An archival interview with Yen Records’ engineer Yasuhiko Terada along with some words from Hosono himself on SFX.

The following interviews were originally featured in the book Haruomi Hosono Recording Surgery Tip Book and has been roughly translated here for archival purposes. The book is available to purchase here.

---

Suzuki: Thank you for your cooperation today.

Terada: I was shown the materials in advance… Suzuki-kun, you’ve done your research. That was amazing! The preview of the recording of “SFX”. I definitely can’t remember anything like that.

Suzuki: This is from an interview with Terada around the time “SFX” was released. I found this out by searching. It depends on the song, but the general procedure for “SFX” is as follows. I also watched Hosono-san work in the studio at the time, and I think it’s probably correct.

• (1st Stage)
• 1. First, input the data into the MC-4 (a lengthy process).
• 2. Determine the length and tempo of the song.
• 3. Playing the Linn Drum with MC-4 data (or TR-909, TR-808, etc.).
• 4. Add a synth (tentative chord) to some sound source.
• (2nd Stage)
• 5. More synth, add lines
• 6. Synth Strings (Kurzweil, Yamaha DX7, Prophet 5, etc.)
• 7. Obligato-like synth brass sounds
• 8. Colored with synth piano and woodwind sounds
• (3rd stage)
• 9. The main melody appears towards the end (Finally understand the whole song)
• 10. Edit

Terada: Great! (laughs) This is very important. From the beginning of YMO, we recorded everything in this order.

Suzuki: We’ll talk about “SFX” later, but let’s go back to your roots. You’re from Shiga Prefecture, right?

Terada: Yes, it’s full of rivers and mountains, and it’s a place with beautiful nature. There was absolutely nothing cultural about it (laughs).

Suzuki: This is the so-called radio generation.

Terada: I listen to music from the 1950s and 1960s on the radio. So I was playing the ukulele by myself.

Suzuki: Are you an only child?

Terada: I had an older brother called Imagawa, and he was always looking at the sky with a telescope. And my older brother’s. He was a movie music and music. I liked music, and listened to the Percy Faith Orchestra, Raymon Lefebvre, and Paul Mauriat, and that’s how music first got into my ears.

Suzuki: This is what you were listening to in elementary school?

Terada: When I was in Elementary School, I listened to pop music. My whole life is pop music (laughs). None of my family watched it, but I used to watch “The Hit Parade” (a music program broadcast live on Fuji TV) by myself all the time. The Peanuts and Mieko Hirota were singing Western songs with Japanese lyrics, and I felt like I had unconsciously learned all the Western pop music of the time. “The Hit Parade” has a huge impact on me.

Suzuki: After that, when you entered junior high school, was there a group sounds boom?

Terada: I was hooked. The Tigers, the Jaguars and the Ox.

Suzuki: You previously mentioned that you had experience in bands when you were a student, but you said, “I gave up because my voice wasn’t marketable.”

Terada: Right (laughs). I remember it well… That was in high school. I liked Folk Crusaders and Five Red Balloons. So, my friend and I would sing and play guitar together, a so-called folk duo (laughs). I was auditioning at a store in Osaka and they said, “If you pass, we’ll let you play,” but I ended up failing. At first, I wanted to become a professional musician, but I gave up after going to see a lot of live shows. I really felt the difference between professionals and amateurs.

Suzuki: Speaking of Osaka, Kansai folk music was also booming at the time, with an anti-establishment feel.

Terada: Yes. I went into the world of dark folk songs. Masato Tomobe, Wataru Takada, Ryo Kagawa, Takuro Yoshida. But the one I was most deeply into was Nobuyasu Okabayashi. I was crazy about his song “Long Journey to Freedom” (included in “Look Before You Jump” in 1970).

Suzuki: I see, that’s a bit surprising.

Terada: It’s close to where I’m from. That’s why I found the names of Happy End and Hosono in the record credits.

Suzuki: What made you interested in the world of engineering in the first place?

Terada: When I went to see a live show, I thought the PA system was interesting. I was also interested in machines. Around that time, I bought a speaker unit in Nipponbashi, Osaka, and made an enclosure myself. Maybe I learned about the job of a mixer from reading it in a magazine.

