Tsuchi's "Taiko Kidan" 22nd episode | Popular culture through the fusion of individual cultures

 Dear readers of the JPC newsletter, the time has come for the familiar Taiko story.
And happy new year everyone.

The Heisei era, which lasted 30 years, is coming to an end.
If I recall, the last 30 years are also the 30 years when I jumped into this industry and struggled with Aleya Koreya lol.
When I think back on it, it's not like my face is on fire, it's like I want to spread radioactivity like Shin Godzilla. Even so, I feel that the reason I was able to make it through is all thanks to the miraculous accumulation of people who remembered me (I don't know why), contacted me, and invited me to tour and record.

Being able to be around good music all the time is a great experience as someone who helps people who create good music.
There are many times when I am treated recklessly in recording studios and other places.
For example, "remove the kick attack," "shorten the sustain of the tom by 0.3 seconds," "make it sound like Zildjian with the paiste hi-hat," etc.
Looking back on it now, it's all very fun and a bit funny, but at the time I was doing it on a whim. Nowadays, we can say, ``You can just use a fluffy beater to eliminate the kick attack,'' but in fact, back then, I was still using a fluffy beater, and I was told to eliminate the attack that still remained, so I cut a square piece of cloth for wiping guitars and pasted it on the head, but the attack still came out. Time passes relentlessly. Moreover, the thicker the cloth was pasted, the more attacks of specific frequencies appeared. At a loss, I grabbed a piano cover that had been left in tatters in the hallway of the studio.
It's a smooth black thing. Cover the entire kick with the cover and hit it with a fluffy beater from above the cover. When I did that, for some reason the attack disappeared completely, and a warm, fat sound called ``bofu'' came out. Apparently there was a bit of resignation in the control room at that time, but the moment the sound came out, the engineer and producer stood up and groaned, "Oh!"

This is a story from when I was just starting out in my twenties, and when I still talk to that engineer, I get to talk about that time. ``At that time, we all looked at the delivery menu because we thought it would take longer. Then you quickly made a nice sound, and we all missed the meal. So, do you remember that rare time when we all went out to eat after the day was over?''
Yes, I remember it very well. I was treated to a very delicious stew from Ginza. I'll never forget that taste.
I forgot the name of the shop lol

``Tum sustains for 0.3 seconds'' can be achieved quite successfully by loosening one tension bolt at the bottom. However, it is difficult to decide where to relax. For me, it's like a jinx that if I loosen the bolt that's furthest from me, I can control the sustain to an interesting degree. That doesn't happen every time, but... First, hit the tom and listen to the overall reverberation and timbre, and then figure out where it's stagnant. Here's the trick: If you slightly loosen the bolt on the other side where you think it's stagnant, the sustain will change in an interesting way. You may not be able to understand this unless you really step into the field.

Even if you say the number of places, it doesn't have to be work. Even if you have a set at the practice studio you always go to, if you are able to play your own set at hand, you can definitely find it if you focus on it every night with as much vigor as if you were wearing a white costume and lighting a candle in a sweatshirt in order to find that ``one bolt.'' Maybe...lol

``Giljian version of Paiste's hi-hat'' This is a really absurd but good thing. If that's the case, I'd be tempted to say that I should just bring a Zildjian, but I don't really want a Zildjian.It's a paiste hi-hat, but I want to give it a Zildjian-like feel...
Even if you think to yourself, ``That's right, you bastard,'' he's just a hired drummer.

If I don't do something, I won't be able to get back to where I am today. Thinking that my young daughter would get lost in an outcrop, my brain, which is as slippery as Pucchin's pudding, ran at full speed, and in a moment of desperation, I came up with the idea of ​​``sticking a hexagonal piece of thinly cut gumte to the back of the hi-hat cup.'' This was a completely random idea, and I did it in desperation, thinking that if I toned down Paiste's glittering ingredients a little, I could create a calmer look similar to Zildjian. The hexagonal shape has no basis at all. It was completely an idea. If you are questioned by acousticians or other experts, all you can do is run away as fast as you can.
However, in this world, it is often the case that a quick idea can turn out to be a terrible thing.
Yes, this strategy was a great success, and the producer nominated me every time after that, and I had a lot of recording experience.

The little tips I've written up to this point may be something that you can easily find by doing a quick search on YouTube. It's not a big deal.
But when I think about it now, I wonder why that desperate bastard was successful at that time. At that time, while having drinks with a certain senior colleague, he said something like this to me. ``Tsutchi is all about the music in front of him. That's why everyone appreciates it.''
Get my will. is. Well, that's rude, but it's really true.

