Akira Ifukube and Godzilla 1954

For the discussion of Toho produced and distributed films or shows released before 1980.
User avatar
Tapkaara
Monarch Researcher
Posts: 359
Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2011 7:00 pm
Location: Lakeside, CA
Contact:

Akira Ifukube and Godzilla 1954

Post by Tapkaara »

Merry Christmas everyone!

I'm the webmaster of AKIRAIFUKUBE.ORG and, just yesterday, I posted Part VII of the on-going Akira Ifukube Biography. In this section, I talk about Ifukube's involvement on the first Godzilla film in 1954. With some exclusive images as well as new information not previously published in English, I hope that this will be the definitive non-Japanese account of Ifukube's participation on Godzilla for some time to come.

Here is the link. I hope you enjoy reading it!

http://akiraifukube.org/biography_part_seven.htm
"Music should never show disdain for its audience."
- Akira Ifukube
My website, the OFFICIAL English language website about Akira Ifukube: http://www.akiraifukube.org

Space Hunter M
EDF Instructor
Posts: 2916
Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2011 8:47 am

Re: Akira Ifukube and Godzilla 1954

Post by Space Hunter M »

Interesting read. Neat stuff about the unused M10 cue.

User avatar
Tapkaara
Monarch Researcher
Posts: 359
Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2011 7:00 pm
Location: Lakeside, CA
Contact:

Re: Akira Ifukube and Godzilla 1954

Post by Tapkaara »

Space Hunter M wrote:Interesting read. Neat stuff about the unused M10 cue.
Thanks for taking the time to read it. I think there's some cool stuff in there, but, I have a feeling most people won't even bother taking a look. I appreciate that you took the time and enjoyed it.

"M10" is one of the most interesting parts of the piece, I think.
"Music should never show disdain for its audience."
- Akira Ifukube
My website, the OFFICIAL English language website about Akira Ifukube: http://www.akiraifukube.org

Legion1979
Justiriser
Posts: 15857
Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2010 7:45 pm

Re: Akira Ifukube and Godzilla 1954

Post by Legion1979 »

It's along read (I haven't finished yet) but I urge everyone to read this. Enlighten yourselves.

User avatar
Joseph Goodman
Monarch Researcher
Posts: 338
Joined: Fri May 27, 2011 3:30 pm

Re: Akira Ifukube and Godzilla 1954

Post by Joseph Goodman »

Great read, thanks for posting it! It's nice seeing some more refined detail on oft-told anecdotes, such as the process of making the roar and the footsteps... the vague descriptions of the "magic box" in previous articles always made it sound like some kind of spring reverb device (common in guitar amps) to me, and your newest article confirms it.

How did you get a hold of Ifukube's original sheet music?

User avatar
tymon
Futurian
Posts: 3674
Joined: Tue May 24, 2011 10:56 pm

Re: Akira Ifukube and Godzilla 1954

Post by tymon »

Excellent stuff Tapkaara, as usual. There are specifics behind the creation of music and sound effects that I had never read before. Especially fascinating is indeed the unused M10 cue for Godzilla's first appearance - it would be awesome if someone took the sheet music, recorded it and set it to the scene just to get an idea of what it could have sounded like. Ifukube himself regrets not using the theme, which is saying a lot seeing how sparingly he used music in general compared to most composers.
Tapkaara wrote:I have a feeling most people won't even bother taking a look.
You're right, unfortunately. It seems historical and educational writing like this gets ignored in favor of "which monster is teh strongest", "which toy did you just buy", or speculation threads...
JAGzilla wrote:And then there was The Giant Condor. He...seemed very dedicated to what he was doing?

Legion1979
Justiriser
Posts: 15857
Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2010 7:45 pm

Re: Akira Ifukube and Godzilla 1954

Post by Legion1979 »

^Exactly. I feel like the fans who want to read REAL information on the making of these films are a dying breed.

Offer people a chance at a free MonsterArts if they read it and see what happens.

User avatar
Tapkaara
Monarch Researcher
Posts: 359
Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2011 7:00 pm
Location: Lakeside, CA
Contact:

Re: Akira Ifukube and Godzilla 1954

Post by Tapkaara »

Thanks to all who took the time to read it. I usually find that it's hard to get people as excited about this stuff as I get...

Joseph Goodman: Due to my work on the website, I have unique opportunities to access certain materials.

Tymon: M10 was recorded...in 1990! It appears in a box set (I think it is) called King of the Monsters. By the way, it was John DeSentis who helped refigure out where this cue belonged in the film.

