Station Announcement Music Search

[aquamarine]

Well since I didn't get the chance to find it while in the country, does anyone have a source as to where I can find the little chimes and such that are played at the various stations around Tokyo & Yokohama upon an announcement?

I've searched on google but sadly turned up a heap of nothing even closely related.

[Mulboyne]

[Kuang_Grade]

Very interesting link, Mulboyne...Thanks for posting it....they even do the shuttle train from the satellite gates at Terminal 2.

[Blah Pete]

Very interesting link, Mulboyne...Thanks for posting it....

I 2nd that

[Mulboyne]

[mr. sparkle]

The link on the bottom is pretty comprehensive. I love the chimes. It's one thing that instantly reminds you that you are back in Japan if you haven't been there awhile.

[Taro Toporific]

I love the chimes. It's one thing that instantly reminds you that you are back in Japan if you haven't been there awhile.

The chimes are actually a "new" thing that started around the years ago (1989). The first station started to here was Harajuku and was quickly followed by the nearby upscale stations Eibisu and Gotanda.
Before the chimes the stations had a far more representiive sound of Japan---a shrill hazzard horn blaring at the inured masses. The Tokyo station hazzard blast on the Tokaido Line platforn exceeded 85db...until I started carrying wire cutters to work everyday.


TONIKAKU...Because I'm on low-bandwidth 32Kbps connection, I like these midi samples of station chimes.

[Charles]

Hmm.. I have no conscious memory whatsoever of hearing the chimes. But the moment I heard the recordings, I started reciting "mamonaku ichiban sen ni densha ga mairimasu.." so I guess I must have heard the tones a bazillion times and totally repressed the memory. Weird.

[Maths Dude]

I never heard any 'chimes' in Nagoya on JR or at any subway station.

[mr. sparkle]

The chimes are actually a "new" thing that started around the years ago (1989). The first station started to here was Harajuku and was quickly followed by the nearby upscale stations Eibisu and Gotanda.
Before the chimes the stations had a far more representiive sound of Japan---a shrill hazzard horn blaring at the inured masses. The Tokyo station hazzard blast on the Tokaido Line platforn exceeded 85db...until I started carrying wire cutters to work everyday.


TONIKAKU...Because I'm on low-bandwidth 32Kbps connection, I like these midi samples of station chimes.

Man, the horn blast era must've totally sucked.
The MIDI files are pretty cool and drop right into GarageBand.
I had to output them to AIFF files to put them into my Razor phone.
Now I have the most bitchen' ring tones in town. I have several different ones, each for a different purpose. Some denote certain folks calling in. Way cool - I'm rockin'!

[hellosalaryman]

this is a great site that has really clear audio files of the stops:
http://nekocha.sakura.ne.jp/top/melody/

also this is a decent one too:
http://hisaai-hp.hp.infoseek.co.jp/JREast/Yamanote/Yt_s_jp.html

[IkemenTommy]

Dope!
Only if I can set these as my ringtone..

[omae mona]

this is a great site that has really clear audio files of the stops:
http://nekocha.sakura.ne.jp/top/melody/

He also has detailed listings of the type of speaker systems in use and rankings of the audio quality on each platform at each station.

For example, the main platform at Harajuku uses a small VOSS system (what's that?) with exceptionally high quality, and normal volume. But the extra platform (#3) that is used only around New Years has a TOA horn (?) with awful quality and low volume.

I'm using this site to plan my travel from now on. Thank god for the Internet.

[GuyJean]

I'm using this site to plan my travel from now on. Thank god for the Internet.

:p

VOSS:


TOA:


GJ

[GuyJean]

For some reason, I couldn't edit the image in my last post.. I think the TOA horn would look more like this:


GJ

[hellosalaryman]

haha nice, i never knew it was so hardcore. i love train otakus

[maninjapan]

How do they choose a tune for each station?

[hellosalaryman]

i always wondered that too. i know that the takadanobaba uses the old astro boy song. i bet some others do have orgins also.

[GomiGirl]

i always wondered that too. i know that the takadanobaba uses the old astro boy song. i bet some others do have orgins also.

That is because Takadonobaba was the birthplace of Atom Boy.. See This thread for more details.

[mr. sparkle]

Dope!
Only if I can set these as my ringtone..

Dude, it's sooooo easy. Just convert 'em to .aif files and import 'em via bluetooth or a USB cable. I vary the various chimes for my phone. I like the MIDI files for best fidelity.

I recommend the ATOS for incoming voicemail. It's short, but sweet. ATOS is the precursor to an announcement on the platform.

dong dong dang ding DONG. Ya'll know that one for sure!

[maninjapan]

Woo got Fujisawa as my ringtone now - bet the ladeez will be falling at their feet now!

or should i just confuse the people at the station?!

[IkemenTommy]

OK, someone will have to give me the step by step details on how to DL the midi --quality is more preferable than aif version, I presume-- on to my phone. I have bluetooth on my panasonic phone (P902i). Thanks!

[Charles]

OK, someone will have to give me the step by step details on how to DL the midi --quality is more preferable than aif version, I presume-- on to my phone. I have bluetooth on my panasonic phone (P902i). Thanks!

I don't know if that's really true. I found one sound I liked that was available in both an mp3 and midi file. I played around with both, on my desktop machine with good speakers and also on my phone. I was surprised that the midi transcription was quite different than the recording, it was in a different key, and lacked a lot of the timbre of the original. I went with the original recording, even though the sound quality was inferior in a lot of ways, it still sounded richer and more pleasant than the midi.

