Katsuo Ohno
| Katsuo Ohno | |
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| Profile | |
| Gender: | Male |
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| 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.
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)
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 Bb F; in this version, Ohno changed it into: F F F Ab Bb C Eb F Ab 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)
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 (Eb) 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.
Noteworthy, the music did not end with melody Eb E F C Db Bb C G Ab 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.
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.
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 in making appropriate choices when arranging for a piece of music 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 Eb. 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 Eb Db C Ab Bb 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)
TBC...
Other notable works
Anime
See also
References
