Dojin music
Encyclopedia
, also called in Japan, is a sub-category of dōjin
activity. Dōjin are basically non-official self-published Japanese
works which can be based on official products or completely original creations. Such products are sold online on specialized sites, on the author's own sites and in conventions such as the very popular Comic Markets
.
" would be.
Dōjin music consists very often of video game music fan arrangements. Much original music is also created, be it music for dōjin games or simply mainstream music such as pop
, rock
, techno
or trance
.
By nature, dōjin music is often synthetic digital productions which allow for self-production at low costs, as opposed to studio
mastering live instruments require. It is pretty common to have one live instrument such as a guitar backed up by synthetic orchestrations, though, and full instrumentation is becoming more and more common in dōjin music, such as orchestral works or dōjin jazz.
Each members of a group usually have their individual site on which they release their personal works free to download and possibly give updates about their involvement in upcoming albums. Some artists actually never release albums and keep their artistic activity to this free-for-all form. The most productive groups usually release 2 albums a year which are released in summer and winter editions of the Comic Markets
conventions and sold for an average of 1000 yen for full length ones. The most involved and popular artists are usually featured on their own group albums but also make guest appearance on other groups' CDs.
The albums themselves benefit of various treatment depending on groups, from plain CD-R to fully printed packaging including the CD, with quality often similar to official products.
Aside from the Comic Market, events held in Japan for dōjin music include the biannual "M3" and the "Hakurei Shrine Reitaisai" (limited to Touhou Project
related music).
Dojin
, often romanized as doujin, is a general Japanese term for a group of people or friends who share an interest, activity, hobbies, or achievement...
activity. Dōjin are basically non-official self-published Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
works which can be based on official products or completely original creations. Such products are sold online on specialized sites, on the author's own sites and in conventions such as the very popular Comic Markets
Comiket
, otherwise known as the , is the world's largest self-published comic book fair, held twice a year in Tokyo, Japan. The first Comiket was held on December 21, 1975, with only about 32 participating circles and an estimated 600 attendees. Attendance has since swelled to over a half million people....
.
Genres
Dōjin music isn't a musical genre in itself but is indicative of a particular publishing way, like the term "indieIndie (music)
In music, independent music, often shortened to indie music or "indie" is a term used to describe independence from major commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, and an autonomous, Do-It-Yourself approach to recording and publishing....
" would be.
Dōjin music consists very often of video game music fan arrangements. Much original music is also created, be it music for dōjin games or simply mainstream music such as pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
or trance
Trance music
Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s.:251 It is generally characterized by a tempo of between 125 and 150 bpm,:252 repeating melodic synthesizer phrases, and a musical form that builds up and breaks down throughout a track...
.
By nature, dōjin music is often synthetic digital productions which allow for self-production at low costs, as opposed to studio
mastering live instruments require. It is pretty common to have one live instrument such as a guitar backed up by synthetic orchestrations, though, and full instrumentation is becoming more and more common in dōjin music, such as orchestral works or dōjin jazz.
Organization
Dōjin music artists can be solo or band projects. It is very common for members of different groups to collaborate on an album. Some projects, such as Woodsoft, are collaborations of several artists contributing to a given theme for each of their album releases.Each members of a group usually have their individual site on which they release their personal works free to download and possibly give updates about their involvement in upcoming albums. Some artists actually never release albums and keep their artistic activity to this free-for-all form. The most productive groups usually release 2 albums a year which are released in summer and winter editions of the Comic Markets
Comiket
, otherwise known as the , is the world's largest self-published comic book fair, held twice a year in Tokyo, Japan. The first Comiket was held on December 21, 1975, with only about 32 participating circles and an estimated 600 attendees. Attendance has since swelled to over a half million people....
conventions and sold for an average of 1000 yen for full length ones. The most involved and popular artists are usually featured on their own group albums but also make guest appearance on other groups' CDs.
The albums themselves benefit of various treatment depending on groups, from plain CD-R to fully printed packaging including the CD, with quality often similar to official products.
Aside from the Comic Market, events held in Japan for dōjin music include the biannual "M3" and the "Hakurei Shrine Reitaisai" (limited to Touhou Project
Touhou Project
The , also known as Toho Project or Project Shrine Maiden, is a Japanese dōjin game series focused on bullet hell shooters made by the one-man developer Team Shanghai Alice, whose sole member, known as ZUN, is responsible for all the graphics, music, and programming for the most part...
related music).
Notable dōjin music artists
- Sound HorizonSound HorizonSound Horizon, abbreviated by fans as Sanhora , is a Japanese musical group with composer Revo as the leader. They call themselves the "fantasy band" and have released their works that closely resemble suites.-History:...
- Akiko ShikataAkiko Shikatais a Japanese singer-songwriter and composer, who is known for writing music for games and anime. She is best known for her contributions to the Ar tonelico, Shadow Hearts and Umineko no Naku Koro ni games, as well as anime adaptations of Umineko no Naku Koro ni and Tales of Symphonia.Shikata's...
