This was the 27th song from their 33 song (+ 3 minute drum solo intro) setlist. You've always admired the fact that their breakdowns could be songs by themselves and here is the epitome of that as that call and response is an instrumental on its own! You mention a Jazzy influence and, in many ways, that's not surprising as from the 60's through to the 90's Japan took Jazz to its heart and breathed new life - or additional life at least - into it. That's what's happened to Rock and Metal too in Japan - they've listened and absorbed it and then made it their own, creating new musical paths and even genres like Kawaii Metal with the many extremely talented and dedicated musicians they have. 15:00 - Band-Maid are renowned for rarely simply repeating a chorus in the same way it was played the first time. Usually there are small instrumental changes at least, like a brief guitar, drum or bass solo but also changes in tempo and their incredibly precise stops and then pushes back into the melody. 24:00 - 31:00: Don't know if this helps or just adds to the enigma that is MISA's bass playing style but the lead and rhythm guitars are detuned by a quarter tone and sometimes a half-tone on recordings and also in live shows to make bending notes and tapping easier. But MISA's bass is not detuned and, as one can see from their published sheet music, Kanami will be playing in, for example, E while MISA is playing in E-flat. Of course, that sort of complication doesn't seem to slow them down at all! 36:24 - Yay, tabs! My level of reading music! 40:00 - Yes, you're right about them moving away from the obvious maid outfits to more subtle costume plays on the concept - apart from Miku, who is still and, I suspect, will always be 100% maid. It's a huge motif for her and central to Band-Maid's terminology ('servings' for 'performances', for example) and image. Thanks for a superb and detailed analysis as always and look forward to your 'bonus' video of your initial reaction. Band-Maid - I love them...lalalalalalalalalalala........
A half tone detuning makes a lot of sense, quarter tones tend to only be if your tuning by ear, so that would be quite surprising! That 5th string on her bass means the need to retune or detune isn't as prominent... although it can make playing a total pain, but she does seem to really like hopping about the fretboard, so that might be right up her street? I should really get in the habit of doing more tabs for these bits- much less messy than explaining it by fret and string. I wouldn't have noticed th outfit thing had someone (might even have been yourself, I've sadly forgotten who it was) mentioned it in the comments. I messed up and the sound is total mess, did my best, but no real way to fix it. Glad you enjoyed this one dude, many thanks!
Your expert explanations are fascinating to watch. IMO, you are the ultimate authority on analyzing Band-Maid's music and in particular the work of Mincho and Misa as well. Unfortunately I'm not a musician but if I was much younger I would buy a guitar and you would be my sama. Thanks Jbf.
Amazing analysis/breakdown. I've seen many musician reactors try to breakdown the Maid's music and they breakout their guitars, really...some of them should just stop...LOL. Between you, a really small handful others, really have the ear, the ability and knowledge to humbly speak to, show us and/or tell us less musically inclined people what the heck makes us like their music so much. "Pinky popping bass attack", and differences on bass picking was very interesting. So thank you Master Jack! Keep up the great work and keep rocking with the Maids. PO!🕊 🤘😆🤘 As for the Maid Battle Armor changing, it's always been evolving. It's a bittersweet transition for me. I really do like the new armor in general, but I also feel it's also departing too far from the "Maid" concept, their identity they started with and in my opinion helped gain them much of their recognition. In the near future, if only Miku sticks to the "Maid" Battle Armor, I think she'll look out of place and the band name correlation might confuse new listeners. And if they completely depart from it, then I would also create that same correlation issue. If no Maid Battle Armor, why are they named Band-Maid? I don't know...I think long time fans will have no issue as they know the history and evolution. New listeners, not too sure... Then again, there are many who have admittedly avoided the band because of a screen shot of them in Maid Armor and their name. I don't know...all I know is I will continue to love their music no matter what they are wearing...although I do love the Maid Armor. Just a 2 yen thought....take it for what it's worth.
As far as the pinky goes, listen very closely, she's playing an arpeggio. Pick on the 4th string, third string with her middle finger and second string with her ring finger, leaving only the pinky to hit the note on the first string.
Thanks to both Jack and Zap here.. I thought I'd heard Misa finger-pick arpeggios but never seen it. Makes sense to use the pinky since the first finger's taken. When she tucks the pick in her first knuckle to switch to slap, I would be unsurprised if she also pops more than her middle finger.
I think you're right on about the "jazz vocabulary" in the chorus. The melody and the composition in the chorus has always given me big-band/swing-era vibes. It's clear that Kanami was drawing from that era because "Balance" on the same EP has overt jazz/swing references, including a muted swing faux horn/synth element. Your "post-punk" comments are also spot on. A lot of people keep describing aspects of their music as "pop-punk" because they hear bright distinct melodies but I think that term is over-applied. What they're doing is usually much more sophisticated than most pop-punk and is much closer to post-punk to me.
