On the night of January 26th, we raided the dressing room right after the second night of their Nippon Budokan performance. Last time, we spoke mainly to performers and people involved in visuals, but this time we interviewed SAKANACTION 's recording engineer, MASASHI URAMOTO, who is a sort of sound producer who manipulates their live performances, to talk about sound.
- I think this is the first attempt to live stream a concert with an audience on such a large scale. It will be a hybrid of a real live concert and an online live concert, but what do you think it will be like from your perspective as someone who has been with SAKANACTION for many years as a manipulator in recordings and live performances?
Uramoto: "For so-called online lives, we had Sunny (PA SACHIO SASAKI) mix the sound for the live stream. This time, we're live streaming a live performance with an audience, so Sunny's mix will be for the venue, but I want him to keep in mind that the people at the other end of the stream will be listening."
- Uramoto-san receives the mix that Sunny-san made and sends it out for distribution. The music passes through two filters, Sunny-san and Uramoto-san's, before it reaches the distribution destination.
Uramoto: That's right. What I'm thinking now is that since it's the Budokan, there will be a lot of people, and I want the people watching the live stream to be aware that they are sharing that time with us. To that end, I'm thinking of setting up audience microphones where the Budokan audience would be, and picking up that atmosphere, and arranging it in 3D so that it feels like they're really in the Budokan. I'm thinking of mixing the band's sound into that.
- Will it be a virtual 3D type broadcast?
Uramoto: Yes. I think it's close to that way of thinking. However, we'll be working on it for two days on the day of the performance, so we'll try it out and see what happens. It also includes an experimental element.
--There might be a difference between the 29th and 30th.
Uramoto: Yes. I hope that those who are watching over both days will enjoy that aspect as well.
--We've talked about the sound in general, but have you heard anything about the visuals, including what kind of visual arrangements Director Tanaka will be making?
Uramoto: "No. Haha. I'm looking forward to it. The biggest difference between online and real-life concerts is the opening. You wait for an hour, then the lights go out and the concert begins. Online concerts start from a subjective perspective. Live concerts are from a bird's-eye view. I've confirmed with Director Tanaka that it might be a good idea to link the sound to that as well. I'm looking forward to seeing how the whole thing turns out."
-What are you looking forward to?
Uramoto: "ADAPT Online stream was of course amazing. The atmosphere at the actual live venue was amazing, so I hope that will be properly conveyed in the live performance at the Budokan. Director Tanaka's performance is really cool, so I'm looking forward to it."
-It would be nice if the moving video of ADAPT Online could be combined with a real live performance. I heard that this live broadcast has an element of "APPLY". What do you think will happen with APPLY, the next work after ADAPT?
Uramoto: "Honestly, I don't know what's going to happen yet. Ikku always brings up interesting things, so I'm looking forward to it."
