Anime Music FAQ for R.A.A.MUSIC 1/3

Anime Music FAQ for R.A.A.MUSIC 1/3	Ru Igarashi
Anime Music FAQ for R.A.A.MUSIC 3/3	Ru Igarashi
Anime Music FAQ for R.A.A.MUSIC 2/3	Ru Igarashi

From: Ru Igarashi Subject: Anime Music FAQ for R.A.A.MUSIC 1/3 Date: 20 Jan 2005 05:33:27 GMT Archive-name: anime/music/part1 Posting-Frequency: every 4 weeks Last-modified: 21 November, 2004 Copyright: (c) 2001-2004 Ru Igarashi Disclaimer: Approval for *.answers is based on form, not content. Maintainer: Ru Igarashi Anime Music FAQ for REC.ARTS.ANIME.MUSIC Part 1 Edited by Ru Igarashi Based on the work of Steve Pearl This article can be freely distributed for non-commercial use, as long as all credits and notices remain intact. If this is to be used in any publication, including CD-ROM collections, please contact the maintainer for permission at e-mail:ru.igarashi@usask.ca. Please e-mail all additions/corrections/comments to: ru.igarashi@usask.ca Changes since last posting: - Rob Kelk submitted a classical composer reference for Kaleido Star - Rob Kelk submitted prefices for King Record, Geneon, and Milan - Dave Watson submitted a lot of classical composer references and non-anime-source reverences, some of which was forwarded from the AnimeonDVD discussion forums. - dug up some missing catalog numbers for some OST references FAQ Entries needed (submissions welcome): - Need ADV Music CD prefix - Does Bandai have a separate CD web site/page? - What Are the prefices Geneon Japan (formerly Pioneer)? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This FAQ is posted in three parts. Contents: Part 1 1. General Questions o WHY DO IMPORT ANIME CDS COST SO MUCH? o WHAT IS THE 2 YEAR LIMIT? o WHY ARE 2 PRICES SHOWN ON THE BACK OF MY CD? o HOW DO I PLAY STREAMING AUDIO? o WHAT'S THE RECOMMENDED WAY OF PRESENTING MUSIC SAMPLERS ON MY WEB SITE? o WHAT'S THE SONG THAT PLAYS DURING THAT SCENE...? o WHAT ARE SOME GOOD ORCHESTRAL, SYMPHONIC, OR CLASSICAL STYLE OST? o WHAT SOUNDTRACKS INCLUDE COMPOSITIONS BY CLASSICAL COMPOSERS? o WHAT SOUNDTRACKS USE SONGS OR MUSIC FROM OTHER NON-ANIME SOURCES? o WHAT SOUNDTRACKS FEATURED NON-JAPANESE ARTISTS? 2. Artists o WHO WROTE THE SOUNDTRACK FOR THIS SHOW? o IS GABRIELLE ROBIN ACTUALLY YOKO KANNO? o WHAT LANGUAGE DOES GABRIELLA ROBIN SING IN? o WHICH VOICE ACTORS ALSO HAVE A SINGING CAREER? 3. Legality Issues with Anime Music o LEGALITY OF COPYING ANIME MUSIC o IF NO PROFIT IS MADE, IT ISN'T ILLEGAL, IS IT? o BUT I CAN'T AFFORD THE ORIGINALS, DOESN'T THAT COUNT? o BUT THE CD I WANT IS OUT OF PRINT o IS MY INTERNET RADIO OR STREAMING AUDIO SITE ILLEGAL? o HOW DOES ONE GET AN INTERNET BROADCAST LICENSE? o WHAT IS ASCAP AND JASRAC, AND WHAT DO THEY DO? o WHAT IS THE ACTUAL COPYRIGHT LAW? o WHAT IS THE "BERNE CONVENTION"? o ARE SON MAY/EVER ANIME CDS BOOTLEGS? o HOW CAN I TELL IF A CD IS A SON MAY/EVER ANIME CD? o WHAT ARE THE PREFIXES FOR JAPANESE ANIME CDS? o WHAT ARE THE PREFIXES FOR NON-JAPANESE ANIME CDS? o ARE THERE PREFIXES FOR BOOTLEGGED CDS? o ISN'T IT ILLEGAL FOR STORES TO SELL SM/EA CDS? o BUT WHY ISN'T COPYRIGHT ACTUALLY ENFORCED? o IF THE RIGHTS HOLDERS DON'T ACT, DON'T THEY LOSE THEIR RIGHTS? o WHAT IS THIS RUMOR ABOUT LICENSING MP3 SOFTWARE? A. About this FAQ o WHAT IS THIS FAQ FOR? o WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF THIS FAQ? o WHAT ARE THOSE OTHER ANIME MUSIC FAQS? o WHERE CAN I FIND THE LATEST VERSION OF THIS FAQ? B. Contributors C. Disclaimer Part 2 1. Online Anime Music Resources 2. Anime Mail Order Businesses Part 3 1. GLOSSARY ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. General Questions o WHY DO IMPORT ANIME CDS COST SO MUCH? Because that is what they cost in Japan. This is true of anime videos, too. Most CDs in Japan cost about 3000 Yen. The currency exchange ranges roughly 1 US dollar for 100-150 Yen. That means imported anime CDs should cost about $30 US at $1:Y100 and $20 US at $1:Y150. If you find an anime CD for under $20 US, then it is either a domestic (outside of Japan) release, a used CD, or a bootleg. The reason the Japanese price is so high is usually attributed to their higher cost of living. o WHAT IS THE 2 YEAR LIMIT? The so-called 2 year limit refers to the regulation period that the first release price lasts (for "price protection"). After that period expires, retailers can reduce the price. Some people are under the impression this period refers to when the CDs are forced out of print. They are totally wrong. Anime CDs have a limited market viability, so by coincidence, some anime CDs go out of print in 2 years. But some remain in print longer than that. o WHY ARE 2 PRICES SHOWN ON THE BACK OF MY CD? The smaller of the two is the base price of the CD. The larger is includes a "value added tax" (VAT) which is what must actually be initially charged for the CD (as per "2 year limit"). o HOW DO I PLAY STREAMING AUDIO? First you need software. Some of the more popular ones are listed. RealMedia/RealAudio OS: Unix/Linux,Mac,Windows RealPlayer - http://www.real.com Streaming MPEG (including M3U and PLS) OS: Unix/Linux XMMS - http://www.xmms.org FreeAmp - http://www.freeamp.org [note: for those who want software that also plays CDs, this uses MusicBrainz instead of freedb.org for CD database] RealPlayer - http://www.real.com OS: Mac iTunes - http://www.apple.com/itunes/ Musicmatch Jukebox - http://www.musicmatch.com/home/ MacAmp - http://www.macamp.com RealPlayer - http://www.real.com Player365 - http://www.live365.com (tuned for live365) [see http://www.mp3-mac.com/Pages/MP3_Players-Mac.html for more] OS: Windows Winamp - http://www.winamp.com Musicmatch Jukebox - http://www.musicmatch.com/home/ FreeAmp - http://www.freeamp.org [note: for those who want software that also plays CDs, this uses MusicBrainz instead of freedb.org for CD database] Player365 - http://www.live365.com (tuned for live365) iTunes - http://www.apple.com/itunes Then you need some broadcasters, some of which are listed later in this document. Some will allow you to connect directly to a broadcast (i.e. you can start up the player without the browser and drop the address right in), others work through a service like Live365.com (i.e. it might be more convenient or necessary to access it via browser). If you need a browser, you need to set it up to use the audio software. In your browser's applications/helper list you need to add entries for m3u (audio/x-mpegurl and audio/mpegurl) and pls (audio/x-scpls), if they aren't already there. Keep in mind that internet radio broadcasters technically are supposed to be licensed (for copyright), so if you are fussy about that sort of thing, look for stations that have paid the copyright fee (i.e. through ASCAP, JASRAC, or similar). o WHAT'S THE RECOMMENDED WAY OF PRESENTING MUSIC SAMPLERS ON MY WEB SITE? OK, setting aside the legality issues discussed elsewhere (shakey ground here), you want to put up music on your web site so that other folks can get an idea of what is on a CD. You figure this is doing your part to increase the profile of anime or at least anime music. Of course, we do get into the copyright issues. One idea, which is not recommendable, is to use an extreme compression factor so that the sound quality deters folks that want a freebie. But how much is that? Certainly, anything above 128 kbps is very-good to CD quality, so that is out. The fact that 64 kbps is considered bearable by portable MP3 device users indicates that even 64 kbps is still too high. Then the recommendation is something more along the lines of 32-48 kbps. There is another problem with this idea besides trying to find a bitrate that is low enough to deter copiers, if you are trying to show how good a CD is, lousy quality sound detracts from your efforts. Ok, if detering copying is the issue, then how about streaming formats, like streaming MP3, Realaudio, and Windows Media Format? That does deter many copiers, but there are ways to rip that data. It also means users are limited to bitrates that their connection allows (e.g. dialups either require low bitrates or the user gets choppy music). You may also need to invest in extra conversion software and learn how to host the music, or find a host (e.g. Live365, Shoutcast). And back in legality territory, a license may even be required (e.g. streaming MP3 technically requires a license from the MP3 technology rights holders). Also, keep in mind that some streaming formats are not playable by certain operating systems (e.g. Linux vs Mac vs Windows) because the owner of the format may not have released a version for that OS. But one aspect of copyrights is that it is considered reasonable to present parts of a work for criticism or commentary. So taking that as a cue, if you want folks to hear the music, present them with clips of highlights from the CDs. You can increase the sound quality and still deter the pirates. And by using short samples, the transfer volume is small and you can put clips from more songs than if you used full songs. So how long should the clips be? The recommendation seems to be 20-45 seconds, and the clips should be selected from parts you think folks will like. There's no point in using the first 30 sec of a song if all that time is spent on an intro (unless that's the best part, of course). The idea here is that you are creating your own advertisement or review for the CD. Indicate the source of the clips and the fact they are copyrighted by the CD company or whoever is indicated as the copyright holder on the CD case. Presenting a review or critique of the CD is also a good idea (which you probably intended to do anyways, or you wouldn't be considering samplers in the first place). Keep in mind that the legality issues still should be considered. In the ideal case, getting permission is best. o WHAT'S THE SONG THAT PLAYS DURING THAT SCENE...? - Omoide Poro Poro: The end theme. song: "The Rose" note: This is a Japanese adaptation of the song most commonly associated with Bette Midler. - Macross Plus Ep. 4: During YF-19 Earth re-entry. song: Information High CD: Sharon Apple - Cream P.U.F. Cat: VICL-15037 - Ghost in the Shell: OP, ED, during the "ride" through the city. song: Basically "utai" 1,3, and 2, respectively. They are subtitled, "Making of a Cyborg", "Reincarnation", and "Ghost City". "utai" literally translates to "noh chant", which is a chant from a form of Japanese theatre. Cat: BVCR-729 - Cowboy Bebop Ep. 5: As Spike approaches the Cathedral. song: Rain note: the version on CD OST 1 (VICL-60201) is not the version from the show. However, it is on the "Future Blues" movie soundtrack (VICL-60756) as a hidden bonus. - Cowboy Bebop Ep. 5: In the fight between Spike and Vicious in the cathedral, when Spike goes through the window. song: Green Bird CD: "No Disc" OST 2 Cat: VICL-60202 - Detonator Orgun OAV 1, ending theme song: "Bandiria Ryokodan (Bandiria Travelers)" by Susumu Hirasawa note: There is another version of this song on Hirasawa's solo album "Virtual Rabbit", but it lacks the booming chorals that make the Orgun ending theme so memorable. Cat: POCH-2025 [Michael Hayden] - Koko wa Greenwood movie (OAV 5+6), final scene / end theme song: "Kimi wo Suki de Yokatta" by Asami