Would never have made a big band connect, but I can totally hear it! Good call. Aye totally, they have some pop-punk hooks, but there's a lot of more of the twiddley intricate post punk thing going on as well
That was excellent Jack. One of your best! I really enjoyed how you broke it down as a compositional piece and your ear for details was fantastic. Particularly enjoyed the bass tone breakdown and how there is a lot more to bass tone than just equipment. Very interesting. My favorite part of the song is the hard stop in the final verse. A neat trick to keep the listeners interest. One reactor, who said he was a musician, said the band has to be tight to execute a hard stop like that. Wave Potter has said Akane is the toughest drummer he has tried to play because of needing to remember all the variations. Speaking of Justin Hawkins...a couple of years he reacted to Dice and tried to work out exactly what Band Maid was doing. The results were interesting (spoiler: he gave up). It is on YT.
Awesome, really glad you enjoyed it dude! Yeah, you need to be tight and confident to do dead stops- no room for fear or second guessing! I can totally understand that, so many little (and some times not so little!) changes in her patterns. I watched some of his stuff a while back, will need to check that out, see how far he got!
Misa has added this hybrid picking/popping technique to her playing. The song Thrill from this same concert (not on RUclips) is another good example of this. I think she's somewhat used to popping with her pinky finger because of her quick change technique of switching from slap to pick. She tucks the pick into her forefinger, so doesn't pop with that finger - but she's comfortable using all her other fingers to pop with. Congrats on noticing and commenting on this technique and on another great analysis. I've only seen 1 other person catch this and comment on it.
Last things. Kanami's parts in the verses/pre-chorus are definetly meant to add tension and unease--the pot is about to boil over--especially when she bends the notes slightly out of key. Same with the chromatics. It all feels just slightly twisted and it's one big reason why I think this song is so far beyond just a driving punk/hard rock riff. The "not-standard-power chord" is almost certainly intentional. Kanami has described herself as "not the typical metalhead" since she listened to and played classical music almost exclusively until she was 17. She mentioned wanting to add "more sophisticated" chords to their music and not rely only on power chords, although she clearly understands why they're quite important, too. Akane's recurring ping is on the bell of her ride cymbal. That's a big bell sound, not a splash. She is just stellar in this song. Misa and her together are special. Miku's right there with them in this song, too. Her playing is really tight. And their techs seem to do the effects switching when they're away from their pedal boards.
Totally, it's give the song more of an edge. Aye, would lean towards agreeing with you there as well. Oh, sounded smaller to me, good to know! Makes sense to have the tech cover those bases
You've given me a newfound appreciation for a performance that I already loved! I will now refer to that part of MISA's solo as the Pinky Pop! LOL 🖤 Also, that part you played at 37:04 made me immediately think of the start of their song Bubble. Great job!
This comes from their 10th anniversary last concert in Yokohama Arena. The stage went out into and completely around the venue. Saiki and Misa both walked completely around the arena greeting and acknowledging their fans.
I have noticed that there are jazz influences all over the Japanese rock/metal scene and even into the J-Pop (and probably even the Idol scene) you can find some artists that have clear jazzy and funky influences. You can find it in their video game soundtracks and movie/anime sound tracks as well. Zutomayo is a good example of a J-Pop act that uses a lot of different instruments live and have very funky and jazzy bass lines all over their tracks (they also have amazing live concerts with a lot to figure out). Also, there are still a lot of new upcoming great young jazz musicians in Japan. I have been diving into the Japanese scene a bit the last couple of years (not super deep) and there are plenty of great artists and groups to found even by just focusing on a couple of artists and who they play with in different projects.
Aye, form what I've been told when Jazz hit Japan it sort of filtered in to all kinds of music, instead of staying in one lane as it more or less has over here
On the stage clothes: Yes, I think you're right. This is their new official stage gear, at least until the next iteration. It seems like they're evolving farther away from the obvious visual maid references, except Miku, while preserving some link to the original concept. I think it's a natural maturation of the look as they get older and more sophisticated and want even more emphasis on the music. It's a tricky brand balancing act but I think they're being very smart about it.
Part of me really likes the idea of all their stage outfits evolving and Miku's staying exactly as is, like sort of revolving around the central theme?
They made miku reduce her "wingspan" because they were getting in the way of saiki. 😂 That was the excuse anyway to clip the pigeon's wings @@JbfMusicGuitar
They have certain thing that they like to reuse (like every musician ever) and I could see how if you put on a playlist an casually listened to it you might come away with that take. But as soon as you start active listening, it's quite apparent there is a lot of very cool stuff going on!
Funny - I think it was MISA's bass day interview, she was asked what instrument she would want to play in orchestra (or maybe which instrument she wants to be) and she said triangle because when you hit it, it makes this sudden, shocking sound that soars over the other instruments. That pinky pop - maybe her version of the triangle?
Akane added an 8" splash to her kit for this concert. I think "Hate?" and "I'll" are the only 2 songs she uses it in though. Siouxie and the Banshees? I haven't heard them for a loooooooong time. I remember Chrissy Hynde mentioning them in an interview many years ago, which had me discovering them. Many time while MISA starts wandering her fretboard, Miku will drop back to tie in to Akane's kit. My understanding was that Kanami's and MISA's tech were running the remotes to their pedal boards, to free them up to just play. I don't know if it is helpful for your analysis, but MISA uses custom picks that are I think I read .015 thicker than the Dunlop bass pick. MISA has done the pinky and ring finger snaps/claws while picking in a few other songs. A lot of other reactors miss Miku coming in to thicken up the sound. Over the years, the Ladies have asserted their own individual styles on their uniforms. They have just become more in-line with their personalities. Several drummers have said that they are in awe of Akane's double pedal juju. A friend of one of my sons, said he wants to move to Japan to study where she did at the Tokyo School of Music. Your ears are subject to the vagaries of age and over use. I've found that my hearing has actually slightly improved, by keeping my volume low, (lvl 30) vs the in the past when I would crank it to 100 then run a volume booster. And I will echo what many others have said, Band-Maid is currently the BEST, Live Hard Rock Band currently touring.
