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Me

1033104_2_2 — 2024-06-12 01:25:10 UTC

Porter Robinson

1033104_2_2 — 2024-06-12 01:25:16 UTC

Style, energy, genre (mixture of electronic and acoustic), use of synths to build sound

Porter Robinson usage of both electronic synths and acoustic instruments, specifically in which high amounts of varied synths, from loops, to Vocaloid’s and effects are paired together with softer instruments such as violin, guitar, piano, as well as louder instruments like drums, however done electronically, to create a loud, crashing, thrash like sound. This also helps create a nice form of balance, with the music often shifting from side to side, going to more synth/electronic based, to then instrument based, in order to elicit specific feelings. These types of effects are things that heavily influence my usage of synths and instruments, as I try to replicate in a similar manner this style.

Snail's House (Keitaro Ujiie)

1033104_2_2 — 2024-06-12 01:25:26 UTC

Groove, simplicity yet subtle complexity, mixture of type of sound, bass usage, fluidity

Keitaro’s consistent usage of bass, not only as an underlying instrument for the songs foundation, but as a driving presence that acts in place of drums, pushing the song forward and laying down the tempo, as well as adding a sense of power, oomph, and dance to the music is a key aspect of his music, and something that I actively try to employ in my own, as I enjoy everything this type of bass usage does to the music. Keitaro’s usage of both a simple song structure, with a clear usage of loops, but adding immense complexity through synths and instruments that alter during each loop version help the song evolve over time, and change into different genres at times, which creates a unique, and fun listening experience.

Japanese Media

1033104_2_2 — 2024-06-12 01:26:57 UTC

Japanese media has had a large impact on Porter Robinson, and in turn and reciprocation, Porter Robinson has had an impact on Japanese people and their consumption of EDM music. Robinson’s love of Japanese culture 'stemmed from Nintendo and Pokémon' (Walker, 2020 October 6), however it continued to grow from 'watching anime and listening to Japanese music', and as he began making music, Robinson noted that a clear inspiration for his tyle of usage of EDM in his music came from 'Japanese video game and anime soundtracks' (Jasmin 2021, February 12). From this, some of his songs began using factors present in the J-Pop, rock, and Kawaii music streams, which was then properly demonstrated in 'his virtual performance' (Walker, 2020 October 6) Secret Sky. The virtual performance held a lot of visual and audio components that demonstrated 'anime influences', such as the art style of some of the animations, and type of sounds being similar to that of sounds heard in the openings of an anime. The 'Japanese lyrics Robinson constructed' were done so intentionally 'to fit within his performance' as 'images of anime flickered on the wall behind Robinson'. Aside from this, Robinson has stated that particular Japanese artists, such as 'pianist Takagi Masakatsu' (Jasmin 2021, February 12).

Lyrics-Family

1033104_2_2 — 2024-06-12 01:27:03 UTC

Robinson has stated multiple times in live streams and interviews that his family is a big impact and influence for his music, especially for his lyrics. For example in an interview with Sose Fuamoli (2021, April 29) as part of the Triple M ABC music news segment, he states that ‘his younger brother’s cancer diagnosis and treatment’ impacted his work, as he found ‘watching his brother battle cancer’ gave him ‘inspiration and from there’ he was able to overcome ‘the roadblocks that stopped him’ from making music for a while, releasing Get Your Wish. A more explicit example comes from an interview with Jordan Darville from The Fader Interview, a musician podcast (2021) in which he states that his love of family affected the music, such as its tone,through his lyrics, which he details as nostalgia. 'I wish i could go home' (Darville, 2024) is one of the many 'lyrics on Nurture that talk about nostalgia', more specifically 'nostalgia being a bit of a problem' as 'you just can't, it's sad, but you can't really go home'. This sadness, longing to be home, in turn affects the tone of the music, with Nurture being an often soft, slow, and heavily driven by quite instruments and sharp sudden synths to create a form of harsh, but emotional sound, which contrasts his previous works to such an amount that Nurture is considered by many to 'feel almost like a debut album' (Darville, 2024) with it feeling 'so different to all' his other music before hand.

