# "Kirin" Series - download links added



## JohnG

Hi guys,

Tomorrow, "Kirin Ga Kuru," the latest Taiga Drama, premieres on NHK television in Japan and world-wide. I've been working on it for about a year, and so far have written about four hours of music for it. We've recorded in Tokyo, Sofia, Nashville, and Los Angeles. Daniel Kresco (mixed "Joker" and mixed Johann Johannsson's music) mixed the score.

This year's series focuses on the life of Mitsuhide, who famously betrayed Nobunaga and brought about his death in 1582. Nobunaga is often cited as the most popular figure in Japanese history; consequently, making his betrayer the central figure is bound to be somewhat controversial. Some may know that Nobunaga is so popular and well-known that he appears in more than one video game.

The Taiga Drama has been a popular series in Japan, first airing in 1963. Every year, NHK chooses an important historical figure or momentous event and makes 40-50 one-hour episodes about the person or event. With that much television, the writer, the famed Shunsaku Ikehata, is able to explore the character from many perspectives, and dramatise his impact on history.

It's been a huge amount of fun working on it, though draining! The producers wanted an acoustic sound, hence the orchestral approach. In addition, they wanted to use melody as a prominent aspect of the music, which I'm sure many here would agree is very welcome.

Probably have about an hour left to write this year, but keen to see the show airing.

Kind regards,

John



Links to Apple and Amazon for the first album:

Apple / iTunes : music.apple.com/us/album/nhk-taiga-drama-kirin-ga-kuru-original-soundtrack-vol-1/1495283821

You can preview and / or click through to iTunes, or listen on Apple Music, for those who have it.


Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Taiga-Drama-Kirin-Original-Soundtrack/dp/B083Z8T452/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=kirin+ga+kuru&qid=1580501322&sr=8-1 (amazon.com/Taiga-Drama-Kirin-Original-Soundtrack/dp/B083Z8T452/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=kirin+ga+kuru&amp;qid=1580501322&amp;sr=8-1)

Spotify: search either John R Graham or, the title in English: NHK Taiga Drama "Kirin ga Kuru" (Original Soundtrack) [Vol.1]


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## Fry777

Looking forward to watch it and listen to your score.
Do you know if this NHK program would be available online for non Japanese residents ? It's not clear on their website


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## ism

Sounds great. Anywhere we can hear the score?


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## Dr.Quest

Congratulations! What a great projects!


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## JohnG

Fry777 said:


> Looking forward to watch it and listen to your score.
> Do you know if this NHK program would be available online for non Japanese residents ? It's not clear on their website



Hi Fry,

I don't know if they are doing streaming or not but I haven't heard that they are. I added "Japan TV" to my cable subscription but otherwise am not sure how one would get NHK in California.

John


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## JohnG

ism said:


> Sounds great. Anywhere we can hear the score?



The first third of the score is being released, I'm told, on the 29th. But there was talk about letting people download the main title first, then the rest of the score. Sony planned to release three different CDs over the course of the year, but the only hard dates I have from them are my own deliveries. After that it's up to them.

We went for a less-compressed mastering process than you often get these days, so there's a pretty wide dynamic range. Actually, there's a fairly wide stylistic range as well.


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## Richard Bowling

Great job! Thanks for sharing—


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## JohnG

ism said:


> Sounds great. Anywhere we can hear the score?



links to iTunes and Amazon added to first post


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## Richard Bowling

thanks for the links - music sounds great!


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