“SHOGUN” soundtrack nominated for the world’s highest Grammy Award! ! Taro Ishida’s “Gagaku” made a big contribution!
Drifter Co., Ltd. Press release: November 12, 2024 “SHOGUN” soundtrack nominated for the world’s highest Grammy Award! ! Taro Ishida’s “Gagaku” made a big contribution! Japanese traditional music roars around the world – the innovative music of “SHOGUN” taken on by gagaku composer Taro Ishida
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https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/92027/6/92027-6-6883e615e0ebaf25f51347a371e3081c-2000×1333.jpg SHOGUN recording scene: Recording while having remote meetings with composers in LA
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/92027/6/92027-6-323ca75c3654aa0a87dc1c49783bac4d-2000×1334.jpg SHOGUN recording scene: Shakuhachi player Suzutaka Kuroda and Taro Ishida chatting with LA composers
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/92027/6/92027-6-69d622c098e50f0b9358d64da73df4d1-2000×1333.jpg SHOGUN recording scene: Shamisen player, recording engineer and microphone settings, creating sound The Grammy Awards honor and recognize creators in the music industry for their outstanding work at the music world’s highest festival. This prestigious music award, along with the Academy Awards (movies), Emmy Awards (television), and Tony Awards (stage), attracts the attention of music industry professionals and music fans from all over the world. The nominations for the 67th Grammy Awards Ceremony (R) to be held in February 2025 have been announced. The music for the drama “SHOGUN,” produced by Disney Plus, which has been nominated for the most Emmy Awards and won the most awards in history, has been nominated for “Best Video Score/Soundtrack.” The soundtrack for this film was composed by three world-renowned musicians: Academy Award-winning Atticus Ross, Leopold Ross, and Nick Tuba. In response to the passionate desire to utilize traditional Japanese music in the songs in the film, Taro Ishida, a gagaku composer and music producer, served as the general music arranger. Along with the drama, the soundtrack received high praise. It was nominated for two Emmy Awards: Best Theme Song and Best Composition. This is the first time in history that a film or song that effectively uses gagaku and traditional Japanese musical instruments has been nominated, and it has just received a great response both domestically and internationally. ◆Nomination at the same time as Ryuichi Sakamoto Ryuichi Sakamoto, who passed away last year, has been nominated for “Best New Age/Ambient/Chant Album” for his first and last full-length concert film, “Opus.” Ishida, who was still unknown, listened to his first gagaku composition, “Kotsuka”. Ryuichi Sakamoto was the first person to warmly say, “It’s okay, keep playing gagaku.” Ishida said with emotion, “It’s been 10 years since then. I can’t help but feel it’s fate that we were nominated for the Grammy Award at the same time.” ◆What is “SHOGUN” All 10 episodes were distributed worldwide from February to April 2024, and became an amazing hit. This is a TV drama series set during the Sengoku period in Japan. The film is starring and produced by actor Hiroyuki Sanada, and Japanese experts worked with a local production team to research the culture of the samurai during the Sengoku period, paying careful attention to details such as costumes, props, and behavior. I did. The first two episodes received a huge response with 9 million views within 6 days of distribution. At the 76th Emmy Awards (R), he swept the major categories including Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Actress, winning 18 categories, the most in Emmy Awards history. The number of Japanese recipients of the award has also reached nine, making this a historic feat. ◆Reality created by gagaku. Selection of general music arranger Ishida The pursuit of reality also applies to the soundtrack. After reading the script, three world-famous musicians including Atticus Ross researched Japanese music, saying, “We want to incorporate real Japanese instruments and express the world of SHOGUN through music” in the epic they create. We learned about Ishida, who was working on songs that incorporate gagaku, and approached him about cooperation through Instagram. Ishida joined as the general arranger and was responsible for arranging traditional music, transcribing, managing Japanese instrument players, and recording based on the sketches of the three members. I’ve been communicating remotely with Atticus and others in Los Angeles for about two years. A fusion of dynamic epic music, gagaku instruments such as the shō and hichiriki, and Japanese instruments such as the shakuhachi, kokyu, conch shell, and shamisen. The majestic, delicate, and mysterious world of “SHOGUN” is beautifully expressed. For example, I receive an email from Atticus and his friends along with a sketch of music with a strong beat feel, and a request to add Japanese elements to it. Ishida proposed a “shomyo,” a recitation of Buddhist sutras, and actually recorded and edited it at a temple in Japan. The sound source of the statement was very well received by the composer team, and as a result, they were able to fuse traditional Japanese sounds with modern beats. The sound source of the statement was used in various scenes as well as the theme song of “SHOGUN”. It would be no exaggeration to say that the Japanese-American fusion of music added depth, presence, and intoxication. ◆Gagaku to the world – new sounds created by Taro Ishida The soundtrack for this work “SHOGUN” is an opportunity to spread the potential and quality of Japanese traditional music, including gagaku, all over the world, and it can be said to be an innovative work that overturns conventional wisdom in the music industry. Through the fusion of Gagaku and Western music, Japan’s unique tones are creating new value in contemporary video works, and are also shedding light on the future of traditional music. With this Grammy nomination, it is hoped that traditional Japanese music will be reevaluated by people around the world, and its appeal will further expand. ◆Taro Ishida
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/92027/6/92027-6-a4cf0a4e9dbab4b2d212ee2e674b5856-1707×960.jpg Taro Ishida [Profile] 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. In 2023, the “Silence” project will be launched with the theme of fusion of gagaku and Western music. November 1, 2024: New gagaku song “Ryoou Ranjo | Ranjo” released. A new gagaku song (second single) is scheduled to be released in December 2024. Tochigi performance will be held on January 12, 2025. March 2025 Tokyo performance will be held. [Comment from Taro Ishida] When I saw the final version of the film, which combined the video and soundtrack, I was impressed by the way gagaku music was sprinkled throughout various scenes, bringing out elements that were not depicted in the dialogue, contributing to the multilayered feel of the work. . Every time Atticus and others, who are at the forefront of the world, listen to recordings of gagaku and Japanese instruments, they respond with “magical!” and “amazing!” which makes me very happy and gives me confidence. I believe that the soundtrack of “SHOGUN” has proven that the quality and potential of Japanese traditional music, including gagaku, is something we can be proud of to the world. Currently, interest in traditional music in Japan is not necessarily high, and it faces many challenges such as a lack of successors and a lack of funding. I hope that the response this time will serve as an opportunity to reaffirm its greatness and encourage positive efforts toward the future of traditional music. I myself am currently working on the world’s first gagaku project, which aims to fuse Western music and gagaku. We aim to explore the potential of the songs we are currently producing as soundtracks for movies, games, anime, etc. I would be happy if the younger generation could become familiar with gagaku and traditional Japanese music in a natural way through videos and games, and help pass on Japanese culture. Finally, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all the top performers of Japanese traditional music, everyone involved, and Atticus Ross and others who found me and Gagaku in the vast ocean of information. Taro Ishida Instagram Taro Ishida Youtube Drifter Co., Ltd. website [For inquiries regarding interviews, please see below] Drifter Co., Ltd. CEO Yuki Mashiko Phone: 090-9314-7362 Email address mail@drftr.co.jp Website https://drftr.co.jp/
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/92027/6/92027-6-b0e3bebf08d1a3f1db73a416fe8ec702-2000×1333.jpg Shakuhachi: Suzutaka Kuroda
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/92027/6/92027-6-b9795fbe18632d700a7239faad435861-2000×1334.jpg Ryuteki: Yoshiyuki Izaki
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/92027/6/92027-6-ca0b321ab8847713aba4f027a1ba31e1-2000×1333.jpg Hichiriki: Hitomi Nakamura
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/92027/6/92027-6-eb96beac5c9bfbdc200fe481702271a7-2000×1333.jpg Shamisen: Yumiko Tanaka
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/92027/6/92027-6-5d04e1332ba134ee251791632dba90de-2000×1333.jpg Kokyu: Daisuke Kiba
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/92027/6/92027-6-466fdf7d407c3c0424ca3b9e17149efb-3900×2925.jpg Conch/Tuba: Daisuke Takaoka
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/92027/6/92027-6-d7ba2d1607e26f40660e0f35c7dcd928-3900×2925.jpg Gaku biwa/gong drum: Kahoru Nakamura