“I want to go back to that day”…

Terada: So I moved to Tokyo to enter a vocational school. I met someone at a part-time job, Fujioka-san (the former lead vocalist of a group sounds band), who introduced me to Shimizu-san, the head of the sales department at Teichiku Records, and after some twists and turns I ended up at Tamachi Alpha Studio.

Suzuki: So the studio was already completed.

Terada: That’s right. The studio had been built for 2-3 years. The console was a custom-made Bushnell. It was Bushnell up until Yuming’s “Cobalt Hour” (2015). It was changed to the original API for “Paraiso”. So, on the day I went for the interview, they were recording “Ano Hi Ni Kaeritai” and I could hear that sound leaking out from the studio!

I could hear the sound of Yoshizawa Terada. At that time, the Alpha team consisted of three pillars: Yoshizawa, Hiroyuki Seto, and Suzuki, with Mitsuo Koike (nicknamed Carlos) working part-time.

So, Carlos had said that he wanted to go to America to study, and they were looking for staff, so it was good timing.

Suzuki: What was the engineer formation at that time?

Terada: Seto was involved with Circus, Hi-Fi Set, and Bread & Butter. Yoshizawa worked with Yuming, Minako Yoshida, Tamori, Hosono, Cassiopeia, and many others. I was an assistant for both of them.

Suzuki: So, was it around that time that you met Hosono?

Terada: Yes, it was “Cobalt Hour”. That’s where I met Hosono-san for the first time. I remember we talked about something. Usually, studio musicians go home after their performance, but the guys at Tin Pan Alley would come into the control room after their performance. And we were like, “What? What?” (laughs). So they’d make requests like, “Do this, do that.” In those days, engineers were scary, so musicians wouldn’t touch the console itself, but Yoshizawa-san looked a little reluctant. When I spoke to you the other day, you said that you were very impressed by Minako Yoshida’s recording of “Flapper” and said, “I’ll do it” (laughs). There was a strong hierarchical relationship like that. But it’s changed a lot since our time. It was like, “Let’s make music together with the musicians.” Whether that’s good or bad, aside.

Suzuki: At the time, was there anyone you looked up to as an engineer and mixer?

Terada: Hugh Padgham, Al Schmitt. And of course Yoshizawa-san and Seto-san. Yoshizawa-san was really fast in the studio (laughs). Their intuition and determination to try new things are amazing. The drums are louder than those of an outside engineer. I think Yoshizawa-san and Hosono-san have similar tendencies when it comes to sound. He’s so meticulous. I like the way things are constructed, or rather, the way they’re laid out so precisely. I don’t like things being vague. Yoshizawa-san does everything. He would put an oscillator in and try it out.

Suzuki: When I spoke to you the other day, you said that you were very impressed by Minako Yoshida’s recording of “Flapper.”

Terada: I was an assistant on “Flapper.” That was the biggest thing that happened to me when I entered this industry.

Suzuki: In terms of timing, this was right before the “Paraiso” session.

Terada: That’s right. During “Flapper”, I was able to meet Tatsuro Yamashita, Hiroshi Sato, and others through Daikei. I remember Tatsuro saying arrogantly, “Come through the back and play it then!” Ohetsu-san also kicked me and Yoshizawa-san out of the control room saying, “I want to sing by myself” (laughs).

Suzuki: After that, what was the first project that you worked on as the main engineer?

Terada: I think it would Hidaka Tomio’s solo album Tommy. He played it at a really loud volume with three Marshall amps stacked up, so Yoshizawa was like, “Terada, do it!” (laughs)

Suzuki: The equipment at Alpha A Studio during the recording of “Paraiso.” What do you remember about materials?

Terada: The console is the API system I mentioned earlier,

Terada: AKG BX-8 analog tape recorder (spring reverb), EMT-240 (scaled down version of the EMT 140), EVENTIDE FL201 (flanger), Universal Audio 1176 (compressor). That’s it. It was an era when we didn’t have that much equipment.

Suzuki: In “Paraiso,” Hosono-san uses a variety of fun singing styles compared to his other albums. Please tell us about the recording process.

