz - everlasting guilty crown. I think it’s his best example of a piece that feels like a story. The whole thing is like one big crescendo
That and his 2020 version of My dearest are his masterpieces.
Agreed
Hey look at the sheets and you'll see how wild it is. There are subtle nuances you won't catch by ear.
I don't really watch any anime, but I have to say I love animenz's arrangements. His ability to just arrange things in a classical style like this is absolutely amazing.
With that said, I liked this reaction as you gave some cool insight, just wish you did one thing, which was listen to the original anime songs so you could see how his arrangements compare with the original.
Bruh, this sounds nothing like a classical style 🗿they're just modern arrangements of modern music with a bunch of fast runs, arpeggios, and an astonishing technique. Of course, I'm not saying these arrangements have nothing special, they're really impressive actually as we can see how well trained he is, but, if we talk about a "classical style" this has nothing to do with it... The harmonies, the melodies, the voicings, the DINAMICS or whatever you can think of, they're not close enough to be considered a classical kinda thing.
ofc the melody will be the modern music as it is literally modern music. What he's doing is literally a classical version of it....
you do realize if you classify a song, it'll still sound similar to the original, because if it doesn't sound like the roiginal song, it's the wrong song being played....
Fun fact, Animenz has literally gone to music school for classical music. Fun fact, his professors originally were annoyed that he was playing pop music (anime music), but surprisingly changed after seeing what he was doing with music and making his classical versions. I think his music professors know a lot better than a comment like this.
Also I've been playing piano myself for quite a while, this is definitely. classical style (from someone who's played a bunch of classical music as a kid)
@@LevelUpPiano honestly, I'm curious to know what are you listening in animenz arrangements to consider them as classical style or version from the originals.
You can still be able to make a classical version of a modern song without making rough changes to the main melody to the point it is not recognizable anymore.
I say all of this because I study piano and to be more specific, I study classical music. Recently finished the conservatory so I'm in the position to talk about this. This is not just a random comment from a random guy
@@LevelUpPiano you can search a standard jazz piece in the style of classical composers, like, autumn leaves for example, and you'll see what really means to make a popular songs or piece in the style of a certain period like Baroque or Romantic music. You have to make the song of your desire more approachable to what style you wanna sound like.
You said it yourself, you can make a classical style and but it will be unrecognizable.... And that's one huge reason to why he doesn't do what you talk about. In addition, if he did this, the songs would just become classical music and that would be honestly pointless. These anime pop songs aren't made with the intention of being fully 100% classical like you talk about. If so, it wouldn't sound good because that's not what it was made for. With that said, you're taking the "classical style" too literal. It's more so that he's adding a lot of classical touches to the piece to help it sound better on the piano, while keeping a lot of important elements from the original making a unique "Animenz" style.
i can't see any comment talking about animenz's arrangement of "grand escape", which imo is one of his most interesting arrangements and quite different from a lot of the other anime music he's covered on his channel
Animenz’s grand escape is a complete masterpiece
The fact that you can play this much after listening a couple of seconds is amazing!!!
YES I'm so happy you did this!
psst: Animenz Kantai Collection soundtrack is really underrated as it's nearly harder than unravel and has some really moving themes all tied together perfectly (a lot more contrasts in mood than unravel which is always upbeat)
Katai Collection enjoyer here, couldn't agree more!
Kantai collection mentioned!!
Didn't expect that here :)) i'm happy to see you react Animenz
Please react to his my dearest arrangement. He has two, the original version and the 2020 version he made for his channel's 10th anniversary, the first version is more technical whereas the anniversary version is more musical, would love to see you react to both :)
"He's really good at doing things with his left hand." Welcome to Animenz where he likes to throw in 3/4 hand technique just because xD
i'm really happy you did a video about animenz cause he's a great player and i heard in some of your videos for example the one of frank tedesco (edit: my point is showed at 20seconds haha) that you weren't very familiar with anime music but that from what you've heard you could like it so yeah i'm starting to watch the video right away
Ive been watching Animenz for over 10 years, he was the one who got me into playing the piano. I always found it amazing how he learns the songs by ear and adds his own touches
5:56 very sure he writes it before hand, he does have some improvised versions of the songs but i think generally he writes it out first
Animenz is awesome--thanks for showing him some love! :D
Animenz is an UA-cam OG and Legend man. Crazy that he's been around nigh a decade and a half on youtube.