And BTW, if Mr. Sparkle is still watching this thread, let me ask you a question. You said you could drop the .mid files right into GarageBand. I couldn't get that to work, they wouldn't even import through the menu. What's up with that? I had to load the .mid in QuickTime, export it to AIFF, and then edit it in Peak. These clips needed a bit of amplification to make them usable as a ringtone, they were too quiet to get my attention, so I increased the gain and then exported to mp3. Fortunately my Motorola phone takes any mp3 as a ringtone.

[mr. sparkle]

And BTW, if Mr. Sparkle is still watching this thread, let me ask you a question. You said you could drop the .mid files right into GarageBand. I couldn't get that to work, they wouldn't even import through the menu. What's up with that? I had to load the .mid in QuickTime, export it to AIFF, and then edit it in Peak. These clips needed a bit of amplification to make them usable as a ringtone, they were too quiet to get my attention, so I increased the gain and then exported to mp3. Fortunately my Motorola phone takes any mp3 as a ringtone.

Charles,
You should not use the Menu>Open command. That's for GB Project files only. You merely drag and drop from the Finder. In my case, from my iTunes music folder.

From GarageBand Help:

To import a MIDI file:

Drag the MIDI file you want to import from the Finder into the timeline.

You can drag the MIDI file either to a Software Instrument track, or to the empty area below the existing tracks. The MIDI file appears on one or more Software Instrument tracks.

You can choose the Software Instrument used to play the MIDI file in the Track Info pane.

When I did this about 2 months ago for the first time, it worked like a charm. It actually split the MIDI into 4 separate instrument tracks (one of which was blank). I could change the MIDI to any software instrument: I chose a string section. I could change the key or any of the notes and tweak filters as well. Verrrrry cool.

However, to satisfy your curiosity and mine I tested the above workflow: "Houston, we have a problem!"

Looks like a bug Charlie. I could not get the MIDI to import when dragging directly into GB from the Finder. What a trip.

About the volume: it's a good idea to boost it in a 3rd party app. I didn't do that, but I did crank up the volume all the way on the phone and that seemed to do the trick.

Man, I love having these ring tones, though. The cool thing is that they sound like normal, unassuming and stock ring tones - only a true Tokyo-phile would recognize them as JR station chimes.

[Charles]

However, to satisfy your curiosity and mine I tested the above workflow: "Houston, we have a problem!"

Looks like a bug Charlie. I could not get the MIDI to import when dragging directly into GB from the Finder. What a trip.

I'm using iLife 06 and it just doesn't work. I heard there were third party apps for earlier versions of iLife to allow importing of midi files, but they weren't necessary for iLife 06. Oh well.

[quote="mr. sparkle"]Man, I love having these ring tones, though. The cool thing is that they sound like normal, unassuming and stock ring tones - only a true Tokyo-phile would recognize them as JR station chimes. ]
I played my ringtone for a friend who lived in Japan for a year, she got the strangest look on her face, like she couldn't quite figure out where she'd heard that before. Then when it was done playing, I said "doa ga shimarimasu kara go-chui kudasai" and you should have seen her eyes bug out.

[mr. sparkle]

I'm using iLife 06 and it just doesn't work. I heard there were third party apps for earlier versions of iLife to allow importing of midi files, but they weren't necessary for iLife 06. Oh well.

OK, then try this. Open the MIDI file into QT Pro then export as "Music to MIDI" and then I betcha you'll be able to drag it in. This worked for me. If I recall, I didn't have to do that step previously with these very files. How strange.

I played my ringtone for a friend who lived in Japan for a year, she got the strangest look on her face, like she couldn't quite figure out where she'd heard that before. Then when it was done playing, I said "doa ga shimarimasu kara go-chui kudasai" and you should have seen her eyes bug out.

That's hilarious.

[Charles]

OK, then try this. Open the MIDI file into QT Pro then export as "Music to MIDI" and then I betcha you'll be able to drag it in. This worked for me. If I recall, I didn't have to do that step previously with these very files. How strange.

Hey, it worked. They don't sound anything like the original .mid file now, I fiddled with changing around the software instrument settings, but I'm not getting much closer to recreating the timbre of the originals. I can see I've opened up a big can of worms here.

[mr. sparkle]

Do you have any of the Jam Packs? You can find loads of software instruments that might match the original better. Try bells, chimes, marimba, vibes, etc.

It's a can of worms but a FUN can of worms.

[Charles]

[quote="mr. sparkle"]Do you have any of the Jam Packs? You can find loads of software instruments that might match the original better. Try bells, chimes, marimba, vibes, etc.

It's a can of worms but a FUN can of worms. ]
Yeah, I've got the Jam Packs, but music is the one area on the Mac that I haven't really gotten into much. Part of it is that my hearing is really bad due to tinnitus so I know I'll never be able to do music seriously. Another part is my resistance of relying too much on computer gadgets, I think there are far too many people who don't even know how to play an instrument and just rely on loops and effects, they don't really know how to make music at all. On the other hand, I absolutely love hooking up my old Les Paul to my PowerBook and running Guitar Rig.
But ultimately, I fear that music on a mac would be a time sink. I could spend hours and hours fiddling and I'd probably be better off working on my guitar chops.
Anyway, speaking of time sinks, I think I must have spent at least 90 minutes listening to train tunes and picking my favorites, and another hour fiddling around with sweetening it and setting it up on my phone. And now what have I got? A cool 15 second ringtone. I'm not sure it was worth it, but what the hell..

[GuyJean]

I think I must have spent at least 90 minutes listening to train tunes and picking my favorites, and another hour fiddling around with sweetening it and setting it up on my phone. And now what have I got? A cool 15 second ringtone. I'm not sure it was worth it, but what the hell..

:D It's always worth it.. It's the journey, my friend.. Not the destination. Plus, we have some nice nuggets of info on FG..

GJ