Legion: A dying breed? That is probably very true.
"Music should never show disdain for its audience."
- Akira Ifukube
My website, the OFFICIAL English language website about Akira Ifukube: http://www.akiraifukube.org

User avatar
tymon
Futurian
Posts: 3674
Joined: Tue May 24, 2011 10:56 pm

Re: Akira Ifukube and Godzilla 1954

Post by tymon »

Tapkaara wrote:Tymon: M10 was recorded...in 1990! It appears in a box set (I think it is) called King of the Monsters. By the way, it was John DeSentis who helped refigure out where this cue belonged in the film.
Nice! In that case, I'm going to find it and synch it up with the scene...was it DeSentis who recorded it too?
Last edited by tymon on Fri Dec 26, 2014 7:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
JAGzilla wrote:And then there was The Giant Condor. He...seemed very dedicated to what he was doing?

User avatar
Tapkaara
Monarch Researcher
Posts: 359
Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2011 7:00 pm
Location: Lakeside, CA
Contact:

Re: Akira Ifukube and Godzilla 1954

Post by Tapkaara »

tymon wrote:
Tapkaara wrote:Tymon: M10 was recorded...in 1990! It appears in a box set (I think it is) called King of the Monsters. By the way, it was John DeSentis who helped refigure out where this cue belonged in the film.
Nice! In that case, I'm going to find it and synch it up with the scene...was it DeSentis who recorded it too?
John would have been waaaaaay to young to record anything in 1990. :)

John hasn't recorded it. Maybe one day...
"Music should never show disdain for its audience."
- Akira Ifukube
My website, the OFFICIAL English language website about Akira Ifukube: http://www.akiraifukube.org

User avatar
ebirahsmeg1
Gotengo Officer
Posts: 1636
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2012 11:31 pm
Location: Kanto region, Japan

Re: Akira Ifukube and Godzilla 1954

Post by ebirahsmeg1 »

Great stuff Tapkaara. :huge: Although there has been plethora of great Japanese G books this year, I was rather disheartened at the lack of new English material (basically zilch) this past year. Please keep this stuff coming, as this board sorely needs more topics like this instead of the usual "Monster Arts rulz/Will Namco release dlc for Godzilla?! /"what's da plot going to be Godzilla 2 and g2016?/x monster is stronger than y monster" drivel, all of which sadly get more total posts/responses in a single day than a topic like this which contains real, historical, and fascinating factual information on the genre...
GIANT CONDOR!!!!!!!! :shock:

"Someone kick me, kick me hard! We're stupid." - Corn on the cob eatin' Hippie (Godzilla vs Gigan)

User avatar
Tapkaara
Monarch Researcher
Posts: 359
Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2011 7:00 pm
Location: Lakeside, CA
Contact:

Re: Akira Ifukube and Godzilla 1954

Post by Tapkaara »

ebirahsmeg1 wrote:Great stuff Tapkaara. :huge: Although there has been plethora of great Japanese G books this year, I was rather disheartened at the lack of new English material (basically zilch) this past year. Please keep this stuff coming, as this board sorely needs more topics like this instead of the usual "Monster Arts rulz/Will Namco release dlc for Godzilla?! /"what's da plot going to be Godzilla 2 and g2016?/x monster is stronger than y monster" drivel, all of which sadly get more total posts/responses in a single day than a topic like this which contains real, historical, and fascinating factual information on the genre...
I don't want to come off as too much of a snob, but I agree. Don't get me wrong, there's room out there in fandom for everything, but it's disheartening when the history gets overshadowed by toys and the more shallow aspects of the hobby.

I'm pleased you took the time to read it...that encourages me!
"Music should never show disdain for its audience."
- Akira Ifukube
My website, the OFFICIAL English language website about Akira Ifukube: http://www.akiraifukube.org

User avatar
tymon
Futurian
Posts: 3674
Joined: Tue May 24, 2011 10:56 pm

Re: Akira Ifukube and Godzilla 1954

Post by tymon »

Tapkaara wrote:
tymon wrote:
Tapkaara wrote:Tymon: M10 was recorded...in 1990! It appears in a box set (I think it is) called King of the Monsters. By the way, it was John DeSentis who helped refigure out where this cue belonged in the film.
Nice! In that case, I'm going to find it and synch it up with the scene...was it DeSentis who recorded it too?
John would have been waaaaaay to young to record anything in 1990. :)

John hasn't recorded it. Maybe one day...
Ah ok, that makes me wonder if the 1990 recording was done at the correct tempo to synch with the film, seeing how John was the one to figure out where exactly it went.
JAGzilla wrote:And then there was The Giant Condor. He...seemed very dedicated to what he was doing?