ANIME OST, is just as crazy as classical/romantic pieces tbh and a lot are done on guitar, so it's not even close to speed because of picking and articulation , but you're def missing out, Studio Gibli and Anime Osts are crazy good, the japanese /asians don't fuck around and the syncopation is so good on the drums. They really are on another level . (Not bach level but still)
the only thing that is a cliche is it's usually starts, 4, 5, 6, or bVI , bVII , I to get the blood and momentum going, but the way they use modal mixture and chroamtic mediants at the same time with melodies they make are almost film score on steroids,
Nothing like it in the music genre. J rock / J pop is also crazy a f too. You will have a trap song go into a jazz voicing, into a metal , in dubstep . like J pop essentials on apple music is on craziness. Plus Tokyo blue . even friedman from megadeath said their harmony is nothing like american pop.
some of them are super jazzy too. like Spy family OST or JJK , and the themes change every arc (season) , so it's always something new.
not that C minor Ameircan bullshit in every theme. on HBo lol
There’s definitely a lot here I need to look at! I like the idea of jazzy Japan 😂
@@matticawood ua-cam.com/video/K1SAtJ8QIcc/v-deo.htmlsi=7IuhQtK4dGzorLIN AND ua-cam.com/video/aRYkmMtt3tE/v-deo.htmlsi=KVUWbsBaInLlLb3I he also covered it haha.
jun seba RIP pretty much created the Lofi- jazz Sound we have today.
Hiroyuki sawano IS the best composer of all Time !
Best osts !
I find is so impressive how you can just play some parts by just watching and listening. It might be not so hard for a pianist (i don't know), but for a person outside it looks so amazing!
Arpeggios are not unimpressive by any means. Sure they are pattern based but the difference between a regular player doing it vs a virtuoso is night and day. You have to play each note with different strengths to bring out certain melodies. It takes an incredible amount of control and practice imo
No doubt it takes practice to be able to play them well, as with most techniques on the piano! However, it’s a simple technique to understand and a very commonly used one, so it can be mastered in weeks/months rather than years with some dedicated practice. 😊
Animenz is not a pianist he is the piano himself. Damn he so smooth, every arrangement he make made me feel amaze by his brilliant move 🔥🔥🔥🥶
It's also suprising that u uploaded this just a few days after his birthday (In March 17)🤯🤯🥳🥳
Oml you've done it!! He's my inspiration!
His vogel im kafig cover is legendary, would love to hear it. My dearest is also another easy pick
Animenz - my dearest (10 year anniv)
Now that I've watched it,
RE 5:51: Animenz started his channel to promote the sheets he wrote, and thus started with a write sheet first -> perform the sheet exactly workflow; he changed that around 2019 or so and now sheets come after the performance!
Overall, you seem to have an emphasis on harmony in your analysis and I think you're spot on in pointing out what makes anime music great - it uses catchy progressions but with lots of variety so it doesn't wear them out!
Cool to see you vibing to the music
The songs are a vibe, so it required some vibing! 😂
A few of his pieces where he really hit it for me was his rendition of Grand Escape (Weathering With You) and Sincerely (Violet Evergarden).
Grand Escape to me was very technically impressive.
Sincerely was very much an Animenz arranged piece given how he completely added his parts and changed it to convert more emotions and to remember those who passed away in the KyoAni arson attack.
His 2020 arrangement of my Dearest is really special and tells a story throughout the shole piece. I would definatley reccomend that one.