Hayashi note: It's worth mentioning because it is NOT included on the regular Greenwood Vocal Collection (domestic reprint: JNA-1513-2). Instead it is included only on the extremely out-of-print Vocal Best Collection (VICL-40078). Cat: VICL-40078 [Michael Hayden] - Video Girl Ai OST 6, as Youta climbs the glass staircase song: "Frozen Flower" by Nav Katze note: Available on JNA-1512-2. Its appearance in the show is very brief and almost drowned out by Christmas bells, but it still catches everyone's attention. Gut-wrenchingly beautiful. Cat: JNA-1512.02 [Michael Hayden] o WHAT ARE SOME GOOD ORCHESTRAL, SYMPHONIC, OR CLASSICAL STYLE OST? As with any music, the recommendations depend on taste. Some of these original soundtracks are done with real orchestras, others are synthesized orchestras, and the styles vary widely (say, from baroque to modern). In some situations, the types of music are concentrated on specific CDs, so they are identified as such. The following OSTs are predominantly orchestral in a classical style. ["or" in the catalog number list indicates a Domestic release.] Arc the Lad - SVWC 1304, SVWC 1306 Cardcaptor Sakura - VICL-60263 Crest of the Stars (Monshou no Seikai) - VPCG-84670 Gasaraki - VICL 60295, VICL 60296 Giant Robo - BCCM-18, APCM-5007, APCM-5008, COCC-11447 [confirmation needed] - reprints: TKCA-72240, 72241, 72242 Jin-Roh - VICL-60569 Key The Metal Idol BGM Data Discs - PCCG-00350, 00394, 00045 Macross Plus OST 1 - VICL-570 or JVC-1004-2 or AT9303 Night on the Galactic Railroad - KICG-5030 Plastic Little - SRCL 2823 Princess Mononoke - TKCA-71168 or FEB002244, TKCA-71395 or 73138-35944-2 Princess Nine - COCC-15261, COCX-30059 Record of the Lodoss War - VICL-51 or JNA-1502-2, VICL-114 or JNA-1515-2, VICL-267 or JNA-1516-2 Rurouni Kenshin OVA - SVWC 1006 & 1010 Silent Moebius - VICL-178 or JNA-1518-2, VICL-304 or JAN-1519-2 Super Atragon (Shin Kaitei Gunkan) - KICA 308 Turn A Gundam OST 1 & 3 - KICA-473 & 508 Vision of Escaflowne OST 1 & 3 - VICL-769 & 773 The following has some orchestral pieces in a classical style, or uses predominantly orchestral instrumentation (or imitation) not in a classical style. Devil Hunter Yohko (Mamono Hunter Yohko) - KICA 149 Ghost in the Shell - BVCR-729 Gunbuster: Aim for the Top! (Top o Nerae!) - VICL-2178 Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory - VICL-113 and VICL-40038/40039 Iria: Zeiram the Animation - VICL 530 Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water - TYCY-5136 or 5573 Neon Genesis Evangelion - KICA-286, 290, 300 Patlabor Movie 2 - VPCG-84206 Patlabor Movie 3 "WXIII" - VICL-60851 Revolutionary Girl Utena - KICA-354 & 374 & 387 Robotech Perfect Collection - SDF-CD1 Sailor Moon - too many CDs to list here (try: http://sailormusic.net/tracks/index.html) Tenchi Muyo - PICA 1003 & 1011 & 1043 Wings of Honneamise (Aile de Honneamise) - MDCZ-1168~1171 o WHAT SOUNDTRACKS INCLUDE COMPOSITIONS BY CLASSICAL COMPOSERS? Cowboy Bebop - Tchaikovsky (Waltz of the Flowers)? End of Summer - Chopin (Prelude in F-major) Debussy (A little black man, Dream, Dream Variation) Faure (Dolly Suite, Romance without words - OP.17-No.3,) Mendehlsson (Silent Collection OP.53-No.1) Ravel (Sonatine - 2nd movement) Evangelion - Handel (Halleluja Chorus from Messiah) Handel (Blessed are the Lamb, Amen from Messiah) Beethoven (Symphony #9 - choral) Pachebel (Kanon D-Dur) Bach (Cello Suite #1 - Prelude) Bach (Jesus, Joy of Man's Desiring) Bach (II Air) [is that "II" for real?] Excel Saga - L. v. Beethoven (short sections of 4th movement from 9th Symph) FLCL - Kabalevsky (The Comedians - Gallop) Gakkou no Kaidan - Beethoven (Fur Elise) Geobreeders 2 - L. v. Beethoven (short sections of 4th movement of 9th Symph) Giant Robo - Donizetti (aria from L'Elisir d'Amore) Gunbuster - Mascagni (intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana) Handel (Messiah)? Dvorak (New World Symphony) Hana Yori Dango - Mahler (which Symphony?) Harlock Saga - Wagner (Ring of the Neibulung) [based on or actual use?] His and Her Circumstances (KareKano) - L.v. Beethoven (Symphony #?) Irresponsible Captain Tylor - Rossini (William Tell Overture) Kaleido Star - Richard Strauss (Also Sprach Zarathustra [best known as the "2001" theme], in episode 20) Legend of the Galactic Heroes movie - Ravel (Bolero) Love Hina - Erik Satie (several bars from Gymnopedie No. 1 in Episode 12) Stravinski (Night on Bald Mountain) Magnetic Rose - Puccini (aria from Madame Butterfly) Nazca - J.S. Bach (?) Patlabor III - Beethoven (adagio from Pathetique sonata) Princess Nine - Schubert (Andante con moto from Piano Trio in E Flat) Princess Tutu - Are you kidding? What composer isn't represented in this show? For a partial list, see (beware, there are potential spoilers): http://www.geocities.com/ruigarashi/FAQS/raa_music/princess_tutu_composers.txt Rahxephon - A. Borodin (Polovtsian Dance No. 17 from "Prince Igor") Read or Die - Beethoven (Symphony #9, 4th movment) Sailor Moon - A. Vivaldi (4 Seasons "Summer") - J.S. Bach (Toccata and Fugue in D minor) - L. v. Beethoven (Symphony #5 & #9) - F. Chopin (Sonata #2) - Franz Lehar ("Merry Widow") - Johann Strauss Jr. ("Blue Danube") Utena - Berlioz (2nd movement of Symphonie Fantastique) Violinist of Hamelin - Rossini (William Tell Overture) - Bizet (Carmen Overture) - Beethoven (Violin Concerto) - much much more common wedding song - Wagner (Lohengrinn) o WHAT SOUNDTRACKS USE SONGS OR MUSIC FROM OTHER NON-ANIME SOURCES? Evangelion - "Fly Me to the Moon" by Bart Howard (1954), most notable version sung by Frank Sinatra FLCL - many songs by The Pillows [needs confirmation of prior release] Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence - "Follow Me" by Kimiko Itoh (re-recorded) G.T.O. - "S.O.S." by Pink Lady Gunslinger Girl - "The Light Before We Land" by The Delgados Hanada Shounen Shi - "The One" and "Drowning," performed by the Backstreet Boys His and Her Circumstances - "S.O.S." by Pink Lady. Maison Ikkoku - "Alone Again (Naturally)", "Get Down" by Gilbert O'Sullivan Metropolis - "I Can't Stop Loving You" by Don Gibson, sung by Ray Charles. Nana 7 of 7 (Shichinin no Nana) - "The Maple Leaf Rag" by Scott Joplin Night Walker - "Gessekai" by Buck-Tick Noir - "Copperia no Hitsugi" by Ali Project Serial Experiments Lain - "Duvet" by Boa. "HimuraLain" recommends checking http://www.boaweb.co.uk in the biography section to explain the circumstances around that particular acquisition by Pioneer. Teki wa Kaizoku (Enemy's the Pirate) - "It's Only Love", "Danger on the Street" and "Big Beat, No Heart", by Lea Heart, Paul Dianno, Biff Byford. [need confirmation of prior release] Texhnolyze - "Guardian Angel" by Juno Reactor Urusei Yatsura - 'almost every piece of the Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour" album... (Along with the occasional disco-ized "When You Wish Upon a Star"' - Derek Janseen Black Heaven - "Cautionary Warning" by John Sykes. ""Cautionary Warning" first appeard on John's album "20th Century" (Mercury Japan PHCR-1590, released in 1997), two years before "Black Heaven" was released in Japan (1999)." - Glenn Shaw o WHAT SOUNDTRACKS FEATURED NON-JAPANESE ARTISTS? Cowboy Bebop - featured singers Carla Vallet, Emily Bindiger, Hassan Bohmide, Steve Conte - lyrics by Tim Jensen, Brian Richy Gankutsuou (The Count of Monte Cristo) - Jean Jacques Burnel (better known as JJBurnel from the band The Stranglers Harmageddon - soundtrack supervised by Keith Emerson Maison Ikkoku - Mark Goldenberg wrote some of the instrumentals Monster - ED theme "For the Love of Life" performed by David Sylvian Project A-ko - Joey Carbone and Richie Zito RG Veda - music by Nick Wood Tenchi Muyo in Love - music by Christopher Franke - ED sung by Nina Hagen and Rick Jude ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Artists o WHO WROTE THE SOUNDTRACK FOR THIS SHOW? Here is a short and far from complete list of soundtrack writers, and, in some cases, their web site. Names are listed surname first. Amano Masamichi - Super Atragon, Princess Nine Arisawa Takinori - Sailor Moon Hisaishi Joe - Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, Kiki's Delivery Service, Porco Rosso, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away http://www.joehisaishi.com Hogari Hisaaki - My Dear Marie, Gasaraki Kanno Yoko - Macross Plus, Vision of Escaflowne (not the North American TV version, though a little was left in), Cowboy Bebop, Brain Powerd, Magnetic Rose segment of Memories, Turn A Gundam, Chikyuu Shoujo Arjuna (Earth Girl Arjuna), Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex Kawai Kenji - Patlabor (TV, OAVs, movies), Mermaid's Forest, Blue Seed, Irresponsible Captain Tylor, Vampire Princess Miyu (OAV and TV), Ghost in the Shell, Devilman, Maison Ikkoku TV, Ranma 1/2: Big Trouble in Nekonron http://www.kenjikawai.com/ Mitsumune Shinkichi - Revolutionary Girl Utena, Nurse Angel Rarika SOS Nagaoka Seiko - Tenchi Muyo, El Hazard, Sol Bianca: The Legacy Wood, Nick - RG Veda Reichi Nakaido ("Chabo") - Serial Experiments Lain Sakamoto Ryuichi - Wings of Honneamise http://www.sitesakamoto.com/ Tanaka Kohei - Sakura Taisen Terashima Tamiya - Key the Metal Idol, Plastic Little http://www.dd.iij4u.or.jp/~tamiya/index.shtml Tsuru Nohihiro - Mermaid's Scar Vink - All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl, Slayers Yasuda Takeshi - Oh My Goddess Mizoguchi Hajime - Please Save My Earth, Jin-Roh, ~1/3 Escaflowne http://www.archcello.com/ Iwasaki Taku - Rurouni Kenshin OVAs, Witch Hunter Robin, Read or Die o IS GABRIELLE ROBIN ACTUALLY YOKO KANNO? There is evidence that suggests this. See http://kanno.simplenet.com/robin.html However, she has yet to 'fess up. o WHAT LANGUAGE DOES GABRIELLA ROBIN SING IN? As one rec.arts.anime poster once wrote, it's LizFraserese (i.e. Elizabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins is well known for her "screwing up the lyrics" experiments in phoenetics). In Robin's case, often, it's gibberish that sounds kind of French. o WHICH VOICE ACTORS ALSO HAVE A SINGING CAREER? Some VAs seem to be committed to a singing career in addition to (or vice versa) voice acting, either in regularly performing live or releasing CDs. Others either make appearances or produce CDs in support of a show, and may do so infrequently. It's hard to say what constitutes a career, but there are quite a number of VAs that have at some point sang in addition to voice acting. The list is long enough that it shouldn't really be included here. Check Seiyuu databases, listed in the "Online Anime Music Resources" section. For example, Hitoshi Doi's Seiyuu Database is searchable and also broken down by different categories. You can also try the online CD stores (e.g. CDJapan) for specific actresses that you know (e.g. by looking it up in Hitoshi's Seiyuu database :) . ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Legality Issues with Anime Music o LEGALITY OF COPYING ANIME MUSIC From Avatar's (a.k.a. Andy Kent) Japanese Animation Legality FAQ (http://member.newsguy.com/~memoirs/legal.html - note this is not being maintained at the moment, just archived), No, you can't copy a CD full of anime songs either. @_@ Unless you're making a personal copy onto tape for use in your car or such, and even that's touchy from a legal perspective. As some folks have pointed out, if you pay the copyright fee or whatever given stipulated terms, of course you can. Many music related clubs do this, and in some countries there is a levy on recordable CDs to accomodate the recording industry. Time shifting (e.g. making a temporary copy of a TV show while you are away from home so that you can see it when you get home), and space shifting (e.g. making a tape or MP3 of songs you paid for so you can listen to them in your CD-less car) have been allowed, but the allowances are quite restrictive. Copying MP3s from Napster, for example, when you don't own a legal copy of the CD they came from was ruled definitely illegal. One key issue of legality is that you have to own a legitimate copy (produced by rights holder, sold legally to you, or to an individual who then gave it to you) BEFORE you make any copies, or generate any other form of copy. If you can't prove that, you can assume your copy is illegal. Otherwise, the Fair Use clause of any nation's copyright laws tend to be difficult to gauge, such that it is better to assume a copy is illegal. Keep in mind, that Fair Use clauses tend to be oriented more towards "purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research" (US Code Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 107). At the very least, it's handled case-by-case. o IF NO PROFIT IS MADE, IT ISN'T ILLEGAL, IS IT? Not true. There have been quite a few cases in the US where a finding of violation was made even if no profit was made, or no money exchanged. As long as some party benefits to the exclusion of the rights holder, there is a good chance of a finding of violation. That means even trading CDR or MP3 of songs is most probably illegal if the original CD does not accompany them. o BUT I CAN'T AFFORD THE ORIGINALS, DOESN'T THAT COUNT? Now we are getting into moral issues. The law says that getting copies without permission or license is illegal (sometimes even criminal), so regardless of moral issues, your financial standing doesn't matter. That is, as far as the law is concerned, getting or making a copy without permission or license is not much different than grabbing the orignal CD off the shelf and walking out of the store without paying for it (except that doing so is always criminal, I think, a matter of degree), so you shouldn't do it. There is also the issue of supporting the market. Until now, we have had little choice but to import our favourite anime STs (with limited exceptions). As such, we may be a small part of the anime CD market, but there's nothing saying we aren't an unoticeable part. Bootlegs reduce our visibility, and would present a bigger obstacle than bootlegs of videos because music is a more universally accessible medium (no need to translate). But anime, and anime CDs, are a niche market. As such, we should worry about the effects on attempts to market non-Japanese releases of our favourite STs. Remember, these folks not only have to pay a license in addition to the usual overhead, but they have to convince the Japanese companies that it's worth giving the licence in the first place. Someone out there is keeping track of how much anime CD exporting there is, and bootlegs detract from that. I mention the above because ADV and TRSI have started a joint venture to bring at least 100 anime CDs to North America in 2002, and we should think about supporting that. Now if you allow me this digression, really, getting anime CDs isn't a right, it's a luxury. As such, we shouldn't really expect prices to oblige us to that extent (after all, that's what capitalism is about). That is, if you are concerned about moral issues, it's like any item we can survive without, if we can't afford it we should do without until we can afford it. We have to live with that on stuff we consider more essential than anime CDs, so it should apply with anime CDs, too. Then it's just a question of what you are morally and legally willing to live with. If these considerations aren't a concern, your financial standing is the main consideration. If they are a concern, then your financial standing doesn't count. It's up to you. Just be aware that rec.arts.anime.music has a few vocal objectors to bootlegs. o BUT THE CD I WANT IS OUT OF PRINT Ok, another moral territory issue. Setting the moral issue aside for the moment, there are other means of getting the CD. You can check out used CD stores, both brick-and-mortar (if you are so lucky as to have one nearby) and online (some are listed in this FAQ). You can check out the online auction sites, being careful to check catalog numbers, and the usual precautions against fraud. You can inquire in the rec.arts.anime.marketplace newsgroup. As far as the moral issues are concerned, one argument against bootleg CDs, similar to the affordability perspective, is that acquiring CDs is a luxury and not a right. The notion that "you can live without it, do without", applies similarly here, especially considering you do without with more important stuff. Concerns regarding the domestic market for non-Japanese re-releases also apply here as with the affordability perspective. In some sense, moreso because the domestic prices tend to be comparable to the bootleggers' (outrageous) prices. That can also lead to some confusion as to what is a legitimate low priced CD. Finally, not all CDs remain out of print. Some CDs get a new pressing after only a couple years, which helps us folks on the other side of the planet that only get a chance to see the anime a couple years after the Japanese showing. Some CDs, like the Nadia and Patlabor CDs, enjoyed a re-release many years after. o IS MY INTERNET RADIO OR STREAMING AUDIO SITE ILLEGAL? You may be avoiding direct copying of works, but you still have to worry about broadcasting rights. If you or your service have paid the license or gotten authorization from the rights holder, you're legal. If you haven't, your site may well be in violation. Keep in mind, if you are running as a member of a licensed broadcast service like Live365.com, you may be ok; it depends on if their licensor covers the foreign works you are broadcasting. As usual, your programs have to be made from legitimate copies (e.g. not from CDR or MP3 you got in a trade). o HOW DOES ONE GET AN INTERNET BROADCAST LICENSE? It varies from country to country, but most countries have an organization like ASCAP (see below) that you can contact. They usually handle a variety of licensing packages to suit the scale of the licensee. o WHAT IS ASCAP AND JASRAC, AND WHAT DO THEY DO? [this needs confirmation and should not be considered reliable information] These organizations look after copyright management for their members. They give out licenses, collect royalties, and distribute the money from licensing and royalties. Their members are the rights holders of the work they license. These organizations are limited to a country, but there may be more than one in a country. Many of these organizations are members of international cooperatives through respective agreements. This allows works covered by one organization to get royalties from performances in another country. ASCAP is a North American licensing organization, and JASRAC is a Japanese one. If someone wanted to use an anime CD in a broadcast fundraiser in Houston, Texas, that person would pay the licensing fee perhaps to ASCAP, and then ASCAP would pass money along to JASRAC, who then gives the money to the writers, the studios, etc, in Japan. Here's a sample list of organizations in some countries. USA American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) http://www.ascap.com/ Broadcast Music, Inc (BMI) http://bmi.com/ Canada Society of Composers, Authors, and Music Publishers of Canada http://www.socan.ca/ UK Performing Right Society (PRS) http://www.prs.co.uk/ Japan Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers, and Publishers (JASRAC) http://www.jasrac.or.jp/ejhp/index.htm o WHAT IS THE ACTUAL COPYRIGHT LAW? There is no one copyright law for all nations. The Berne Treaty (see below) tries to make copyright laws of signing nations consistent and to add just enough glue to protect international works. Copyright laws of various nations can be found at these sites. Japan http://www.cric.or.jp/ (Japanese) http://www.cric.or.jp/cric_e/index.html (English) USA http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/ Canada http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/C-42/index.html Australia http://scaleplus.law.gov.au/html/pasteact/0/244/top.htm UK http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1988/Ukpga_19880048_en_1.htm o WHAT IS THE "BERNE CONVENTION"? The Berne treaty is an international treaty that outlines the basic copyrights that all signatory nations will abide by. The main points are: - works created in a foreign nation will be treated as if created domestically. - all artists have the exclusive right to authorize translations, reproduction, performance, and adaptation of their works. - all artists have the right of integrity and attribution - signatory nations can have even more and stronger copyright rules than the treaty stipulates. The number of signatory nations that have NOT signed the treaty is a small minority of all nations. An HTML version of the Berne Treaty can be found at: http://www.wipo.int/clea/docs/en/wo/wo001en.htm or at http://www.law.cornell.edu/treaties/berne/overview.html Other international treaties can be found at the World Intellectual Property Organization web site (http://www.wipo.org/): http://www.wipo.org/treaties/ip/index.html A list of signatory nations can be found at: http://www.wipo.org/treaties/documents/english/pdf/e-berne.pdf o ARE SON MAY/EVER ANIME CDS BOOTLEGS? In all Berne convention signatory nations, yes, they are. These are made by Taiwanese companies that did not get permission, or pay licenses, to reproduce and distribute most (if not all) of their anime CDs. As far as the CD data for a given song is concerned they are identical to the original. They are also getting difficult to identify by package quality, as their print copying is getting pretty good. Other common bootleg companies seem to be: Smile Face Alion It is up to the you to decide if buying a bootleg is acceptable to you. Similarly, it is up to you how you should react to a store that sells bootlegs. Note: As of 1 January, 2002, Taiwan joined the World Trade Organization, and thus became obliged to enforce international copyright. The current batch of bootleggers (Son May, Ever Anime, Smile Face, Alion) are expected to disappear soon. o HOW CAN I TELL IF A CD IS A SON MAY/EVER ANIME CD? If you are buying CDs off the shelf, CDs from these companies are clearly labelled as "Son May", "SM CD", or "Ever Anime", so they aren't difficult to identify. But when online shopping, it is always a good idea to do a little research beforehand. You can get catalog information from CD information sites and online CD stores in Japan. If you forget the actual number, knowing which company released the CD and the prefix they