Eclipse Master Class Student Video Diarie

INTRODUCTION

The event "ECLIPSE Master Class” is an innovative style of music-themed lecture, one unique aspect of which is the process of creating the event, because it offers students the rare opportunity of working with corporate professionals.

Here students become navigators, introducing, from their point of view, what they noticed and learnt during this process and what the experience of working with corporate professionals (=Fujitsu Ten) was like for them.

DISCLAIMER: This November 2009 event was not co-sponsored by Berklee College of Music, it is a production of Fujitsu Ten and Osaka University.

Member of  Osaka Universityfs 21st Century Kaitokudo

  • MatsudaMatsuda
  • KawasakiKawasaki
  • Ms sakuraiMs. sakurai
  • yoshimurayoshimura
  • TakahashiTakahashi
  • OginoOgino
  • KojimaKojima
  • OyamaOyama
  • MuroMuro
  • YoshinagaYoshinaga
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(Japanese text only)

Co-hosted by Osaka University and Fujitsu Ten@Blogs by the Osaka University students who participated as staff in the
production of the ECLIPSE Master Class There will be rolling updates regarding publicity for the November 17
live event and activity reports, etc.
  • First Video Diary
  • Second Video Diary
  • Second Video Diary
  • Third Video Diary
  • ForthVideo Diary
  • Fifth Video Diary
  • Sixth Video Diary
  • Seventh Video Diary
  • Eight Video Diary
  • Ninth Video Diary
  • Tenth Video Diary
  • Eleventh Video Diary
  • Twelfth Video Diary
  • Thirteenth Video Diary

Final Report ]Student Commentsf (Thirteenth Navigator: Mr Matsuda)

My name is Matsuda and I am your last navigator, because this is the final diary report. 
I will be relaying all the student staff member thoughts, gathered after a wrap-up meeting with all the members of staff from Fujitsu Ten.

Mr Ogino

The show ended without incident. I experienced a lot through this event and I think that the people who were kind enough to come will have experienced something beyond your average live performance. I hope they can link it into something. I would like to express my gratitude to those who helped with this event. Thank you.

Mr Takahashi

The show is over. It was fun and problem free. It was really great to work with so many people and have so many valuable experiences. Thank you to everyone who came to the event and to all the members of staff!!

Mr Muro

The Master Class has ended safely! At first I was worried if this event would fly, but as things progressed I was able to put my doubts aside. 
On the day, I think I was strengthened by this knowledge and able to give it my all. I would really like to thank everyone involved with this event and those who came to see it.

Ms.Sakurai

I was the MC on the day. Thanks to this Master Class, I have been able to get a sense of what it means to think like a professional. It was sometimes intimidating to be surrounded by so many professional staff members, but I feel that I was able to carry out the role assigned to me. Right now I am in a reflective mood but am really grateful that as a student I have played a part in a corporate event.

Mr Kawasaki

On the day I mainly guided the artists. I really learnt a lot through hands-on experience. Although the event for the audience was only a one or two hours long, I came into all sorts of contact with all sorts of people in the planning meetings, on the radio, during rehearsals and on the day of the event itself. And even though it rained on the day of the event the venue was packed and I was really happy when the artists said they had had a good time! I am so grateful to have been able to take part in this event.

Mr Kojima

The event has successfully finished. It was great to experience a lot as a student member of staff. Being on stage on the day was really good fun, but only possible thanks to the efforts of the overseas artists and all the staff members. Thank you so much. Good job!

Mr Oyama

Taking part as a student member of staff there were many moments when I wasnft sure or didnft know what to do, but with the help of everyone from Ten I was able to carry out my duties successfully. I want to draw on this experience to make more of my life going forward. Thank you for a valuable experience.

Mr Yoshimura

Itfs a relief that the live event is safely over. It was a great experience to be involved in what is still a new type of event in Japan, bringing first class artists over from America for this Master Class. I took part as a student member of staff and was able to see first-hand that apart from the artists, there are loads of people involved back stage to create a single event, which was a valuable insight. Thank you very much.

Messrs Umeda&Yoshinaga

On the day I helped people get around and took part in the last song. 
By participating in planning, I learnt that an event is the result of lots of people carrying out various roles. I feel I was able to catch a glimpse of corporate work, which is a really valuable experience. I would like to express my gratitude to everyone involved in the event and everyone who came to see it. Thank you.(Mr Yoshinaga)
I took part at the last minute, but it was a valuable experience. Stressful, but fun.(Mr Umeda)

Mr Matsuda

The event was over so quickly. I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who came to the event and all the members of staff who were involved in making it happen. Thank you so much. It has been a really meaningful experience. Well done one and all!

