XLTD-005 Nobukazu Takemura – Water’s Suite

The sonic beauty of Water’s Suite shows that Nobukazu Takemura has come a long way from his days as a successful scratch DJ.

Known more recently for his thoughtful compositions and commissions for Issey Miyake, Takemura has decided to let the MIDI do the talking. In fact, he has utilised his own harmonies and melodies to improvise and create entirely new music.

“I played the original MIDI data and I input the scale, harmony, and melody in advance,” explains Takemura. He continues, “However, I didn’t use the typical method of replaying the sequence data. Instead, I did the SCRUB control change improvisation for MIDI data on my software.”

Takemura is also intrigued by the very irregularities that MIDI systems try to eliminate. Japan has more than its fair share of earthquakes and these often unforgiving acts of nature have shown him just how varied a MIDI system can be.

“I’m also very interested in the reaction of the MIDI equipment in the blackout and the earthquake. (In Kyoto, it happened very strongly). The strange waves of sound at that moment seem to have a rule, but there is no rule at all,” said Takemura.

From this subtle balance of composition and uncertainty, Takemura has taken the next step in his intriguing musical career. He hopes that his many fans will continue to explore along with him.

“Maybe, this work sounds like I’m using DSP, but all of it is made by the sound-module using MIDI data.”