24 - Takechi Hiroyuki

Author

Giannis Kampiotis
November 11, 2022

Hello music people 👋

Today in the spotlight, Takechi Hiroyuki

Coming from Tokyo, he values randomness and weird instruments are crucial to him.

While having lost interest in music for a while, the pandemic and an introduction to modular synthesizers got him inspired again 🎶

Read Time: 3 minutes 📰

The Setup

Gear List

Who are you and what is your relationship with music?

My artist name is Takechi Hiroyuki. Takechi is the last name and Hiroyuki is first name. This order is in accordance with my country's culture.

I was born in the countryside of Chiba, Japan and live in Tokyo now. The former is disgustingly rural with nothing but nature and my bitter-sweet memories, the latter is overflowing with people, buildings, dust, laughter, and sigh. I think both of them are sources of my creativity.

When I was a child, I came across dozens of cassette tapes owned by my uncle, such as The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Queen and so on. I got obsessed with music, especially the tone of the electric guitar which I started to play when I was fifteen. But I was no longer satisfied with just that, so three years later I started composing.

While working, I was an active member in some bands and conceptual musical units for several years. But they didn't work and I stopped engaging in music. COVID-19 pandemic led me to resume musical creation. Continuing my commute on empty trains of Tokyo, with fear of the unknown, I found that I profoundly wanted to create music. Around that time, my friend told me about modular synthesizers, and I got interested.

Now I continue to make music while commuting on crowded trains.

What's the one thing in your studio you can't live without?

Modular synthesizers are indispensable to me. If it were not for them, I would play the raspy-sounding guitar.

What's your process?

I'm influenced by John Cage, Morton Feldman, Steve Reich, Brian Eno and music of Noh theatre, so I often get ideas from them.

Thinking about how to make them come true, I start operating my modular synthesizers. They don't work as I want, but sometimes make unexpectedly wonderful sounds. That changes my ideas I initially have.

Then I record and process these sounds.

How would you explain your style?

I value randomness, being dedicated to balance chaos and cosmos while preserving beauty.

In order to do that, not only weird instruments but also equalizers and compressors are crucial.

Has this journey of building a hardware setup changed the way you think about music or life in general?

Music has an aspect that is closely related to technology, so new things will continue to be produced in genres, ways of creating, instruments and gadgets. What matters to me is what I take in and what I don't.

What’s your ONE tip on music-production or creativity?

It's essential and difficult for me to keep balance between thought and sense. But sometimes I can create something radical and interesting even if I'm biased towards one or the other.

A book/movie/article that fueled your creativity?

Novels by Franz Kafka, Samuel Beckett, Abe Kobo and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

They showed me how high imagination based on intelligence can fly and what freedom is.

Same with movies by Dziga Vertov and Mizoguchi Kenji.

Anything else you'd like to say?

I still haven't been able to make the music I want.

If I made the most of a DAW, I could, in an easier way, create more sophisticated pieces with clear tones. But with that method, the physical element of the music is lost, except for using a trackball or a mouse and the arm fatigue caused by them. I also use convenient software, but I won't let go of hardware because they are easier to understand visually and respond directly to my delicate finger movements.

Although I often buy and sell gear.

How can people find you?

Currently, I mainly post short music videos on Instagram.

I'd like to expand the range of activities in the future.

In Case You Missed It

23 - Two Round Robins

For jams, knob-twists and pad hitting videos go to G.A.S. Instagram

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