Tatsuya Takahashi – Background
A refreshing lecture in which Tatsuya documents his progress from an amateur teenage engineer in suburban North-West London to working in Japan for the renowned electronics company Korg. He has been involved in designing and creating the Korg Monotron (the first analogue synth Korg released since the 1980s), Monotribe, Volcas, Ms20, a reimagined Arp Oddyssey and the Microkorg to name a few.
After working with Aphex twin on the Korg monologue, he discovered a more intuitive way of designing and engineering hardware by collaborating with other musicians during the process. Where Korg as a company would have typically made decisions internally without much input from actual users, the Korg Minilogue’s creation was informed by Aphex twin, giving it many interesting features otherwise not seen in previous models, such as micro-tuning with preset scales, an ‘OLED oscilloscope for visualising sounds, filter, modulation, drive’ and ‘LFO controls capable of generating powerful basses and sharp leads, among others.’ An enlightening process that lead Tatsuya to leave the company and Tokyo shortly thereafter to seek out more interesting ventures with more of a collaborative grounding.
After securing another job at Yadastar – the brand agency for Red Bull – he was commissioned to work with the renowned sound artists Ryoji Ikeda on his sound installation ‘A [For 100 Cars]’.
Ryoji Ikeda – A [For 100 Cars]
In the form of a unique site-specific project, 100 cars were gathered in Los Angeles in order to explore the phenomena of standardised sound. Each driver was given a special device that generates various sine waves, known as the ‘fundamental building blocks of sound,’ all tuned to the historical concert pitch of ‘A’ at slightly differing frequencies. The fascinating thing about this is the oscillation that occurs when slightly different sine waves of the same pitch are played together, creating complex textures and resonances. Ikeda designated each driver with a simple musical score to follow. 100 cars. 100 unique sound-systems – 100 custom built synthesisers – 100 different tunings of the note A – all amassing to the worlds largest orchestra of superimposing sine waves, creating on ocean of sound from individually colourless tones. A study, I feel, into the complex interactions that can arise between innately simple sources.
As with most projects there were obstacles to overcome. People typically tend to customise and tune their car’s sound-systems by cranking the highs and boosting the lows. The frequencies being emitted were all around 440hz and without much happening in the mid-range frequencies of these sound-systems Tatsuya and Ryoji had to push the sound to get the required levels they needed. The sine wave synthesisers had a calibration mode fitted that enabled Tatsuya to measure the sound pressure level of each car throughout the frequency spectrum, allowing him to correct it. This was done 400 times. Tatsuya had numbered each car according to what their audio specs were on a spreadsheet and they were placed in a specific way on a grid in order for the performance to work. The sheer mass of cars however provided difficulties in navigating this, even with the help of hired valets. The opportunity to hear Tatsuya speak on these difficulties gave me an insight into the unapparent pitfalls during any projects conception, and a deeper appreciation of installations in general.
Tatsuya briefly touched upon the self destructive nature of working on such an installation, as the devices made for it were only ever intended to be used once. A stark contrast from the mass production of hardware he was so used to when working for Korg. I find this outlook interesting as it perhaps can make the creative process more meaningful. Could it perhaps alter the way in which one approaches a task? As there is only one opportunity to get it right. A mindset that could be beneficial in my approach to some of my personal work. There is a beauty to this way of working, but also quite wasteful perhaps as I am yet to find in my research that these sine wave synthesisers have been reutilised in some shape of form instead of becoming obsolete forms of technology.
Another interesting thing to consider is the fact that this installation was only made possible by the funding of a very big marketing campaign for the drinks brand Red Bull. It made me ponder on whether corporate involvement in the creative sphere is inherently bad or not. Does the facilitation of creativity by corporate companies, that can bring important issues to light, cancel out their unethical or unsustainable practices? A rhetorical question on integrity and art. How much is one willing to sacrifice to showcase their work?
Tatsuya Takahashi and life after Yadastar
After being cut loose by Yadastar he was immediately rehired by Korg to build and help run a headquarters for the company in Germany. Hindered by the 2020 pandemic they have only recently started fabricating and designing prototypes for upcoming synths and other kinds of hardware and he claims that by the end of next year they will be mass producing products. Despite being back at the company he started working for, it seems that Tatsuya has learnt a great deal from his hiatus from the company. He stated in the visiting practitioner lecture that he intends to be very strict on the instruments he puts out from his branch of the company. ‘Not creating and releasing products because it is required of them, but because the world needs it.’ An abstract statement but a revitalising ethos nevertheless.
References
“How We Built 100 Sine Wave Synthesizers with Ryoji Ikeda.” Daily.redbullmusicacademy.com, daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2017/10/ikeda-tech-feature. Accessed 18 May 2021.
“Korg’s New Monologue Synth Includes Presets Made by Aphex Twin.” Fact Magazine, 1 Nov. 2016, www.factmag.com/2016/11/01/korg-monologue-analog-synth-aphex-twin-presets/. Accessed 18 May 2021.
“Ryoji Ikeda | A.” Www.ryojiikeda.com, www.ryojiikeda.com/project/A/. Accessed 18 May 2021.