Regarding Siouxie and the Banshees, there's a tribute band of theirs called Lizzie and the Banshees. Check out their videos from their live shows in 2017. You won't believe who played lead guitar. Camera shows him clear in "Christine", posted on their FB page. Sing out when you recognize him.
@@greylocke100 Right? He's in character. That's John McGeoch's hair style. You'll see it at the end of Siouxie's 1981 live performance of "Hong Kong Garden" in Germany.
Splash cymbals are brilliant! The tech's operating their boards (or them being midi controlled along with the click track would also make sense). Interesting, I'm not sure how big and impact on tone those differences in pick thickness have, but they certainly feel different from a players perspective. Ahh, I'll have to keep an eye out for that trick! I started using ear protectors years back, so hopefully that'll keep them sharper for a longer time. Think I've lost a few frequencies over the years though.
The music for this song is just seething with anger, all the way through including the Misa/Kanami argument. Kanami and Saiki could teach both Taylor Swift and Alanis Morissette a thing or two about songs dedicated to being angry at exes.
Lmao, while I think Taylor has the passive aggressive anger down to a tee, you're spot on in that this more direct aggression is a different kettle of fish!
@@JbfMusicGuitarsaiki could deflesh a poor guy's skull with this. Miku's mocking of his pathetic mommy's boy "why don't you try to understand me" twists the knife. The whole thing in Japan and women and men is on another level. It's even up for question still if it's OK for guys to cheat and if buying sex counts as cheating. Saiki speaks for a generation of east Asian women who don't want burdening with a manchild any more. A lot of western guys feel pretty uncomfortable with the lyrics here "15 mins of limp gymnastics" OUCH. But it must cut even deeper with Asian guys, here's all five women, including kawaii little miku, ganging up and doing the full on "you're not welcome any more" at another level. Saiki consciously saw herself as representing a load of her peers who're not having it any more. Just by existing bandmaid challenge the glass ceiling of Japanese society. And the way kanami and saiki kind of flaunt their "thing" together without actually defining it as a pair of westerners would have to. We just don't know if they have been pulling our legs all these years, and then mincho posts an Instagram of them "on a date at last". They really know what they are doing at every level. As with Kanami's composition there's always a cunning twist. They live to serve us but they're "managing up" forcefully.
Thanks, that was fun. Glad you're back. The outfits have definitely morphed over time, from matching, short, sexy skirts, through evolving personalized maid uniforms, and now to hard rocker maid outfits. I've liked them all. I've got no problems with having a shtick as long as that's not all you got.
I isolated Akane's drums from the call and response section and rerecorded that section of the MV with her drums at 100% volume and MISA and Kanami's guitar work at 20% - ruclips.net/video/Lc6hy30kUlE/видео.htmlsi=pgIxpXKeHHRiitx-
MISA!!! MISA!!! MISA!!!! 🥃🥃🥃 My favorite Badass Bass Assassin. This song and the "conversation" between Misa & Kanami I believe is finally my new #1 B-M song pushing the Live version of "Don't You Tell Me" to 2nd after 6 years. Hate?? is just infectious for me from start to finish
Nice catch with the pinky! I think it is simply so that the pinky happened to be there. Otherwise she has to move the hand. BTW - it might also be a part of her playing a combo with pick and fingers in general.
Thank you Jack for your analysis. Like you, I too think that the jazz and R&B elements that I sometimes find in this band are largely due to the two guitarists who have influenced Kanami. One is Carlos Santana, with his minor pentatonic and Dorian mode. The other is Larry Carlton, whose tension chords and chromatic scales she uses a lot, as you know. You can recognize a lot of modulations, diminished chords, etc. that would have influenced Band-Maid in her favorite, "Room 335." By the way, I would like to congratulate Kanami on becoming an official artist of PRS GUITARS.
Jack, thanks for another epic breakdown and tutorial. I just threw some shekels into your tip jar. The rest I'll message you on Patreon with my comments.
They all started out in full maid outfits. Then started getting less "maid-ey" with Misa and Saiki. Who weren't the biggest fans of the look. Akane and Kanami's outfits have more black this iteration. In a few more years, it might be Miku as the only holdout. As it was her idea.
If I am not mistaken, there is a short drum fill lead in before the five or so beats of backing track lead in at the front of the video. I know the Lollapalooza version, Akane has a killer lead in.
@@JbfMusicGuitar they generally play Dice first and Akane doesn't stop in between. She ends Dice, does about a 30 second solo fill, and then the electronic part opens Hate?
