Proceedings of the Electroacoustic Music Studies Conference, Sforzando!

New York, June 2011

www.ems-network.org

Alternative Perspective towards Japanese History of Electronic Music –

Live Electronics in Early vs Latest Days

Mikako Mizuno

Nagoya City University

2-1-10 Kitachikusa Chikusa Nagoya, Japan464-0083
[email protected]

Abstract

The term "live-electronics" is to be defined in several phases of Japanese context of 1960’s.

In the general history, Japanese 1960’s is defined as highly developing society and
preparatory stage for World Fair OSAKA70. The electronic music featured two trends:
sounds like tone-cluster and combined sound, and live-electronic performance. After
preliminary thinking about the term, I will refer to Group Ongaku, Takehisa Kosugi, Toshi
Ichityanagi and Maki Ishii グループ音楽、小杉武久、一柳慧、石井真木. The concept
of "live-electronics" is different in each composer in the point of relation between man and
machine. To compare with the recent understanding of "live-electronics", some younger
composes devoted to interactive music or sound art will be mentioned.

Introduction "Live-electronic"

In the 1960's, the term live was often used in the phrase like "a sort of live electronic music"
by some music critics and musicologists. This indicated electronic music in which
electronic sounds were produced or modulated by human action in front of the audience.
Minao Shibata and his pupil, Koji Sano,佐野光司 used the phrase "a sort of", and they did
not define decisively the word live electronic music. Sano used the term for the pieces, like
Toshi Ichiyanagi 一柳慧 Appearance (1967) for three instruments and two oscillators, and
he explained the term "live electronics" simply as "performing the electronic machine".
Minao Shibata also prescribed Mayuzumi’s Campanology for multi-piano as "a sort of"
live-electronics. People had no definition of "live-electronic" music, but they admitted
various type of performance.

1
Mikako Mizuno
Alternative Perspective towards Japanese History of Electronic Music – Live Electronics in Early vs Latest Days
 Proceedings of the Electroacoustic Music Studies Conference, Sforzando! New York, June 2011
www.ems-network.org

The term used by musicologists or composers were sometimes indicated the technological
phase, other time indicated conceptual/aesthetic phase.
Though the dichotomy of the aesthetic concept of musique concrète and Elektronische
Musik was conceptually strong, Mayuzumi had created both type of piece and Jikkenkobo
実験工房 presented both type of pieces in the concert of 1956 "Audition of musique
concrète and elektronische Musik". After this antinomy the aesthetic theme for Japanese
composers was to select live-electronic or tape-music. The dichotomy of 1950’s had based
on the difference of the way of producing sounds, while the aesthetic selection between
"live-electronic" or tape-music was concerning mainly the style of performance.
At the time of Expo’70 Minao Shibata wrote in an article that several years had already
passed since Japanese music people made no distinction between musique concrète and
Elektronische Musik and that people called the whole as "tape music". As Shibata’s
comment in 1974 indicated, during 1960’s, that is, in the time when Japanese electronic
music had several creative experiences and created Japanese original technology, the
difference on the point how to create the sound has shifted to the distinction how to play the
music in font of the audience.

Live-electronic music in Group Ongaku グループ音楽

The term "live-electronics" in Japanese began with Group Ongaku and the acceptance of
John Cage. Group Ongaku is said to be the first experimental music performance group in
the world. This was the time when Japanese contemporary music had been combining with
the Euro-American avant-garde scene. Though Mayuzumi had written a short article about
Cage in 1950’s, most Japanese found directly Cage’s indeterminacy in 1961 in the concert
of Ichiyanagi and Yoko Ono.
Group Ongaku was a compound of several non-genre members ; a visual artist Yasunao
Tone 刀根康尚, Takehisa Kosugi 小杉武, composer Mieko Shiomi 塩見允枝子, Mikio
Tojika, Syuko Mizuno 水野修孝, Tuge , and an architect, Yoshio Tsukio. They had
repeated improvisational performances in Tokyo University of arts and Tokyo University,
before they knew Cage. The name "Group Ongaku" began in September 1961, and the
following year they performed in the concert named "Improvisation and objets sonores" in
Sogetsu Kaikan.
This concert was important for two reasons.
One is that their main concept is improvisation, which appeared independently of the
influence of Cage.

2
Mikako Mizuno
Alternative Perspective towards Japanese History of Electronic Music – Live Electronics in Early vs Latest Days
 Proceedings of the Electroacoustic Music Studies Conference, Sforzando! New York, June 2011
www.ems-network.org

The other is that they had accepted the concept of objets sonores of Pierre Schaeffer but
their way of performance was different from making-live or spatialization by Schaeffer and
GRM. Syuko Mizuno 水野修孝 had strongly denied they had been influenced by the
foreign musicians like John Cage. They preferred rather surrealism of André Breton,
especially his automatism. Takehisa Kosugi disliked musique concrète because concrete
sounds of Schaeffer were separated from the context or the space in which the sound had
been made and the recorded sound were to be abstract/acousmatique and because musique
concrète was finally fixed on tape.

