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)

TBC...

See also

• Yugo Kanno

References

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