And finally, itfs a group photo!


u61 days in the life of 10 Studentsv
i15 min 45 secsj

Report on Participant Teacher Musician Comments	(Twelfth narrator: Mr Kojima)

Well, there are only two more video diary reports (including this one) left to go. Even if only a little, I hope that everyone who has been following our experiences on this site has got a feeling for what it was like.
@This time, Ifd like to introduce what was said in interviews about how they felt by the teacher musicians who took part in the ECLIPSE Master Class.

Rebecca Muir (Vocalist, Pianist and Composer)

A good thing about the ECLIPSE Master Classis is that it is not one-way, rather an opportunity to mutually learn. 
It was a really positive experience to meet and exchange views with people from other cultures and different fields

Ben Zecker (Keyboard Player and Pianist)

When I was a student, I took a Master Class putting my own compositions to video and learned a lot.@
This time I took part with a feeling of wanting to repay what was done for me and Ifm happy that actually everyone had a good time.

Recording Engineer Zach Winterfeld (Sound Engineer, Recording Producer and Composer)

First off, Ifd like to thank everyone who worked so hard at this ECLIPSE Master Class. 
I think that it will have been a refreshingly positive experience for all the students to see close up the sort of approaches to work taken by various musicians, engineers and others.

Jon Levy (Vocalist, Guitarist, Pianist and Composer)

I was really happy to have had the rare experience of taking part in a uniquely special event.
It was also wonderful to experience delivering the sound from on stage gas ish to the audience by using ECLIPSE TD speakers, which are not normally used as monitors.

Matt Musty (Drummer and Percussionist)

I got inspiration from the Japanese students that I met taking part in the ECLIPSE Master Class, which was great. 
There is a lot for me to learn from this experience.

Support Musician Hiroshi Asai (Bassist)

I took part this time as a support musician and although it was the first time I had met the artists and we did not speak the same language, once we started playing all obstacles fell away and I had a great time. By the time we had finished, there was a strong feeling of cohesion, as if we were friends from way back, which was excellent.

I am so happy that like us the artists found there was something to learn.Ifd now like to introduce a digest video to give you an idea of what exactly this ECLIPSE Master Class was all about. Please take a look and get to know the whole story!

Discussion Report (Eleventh Navigator :Mr Oyama)

My name is Oyama and this is my report on the discussion that followed the live performances and which was the highlight of the ECLIPSE Master Class. 
Because we couldnft know until the day if it was going to be a really lively discussion there was some anxiety at first, but once it got going there were lots of questions from the students and lots to learn from the answers.

gHow do you get a guitar to have a clear sound?h
gWhen did Rebecca decide to become a singer?h
gHow did you find the TD speakers you were using as monitors this time?h
As you can see from the above examples, the questions were varied and I think the student audience will have had a learning experience that is not obtainable in normal lectures.

Questions to the artists who had graduated from the Berklee College of Music ranged from those that were music-related to questions about lifestyle. Please watch this video to see what the interesting discussion was like.

November 17, The Day of the Event@(Tenth Navigators: Messrs Muro & Ogino)

This time wefll be telling you more about the event and would like to mix it up by telling you about some of the backstage activity that is hidden from the audience. My name is Muro and I was responsible for shooting video at the Master Class. I will be your navigator today together with Mr Ogino, who got to sit in on the recording of the live performances.

Before shooting I got some basic pointers from a professional director and a cameraman who told me what to look out for and really went for it.

From a studentfs point of view, I mainly took loads of footage of what my fellow students were up to back stage, wondering if I had got it rightc I canft wait to see how it looks and which bits are going to be used.

After a long rehearsal, it is time for the real thing! We were not sure if people were really going to come to see it and unfortunately it was raining, but the audience gradually grew until all the seats were taken.

And so the event begins with Ms Sakurai, the MC, explaining what to listen out for. The audience seemed really happy with the high quality of performances featuring Jon and Rebecca and the Osaka University student sessions.Following on from last week, see what it was like to be there! Check out this video of Rebeccafs performance!

Ogino here. I would like to tell you about my experiences of recording the live performances in the mixing room, which was on the fourth floor, a slight distance from the buzzing event hall.In the mixing room, my fellow student Mr Takahashi and I got to see what goes into a live recording and chat with Zach, a recording engineer from the Berklee College of Music and the producer Mr Kato. Zachfs mother, who had also come to Japan, paid us a visit and joined in the discussions, so we had a great time.

