Katsuo Ohno

Katsuo Ohno
Profile
Gender:	Male
Date of birth:	September 12, 1939
Place of birth:	Kyoto Prefecture, Japan
Position:	Music
Years active:	1962-present
Aliases:	おおの かつお
Website:	Spotify Profile

Katsuo Ohno (大野 克夫 ,Ōno Katsuo) is a well-known Japanese music composer born in Kyoto Prefecture. He has composed the majority of the soundtracks utilised in the Detective Conan anime and movies.

Biography

Katsuo Ohno began his career as a Hawaiian guitarist, and had taken Jazz cafes in Kansai as the main site of his performances. In 1962, he established a music band named THE SPIDERS, in which he was part of it as keyboard. After roughly ten years, the band was disbanded; consequently, Ohno started to collaborate with singers Kenji Zeta and Kenichi Hagiwara, whereupon he appeared as a member of Inoue BOND on stage. During this period of time, Ohno produced many songs for Kenji Zeta, for example "时の过ぎゆくままに".

In 1972, Ohno started to get involved in the music production of TV dramas; in the same year, he was responsible for composing and arranging the soundtracks in the drama Embrace the Sun; Ohno received a fairly high evaluation due to his work. Later, from 1975 to 1977, he had persistently won several awards and recognitions in all aspects among the music industry, this include the Japan Record Corporation (日本レコード大赏) granted by virtue of his work Do As I Wish in 1977. As a result, he was considered already considered as the best-selling producer in the industry back then, and held a venerable position in Japan.

Starting 1996, Ohno began to produce music for the series Detective Conan, also for the annually-aired movies; when the each movie was released, the corresponding soundtrack album was also released. At first, Ohno intended to bring the passion of Taiyō ni Hoero! (太陽にほえろ！) into the composition of Detective Conan, this is also the reason why one can find many similarities between the two works in terms of soundtracks.

Works in Detective Conan

In 1996, Katsuo Ohno composed the "Detective Conan" Main Theme, this main theme is the version that was widely played on medias and recognised by almost everyone. Ohno composed the music based on a work of his, Taiyō ni Hoero! Main Theme. The instruments utilised are mostly analogous, for example, the drum kit was used to keep the rhythm; bass was mainly played continuously at the background, serving as a Basso Continuo; keyboard as harmony accompaniment; most importantly, the saxophone as main melody voice. Apparently, Detective Conan Main Theme is a variation of the Taiyō ni Hoero! Main Theme.

The melody line of the main theme.

Later, within the same year, Ohno sequentially released three soundtracks: all of the music collected within were exclusively for the series, even though there are some music found in the 2nd album left unused. Within these music, many classic-famous soundtrack with great symbolisation of Detective Conan are found, such as Ran's Theme (蘭のテーマ ,Ran no Tēma), Carefree Feeling (のんびり気分 ,Nonbiri Kibun), Depressing Sunset (沈む夕陽 ,Shizumu Yūhi), and The Mysterious Bandaged Man 1 (怪人包帯男１ ,Kaijin Hōtai Otoko 1) etc.

In 1997, the first Detective Conan movie Movie 1: The Time-Bombed Skyscraper was released. Consequently, Ohno had to make peculiar arrangements from the original Detective Conan soundtracks that would be as befit a movie - many music was retained with its authentic melody line but altered with a different arrangement of the theme of the movie (brand-new soundtracks were also composed; for the first movie see Detective Conan "The Time-Bombed Skyscraper" Original Soundtrack).

Movie 1 (1997)

The melody of intro.

For the first movie, the main theme is vaguely similar to the original main theme utilised in TV anime: that is, the intro segment also entails the utilisation of brass instruments and synthesiser devices; the volume of synthesiser music is exceptionally high and almost covers the saxophone's melody line. The electric guitar played a significant role in the background, which kept performing an Ostinato (guitar loop) that adds textures to the intro. Unlike other main themes, Ohno had executed a special variation within the main melody played by the saxophone: the most well-known intro is F F F F G B^b F; in this version, Ohno changed it into: F F F A^b B^b C E^b F A^b C. The last segment is as though an Arpeggio which speeds up gradually (from quavers to semi-quavers).

During the interlude segment, saxophone was removed as the main melody instrument; on the contrary, electric music takes over the main voice, where piano does accompaniment by using octaves usually at the end of the music bars. After that, the saxophone gets its melody back, right in the middle of a verse. Throughout the piece, drum kit and bass are invariably played in the background to offer beat for the soloist.

Movie 2 (1998)

The missing note marked on the melody line.