Terada: During the recording of “Paraiso,” Hosono was doing experimental things and it felt like he was really into it. He played Doctor Rhythm (a rhythm box) through a bass amp and recorded it with a microphone, and created the sound by connecting several effects in series. At Hosono’s request, he even set up a microphone in an unusual place. Everything was very experimental. Compared to now, he recorded the vocals very quickly. Because the vocal level was so high. What’s interesting is that Hosono didn’t want anyone to hear his singing, so the monitors in the control room were turned off and he listened to it on headphones in the booth.

Suzuki: Hmmm? What do you mean?

Terada: Hosono said, “Terada-kun, I’m embarrassed, so can you not listen?” (laughs). When he finished singing, I waved my hand and said, “Stop it.” So, once I decided on the vocal level, I didn’t even listen to the playback, and the control room I couldn’t hear anything on the monitor. I just stared at the level meter the whole time. At that moment, I thought, “What is this recording?” (laughs).

Suzuki: Interesting (laughs)

Terada: Recording in a control room where you can’t hear any sound. He says he hates his own voice, but I’ve always thought he had a good voice. Hosono always cuts the lows of his voice, but I thought it was a nice range. Hosono’s voice is easy to be affected by compressors and effects. That means that his voice has a lot of harmonics.

Suzuki: In other words, overtones are the delicious components of sound. So, what did you think when you listened to the completed “Paraiso”?

“I think he dislikes the harsh mid-high range and dull, treble sound. He wants something that has a fluffy feel with good clarity… The sound of the piano that Hosono likes is consistent with that.”

Yasuhiko Terada

Terada: It was a big shock, or rather, I felt like the (music) style had changed. It wasn’t rock, folk, or pop, and I thought it was a completely new music. It has something in common with Hiroshi Sato. It’s like the “Alpha sound.” I feel like the sound of the legendary Linda Carriere and other bands around here is Alpha.

Suzuki: It seems that Hosono had invited Sato to join YMO (but it didn’t work out because Sato went to the US), and if Hayashi Tatsuo hadn’t refused, YMO might have ended up with Hosono, Sato and Kyu, with a so-called Alpha sound. If the Carriere-style production had been successful, I don’t think there would have been a techno YMO. But that’s just my imagination (laughs).

The evolution of YMO Sound

Suzuki: Looking back now, what is your favorite YMO album?

Terada: Probably “Solid State Survivor” (1929) and “Multiply” (1980). “Solid State Survivor” had the liveliest songs and sound. The first was fusion, and Hosono’s influence was strong, but “Solid” is something completely different. It’s a perfect fusion of the three of us. “BGM” (1988) was all about Hosono and Yukihiro. On the other hand, “Technodelic” (1988) was all about the professor. In the latter half of YMO, it started to lean more towards one person’s colour rather than the three of them.

Suzuki: What is your favorite album from the Yen Records catalog?

Terada: The Sunsetz album “Heat Scale” (1980) left a strong impression on me. Up until then, we had been using JBL monitor speakers, but for “Heat Scale,” Hosono brought in some big Tannoy speakers, so the sound was different from other albums. Others include Hajime Tachibana’s “H” (2nd year), Hosono’s “Super Xevix” (2000), Tsutomu Togawa’s “Suki Suki Daisuki” (5th year), Yukihiro Takahashi’s “Tomorrow’s Just Another Day” (2000), and Sandy’s “Eating Pleasure” (2000). There are so many test patterns.

Suzuki: I was also impressed by the high level of perfection of Koshi Miharu’s “ChuChu” (3 years) and “Ballarism” (1990). It seemed to me that the music and mix were almost perfect.

Terada: That’s right. Mixing at that time was fun and I was focused. I hadn’t made music that way before. Anyway, I was just obsessed with the kick (laughs). I would listen to overseas recordings and ask Hosono-san, “How did you make this sound like this?” It was like a battle with the compressor, trying to make the VU meter not move while producing sound pressure. I was always staring at the VU meter.

Susuki: During the “YEN Label” era, was there only one type of kick drum?

Terada: Maybe we also added a light synth sound?

Suzuki: I think this is connected to the discussion of the low-frequency processing of the main rhythm machines, the TR-808 and TR-909, in the later “Medicine Compilation” (1998). The 909 has a great sound when listened to at low volume, with a pleasantly emphasized attack, but when listened to at high volume, it usually distorts. How to deal with this characteristic was a major issue for musicians at the time. There is also a story that Mr. Terada got a good result by running it through a consumer Tascam (mixer) and EQing it.