use can help a lot. The more common ones are listed with the next few questions. There is a good site for more general anime bootleg information at http://www.digital.anime.org.uk/piratefaq.html There you can find images of the SM and Ever Anime logos, as well as other anime piracy information. Another decent general anime bootleg information site is http://members.austarmetro.com.au/~mwhitley/bootleg.htm It's focus is more on the Australian market, but the bootleg info is relevant. o WHAT ARE THE PREFIXES FOR JAPANESE ANIME CDS? For the legitimate companies, common catalog prefixes are: COCC,COCX - Columbia Japan ? - Geneon Music Publishing KICA,KIDA,KICS,KICM - King Record (Starchild) KTCR - Kitty LACA - Lantis PICA,PIDA - Pioneer PCCG - Pony Canyon TKCA,<2digits>ATC - Tokuma Japan TYCY - Toshiba-EMI (Futureland) VICL,VIDL - Victor VPCG - Vap o WHAT ARE THE PREFIXES FOR NON-JAPANESE ANIME CDS? There are some companies in North America and elsewhere outside of Japan that have, or had, licenses for some anime CDs: AT - Animetrax, a joint ADVFilms and Right Stuf label ? - ADV Music RSCD - Right Stuff International TPCD - Soundtrax, TokyoPop's CD label JMI|JVC|JNA - JVC USM - Central Park Media/US Manga Corps PICD - Geneon/Pioneer ####-# - Geneon Entertainment USA ####-CD - Bandai CD-<2 letters> - Viz Music DSCD - Demon Soundtracks (UK) 73138-#####-# - Milan For more information on domestically released anime CDs, see Chris Sypal's Domestic Anime CD Guide at http://www.radiks.net/~csypal/cds AniMusic: The Ultimate List of American Released Anime CDs http://www.shizukapress.com/Otaking/Animusic/animusic.html o ARE THERE PREFIXES FOR BOOTLEGGED CDS? For some, yes. For the most common bootleggers: GGG,GA,GSM,SM,A&G,GAME,CK,SMA - Son May A8 - Ever Anime ALCA - Alion KA,HO - Smile Face [Could someone find out what some of the prefixes for latter two are?] o ISN'T IT ILLEGAL FOR STORES TO SELL SM/EA CDS? Yes, it is. However, copyright laws require the copyright holder to submit a complaint, rather than having law enforcement agencies search for infringements. Most anime-related Japanese companies haven't seen fit to pursue the matter, so stores can get away with selling bootleg products. However, doing so does leave them open to prosecution if a CD company suddently decides to clamp down. If you feel strongly enough against a store selling bootlegs, point out the items to the store manager/owner. Sometimes they don't know any better. If they sell them knowingly, and if you feel strongly enough about it, you can tell the manager you will not patronize the store and will tell your friends about it. Just be sure you have another source of anime goods. o BUT WHY ISN'T COPYRIGHT ACTUALLY ENFORCED? Copyright laws are mostly civil laws rather than criminal laws (though there are criminal sections in many copyright laws). Accordingly those kinds of laws are typically pursued by lawsuit rather than actively by some agency like police or customs departments. That means the copyright holder must file a suit in order for action to take place against a violator. The onus is probably also on the plaintiff to somehow show infringement (e.g. some sort of damage) occured. This method of enforcement is probably necessary to protect the general public from degrees of enforcement that were not intended for rights holders against the general public. One should keep in mind that copyright laws are intended to foster scientific and creative progress by giving creators confidence that they can sustain their work (and themselves pursuant to that work). Activities that are restricted to an individual have a much smaller impact on that confidence. Large scale activities will have a larger impact, and at some point a noticeable impact. As such, copyright laws seem geared more towards large scale activities rather than the activities restricted to an individual. Therefore the copyright laws allows for a fair bit of discretion or flexibility when it comes to determining violation. o IF THE RIGHTS HOLDERS DON'T ACT, DON'T THEY LOSE THEIR RIGHTS? No, not at all. Copyright laws protect a work for many decades regardless of whether the rights holder ever acted. The rights holder can in fact take action at just about any time on any of many infractions, though there can be some limits on how long ago a violation can be sued for. The two main ways of losing the rights, or the for the work to enter the "public domain", is a) the passage of time past the duration stipulated by law (many decades), or b) the rights holder explicitly stipulating the the rights have been relinquished into the public domain. o WHAT IS THIS RUMOR ABOUT LICENSING MP3 SOFTWARE? Well, encoding and playback software are also subject to intellectual property rights (patents), and in this case the rights holders of the MP3 format (Fraunhofer IIS-A and Thomson Multimedia) are going around to writers of MP3 software demanding a fee or royalty (of $0.75 US) for every unit of player software sold. That shouldn't impact anyone getting player or encoder software as part of a purchased package. If the playback software is distributed as freeware, it is also royalty free. However, for ALL encoders, a license is needed, and thus royalties must be paid (starting at $2.50 per encoder sold or given for free). You also need a license to provide REVENUE GENERATING MP3 content on the internet. Fee's are based on gross income (including advertising and subscription), so with no income the license is free. This is on top of a copyright license for the music. The 2001 version of the licensing pages at http://www.mp3licensing.com stirred up a bit of a fuss when it seemed to change the long standing freeware policy. It turns out to have been a wording error, and there were actually no changes since 1995. As a result of these code copyrights though, there has been a movement to use the Ogg Vorbis audio file format, which is license- and royalty- free. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A. About this FAQ o WHAT IS THIS FAQ FOR? (from "Welcome to rec.arts.anime.music" FAQ) This FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) is a companion to a set of FAQs for the rec.arts.anime.music newsgroup and anime music in general. It is intended to be a reference of basic information about the news group, e.g. the kinds of topics that are intended. As a set, the FAQs are intended as a reasonably accessible reference to basic information about the news group, rec.arts.anime.music, and topics that are frequently encountered as a fan progresses from novice to "expert". They are posted once a month in rec.arts.anime.music. They are not by any means comprehensive, and are subject to the changes of the times. Items that could do with more input are tagged with "editor's note" and a note, delimited by '[' and ']'. If you have any suggestions, corrections, or submissions, please send them to me or post them in rec.arts.anime.music. For information about the news group itself (e.g. what are or aren't considered appropriate topics for postings, see the "Welcome to REC.ARTS.ANIME.MUSIC" FAQ. o WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF THIS FAQ? (from "Welcome to rec.arts.anime.music" FAQ) This rec.arts.anime.music FAQ was originally created and maintained by Steve Pearl, the moderator of rec.arts.anime.info, who saw the need for introductory FAQs for many of the rec.arts.anime news groups as they were being created in 1996. He maintained them until the fall of 1998. In January of 2001, maintainance of this FAQ was assumed by the current maintainer, and after significant revisions and updates, regular posting resumed in March, 2001. Steve's entries are attributed by [SP], or [SP,RI] where I've made significant changes. In May of 2003, the FAQ was split into two documents, one for information about the newsgroup (this one) titled "Welcome to REC.ARTS.ANIME.MUSIC" and one for anime music information titled "Anime Music FAQ for REC.ARTS.ANIME.MUSIC". The latter was split into multiple parts. The current maintainer and this news group owe a debt of gratitude to Steve Pearl, for his foresight at the birth of this news group and the effort he put into this and other rec.arts.anime FAQs. Wherever you are, Steve, Thanks. o WHAT ARE THOSE OTHER ANIME MUSIC FAQS? "Welcome to rec.arts.anime.music" - an FAQ regarding the newsgroup itself http://www.geocities.com/ruigarashi/FAQS/raa_music/ or ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-hierarchy/rec/arts/anime/music o WHERE CAN I FIND THE LATEST VERSION OF THIS FAQ? This FAQ is posted every 4 weeks to rec.arts.anime.music rec.arts.anime.info The latest working copy that contains changes going into the next official posting can be found at http://www.geocities.com/ruigarashi/FAQS/raa_music/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- B. Contributors As with most FAQs, the information documented in the rec.arts.anime.music FAQ comes from many people (yes, anime fans are people, too). Our thanks should go to these people. Steve Pearl (who started this FAQ) Avatar Chika Clinton Moulds Daniel (a.k.a. vanfanel) Joshua Kaufman K.E. Bosco Mike Quin Nikkou Nobutoshi Ito Pipian Rob Kelk Rob Maxwell Ru Igarashi Simon Palko Thomas Chan Tom Norrill Wayne C. Morris Terrence Huey Michael Hayden Joe Curzon Glenn Shaw Nunya Biznes Kaijyuu Miyuki-chan Josh Berry Eric VanHeest Zoe (of zoemi.com) James Mccawley Phil Lee Dave Watson Sean O'Connor John Lee Baird HimuraLain Skeleton Man Mark Weiss Anthony D. Baranyi Anime-niac Jen Stantz ---------------------------------------------------------------------- C. Disclaimer This document is provided without any warrantees, implied or expressed. The editor assumes no responsibility for damages resulting from the use of the information the document contains or the lack thereof. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Edited by Ru Igarashi. E-mail submissions and questions about the newsgroup to ru.igarashi@usask.ca. From: Ru Igarashi Subject: Anime Music FAQ for R.A.A.MUSIC 3/3 Date: 20 Jan 2005 05:35:29 GMT Archive-name: anime/music/part3 Posting-Frequency: every 4 weeks Last-modified: 19 June, 2004 Copyright: (c) 2001-2004 Ru Igarashi Disclaimer: Approval for *.answers is based on form, not content. Maintainer: Ru Igarashi Anime Music FAQ for REC.ARTS.ANIME.MUSIC Part 3 Edited by Ru Igarashi Based on the work of Steve Pearl This article can be freely distributed for non-commercial use, as long as all credits and notices remain intact. If this is to be used in any publication, including CD-ROM collections, please contact the maintainer for permission at e-mail:ru.igarashi@usask.ca. Please e-mail all additions/corrections/comments to: ru.igarashi@usask.ca Changes since last posting: - added "Off Vocal Version" cross reference to Karaoke (Rob Kelk) FAQ Entries needed (submissions welcome): - need glossary entry for streaming Windows Media ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This FAQ is posted in two parts. Contents: Part 1 1. General Questions 2. Legality Issues with Anime Music 3. Artists Part 2 1. Electronic Anime Music Resources 2. Anime Mail Order Businesses Part 3 1. GLOSSARY A. Contributors B. Disclaimer ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. GLOSSARY The following are short descriptions of terms and abbreviations common in this newsgroup. For a comprehensive list of acronyms used in the rec.arts.anime.