The audio director could also be considered the person in charge of ‘sound’ when it comes to animation. The work involves creating the theme song and background music to match the scenes, sound effects, and even directing how the voice actors perform as their characters. Here, we discuss with Kazuhiro Wakabayashi, who was the audio director for Ghost in the Shell, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, and Innocence, how he approached the voice actors and about behind-the-scenes stories from the analog age of recording. Wakabayashi looks back on his work with candor and even throws in a few jokes. Within all that, we also heard more and more that showed just how deep his connection with the director, Mamoru Oshii, really goes.

――Ghost in the Shell was released in 1995. How widespread was the digital technology used for sound production at the time?

 

Kazuhiro Wakabayashi(“Wakabayashi” below) “Digital technology? What’s that?” That’s how widespread it was, I’d say. We used pre-recorded CDs for some sound effects, but for the most part, everything was analog. All of the dialog was recorded on tape, so it had to be a single take. The voice actors all had incredible concentration, unlike today, where it’s easy to do retakes right away if someone makes a mistake. Naturally, this means tensions were also very high in the recording booth overall. In 2002, when Stand Alone Complex began airing, we had taken on more digital technology, but the final product was still delivered on tape.

 

――In an age when we didn’t have the same technology for voice processing as we do today, how did you go about distinguishing the voices within cyberspace?

 

Wakabayashi: That was extremely difficult. We did have the option of filtering the voices through a synthesizer, but that didn’t give the right feel of “voices echoing through a cybernetic space” that Oshii had in mind. So we tested a few things and ended up with a big plastic bucket we found at the trash collection site. We placed it on the floor and had the actors deliver their lines into it, using a mic to record the resulting echo. What worked best in the end was not the bucket, but a 25-liter unglazed earthenware pot. We suspended a speaker about 10 cm high by a string in the mouth of the pot and played pre-recorded lines through it. Then we used a mic to record those lines as they echoed inside the pot.

 

――Does the size of the pot or the material it’s made from have an effect on the sound?

 

Wakabayashi: It does. For Ghost in the Shell, it was an earthenware pot, and in 2004 for Innocence, we used a PVC bucket with a lid. It was a struggle to find pots and buckets that produced just the right sound that we were looking for. I went around furniture shops in Akihabara to stick my head in pots and go “ah ahh” to test the echo. Everyone thought I was a total weirdo. *laughs*
And it was always like this, so recording took a lot of time. Nowadays, creating the echoes in the studio takes about a week, but at the time of Ghost in the Shell, I’d spend around four weeks cooped up in the studio. By the time I found the materials I needed, recorded them, decided something wasn’t quite right, and re-recorded them, over half of our audio budget had been spent on the studio rental alone. But once all our experimenting created the sound we were after, the feeling of “we did it!” was incredibly satisfying. Now that we can just use software to easily do the same thing, it doesn’t quite feel the same.

 

――In Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Sakiko Tamagawa’s voice was a major part of establishing the Tachikomas’ presence in the story.

 

Wakabayashi: Kamiyama was very particular about the voice of the tachikomas, and the casting decision was made very carefully after much discussion with the staff. In the beginning, it was suggested that an electronic voice might be best, but as the story progressed and the tachikomas developed as characters, we realized that an electronic voice would not produce the right effect. Then some people thought a young voice would be good, but if the voice actor sounded too young, there was a danger that might distance them from the rest of the main cast. There are many scenes where the tachikomas talk with Bato, so we had to make sure they didn’t clash too much with Otsuka’s voice in particular. I remember that I had this idea to keep the cast cohesive in mind when I pushed for Tamagawa to be given the role.

 

――I heard that Tamagawa performed all of the lines by herself in scenes where the tachikomas talked among themselves. What was the recording for those scenes like?

 

Wakabayashi: She was always out of breath recording those scenes. I watched on, silently encouraging her with, “We’ll pay you a lot, so please do your best!” *laughs* It’s actually pretty difficult to have a full conversation with yourself. On top of that, the tachikomas each have their own unique manner of speaking, so she had to keep them distinct with “tachikoma A” or “tachikoma B.” That takes a lot of skill, but she performed it all perfectly. And then, we were terrible bosses who asked her to work even harder by giving her the role of Togusa’s wife. *laughs* However, we had a good reason for that. This doesn’t just apply to her; in a television series, you should always take into consideration how much work the main cast has each week. With that in mind, we proactively made sure that everyone had at least one scene each week whenever possible.

 

――How did you create the “shakashaka” sound the tachikomas make?

 

Wakabayashi: When you think of military vehicles, you imagine heavy sounds, but for the tachikomas, maybe it’s the 3D animation; they look almost gimmicky and light. For that reason, after discussing it with Daisuke Jinbo, we decided to go with a sound effect that seemed more familiar to the viewers, ultimately using sounds like those of motorized toys. There are plenty of types of motor sounds, and we tried out a bunch, aiming for something that sounded like the newer toys made by Tamiya.

 

――The sounds made by the weapons in Ghost in the Shell were also very distinct. How were they created?

 

Wakabayashi: At Oshii’s request, for Ghost in the Shell, we went to Hong Kong to shoot real guns and record the sound. And again, for Innocence, we flew to Los Angeles to record the sounds of real guns being used.

 

――There were also anti-tank cannons used in Innocence. How did you create those sounds?

 

Wakabayashi: For this one too, we recorded the sound of the actual weapon in use. When it went off, I felt the force of the shock wave hit me with my whole body. For Oshii, who really loves weapons like that, he insisted on using the real thing. He was always saying things like “the output of the gun…” or “look at the diesel smoke…” *laughs* But at the same time, there were a lot of times we recorded the real thing only to end up not using it. For example, when we recorded the sound of a rocket being launched, the sound of it was so great that, while the roaring sound could be heard by our ears, on the mic all we caught was the grating rush of wind. For that reason, we needed to recreate the sound we heard with our ears through other means. In the end, we used a vacuum cleaner to create the sounds for the rocket launch scenes. By turning on a large vacuum cleaner, recording the sound, and slowing it down to a quarter speed, we were able to replicate the roar of a rocket being launched. In the end, everything comes down to trial and error like this.

 

Continued to #03 Even after all this time, “Ghost in the Shell” still feels ‘new.’

 

 

KAZUHIRO WAKABAYASHI

Born in Tokyo, 1964. Began working as an audio director after training under Shigeharu Shiba. Served in this role for Ghost in the Shell, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, and Innocence. Has also worked on many Studio Ghibli productions, such as Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle, under the name “Kazuhiro Hayashi.” In recent years, he has worked on The Seven Deadly Sins: Cursed by Light,Time Patrol Bon, the WOWOW original animated series The Fire Hunter, and more.