For another arrangement of the main theme, the intro segment was again being varied; this version is also exceedingly prominent and popular - though Ohno etched a special detail within, that is, there were some "switcheroos" concealed in bar 3; note the missing section in the end of the measure. This may be seen as a mistake conducted by the arranger Ohno, yet it was intentional: the 14th note of the music (E^b) was silenced. This was probably done to match with the title of the movie: The Fourteenth Target.

Apart from the intro, the arrangement itself is also rather innovative; for example, Ohno chose electric guitar as the instrument to play the melody theme throughout the whole piece (customarily played by the saxophone). Moreover, the arrangement engendered a particularly "Rock 'N' Roll" style, in which the drum kit manifested a much more intense performance. This was possibly influenced by the trend in the late 90s, even B'z (a band from music company Being) promoted many songs of that style. In the last segment, abruptly, Ohno decided to bring Saxophone back as the main theme instrument. He did this by creating a duet between the electric guitar and the saxophone: saxophone playing the main melody again with the Guitar Solo in the background. This technique enriches greatly the texture of the piece by making it Polyphonic.

Movie 3 (1999)

The intro segment is mainly the same as the previous arrangement, yet the instruments utilised was altered significantly. The intro started off with a Jazz saxophone, later, at the end of bar 2, alto saxophone kicks in as accompaniment, which can be regarded as an "on-going Call and Response". Overall, this creates a Jazz sensation for the piece.

In the Chorus section, the electric music and trumpet joined the orchestra sequentially, where the synthesised notes were performed in Unison. After that, the saxophone kicks in again. Then the bass solo comes into play: two electric guitar were plucked in piano as background accompany, and keyboard as well.

The usual Coda.

Noteworthy, the music did not end with melody E^b E F C D^b B^b C G A^b F like the previous two arrangements, but rather, a sudden cease with sforzando.

Movie 4 (2000)

The movie 4 main theme is the only arrangement that has nearly "no" variations from the TV theme; as such, the intro was kept original (this implies that the up-going scales comprised by semi-quavers in the movie 1 theme would be replaced by triplets). As usual, the saxophone plays the main voice, then a saxophone solo begins, laced with the utilisation of peculiar instrument - marimba, which plays the intro. Right after, the melody instrument switches to the bass; likewise as the previous arrangement, there are two electric guitars softly plucking strings in the background.

Movie 5 (2001)

As the movie title suggests, Countdown to Heaven, Ohno conceived a unique intro for this, where the similar melody of it are also utilised in Movie 6: The Phantom of Baker Street and Movie 9: Strategy Above the Depths. This produces a sense of "spiral descent", in which the arpeggios played in each bar gets lowered by a note every time.

Notably, during the 2nd verse, the string family plays the intro again, the saxophone would perform semi-breves tied in several bars. After that, the electric guitar gets its solo, which precisely befits the Black Organization theme since movie 5 is the first movie that involves the organisation within. Another ingenious segment entailed in this arrangement is the main theme played by the french horn, and the electric music does accompaniment: it manifests "ethereal", as though the core purpose of the movie - heaven. Then in the middle of the bar, saxophone takes over the melody line unexpectedly just like movie 1.

The unique intro used in movie 5, 6 and 9.

What is more, starting this movie, the music was performed by orchestral instruments, hence giving a more classical sounding. This sharply escalates the scale of the music, which is very suitable to be used in the ultimate car action scene featured at the end of the film.

Movie 6 (2002)

As discussed above, the intro of movie 6 is almost the same as the previous one; it is important to notice that Ohno had made some shrewd details to distinguish them: for The Phantom of Baker Street, the noise of the clock hand ticking can be heard in the background during the "spiral descent" performance, which also matches the fact that in the movie, the clock on the Big Ben displays the number of survivors in the game. After the intro, the theme melody is again being played by the saxophone; in the 2nd verse, there is another faint variation on the tied notes played by the saxophone: the first tied segment was played normally and in high volume of sound, yet in the second tied segment, the note was quieten, and simultaneously being played one 8va bassa (lower pitched).

In the electric guitar solo of this arrangement, compared to the previous one, the devise is apparently more courageous and bold, with substantial variations. Moreover, the utilisation of violins (string family) within the piece became even more pervasive, and intense in terms of its dynamics. The violin timbre precisely pairs up with the retro-style that the movie theme renders.

Movie 7 (2003)

This year, Ohno brought back the intro he composed for Movie 2: The Fourteenth Target in 1998, yet he appended a "pre-intro" upon that. This segment is composed of two repeated Broken Chords, followed by a scale (ascending by steps). Only then did the actual intro start. Noticeably, in the 2nd bar, an archaic instrument named wooden fish knocks twice. Owing to the fact that this movie takes place in the historically-famous Kyoto, the utilisation of this instrument creates the atmosphere of a historical temple, which is exactly the theme of the movie.

