Results

It seems safe to say that to accomplish a given task, to produce a desired result, a certain route is taken to get there.  Because of our personalities and experiences, we may have variations on this route, but the understanding of achieving something is usually quite similar.  There are sometimes, though, when it just isn’t necessary to take the usual route.  We certainly could, and oftentimes we argue to do just that, but it is not really necessary.

Such is the case with Soba to Bara, a recording by Ami Yoshida and Toshimaru Nakamura.  For this, an improvised record of voice and electronics, the mere mention of the word improvised might imply a live action; two people creating sound in real time, the success of the work based on how well they listen to each other, the reaction to what each other does to create new reactions, directions, etc. But this was not the case for this recording. Both Yoshida and Nakamura improvised, but independently from each other, and from what I understand, the recordings were then placed directly over each other, without editing, composing, etc.  One might expect the results of this to be disastrous, and in many hands, it likely would be.

Surprisingly, the conjunction here is not at all disastrous.  In fact, it surpasses, somehow, much improvised work done in-person, where all the aforementioned sonic and physical transactions take place, generally informing a greater whole.  This fact alone was baffling to me on first listen.  Upon further listening, I began to really consider how the process (or lack of) enhanced the general definition of improvisation – the usual route.  This was enlightening, to say the least, and made me think very critically about improvisation and what it means; something I haven’t considered for quite awhile. In some ways, I began moving away from it due to the risk involved.  Essentially, over time, I had somehow forgotten that improvisation is not a route at all, but much more.

When we pursue any kind of positive result, it’s important to reconsider what routes will provide them, whether or not we should take any of them, and how we can accomplish things without creating our own barriers.  Like this recording, the possibilities can often be surprising.