Very cool to see your analysis of what makes anime (and really, most japanese pop music) chord choices different than western pop. A lot of Japanese pop music seems to be happy to take inspiration from more jazzy chords and rhythms - something that western pop really never does.
For the question of whether he wrote the sheet music before or after performing Unravel, this was back in his younger Uni days where he would finish making the sheet music 100% before even touching the piano for the piece. I play the piano but I'm nowhere near classically trained so for me that is absolutely astounding.
Been waiting fir a while for this
thank you for commenting on the pieces! I think if you listen to the original songs as well once it might be easier to notice the unique-ness of the arrangements:)
For recommendations, would love for you to go over him version of Kick Back, his rhythm there is kinda funky
The chord progression I think you identified around 8:00 with the my dearest is the Kokuma chord progression or the royal road chord profresssion it’s popular among Japanese composers.
Great video. You just gave me a dejavu when you mentioned his left hand by the way. I remembered that I commented on the original video about a year ago that that pianist's left hand was just crazy - it's the one thing that impressed me the most about his playing. INSANE left hand.
Animenz - My Dearest (10th anniversary)
Nooo you skipped the best part, the ending, of unravel😭
Not saying the rest isn't impressive but I'm surprised that noone else is talking about how he cut the most impressive part of the performance out ^^
I wanted to see his reaction on the walls😢
@@rudrakundu6170fr
The way you summarized it as (paraphrased) "a lot of anime music is like a hybrid of pop music and classical music" is a very intelligent and accurate way to put it, I feel. Another might be to say that it tends to "modernize" classical music writing. Same for Japanese game music, really. It takes the best parts of both worlds - the in-your-ear quality of pop music, and the free creative expression and depth of classical music - and brings them together.
Fun fact: Animenz created and perfected this cover in around a week! That's actually insane...
I believe that he writes his pieces before playing them. Usualy he takes month to write and practice a new piece. And when you actualy take a look at the sheet, they are actually incredibly well written
You should definitely check out his arrangement for my dearest (10 year anniversary version). It’s one of his best arrangements
Have been waiting for this vid for ages! Glad it came! Highly recommend you grab the sheet music for unravel. The more time you spend with it the more you realise how amazing it is :).
One thing you must know about the arrangement for unravel is that , he was practising lot of difficult classical pieces , and one among them was ravel’s gaspard de la unit . You can check the statements/comments made on his books which are for sale
It's a bit of a shame you went in without first hearing the originals. I think part of why Animenz is so well respected is because of how well done his arrangements are, and that's pretty hard to guage without having heard the original song before hand.
As far as I'm aware, he spends a fair bit of time working out the exact arrangement, then practicing it until he can execute it properly on camera.
It’s very intentional 😊 I prefer to have a genuine reaction of the first time I’ve heard it. I might be wrong, but if I heard the original…it might take away some of the “newness” that I got from listening to just the piano arrangement in isolation.
The melody and chords where for the most part pretty clear though, so I could generally tell what was likely to be part of the original song or some arrangement choices.
I’ve also listened to them since and they were what I imagined they might sound like based on the Animenz’ version! 😊
I love your reactions ❤ imd love to see you react to bios (10th anni arrangement) and colors ( my personal all time favorite of animenz, playing it myself as well and it's so much fun )
Thank you! Il check them out in maybe another video 😊
@@matticawood Also "Crying for Rain" is one of his best arrangements.
I highly recommend checking his arrangements of "Here - Mahoutsukai no Yome OP" and "My Dearest - Guilty Crown OP [10 Year Anniversary Edition]". They are one of the most difficult pieces Animenz has done and I'm certain you will love them.
I recommend Animenz’s Crying For Rain, The Everlasting Guilty Crown, bios(10th anniversary ver.) and Sincerely. His technique and storytelling are absolutely gorgeous.
