Tsutchi's "Taiko Kidan" 21st episode | Meaningless... Its raison d'être

Dear readers of the JPC newsletter,
The time has come for the familiar Taiko story.

It starts out the same every time, but it's already October this year. That summer, which was said to be extremely hot and extremely hot, has finally come to an end. It was really hot. and westJapanThere was terrible damage and many people lost their lives. I would like to express my condolences here.

Every time I receive a request, I have been given about a month to complete this manuscript, and until now I have managed to complete it in time for the deadline. I have taken great care to write this so that it will be interesting to read, but this is how my body works.
I write with an obsessive urge to write something that will be of use to my readers, but when I look back at it once it's finished and bound, I find it full of meaningless nonsense, and I find myself constantly depressed. No, that's not true, it's quite interesting, Mr. Nishio said, but if he didn't say so before he made the request, his own position would become questionable lol.
When I read Ricchan's article, which is serialized on my next page,
"Ah, you're doing well. That's what it means to be a university graduate. It's not good for a junior high school graduate like me."
I get so depressed that I end up running to my favorite Kagaya restaurant and drinking black hoppy and strong carbonated drinks every day.

In today's world, we are under the impression that in order to write something, there must be useful information for the reader, which is one of the reasons why we have such negative thoughts.
However, I don't think it's true that meaningless nonsense is a waste of time.
As for what's different, I can't explain it well, but it feels very suffocating when the value of waste is not tolerated.
It may seem out of the blue, but I have hair on my toes and part of the top of my feet.
My girlfriend, who lives with me, finds out about this and says it strangely every time.
"I wonder why there's hair here...hey, why? Why?" Right now, as I'm writing this in the middle of the night, he's looking at my toes with a beer in his hand and tilting his head to the side, saying it's strange to play with them. If there is no good reason for its existence, people tilt their heads and think.
Why? Why? Why?
While thinking in this way, when you come to an idea of the reason for existence, even if it is some kind of far-fetched or nonsense, the meaning of that existence will be found for the first time, and the reason for existence will be revealed.
This is very important and may be related to the very basis of art. There was once a book written by Akase Kawahara called ``Super Art Thomason''. This is a really interesting book, and it teaches you to classify unexplained and meaningless buildings in the city by giving them the name Thomasson, and to think about their significance.
I loved it, read it over and over again, and even went to the scenes where it happened. I learned that art can sometimes be truly meaningless.

In today's world where useful information can be obtained for free, meaningless information can be treated as if it were a crime. Only things that are productive, economical, and of practical use value are considered right, and anything else is evil.
I think this is very scary. In the past, it was linked to the eugenic ideology of the Nazis, and there is a danger that those who cannot contribute to society will be subject to purge.

Let's turn and think about ourselves.

My occupation is a musical instrument technician. I mainly work with drums, an instrument, and the drummers who play them, but to be honest, I spent many years in this profession without really understanding how much this meant. I wouldn't do this job if it didn't exist, and it wouldn't cause any trouble in this world. In reality, drum tech jobs have only been around for the past 20 years or so.
However, the recent excitement in the drum world is something to behold. Domestic and international musical instrument manufacturers are competing with each other to announce new products, users' reactions to them are quick, and the actions of retailers are extremely diverse.
Users who watch the store's trial videos react sensitively, and those who obtain the product accurately express their impressions and post it on SNS. In this situation, who is the music store, who is the user, who is the professional, and who is the amateur? Such values ​​are already outdated values.

In this age of 100 million critics, I tried to ride the wave by joining social media and posting every now and then, but recently something happened that made me think, ``Ah, this is not for me.''
As many of you may know, a tweet posted by me and another friend went viral.
Well, I won't go into details here, but my blunt words hurt a lot of people, and my friend deleted her Twitter account, and I ended up deleting my account by the end of the year.
When that happens, people come out and say all kinds of things, and most of the opinions are that they're ``running away,'' ``irresponsible,'' and ``they're old people who say things from above and then run away when they're criticized.'' There were many people who hurled even worse abuse at me.
I received many messages and scoldings from young professional drummers. In summary, he said, ``Tsucchi-san is already a public figure, so please be more careful about what you say on SNS and use it wisely!''
Well, that may indeed be the case. However, I didn't want to be a public figure myself, and I had no interest in using social media effectively.
The only thing that matters is the occasional live announcement of my own band.
A long time ago, Twitter had an atmosphere similar to a meeting place, where you could just say whatever you wanted to say harshly and block people you didn't want to see.

