San-Kwai
San-Kwai (Strange Tales in the Mountains): Minimal Music Experiment Inspired by Ravel
Composition tool: MuseScore 4, Studio One 7 Pro
Recording tool (DAW): Studio One 7 Pro
Number of tracks: 47
Sound source: Presence XT, Sample One (All built-in sound sources of Studio One)
Composition and recording period: Oct 14 2024 - Dec 8 2024
Opus Number: 115
(TI writes:)
About the composition of the music
This piece is based on a four-part, eight-bar phrase (starting at 6'58") created by TM. Each part of this phrase was broken down into various sizes and arranged as a module. The arrangement excludes any particular regularity.
Therefore, the beat and tempo also progress freely, without being restricted by the framework of Western music. Unusually for FMT, this work was composed using Studio One's ‘launcher function’ instead of using staff notation.
This method creates a different sense of tempo and time signature that goes beyond the conventional tempo and time signature of Western music, such as 4/4 time.
The breakbeats in the second half of the piece are new elements not included in the original material and were suggested by TM.
In this part, the phrases of famous songs from the 1970s are deconstructed and reconstructed in a drum'n'bass style.
The overall structure of the piece follows conventional Western musical forms, but avoids structural elements as much as possible and adopts a simple A-A-B-A-A two-part format.
This is because if the piece were to continue to change completely irregularly and linearly, it would sound like ‘normal’ noise music.
(TM writes:)
As TI says above, he progressively used some from my phrase stock. One is titled "Studied Ravel," which was in the process of studying Maurice Ravel and experimenting composition that would result in "Cube 6: L'Avant Et L'Arrière (Front And Back)."
It's always greatly fun to see how something that originated from me being developed by other artists like TI in this case.
(TI writes:)
About the mix
The mix is not particularly elaborate, except for modulating each track chronologically with Bit Crasher, distortion, etc., to achieve a balance that is easy to listen to.
However, extreme emphasis is placed above 10 kHz relative to the master track, emphasising the overtones created by the modulation with Bit Crasher, distortion, etc.
Looping elements are also avoided in the tonal changes, which are linear along the time axis.
For this reason, instead of using filters or modulators on the sound sources, effects were applied to each track as a whole and their movements were programmed to change linearly along the time axis.
In addition, the environmental sounds were recorded with the smartphone's built-in microphone and are therefore mono, and two tracks were placed side by side, with one track shifted back by about 0.3 ms to shift the phase to give a three-dimensional effect.
Production process
Due to TM's busy schedule, instead of the usual FMT style, as mentioned above, TI used Studio One's ‘launcher function’ based on the eight-bar notes TM had created, rearranging the individual patterns without relying on the staves.
In terms of timbre, I initially used only the new Studio One sound sources, but found them too luxurious and uncomfortable, so I decided to incorporate acoustic instrumental timbres as well.
Finally, environmental sounds recorded during the trip (rain, river sounds, sounds of life in the cottage) were added to complete the piece.
These environmental sounds were all recorded in and around the Yatsugatake cottage using the smartphone's built-in microphone.
A female voice enters in the middle of the song, which means ‘the smoke is disappearing’ and was uttered by my wife when she was putting wood on the fireplace.
About minimalism
Contemporary minimalism is often associated with repetitive diction, but minimalism itself means ‘minimal’ and does not necessarily involve repetition.
This piece is also based on the technique of using minimal material to create temporal durations.
As such, there is no redundancy through repetition or pattern.
The original conforms to an eight-bar, four-part motif, but it is not made redundant by repeated self-similarity, which also differs from fractal proliferation in nature.
This approach can also be seen as an extension of the cubist approach. It is a way of expressing a single motif by looking at it from different perspectives or changing viewpoints.
In any case, I am conscious of the fact that it is only intentional, artificial and contrived.
About the title
The title San-Kwai (山怪) is taken from the title of a book in the library of a cottage I visited in Yatsugatake, meaning ‘strange stories in the mountains’.
I looked forward to reading that book every time I visited that cottage, and I was listening to this song I was in the process of creating at the time.
Also, there was a lot of wind and rain at the time, and the sound of it was so good that I decided to incorporate it into this song.
I chose this long title in conjunction with the fact that the title of TM's first notes on the phrase was ‘Studied Ravel’.
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