Maki Ishii - Oto No Hajimari Wo Motomete 16 - Japan 2 CD

Credits:

Maki Ishii

Description:

Maki Ishii’s electronic music that is not electronic music. Electronic sounds treated as music, not as an experiment. Ripples (1965) Although an early work produced at the NHK Electronic Music Studio, this piece deliberately avoids the foregrounding and disjunction typically associated with the term “electronic music.” The violin, chamber ensemble, and tape sounds do not clash; instead, they act upon the very sense of time through the progression of timbre and reverberation. Ishii Makki’s approach—treating electronic sounds not as privileged elements but as sound materials equivalent to those of acoustic instruments—was already clearly established at this point. Banquet (1968) A work that thoroughly explores the relationship between electronic sounds and instrumental music at the methodological level. The sound of multiple pianos, including internal playing techniques, is electronically modulated and intersects with the orchestra through temporal and spatial repositioning. What Ishii Makki emphasized was not limiting electronic sounds to inorganic processing, but imbuing them with “breath” and “rhythm” that are inseparable from the act of performance. Spiral I (1969) A work that incorporates ancient sound materials—such as Buddhist chanting and traditional percussion—alongside electronic and instrumental sounds, with a clear awareness of cultural time. Sounds processed electronically are juxtaposed with pure electronic sounds, relativizing oppositions such as East/West and new/old. The spiral-like structure formed through repetition and transformation causes time to be perceived not as progression but as a transition of phases. Rotation (1971) Conceived as an extension of the “Spiral” series, this work is for solo percussion and electronic sound. The percussion performance does not follow a fixed pattern; instead, the music emerges through momentary choices and extended repetitions. The electronic sound functions neither as accompaniment nor as sound effects, but as an entity that responds to the performance and guides the entire soundscape into a rotational movement. Anima Mare (1974) A work that marks the mature period of Makoto Ishii, in which electronic soundscapes are constructed primarily from harp performances. Diverse harp techniques unfold, ranging from dodecaphonic motifs to triadic arpeggios, and the electronic sounds that respond to them spread through the space not as independent layers but as an extension of the performance. Here, the electronic sounds do not function as an effect added externally, but rather as an element that expands the resonance of the harp from within. In this seamless fusion of harp and electronic sound, we can see a form of artistic completion that Makoto Ishii has attained. Encounter III (Gen—The Creation of Ink) 1973 In the “Encounter” series, distinct sonic worlds are arranged while remaining independent, and the very process of their intersecting—while harboring elements of chance—becomes the generative principle of the music. In Encounter III, centered on the shakuhachi, sound materials—including Gagaku-style resonances and electronically processed sounds—are layered and combined, bringing the tangible presence of sound and a fluid sense of time strongly to the fore. Here, the contrast between East and West is not the primary objective; rather, the process itself—in which disparate sounds meet, react, and transform—emerges as music.