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HEAR SOUND CLIPS
Well, now you can hear my works "Music" from Time Turning (5:15)1993 SQUARE for string quartet, 1st movement(2:51)1987 The first part of "Chelsea" (approximately 4:00)2000 The first part of "Double Orbits" for 2 Pianos (approximately 4:00)1999 2nd movement from "Scenes" for Viola and Piano (4:31)1995 on this week. for RealPlayer, 56K Modem |
TIME TURNING(1993)
Production: NHK Electronic Music Studio
Shoji TOMOKIYO and Yoji MOTOBE, mixing engineers.
Recording Data:27 Feb. 1993, Location:NHK 603 st.
This work was composed in the method that the computer controls and
performs the recorded sound materials using a sampling machine. Those
sound materials fall into two main groups - the sine wave which can
be asserted pure sounds in our living environment.
"WAVE" and "TONE" are both made up of only "sine waves." The way of
making a sound sample is to divide a single tone taken from the oscillater,
produce sound spectrum artificially in order to give variety to its
tone color, and then work it through the envelope genaretor. Many samples
of varied types prepared in this way.
"WAVE" is made up sound samples with sharper attacks, and "TONE" is
made up of soft sound samples with a very little attack or almost none.
The other three movements adopt concreate as well. "WATER" is literally
made up of the sounds of water alone which are the samplings of waterdrops
previously recorded onto analog tapes in the studio. In "NOISE" you can
hear all sorts of sounds gathered from various parts of the NHK
Broadcasting station; the sound of telephone ringing, the sound of
touching the keyboard of a computer, the sound of doors opening and
closing, a trash box tripped over, a pencil falling off the desk,
the clinking sound of teacups, the sound of the studio's mechanical
equipment in opration or the cash-dispensing machine installed in the
broadcasting station, and so on.
"MUSIC" is an example of the use of sampling on the existing music
as concrete sounds, containing fragments of such materials as the
performances by NHK Symphony Ochestra and other pop or instrumental
music taken from among the NHK Library. In addition there is combined
the same sine waves as used in "WAVE"
The main subject in this piece is how to display those various
materials prepaed by sampling on the canves of time.
PRISMATIC EYE(1977)
for String Quartet and Four Tombones
The basic idea of this piece came from my interest in translating
visual shapes into sound forms. In other words, this piece can be
explained as a sound-kaleidoscoope. The first chord to be played at
the beginning includes all the basic notes of this piece, which ansers
to the definite number of little pieces of colored paper put in the
kaleidoscope. Just as you enjoy watching the varied patterns made by
little pieces of colored paper when the tube is rotated, so you enjoy
listening to the various changes made by those definite notes under
given condition.
This piece was witten for the concert titled "Experimenta" given
as a part of "Pan Music Festival 2, Tokyo '77."
SQUARE(1987)
for String Quartet
The process of composition is ruled by the figure of 4. The piece
consists of five small movements and middle of them is of a different
nature from the other four which have a common direction. The middle
movement(III), however, is individually ruled by the figure of 4 in
such a way as each part is given 4 phrases in a different beat each
consisting of 4 notes, and the 4 phrases are to be played 4 times.
It is one of my subjects to see how the piece changes and shines
with reflected light in another direction when I add some heterogeneous
elements to its strict structure. This piece was written for the
concert held by JSCM in 1987.
...The music of Hirokazu Hiraishi can be boldly characterized as a "beauty of
mineral crystals." Tones play innocently and go far away from the magnetic field
of "meaning" by discarding emotions and stories.
All that matters are abstract tone-patterns and sounds. And this
beauty of transparency even arounses fear in me.
..."Time Turning" is the most impressive. It is as if innumerable
electronic particles, with no sense nor will, were jumping and dancing
in the cold Siberian air. This piece seems to me to go beyond limits
of minimalism and step into unexplored region.
Shin'ya Matsuyama, MARQUEE vol.8
"Time Turning" ......Relations among tones are extraordinariy clear and cool. Highlyabstract and noble sounds like mineral crystals seen through the microsdope. Unreal reality that deludes ears. Studio Voice August 1994