Performance tune of Rebecca Muir


uI Know Youv
i3 min 50 secsj


uHefs Gonna Save Mev
i5 min 54 secsj


uWhat He Doesnft Seev
i4 min 26 secsj


uLiquid Remedyv
i4 min 17 secsj

Audience comments@ Interviewer : Mr. Yoshimura

¡At this point, Ifd like to introduce some of the comments gathered from members of the audience by Mr Yoshimura, who was our interviewer and SLR cameraman on the day. I wonder what people might have felt and learnedc

Rebecca's powerful singing voice was amazing.

Direct experience of the professionals' intensity of sound made it a 
really fun gig.

November 17, The Day of the Event Report Ninth (Navigators: Mr Kawasaki & Ms Sakurai)

My name is Kawasaki, and together with Ms Sakurai, I will be telling you about rehearsals on the day of the event. 
Unfortunately the weather was wet, but we got some proper staff T-shirts and ate delicious bread in the cafe nearby as our sense of anticipation grew.

When rehearsals began, the professionals seemed charged up, and this may have been the reason I started to feel slightly tense as well. My job was to guide the artists backstage, so it would have been a disaster if I got anything wrong, which meant even the rehearsals were quite stressfulc for me. The artists, on the other hand, were really relaxed! LoL

Sakurai here. I was the MC, so I had to battle with stage fright for the day. After the musicians had warmed up there was a final run-through rehearsal of everything that was planned for the entire Master Class. It felt like the real thing and I got really stressed out!

Because it was a proper rehearsal, we actually staged the discussion sessions as well. I checked what I needed to do as chairperson, and had to think about timing with the interpreter. It was a process of trial and error with the actual artists and staff and because it was a dry-run for the event itself, everyone took it very seriously and gave their all.

Because the comment was gotten from Chris, it introduces it.

I asked Rick what he thought of the Master Class, and he said that he thought creating the event from scratch will have been a really important experience for all of us. gThere are a lot of people doing music, but getting to see behind the scenes like you have is really important. Whatever you are doing you have to think about what the musicians need, and in that respect I think you have been able to experience something you would not normally get to experience as students.h

The next report will be on the actual event, but to give you a taster, check out Jonfs performance from the ECLIPSE Master Class.

Performance tune of Jon Levy


uPocketsizedv
i4 min 8 secsj


uRobotshoesv
i3 min 44 secsj


uMake me betterv
i3 min 30 secsj


uHour past midnightv
i4 min 15 secsj

November 16, Day Before Rehearsal Report (2) Eighth Navigator: Mr Takahashi

My name is Takahashi, and I will be the next to tell you about the day-before rehearsals. This time I got to see what went on in the mixing room where the LIVE performance was recorded. It was a first time experience for me, so everything was great. Because he did not using too many effects, I thought Zachfs recording sounded  really elivef.

As well as experience the recording, throughout the rehearsal I got to be with Mr Kato, the producer.  He gave me advice and showed me the sort of detail that he has to be aware of. And he did not just give advice, he also occasionally asked my opinion, so I learnt a lot.

The evening meal that was fitted in between rehearsals was an opportunity for the artists and students to spend some time hanging out together. I got to sit with Zach and Rebecca. We are about the same age and had a great time talking about music and games.

Because she still had to sing in rehearsals after the meal and did not want to damage her throat, Rebecca only drank water, which showed how seriously she takes being a professional.

In order to deliver a great performance on the day, rehearsals went on until late. 
At the end of rehearsals, all the student staff members gathered for a rare opportunity to hear a brief lecture about producing from Mr Kato, which was really interesting.

If you would like to hear the lecture for yourself, please check out the video!


A Special Lecture by the Producer, Mr Kato
3 min 47 secs
Explaining the thinking and preparations that are required when 'producing'

November 16, Day Before Rehearsal Report (1)	(Seventh Navigator: Mr Yoshimura)

Previously, we brought you a preliminary report from Mr Yoshinaga. This time, we students would like to tell you, in a series of seven reports, about our experiences from rehearsals the day before on the 16th to the event itself. My name is Yoshimura and I will be telling you about my experiences on the 16th, the day before rehearsals.

Because the artists were due to arrive at the event site in the early afternoon, before they arrived we was busy working with staff from Fujitsu Ten and the Hills Bread Factory Live House installing the ECLIPSE TD speakers, putting up posters and preparing staff passes, etc.

After noon, the artists arrived! Itfs the first time we have met them. All staff members were tense, but introduced themselves in halting English. The artists were all openhearted which was a big relief!!

Introductions over and no time after baggage had been stored away, rehearsals began. We had never seen a full-fledged rehearsal close up before, so all the student staff members watched with immense interest. The feeling was that they were so good you could tell they were graduates of Berklee College of Musicc
The professional actions of all the staff, not just the musicians, meant that progress was quick on soundchecks, lighting and even visuals.  eSo thatfs how itfs done!f The experience of watching each task being performed meant there were many things for the student staff members to take note of!!