* news groups, see Rob Kelk's "Anime Acronym List", posted monthly, or found at http://robkelk.ottawa-anime.org/acronyms.html ..au/.aiff/.snd/.voc/.wav: Suffices for different types of audio files. Most of them do not use any compression. Are now mainly used for computer system sounds (which is what they originally started out for). ..avi: AVI video files. AVI is not actually a compression format, rather a wrapper for a wide variety of video compression formats. ..gz: Suffix for unix "gzip" compressed file. See Compressed File. ..lha/.lzh: Suffix for Lempel-Ziv-Haruyasu algorithm compressed file. See Compressed File. ..m3u: Suffix for "MPEG1 Layer 3 URL" file. See M3U and MP1/MP2/MP3 files below. ..mov/.qt: Suffices for QuickTime video files. Like AVI, this is a wrapper for a wide variety of video compression formats. ..mp1/.mp2/.mp3: see MP1/MP2/MP3 Files below ..mpg: MPEG1 video file. Not to be confused with MP1/MP2/MP3. See MPEG below. ..ogg: Ogg Vorbis audio file. See Ogg Vorbis file below. ..pls: Suffix for Shoutcast PlayLiSt file. See PLS Files below ..ra/.rm/.ram/.rpm: "Real" audio/visual files, a proprietary format by the company that produces the RealPlayer line of software. These are usually used as a source file for streaming AV content over the net rather than download-then-play. Some of these (.ram, .rpm) are actually contain pointers to the actual file. ..tgz/.tar.gz: Suffix for gzipped GNU tar compressed archive file. ..Z: Suffix for standard unix "compress" compressed files. See Compressed File. [SP] ..zip: Suffix for the MSDOS zip compressed archive file. See Compressed File. Anime: Japanese word for animation, pronounced "ah-nee-meh". In North America (and probably everywhere outside of Japan), "anime" is used only in reference to Japanses animation (whereas, in Japan it refers to all animation). The term "anime" is preferred in this newsgroup over "japanimation" (a term used by North Americans to refer to Japanese animation), as the latter seems to be offensive to some people. [SP,RI] Anison: Japanese word for "anime song". Detailed definitions vary, but basically these are songs made for and used in anime. Often these are OP or ED, and sometimes instrumental OP or ED are considered anisons. Technically speaking a "song" is sung, i.e. has a singer, so it might be argued that instrumentals don't count. Purists also stipulate that anison are sung by career anime artists, singers who don't have (much of) a singing career outside of anime songs. Anonymous FTP: A type of FTP to log into a remote machine without needing an account, and extracting files from it (see FTP). Web browsers make use of this "automatically", so you don't really need to know how. If you want to use anonymous FTP manually but don't know how, ask your local System Administrator. [SP,RI] BGM: Background music bitrate: In the audio context (also in video), the bitrate cited is usually the maximum volume of digital data (number of "bits") available at a time (e.g. per second) for compressed audio data. It is often used synonymously with compression factor and audio quality (more compression results in poorer quality) because the raw audio data usually starts out with much higher digital size and must be squeezed down the the assigned bitrate. For example, CD audio runs at more than 1 million bits per second, and MP3s typically reduce that to the order of 100,000 bits per second (100 kbps). bootleg: Copies of a work (e.g. CD) made and distributed illegally, especially with respect to copyright laws, which usually stipulate that copying and distribution require permission (and usually licensing) from the original producer of the work. Frequently used synonymously with the term "pirated". Browser: An application for accessing the web, like Netscape. [SP] CCCD: Copy-Control CDs. As the name implies, these are CDs with a form of copy control, particularly to try to block copying of music on computers. Introduced to the market by Avex, it is my understanding that the CCCD is actually a multi-session CDROM with data (plus some black magic) and audio tracks. The audio tracks contain the usual CD format music, but the data track is what computers see, and that typically contains compressed audio files along with a M$ Windows "private player" (it looks like some companies use their own encoding, one company uses K2 enc and Sony uses their minidisc ATRAC). If you want to identify CCCDs, the standard logo can be seen in this Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) news: http://www.riaj.or.jp/e/news/20020418.html There are currently 5 Japanese companies using some variant of the CCCD format (you'll have to use a translation service to read their web pages): Avex (http://www.avexnet.or.jp/cccd) Toshiba-EMI (http://www.toshiba-emi.co.jp/) Japan Victor (JVC) (http://www.jvcmusic.co.jp/cccd/) King Records (http://www.kingrecords.co.jp/cccd/index.html) Pony Canyon (http://www.ponycanyon.co.jp/tpci/cccd) Sony (http://www.sonymusic.co.jp/cccd/) Teichiku Entertainment Universal Music Japan (http://www.universal-music.co.jp/cccd/index.html) Warner Music Japan (http://www.warnermusic.co.jp/cccd/index.html) Avex, King, Universal Pony Canyon and JVC use Cactus Data Shield protection scheme. Sony CCCDs use Labelgate protection scheme. It should be noted that Phillips, the originator of the CD format refuses to allow the CD trademark to be used on these CDs (because they simply aren't audio CDs). CD: Compact Disc. These are 5 inch optical storage disks capable of holding up to 650 megabytes of data or 74 minutes of audio (well, they can squeeze in more, but that's the standard specification). There are a few types of anime audio CDs: soundtrack or original soundtrack or OST - Contains the musical score for the anime. An exception is the soundtrack for Akira, which includes the voices and sound effects! If you just want the music, get the Akira Symphonic Suite instead. symphonic - A full-symphony rendition of the music in the anime. image - Contains music that "evokes the memory (or mood) of the film". This includes new versions of music on the anime, music written for the film but not included in it, and other (maybe new) music somehow related to the film. drama - Much like a radio play, but on CD. The story can be from the video, but often is not. high-tech - A synthetizer rendition of the music in the anime. [SP,RI] CDROM: CDs used for computer data storage. They can, of course, hold audio files, but they can't be played in an audio CD player. Playback is via computer, or portable audio file playback device (similar to the Rio). CD-R: Write once, read many times CD. Can be used to make audio CDs and computer data CDs. Compatible with most CD-only players (home audio and computer alike), however, some DVD decks cannot read these since the laser frequency is mismatched to the disc dyes used. Once written, it can't be written over and more audio tracks cannot be added. Data versions can have additional data written in a special "multi-session" format, which aren't readable on older CDROMs. CD-RW: Rewritable CD. Can be used to make audio CDs and computer data CDs. Can be written over many times (though there is a limit), or written incrementally. Not all CD-only players can play these, but DVD decks should because the dyes used are coincidentally closer matched to the DVD laser frequency than CD-Rs. CD-Single: A 3 inch version of the normal (5 1/4 inch) CD. There's no difference in the data structure, but because it is physically smaller, it holds less music. Usually used for music "singles" (the term "single" is loosely applied as often there are a couple to a few songs on one). These can be played in most normal CD players (if you see a smaller diameter depresssion in your tray and have wondered about it, this is what it's for). CD-V: CD-Video. A CD that has one track of audio-and-video, and three or four additional tracks of audio-only. Not to be confused with VCD (see VCD below). [SP,RI] Compressed File: Files compressed by programs like Unix compress(1), gzip(1), or MSDOS zip. This is done to long files (like long FAQs) to save disk storage space and reduce download time. In order to view such a file, you usually first run a decompression program like gunzip(1), or unzip, in order to convert it back to its original form. There are some programs that allow you to view compressed files without manually decompressing the files first. Also, in the case of tar or zip, the content is usually more than one file (even whole directory structures). [SP,RI] DMCA: Digital Millenium Copyright Act - a US Bill that amended US Code 17 (Copyright Law) (e.g. Chapter 12). Acquired some infamy with one of its intents which was to update Title 17 to deal with computer technology's effect on intellectual property. In particular, the DMCA deals with two issues: measures that prevent unauthorized ACCESS and measures that prevent unauthorized COPYING (defined as the exclusive rights of an author). BUT it explicitly does not affect the other aspects of USC 17, including the various exclusions and limitations of copyright. And then came the uproar. The DMCA says that "No person shall circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work...". Unfortunately, some people have taken this to mean that anyone that does something like a screen capture of a DVD for a term paper is breaking the law because piping the DVD player's analog signal into a capture card is "circumventing" the DVD's encryption. That isn't the case, because a) term papers are fair use which the DMCA allows, and more importantly, b) the DVD deck is a permitted way to play back the DVD, c) "circumvent protection..." is defined as "means avoiding, bypassing, removing, deactivating, or otherwise impairing... a measure". b)&c) indicates, ACCESS has clearly not been circumvented since the data went RIGHT THROUGH the protection. As long as you use standard (authorized) equipment to play back digital media, DMCA is a far smaller issue than alarmists make it out to be. Check Chapter 12 of USC 17, for more details on the actual law. If you are into lawmaking, you can find the text of the act at the Library of Congress site: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c105:H.R.2281.ENR: Like most amendments, it's a bit messy, so the US Copyright Office has an enlightening Summary at http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf Dolby Digital: Used to be called AC-3, a digital audio specfication for sound recordings used mostly with video. It is not limited to surround sound, as the specfication allows for monaural (1.0), stereo (2.0), and surround (5.1) sound. It has since been extended to 6.1 and 7.1 in DD Surround EX for more precise rear or back surround sound placement. This is still technically 5.1 because the extra surround speaker info is encoded in the left and right surround tracks then decoded for the extra speakers by the EX-enabled sound system. This