Why was the Kikuchi score so inconsistently mixed?

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PurestEvil
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Why was the Kikuchi score so inconsistently mixed?

Post by PurestEvil » Thu Oct 28, 2021 6:45 pm

Some of the tracks from the earliest arc of Dragon Ball were mixed in stereo, yet all the tracks from M0XX to M12XX--covering both TV shows--were mixed in mono (excluding M7XX). The rest of the soundtrack after that was stereo.
My simple question is: why?
Why did Toei do such a thing? Was it an oversight? Was their music department somehow limited within that span of 5 years? If there were stereo tapes, were the music distributers simply unable to access them? Is there even any information on this?
If there is, I would like to learn more about it...it makes me a tad salty, not gonna lie.
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Re: Why was the Kikuchi score so inconsistently mixed?

Post by kei17 » Fri Oct 29, 2021 9:08 am

Speaking of the first batch of the Kikuchi score in the OG DB, it was recorded and mixed by Nippon Columbia with a soundtrack release in mind, so it's mixed in stereo and preserved in higher quality. This was confirmed by the producer of DBZ BGM Collection whom I contacted years ago. I guess M7XX received the same treatment as it's the beginning of a new series, but possibly the planned soundtrack release was cancelled for some reason. Maybe it's just that Columbia recorded the score along with the new theme songs. As for the ones mixed mono, Toei Music Publishing played a large part of the productions because they were produced purely for the background music usage. Toei Music Publishing seem to have switched to stereo from M13XX as monaural audio was seriously outdated at this point of time. This doesn't explain why M1XXX (DBZ Movie 3) was mixed in stereo though.

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Re: Why was the Kikuchi score so inconsistently mixed?

Post by PurestEvil » Sat Oct 30, 2021 4:45 am

kei17 wrote: Fri Oct 29, 2021 9:08 am Speaking of the first batch of the Kikuchi score in the OG DB, it was recorded and mixed by Nippon Columbia with a soundtrack release in mind, so it's mixed in stereo and preserved in higher quality. This was confirmed by the producer of DBZ BGM Collection whom I contacted years ago. I guess M7XX received the same treatment as it's the beginning of a new series, but possibly the planned soundtrack release was cancelled for some reason. Maybe it's just that Columbia recorded the score along with the new theme songs. As for the ones mixed mono, Toei Music Publishing played a large part of the productions because they were produced purely for the background music usage. Toei Music Publishing seem to have switched to stereo from M13XX as monaural audio was seriously outdated at this point of time. This doesn't explain why M1XXX (DBZ Movie 3) was mixed in stereo though.
Ah, thanks for your input! I wonder, in which album were those stereo early DB tracks released?
Also, I never realized that the M10XX collection was in stereo...surely that means TOEI could have recorded the previous and succeeding two films' soundtracks in stereo, right?
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Re: Why was the Kikuchi score so inconsistently mixed?

Post by BladeXRG » Sat Oct 30, 2021 8:05 am

PurestEvil wrote: Sat Oct 30, 2021 4:45 am
kei17 wrote: Fri Oct 29, 2021 9:08 am Speaking of the first batch of the Kikuchi score in the OG DB, it was recorded and mixed by Nippon Columbia with a soundtrack release in mind, so it's mixed in stereo and preserved in higher quality. This was confirmed by the producer of DBZ BGM Collection whom I contacted years ago. I guess M7XX received the same treatment as it's the beginning of a new series, but possibly the planned soundtrack release was cancelled for some reason. Maybe it's just that Columbia recorded the score along with the new theme songs. As for the ones mixed mono, Toei Music Publishing played a large part of the productions because they were produced purely for the background music usage. Toei Music Publishing seem to have switched to stereo from M13XX as monaural audio was seriously outdated at this point of time. This doesn't explain why M1XXX (DBZ Movie 3) was mixed in stereo though.
Ah, thanks for your input! I wonder, in which album were those stereo early DB tracks released?
Also, I never realized that the M10XX collection was in stereo...surely that means TOEI could have recorded the previous and succeeding two films' soundtracks in stereo, right?
All the tracks from the Dragon Ball: Ongakushu album are stereo; they were also included in the disc 2 of the Daizenshuu, from track 2 to 13.