I’ve been really enjoying your in-depth and insightful analyses of Band-Maid tuness, like this one. Bravo! But I was on a different mission recently, and just had to ask - did you know that some young dude took over your channel a while back with a lesson for the theme from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”? Who is that guy? 😂
RUclips doesn't like me posting here... try again without link to time. Regarding Miku's rhythm in battle precursor: to me it's a staged exit. Kanami drops out with her pick scrape, Saiki then delivers her line and it might have been a bit big a step for Miku to drop out at that point too. When Miku drops out Akane simplifies and MISA really does at that point pop out. Not sure if it would have had the same impact if Miku dropped out earlier and as it would have been a bass solo at that point, that would also make the battle unbalanced with Kanami's response not being seen as equivalent in length. Dunno, but as a non-musician I can understand the (feel of the) staged departure of the instruments. Not what I wrote the first time - seems about the same though.
Stop press. Kanami is teasing her new private stock PRS called "Torajima" (Tiger Stripes) it has a beautiful natural tan and brown striped finish but her hand is hiding some of the pickup detail in the few photos from the last few gigs in Hall venues in Japan. I'm sure she's going to do a full geeky reveal. It's not a signature model as such (generally they have to be vaguely affordable - I very much doubt this is - looks like it's approaching Herman Li pricing) but if she gives us a real tech rundown it might be worth an informed reaction.
@@hoges412 Hey, me and my brother Brandy were front and centre at their New Cross Inn show in London a couple of weeks ago. It was an awesome show & Fami smiled at me all night & all from 15ft away :)
@GaryHolloway-810 , I'm honoured to receive a response from the doyen of Band-Maid fandom! Am I jealous that Fami smiled at you? Only totally. If they ever get to Sydney, I'm there, front row. Also currently a bit mind blown from the photo circulating of Lovebites meeting Babymetal at Resurrection Fest.
@@hoges412 I'm just a normal guy like you but heck, i don't mind getting praised.🤭 Rolling Quartz are coming to Oz if you like them? I saw them in Jan & the only gripe i had was how many covers they played compared to how expensive the ticket was. I hope Lovebites do come to Sydney tho, you'll love it :)
@@JbfMusicGuitar Marillion is not for everybody. I guess that is why you have not heard of them. Clutching At Straws" and "Misplaced Childhood" are two of their most popular they are concept albums. Steve Rothery Guitar Solos Pt.2 If you like drums you may have heard "Good Pain" by Live. Live "Mental Jewelry" I listen to Talk Talk I like "Happiness Is Easy" with headphones on. There Living In Another World, "Happiness Is Easy" The Party's Over" Lately it's been Band Maid" What do you listen to?
I wish I had the attention span and musical knowledge required to actually enjoy this. You obviously put a lot of work into it. Will there be a preschool level version available at some point that's about 35 minutes shorter? That's probably more my speed. 🤣
There'll be a straight reaction watch through up in the next week or so. But if there's anything that doesn't make sense here give me a shout- if I can't explain it in the comments it's good to get an idea of the stuff I could elaborate on to make the idea more accessible. It can sound fancy, but music theory is just putting a name to a sound. And I've no doubt you'll already notice a lot of this stuff as a music fan, which is already half the battle!
This was the 27th song from their 33 song (+ 3 minute drum solo intro) setlist. You've always admired the fact that their breakdowns could be songs by themselves and here is the epitome of that as that call and response is an instrumental on its own! You mention a Jazzy influence and, in many ways, that's not surprising as from the 60's through to the 90's Japan took Jazz to its heart and breathed new life - or additional life at least - into it. That's what's happened to Rock and Metal too in Japan - they've listened and absorbed it and then made it their own, creating new musical paths and even genres like Kawaii Metal with the many extremely talented and dedicated musicians they have. 15:00 - Band-Maid are renowned for rarely simply repeating a chorus in the same way it was played the first time. Usually there are small instrumental changes at least, like a brief guitar, drum or bass solo but also changes in tempo and their incredibly precise stops and then pushes back into the melody. 24:00 - 31:00: Don't know if this helps or just adds to the enigma that is MISA's bass playing style but the lead and rhythm guitars are detuned by a quarter tone and sometimes a half-tone on recordings and also in live shows to make bending notes and tapping easier. But MISA's bass is not detuned and, as one can see from their published sheet music, Kanami will be playing in, for example, E while MISA is playing in E-flat. Of course, that sort of complication doesn't seem to slow them down at all! 36:24 - Yay, tabs! My level of reading music! 40:00 - Yes, you're right about them moving away from the obvious maid outfits to more subtle costume plays on the concept - apart from Miku, who is still and, I suspect, will always be 100% maid. It's a huge motif for her and central to Band-Maid's terminology ('servings' for 'performances', for example) and image. Thanks for a superb and detailed analysis as always and look forward to your 'bonus' video of your initial reaction. Band-Maid - I love them...lalalalalalalalalalala........
A half tone detuning makes a lot of sense, quarter tones tend to only be if your tuning by ear, so that would be quite surprising! That 5th string on her bass means the need to retune or detune isn't as prominent... although it can make playing a total pain, but she does seem to really like hopping about the fretboard, so that might be right up her street?
I should really get in the habit of doing more tabs for these bits- much less messy than explaining it by fret and string. I wouldn't have noticed th outfit thing had someone (might even have been yourself, I've sadly forgotten who it was) mentioned it in the comments.