There was a lot to reflect on and a lot to learn from this incident. I was able to talk to people I didn't know, and in some cases, I was able to resolve some misunderstandings.
At that point, I thought, ``Ah, I can't really talk nonsense or nonsense here anymore.''
There is still some room for this since Facebook allows you to limit the scope of disclosure, but it seems like Twitter has already become a place for people to take advantage of it. Of course, not everything was included...but there was a lot of useful information, especially during disasters. actually eastJapanAt the time of the great earthquake, some families were able to find out if they were still alive because of my tweet.
Also, my mother shared my Twitter account, and my daily tweets were confirmation that I was alive. I was also able to connect with my daughter and learn about each other's current situation.
I don't think it's a good idea to delete such an important account, but I can't help it. Because it's not suitable for you.
What's interesting is that when I tweeted my intention to delete it, this time,
There are many people who say, ``Please don't stop, please continue to tweet and share useful information with us.''
I understood clearly there. I think you shouldn't tweet your know-how, which is a free meal. I make a living from this job. If you suddenly walked into a soba restaurant and asked for free soba noodles, no one would respond, and in some cases, the police would get involved, right?
I felt like I was being asked to do the same thing.
Once, when I was taking a break at a practice studio in Tokyo, a boy in his twenties came up to me and said, ``You're Tsucchi-san, right? I read Drum Magazine! I'm always looking forward to the tuning club!'' When I politely thanked him, he pulled out his snare and said, ``Please tune this!'' At the first meeting. I said, ``I'm just here to practice with my band today, and I do tuning for work, so I wouldn't be bothered if you suddenly said that. I'm sorry.''
Then, his face turned red and he became angry. ``It's insane to refuse a reader's request while doing a series like that!'' I didn't feel like saying anything.
However, all I could do was give a quick nod and return to the studio.
In this day and age where you can get everything for free, services may sound nice, but many people lack the sense of paying for what they want. This is setting the stage for the destruction of artistic endeavors. Cultural life is under threat.
A time when we cannot pay the appropriate price to live a better life, what a terrifying and empty time...

I'm starting to sound like a bit of a complainer.

Well, in any case, if you step outside the world today, you will be overflowing with shocking actions and words, and in this brutal atmosphere, everyone is trying to keep their spirits up and do their best to earn their daily bread, and I am truly humbled by this. All jobs are connected in some way, and even the seemingly unrelated tofu shop in town and the steelworks that require huge equipment, if you trace them back, there is always a connection.When I think about this, I start thinking about the meaningless things like how there is an interesting connection between the white-collar office workers walking around town and us carefree taiko drummers. Pointless things, unproductive things, wasteful things... really?
The more I think about it, the more I don't understand. It represents the principle of impermanence and the inevitable decline of those who rise. Hmm, it's all a bit confusing lol
The only thing I can say is that I have no interest in the data-based data of all the latest musical instruments and equipment. Some people might say that this disqualifies you from being a professional. Well, I don't think it's possible to do a job based on equipment specs alone, so I'll just ignore such opinions. What's important is the music itself.
Anything else is no big deal. Our job is to help people make good music. If you just focus on that, there will be no problem. In fact, on a long tour, there is always such an atmosphere, and we are a complete professional group that moves like a single living organism. There is a lot of creative meaninglessness and waste lying around, and the moment we sublimate it into art through some sort of chemical reaction, we experience a tremendous amount of catharsis. Of course, so are the customers who are watching this together. The impact will be many times greater for customers who don't know what's behind the scenes. That's what I want.

When you hit it, it makes a sound, and that sound disappears in an instant. Sound is something that cannot be captured in tangible form. It disappears before it finds its meaning.
He finds meaning in fleeting moments and captures that momentary sparkle in words, music, and paintings. Even if there is no meaning behind it, there is a ``heart'' that feels something. Yes, perhaps we are hungry for that ``heart.'' The ``heart'' that allows us to enjoy waste, meaninglessness, and nonsense.The ``heart'' that softens the bleak atmosphere.This is not something like playing classical music on a crowded train, but something much simpler and easier. Maybe you could call it consideration.
A stranger is more close than a distant relative. Even though we rub each other's sleeves, we are connected to another life, and even the stones we trip over are just the edges of our relationship. I'm not sure why, but I was relieved that I landed as soft as usual lol.

I have been writing down my thoughts one after another.

I am truly humbled by the patience and concentration of all the readers who have stuck with me thus far. thank you.
I'm going to be silent for a while on SNS. However, in this newsletter, I think I will continue to write about whatever I like. Therefore, it becomes much more rewarding to receive feedback from readers. If you have any comments, comments, or questions, please send them to Jedi Master Nishio of JPC.
This summer, which was said to be extremely hot to the point of a disaster, is coming to an end, and the season is changing from autumn to winter. After a fruitful autumn and a harsh winter, spring will come again, and we will be able to enjoy the blooming flowers, and summer will be full of life.
We hope that our readers have peace in their daily lives.
I pray that you will be able to lead a cultured life without excess or deficiency.
At the end of each episode, there will be no more conflict in this world,
I pray that you will become a planet of peace from end to end.
Thank you for staying with us until the end.
We look forward to seeing you again in the next issue.
Bye bye (^o^)