The newly-added pre-intro.

Compared to the previous arrangements, the movie 7 one is of less diversified: less improvisation included (more inclined towards the actual melody line); less Arpeggios and Glissandos; and lastly, the removal of the bass solo.

Movie 8 (2004)

The movie 8 theme is almost a "copycat" of the previous one, since the arrangements are exactly the same, despite the change in dynamics and some minor use of instruments; even the time duration of the two soundtracks are the same (2:55). Just like the previous arrangement, the intro is also played by the electric guitar. Importantly, the biggest difference between the theme of movie 7 and 8 is the dynamics within the instruments - the the saxophone and the string family in the movie 8 theme is apparently a lot resonant and magnificent, whereas in the former arrangement, the melody line played by the saxophone is rather unclear. Ohno made his best at making appropriate choices when arranging for a piece played by various instruments, he knows how to handle different matters when encountering different occasions: movie 8 is evidently related to Kaito Kid and will assuredly contain many action scenes, this arrangement is precisely rhythmic.

Movie 9 (2005)

The movie 9 theme is also mostly analogous to the theme of Movie 5: Countdown to Heaven. To differentiate the three pieces, Ohno added some sound effects in the intro of each: for the movie 9 one, it's the sound of sound of ocean waves, whilst the case from the film also takes place on a cruise ship. However, the sound of the clock hand ticking is retained in this arrangement as well (which supposedly should only be present in the movie 6 one). Furthermore, for the drum beat performed in the very top, the strength of the last beat are different in these arrangements: for both the theme of movie 5 and 9, they are rather soft, yet for movie 6, it is relatively loud. Once again, when arriving at the tied notes for the saxophone, the movie 9 one started off with fairly high dynamics, but execute diminuendo (getting softer) as the note suspends (just like how Aphrodite Cruise Ship sank into the ocean). Then, during the electric guitar solo section, the brass family in the background is played louder than the ones found in the other two, this constructs a sense of mystery and suspense, and the plot of the film just happened to be pure orthodox mystery.

Movie 10 (2006)

Starting this one, Ohno began to use the intro from movie 2 on a large scale. The pre-chorus this time is extremely short, in which it only contains 1 bar with merely two notes: C E^b. This time, the instruments for the main voice and intro are swapped: saxophone is responsible for the intro, and two electric guitars play the melody line subsequently; some fans think that the two guitars playing the main theme symbolises the main detective characters featured in the movie - Shinichi Kudo and Heiji Hattori. After that, in the Chorus section, the saxophone plays the main melody and the guitars do accompaniment, overturning the situation in the verse. Incidentally, this part of the music first featured in the theme of Movie 2: The Fourteenth Target, where the melody goes like A E^b D^b C A^b B^b G etc.

Additionally, the structure of the main theme of movie 10 is almost the same as the structure of the '07 new main theme, most likely, at that time, Ohno had already begun arranging for the '07 soundtracks.

Movie 11 (2007)

The melody of intro.

Out of the main themes from the past years, this one can be considered innovative: the pre-chorus was chosen to be played by lightly strumming guitar strings and using digital keyboard, overall creating the illusion of "unearthly pirates". Only because of this short segment from this arrangement, the sound directors who work for Detective Conan TV anime often use it in episodes where something mysterious are about to be revealed, for example, when the luxury watch owned by Keita Kaneko was about to be introduced in Episode 989: The Case of Ayumi's Illustrated Diary. After the brisk pre-intro, the intro and verse kicks in unexpectedly back with the usual saxophone and electric guitars.

The verse and chorus segment from this arrangement lack highlights and may be regarded as monotonous, yet the bass solo contained a great amount of variations: the melody line is utterly independent from the main theme, and includes many use of articulations like Staccato and Accent, which is more jazzy-feeling when referring to its sounding.

Movie 12 (2008)

While retaining the intro from movie 2, this arrangement removed the pre-chorus segment. The music starts directly with intro C B^b A^b G F; the melody line is played by a bass, and in the background, there is another bass playing repeated bars of background accompaniment, which is exceedingly similar to the theme of Movie 1: The Time-Bombed Skyscraper. After the usual verse played by the saxophone, Ohno inserted a section of bass solo, which is apparently the same one as the previous arrangement, of movie 11. Then the guitar solo starts, an improvisation that sounds fairly old-fashioned. Although the theme of the movie is related to classical western music, the instruments utilised within this arrangement are mostly modern jazz instruments, classical instruments such as the organ, the lute, and the harpsichord are not utilised.

