DESCRIPTION:
Artist: Satoshi Takeishi
Release name: Dew Drops
Release date: May 20, 2016
Compositions and performance: Satoshi Takeishi
Instrumentation: Broken Autoharp with contact mic, Kanjira, Slit Drum, Shells and Bells, Waterphone, Computer and iPad, Handheld Cassette recorder/player. Additional instruments (Glockenspiel, African Marimba) were used for “Quattuor Elementa”
Recording and mix: ORC in New York City, November 2015 - January 2016
Mastering: Lars Graugaard
Artwork: Satoshi Takeishi

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“Dew Drops is the first of my three-parts solo electronics works.
It was developed as a live percussion and electronics performance piece in Nov, 2015. The recordings from the actual performance and sound check run-­through were edited together to finalize the first three tracks of this release. I am very much fascinated by real time electronic processing of acoustic sounds. The fact that something simple and small, like a single tap on a bell can be turned into a dense and intricate texture excites me with creative inspirations. I wanted to build a structured improvisation with this idea of elemental process behind it. In preparation, I limited myself to only use one or two acoustic instruments per section to focus and challenge myself to build/shape the entire form from a single (or two) source of sound. I also set up the electronics to have elements of surprise (randomized parameters & audio routing, e.g.) so that I can react to unexpected events just like in a improvisation with another performer.
The fourth track “Quattuor Elementa” is made up from four short, prototype pieces I made prior to the live performance piece. I put them together as “four elements that shaped the final piece”.” - Satoshi Takeishi

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“Connection beyond genre and contrasting elements, in quest for the essence” is what Japanese-born musician/improviser Satoshi Takeishi strives for in his performances, whether behind a drum set, a hybrid percussion set or computer-based electronics.
This has over the years lead Satoshi to perform with musicians such as Ray Barretto, Carlos ‘Patato’ Valdes, Eliane Elias, Marc Johnson, Eddie Gomez, Randy Brecker, Dave Liebman, Anthony Braxton, Mark Murphy, Herbie Mann, Paul Winter Consort, Rabih Abu Khalil, Erik Friedlander, Ned Rothenberg, Michael Attias, Shoko Nagai, Paul Giger, Toshiko Akiyoshi Big Band, Ying String Quartet, Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra, Dhafer Youssef, Lalo Schifrin and Pablo Ziegler to name a few.
Satoshi Takeishi’s interest and approach in the use of electronics is strongly influenced by the early electronic musical style, Musique Concrete (taped music), an integration of electronics and acoustic sounds which differs from more “pure” electronic music. By using both pre-recorded and real time sampled sounds as building blocks and manipulating them in computer-based tools to construct his improvisations and compositions, Satoshi finds his process connecting back to his main intention as a performer. The tools he chooses in this process are only a means of fulfilling his intent.