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Akagi

by Celer

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1.
Akagi 01:19:44

about

In the fall of 2012, I was asked to create music for a live yoga event at Yougenji temple in Northern Tokyo. The performance was centered on the yoga instructor with the musician playing to the back of the audience, so that music served more as a live soundtrack for the event. For this I created a new piece of music using two reel-to-reel tape machines, and two tape loops of keyboards with similar time structures, but each with different, overlapping chords. They played simultaneously, crossing in different combinations, and with manual alterations of the volume and high/low settings on the machines. While changing, it maintained the same sound and makeup throughout.

During the performance many people fell asleep, and seemed to drift off to another place. Sometimes it seemed like they were waking up, but it was only the evolution of the yoga exercise matching the music. Surprisingly, throughout the entire performance, and ever since, whenever hearing the piece of music, I am immediately reminded of my grandmother. When I was 6 years old I moved with my parents to the house of my great grandfather, next door to where my father grew up, and where my grandmother still lived. She had been bed-ridden for several years by that time, and would remain so until her death when I was 11.

Somehow this music continued to fill my mind with those memories of sitting in her room, watching tv late at night with her when my parents were out to dinner, or the hazy lace curtains on the windows, moving in the afternoon breeze. I remembered that stillness, the warmth of her voice without any complaints, despite the restricted isolation, and the ever-present surroundings never changing. Seeing the audience in these motionless-to-waking states brought this memory back to me, though exactly why I can't be sure. However, because of this, the music was given a background, and a dedication.

- Will Long, 2015

2012年の秋、私は北東京にある養源寺という寺院で行われたヨガ・イベントのための音楽制作を依頼された。そのパフォーマンスは、ヨガ・インストラクターを囲みながらミュージシャンがオーディエンスの背後で演奏するというもので、音楽がイベントのための生のサウンドトラックのような形になっていた。このイベントのために私は、二台のオープンリール・マシンを使って新しい作品を作った。キーボードで作られたコードの異なる二つのテープ・ループは、似たような時間構造で重り合っていた。それらのループは同時に再生しながら様々な組み合わせで交差し、機械上での手動の音量と高域・低域のセッティングによって変化していった。変化しながら、全体を通して一つのサウンドとなっていた。

パフォーマンスの最中、多くの人々が眠りに落ち、別の場所に行ってしまったかのように見えた。時々、彼らが目を覚ましていくかのように見えたが、それは単にヨガのエクササイズの展開だった。それは音楽にマッチしていた。驚くべきことだが、パフォーマンスの間中、またそれ以来ずっと、その音楽の断片を耳にするたびに、私には祖母のことがすぐに思い起こされる。6歳のとき私は、曾祖父が建てた家に両親とともに移り住んだ。その家の隣には私の父が育った家があり、そこに祖母はまだ住んでいた。祖母はそれまで何年ものあいだ、そして私が11歳のときに彼女が亡くなるまでずっと寝たきりだった。

どういうわけかこの音楽が私の心に満たし続ける記憶は、祖母の部屋で座っていたときの思い出だ。
両親が外食に出かけ不在の夜、遅くまで彼女と一緒にテレビを見たこと。窓際で午後のそよ風に揺らされて霞むレースのカーテン。あの静けさ、祖母の暖かい声。制限された孤独と、変化の起きることのない環境のなか、彼女は決して不平をもらさなかった。どうしてかは私にも分からないのだが、静止と覚醒の状態にある観客を見ながら、これらの記憶が私の中によみがえった。しかし、この記憶のおかげで音楽は背景を持ち、祖母に捧げるものとなることができたのだ。

2015年、ウィル・ロング


All music by Will Long
Recorded and mixed 2011 - 2015 in Tokyo and Yokohama, Japan
Special thanks to Rie Mitsutake
For M.L.L.

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credits

released January 2, 2016

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Celer Tokyo, Japan

Celer is Will Long, an American artist.

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