is a Japanese musical

collective A collective is a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together to achieve a common objective. Collectives can differ from cooperatives in that they are not necessarily focused upon an ...

founded on January 19, 1974 by

Tsutomu Ōhashi is a Japanese artist and scientist. He is also known by his pseudonym, .Library of Congress authority file/ref> Early life Born in Tochigi Prefecture, he attended Tohoku University and graduated from the Faculty of Agriculture. He received a Doc ...

, consisting of hundreds of people with different occupations. They are known for both their re-creations of globally-known

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

, along with music combining traditional and modern elements. Some fusions include an electronic recreation of traditional Indonesian gamelan music, due to

MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and re ...

digital synthesizers A digital synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses digital signal processing (DSP) techniques to make musical sounds. This in contrast to older analog synthesizers, which produce music using analog electronics, and samplers, which play back digital ...

not being able to handle such tuning systems. Their 1986 album, ''Ecophony Rinne'', introduced these computer-generated sounds. The success of this album brought them to the attention of

Katsuhiro Ōtomo is a Japanese manga artist, screenwriter, animator and film director. He is best known as the creator of '' Akira'', in terms of both the original 1982 manga series and the 1988 animated film adaptation. He was decorated a ''Chevalier'' of t ...

, who commissioned them to create the soundtrack of '' Akira''. The soundtrack is built on the concept of recurrent themes or "modules". The soundtrack is a mix of digital synthesizers (

Roland D-50 The Roland D-50 is a synthesizer produced by Roland and released in April 1987. Its features include subtractive synthesis, on-board effects, a joystick for data manipulation, and an analogue synthesis-styled layout design. The external Roland PG ...

and

Yamaha DX7 The Yamaha DX7 is a synthesizer manufactured by the Yamaha Corporation from 1983 to 1989. It was the first successful digital synthesizer and is one of the best-selling synthesizers in history, selling more than 200,000 units. In the early 1980 ...

-II, both of which could, by then, be tuned to the Pure-Minor, ''

slendro Slendro ( jv, ꦱ꧀ꦭꦺꦤ꧀ꦢꦿꦺꦴ, ban, slendro, translit=Sléndro) ( su, salendro, translit=Saléndro) is one of the essential tuning systems used in gamelan instruments that have pentatonic scale. Based on Javanese mythology, ...

'', and ''

pelog Pelog ( su, ᮕᮦᮜᮧᮌ᮪, translit=Pélog /pelog/, jv, ꦥꦺꦭꦺꦴꦒ꧀, ban, ᬧᬾᬮᭀᬕ᭄, translit=Pélog /pelok/) is one of the essential tuning systems used in gamelan instruments that has heptatonic scale. The other, ...

'' tuning scales), Indonesian bamboo percussion (

jegog Jegog is a form of gamelan music indigenous to Bali, Indonesia, played on instruments made of bamboo. The tradition of jegog is centered in Jembrana, a region in Western Bali. In recent years jegog has started to become popular in other region ...

, etc.), traditional Japanese theatrical and spiritual music ( Noh), European classical, and progressive rock. The group's name uses Ōhashi's pseudonym, Shoji Yamashiro, and translates roughly to "Performing Yamashiro Collective". Ōhashi took his inspiration from a postwar 1950s group of similar characters that lived as a commune.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Osorezan / Do No Kenbai'' (1976) * ''Chi no Hibiki: Geinoh Yamashirogumi Tō-Yōroppa wo Utau (Echo of the Earth)'' (1976) * ''Yamato Gensho'' (1977) * ''Ougonrin Sanyo (Exultant Pisces in Cantics Nostris)'' (1978) * ''Shonentachi Eno Chikyu Sanka (In Praise Of Earth‚ To Boys)'' (1979) * ''Selections From Folk Music On Silkroad'' (1981) * ''Selections From African Folk Music'' (1982) * ''Ecophony Rinne ( Samsara Ecophony)'' (1986) * ''Ecophony Gaia'' (1990)

Soundtracks

* '' Akira: Original Soundtrack'' (1988)

Live albums

* ''Geinoh Yamashirogumi Live'' (1978)

Videos

* ''Akira Sound Clip'' (1991) Laserdisc/DVD Reissue (Making of the soundtrack of the anime)

Discography

Studio albums

Soundtracks

Live albums

Videos

Compilations

References

External links