Love that you reacted to it! Thats exactly how I thought about him
He made the Unravel cover in a week, and got the recording finished in 1 try, and somehow it's become his most popular cover which people even rank among the top piano pieces in the world. It's crazy. Also, you managed to react to my 2 favorite Animenz arrangements! Not that it's an unpopular opinion, though. You should totally listen to his remastered version of "This Game" in 2021! He fixed some mistakes and added parts he never managed to back when he made the first one.
Animenz has sooo many good arrangements. His Attack on Titan arrangements are all very good. But lately my favourite piece to listen to is Sakayume. Such great dynamics in that piece.
I love his Attack on Titan arrangements as well
same here, love sakayume's arrangements so much
some of my favourite animenz piece are,
-A cruel angel thesis (nice opening)
-Kaibutsu (js a very hype song and constant key change)
-mixed nut (crazy left hand)
-traitor's requim (got some rly cool mood changes)
-grand escape (nice opening)
-merry-go-round of life (popular song , should be the best piano ver. )
I like this video he even tells you about what hes playing its amazing thanks bro helps a lot tbh
If there's one thing you can take from anime... Even if you don't like the animations itself, they have absolutely beautiful music.
They definitely do! 😊
Love your thought man :D, Btw. you should try "My dearest" from him too!
he said himself that he played unravel only once and it was difficult even to him to play it more than once.
Animenz - Sincerely
It is very impressive how you can somewhat recreate the melody while only looking at afterimages left by Animenz’s demigod’s hands.
Definitely check out Animenz's Kuusou Mesorogiwi!! He transformed the original into a Baroque-inspired crazy piece that switches styles so often it's phenomenal
this is peak reaction 🙏🏿
Thank you 😊
@@matticawood please try Animenz - Vogel im Kafig
Puella Magi Madoka Magica - Soundtrack Medley by Animenz.
A carefully arranged piece from 4 soundtracks of one of the greatest magical girl shows ever that revolutionized the genre, inspiring many copycats that ultimately failed to come close to it...
I would love it if you reacted to some more recent stuff by Animenz as he has developed to a more musically detailed style! :)
One of my favourite arrangements by him is Grand Escape from weathering with you! :D
Also the My Dearest 10 year anniversary is one of his best works in my opinion!
The way your able to decipher what chords in what sequence is amazing to me. Some things I aspire to do even tho I play guitar but I assume everything can be translated to piano chords too.
Extra Magic Hour is also a very great piece by Animenz where he even integrated a short excerpt from a classical piece into the arrangement!
There’s an appregio from the mirai Niki (future diary) he plays up the scale with one hand and back down the scale with the other. Animenz is an extremely skilled pianist.
I love how you break it down you sound just like my mentor!
so happy you did a video about animenz, now waiting for the one of patrik he's got many great pieces hope you'll do how to train your dragon and others xD
Hopefully I will get to it in the near future 😊
Here before it blows up :D
First of all, great video. It's nice to hear people talk more about the chords instead of just the playing. I would recommend checking out Animenz's Kantai Collection Medley. It's very exciting with LOTS of changes in the music. The playing is as virtuosic with many interesting techniques. It's also 8 min long, which is perfect for recording a full-length video. Granted, it's not his most popular arrangement and you will probably not get a ton of views, but I think you will have lots of fun.
That impromptu duet at the end right there was quite the pleasant surprise.
Do "Ashes on Fire" and "Vogel Im Kafig" from Animenz next. It's his arrangements but not his songs.
He's goated.
Agreed
I love ashes on the fire, planning on learning Vogel Im kafig next. You have good taste 😎
for unravel,not sure about his other pieces, the sheets came before the performance. having tried his unravel myself, there are many sections that are much too difficult to improvise, like around 40 seconds there are simultaneous jumps in bith hands that are ridiculously hard even having practiced for several months, also at the end, the final chorus has sone crazy left hand jumps, also before that with repeated notes is insanely hard at tempo. i believe he arranged unravel while studying at a conservatory and he says that it is the hardest piece he ever has or ever will arrange.
