We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

神楽

by Wandering Artist

supported by
QuasarHusky
QuasarHusky thumbnail
BarkBarklington
BarkBarklington thumbnail
Kamani
Kamani thumbnail
Little Spark
Little Spark thumbnail
laykeen
laykeen thumbnail
Glitchy Scripts
Glitchy Scripts thumbnail
Silver Comet
Silver Comet thumbnail
Leaf
Leaf thumbnail
Get Crazy With The Cheese Whiz
Get Crazy With The Cheese Whiz thumbnail
Rarity
Rarity thumbnail
Yijun Li
Yijun Li thumbnail
bagelsforlife
bagelsforlife thumbnail
DigitalMountain
DigitalMountain thumbnail
Owl99
Owl99 thumbnail
/

about

The creation of this piece was a very twisted one! The initial idea was to explore the theme of “kagura” (god entertainment) which is a traditional japanese ritual music (and dance) that is usually performed at shrines. I read about it and listened to a few example and I soon realized that this was impossible to achieve without live musicians and the right instruments, so I turned to another idea: J-Pop!

I tried to study most of the harmonic structures of J-Pop and finally came up with something that I could play and record, and that is the actual central section of the actual song. After that, I wanted to go back to the initial “kagura” idea and added an intro and outro to the song, trying to mimic my favorite japanese instrument: the shō. The very thick and high pitched harmonies that you hear at the beginning and the end of the piece are inspired by the traditional chords that shō players play.

I’m quite happy with the results, I still have a pretty J-Pop song in the middle sandwiched between two "traditional japanese" ambient sections: in someway it’s like old traditional japanese music meeting with modern pop japanese music, and I also got to follow the kagura ritual structure that goes like this:

00.00 1. 神おろし (invitation section)
02:02 2. 神あそび (entertainment part)
05:55 3. 神あが り (divinity departing from the world of men)

If you want to know more about the Kagura ritual this is one of the sources that I read from web.archive.org/web/20160314031151/http://www.centrostudiorientaliroma.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Introducing-Mikagura-%C3%95%C2%A5%C3%AD%C3%BE%C3%91%C3%97%C2%B5%C3%91%C2%A2-REVISIONE.pdf

credits

released May 7, 2021
artwork by twitter.com/TheOnlyDeeraw

license

tags

about

Wandering Artist image

Wandering Artist Italy

"All those who wander are lost, but that's not a bad thing"

profile pic by orchid

contact / help

Contact Wandering Artist

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Redeem code

Report this track or account

Wandering Artist recommends:

If you like Wandering Artist, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Saxophonist Isaiah Collier chats about his new LP and the influence of Pharoah Sanders.
listen now