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The theme of Salvaged Tapes 2024 is “memento mori.” We welcomed takaramahaya.

Originally, “death” has been perceived as something that will inevitably come to everyone. It has been seen as both the disappearance of the body and mind and as a rite of passage for the soul. In eras lacking the advancements of science, death may have been much more familiar to people than to us in modern times, despite its undefined nature. However, people have simultaneously distanced themselves from death for a long time or deliberately approached it.

Through religious rituals and spiritual interactions with the non-human, people have attempted to grasp “death” and peer into its abyss.

In this work, takaramahaya draws inspiration from religious rituals and shamanism, which ancient humans used to commune with “death,” spirits, or gods, to attempt immersive practices of trance. The drums, which he personally made by attaching skins, not only possess the uniqueness of the instrument but also seek to replicate the methods humanity has attempted throughout history. Furthermore, the organ seems to represent deep meditation and contemplation akin to the state of trance itself.

This release, issued as a 7-inch record, was performed and recorded in a form very close to improvisation. Without relying on clocks, the actual performance was recorded through repeated plays based on a sense of time perception. Additionally, this work deliberately does not specify the rotation speed of the record. The stretching and contracting of the sense of time when people listen to music should vary each time. In digital releases, there are two versions recorded at 33 and 45 rpm, both taken from records manufactured by cutting. They are nothing more than symbolic symbols, suggesting that there is time that can be chosen between or beyond those ranges.

In this work, music, as a time-based art form, may appear to be liberated from strict limitations on playback time, tempo, and scale by materializing into the medium of a record with rotation speeds. However, the act of listeners themselves capturing and interpreting them from the flowing sound is nothing but defining the finite from the infinite, and it functions as a way to re-recognize or feel death nearby to some extent.

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takaramahaya

Official: https://www.takaramahaya.com/

Instagram : @takaramahaya

X : @mahayap

takaramahaya

Born in 1992, hailing from Kanagawa Prefecture. Proficient in a wide range of musical instruments from different eras and regions, with a focus on percussion.
Participated in various musical projects including Yama Futatsu, Tokyo Shio Koji, La Señas, galajapolymo, and Togo Kiyomaru.
In recent years, based at Alternative Old Folk House and Iijima Shoten, engaged in music production, solo activities, and improvisational performances. In 2020, traveled to the Republic of Guinea and received guidance from the master balafon player Epina Bangoura. In 2021, presented the live performance “people in the dark room” combining text and darkroom music.