Sample Japanese sounds and multitracks from Musilogue

All music on Musilogue is driven by collaboration. Nozaki’s vision is to bring together musicians who might have not worked together otherwise. For The Rain of Secret Color (with the walrus-depicting cover), for example, Saburo Tanooka (accordeon), Kohsetsu (koto) & Hiromu Takahashi (saxophone) didn’t even meet each other yet before working on the album.

Next to that, there’s a self-titled release by nine-piece outfit Hizuru on Tracklib. “Hizuru uses three traditional Japanese musical instruments: koto, shakuhachi, and shamisen,” explains Ryota Nozaki. “It may seem odd, but these traditional instruments are not very common to Japanese people and are not common instruments in every home, like pianos and guitars are. I formed Hizuru because I wanted to make new music using such traditional instruments. Above all, I love the sounds of these traditional instruments. I hope producers on Tracklib do, too, and use the sounds to create new music.”

All of those sounds find a sweet spot balancing between old Japanese traditions and new sounds, ranging from post-classical works to experimental fusion. That’s also where sampling fits in perfectly, to Nozaki: “For me, sampling is one of the most important methods in music production. It brings sound effects and ‘accidental sounds’ which I could have never imagined myself.” Which is exactly what Musilogue’s Hizuru and The Rain of Secret Color add to Tracklib’s catalog.