Kosugi Takehisa 小杉武久: Live-electronic music/electroacoustic music

Group Ongaku used electronic machines for their performance, and for Kosugi for himself
electronic machines or electronic materials have been essential after the "dissolution of
Group Ongaku for the sake of reform". Though Shuko Mizuno thought he had been
changing in the trend Cage-chock in Japan, Kosugi has gradually found his way to keep up
with the aesthetics of Cage.
Kosugi had made a team Collective Music with Ichiyanagi and Takemitsu during the
activities of Groupe Ongaku, and, as well known in US, he collaborated with Cage, David
Tudor and Merce Cunningham and performed as a member of Fluxus. In these experiences
with the contemporary art activities, Kosugi has sought out his unique style of live-
electronic performance.
First of all his live-electronic performance was carefully planned with electronic machines
though his actions were improvisation, and the settings were fixed as an installation of
machines. The way to use the machines is modulated from the usual usage and the
modulation is Kosugi’s creation. Radio is representative. For Kosugi, radio is an apparatus
in order to catch the wave both in audio level and in visual level. By radio, we get
information, usually audio information, through space. And Kosugi wants to see the
situation of getting wave information through space. Radio is an audio-visual machine, so
he made several (4 to 5) oscillators and transmitters pendulate from the ceiling and between
those machines he set small radios as apparatus. Several radios made some beats, which
3
Mikako Mizuno
Alternative Perspective towards Japanese History of Electronic Music – Live Electronics in Early vs Latest Days
 Proceedings of the Electroacoustic Music Studies Conference, Sforzando! New York, June 2011
www.ems-network.org

make sounds. This was Kosugi’s famous series of catch wave, Mano-Dharma, electronic.
The music critic Kuniharu Akiyama said "logic of human body creating electronic art".
From that time Kosugi continues mixed media performance pursuing connection between
electronic circuits and human body. In his live-electronic performance, electronic sound
machines are parallel with ordinary goods like umbrella, electric-fan.
Second feature of Kosugi’s live-electronics is that the works are basically an inter-media art
as testified by his own words. Kosugi said,
My works of live-electronics are mainly audio-visual and focus on the connection with some
objects. I am not concentrated on sounds and the material for my art is not limited to sound
waves.

The way, which decomposes the sound instrument into trembling body and the resonator,
resembles to that of Schaeffer but Kosugi got his original visual effect rather than sounds.
And this concept led him to his catch-wave series. Mano-Dharma featured also slide with
the picture of dinosaurs, which was moved by the wind in the auditorium space.
Kosugi made by himself the list of works, and he made two categories to the works after
1980: live-electronic music and electro-acoustic music. But these two categories are not
taken from that of Cage and Schaeffer. Kosugi’s electro-acoustic music concerns the
acoustic material and his live-electronics concerns oscillators. Both of the two were
performed in live with microphones and effectors.

4
Mikako Mizuno
Alternative Perspective towards Japanese History of Electronic Music – Live Electronics in Early vs Latest Days
 Proceedings of the Electroacoustic Music Studies Conference, Sforzando! New York, June 2011
www.ems-network.org

Toshi Ichiyanagi 一柳慧 live-electronic music as and with musical

instruments

Toshi Ichiyanagi has been much musical contrary to Kosugi’s anti-music concept. The
action on the stage should not be some simple operation like "push the button", "too simple
keyboard playing" nor "unseen relation between action and sounds as the results".
Ichiyanagi, who came from US in 1961 as a star musician into sudden prominence to Japan,
said the live-electronic music had been actual only until the mid 60’s.
In 1960’s, Sogetsu Kaikan was a melting pot for Japanese contemporary art, and the
producer/artist Soufu Teshigawara 勅使河原蒼風 was himself an artist.

For Ichiyanagi, Sogetsu was more important than for others and "live electronics" equaled
to the realization of indeterminacy. By the performance in "Segetsu contemporary" series
and leadership of Sohgetsu "New Direction" series, the activity of Ichiyanagi’s
indeterminacy (happening, event) gave "Cage Shock" to Japan.
As an excellent pianist, Ichiyanagi thought the action of manipulating electronic machines
are to be like the performing of musical instruments. "Live-electronic" is not only-one style
for Ichiyanagi’s musical concept. His main aesthetic point at that time was indeterminacy in
performance as that of John Cage. And improvisation was to be started with careful hearing
of the space. He preferred hearing to expressing, as he said in 2000.