- Team Shanghai AliceTeam Shanghai Aliceis a one-man Japanese dojin game developer specializing in shoot 'em ups. The team's only releases thus far have been the Touhou Project games and related merchandise.-Games:*The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil...
, creator of the Touhou ProjectTouhou ProjectThe , also known as Toho Project or Project Shrine Maiden, is a Japanese dōjin game series focused on bullet hell shooters made by the one-man developer Team Shanghai Alice, whose sole member, known as ZUN, is responsible for all the graphics, music, and programming for the most part...
, is also very famous for the music for the games. It is interesting to note that many dōjin music releases by other groups have been arrangements of Team Shanghai Alice's songs since around 2003. - IOSYSIOSYSis a Japanese musical ensemble and dōjin circle from Sapporo, Japan. The group is primarily known for producing remixes of music from the Touhou Project series of dōjin games. They are not signed to a label, instead preferring to release their music through dōjin channels such as the Comiket...
, a well-known dōjin group most commonly recognized for their TouhouTouhou ProjectThe , also known as Toho Project or Project Shrine Maiden, is a Japanese dōjin game series focused on bullet hell shooters made by the one-man developer Team Shanghai Alice, whose sole member, known as ZUN, is responsible for all the graphics, music, and programming for the most part...
arrangements. - CROW'SCLAW, a popular heavy metal instrumental dōjin musician who is best known for his arrangements of music from the TouhouTouhou ProjectThe , also known as Toho Project or Project Shrine Maiden, is a Japanese dōjin game series focused on bullet hell shooters made by the one-man developer Team Shanghai Alice, whose sole member, known as ZUN, is responsible for all the graphics, music, and programming for the most part...
and Final FantasyFinal Fantasyis a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and is developed and owned by Square Enix . The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science-fantasy role-playing video games , but includes motion pictures, anime, printed media, and other merchandise...
series of games. - COOL&CREATE, another well-known Touhou music group, well known by the YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
community for their U.N. Owen was her? remix - HARDCORE TANO*C and ALiCE'S EMOTiON, two circles organised by REDALiCE focused on electronic dance music, but predominantly HardcoreHardcore technoHardcore techno is a type of electronic music typified by the rhythmic use of distorted and atonal industrial-like beats and samples...
amongst others. ALiCE'S EMOTiON is focused on anime and game arranges, mostly focusing on REDALiCE's work while HARDCORE TANO*C features a wider range of artists and focuses on original compositions. - ChataChatais a Japanese singer who has performed theme songs for games and anime.She has also participated in various dōjin music circles. Her own private circle is called Usagi Kinoko.-History:...
- Rekka KatakiriRekka Katakiri, born December 18, is a female Japanese singer. Her doujin circle is called CLOSED/UNDERGROUND.- About :* Influenced by anime, she started working in the fields as a vocal, net seiyuu, composer and lyricist when she first started high school. In 2004, she released the album "Min no Uta." as her...
- Haruka ShimotsukiHaruka Shimotsukiis a Japanese singer and dōjin music composer known for her vocal themes in the Atelier Iris and Ar tonelico series. She also wrote the lyrics and sang the ending themes to the two seasons of Rozen Maiden as well as the OVA under the name Kukui, with Myu. Shimotsuki's original music mainly consists...
- Junka Amaoto
- Michika Kataoka
- Sou Raika
- Alice Ichitsuki
Dōjin lyrics
Sometimes, people may rewrite the lyrics of an existing anime song to create a dōjin song, or insert lyrics into an originally instrumental anime track. This kind of dōjin songs is called . Many dōjin lyrics are written in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean. Moreover, you can find "fandub" of different languages of an ACG song, Game song or Vocaloid song, like English fandub, French Fandub, Spanish fandub, etc. All of these are Dōjin lyrics of different languages.See also
- DōjinDojin, often romanized as doujin, is a general Japanese term for a group of people or friends who share an interest, activity, hobbies, or achievement...
- Dōjin softDojin soft, also sometimes called , are video games created by Japanese hobbyists or hobbyist groups , more for fun than for profit; essentially, the Japanese equivalent of independent video games. Most of them are based on pre-existing material, but some are entirely original creations...
- DōjinshiDojinshiis the Japanese term for self-published works, usually magazines, manga or novels. Dōjinshi are often the work of amateurs, though some professional artists participate as a way to publish material outside the regular industry. The term dōjinshi is derived from and . Dōjinshi are part of a wider...
- VocaloidVocaloidis a singing synthesizer application, with its signal processing part developed through a joint research project between the Pompeu Fabra University in Spain and Japan's Yamaha Corporation, who backed the development financially—and later developed the software into the commercial product...
- Video game music
- Self publishing
- Indie (music)Indie (music)In music, independent music, often shortened to indie music or "indie" is a term used to describe independence from major commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, and an autonomous, Do-It-Yourself approach to recording and publishing....