COMPOSE AND ARRANGE / REO NAGUMO
At the age of twenty-two, I had never been to London, but I was deeply into UK soul and Acid Jazz.
My chords and harmonies were clumsy and unrefined, and even though I arranged the tracks on a Mac using MIDI, the synthesizers of the time couldn’t fully realize what I had in mind.

About thirty years ago, around 1995, I managed to restore and bring back to life a set of MIDI data I had created.Had it only existed on floppy disks, it would have long vanished into the ashes of an incinerator.

Now, after reconstructing the original piece as best I could, I was finally able to complete it by adding vocals through SUNO-Ai.


いまから約30年前、1995年ごろに作ったMIDIデータを復元し、再現することができた。
当時はCD-ROMがまだ高価で、なんとかMacintoshからバックアップを取っていた。
もしフロッピーディスクにしか残していなかったら、きっと焼却炉の灰と消えていただろう。だから、涙が出るほど嬉しかった。今の私は、この当時のMIDIデータのように、細かくすべてのパートをアレンジする気力はないし、無情なのは、当時の楽器では再現が難しく、電子音でしかなかった。

当時22歳の私はロンドンに行ったこともなかったが、UKソウルやAcid Jazzを夢中で聴いていた。和音やコード進行は未熟で拙かったし、MacのMIDIデータでアレンジを試みても、当時のシンセサイザーでは表現しきれなかった。

それでも、原曲の雰囲気をできる限り再現し、いまはAIを活用して、パートの差し替え、歌を重ねて形にすることができた。ノイズや曲がおかしくなるので、バンドで近いうちに本物の人間でやりたい
英語の曲に憧れていた私は、その後ゲーム会社で音楽を作る仕事に就き、こうしたスタイルの楽曲に挑戦する機会にも恵まれた。

HONEE B.

I am compiling the songs I have created as an artist since my younger days. 
I have retired from work,
and now I spend each day embraced by the light and breeze of the tropics.
Far from the noise of the city, I wake to the scent of the sea and the songs of birds.
Time flows gently here, as if the past and present versions of myself are quietly in conversation.

My main focus is on composing and arranging. 
I began my career as a game sound creator in the early days of the internet, credited under the name djnagureo.
I was also involved in planning games and apps, and even managed to successfully run a facility for children.
Those experiences earned me recognition from many people, and I am deeply grateful for them.

Now, as an artist, I want to create the music I truly desire.
To begin this journey, I started by recreating the kind of music I longed to make in my younger days.

I knew that in order to create the music I truly wanted—freely, without compromise, and untouched by outside influence—I had to achieve complete financial independence.
It took decades of persistence, and now, at 52, I have finally reached that point.
At last, I can devote myself entirely to making music for myself alone, without reliance on anyone.

Throughout my career, I have always delivered professionally in every project.
But to say I was creating 100% for myself would be a lie.
Now, however, I stand determined: every note I write belongs solely to me.

The works I have produced JPOP professionally have been released under a different name.

Please search for Nozomi Yoko.

New tracks tagged #talkingloud