Crescent Moon Dance- commentary by a band geek for band geeks 

Reina's solo at the audition was so much better than this. I think the comparative lack of emotion in her performance here was intentional. She said she would "play it for Kumiko". And we all know how "playing for someone" turned out with Mizore if the feelings aren't there. tl;dr RIP Reina x Kumiko

I'm actually glad that KyoAni didn't make it a perfect performance tbh.

"my high school's percussion teacher said this is a legit way to roll." Damn. I'm a percussion player and I find that reasonable legit to roll the bass like that too. I'm gonna teach this type of technique roll to my kohais ciao. *epic cymbals*

damm this is amazing😂😂 i play the clarinet as well and the part where they were bobbing weirdly killed me 😂

All I noticed was that Reinas solo wasn't as great as the last time or the audition and that Mizores solo was fantastic!

the cymbals girl always gets me XD she does a single one, SINGLE ONE, each time n i just cant.

I'm a concert violinist also with 11 years of experience, I don't know the specifics of wind and brass technique that much so it was really interesting seeing your comments!! Bass fingerings looked on point to me haha. That weird part with the clarinets awkwardly bobbing killed me tbh, everything else was so beautiful and then you have these awkward movements that are awkward to watch even to a string player. Also, what was the purpose of Reina's little spitting sound before she started her solo? this episode was just so damn flawless though, I'm really impressed with KyoAni

1:28: The answer is that Mizore makes her own reeds (Apparently, they're not made of metal). I know this because I saw Liz and the Blue Bird (the third movie). In that movie, in some scene Mizore says to Yuuko that she is making a reed for Ririka (Kenzaki, her kouhai in that movie).

Awesome insight! About Reina's part, I also felt that it was more robotic than before, but I knowing Kyo-Ani, this was no mistake. I think this has a lot to do with Reina's development. It's very intersting that they would add Mizore in right after the solo drama becuase the two seem to be the exact same but totally different at the same time. Mizore's playing is a reflection of her emotions. Her robotic style in the beginning of the season was a reflection of her lack of inner feeling, but getting herself involved with all the band drama and confronting the elephant in her life allowed her to bring her emotions back into her playing. Reina is the complete opposite in this sense. She was able to become great BECAUSE she secluded herself from everyone else, hence her initial determination to claim the solo part. She wasn't going to let anything get in her way, and that meant guilt from taking the part from a senior. Yet her time with the band has changed her. Even Kumiko was surprised when Reina carefullly considered that she didn't dislike the the others. I believe her solo is a reflection of her emotions feeding into her nervousness. Before, it was a solo for herself, but now it was the song of the band. Spending time with her bandmates and coming to understand them allowed her to realize that it wasn't really just a solo, it was the hopes and dreams of their entire band, and she carried it on her fingertips. If that doesn't cause butterflies in her stomach, than I don't know what does! Just my opinion though haha. I do hope that we get the best of both Reina's and see her implement emotions piece rather seeing them as a burden.

Okay, I'm glad I'm not the only who noticed Reina's solo was way too aggressive. AND WHY DOES NO ONE MENTION ASUKA'S SOLO? Like when she *spoilers* Might leave concert band, it's like no one mentions the fact "Wow Kumiko, it looks like you might have to play Asuka's solo!" Like legit, what the heck?

me, a freshman in hs band : ah yes i totally didn’t think they played this perfectly the many times i watched this piece

Haha, I really liked the mix of funny commentary and serious critique on their performance. Though I never played in band (only orchestra up to my 4th year before quitting due to personal reasons), I felt somewhat nostalgic and proud when I watched this scene. I definitely NEVER noticed Asuka's mini-solo (but yesssss, I love it), so that was a great find while watching this video. I honestly do agree with you on Reina's and Mizore's solos though. Reina's was a little too strong overall compared to her previous performance, and Mizore's solo was... so good... hearing the vibrato gave me chills for some reason, LOL.