November 17 Preliminary Report - Studentsf Thoughts about the Day. (Sixth navigator Mr. Yoshinaga)

Mr Yoshinaga: 
My name is Yoshinaga.  I played tenor sax in the session and this time, I will be your navigator!
Finally the day of the ECLIPSE Master Class arrived! I was involved from rehearsals the day before and had many experiences that I will report on properly in the days to come, but for now I would like to bring you a preliminary report of comments made just after the Class had finished by student members of staff who participated in the planning and running of the event!

Mr. Yoshinaga
Starting with mec
I took part in the session, and was wondering how free a session it was going to be when Ben, the keyboard player, kindly gave me a musical score, so it was a stress-free session
Mr Takahashi
Mr Takahashi: It was really good fun! I was able to have many experiences and really learnt a lot. 
Ifm glad there were no upheavals on the day!
Mr Kojima
Mr Kojima: Ifm tired but it was great!
Mr Matsuda
Mr Matsuda: It was as amazing as it was tiring.
Mr Kawasaki
Mr Kawasaki: My first thought is that Ifm relieved itfs over.  I want to find out from the artists if they had a good time.
Mr Yoshimur
Mr Yoshimura: Ifm tired, but it was great fun so please be sure to give me a call next time.
Mr Ogino
Mr Ogino: Lots of people came, I was able to do my job and there were no big mistakes, so it was good.
Mr Muro
Mr Muro: I was responsible for shooting video, so fingers crossed the footage comes out ok!
Ms. Sakurai
Ms. Sakurai: It was great that more people than expected came. I was also glad to somehow do the MCing. Thank you all for your reports, without which I couldnft have done it.
Mr Oyama
Mr Oyama: This event gave us a really valuable experience: we saw professionals at work from close up and could interact with musicians of a similar age to ourselves. I think that working as a member of staff will have a big positive effect on my life going forward.

Take a look at the ECLIPSE Master Class

Here is the video showing some of the live performance. 
Enjoy the wonderful performances by Rebecca and John.

>>The program for the day

The program for the day

Performance by the instructor artists. I know you/Eva Rebecca Muir

4 min 19 secs

Performance by the instructor artists. Pocket-sized/Jonathan Michael Levy

4 min 30 secs

November 11.  Radio appearance to publicize ECLIPSE Master Class. (Fifth navigators: Ms. Sakurai and Mr Kawasaki)

My name is Kawasaki, and this time I will be giving you an account of my appearance on FM Cocolo with Ms Sakurai, who you have met once before, to publicize the ECLIPSE Master Class.

We appeared on COCOLO Earth Colors, a program broadcast every Wednesday 19:00-21:00, and publicized the ECLIPSE Master Class!  Thank you to Chris, the Earth Colors DJ, for all your help, and thank you to everyone at FM Cocolo.

I will be really happy if university students like me who heard the show come to the event because they thought it sounded fun. Even if they donft come to the event, Ifll be happy if hearing the show made them think ewhat theyfre doing sounds funf and they remember the name of the event and visit the Web site.

Sakurai san:Before our spot started, I thought that 20 minutes was a long time, but Chris the DJ skillfully kept things ticking over, and because we had, up to a point, prepared in advance what we were going to say, I think we communicated everything we wanted to. Ifll be really happy if people who heard the show come to the event.I donft think Ifll ever be able to have such an experience again, so it was really great. I was nervous, but it was great fun!

End of October: gWe are now taking applications!h(Forth Navigator Yoshimura and Matsuda)h

And now it is my turn-Yoshimura reporting:The official site was launched on October 26th-we are now taking applications!

gSo this is how it is done,h I thought having witnessed the creative process as we steadily prepared for the start of applications: posters and handouts were finished and special tickets for students were also produced.  
A lot of people have been involved in getting to this point, so I feel a heavy sense of responsibility as the task of actually attracting people to the event begins.

Next, please allow me, Matsuda, to tell you about our PR and marketing efforts: 
We want to get as many students as possible to take part, so we have been using all the means at our disposal to publicize the event: we have put posters up in the University, have sent emails to our friends and are talking about what we have been up to in our blogs.
Together we have built the event up from its first planning stage, so our desire to make a success of this ECLIPSE Master Class grows stronger every day!

Early October. We checked out the venue: The Hills Bread Factory Live House (Third navigators: Messrs Oyama and Kojima)

My name is Oyama, and I am one of your third navigators. This time, Ifd like to tell you about our trip to check out the Master Class venue, the Bread Factory Live House.

