V.A. : Monooto - Object-Oriented Music in Japan

ato.archivesから「物音」をテーマにしたコンピレーション。
アンビエントノイズ的なナイスなコンピです。
めちゃくちゃオススメ！
10曲入り。



A1 Tetsuya Nakayama - Minoru 5:04
A2 Masami Tada - Katakata 5:46
A3 Shuta Hiraki - Kara No Kazaana 1:57
A4 Masahiro Sugaya - 鳴ってしまう / It Sounds 3:06
A5 Yasuhito Suzuki - Monotone 5:17
B1 S. Grey - Aprilled 3:12
B2 Natsumi Nogawa - Flower Pods 4:54
B3 Masayuki Imanishi - Deck 3:02
B4 Leo Okagawa - Hz 5:58
B5 Sorta Opalka - ObjectO 3:26

Artwork [Cover Art] - Steven Van Lummel
Layout, Design - Graphic Potato
Mastered By [Mastering] - Taku Unami
Text By [Text], Liner Notes - Motoaki Iimori
Translated By [Translation] - Chiara Comastri
Compilation of "object oriented music in Japan" published in Fall, 2024.
Liner notes in j card feature Japanese and English text by philosopher Motoaki Iimori.


A brief introduction to “monooto: Object-Oriented Music in Japan”

1. Tetsuya Nakayama “Minoru”

This piece is composed of sounds recorded while assisting with the harvest at a relative’s farm. You’ll hear the scrape of dusty shears, the creak of a rusty faucet and flowing water, the groan of the workshop floor, and the drag of a wooden ladder. These tools, used only a few times a year during harvest, seem to break the farm’s stillness — as though they’ve been waiting for this moment. In the area where the farm is located, the farming population has sharply declined, and abandoned fields are becoming more common. The vibrant sounds of these tools — still functioning despite the aging farming community — served as inspiration for this piece. It is my hope that it will help preserve the region’s traditional crops.（Tetsuya Nakayama）

2. Masami Tada “Katakata”
https://tadamasami.official.jp/

When I received the invitation for this compilation, the first thing that came to mind was my origin — the place that shaped me. In 1979, the children at the Katakata Music School (a music education program I organized at the time) told me about an “interesting location”. It was a concrete tunnel beneath a road near the Isehara bus stop on the Tomei Expressway — an area where cars cannot pass and where, even during the day, very few people go. There is no real connection between this space and the outside world.As I anticipated, this place possesses an extraordinary acoustics and resonance. It remains unchanged to this day. The term “Katakata” comes from the late 1970s, and it carries a sense of irony that always makes me smile. The children would call improvisation “nonsense.” The improvised performances, which became more of a game, depended entirely on whether the children found them interesting, revealing the unique charm of their spontaneous creations — without ever acknowledging their transcendent qualities. Re-entering this tunnel has brought me back to my roots. It offers an experience unlike anything found in a live venue. As sound bounces off the tunnel’s walls, a distinct auditory sensation emerges — one that can only occur within the narrow confines of such a space, enveloping the body with its vibrations. I find it amusing to see the children perceive this phenomenon in their own way. Yet, I still wonder how to draw that experience out further; a different approach to performance is needed — one that blurs the line between music and non-music.（Masami Tada）

3. Shuta Hiraki “Kara no Kazaana”
https://obalto.bandcamp.com/

The work Kara no Kazaana (“Empty Wind Hole”) is, as the title suggests, centered around the sound produced by the shruti box when the wind hole — a mechanism that controls airflow — is only slightly opened, just enough to prevent the reeds from vibrating. This results in a soft, wind-like sound, a prelude to the instrument’s usual function. In this piece, the wind sound is layered with sounds processed through physical modeling resonators, synthesized tones that mimic insect calls, and convolution-mixed audio. It explores the “in-between” space where the sounds of physical objects, modeled acoustics, and synthetic tones merge in a blurred, indistinct way.（Shuta Hiraki）

4. Masahiro Sugaya “鳴ってしまう”
http://masasuga.art.coocan.jp/sugaya_masahiro/

This piece is a stereo (2-channel) adaptation of an 8-channel multi-speaker audio work originally created for a photography exhibition. The source material consists of recordings of the creaking floorboards in the Sakyukan (Sakyukan) in Niigata, Japan, captured in 8-channel format within the hall’s storeroom. During the exhibition, the floor sounds from the storeroom were spatially reproduced in the same environment, creating a seamless experience where the audience could not distinguish whether the creaks originated from the actual floor or from the eight speakers.
While converting the piece to stereo has altered its spatial orientation, the time intervals and subtle sounds — captured along the movement paths within the space during recording — still retain their significance. These moments, closely tied to the exhibition’s setting, continue to shape the “sound” of the piece in a musical sense.（Masahiro Sugaya）
(Sakyukan, “Portraits of the Village” Exhibition IV, Two Kaneyamas — Katsunosuke Kakuta and Chikako Enomoto, 2017)

5. yasuhito suzuki “monotone”
鈴木泰人
https://yasuhitosuzuki.net/

Field recordings were made in Suzu, located on the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture. I have a vivid memory of a landscape that seemed quietly enveloped in a single hue, observed from the port where the recordings were captured. Familiar sounds evoke memories that draw the past into the present, while unfamiliar sounds introduce a sense of dissonance. Meanwhile, unnoticed sounds linger in the background, subtly present yet often overlooked. In documenting the altered environment following the Noto Peninsula earthquake, there is an inherent meaning in simply recording existence itself. The work transforms fragments of these accumulated mono sound sources into an abstract representation of presence. When these fragments are pieced together, like a picture scroll, the memories replaying in my ears color the landscape in a singular tone. The form of monotone gently conveys the essence of the land.（yasuhito suzuki）

6. S. Grey “Aprilled”

Recorded April 2024.
100 yen shop bouncy ball + old chopsticks + drill = new mallet（S. Grey）

7. Natsumi Nogawa “Flower Pods”

The sounds used in this piece come from improvisational play, such as striking and rubbing unglazed pottery with wooden branches and mallets, dropping small stones, clashing nuts and branches, and whistling. These sounds were recorded and then restructured through a performance in Max/MSP software, involving random modulation and playback of the sounds.（Natsumi Nogawa）

8. Masayuki Imanishi “deck”
https://www.instagram.com/masayuki__imanishi/

The title Deck was chosen because the piece was created by recording sounds on a cassette deck and then layering manipulations directly within the deck itself.（Masayuki Imanishi）

9. Leo Okagawa “Hz”
https://zappak.bandcamp.com/

“Hz” is a piece composed of various radio sounds recorded using both standard microphones and electromagnetic microphones. While the recordings are primarily in mono, layers of sound have been added or subtracted to create a dynamic sense of flow throughout the piece.（Leo Okagawa）

10. sorta opalka “ObjectO”

Drawing a simple circle: In the act of drawing, both the object being drawn and the act of drawing itself produce sound. A person moves their hand absentmindedly, listening to the sounds that diffuse aimlessly around them. Just as they think they’ve caught a faint glimpse of the sounds hidden within the object, those sounds vanish. Perhaps these are nothing more than auditory illusions.（sorta opalka）