NIL Uruha Bandscore Translations Part 2

D.L.N

The main guitar is acoustic, but there is also an electric nuance. The electric guitar adds a bright interlude to the chorus because it is essential in expressing the emotion in the song. I think for all of the acoustic arpeggios, you should take care to make your backing strokes subtle. I’m assuming he’s referring to upward picking as opposed to downward

SHADOW VI II I

This song is in D tuning, but only the sixth string is tuned down a whole step because it relieves tension. The riff in the intro was recorded an octave down but I think using the octave compactor (pitch shifter) during lives comes close to that. Playing with a fighting spirit is the number one thing I want to point out.

Baretta

I put my soul into playing the guitar solo, so playing this song live with the band is something that I genuinely enjoy.I didn't elaborate on the sound in particular, so just go from one mood.

Cassis

This song is reminiscent of snow falling in the winter cold but during the chorus, there comes an image of something warm. I wanted to try to make the solo sound like a cry of love so I used my guitar with a whammy bar.

SILLY GOD DISCO

At first glance, the melody is definitely a dance number. However, surprisingly there is a rock phrase that goes into it and I wanted the entire rock feeling to complete the song. Because of the backing sample tones in the song and the fact that I don’t use distortion, I think this song is relatively easy to play.

DISCHARGE

This song has a sense of speed is life. Because it’s expected to be played at 100% live, I had to get over playing it without getting tired. Needless to say, the song is like some heinous sport (laughs).

Taion

This is really a downer song. The delay feedback in the A melody is in a place where it’s really quite subtle. The scratching noises made with the pick in the beginning and during the solo are like a cry, and I played it using different kinds of metals to create that nuance. Something about metal stumped me in this sentence… I think he used different metal materials as picks. I recorded the solo an octave lower so please copy that using a pitch shifter. He uses the term octaver instead of octave, so I think he’s referring to that sort of effect.

Uruha NIL Bandscore Translations Part 1

It's No Fret Friday again and today I'm posting translations of a few comments from my favorite guitarist. As a student in intermediate Japanese, translating from the NIL band score took way more time and patience than I expected. The process is dreadful, especially when it comes to looking up unknown kanji, but by god it's worth it.

To be honest, I don't really care for reading interviews where the artist tells you his favorite animal or something ridiculous like his shoe size. In most interviews, the questions are silly and frankly they have zero substance. That's what I love about the commentary in band scores, they're nothing but that. The comments are a chance for the artist to seriously explain their techniques and let you know exactly what it is they do aside from looking pretty.

These people are musicians dammit, not your best friend!

At any rate, here's what Uruha has to say about some of the songs from NIL. Enjoy!


Nausea and Shudder: The main hook is basic with the exception of the scratching (muted strings?) parts which gives playing it a lengthier feel. The intro comes in with an 8 beat section, but I had to be careful of the different variations in speed. At any rate, the delay (in the chorus) is sweet, like a bird flying. *It leaves an entangled feeling in my heart.

*感じを心がけておこうThis sentence, I’m not so sure if he means himself or maybe what he wants for the listener.

Bathroom: In this song I used a 7 string guitar in B tuning. As for having a seventh string, dealing with holding it down turned out to be okay. I’m assuming that’s the first time he played a 7-string and had doubts about how it played. For the A melody I adjusted the front pickup halfway to give the song a fuller sound. I believe he literally lowered his pickup to achieve the heavy tone in the song.

Maggots: In this song please play the parts with sharps as if they weren’t there, keeping your right hand tightly muting the strings. Because the B melody is fairly tricky to achieve with the whammy, I think whether or not it gives rise to that scale is up to the player. This last sentence was a little tough but I think that’s the gist of it. He uses the word adoribu, which translates to adlib but after some research it looks like it also refers to a type of scale or a certain way of playing guitar.

Namaatatakai ame tozaratsuita jounetsu:I decided that starting out with a fast-paced shuffle was the first thing I wanted in this song. I vigorously pour my soul into keeping the rhythm while I play the main hook (laughs). Also, playing the solo feels like the start of a match. With the exception of the solo, I used only one pickup to record, never the rear. This was just my preference as I saw to it.