means a DD 7.1 recording can still be played back on a 5.1 sound system. This is not MPEG, which is ironic because the video it usually accompanies is MPEG. Drama track: Some CDs have radio-play style skits between music tracks. They can be comedy or drama, but are still refered to as "Drama tracks". DVD: The next generation of optical storage medium (after CDs). Introduced as a video medium, the specifications for the audio variant was only finalized in early 1999. The audio DVD can hold a vastly larger volume of music data, some of which is directed towards a higher audio quality than CD and some of which can be used for surround audio, thanks to MPEG compression (see MP1/2/3 and MPEG below). However, audio DVDs are rare, and it isn't clear that older players will be compatible with DVD-audio software. For more information, check Jim Taylor's DVD FAQ at http://www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html ED: Ending credits. Also used in reference to the music playing during the ending credits. FAQ: Frequently Asked Question. A question which is frequently asked by new (or casual) users of a newsgroup. In order to increase the Signal-to-Noise ratio, some newsgroups have a person in charge of posting a monthly list of FAQs and the correct answers. [SP] FTP: "File Transfer Protocol". A method of moving files from one computer to another that involves logging into the other machine and issuing commands to get and put files onto either machine. Logging in essentially opens a data pipeline between the two machines that are normally closed off from each other. Most of us will use it as Anonymous FTP (see Anonymous FTP) for getting a file from someone, but the folks providing that file probably used straight FTP to put the file where we can get it. If you want to use FTP manually but don't know how, ask your local System Administrator (it's pretty simple most of the time). IM: Image Song (see Image Song below) Image Album: See CD above. Image Song: A song on an anime-related CD that isn't actually used in the anime show. It usually has some aspect that is tied to the show, like the atmosphere or imagery, or the singer sings in character. IMHO: In My [Humble|Honest] Opinion. J-Pop: Japanese Pop. A term used to refer to, well, pop music originating in Japan. Some anime music fall under this category, and some VAs have some sort of J-Pop career. Karaoke version: Some CDs have tracks from what were originally vocal music, but without the vocals. This is for folks that want to sing their rendition of the vocals. That is, this is for Karaoke. Some companies call these "off vocal version". kbps: kilobits per second. Unit of measure for bitrates. See "bitrates". M3U files: "MPEG1 Layer 3 URL", a file containing a list of pointers (originally URLs) of MP3 files for streaming audio. Used by some MP3 players as a playlist file, which contain a list of files, or the location of off-site files, to play back. Some streaming audio sites use these, but the actual audio is MP3 format. See also PLS files. MD: MiniDisc. An optical music storage format, using a 2.5 inch disc in a cassette from Sony. These make use of Sony's proprietary ATRAC (Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding) compression format to fit data onto the smaller form factor. This compression uses the same principles as MP3 (see MP1/MP2/MP3) but is a different implementation, and thus incompatible. This format has occasionally been used in .wav files. Discs can be rewritable and those can be written and deleted on the fly. There are home stereo units that can record and play the discs, as well as portable playback units. Never caught on as well outside of Japan as CD did, despite the recordability, though Sony started a push in the late 1990's. Note, this is not the same thing as CD-Singles (see CD-Single). For more information, try http://www.minidisc.org/ MDLP: MiniDisc Long Play. A newer MiniDisc encoding format that allows the disc to hold 160 and 320 minutes of data. The bitrate is actually lower than half and 1/4 of the standard (SP) due to the inclusion of space for dummy data to make this format compatible with SP. Players that can play MDLP can play SP, but machines made before MDLP or without it cannot play MDLP formatted discs. MIDI files: As noted above, MIDI files are intrinsically like MOD files, deriving sound from individual samples rather than one continuous waveform. However, MIDI files use a more standard sample set, and with the proper hardware you can play a piece on a keyboard/synthesizer and have your computer record it as a MIDI file. More information can be found on the alt.binaries.sounds.midi, alt.music.midi, and comp.music.midi newsgroups. [SP] Mini-Disc: See MD. MOD files: MOD files use discrete instrumental samples plus other information (frequency of the note, volume, etc) to play sounds, as opposed to WAV and AU formats which just play back a single continuous waveform. Any sample, generally up to a size limit (in number of bytes), can be taken, unlike MIDI which has a specific, though growing, standard set of samples. The MOD format started on the Amiga and was subsequently ported to PCs, Macs, etc. The original format has also been improved from its original four channels and somewhat limited effects to more than 30 channels and a multitude of effects (volume and tonal slides, vibrato, etc). Probably the most popular "advanced" MOD format is the ScreamTracker Module, or .S3M file. More information can be found on the alt.binaries.sounds.mod and a.b.s.mod.d newsgroups. [SP] MP1/MP2/MP3 files: Sound files which use a "lossy" compression algorithm to reduce the size of the sound file an order of magnitude from the raw size. It takes advantage of the human ear's inability to perceive variations beyond certain levels (e.g. frequency). It can be adjusted to throw more or less information away at the cost of audio quality. The actual formal denotation is MPEG1-layer1/2/3, so that the acronyms result from truncating the "version 1" index. That is, MP2 is NOT MPEG2, it is a subset of MPEG1. There are other MPEG audio codecs, but relative to the efficiency of MPEG1-layer3, the returns are so poor they are not broadly used, except possibly MPEG2 in DVD. There are now portable hardware that can input and play back MP3 files. MPEG: "Moving Picture Experts Group", a series of specifications for compressing digital video and audio data. They use a "lossy" compression philosophy, which takes advantage of our senses' inability to percieve variations beyond certain levels. It relies on playback devices to have code that does a decent job of approximating the original information based on the reduced information from the compressor. There are actually 4 "phases" of MPEG, with varying degrees of public recognition. MPEG1 is commonly used for video CDs (see VCD below), movie files, and MP1/MP2/MP3 audio files (see MP1/MP2/MP3 above). MPEG2 is what DVDs use for video (and Dolby Digital or MPEG2 for audio). MPEG3 was found to be redundant with MPEG2. MPEG4 is for extreme compression situations, like telephony and internet movies. MPEG1 was used a lot for transmission of programming to local broadcast stations, but the Digital TV age will guarantee MPEG2 dominance for that purpose. For more information, check the FAQs at http://www.mpeg.org. Off Vocal Version: see "Karaoke version" Ogg Vorbis file: An audio file using an open software compression algorithm. The aim is to be an alternative to MP3 because of licensing issues for MP3 players. Algorithm uses a similar lossy compression philosophy (see MP1/MP2/MP3), but implements it differently so that intellectual property rights are not violated. Most major audio players should be able to play this format. OP: Opening credits. Also used in reference to the music playing during the opening credits. OS: Operating System (computers). After all, computers are used to play music, too. :) OST: Original Soundtrack (see "soundtrack"). Usually in reference to a soundtrack as a body of work (e.g. CD, LP). Sometimes used synonymously with ST. Overseas version: These seem to be CDs destined for foreign (outside of Japan) markets. They are either produced in Japan for export, or produced by a foreign branch of a Japanese company, or licensed by a foreign company. Beware! Sometimes this tag is used for bootlegs. [editor's note: Which overseas-version producing companies are legit? Which aren't, or which make lousy CDs?] PCM: Pulse Coded Modulation audio format. This is what the uncompressed or raw data data on CDs is called. You'll see the technical sections of your CD and DVD players refer to this. This is also the required format for audio on DVD-Audio (i.e. compressed MPEG audio formats are optional). PLS files: Shoutcast PlayLiSt file used by some MP3 Players, which contain a list of files, or the location of off-site files, to play back. Some streaming audio sites use these, but the actual audio is MP3 format. The main difference with M3U files is extra information (e.g. title) and syntax, but otherwise serves the same function. seiyuu: Japanese word for voice actor. soundtrack: the music that plays during a show, or the score. Sometimes used synonymously with OST CD. ST: Soundtrack (see "soundtrack"). Sometimes used synonymously with OST. URL: An URL is used by programs (usually browsers) to find a specific file or location anywhere on the internet. URL is short for "Uniform Resource Locator". For example, two sites may have the same file called priss01.gif, but the URL's will be different, such as ftp://tcp.venice.com/pub/anime-manga/sorted/bgc/priss01.gif and http://www.rit.edu/~bmk7411/anime/priss01.gif For the technically minded, a URL is made like this: http://www.rit.edu/~bmk7411/anime/priss01.gif ^1 ^2 ^3 ^4 ^5 ^6 1: The type of service (such as FTP, Telnet, etc.). 2: The separator to the actual address. 3: The address (or site) on the internet where the information can be accessed. 4: The seperator to the local directory/folder of the information. 