All I think about is what kind of sound the music in front of me wants, and what kind of sound I want the song to sound like. I don't have an ounce of ego. I almost never think, ``Now that I've got this instrument, I'm going to use it on this song,'' or ``I'm going to try this method in the studio today.''
I'd love to try it out when I get a new snare. I would try that with my band. The site I go to is a “work” site. Earn your daily bread by selling your time and skills. The only thing that matters is how well the employer can make us listen to good music, whether we can play it, and whether it can properly resonate in the world we live in as music.
Of course, there will be many cases where a newly acquired instrument will be just right for you. However, my belief is that as a drum tech, it is impossible for me to use something just because I want to use it. I've brought several items and often find myself saying, ``Oh, this one might be good.'' I believe that those of us behind the scenes should not bring our egos into the sound we produce.
We welcome it when musicians themselves say, ``I recently got this, and I want to use it today.'' I'm so happy, everyone would think so. However, if I were to say this from my point of view, I would say that even though we have known each other for decades and have a thorough understanding of each other's tastes, I would still like to take a step back.

Sometimes young musicians ask me for help when purchasing an instrument. Which manufacturer is better, what material is better, and what is the size? What color? What about the head? cymbal? What about the hardware? There are endless options for musical instruments. Especially with drums, there are no fixed settings, so it's really up to the individual, so it's really tough when someone asks me to do something like that.
It's not because we're young, but everyone gets confused.
It's a really fun and great time, but I get confused and can't decide. At times like these, I have just one piece of advice.
We will convey the line from the sci-fi blockbuster STAR WARS, ``BELIEVE YOUR FEELING ~ to believe in your own sensibilities.''
In the movie, these are the words that Obi Wan speaks to young Luke Skywalker while he is training to acquire the Force. This is also connected to Master Yoda's words, ``The reason you fail is because you don't trust your own sensibilities.''
Yes, I want everyone to believe more in the sound that is resounding within themselves and express it freely! If you think so, the instrument may be approaching from the other side.
He may be what is commonly called a ``fateful encounter.''
This can be said about many things, and I feel that it is especially necessary in this day and age.

The other day, I was watching the TV news and it was reporting on the Halloween fuss in Shibuya. Personally, I don't particularly think about dressing up as a costume and having fun on Halloween. Some people were wearing funny costumes. However, the riot last year could easily be called a "riot."
I can understand the explosion of youthful energy. But when I looked at them, my thoughts seemed to stop.
I'm sure there are various opinions, but to me they seem like they don't believe in their own values ​​or have not developed their own values. For now, if we all dress up and go to Shibuya, it'll be fun and exciting, and it'll give us a sense of unity, right? Of course.

Are there cultural values?

How many people out there know the true origin of Halloween? The city was dirty and destroyed, and the scene reflected the next morning was the result of anarchy.

 I guess you could call it peer pressure: ``I'll do it because everyone else is doing it'' ``I'll do what everyone else does so they don't hate me'' ``Well, because everyone is doing it'' ``Why don't you do it? Everyone is doing it?''
``Everyone is making a fuss about Halloween, but what on earth is that? What is that weird pumpkin head?'' I think I can get along better with people who look it up on the internet, go to a bookstore, and say, ``I see, that's what it's all about,'' and they're having fun at home by themselves lol.
You don't have to worry about how other people see you, or if you do something like this, they might hate you, or you might be surprised and put off by it... It's totally fine. You don't have to do anything that makes other people feel bad. It's just a matter of not doing something you wouldn't like if it happened to you. In other words, I think it's best to think about what makes people happy.

Everyone around me loves "good music."
Mothers, daughters, and even ex-wife still talk about music. Of course I get excited with my girlfriend, who I'm currently living with, and when I go to work, we can't talk about her unless she likes her music. What they have in common is that when they say, "Oh, I don't know that," they never dismiss it as, "Oh, you don't know? That's no good." If you don't know, just let me know. Then the music will spread again, right? The concept of sharing is widespread. In today's modern terms, this is what we call "sharing." We all have different tastes, different values, and different clothes, but we all have something in common, and I truly hope that we live in a time when we can talk about things, accept each other's differences, share different values, and continue to mix our "individual cultures" and develop them into "popular culture." Lately, even when I go to rural areas, I don't hear many dialects spoken by local young people. Maybe it's because I'm a stranger in front of me, but I feel very lonely. A friend told me that it was because I didn't want people to think I was from the countryside. No, I don't think I'm a country person! From my point of view, I'm jealous. Let's use more and more dialects, especially women's dialects, which are very good in any region. This may be a personal preference lol

At the end of the year, the Heisei era is coming to an end, and a new era is just around the corner.My New Year's prayer is that the tense atmosphere of the past few years will ease, and the world will become even a little more carefree and easy-going. Prosperity in sales, improvement in skills, traffic safety, good health, sake, meat, groves, complete success, prayer for success, prayer for easy childbirth, prayer for contract renewal, improvement in academic ability, marriage, and peace in the world.Please continue reading this trivial series this year, and thank you for your patronage of this drum holder!

New Year 2019

Yoshinori Tsuchida