Dance Dance Revolution

1033104_2_2 — 2024-06-12 01:27:10 UTC

'When I was a little kid, DDR was my entire, reason for being.' (Porter, 2022, November 4) For Porter Robinson, Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) was an incredibly important part of his life, as it acted as the jump pad for his love and overall interest in music, with him stating that 'when I look back, it's so obvious the enormous influence it had on me.' He continues this by explaining that it was DDR that exposed him 'to the concept of rhythm, electronic music, to high intensity visuals' (Porter, 2022, November 4) and more, all of which are major aspects of Porter Robinson's music. Every song of his has a strong rhythm that is often more important that the melodies and synths, and acts as the driving force of the song, changing the song when it changes, forcing the song to go a certain direction based on its complexity, tone, style, etc. And since Robinson's whole music identity is the mixture of EDM variants and instruments like piano, for DDR to have been the first experience of electronic music, that has in turn held a major impact on Robinson, as without it a core aspect of his knowledge and personal experience with his own music would not have existed

Joe Pass

1033104_2_2 — 2024-06-12 01:27:22 UTC

Keitaro Ujiie said in an interview with Patrick St. Michel (2019 April 03) that 'one of his biggest influences' was that of 'jazz guitarist Joe Pass' who he had been listening too 'before I was even a one-year-old.' He stated that for him 'it was almost like a lullaby' as his 'mom played it before I slept.' This influence can be seen is Keitaro Ujiie's replication of high speed rhythms that are simple, but also clean and full, something that Joe Pass was known for (LLett, 2024), as well as having seemingly 'a lot of notes' at the same time being played, however always playing 'what was right in any given moment', (LLett, 2024) just as Joe Pass was known for doing

Hiromi Uehara

1033104_2_2 — 2024-06-12 01:27:31 UTC

Hiromi Uehara, a Japanese jazz artist is who 'helped inspire Ujiie to make his own songs' (Michel, 2019). 'One day I was listening to Hiromi's music and it got me so inspired to make music and play it myself' is what Keitaro Ujiie said in an interview with a representative from FL Studio (2023 December 29), a form of DAW Ujiie primarily utilises. From this spurn of inspiration Ujiie stated that he 'started playing piano' (FL Studio, 2023). 'Hiromi Uehara's Return of The Kung-Fu World Champion' (Michel 2019) was the song the inspired Ujiie, saying that 'until then, I hadn't heard anything very acid-y in music' and so when it he 'was surprised to hear her doing that in jazz'. This acid-y sound is an often staple in Snail House tracks, even in songs with an extremely soft tone and rhythm, being more linked to Japanese Kawaii music, it is still present, often as a contrast factor giving the song more depth and tone.

Jazz and Funk

1033104_2_2 — 2024-06-12 01:27:42 UTC

A key aspect of Keitaro Ujiie's music is that of a constant beat and rhythm, driven often by a deep bass or a bass ran through some synths. This comes from his consumption of Jazz and Funk music, as his 'dad had so many CD's and records' (Michel, 2019), many of which were from Jazz and Funk artists, which he notes that 'he listened to a lot'. However for Ujiie, his inspiration is not that of the genres as a whole Both of these genres hold a large focus on the usage of bass, with the bass often being powerful, load, and present, but also not heavily overcomplicated, and instead playing a groove that both works with other melodies, but also operates on its own. For Ujiie, these types of bass is nearly always highly present, as for him his inspiration is not that of a genre as a whole, but instead being 'more inspired by sound design'. In turn, with Jazz and Funk bass sound design, 'the groove...the bass sound', is replicated in his music, being quite loud, powerful, and constant throughout nearly all of his music, which contrasts often the softer melodies or sharp acid-y synths, which are themselves inspired by other genre's, like Kawaii and Japanese Dance.