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Re: Why was the Kikuchi score so inconsistently mixed?

Post by GhostEmperorX » Mon Nov 01, 2021 11:49 pm

A rule of thumb: If they were released on CD, or mastered with CD specifications (16/44.1/2ch), they were definitely stereo tracks since that's what the redbook specification requires.
But if they were not intended to be released, as Kei said, then it makes sense that they were made in mono.
It does however beg the question, why would they do Mono at all even though the CD & by extension stereo had already taken off big time? Well I guess that's Toei for you.
Nippon Columbia is the label that provided the recording budget for this soundtrack (and also most other Kikuchi projects BTW), so if they released it on CD then it would have to be in stereo.

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Re: Why was the Kikuchi score so inconsistently mixed?

Post by linkdude20002001 » Sun Nov 07, 2021 4:04 pm

kei17 wrote: Fri Oct 29, 2021 9:08 am Speaking of the first batch of the Kikuchi score in the OG DB, it was recorded and mixed by Nippon Columbia with a soundtrack release in mind, so it's mixed in stereo and preserved in higher quality. This was confirmed by the producer of DBZ BGM Collection whom I contacted years ago. I guess M7XX received the same treatment as it's the beginning of a new series, but possibly the planned soundtrack release was cancelled for some reason. Maybe it's just that Columbia recorded the score along with the new theme songs. As for the ones mixed mono, Toei Music Publishing played a large part of the productions because they were produced purely for the background music usage. Toei Music Publishing seem to have switched to stereo from M13XX as monaural audio was seriously outdated at this point of time. This doesn't explain why M1XXX (DBZ Movie 3) was mixed in stereo though.
Planned releases do get canceled sometimes, so that makes sense. It's a shame they didn't plan to release the whole score. Haha
Do you know if Toei or Columbia still have the components of the music to re-mix the songs in stereo? I would assume they do, but just have been lazy.

PurestEvil wrote: Sat Oct 30, 2021 4:45 am I wonder, in which album were those stereo early DB tracks released?
If the music was sold at the time it was new, then it would be in stereo. So...this release from 1985 or 1986, on vinyl record and cassette, is why there are stereo tracks for early Dragon Ball, and is where the later releases get it from.

テレビまんがドラゴンボール音楽集 (テレビ ・オリジナル・サウンドトラック )
Terebi Manga Doragon Bо̄ru Ongakushū (Terebi Orijinaru Saundotorakku)
TV Cartoon Dragon Ball Music Collection (TV Original Soundtrack)
Image
Image

So when the tracks were released on CD as a part of the Dragon Ball & Dragon Ball Z Daizenshū (1994), Disc Two had all the stereo tracks from the Music Collection, plus additional songs...in mono.
The Many English Dubs of DB, DBZ, and DBGT
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Re: Why was the Kikuchi score so inconsistently mixed?

Post by kenisu3000 » Thu Nov 11, 2021 5:11 am

linkdude20002001 wrote: Sun Nov 07, 2021 4:04 pm Do you know if Toei or Columbia still have the components of the music to re-mix the songs in stereo? I would assume they do, but just have been lazy.
Well, I've finally gotten around to working on a translation of the 5-disc Zenshuu booklet, and here's a little, not-so-encouraging snippet:
DISC 2 is a collection of music from the TV version of DRAGONBALL. In fact there exists an uncannily rare, single-disc music collection for DRAGONBALL that was released right after the show first went on the air. This was during a time when LPs were still in their heyday. It contained music cues from recording session no. 1, put together suite-style, but there was a plus factor in that it used the stereo-recorded takes by way of the raw editing elements. After all, not even Toei Animation has the stereo recordings from the first session. So for this release, we've decided to reproduce said music collection in full.
(Emphasis mine.)
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