This documentary, from 1980, takes a look at synth music pioneer Isao Tomita and his studio.
In the late 60s and early 70s, many people got their first taste of synth music from the electronic orchestrations of classical music by Tomita and Walter/Wendy Carlos.
If you can translate the commentary, leave a comment below!
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Tags: 80's, classical music, Debussy, Isao Tomita, synth music, Tomita
6 Responses to “A Tour Of Tomita’s Electronic Music Studio”
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"Snowflakes Are Dancing" – absolutely brilliant. And I remember the day that my friend Chris and I were heading to college when we read in the NME that his recording of "The Planets" had been banned in the UK – at the end of the day we dashed back to the record shop to grab the last copy with our combined finances before the shop took it off the shelf! Happy days.
Why was it banned in the UK?
Too much synth-whistling or something?
As I recall, Holst's daughter owned the rights. Having given permission for Tomita's version, she retrospectively decided that it 'debased her father's work' and the Courts upheld her complaint. A shame, because it breathed new life into a rather stale piece IMHO.
I suspect that she objected to the humour of the 'alien voices' that were used.
Here's a quote:
"'The Planets' was taken out of market for a few years by court order from Gustav Holst's relatives. They claimed that Tomita had manhandled their father's great composition, and the record company withdrew some 30,000 records from the stores. Despite this, 'The Planets' is arguably Tomita's most complete and popular work, and was listed as one of the best keyboard albums over the past 20 years or so by Keyboard Magazine."
I think Holst's original did not refer to the mystery of alien life-forms and the wonders of space exploration but instead, were based on the cosmology of the planets i.e. their astrological significances and characters or humors. It's not my favourite Tomita piece. 'Firebird' is =D
I think Holst's original did not refer to the mystery of alien life-forms and the wonders of space exploration but instead, was based upon the cosmology of the planets i.e. their astrological significances and characters or humors; Mars conjunct Neptune etc. It's not my favourite Tomita piece. 'Firebird' is =D