5
Mikako Mizuno
Alternative Perspective towards Japanese History of Electronic Music – Live Electronics in Early vs Latest Days
 Proceedings of the Electroacoustic Music Studies Conference, Sforzando! New York, June 2011
www.ems-network.org

Maki ISHII 石井真木: "Kyo-o", which means Sound Correspondence

Maki Ishii, who had studied in Berlin with Josef Rufer and Boris Blacher from 1958-1961,
was moderate against American indeterminacy. The Multi-Piano had been developed in
NHK studio for electronic music in 1967. As the second composer after the first one
Mayuzumi who created music for this new component, Ishii used Multi-Piano as an
instrument, not as a machine of anti-tape style.
Multi-piano was called "electronic prepared piano". Ishii explained in the score of Kyo-o:
the strings of a grand piano are picked up by 88 special microphones. The vibrations of the
strings rather than sound waves are caught. With the help of electric modulation, each tone
can be changed into various kinds of timbre. Furthermore, the modulation can be made by
filter machine at the same time as the performance, i.e. in real-time.
Kyo-o, which means "sound correspondence", is written for multi-piano, orchestra without
wood winds, modulated piano sound which are recorded on tape, and "live-electronics" as
modulation of brass instruments and percussion. This is a piece of "live-electronic" music in
multiple meaning; using original electric machine (multi-piano), using oscillators ensuing
real-time modulation (like effect in today’s sense). Here is no opposition between tape-style
and live manipulation of oscillators/modulation. In the point of performance system, the
tape part can be thought as the opened sound file in today’s sense, and the live manipulation
functions as real-time signal processing.

Conclusion

1967 and 1969 time has come to the final stage of Japanese avant-garde music before
Expo70. The Japanese important electronic music were created in 1967 and 1968; Joji

6
Mikako Mizuno
Alternative Perspective towards Japanese History of Electronic Music – Live Electronics in Early vs Latest Days
 Proceedings of the Electroacoustic Music Studies Conference, Sforzando! New York, June 2011
www.ems-network.org

Yuasa’s Icon, Ichiyanagi’s Appearance, Kosugi’s first Catch Wave performance and Maki
Ishii’s Kyo-o. These four are symbolic about the style of electronic music.
1. Tape;
2. improvisation with electronic sound machines like automatism;
3. improvisation with electronic sound machines as realization of indeterminacy;
4. performance with live sound control machine as an instrument.
And the composers proceeded into different directions afterwards.

Just before Expo70, it was singular in the point that electronic music both in the sense of
musique concrète and synthesizer based electronic music was deeply concerned with the
special concept of performing. It was not the sound itself but the human action concerning
sound that was to be essential. And the aesthetic meaning of the performance was discussed
in an event called "Cross Talk Intermedia" held in 1969 at Yoyogi Olympic Studium. Ten
thousand people came to this three day symposium, where the keywords were intermedia,
improvisation and ordinary life (or environment).
As indicated by Mieko Shiomi, a Japanese Fluxus, the live-electronic music was a style of
boundary art as well as event, concrete poem, film event. At that time, "live" did not mean
the opposite of tape media but making the special performer as an element for intermedia.

The term "live-electronic" once disappeared along with the change of aesthetic concept,
from improvisation, indeterminacy to environment or new instruments. When the term
appeared again in Japanese music scene with the real-time sound processing, i.e. real-time
DSP like MAX, "live-electronic" was indicating technical style rather than combining with
aesthetical concept.

Today we know several live performance with electronic system; sound art, sound
performance, interactive music, voice performance, human body as realization of algorism,
etc. Some of them have the theme where to use or not to use electronics. For example, live
performance of Masahiro Miwa’s reverse simulation music, in which human body realizes
systematic algorism, which was calculated by computer. Tomomi Adachi, a voice performer,
is using sometimes electronics and mainly improvising.
Are their performances or pieces live-electronic? Answer is yes and no.
They use the electronic machines for the sake of live-performance, so they are live-
electronic. But their points are not making the electronic materials live. They did their live-
performances in order to find new human bodiliness as anti-mechanism.

7
Mikako Mizuno
Alternative Perspective towards Japanese History of Electronic Music – Live Electronics in Early vs Latest Days
 Proceedings of the Electroacoustic Music Studies Conference, Sforzando! New York, June 2011
www.ems-network.org

Real-time signal processing style was introduced in Japan only after MAX for Macintosh
had appeared.
In addition, especially in the new millennium, "live" has been replaced performance, which
does not necessarily include electronic devices. Performance should be an answer to the
question of the meaning of presence of the performer on stage. Live-electronics and body
design, I hope such rough survey may lead to an alternative perspective towards the history
of Japanese electronic music.

8
Mikako Mizuno
Alternative Perspective towards Japanese History of Electronic Music – Live Electronics in Early vs Latest Days