Terada: Hosono said, “If the bass sounds too harsh when you listen to it in the car, it’s no good,” so a sharp filter is essential. Also, the theme was how to achieve natural compression. So I studied not only recording equipment, but also the knobs on the synth.

Suzuki: What are your memories of LDK Studio? The booth there was small, and the early reflections had a unique sound.

Terada: I think it was about 8 tatami mats. Hajime Tachibana’s “H” was good. Saeko Suzuki was on drums.

Suzuki: Did you yourself do a lot of work at LDK Studios?

Terada: I was always holed up there (laughs). Iio-kun would often stay there until the morning too. Alpha’s A Studio was never available, so we basically worked on the “YEN Label” stuff at LDK Studio.

Suzuki: After that, YMO broke up and each member started their own private label. Each of them continued to make music – “Non-Standard,” the professor – “Midi,” and Yukihiro – “Tent” – and the Alpha Engineering team is seconded to other manufacturers’ sites.

Terada: I did a lot of work for Hosono-san. Imonomi Trio, “Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind”, etc. Anyway, sound production was interesting, and the studio was always like a child’s toy box. Actually, Hosono-san once asked me, “Why don’t you leave Alpha and come to Non-Standard?”

Suzuki: Is that so?

Terada: But there were a few more things I wanted to do with Alpha.

Suzuki: Looking back, what kind of record company do you think Alpha Records was?

Terada: It was the sound that Mr. Kuni Murai was aiming for. We all took on the challenge of creating a sound that will be listened to forever. Alpha’s motto was “We Believe in Music.” Hosono-san has always been the leader in adopting new ideas.

“I was just obsessed with the kick. I would listen to overseas recordings and ask Hosono-san, ‘How did you make this sound like this?’ It was like a battle with the compressor, trying to make the VU meter not move while producing sound pressure.”

Yasuhiko Terada

It’s finally time for the recording of “SFX”.

Suzuki: Even after YMO broke up, “YEN Label” was still half-done, and “Non-Standard” was launched without any preparation. As a prelude, or as the first step, a 12-inch single with a special edition (with book) called “Making of Non-Standard Music/Making of Monad Music” was released. From there, the flow was to his first solo work since “Philharmonic”. The production studio for “SFX” was Sedic Studio (designed and operated by SCI Co., Ltd.), which was located on the upper floors of the now-defunct Roppongi WAVE Building, a mega record store affiliated with Seibu. Can I ask about the studio system?

Terada: The WAVE building had a record store and a stylish cafe on the first floor, and I was excited to go to the studio. On the floor below the studio was the room of Masaki Fujihata (a CG artist), and I may have even gone to take a look. At the time, he said that one second of CG work cost 1 million yen. Sedic had a lot of reverberation in the booth, and it seems that Hosono also had the impression that it was a new, next-generation studio. It was a small studio, so it felt like a bright, lively studio. The console was a Neve VR, and the recorder was a SONY PCM 13324. The Neve seemed to have a wide range. The upper range in particular extended beautifully.

Suzuki: Mr. Terada, you like console APIs after all.

Terada: I grew up with API. The EQ points are good, it’s tight and thick, and there’s no need to cut out unnecessary sounds. But the Neve head amp was good for bringing out the subtle nuances of vocals.

Suzuki: What about Sedic’s microphones?

Terada: Condensers were standard, like Neumann’s Yamachi 40… I don’t remember the details, but it wasn’t a session that used a lot of microphones (laughs). Sedic was a Sony company, so I think there was a lot of equipment similar to that at Roppongi Sony and Shinanomachi Studio. But I remember using the Korg delay machine (SDD1000) a lot. I think it was Hosono’s personal property at the time, and he had two of them.

Suzuki: You can do a little sampling with it. Actually, I had one too (laughs).

Terada: There were emulators, but I wanted to speed up the expression of sampling. I think Hosono wanted to be able to freely use scratch and hard attack sounds, and I was surprised at the realism of the piano and string sounds of the Kurzweil (released in 1983, the first ROM-based sampling sound source) in addition to the analog synths that had been used up until then.

Suzuki: So the recording process for “SFX” had already been decided.

