Ryoou Ranjo is a unique piece of music created by gagaku composer Taro Ishida. The world’s first innovative sound that combines gagaku and classical music, presented by the Emmy Award-nominated “SHOGUN” general arranger!
Drifter Co., Ltd. Press release: October 2, 2024 “Ryoou Ranjo | Ranjo” is a unique piece of music created by gagaku composer Taro Ishida. The world’s first innovative sound that combines gagaku and classical music, presented by the Emmy
Award-nominated “SHOGUN” general arranger! Ryoou Ranjo | Ranjo, a new contemporary gagaku piece by composer Taro Ishida, will be released on November 1st. This is a magnificent piece of music that combines gagaku and Western instruments, and is the first work by Mr. Ishida, who served as general arranger for SHOGUN.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/92027/5/92027-5-9d5a1ac5a7a1e89497fb042e0c3da64d-1707×960.jpg
https://artists.landr.com/055855754134 Composer Taro Ishida, who incorporates gagaku into contemporary music, arranges the classical gagaku “Ryoo Ranjo” using an innovative instrumentation that combines gagaku instruments with strings, synthesizers, and piano. By combining the 430Hz pitch of gagaku music (which is said to sound close to the sounds of nature) with Western instruments (usually classical music has a pitch of 440Hz), a profound, majestic, dynamic, and dramatic song was born. It has been about 10 years since Ishida began composing music that incorporates gagaku. This is the first work of [New Interpretation of Gagaku] [Ishida-style Contemporary Gagaku], which was born from my experience of participating as a general music arranger in the Hollywood drama “SHOGUN”, which achieved the most nominations and awards at the Emmy Awards 2024. It will be a work of art.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/92027/5/92027-5-13fb8ab5bb9d7ec990da008ef5cfcaf2-1707×960.jpg ◆“Ryoou Ranjo | Ranjo Document Movie” “A movie depicting the production of ‘Ryoou Ranjo | Ranjo’ will be released to the public on October 9th. ▶︎ Watch the limited release video here
https://youtu.be/h9hXT-AeUjU
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/92027/5/92027-5-0256405c29dc924f5eb2476853ae302f-1707×960.jpg
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/92027/5/92027-5-8d93511709aa46259e5dc24b6127cdb5-1707×960.jpg
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/92027/5/92027-5-fe42072afedc5936c3945e67812bf68a-1707×960.jpg ◆What is the original song “Ryoou Ranjo” The classical gagaku “Ryoou Ranjo” is a part of the “Ryoou” (total performance approximately 40 minutes), which is a Togaku style of foreign music. It is said to have been created based on the story of a man named Changgong, King of Lanling in the Northern Qi Dynasty, who went into battle wearing a mask to hide his beauty. The longest part of “Ryoou Ranjo” is about 11 minutes long. This is the “derute” part of the dance when the dancer ascends the stage. The endless beats of the drums, taiko drums, and gong drums (percussion instruments), the slow swaying groove unique to gagaku that drifts throughout, and the sudden sound of the ryuteki flute overlap like echoes, creating a majestic, fantastic, and profound world. Masu. ◆New song “Ryoou Ranjo | Ranjo” – Two challenges – The new song was born out of two major challenges. [Challenge 1]: Adding Western instruments and strings to Gagaku [Challenge 2]: Adjust strings to gagaku pitch 430Hz [Challenge 1]: The original song “Ryoou Ranjo” begins with only percussion instruments, the dance begins, and multiple ryuteki flutes begin to sound in time with the dance. Four beats later, the second ryuteki group joins the performance, followed by the third ryuteki group four beats later, in what is known as a canon format. This is the only “Ranjo” in classical gagaku. Ishida felt the sound of the drums and flutes overlapping as if they were marching toward the battlefield. I thought that by adding strings I could express “human emotions,” so I introduced violin, cello, and viola. I asked the players to play with a sense of fighting, as if they were colliding with gagaku. Then, the strings added contours to the fog-like, wind-like sound of gagaku music, creating a dramatic sound reminiscent of movie music. [Challenge 2]: Western music, modern music pitch 440Hz. Gagaku is very different from 430Hz. In the past, there have been collaborations between gagaku, Western music, and classical music, but it was common for gagaku to match Western music. We had a string player tune the song to 430Hz. As a result, the Western instruments take on a life-like sound similar to that of gagaku instruments, leaving behind a faint aftertaste in the sound. I think you’ll get a feeling you’ve never had before when playing a Western instrument. In addition, Hichiriki and Sho, which are the only Japanese instruments that play chords, are added, which are not in the original song, giving the whole thing a divine light, and the piano and synthesizer give it a modern, inorganic feel. A mix of essences. While preserving the precious world value of the original song, it is a song that could only have been created by Ishida in the modern era.