Great TV Show For New Brass Players: Hibike! Euphonium

ttf_harrison.t.reed · Sun Jul 30, 2017 11:38 am

I've been watching a TV program from Japan called 'Hibike! Euphonium', or 'Sound! Euphonium'. It's a kids show, aimed at young women, but I'd recommend it for anyone who is starting or getting back into playing.

It's literally a show about playing in a band, and the excitement of picking your first instrument, and the feeling of making music for the first time with others. Very slice of life.

Episode 9 (maybe 8?) ends with a fantastic short piece called "ai wo mitsuketa basho (the place I/we/they found love)", which is for trumpet and euph. The music is all played on real instruments, probably by the folks at Yamaha (the show's sponsor), and unlike the usual representations of musical instruments in animation, the instruments all look real and are manipulated realistically. You can hear the kids struggling with pitch, and in one scene a teacher even gets the viewer to hear and learn about overtones. It's great.

Anyways, please check out this show if you can, and maybe recommend it to your students. I think it can be viewed for free on Crunchyroll.com .

http://www.crunchyroll.com/sound-euphonium

I could see it being motivational and nostalgic for any kind of musician who's been in a wind ensemble.

ttf_BGuttman · Post by **ttf_BGuttman** » Sun Jul 30, 2017 1:02 pm

Is it only in Japanese? Many of us would probably watch if it was in English or at least with English subtitles. My Japanese is limited to "Hai" and "Sayonara"

ttf_Burgerbob · Post by **ttf_Burgerbob** » Sun Jul 30, 2017 1:13 pm

Personally, it's more anime dreck in the form of a Yamaha advertisement. But different strokes!

ttf_harrison.t.reed · Post by **ttf_harrison.t.reed** » Sun Jul 30, 2017 1:23 pm

There's subtitles. It's for kids... so adults might not see the value in it

. I could see why it might drive some people away...

https://www.youtube.com/v/1x5VyzK-_zg

The omnipresent Yamaha instruments seems like product placement, but is also pretty much 100% accurate -- that's what you play in Japan.

One similar series adults would like more might be Nodame Cantabile, which features James Depreist as the director of a fictional orchestra in Paris (he was the director of the Tokyo Metropolitan and Oregon Symphony). That one's about classical musicians in general, and was so popular that it spawned a couple movies, live action tv series, and was remade in South Korea as a TV drama as well.

ttf_Full Pedal Trombonist · Sun Jul 30, 2017 6:31 pm

Not quite... the demographic is more young adults. Kyoto Animation has a bad habit of making very unfulfilling romances. This is one. It's not so much ABOUT being in a high school band. But the anime is good. It's been out for a couple years and the second season ended not too long ago. There are movies that sum up the events.

I would hesitate to recommend this to music students unless they're just looking for another anime.

Sincerely an avid anime viewer

ttf_Cubes · Post by **ttf_Cubes** » Sun Jul 30, 2017 6:54 pm

Now, theres quite a few musically inclined anime and 2 of my favorites have been mentioned, however my favorite one that I recommend is "Your Lie in April." It follows a pianist and a violinist and its a very fulfilling and enjoyable show with good tidbits of music thrown in.

But yeah, these are mostly just anime with musical inclinations and appeal to anime watching music nerds, still enjoyable shows though

Theres also one about jazz titled "Sakamichi no Apollon" (Kids on the Slope). Follows a classical pianist who meets a drummer and learns about jazz. Pretty good music, lots of recognizable tunes... but the show is only alright overall

https://youtube.com/v/xOf3MVMPGOc

Howd you get yours to work?

Edit: Nevermind got it

ttf_Full Pedal Trombonist · Sun Jul 30, 2017 9:33 pm

^^^

Also good! I have a few tunes from Sakamichi no Apollon on my phone.

ttf_mr.deacon · Post by **ttf_mr.deacon** » Mon Jul 31, 2017 12:18 am

Cubes, that's the Bill Evans show, right? That show is actually pretty good!

ttf_58mark · Post by **ttf_58mark** » Mon Jul 31, 2017 2:39 am

My family watched both seasons months ago. I was impressed with the effort they out into making the music realistic, IE, they animated the correct fingerings for all the instruments.

The story? Meh, not my cup of tea

ttf_robcat2075 · Post by **ttf_robcat2075** » Mon Jul 31, 2017 6:27 am

Yet another anime about young girls in short skirts.

ttf_davdud101 · Post by **ttf_davdud101** » Mon Jul 31, 2017 8:34 am

Haha, I started watching about a half-year ago! It really did get me fired up to practice and get good. It reminds me a bit of Whiplash in some ways. Haven't watched for a couple months now though

ttf_harrison.t.reed · Mon Jul 31, 2017 11:13 am

See? The youngest poster (I think?) On this particular thread responded the way I saw the show as being -- motivation to practice. I dunno!

ttf_davdud101 · Post by **ttf_davdud101** » Tue Aug 01, 2017 9:07 am

Quote from: harrison.t.reed on Yesterday at 11:13 AMSee? The youngest poster (I think?) On this particular thread responded the way I saw the show as being -- motivation to practice. I dunno!

That is something I'd want to test out... notice the title underneath my username. Had that one for years!

Either way though, it sure was motivating! Humorously enough, this kind of stuff DOES get me motivated - I was hoping that'd happen when I watched Whiplash, but for me that film was so brutal in its delivery and depiction of teacher/student relationships that it sort of disgusted me. I liked the film, but it isn't as much about music as it is a power struggle ... "I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was..."

ttf_Full Pedal Trombonist · Tue Aug 01, 2017 9:30 am

Quote from: davdud101 on Today at 09:07 AM"I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was..."

"To practice is my real test, to play 'bone is my cause!"

ttf_Full Pedal Trombonist · Tue Aug 01, 2017 9:30 am

Quote from: davdud101 on Today at 09:07 AM"I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was..."

"To practice is my real test, to play 'bone is my cause!"