I messed up and the sound is total mess, did my best, but no real way to fix it. Glad you enjoyed this one dude, many thanks!
I’m a huge fan of your analysis and commentaries. Your insights are invaluable. Keep them coming. Cheers!
Amen!
Thanks, will do!
Your expert explanations are fascinating to watch. IMO, you are the ultimate authority on analyzing Band-Maid's music and in particular the work of Mincho and Misa as well. Unfortunately I'm not a musician but if I was much younger I would buy a guitar and you would be my sama. Thanks Jbf.
Very kind words indeed, happy to hear you enjoyed this one, cheers dude!
The Assassin Pinky note is amazing!
It has always grabbed my attention.
🤘❤🔥🤘
Amazing analysis/breakdown. I've seen many musician reactors try to breakdown the Maid's music and they breakout their guitars, really...some of them should just stop...LOL. Between you, a really small handful others, really have the ear, the ability and knowledge to humbly speak to, show us and/or tell us less musically inclined people what the heck makes us like their music so much. "Pinky popping bass attack", and differences on bass picking was very interesting. So thank you Master Jack! Keep up the great work and keep rocking with the Maids. PO!🕊 🤘😆🤘
As for the Maid Battle Armor changing, it's always been evolving. It's a bittersweet transition for me. I really do like the new armor in general, but I also feel it's also departing too far from the "Maid" concept, their identity they started with and in my opinion helped gain them much of their recognition. In the near future, if only Miku sticks to the "Maid" Battle Armor, I think she'll look out of place and the band name correlation might confuse new listeners. And if they completely depart from it, then I would also create that same correlation issue. If no Maid Battle Armor, why are they named Band-Maid? I don't know...I think long time fans will have no issue as they know the history and evolution. New listeners, not too sure... Then again, there are many who have admittedly avoided the band because of a screen shot of them in Maid Armor and their name. I don't know...all I know is I will continue to love their music no matter what they are wearing...although I do love the Maid Armor. Just a 2 yen thought....take it for what it's worth.
Huge thanks for that mate!
They could go the Iron Maiden route and have a giant mascot, except this one would run around the stage in a maid outfit!
As far as the pinky goes, listen very closely, she's playing an arpeggio. Pick on the 4th string, third string with her middle finger and second string with her ring finger, leaving only the pinky to hit the note on the first string.
Ohhh, will have to listen back to that!
Thanks to both Jack and Zap here.. I thought I'd heard Misa finger-pick arpeggios but never seen it. Makes sense to use the pinky since the first finger's taken. When she tucks the pick in her first knuckle to switch to slap, I would be unsurprised if she also pops more than her middle finger.
Always learning when I watch your breakdowns
Awesome, delighted to hear that!
Thanks Jack--another of your routinely outstanding analyses.
Cheers my dude!
Thanks Jack, always enjoy your detailed breakdowns for songs.
My pleasure! Thanks a tonne!
I'm late to the party! Excellent dissection of the song Jack. Thank you!
thanks bud!
I think you're right on about the "jazz vocabulary" in the chorus. The melody and the composition in the chorus has always given me big-band/swing-era vibes. It's clear that Kanami was drawing from that era because "Balance" on the same EP has overt jazz/swing references, including a muted swing faux horn/synth element. Your "post-punk" comments are also spot on. A lot of people keep describing aspects of their music as "pop-punk" because they hear bright distinct melodies but I think that term is over-applied. What they're doing is usually much more sophisticated than most pop-punk and is much closer to post-punk to me.
Thanks for the insights!
Would never have made a big band connect, but I can totally hear it! Good call. Aye totally, they have some pop-punk hooks, but there's a lot of more of the twiddley intricate post punk thing going on as well
That was excellent Jack. One of your best! I really enjoyed how you broke it down as a compositional piece and your ear for details was fantastic. Particularly enjoyed the bass tone breakdown and how there is a lot more to bass tone than just equipment. Very interesting. My favorite part of the song is the hard stop in the final verse. A neat trick to keep the listeners interest. One reactor, who said he was a musician, said the band has to be tight to execute a hard stop like that.
Wave Potter has said Akane is the toughest drummer he has tried to play because of needing to remember all the variations.
Speaking of Justin Hawkins...a couple of years he reacted to Dice and tried to work out exactly what Band Maid was doing. The results were interesting (spoiler: he gave up). It is on YT.
Awesome, really glad you enjoyed it dude!
Yeah, you need to be tight and confident to do dead stops- no room for fear or second guessing!
I can totally understand that, so many little (and some times not so little!) changes in her patterns. I watched some of his stuff a while back, will need to check that out, see how far he got!
Misa has added this hybrid picking/popping technique to her playing. The song Thrill from this same concert (not on RUclips) is another good example of this. I think she's somewhat used to popping with her pinky finger because of her quick change technique of switching from slap to pick. She tucks the pick into her forefinger, so doesn't pop with that finger - but she's comfortable using all her other fingers to pop with. Congrats on noticing and commenting on this technique and on another great analysis. I've only seen 1 other person catch this and comment on it.
Ahh, yeah totally- with that slap to pick change it would make sense to get comfortable using her pinky as well. Cheers bud, glad you liked this one!