Movie 13 (2009)

Similarly to previous instances, the theme of movie 13 is almost the same as the them of movie 12, that is, the structures are identical but with slight variations. In the beginning, Ohno added a glissando played by the music synthesiser (whereas in the theme of movie 12 the intro starts immediately). Compared to the previous arrangement, the timbre of bass and saxophone in this one is softer, yet the beat of the drum kit is louder. Based on the drum beat, it can be perceived that the rhythm is rather rapid, which can be up until roughly 140 bpm. After the 1st verse was played, a soft sound of guitar's Alternate Picking is present, right after, the music style altered promptly: the instrument is switched to keyboard, creating a pure minor atmosphere. In fact it is only a variation of the soundtrack Ohno composed separately for this movie, Opaque Fruit (不透明な果実 ,Futōmeina Kajitsu), which is often used for plot concerned with the Black Organization in the main anime. This may seen casual, but this section was composed exclusively for the movie introduction, when Conan explains Shiho Miyano and the Organization members. This segment occupied almost half of the piece (1:30), to return to the main theme, another glissando was performed.

As a result, the main theme of movie 13 has two versions: a full version ("Raven Full Version") and an original version ("Raven Medley Version"). The "Raven Medley Version" is the one utilised in the movie, with the annexation of the Black Organization section. The "Raven Full Version" is just like a "remastered" version with thorough Detective Conan conventional melody line.

Movie 14 (2010)

Just like the movie 13 main theme, there are two versions for this arrangement; the "Sky Musical Suite Version" had the interlude segment removed and was replaced with Kaitou Kid Appears '07 (怪盗キッド出現'07 ,Kaitō Kiddo Shutsugen '07) followed by Siamese Cat (シャムネコ ,Shamu Neko). This alteration was made to collocate with the introduction of Jirokichi Suzuki and Kaito Kid, where Jirokichi appeared while he was doing his morning exercises. In the other version, namely, "Sky Version", that abrupt segment was replaced with the melody of another song Ohno composed for this movie, called Lonely Sky (ロンリースカイ ,Ronrii Sukai). Note that this segment can be considered as a variation but not equivalent to the chorus first featured in the movie 2's theme. Obviously, several electronic synthesisers play in a Homophonic fashion, with faint application of Fermata (sustained notes). The electric guitar plays as accompaniment occasionally, and the percussion instrument triangolo keeps the beat, giving a light feel, as though on top of the airship and in the clouds.

The melody of intro.

The intro of this arrangement is exceedingly innovative and special, as by far, this melody line has only appeared once among ALL Detective Conan main themes. The variation is fairly exhaustive, that may not even sound like an intro from Detective Conan. Apart of the intro and interlude, the solo part is usually done by the bass, yet this time, it is performed by the keyboard, however playing the low voice keys - at times, ornaments can be heard, such as the Mordent (short trill), which is a quintessential element found in Baroque music. At the same time, the synthesiser and the electric guitar play harmony in the background, adding amusement into the variation. Most importantly, the piece ends with an interesting glissando played by the synthesiser, as well as, the rapid rhythm played by the snare drums.

Movie 15 (2011)

Even though this time Ohno did not use the usual intro from the movie 2 theme, he regurgitate the intro of his early work: Taiyō ni Hoero!. Because of this, the intro assigns listener a sensation of whooping, which is exactly what the saxophone is playing in the beginning. This time, there is only one version for this main theme, but the interlude section midst the piece is also unexpected, right after the electric guitar solo, the tempo had apparently diminished, and, There is One Destination (行き先はひとつ ,Ikisaki wa Hitotsu) was played instead. Most likely, this melody was added, owing to the fact that the most renowned quote originated from this movie was uttered when this background music was played.

Words are like swords. If you use them the wrong way they'll turn into ugly weapons. Once those words leave your mouth, you'll never be able to take them back.

—Conan Edogawa

Owing to this incoordination with the main theme, it was not utilised during the introduction section of the movie (and the insertion of movie-based BGMs' technique was never being brought up by Ohno ever again). When the interlude ended, the Da Capo was being executed, and the piece ended fiercely with the usual coda.

Movie 16 (2012)

Starting with this movie, the main theme began to sound unconventional, this is because - Ohno's apprentice, Miyazawa Ken, undertakes the majority of the arranging work of the Detective Conan main theme every year. The music style had altered drastically from this movie onwards, as can be seen in all aspects:

The melody of intro.

• Intro with brand-new variations was utilised, and apparently extremely similar to the main theme of Lupin III vs. Detective Conan: The Movie, where Ken was credited as the arranger for that.