User avatar
ILL GREEN
Gotengo Officer
Posts: 1527
Joined: Mon Nov 18, 2013 7:41 pm
Location: C'mon, you know where
Contact:

Re: Akira Ifukube and Godzilla 1954

Post by ILL GREEN »

Wow! Great writing skills. This is the style I can read without stopping :D

I loved how Tsuburaya and Ifukube knew each other from drinking at a bar but didn't know each others background until the announcement of production, that was gold.

I had no idea it was Ifukube and his protégé that created the roar. I imagined it was Ifukube and Tsuburaya that worked together.

User avatar
Tapkaara
Monarch Researcher
Posts: 359
Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2011 7:00 pm
Location: Lakeside, CA
Contact:

Re: Akira Ifukube and Godzilla 1954

Post by Tapkaara »

Tymon: I didn't personally watch the scene with the version of the cue that was recorded, but, according to John, it fits.

ILL GREEN: That's very kind of you to say! There are some typos and rough patches I still need to fix (I discover more and more every time I re-read) but I'm glad that you "couldn't put it down!" :)

The Ifukube/Tsuburaya anecdote is actually pretty well known and has been written about many times over the years. I'm just the latest person to remark on it. It's a fascinating story, though!

Yeah, the creation of the roar is fascinating. The sound effects, though, would not have been Tsuburaya. It was Ichiro Minawa and company who did most of the sound effects, with the help of Ifukube on some of them, of course.
"Music should never show disdain for its audience."
- Akira Ifukube
My website, the OFFICIAL English language website about Akira Ifukube: http://www.akiraifukube.org

User avatar
Brandon O'Brian
Monsterland Worker
Posts: 191
Joined: Mon Apr 22, 2013 4:08 am
Location: Green Bay, Wisconsin

Re: Akira Ifukube and Godzilla 1954

Post by Brandon O'Brian »

I too believe that the unused cue is M10. On the cue sheets, M10 is crossed out. The used version of M10 is just footsteps and roars, much like M2.
- Brandon O'Brian
"Good music is always simple" - Akira Ifukube

User avatar
Creature22
EDF Instructor
Posts: 2140
Joined: Mon Aug 29, 2011 9:06 am

Re: Akira Ifukube and Godzilla 1954

Post by Creature22 »

Wow, this is an excellent read! I recall reading about Ifukube on your site awhile ago (about his compositions prior to film) and let me say that this would make for a fantastic book; the website really is a great idea. It's well written and there's a LOT more information on Ifukube and Gojira in general than there are in most Toho-related books.
As for the scores that didn't make the movie, it would be cool to hear them. I didn't know a lot of the stuff about the writing/recording process.

User avatar
UltramanGoji
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 17720
Joined: Fri Dec 31, 2010 11:40 am

Re: Akira Ifukube and Godzilla 1954

Post by UltramanGoji »

Very amazing read! I especially loved Ifukube's response to seeing Godzilla for the first time in the screening room with Tsuburaya.

As for the scrapped hillside appearance music, has there ever been any attempt to re-record it and insert it into the film? I would love to see that!
Image

User avatar
Tapkaara
Monarch Researcher
Posts: 359
Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2011 7:00 pm
Location: Lakeside, CA
Contact:

Re: Akira Ifukube and Godzilla 1954

Post by Tapkaara »

Creature22: Thank you for having taken the time to read the piece and for your nice compliments, not just about the Godzilla section but about the biography in general. I'm so happy you've been reading it and have enjoyed it. A lot of people have mentioned that they'd like to see this in book form one day. It very well could happen. But I have to finish the rest of the bio first, and I have a long way to go...

UltramanGoji: The M10 "hillside music" cue was recorded in 1990, but I cannot remember the name of the recording just now.
"Music should never show disdain for its audience."
- Akira Ifukube
My website, the OFFICIAL English language website about Akira Ifukube: http://www.akiraifukube.org

daveblackeye15
EDF Instructor
Posts: 2526
Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2014 12:45 am

Re: Akira Ifukube and Godzilla 1954

Post by daveblackeye15 »

Oh yeah I got to check this out. I remember being super sad when the master died, actually I was shocked. I had figured he had died a decade earlier. He didn't die with the other two masters in the 90s, Tanaka and Honda.

Y'know now that I think about it, Tanaka has become the mysteryious one in the group thanks to me and the internet figuring out the other three. On that subject it was like learning forbidden knowledge when I started learning the names of all the suit actors.

Post Reply