Last things. Kanami's parts in the verses/pre-chorus are definetly meant to add tension and unease--the pot is about to boil over--especially when she bends the notes slightly out of key. Same with the chromatics. It all feels just slightly twisted and it's one big reason why I think this song is so far beyond just a driving punk/hard rock riff.
The "not-standard-power chord" is almost certainly intentional. Kanami has described herself as "not the typical metalhead" since she listened to and played classical music almost exclusively until she was 17. She mentioned wanting to add "more sophisticated" chords to their music and not rely only on power chords, although she clearly understands why they're quite important, too.
Akane's recurring ping is on the bell of her ride cymbal. That's a big bell sound, not a splash. She is just stellar in this song. Misa and her together are special. Miku's right there with them in this song, too. Her playing is really tight.
And their techs seem to do the effects switching when they're away from their pedal boards.
Totally, it's give the song more of an edge.
Aye, would lean towards agreeing with you there as well.
Oh, sounded smaller to me, good to know!
Makes sense to have the tech cover those bases
You've given me a newfound appreciation for a performance that I already loved! I will now refer to that part of MISA's solo as the Pinky Pop! LOL 🖤
Also, that part you played at 37:04 made me immediately think of the start of their song Bubble. Great job!
Haha, great to hear that!
This comes from their 10th anniversary last concert in Yokohama Arena. The stage went out into and completely around the venue. Saiki and Misa both walked completely around the arena greeting and acknowledging their fans.
very cool
I have noticed that there are jazz influences all over the Japanese rock/metal scene and even into the J-Pop (and probably even the Idol scene) you can find some artists that have clear jazzy and funky influences. You can find it in their video game soundtracks and movie/anime sound tracks as well. Zutomayo is a good example of a J-Pop act that uses a lot of different instruments live and have very funky and jazzy bass lines all over their tracks (they also have amazing live concerts with a lot to figure out). Also, there are still a lot of new upcoming great young jazz musicians in Japan. I have been diving into the Japanese scene a bit the last couple of years (not super deep) and there are plenty of great artists and groups to found even by just focusing on a couple of artists and who they play with in different projects.
Aye, form what I've been told when Jazz hit Japan it sort of filtered in to all kinds of music, instead of staying in one lane as it more or less has over here
On the stage clothes: Yes, I think you're right. This is their new official stage gear, at least until the next iteration. It seems like they're evolving farther away from the obvious visual maid references, except Miku, while preserving some link to the original concept. I think it's a natural maturation of the look as they get older and more sophisticated and want even more emphasis on the music. It's a tricky brand balancing act but I think they're being very smart about it.
As for Miku's maid costume---catch her giant white bow on the back, shaped to match the BAND-MAID logo.
Yup, I've noticed that. Clever lady.
Part of me really likes the idea of all their stage outfits evolving and Miku's staying exactly as is, like sort of revolving around the central theme?
They made miku reduce her "wingspan" because they were getting in the way of saiki. 😂 That was the excuse anyway to clip the pigeon's wings @@JbfMusicGuitar
Deep dives such as this from JBF, and others, always makes me wonder at the few reactors who claim Band Maid is simple, or repetitive.
They have certain thing that they like to reuse (like every musician ever) and I could see how if you put on a playlist an casually listened to it you might come away with that take. But as soon as you start active listening, it's quite apparent there is a lot of very cool stuff going on!
Thanks for this amazing breakdown. My official breakdown of this performance is “Dayummm thats cool”😎 😂
I think I prefer your breakdown to mine!
3:47 Kanami pulled that little riff from an instrumental she wrote a while back called "Go Nuts!"
Good to know!
Funny - I think it was MISA's bass day interview, she was asked what instrument she would want to play in orchestra (or maybe which instrument she wants to be) and she said triangle because when you hit it, it makes this sudden, shocking sound that soars over the other instruments. That pinky pop - maybe her version of the triangle?
I like this connection!
Barefoot Assassin's Single Pinky Exploding Heart Technique 💪🔥❤
Lmao, you've got me topped there, that's a total belter! 🤣
Akane added an 8" splash to her kit for this concert. I think "Hate?" and "I'll" are the only 2 songs she uses it in though.
Siouxie and the Banshees? I haven't heard them for a loooooooong time. I remember Chrissy Hynde mentioning them in an interview many years ago, which had me discovering them.
Many time while MISA starts wandering her fretboard, Miku will drop back to tie in to Akane's kit.
My understanding was that Kanami's and MISA's tech were running the remotes to their pedal boards, to free them up to just play.
I don't know if it is helpful for your analysis, but MISA uses custom picks that are I think I read .015 thicker than the Dunlop bass pick.
MISA has done the pinky and ring finger snaps/claws while picking in a few other songs.
A lot of other reactors miss Miku coming in to thicken up the sound.
Over the years, the Ladies have asserted their own individual styles on their uniforms. They have just become more in-line with their personalities.
Several drummers have said that they are in awe of Akane's double pedal juju. A friend of one of my sons, said he wants to move to Japan to study where she did at the Tokyo School of Music.
Your ears are subject to the vagaries of age and over use. I've found that my hearing has actually slightly improved, by keeping my volume low, (lvl 30) vs the in the past when I would crank it to 100 then run a volume booster.