this needs to stop getting views, i literally made this in 30 minutes while eating cheetos because i was bored

cymbal girl best girl

Lol i'm not even a band geek, not a band player (i'm more of an orchestra person and i am an orchestra player) but i really love this anime. As a classical music lover, i grew up listening to orchestral classical music and didnt even know that there is a thing called concert band. This anime opened my ears to a new type of ensemble. Although i still prefer the sound of orchestra because of the presence of strings section, i do think that concert band in classical music world is kinda underrated and there is a wall separating orchestra and concert band, like there's still this assumption that orchestra is more 'elite' than concert band, which is actually not true. And if my dream of becoming a conductor come to a reality, i want to break that wall and become one of the very few conductors that conduct both symphony orchestra and wind band. An example of that kind of conductor is Yutaka Sado, he has conducted some of the best orchestras in the world including the Berliner Philharmoniker, but at the same time he is also the principal conductor of Sienna Wind Orchestra. Btw your commentaries are exactly the same as mine. When i watched this episode, i was listening to it while reading the full score of this piece and i couldnt count how many times i got salty because of the interpretation. IMO The kyoto competition version is much better

lmao nice commentary :) I think you're spot on with most of the stylistic things you mentioned, especially in Reina's/Mizore's solos. I don't necessarily agree with the air entrance, it just needs to be a really soft tongue with a slight lean-in to have that up bow feel. Regarding the lack of clarinet animation towards the end of the slow section. I think the real-life conductor decided to double part of the oboe solo in the clarinet for whatever reason, as I hear only bassoon and oboe in the original recording. The animators probably weren't notified of the change and followed the score (and the clarinet is really quite faint). I could be wrong.

Thanks so much for your "real-time" commentary on Kitauji's performance! Having played in an orchestra before, it was very fun to re-watch this scene again with all your informative comments on their technique, musicality, etc.! I had initially thought that Reina's performance was nothing short of perfect, but after going through your (and everyone else's) comments, I too realized it wasn't the best she could do. Need to go back and listen to her first iteration of the solo again haha. Enjoyed this a lot! :)

I really appreciate the countless commentaries you put into this. It gave a lot of insights on things I thought I was just imagining. And it really cements my admiration to KyoAni's choice of direction and execution to this piece. The details... the realism... for a light novel adaptation of a band anime... just wow. Thank you.

Well analyzed. I've been a band geek / eupho since 1960, and I'm really enjoying this anime series. I'm going to suggest this piece to our community band director for next season. (Also, the dialogues are helping me with my Nihongo review :D )

You should take a look at the song they do in the train station. I would love to hear your thoughts on that.

This commentary is what I expect to be going through our band directors minds as we play a piece for a concert or a competition. Just randomly yelling at the instruments for not doing it right but having to keep a straight face and not show any negative emotion.

3:42 - 4:01 was so beautiful. Okay, I get that she was being a bit aggressive but that part was when it started to blend in together. ☺ absolutely beautiful.

For Asuka’s solo it’s full of what people would say too much emotion but it is amazing of how she can make it sound so graceful but yet so powerful.

Glad to come to this page :)) I used to played baritone and rite now im playing trumpet. lots of thing I can learn because im trying to learn this piece :))

The fact that this ISNT a perfect performance is part of what makes this show SO GOOD!!

sksksk the commentary cracked me up. i love this performance so much, so much emotion and passion in this playing. gets you in those high school nationals trip feelssss

AHhhHH you literally took the words right out of my mouth on reina's solo during this episode !! her audition was a lot better than this but regardless she's still grEAT

I love the French horn 😍😍😍 1:58 best sounds ever

that oboe solo always get me.. very emotional

You're a GOAT i don't know anything about music but i enjoyed the anime and this video a lot thanks for done it

“horns good job not cracking” as a horn player, i cried

i was so fucking stressed during this performence, the close ups, epic cymbals, all the emotions and fear of someone fucking up - i had watery eyes when the piece ended even tho i am manly man

I've noticed that at the end of Reina's solo with the montoge of the pictures on the music at least one person on every pic has there hands in a peace sign

so it was true when I thought reina played her solo quite different from the audition or competition back in S1 (im not a band member, just love listening to music a lot). this is nice, will look forward for another future band geek commentary.