also whats truly impressive about his playing is how much musicality he puts into these hard pieces. the melody is always super clear over the bass, and his dynamics are super clean. in unravel for example, in the intro when there are two right hand melodies, the higher one is clean and distinct where the lower almost melts into the bass
another common thing in his arrangements, not as notable in unravel, is "three hand technique" which is super apparent in "crying for rain" he often trades the melody between left and right hands while playing fills above or below, or sometimes he will use a break in a melody to jump up and add something. he also sometimes will add elements from the song that cant exactly be transposed into piano, like in "idol" during the pre-chorus theres the effect of a crowd chanting on beats 2 and 4 which he adds in the base with chords. overall hes just super thorough and faithful to the source material, while still adding his own spin, usually classically inspired. hes just a super cool dude
He also rewrote it later, so he could play less punishing version at concerts, because as he stated that even for him it is really hard to play without mistakes, which makes original Unravel arrangement unfit for live performance.
BOY - Ousama Ranking OP1 [Piano] / King Gnu, Specialz - Jujutsu Kaisen OP 2, Kakyoin's Theme (Noble Pope) and Traitor's Requiem (Jojo's Bizare Adventure op 9) are some of the songs i'd suggest, Boy especially, Noble Pope is cool because it's the only one here and in your video that isn't an opening but a CHARACTER THEME, so it's a bit different but amazing and interesting. Also CHA LA HEAD CHA LA (Rip Akira Toriyama), the creator of the legebdary series (Dragon Ball Z) sadly passed away, and this is just an iconic, amazing anime theme. Those are some songs i'd want to see reviewed from Animenz. BOY and Specialz are VERY unique openings, Traitor's Requiem is a very fun opening, and CHA LA HEAD CHA LA is just a hyper opening that is a story in a unique and amazing way, very uplifting and great, a classic opening
A video I may recommend is Viola Organista by Sławomir Zubrzycki. Viola organista is the bowed-keyboard instrument invented by Leonardo da Vinci, and built by Sławomir Zubrzycki from Poland. I recommend watching this one, as the sounds it produces are fascinating.
I don’t know Animenz, but I see a really nice curve to those fingers. And a lot of nice arm and wrist action. All of which my piano teacher has been trying to drill into my old brain. lol
It may be too much for a single video, but Animenz's subscriber medley is pretty awesome.
I literally got Goose bumps at 4:22 🥲
Animenz playing I want to change the world is one of my favorite piano version of the anime song
I could watch hours of you reacting to anime music!
This brings back so much memories... Wow. I'm crying on my bed.
YOOO I JUST ASKED THIS IN A PREVIOUS VIDEO LMAO THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS
Animenz My Dearest(2020), Kawaki wo Ameku, Snow Halation and Sincerely pls!!!
Il check them out 😊
Animenzes 1th aniversary BIOS is a beautiful piece which is very technicam. Animemz is also nnown for his 3 hamd technique which he uses. Most prevalent i BIOS and your sincerely
you gotta look at the sheet music toooo
I recommend Guren no Yumiya - Attack on Titan OP1 (the 5:34 full version)
Animenz - a cruel angel's thesis, or, crying for rain
I highly recommend you listen to Animenz's cover of Crying For Rain. It's an incredible arrangement.
"you would just never get something like that in popular music" at 7:51
Yes you would, in Japan - that's called the "japanese chord progression" in their popular music. That's why you can call it "anime music" because it all sounds the same due to almost all of it having the same or very similar chord progression, although different from the western/american pop music chord progression.
that's my goat right there brother 😂 this channel is also interesting you got new subs
more animenz pls!!!
You really have to listen to the original anime pieces to appreciate how good of a cover he does of them!
Animenz - grand escape. Mind blowing
I really recommend analyzing Animenz - Ashes on the Fire
Animez aLIEz cover also is extremly well done, definetly worth a watch.
Animenz - Merry go round of life (masterpiece)
recommending Pan Piano, because she puts extra effort into her videos.