5: The folder/directory structure to locate the item. 6: The actual file itself. This isn't always there, and when it isn't the computer pointed to by #3 will send over a default file, the directory listing, or other information. [SP] Usenet: Technically, the proper name for "news groups". It is a messaging system in which each message is broadcast to, and stored at any site that wishes to provide access to the message to its users, by category, or "news group". That means there is no central server, and no one controls or rules usenet. Many news groups are grouped under "hierarchies" which have different policies. Usenet has been around longer than the internet, but now mostly uses the internet to transmit messages (it doesn't have to). Note, "news groups are not the internet", and vice versa, and "news groups are not web boards", etc. VA: Voice Actor VBR: Variable Bit Rate. For some digital audio (and video) compression schemes, the Bitrate (see "bitrate") can be continuously changed to suit more or less complex changes in sound (or picture). This helps to optimize the storage space (e.g. on a DVD) and reproduction quality. This is done at the authoring phase and is out of the user's control. VCD: Video CD. Video is compressed using MPEG1 lossy algorithm. The specification (White book) is fairly strict, allowing for only a fairly limited bitrate and only 352x240 (NTSC) or 352x288 (PAL) resolution. Can hold up to just over one hour of video, as well as menu driven access and still images, and computer files. Not really an audio format, though not out of the question. Not to be confused with DVD. WWW: World Wide Web. A global, interactive, dynamic, cross- platform, distributed, graphical, hypermedia information system that runs over the Internet. Note, "the web is not the internet", and vice versa. [SP,RI] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A. Contributors As with most FAQs, the information documented in the rec.arts.anime.music FAQ comes from many people (yes, anime fans are people, too). Our thanks should go to these people. Steve Pearl (who started this FAQ) Avatar Chika Clinton Moulds Daniel (a.k.a. vanfanel) Joshua Kaufman K.E. Bosco Mike Quin Nikkou Nobutoshi Ito Pipian Rob Kelk Rob Maxwell Ru Igarashi Simon Palko Thomas Chan Tom Norrill Wayne C. Morris Terrence Huey Michael Hayden Joe Curzon Glenn Shaw Nunya Biznes Kaijyuu Miyuki-chan Josh Berry Eric VanHeest Zoe (of zoemi.com) James Mccawley Phil Lee Dave Watson Sean O'Connor John Lee Baird HimuraLain Skeleton Man Mark Weiss Wesley Kwong Tomoe (smency20) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- B. Disclaimer This document is provided without any warrantees, implied or expressed. The editor assumes no responsibility for damages resulting from the use of the information the document contains or the lack thereof. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Edited by Ru Igarashi. E-mail submissions and questions about the newsgroup to ru.igarashi@usask.ca. From: Ru Igarashi Subject: Anime Music FAQ for R.A.A.MUSIC 2/3 Date: 20 Jan 2005 05:34:27 GMT Archive-name: anime/music/part2 Posting-Frequency: every 4 weeks Last-modified: 19 June, 2004 Copyright: (c) 2001-2004 Ru Igarashi Disclaimer: Approval for *.answers is based on form, not content. Maintainer: Ru Igarashi Anime Music FAQ for REC.ARTS.ANIME.MUSIC Part 2 Edited by Ru Igarashi Based on the work of Steve Pearl This article can be freely distributed for non-commercial use, as long as all credits and notices remain intact. If this is to be used in any publication, including CD-ROM collections, please contact the maintainer for permission at e-mail:ru.igarashi@usask.ca. Please e-mail all additions/corrections/comments to: ru.igarashi@usask.ca Changes since last posting: - updated Geneon USA's music URL - tried updating Geneon Japan's URL FAQ Entries needed (submissions welcome): - need more music sampler sites! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This FAQ is posted in three parts. Contents: Part 1 1. General Questions 2. Legality Issues with Anime Music 3. Artists A. About ths FAQ Part 2 1. Online Anime Music Resources o WHERE CAN I FIND INFORMATION ABOUT SPECIFIC CDS? o WHERE CAN I FIND MORE INFORMATION ABOUT VOICE ACTORS? o DO THE ANIME CD COMPANIES HAVE WEB SITES? o WHERE CAN I FIND LYRICS FOR ANIME SONGS? o ARE THERE ANY ANIME INTERNET RADIO STATIONS? o WHERE CAN I FIND AN ANIME MUSIC SAMPLER SITE? o WHERE CAN I FIND SHEET MUSIC FOR ANIME? o ARE THERE ONLINE JAPANESE DICTIONARIES? o MAILING LISTS o ARE THERE ANY ANIME MUSIC VIDEO SITES? 2. Anime Mail Order Businesses A. Contributors B. Disclaimer Part 3 1. GLOSSARY ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Online Anime Music Resources There are two sites that maintain a database of general anime-related web sites and electronic resources: Anime Web Turnpike http://www.anipike.com/ Anime and Manga Resources List http://www.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/u/mlvanbie/anime-list/ [defunct?] If you can't find the information you want at the specific sites mentioned throughout this FAQ, try those two sites. If you are after anime theme songs, "Anison Generation" lists songs used as themes at http://anison.pobox.ne.jp/ o WHERE CAN I FIND INFORMATION ABOUT SPECIFIC CDS? Yet Another Anime CD Cyclopedia http://yaacc.cjas.org Maintained by Jerry Hsu, based on Steve Pearl's AnimeCD Cyclopedia from the 1990s. This is an HTML version containing: - catalog numbers, - front cover scans, - track titles, - track times, - title translations, - singer/artist, - comments Contributions are welcome, as are corrections, preferably in his tagged format but also in the old Cyclopedia format. Ratings are optional. Colette CD Connection http://www.fanfic.net/~colette/ Contains: - catalog numbers, - front cover scans, - track titles, - track times, - comments Moon Prince's Anime and Seiyuu CD Reviews http://wwwcsif.cs.ucdavis.edu/~hueyt/cd.html Contains: - catalog numbers, - front cover scans, - track titles, - reviews, - ratings Studio Neko-Han-Ten Anime/Manga CD Guide http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Bay/7427/ Contains: - catalog numbers, - track titles, - track times, - title translations, - singer/artist, - comments Anidisc.com http://www.anidisc.com/ Contains: - catalog numbers, - track titles, - track times, - singer/artist - searchable in addition to browsable Has user interface for entering or changing entries. Chris Sypal's Domestic Anime CD Guide http://www.radiks.net/~csypal/cds A site for CDs licensed for re-release in the West. Contains: - catalog numbers, - track titles, - track times, - singer Correlates to original Japanese release when applicable. Gracenote www.gracenote.com A site for general audio CD track listings for use by playback software/hardware. Some anime CDs are listed here, but other production information is very limited. Gracenote now charges royalties to software makers, so it's not clear what will happen to it. Used to be called cddb.com. See freedb.org for its free alternative. FreeDB.org www.freedb.org An alternative to gracenote.com (was cddb.com), which is used for general audio CD track listings for use by playback software/hardware. Like Gracenote, production information tends to be limited. It's newer so its database is currently smaller, so anime CD information is even more sparse. For J-pop: Shoji Iwata's J-pop reviews, and audio and video samples http://www.shudaika.com/ CD information for specific shows can sometimes be found at fan web sites. Check the Anime Web Turnpike, http://www.anipike.com for lists of sites for specific shows. o WHERE CAN I FIND MORE INFORMATION ABOUT VOICE ACTORS? You can try these seiyuu databases or link pages. Hitoshi Doi's Seiyuu Searchable Database http://www.tcp.com/doi/seiyuu/seiyuu.html Has J-pop CD info as well as seiyuu info. Voice Actor(ess) links http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~AE5T-KSN/anime/voice-e.html Anime-Seiyuu Info Page http://www.anime.usacomputers.net/~hideaway/seiyuu.htm [defunct] CD information seems limited to OSTs. Anime Web Turnpike Seiyuu/Voice Actors links http://www.anipike.com/index.php?cat=7 o DO THE ANIME CD COMPANIES HAVE WEB SITES? Some do. The sites for the original anime CD companies tend to be in, well, Japanese, and as such I can't vouch for their usefulness: King Records http://www.kingrecords.co.jp/ Lantis http://www.lantis.co.jp/ Geneon http://www.geneon-ent.co.jp/ [This is site is a bit convoluted. No dedicated page for CDs. I have no idea where the old Pioneer CD info is now.] Pony Canyon http://www.ponycanyon.co.jp/ Starchild (division of King Records) http://www.starchild.co.jp/ Toshiba-EMI http://www.toshiba-emi.co.jp/ VAP http://www.vap.co.jp/ Victor (JVC) http://www.jvcmusic.co.jp/m-serve/index.html In North America there is: Animetrax (ADVision and Right Stuf International) http://www.animetrax.com Soundtrax (TokyoPop) http://www.tokyopop.com/soundtrax Geneon Anime Music http://www.geneonanimemusic.com/ (note: Geneon USA has apparently partnered with Starchild, a division of King Records) o WHERE CAN I FIND LYRICS FOR ANIME SONGS? You can find a good list of web sites that have anime lyrics at the Anime Web Turnpike at http://www.anipike.com/index.php?cat=94 You can also find official translations of songs from anime that AnimEigo has released at their web site: http://www.animeigo.com/Liner/ Some recommended fan lyric sites that don't seem to be listed on AniPike are: AnimeLyrics.com http://www.animelyrics.com/ Searchable site. Also has J-Pop and game lyrics. o ARE THERE ANY ANIME INTERNET RADIO STATIONS? [editor's note: I'm open to recommendations] Anime in the Limelight http://www.limepub.com/radio.html Licensed anime music radio site, about 1 hour content. [currently struggling to meet expenses ($3000)] Adventures in Anime Music http://www.adventuresinanimemusic.com/ Licensed anime music radio live broadcast and site, about 1 hour content per broadcast, archive of previous broadcasts. Anime Hardcore Radio http://www.animehardcoreradio.net/ Live365.com station, but also broadcasts on other streaming formats like mp3 and realaudio. Interactive Anime OST http://ftp.jav.net/ A Shoutcast station with an online request system. Uses streaming mp3 at 128kbps so you need a reasonably fast network connection. Japan-A-Radio http://www.japanaradio.com/ ToonRadio.net http://www.toonradio.net/ Broadcasts "Anime in the Limelight" and "Adventures in Anime Music" in scheduled time slots. You might try some of the streaming media vendors, like Real.com and live365.com, shoutcast.com or check the site database at the Anime Web Turnpike (http://www.anipike.com/index.php?cat=92). o WHERE CAN I FIND AN ANIME MUSIC SAMPLER SITE? Many people say they use MP3s to get an idea of what's on a CD before they decide to buy it. There is a school of though that says the more ethical way of providing this is by provding exerpts from any given track rather than the whole track (for example, see WHAT'S THE RECOMMENDED WAY OF PRESENTING MUSIC SAMPLERS ON MY WEB SITE?). The following provide that service to anime music fans. [maintainer's note: this REALLY needs more entries] CDJapan: The audio/video retailer in Japan has samples for some of the CDs they sell. They usually have a link on the CD's details page. http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/ For Yoko Kanno's works: The Yoko Kanno Project http://jameswong.com/ykproject/ http://jameswong.com/ykproject/disc/music.php o WHERE CAN I FIND SHEET MUSIC FOR ANIME? It isn't clear there is much around to begin with. Also if there is something published in book form, you might be able to get it from Japanese stores, like www.amazon.co.jp. A general sheet music site like the following might have something. Doremi Music Publishing Co., Ltd. 3-36-4 Takada Toshima-ku Tokyo 171-0033 Japan phone: 03-5950-8220 fax : 03-5950-8246 http://www.doremi.co.jp Site is in Japanese. Some fan transcriptions can be found at: Neko's guide to Anime Sheet Music http://home.talkcity.com/InfiniteLoop/nekosenshi/ [defunct] Cowboy Bebop This was posted 9 Nov, 2001: While looking for an "impish" picture of YK, I found this at James McCawley's site: Cowboy Bebop Sheet Music At last, sheet music for a Kanno score has been officially published. The "Cowboy Bebop Bandscore", containing