While not a band geek myself, as a fan of music in general, I appreciate this commentary on the music; some of it I understand, while other parts I don't. I still enjoy it, even with it's flaws, but all in all it was informative and interesting. Your commentary on Reina's solo also made quite a bit of sense.

4:12: I would say «cute Tsubame» (She's my favorite girl. If you don't know it, she is the girl that is sitting on the floor, at Hashimoto's right (left in the photo)).

Any chance we could hear your thoughts on their 2nd year performance? Or even the season 3's eupho soli reaudition? 🙏

I was so disappointed in Reina's solo this time around. She was all like, "I'm gonna dedicate this solo to you, Kumiko". Well it sucked!

This is exactly what I needed

Wow, I'm just impressed. I'm just starting learning music and for the moment everything sounds so confusing!

I LOVE THIS SONG! I can feel the tension!

this is great from a fellow clarinet

hey, I'd love to see a commentary on the Liz and The Bluebird performance from Chikai no Finale! I don't play music at all but I really love these videos, it makes me appreciate my favourite show on a whole new level!

Holy it's like a whole other language :D

well i didn't understand almost all of these but i really enjoyed watching it! haha!

Not sure you’ll get this since I’m late to the party, but as an oboist I do move like that while I play. Some reed biting will happen but I find movement is needed for added organic emotion while playing.

Season 3 is out are you gonna watching it?

I'm also a Clarinet player! I'm proud to be one and a band geek

I would like to approach my band director about potentially playing this piece for competition in the spring. Is there anywhere I can go to find a full score/sheet music?

yo, I was saying the same thing about Reina's solo, I wish it had that vibrato, too, lol

I play horn and I can tell you that avoiding cracking on those high parts is extremely difficult

God that oboe solo at 4:18 is sexy

clarinet is so amazing what. How. Nande. Nani. I want those skills, teach me your ways. Oh my gebeezus the Cymbal is beautiful TT ^ TT also not really a horn player but what is cracking? this anime has so much budget though, the animation is so smooth and there's so much detail into everything, I would never imagine there would be a band anime cause there's way too many details you'd have to focus on.

At 5:38 HOW ARE THEY PLAYING CONNECTED???

Some of you musicians are letting your expertise get in the way, when it comes to Reina's playing. The whole point of Reina's solo was that narrative sequence about Kumiko and her. That sequence depended on clear, long playing, like the smooth nostalgic curve of Kumiko's feelings. I thought it worked more than fine.

getting the solo way worse at the concert than every other time is literally me

am a clarinet player to I want to watch this Anime! 0:50 Yeah that’s not how we move hahahha

Okay.....I’m going to go practice :’)

I can't wait they play it in Nationals!

2:10 How nice of KyoAni to predict the future and include a shot of Tessa reacting to the performance.

yo I play bassoon and that bassoon part/solo blessed my ears, but the thing is, that trumpet too loud I could barely hear the bassoon part

The amount of forearm the timpani and snare drum use is craazy lmao At least the final timpani roll looked pretty good

Very nice commentary, do more pls

do you have the sheet music for this by any chance? I would love to try hand at it

Now that we know we're getting the Nationals performances on the OST, would you be interested in doing some sort of comparison between all three (or all six) versions? I'd love to see more like this.

Eu queria mto ter ouvido de músico, como vcs percebem e ouvem tantos instrumentos tocando ao mesmo tempo?

Is it bad if a trumpet player wants to learn oboe as a second instrument because can already play almost all the brass

4:20 やっぱオーボエソロ好きー！

This high school band’s performance is impressive ngl and is this standard normal for high school bands? Cuz my school’s band is just embarrassing😢

Lol i really need to stop watching this anime over and over and over again. It just brings back nostalgic memories from my highschool days. Music was everything for me back then and now I kinda regret dropping music off almost completely. Great commentary, as an ex-clarinet player, that bobbling clarinet section made me rage slightly. I also almost feel like the trumpets just dominated in power overall in this version. They really needed to back off in many different parts.

