Tomoyoshi Date - 438Hz As It Is, As You Are [あるがまま、あなたのままに] (Laaps)

What Your Ears Say & The Cover Looks Like

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What We Say

If you need an antidote to the bustle of pre-Christmas over consumption preparations then open the door to the minimal piano & abstract ambient world of this beautiful, rare, new Tomoyoshi Date recording for Laaps, which has been sonically sculpted for vinyl nerds to play at different speeds depending on their mood. Non viny tinkerers can always try this by adjusting the playback speed settings on Youtube (TIP!).

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What The Release Notes Say

Since 2008, "438Hz As It Is, As You Are" is "only" the third solo release from Tomoyoshi Date. The last one dates from 2011. Less is more.

In parallel, from 2013 to 2021, he has recorded some releases in collaborations with Toshimaru Nakamura, Ken Ikeda, Stijn Hüwels, Asuna and Federico Durand.

"This record was recorded on Diapason's upright piano made in the 1950s at the house of his maternal grandmother's sister (*). The piano has moved and tuned many times, and now it has arrived at my living room. It was a pre-mass production piano with a thick board and good sound, but I couldn't tune it without replacing the screws and the weakened base. After consulting with the tuner, I decided to tune the whole tune to the sound of the strings wound around the loosest and most inseparable screws. "As it is"

* Mikiko Yamada: A performer who formed a Japanese music group of contemporary Japanese music in 1964 and made Biwa the first five-line score. She also had a samisen, so I called her "Aunt Pen Pen". Her husband was a shakuhachi player, so she was "Uncle Boo Boo".
When I tuned in the summer, I tried to tune at 442kHz, but I changed the tune in the winter to 438kHz. From now on, the pitch of this piano will decrease year by year as the material ages. I will play the decaying piano and continue to record music that can only be done at that time.

When you drop a needle on a record, a sound is produced on the spot, and the sound constantly changes depending on the air, temperature, and humidity around the needle. The sound also affects all of the listener's life, affecting the frequency of the person's body and mind. The effect of the sound once generated will last forever.

This work was created with the intention of having the listener adjust the pitch at the desired speed according to the mood and frequency of the listener at that time. With a little faster 45 turns, you can listen to this dilapidated piano at 440kHz or 442kHz. You can slow it down, or adjust the number of rotations as you like, whether it is 33 rotations early or late. I really like the stretched sound of the recorded piano. When you want to relax, use slow music to adjust the pitch of the space around you, the creatures, and your own body and mind. "As You Are"

Tomoyoshi Date

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このレコードは、母方の祖母の姉（＊）の家にあった1950年代につくられたDiapasonのアップライト·ピアノで録音されました。そのピアノは、何度も引越しと調律を経て、今は我が家のリビングにたどり着きました。大量生産前のピアノで板も厚く、音の響きが良いのですが、ネジや衰えてきた基盤を交換しなければ、調律ができなくなってしまいました。そこで調律師さんと相談した結果、一番緩んでいるしめることのできないネジに巻かれている弦の音に、全体の調律を合わせていくことにしました。「As it is（それがあるがままに）」

＊山田美喜子：1964年に現代邦楽の日本音楽集団を結成し、琵琶を初めて五線譜にした演奏者。三味線もひいていたので僕は「ペンペンおばちゃん」と呼んでいました。旦那さんは尺八の奏者なので「ブーブーおじちゃん」でした。

　夏に調律した際には、少し無理をして442kHzで調律をしたのですが、冬の調律は438kHzにしました。これからこのピアノは、物質の老朽化と共に、年々ピッチが下がっていきます。僕は朽ちていくピアノを弾いて、その時だけにしかできない音楽を、録音し続けていこうと思っています。

　レコードに針を落としたその時、その場で音が生まれ、その針の周りの空気や温度·湿度によって音は常に変化します。その音はさらに、聞く人の生活のすべてに影響を与え、その人の身体と精神の周波数に影響を与えます。一度発生した音の影響は永遠に残るものです。

　この作品は、聴く人のその時の気分や周波数に合わせて、好きな速度でピッチを調整してもらうことを念頭に作成されました。45回転を少し早くすれば、あなたはこの老朽化したピアノを440kHzでも、442kHzでも聴けます。遅くしても良いし、33回転の早めでも、遅めでも、あなたの好きなように回転数を調整してください。僕は録音したピアノの音が引き伸ばされた音がとても好きです。ゆっくりしたいときはゆっくりとした音楽で、あなたの周りの空間や生きものたち、あなた自身の身体と精神のピッチを調整してみてください。「As You Are（あなたのままに）」

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credits

All music composed by Tomoyoshi Date.
Recorded at Studio Familia.
Field recordings recorded in Izu, Shizuoka, Japan.

Mastered by Taylor Deupree (12K)
Artwork by Jürgen Heckel
Design by Sprflxgrfzm

"Special thanks to my family, friends and nature."

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If You need more piano & modern compositions in your headphones then check out the Slow Neoclassical Playlist