Terada: On the first day, I put the data into the MC-4 and maybe even the guide code. But I don’t know which song I’m going to play every day. I didn’t really understand this.

Suzuki: So you were working on several songs at the same time, rather than one at a time. That’s what it felt like.

Terada: Right. So how will it change until the end? Or I have no idea (laughs).

Suzuki: So you were questions, “Is it an instrumental piece or a song?” It seemed like there weren’t many musical scores.

Terada: Anyway, it took a long time, and we recorded a lot. We started recording at 6pm, and when we finished, we went to a late-night restaurant, or rather, a family restaurant, to eat (laughs).

Suzuki: I have a simple question… Why did “SFX” only have six songs? I wonder if there were some outtakes that couldn’t be included? On the production track sheet, there were two tracks with titles. Do you remember them, Mr. Terada? “Hokkyoku” and “Akuma no Hatsumei”?

Terada: You remember seeing “Hokkyoku” somewhere? (laughs) Anyway, I think Hosono’s perfectionism is coming out. He doesn’t want to lower the completeness of the album by putting in something he’s not satisfied with.

Suzuki: The mixing was supposedly done by both Hosono and Terada.

Terada: Even though I did the basics and decided on the equalization and reverb, the balance and tone of the kick was surprisingly strict, and Hosono had a standard position in his mind. I even took the mixed sound source to a club where a DJ I know was playing and checked the balance. What a luxury…

Suzuki: This period (around 1985) was a transitional period from analog to digital. There is also a description that the complete “SFX” album was converted from digital to analog to compare the two. Hosono also said that songs like “Androgena” sound better on analog.

Terada: Ah, I remember now. I wonder if they copied it to analog tape. I feel like the mid-low range has become more comfortable. At the time, I thought digital was great just because the /N and crosstalk were perfect. In 1985 when “SFX” was released, the CD as a medium was still immature in terms of sound quality.

Suzuki: But anyway, it was inevitable for the world to move forward.

Terada: Hosono-san was always at the forefront of sound creation. Also, in our generation, equipment was changing at a rapid pace. In particular, when a new console or tape recorder was brought into the studio, we all started studying it right away. The adjustment methods are different between American and European products. We had to keep learning, so it was a learning experience for me.

Suzuki: Thinking about the musical background of “SFX” once again, it is a challenge to 22 beats that goes beyond the basic 8 beats of rock and even beyond the beats used in funk, disco, and fusion. Beat music can be said to be the pinnacle of beat subdivision (if the beat is further subdivided, humans cannot detect it and the sounds will be heard as connected). There is an anecdote that when he played it for Afrika Bambaataa, he was met with the word “crazy!” At that time, Art of Noise (in the heyday of ZTT Records, to which he belonged) and Jim Foetus were also popular.

This was a time that was a precursor to the hip-hop and world music boom. I happened to meet Sunny Ade at Sedic Studios, who was visiting Hosono’s studio to watch the recording of “SFX.” Hosono was late, so we just missed each other (laughs).

Terada: That’s right (laughs). Anyway, sampling may have revolutionized the way music is made, both in the UK and the US. And I thought Hosono was thinking of something new again. As an engineer, I was at a turning point when I was starting to get a bit stuck, and when I listened to the “2 TT” record, I became very interested in the heavy use of reverb and especially compressors, and I started to study them again, and I think I was able to move towards making new sounds.

Suzuki: Did you think that this sound scene, including “SFX,” was an evolution of techno-pop? Or was it its end?

Terada: It sounded like a stimulating rhythm that was separate from YMO’s techno pop and was ahead of black hip-hop.

Suzuki: As time passed and we entered the 1990s when the TV drama “Twin Peaks” was airing, “Medicine,” “Ambient,” and “Trance Music” became keywords for Hosono.

Terada: In those days, it was “Medicine Compilation”! This album is good, very good. I also went to Hosono-san’s private studio (Raccoon Studio) at that time, and I think that this kind of Brian Eno-like ambient music with rhythm is what I like the most. I didn’t realize it when I was making it though (laughs).

“As time passed and we entered the 1990s when the TV drama Twin Peaks was airing, ‘Medicine,’ ‘Ambient,’ and ‘Trance Music’ became keywords for Hosono.”