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/92027/5/92027-5-e3250faa361d5cf8ec6a1bf72b84e24a-1707×960.jpg ◆Theme “activation, manifestation” – Opening up possibilities as soundtrack and game music – Ishida combined the image of “advancing, advancing” in “Ryoou Ranjo” with “the beginning of a new era of gagaku.” Gagaku, traditional Japanese music, faces many challenges, including a lack of successors and financial difficulties. Ishida believes that in order to preserve Japan’s traditional music, including gagaku, which has a history of more than a thousand years, into the future, he will use gagaku in the soundtracks of movies, dramas, games, and other videos, and create gagaku that will naturally remain in the ears of modern people. I have always wanted to create an opportunity for people to become interested in. In 2023, he started the “Silence” project with the theme of fusion of gagaku and classical music. Created an experimental piece in which Western instruments are tuned to the 430Hz of gagaku music. And in 2024, a collaboration of epic and gagaku music that will give you a sense of the huge scale of Atticus Ross and other American composers in the Sengoku period spectacle drama “SHOGUN” produced in Hollywood. From these two great experiences, I was confident in the power of 430Hz pitch and the power of the sound that is amplified through layered fusion with
contemporary music, and went to create a new gagaku. He listened to “Ryoou Ranjo” performed hundreds of times by the gagaku group “Reigakusha” and spent several months interpreting the song before composing it. However, I was not satisfied, so I went back to the drawing board and continued for another month. It took more than two months to record and arrange. The song, which was completed with a huge amount of time, effort, and cooperation from the performers, has a sound that has a somewhat otherworldly feel to it, but at the same time conveys the feeling of human drama. “By adding strings to gagaku music, which emits a sound that seems to hang over the space, like a fog that doesn’t point the vector toward anyone, the vector points toward people’s hearts,” says Ishida. “Ryoou Ranjo | Ranjo” became a work that opened up possibilities as a soundtrack for gagaku. And this is the first part. In the future, we will be producing new songs and albums, and we are also planning concerts at Nasunogahara Harmony Hall on January 12, 2025 and Waseda Scott Hall on March 9, 2025. Yes, “Ryoou Ranjo | Ranjo” is the beginning song.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/92027/5/92027-5-4cfee2267f4f3d536a7cf04509f7f96e-1707×960.jpg
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/92027/5/92027-5-24ca8868246b21833b7d283601660758-1707×960.jpg ◆From Taro Ishida “‘Ryoou Ranjo | Ranjo’ is a song that marks the beginning of activities that will connect gagaku to the future. There are several examples of classical music and gagaku being performed in contemporary music genres. I wanted to create a song with the aim of creating more opportunities for people to listen to it.I think it’s an unprecedented challenge. When children watch movies, dramas, or play games that use this song, they become curious about the soundtrack, and before they know it, some child will be playing the ryutete. I would be happy if such a phenomenon could occur. With this work, I’ve learned a lot about the mysterious charm of gagaku, and I’m excited. I would like to continue creating songs that will allow more people to feel this excitement and emotion. First of all, I would be happy if you could experience a new side of gagaku with “Ryoou Ranjo | Ranjo.” ◆Taro Ishida [Profile]
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/92027/5/92027-5-3604559f86d4675ee11284cbb0fde73d-1801×2700.jpg Taro Ishida Born in Boston, USA in 1979. Composer, music producer, art director. After majoring in Japanese and Chinese literature at Sophia University, he studied music on his own and entered the Faculty of Music at Tokyo University of the Arts. Learn composition, music theory, electronic music, and gain a wide range of musical knowledge. He has been active as a composer since he was a student. In addition to providing music for movies, commercials, games, planetariums, etc., he also works on a wide variety of projects, including music supervision for art museums. Lives in Nasu Town, Tochigi Prefecture. [Main projects] Created music for exhibitions at Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art, etc. He is the music director for the projection mapping project “Haruka” (2017) for the Fukushima reconstruction project sponsored by NHK, and “Michinoku Matsuri-ya” (2021.22) at Hoshino Resorts Aomoriya. Worked as a general music arranger for the US hit drama “SHOGUN” (2024). [Relationship with gagaku] In 2014, he composed a new gagaku piece, “Hone Uta,” as the venue music for the “Horyuji Kondo Mural Exhibition” at the Tokyo University of the Arts Chinretsukan. 2021 Gagaku project “Don Burako” starts. 2022 New gagaku album “Kemono” completed. 2023: Start of the “Silence” project with the theme of fusion of gagaku and Western music. In 2024, he worked as a general music arranger for the Disney Plus drama “SHOGUN”. Scheduled to release 2nd single in December 2025 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/taro_ishida_/ Website
https://drftr.co.jp/ [For inquiries regarding interviews, please see below] Drifter Co., Ltd., CEO Yuki Mashiko Phone: 090-9314-7362 Email address mail@drftr.co.jp ㏋： https://drftr.co.jp/