For the comments on their playing like reina's solo and all I think it was actually like what KyoAni wanted like this is by a professional orchestra and maybe taki sensei changed things or maybe KyoAni just wanted to show that they are still a high school band like all deliberate stuff but yeah good commentary

Tbh the best part about this anime for me is that the fingerings were accurate

perfect for my school

i fucking love the epic cymbals part lol

from my year of french horn experience the "good job not cracking" part had me rolling. im an adult now and learning clarinet after years of forgetting everything what i learned in music lol, but man music is so fun. i played trumpet for most of my school years aside from one year on french horn, and tbh im shook there's so many girls in their trumpet line in this anime. i was the only one when i was in school (tho i came out as trans after graduation so there really were no actual female identifying trumpet players in my entire 4-12 grade experince lol

"hot damn taki" definitely agree on that /wipes nose bleed

While I'm not a band geek, I am a choir geek and the orchestra and good choir (there are 2 shoots at my school, 1 u have 2 audition 4 and 1 u dont) often work together so I know abt a lot of the stuff u mentioned. Good vid tho

I used to play flute in high school, and maybe it was just my teacher, but I used to get nagged about holding my flute level as I played. In general, this is just bringing back traumatic memories of the little pools of drool that'd come leaking out the ends >__

Question, do bass players actually wrap their fingers with cloth or whatever? None of the bass players in my string orchestra does it. Or is it because we just don't practice much xD

DRAMATIC CLOSE UP

I like trumpet very much

I burst into laugh when I see HOT DAMN TAKI 😂😂😂 Well, I prefer your interpretation and I really jealous of people who can participate in a band. (My school has no band)

Have you seen/done Liz and the bluebird?

Ok this is just how I feel like it should be played.

this is my favorite thing

6:11 As a horn player i couldn't agree more.

Added one. 0:34 The tuba’s tuning slides are all to a set amount out. They should never be exact like that. If it is, that’s the biggest coincidence I’ve ever heard of.

Found this a few years late 😅. One thing that I personally wouldn't agree with is the "they don't need to look at their music." It's always better to have it there and if the conductor wants to make adjustments in rehearsal its much easier. Though marking it up to make the signs obvious is good. Also if the conductor does something slightly different just to mix it up and add musicality during a performance, I'd say it's personally easier to have the music there rather than having to go off of memorization since slight differences can throw people off. This is especially true when you factor in that they're most likely practicing multiple tunes. Just recently switched to oboe. And no it's not that easy to cut your tongue. Especially for someone like mizore who has played for years. Just a thought from a band geek. Since it is endearing but also slightly terrifying that it's so cluttered during a performance.

The comments were awesome, is this a new thing?

IRL, woodwinds and brass players don't really bounce and wobble like that (unlike string players), so I think KyoAni animated movement to make the performance look more visually appealing lmao

I know nothing about classical music and I admit I liked the Reina's part lol.

Little note : Here Taki Noborus as conductor is completely newcomer.he's a trombone player before that,due to that he need help from 2 expert from diffrent type instrument like Woodwind and percussion

I play clarinet too and it’s hard enough to march why am I gonna bounce while playing lmao like who does that but great show still

@takigan ❌False. There is no fact that the military band's performance was used in the animation. The reason for the change in the performance of Kita-Uji is due to the change in the performer playing the role of Reina and the directing instructions. In the first season, the band was played by freshmen from the Senzoku College of Music. However, only Reina's solo was played by a professional, Jin Ueda.🎺 In the second season, the same band is used as the parent band, but professionals and other alumni have joined the band. The band's own performance has been rather enhanced, which seems to be the result of a deliberate staging to make the performance "more like a high school student's performance".👔

Oh my God do you hate Reina?😂😂 That was hilarious to watch but also really informative and insightful.

What song is this I want to get it for my band

I noticed the head bobbing part as a clarinet player, ain’t no way their getting good breath support or articulating properly

Lol, reina's solo was fine. I play trumpet, and the only bad thing I heard was the octave jump from c to middle c. I know what it's supposed to sound like, not cut off and jumped like I heard.

Reina's solo at nationals was on par with her performance in kyoto. I don't know what happened in Kansai lol

3:14 thank god someone else realizes this