Kanno's band arrangements for the tracks Tank, Rush, Space Lion, Cats on Mars, Memory, and Real Folk Blues, is available from Movic, ISBN #4896014138, retailing for 2000 yen. It turns out there was an earlier sighting by Lynn Tse in Sept 1999: Cowboy Bebop Band Score Movic ISBN: 4-89601-413-8 2000 yen (tax not included) released 1999.1.15 The 80 pages book is black A4 size, with Spike on the front cover and the Swordfish in the back cover. Please note that this book is a Band Score, not piano sheet music, meaning that if you want to reproduce any of the songs in the book, you will need a Jazz band. Some of the songs uses something like 15 instruments. The songs are: 1. Tank! 2. RUSH 3. SPACE LION 4. Cats on Mars 5. Memories 6. The Real Folk Blues Sorry about missing that, Lynn. Note, I think this book is now out of print. For Maaya Sakamoto and Yoko Kanno fans, this was posted on 29 Aug, 2003: Title: Yasashiku hikeru Sakamoto Maaya Piano Solo Album, Single Collection + "Nikopachi & Hotchpotch" Publisher: kmp ISBN: 4-7732-2097-X Price: 2000 yen Description: Piano scores for all 31 tracks from Sakamoto Maaya's two single collection albums (http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/anime/topics/maaya_sakamoto/index.html). All tracks are composed by Kanno Yoko. Level: beginner Website: http://www.kmp.co.jp/Shinkan/shinkan0309.html#a In the same posting: Title: Piano de hiku Juunikokuki Yasou Tsuki no Shizuku ~Piano Memories~ Publisher: Yamaha Music Media ISBN: 4-6362-5817-7 Price: 1500 yen Description: Piano scores from all 11 tracks of the mini-album of the same title (http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=VICL-61146). The album is a collection of piano pieces (some have been rearranged for piano as well) from the "Juunikokuki" soundtrack. The score book is apparently supervised by the Ryo Kunihiko, the composer and pianist for the "Juunikokuki" soundtrack. Level: intermediate to high Website: http://www.ymm.co.jp/products2/detail.php?format=search&code=GTP25817 o ARE THERE ONLINE JAPANESE DICTIONARIES? Some of us are brave enough to attempt to transliterate (convert one kind of characters to another) and translate the track listings and other information from our anime CDs. However, it is not as simple as grabbing a dictionary and plugging in the English equivalents. You need to know some grammar, to know what the form changes are, what is a name and what isn't, where one word ends and another begins, for example. This subject is beyond the scope of this FAQ, but once you have learned some Japanese, it's possible to get quite far. But you need to deal with 3 different character sets: the simplified katakana and hiragana, and the pictographic (and extremely numerous) Kanji. That makes sifting through dictionaries more of a job in cryptography than straight translation. Online dictionaries can be a lot of help, both to get you started and to get words that aren't in those J<->E and Kanji dictionaries spread over your desk. Jeffrey's Japanese<->English Dictionary Server http://www.solon.org/cgi-bin/j-e/dict/ mirrored at http://rut.org/cgi-bin/j-e/dict/ Highly configurable, has multiple search strategies. Jim Breen's WWWJDIC Server http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/wwwjdicinf.html Large body of resources. Just between those two, you get a potent coverage of all sorts of tranliteration and translation problems. For translating Japanese web pages, try Babelfish http://babelfish.altavista.com/ Be aware that names get mangled with this as it doesn't distinguish names from ordinary words. o MAILING LISTS Before joining a ML or participating in one, it is highly recommended that you read the Mailing List Etiquette FAQ written by Brian Edmonds. The latest edition of which can be found on the web at: http://www.gweep.ca/~edmonds/usenet/ml-etiquette.html - Seiyuu Mailing List http://www.win.ne.jp/doi-bin/ml-admin.pl?ML_NAME=seiyuu - Megumi Hayashibara: a mailing list for and about Megumi Hayashibara. The list has been developed to discuss and debate anime, TV Shows, Radio programs, CD's, and video games that feature the Seiyuu Hayashibara Megumi in it. Megumi-san is one of the most popular Seiyuu not only in Japan, but in North America as well. Her roles include Lina Inverse in Slayers, Nuku Nuku in Cat Girl Nuku Nuku, Ayanami Rei in Evangelion, and Saotome Ranma(Girl) in Ranma 1/2. She also has had many great supporting roles too, including Christina MacKenzie in Gundam 0080 and Sakurayama Momoko in Patlabor. If you are interested in discussing these series and Megumi's work in them, or any of her CD and TV appearances please send e-mail to: megumi-request@anime.usacomputers.net With subscribe in the body of the message. [SP] o ARE THERE ANY ANIME MUSIC VIDEO SITES? http://www.animemusicvideos.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Anime Mail Order Businesses [editor's note: I'd like more information regarding "overseas" versions.] The following companies sell imported anime music through mail order, either by phone, fax, e-mail, web, or snail-mail. Be sure to do your homework beforehand if you are concerned about things like bootlegs. Keep in mind that special orders, or out-of-stock items, from stores outside of Japan may take a month or more to ship because their ordering frequency is limited. Amazon.co.jp http://www.amazon.co.jp/ [In Japanese. The Japanese branch of amazon.com. You might find music books here, if you can read or translate Japanese, or Babelfish (http:babelfish.altavista.com/) works well enough. Viable alternative to CD Japan (see below), carries some items CD Japan does not, and shipping charges can be lower. For CDs, try finding the catalog number elsewhere and then using that in Amazon.co.jp's keyword search.] AnimeNation contact: 13929 Lynmar Boulevard, Tampa, Florida 33626 USA Phone: (813) 925-1116 Toll-Free: 1-888-MY-ANIME Fax : 1-813-925-1247 retail store: 1530 N McMullen Booth Rd D-4 Clearwater, FL 33759-2547 USA Phone: 1-727-669-8553 Fax : 1-727-669-7372 email: sales@animenation.org http://www.animenation.com/ [General anime and manga.] Anime Jungle contact: 5-12-4 Nipponbashi, Naniwa-ku Osaka, 556-0005 Japan Phone: (country code 81) 6-6636-7444 Fax : (country code 81) 6-6636-7449 e-mail: info@jungle-scs.co.jp (Japanese) info@animejungle.com (English) http://www.jungle-scs.co.jp/ (Japanese site) http://www.jungle-scs.jp/en/ (English site) [Anime video and music store. Recommended by some for used out-of-print CDs. Ships internationally, but be aware of shipping costs (Y1500 + ~Y300/item + 10% surcharge).] Asahiya Bookstores U.S.A., Inc Yaohan Plaza 333 S. Alameda St. Suite 108 Los Angeles, CA 90013 Phone: (213) 626-5650 Fax : (213) 626-1746 [Manga and various anime magazines, books, posters, calendars, and CDs.] [SP] CD Japan Neo Wing Co. 601 Kyodo Bldg. (Shin-hoidome), 1-10-12 Horidome, Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-0012, Japan http://www.cdjapan.co.jp [General CD store in Japan. Good stock and special order response. Good service. Fast delivery (3-5 days from Japan to North America). Shipping charges are high (EMS to North America: Y1200 + Y320/item + 5% international shipping charge) but MAY balance out for those who would pay higher charges from stores outside of Japan anyways. It is also worth it if availability and delivery time are an issue, too. Probably most often recommended.] Fujisan.com 1942 University Avenue #105 Berkeley, CA 94704 USA phone: 1-877-fujisan or 1-510-548-9689 (not for orders) fax: 1-510-653-2670 http://www.fujisan.com (Japanese) http://www.fujisan.com/online/superstore/index.html (English) e-mail: e-service@fujisan.com, shopping@fujisan.com [General Japanese goods import store in US. No specific anime section. Online availability of anime CDs so-so, but they take special orders. Shipping cost in US reasonable, to Canada quite steep. Shipping discounts available for US (48 states) orders. International orders limited to only a handful of countries.] Japan Internet Goods Shop (JIGS) http://www.jigsco.com/ email: jigs@amy.hi-ho.ne.jp [General anime store in Japan. Does not accept credit cards.] JPQueen http://www.jpqueen.com [Online used anime/manga goods store. Shipments by EMS are expensive as usual, but there is an Airmail option which is cheaper though uninsured and untrackable.] Nikaku Animart 615 N. 6th St. San Jose, CA 95112 Phone: (408) 971-2822 Fax : (408) 971-0856 email: nikaku@nikaku.com http://www.nikaku.com/ Closed Mondays [General anime and manga. Minimum purchase (e.g $100 for international orders shipped by post).] Planet Anime 2435 Times Blvd. Houston, Texas 77005 Phone: (713) 523-7122 Fax : (713) 523-3574 email: planet@sam.neosoft.com http://www.planetanime.com/ [General anime. Does mail order & special orders.] The Right Stuf International P.O. Box 71309 Des Moines, IA 50325 Phone: 1-800 338-6827 http: //www.rightstuf.com/ [General anime and manga store, but CDs may be limited to domestic if at all. Does mail order.] Yesasia.com (US) 28 Second Street, Suite 328 San Francisco, Ca 94105 United States Phone: 1-888 716-5753 http://us.yesasia.com/ [General Asian media store, but it does occasionally stock anime CDs.] [There have been confirmed reports of bootlegs coming from this store, labelled as "Overseas Version".] You can also find used CDs at online auctions sites like E-Bay, but, since many are bootlegs, be sure to do your homework. One recommended auction site is Yahoo! Japan's auctions (http://auctions.yahoo.co.jp/), particularly through an intermediary service like Rinkya.com (http://rinkya.com/) or perhaps a translation site like Babelfish (http://babelfish.altavista.com/ - be aware that names get mangled with this as it doesn't distinguish names from ordinary words). If there is a store that you have found to be reliable for mail-orders, please let me know so I can add them to this list. However, given the tone of this FAQ regarding bootlegs, it is probably best to recommend only stores that do not sell bootleg CDs. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A. Contributors As with most FAQs, the information documented in the rec.arts.anime.music FAQ comes from many people (yes, anime fans are people, too). Our thanks should go to these people. Steve Pearl (who started this FAQ) Avatar Chika Clinton Moulds Daniel (a.k.a. vanfanel) Joshua Kaufman K.E. Bosco Mike Quin Nikkou Nobutoshi Ito Pipian Rob Kelk Rob Maxwell Ru Igarashi Simon Palko Thomas Chan Tom Norrill Wayne C. Morris Terrence Huey Michael Hayden Joe Curzon Glenn Shaw Nunya Biznes Kaijyuu Miyuki-chan Josh Berry Eric VanHeest Zoe (of zoemi.com) James Mccawley Phil Lee Dave Watson Sean O'Connor John Lee Baird HimuraLain Skeleton Man Mark Weiss Ralph W. Phillips ---------------------------------------------------------------------- B. Disclaimer This document is provided without any warrantees, implied or expressed. The editor assumes no responsibility for damages resulting from the use of the information the document contains or the lack thereof. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Edited by Ru Igarashi. E-mail submissions and questions about the newsgroup to ru.igarashi@usask.ca.