And I will echo what many others have said, Band-Maid is currently the BEST, Live Hard Rock Band currently touring.
Regarding Siouxie and the Banshees, there's a tribute band of theirs called Lizzie and the Banshees. Check out their videos from their live shows in 2017. You won't believe who played lead guitar. Camera shows him clear in "Christine", posted on their FB page. Sing out when you recognize him.
Correction: It's not their FB page. It's on FB but someone else's page.
@@Rabbi_Rabbs I found one from 2016 as well, he looks weird with his hair cut that short.
@@greylocke100 Right? He's in character. That's John McGeoch's hair style. You'll see it at the end of Siouxie's 1981 live performance of "Hong Kong Garden" in Germany.
Splash cymbals are brilliant!
The tech's operating their boards (or them being midi controlled along with the click track would also make sense).
Interesting, I'm not sure how big and impact on tone those differences in pick thickness have, but they certainly feel different from a players perspective.
Ahh, I'll have to keep an eye out for that trick!
I started using ear protectors years back, so hopefully that'll keep them sharper for a longer time. Think I've lost a few frequencies over the years though.
The music for this song is just seething with anger, all the way through including the Misa/Kanami argument. Kanami and Saiki could teach both Taylor Swift and Alanis Morissette a thing or two about songs dedicated to being angry at exes.
Lmao, while I think Taylor has the passive aggressive anger down to a tee, you're spot on in that this more direct aggression is a different kettle of fish!
@@JbfMusicGuitarsaiki could deflesh a poor guy's skull with this. Miku's mocking of his pathetic mommy's boy "why don't you try to understand me" twists the knife.
The whole thing in Japan and women and men is on another level. It's even up for question still if it's OK for guys to cheat and if buying sex counts as cheating.
Saiki speaks for a generation of east Asian women who don't want burdening with a manchild any more.
A lot of western guys feel pretty uncomfortable with the lyrics here "15 mins of limp gymnastics" OUCH. But it must cut even deeper with Asian guys, here's all five women, including kawaii little miku, ganging up and doing the full on "you're not welcome any more" at another level.
Saiki consciously saw herself as representing a load of her peers who're not having it any more.
Just by existing bandmaid challenge the glass ceiling of Japanese society.
And the way kanami and saiki kind of flaunt their "thing" together without actually defining it as a pair of westerners would have to.
We just don't know if they have been pulling our legs all these years, and then mincho posts an Instagram of them "on a date at last".
They really know what they are doing at every level. As with Kanami's composition there's always a cunning twist.
They live to serve us but they're "managing up" forcefully.
Thanks, that was fun. Glad you're back. The outfits have definitely morphed over time, from matching, short, sexy skirts, through evolving personalized maid uniforms, and now to hard rocker maid outfits. I've liked them all. I've got no problems with having a shtick as long as that's not all you got.
Thanks dude! Hopefully back to a more regular upload pattern
Love your deep dive analysis. Didn't see that Bon Jovi reference coming at all LOL. Thanks!
the best bon jovi is an unexpected bon jovi!
Nice reaction greeting from germany
Thank you 🙌
I isolated Akane's drums from the call and response section and rerecorded that section of the MV with her drums at 100% volume and MISA and Kanami's guitar work at 20% - ruclips.net/video/Lc6hy30kUlE/видео.htmlsi=pgIxpXKeHHRiitx-
MISA!!! MISA!!! MISA!!!! 🥃🥃🥃 My favorite Badass Bass Assassin. This song and the "conversation" between Misa & Kanami I believe is finally my new #1 B-M song pushing the Live version of "Don't You Tell Me" to 2nd after 6 years. Hate?? is just infectious for me from start to finish
New favourite live song? Must really be hitting the spot for you, brilliant!
Nice catch with the pinky! I think it is simply so that the pinky happened to be there. Otherwise she has to move the hand.
BTW - it might also be a part of her playing a combo with pick and fingers in general.
I like this rationale the most, reminds me of the reason Michael Hedges wrote "because it's there" - ruclips.net/video/jN3439l4HR0/видео.html
MISA's tone is fantastic. Its so clean, not muffled and not rattling. You tried to emulate, but unfortunately - no cigar 🙂
Ach I know, I've not really sat down and properly had a go, will really need to give that a go!
Thank you Jack for your analysis. Like you, I too think that the jazz and R&B elements that I sometimes find in this band are largely due to the two guitarists who have influenced Kanami. One is Carlos Santana, with his minor pentatonic and Dorian mode. The other is Larry Carlton, whose tension chords and chromatic scales she uses a lot, as you know. You can recognize a lot of modulations, diminished chords, etc. that would have influenced Band-Maid in her favorite, "Room 335."
By the way, I would like to congratulate Kanami on becoming an official artist of PRS GUITARS.
Larry Carlton? Fascinating, I'll need to keep more of an ear out for his influence!
Jack, thanks for another epic breakdown and tutorial. I just threw some shekels into your tip jar. The rest I'll message you on Patreon with my comments.
Many thanks my dude- appologies for taking so long to reply to this comment!
23:00 cause it's cool, and MISA's cool. That's what I'm going with.
Haha, there are some fantastic takes in these comments, yours being no exception!
