art by https://twitter.com/TheOnlyDeeraw
download the song here https://wanderingartist.bandcamp.com/track/-
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 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: somehow  it’s like old traditional japanese music meeting with modern pop japanese music. 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)

The drawing that Deeraw made is also inspired by japanese tradition, in fact it’s similar to the traditional ukiyo-e technique and I think the speedpaint video matches perfectly with the music!

I hope you like it!