Located about 10 minutes on foot from Shinsaibashi, it is a really cool place. In keeping with its name, the ground floor cafe serves delicious bread. 
I wonder what it is going to be like inside where the Master Class will take placec

Over to me. My name is Kojima, and I am your other third navigator. 
Situated on the second basement level, the Live House has an interesting design - it pushes through part of the first basement level.

I got a good feeling from the unique atmosphere created by its walls of bare concrete.Our expectations for the big day were riding high after we checked the visitor access routes and were shown the mixing room that would be used for recording the Master Class live performances.

End of September. We experienced the sound of Fujitsu Tenfs ECLIPSE TD speaker system (Second navigator: Ms Sakurai)

And now it is my turn to be your navigator.  My name is Sakurai, and I am the sole female member of the group!
One day in September we went for a meeting at the HQ of Fujitsu Ten, the company with which we were going to create the ECLIPSE Master Class. It isnft often that students get to go to companies, so my heart was in my mouth a bit, but c  
Herefs my report on our Fujitsu Ten experience, which went something like this!

Before the meeting, we saw products on display in the showroom and experienced the TD speaker sound in a place called the Acoustics Development Center.

Of course the latest car navigation systems and AV equipment were on display in the showroom, but I was really surprised to see and touch antique radios and audio equipment that was made long before I was born. It was more like a small museum than a showroom.  I realise now how amazing sound can be even in a car - the sooner I get my driving license, the better! LoL

In a studio in the Acoustic Development Centre, we were told about why we can hear speakers, and the special characteristics of the TD speakers that feature in the ECLIPSE Master Class were explained to us. We were then able to listen to some of our favourite CDs played through TD speakers.

If you put on a CD and close your eyes, it feels as though you are in the concert hall or live house listening to a live performance. It was incredible how the music sounded the same even when you walked behind the speakers. 
Having actually listened to the speakers, our desire to make a success of this event grew even stronger!

Below is a video showing what we experienced - please do take a look. 
Youfll really understand how a speaker works!


Explanation of Speaker Architecture by Mr Takatani of Fujitsu Ten Click on the thumbnail to see the tutorial
(5 mins 5 secs)

End of September: We experienced Fujitsu Tenfs Acoustic Facilities (Second navigators Messrs Takahashi and Ogino)

We were also there with Ms Sakurai for the meeting with Fujitsu Ten and would like to tell you what happened next. My name is Takahashi. I play big band guitar, and this is Mr Ogino, who plays big band bass. And this is our report about the visit.

After the studio explanations, we were shown the control room for recording (visitors donft normally get to see this) and told about the basics of recording.

Among the things we heard was the difference between drums recorded with a single microphone and multiple microphones. We are both in a band so not only did we learn a lot, we had a really good time too.

Check out the video below to see what we saw on the day!

The purpose of this meeting was to discuss the eventfs eMaster Classf theme and we decided to take it in the direction of mutual understanding between students of different cultures and backgrounds at Osaka University and Berklee College of Music: in other words, gbring the world together with sound.h
We made good progress with our plans, discussing topics for the Q&A segment and how the TD speakers (that had been explained to us earlier), will function within the band.


Elementary Recording Tutorial by Mr Hamada of Fujitsu Ten
i3 mins 35 secsj

Mid-September. The thoughts of students on the Master Class (First Master Class navigator: Mr Yoshinaga)

My name is Yoshinaga, and I am your first navigator.

I'd like to ask that you look at the member interviews, but before that letfs start with an outline of the first meeting.

One day in mid-September, the students who wanted to participate in the planning of this event gathered together for the first ECLIPSE Master Class meeting. 
The students were from a variety of disciplines and stages of university career, but they were all interested in joining forces to create music and the event together. 
From this point on we were to work together with members of the Fujitsu Ten secretariat to create the ECLIPSE Master Class, but as students who did not normally get the opportunity to work with business people, we were feeling nervous. As the event was outlined to us, however, the feeling gradually changed: it was going to be an interesting experience.

The first meeting began with student members and members of the Fujitsu Ten secretariat introducing themselves, and ended with student members being tasked with coming back with ideas regarding what direction the planning might take.

And from this point on, itfs the interviews I mentioned earlier. 
With the help of Fujitsu Ten, videos capturing each memberfs enthusiasm and thoughts regarding participation in this eventfs planning have been taken.
None of them are perfect and we all look a bit ill at ease, but please do check them out!


Click thumbnails to see video. When clicked, the video plays in new window.
i3 mins 13 secsj

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