The Pinky 3rd!
Pop!
I like your new logo.
Thank you!!!
They all started out in full maid outfits. Then started getting less "maid-ey" with Misa and Saiki. Who weren't the biggest fans of the look. Akane and Kanami's outfits have more black this iteration. In a few more years, it might be Miku as the only holdout. As it was her idea.
If I am not mistaken, there is a short drum fill lead in before the five or so beats of backing track lead in at the front of the video. I know the Lollapalooza version, Akane has a killer lead in.
Ahh, that makes much more sense!
@@JbfMusicGuitar they generally play Dice first and Akane doesn't stop in between. She ends Dice, does about a 30 second solo fill, and then the electronic part opens Hate?
I’ve been really enjoying your in-depth and insightful analyses of Band-Maid tuness, like this one. Bravo! But I was on a different mission recently, and just had to ask - did you know that some young dude took over your channel a while back with a lesson for the theme from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”? Who is that guy? 😂
Hardest listening ears in the business. Thanks.
Haha, far too kind! Thanks a bunch mate really appreciate it
👍👍👍👍👍
MISA uses her pinky because she can ;) hehe
RUclips doesn't like me posting here... try again without link to time.
Regarding Miku's rhythm in battle precursor: to me it's a staged exit. Kanami drops out with her pick scrape, Saiki then delivers her line and it might have been a bit big a step for Miku to drop out at that point too. When Miku drops out Akane simplifies and MISA really does at that point pop out. Not sure if it would have had the same impact if Miku dropped out earlier and as it would have been a bass solo at that point, that would also make the battle unbalanced with Kanami's response not being seen as equivalent in length.
Dunno, but as a non-musician I can understand the (feel of the) staged departure of the instruments.
Not what I wrote the first time - seems about the same though.
it was probably because I quoted Saiki's line
I agree. Everything they do seems to be intentional and to leave a specific impression.
Good point!
It's probably in youtube jail- comments with links tend to get held to prevent spam- I'll check there and see if I can liberate it
😮😮😮😊😊😊❤❤❤
MISA MISA MISA!!!!!
She's more than earned those Misa chants in this one!!! 🤘🤘🤘
Stop press. Kanami is teasing her new private stock PRS called "Torajima" (Tiger Stripes) it has a beautiful natural tan and brown striped finish but her hand is hiding some of the pickup detail in the few photos from the last few gigs in Hall venues in Japan.
I'm sure she's going to do a full geeky reveal. It's not a signature model as such (generally they have to be vaguely affordable - I very much doubt this is - looks like it's approaching Herman Li pricing) but if she gives us a real tech rundown it might be worth an informed reaction.
I'll keep an eye out for that!
@@JbfMusicGuitar check out interview of her and Warning Dani on PRS Japan.
Also picture of the guitar on PRS private stock page.
Hi Jack i'm still alive.🙂👋 It sure isn't "Bestie" but "Hate?" isn't too bad is it?.🤣
Hey man, glad to hear it! I mean fine line between love and hate and all that, eh!??
A fine line between love and hate is actually the title of Lovebites current UK & Europe tour. 😂
@@hoges412 Hey, me and my brother Brandy were front and centre at their New Cross Inn show in London a couple of weeks ago. It was an awesome show & Fami smiled at me all night & all from 15ft away :)
@GaryHolloway-810 , I'm honoured to receive a response from the doyen of Band-Maid fandom! Am I jealous that Fami smiled at you? Only totally. If they ever get to Sydney, I'm there, front row. Also currently a bit mind blown from the photo circulating of Lovebites meeting Babymetal at Resurrection Fest.
@@hoges412 I'm just a normal guy like you but heck, i don't mind getting praised.🤭 Rolling Quartz are coming to Oz if you like them? I saw them in Jan & the only gripe i had was how many covers they played compared to how expensive the ticket was. I hope Lovebites do come to Sydney tho, you'll love it :)
A lot of people have never heard of Steve Rothery from Marillion play guitar solos.
Can't say I know any of his stuff, what would you recommend?
@@JbfMusicGuitar Marillion is not for everybody. I guess that is why you have not heard of them. Clutching At Straws" and "Misplaced Childhood" are two of their most popular they are concept albums.
Steve Rothery Guitar Solos Pt.2
If you like drums you may have heard "Good Pain" by Live. Live "Mental Jewelry"
I listen to Talk Talk I like "Happiness Is Easy" with headphones on. There Living In Another World,
"Happiness Is Easy" The Party's Over"
Lately it's been Band Maid"
What do you listen to?
I wish I had the attention span and musical knowledge required to actually enjoy this. You obviously put a lot of work into it. Will there be a preschool level version available at some point that's about 35 minutes shorter? That's probably more my speed. 🤣
I'm not a musician but I like all the detail. I learned a lot
There'll be a straight reaction watch through up in the next week or so. But if there's anything that doesn't make sense here give me a shout- if I can't explain it in the comments it's good to get an idea of the stuff I could elaborate on to make the idea more accessible. It can sound fancy, but music theory is just putting a name to a sound. And I've no doubt you'll already notice a lot of this stuff as a music fan, which is already half the battle!
Alip Ba Ta...LORO UNTU
Lagu terbaru Bro