• The tempo of the melody line became slower, at around 125 bpm.

• The melody line was different from the previous arrangements, signifying early Detective Conan movie themes - notably, at the end of the melody line: B^b F E^b D^b C B^b C, usually, Ohno likes to assign the notes C B^b with either Appogiatura or semi-quavers, sometimes, even removing them and go straight to the final C note. On the other hand, Ken always assigns them as a valid note (usually quavers), sharing similarities with the melody line of the famed song Kimi ga Ireba.

• Ken's peculiar variation is usually conducted by changing note values of a set of notes: when there is a scale comprised of quavers, he changes it into consecutive crochets. For example, a scale from the intro reads G A^b B^b C, normally Ohno would make them as quavers, leaving some rests at the end of the bar, yet Ken made it into four crochets in this arrangement.

This time, the interlude is performed by the piano, it surprisingly ends with a Chromatic Scale played by the electric guitar, which is very rare to be heard in all of the movie main themes, this also manifests Miyazawa Ken's diversified personal styles.

Movie 17 (2013)

After taking over responsibility of the arrangement of Detective Conan main theme, Ken has started to experiment even more gutsy ideas within his works. The intro for this movie is again newly conceived, with a simulation sound of a radar in the background, matching the theme of the movie itself. Rather than the keyboard for harmony performance, Ken brought up the utilisation of electric synthesiser, deviating the rock style constructed by his teacher Ohno, making the main theme sound more modern. The bass solo returned for this arrangement as well, giving a rather clear and crisp effect to the overall music.

The most ear-catching part from this arrangement is the interlude segment, is composed by two instruments - saxophone and bass. When the saxophone plays a high note, the bass responds it with a low note, this is another "Call and Response" compositional device entailed within. Incidentally, the note played by the saxophone is sharp and loud, presumably accented and marked with staccato notation. This can be considered as a "kick", which is when the band stops playing and halt for certain amount of time, creating a contrast sensation with the proceeding bars.

Movie 18 (2014)

Altering the melody line into "staccato".

After Ken had collaborated with the composer for Lupin III, Yuji Ohno, in Lupin III vs. Detective Conan: The Movie Original Soundtrack; he was influenced by Yuji Ohno's peculiar jazz style, which resulted the fact that he began to utilise staccato techniques within the melody line of the Detective Conan movie main theme greatly. Before, Ohno used to only use simple note values, say, regular notes like minims, crochets, quavers etc.; now, Ken uses irregular notes such as semi-quavers and "dotted crochets". This is a phenomenon that often appears in Jazz and Blues music, called Syncopation, meaning "off-beat"; listeners may invariably think that the beat is incorrect as the notes are "not correctly" played.

In addition, the interlude this time is rather short: under the percussion assigning the rhythm, the bass gets its solo and improvises a bit; the timber of the bass precisely matches the core theme of the movie, as well as the title - Dimensional Sniper. Despite the innovative syncopation utilised, the entire song is yet a duplicate (nearly) of the previous arrangement that Ken did under supervision of Yuji Ohno, "Detective Conan Main Theme (Lupin III VS Detective Conan Version)".

Movie 19 (2015)

Similarly to the previous arrangement, the intro of this movie theme also starts with C D^b, then there is an up-going leap: C F E A^b G D^b C, going from low voice to high voice. While the saxophone was playing the main melody, there are a great deals of accompany instruments performing - mostly low voice instruments: electric synthesiser playing harmony, electric guitar pulling strings, and drum kit knocking the beat. During the interlude section, the keyboard playing electric timbre plays a solo, this greatly resembles the well-known BGM Ohno composed from the outset for Kaito Kid, named Kaitou Kid's Manifesto (怪盗キッドの予告状 ,Kaitō Kiddo no Yokokujō); owing to the fact that this movie is related to Kid, this can be seen as a tribute done by Ken to his teacher Ohno.

Movie 20 (2016)

In terms of the melody line, the situation of the movie 20 main theme is the same the one for movie 19, since both of them did not include any kinds of "staccato" or syncopation. However, amazingly, the electric guitar dominates the entire piece, serving as the main voice; the brass family instruments only act as an accompaniment in this piece. During the guitar solo segment, the improvisation of the electric guitar is extremely audacious and ingenious, laced with Conan's introduction of the members from the organization, it adds a sense of mystical to the movie. What is more, the electric guitar in this arrangement is played by Tak Matsumoto, a guitarist for the band B'z.

Movie 21 (2017)

TBC...

See also

• Yugo Kanno

References

1. 大野克夫 - Wikipedia
2. 大野克夫 - Baidu Wiki