Yasuhiko Terada

Suzuki: “Medicine” feels more fitting now than when I listened to it back then. Maybe it’s because I’ve gotten older (laughs). I’m kind of enchanted by the sound.

Terada: But maybe Hosono’s music has always been like that. There are many things that you don’t understand when you’re performing them. Even the Revival YMO’s “Technodon” (1998) sounds really good when you listen to it now. It was hard when we were performing it because we had to rehearse all the time (laughs). There are some albums that sound better when you listen to them with your ears now.

Suzuki: “Medicine” was a cutting-edge super-pickup at the time. At the time, it was a hot topic because it was a 20-bit CD, but it had a detailed reverb.

Terada: It’s close to today’s high-resolution audio. SBM had a very good effect on the ambient reverb. But it didn’t seem to be suitable for rhythm sounds with a lot of sound pressure and roughness.

Suzuki: What do you think is the sound you’re aiming for, both then and now?

Terada: As expected, the sound pressure is good, the sound is clear, and the mid-low range is dense. That’s how it feels. It seems to me that in Hosono’s mind, there is only one correct answer. But to get there, there is no single correct answer, and so engineers have no choice but to approach it by trial and error.

Suzuki: My first impression of Hosono’s sound is that it’s always muffled (laughs).

Terada: I think he dislikes the harsh mid-high range and dull, treble sound. But he wants something that has a fluffy feel with good clarity. I think he wants to get the dense feel of the low-mid range of the sound of a record. The sound of the piano that Hosono likes is consistent with that. A good American piano has that kind of sound, but it has a sweet feel.

Suzuki: In terms of sound tendencies, I feel like there are some parts that are similar to Yoshizawa’s sensibilities.

Terada: Basically, Hosono-san, like Yoshizawa-san, is very meticulous, so he’s very sensitive to signal-to-noise ratios and noise.

Suzuki: Once again, what kind of work does an engineer or mixer do?

Terada: It is to bring the sound closer to the image that the composer Terada and the arranger are aiming for. You express yourself with this in mind.

Suzuki: I really think that’s true.

Terada: I would like to work with Hosono on “SFX 2 (sequel)” together. I’ll bring all the equipment, from emulators to manipulators (laughs). I want to create something danceable again with Hosono. Something that people can dance to on the floor. My impression of Hosono was that when he went to the studio, he would just keep hitting the TR-808 (laughs). In any case, it helped me hone my sense of rhythm. Hosono-san said that he actually wanted to be a percussionist (laughs).

Hosono talks about SFX.

Suzuki: At that time, I was just about to make my debut (World Standard), and I visited Sedic Studios, where “SFX” was produced, to meet Hosono-san for a meeting. When I looked into the control room, I saw the TEAC consumer equipment and delay machines that I used… I was simply amazed that Hosono-san was making great music with the same commercial equipment as me. It was probably around autumn of 1984.

Hosono: My music production situation changed when I went from “Philharmony” to “SFX.” It was the beginning of the world’s shift to digitalization. It was just when Sony’s PCM-3324 (digital multi-track recorder) started to appear. But I chose to record “Philharmony” on an analog recorder (made in Denmark by Lyric). The reason is that before that, with YMO, I recorded on a 3M digital multi (The Digital Audio Mastering System = DMS), which I didn’t like very much. So I recorded through a TEAC consumer machine (TASCAM 80 18) at the time of “BGM.” The low frequencies on that album are the full, rich sound of TEAC that can’t be recorded on a 3M.

SEDIC Studios had a PCM-3324. It was a nice “jakking” sound, and it wasn’t bad. It was much better than the 3M, but I thought, “I’m not sure about this.” So at first, I was doing it both ways. Analog recording and digital recording. I still couldn’t choose which one.

Suzuki: After that, Mr. Hosono, you bought a PCM-3324 for yourself.

Hosono: Yes. Up until a few years ago, this DW studio had one too. The PCM-3324 is convenient after all. So, we decided to use it for “SFX” in the end.

Suzuki: What was the reason for your final decision?

Hosono: “Strange Love” from “SFX” is a song with many small breaks (parts where there is no sound), which are silent in digital. A world without any hissing noise. At that moment, I thought “Silence is important!” I thought this could only be done digitally, and after that, I became absorbed in digital.

Suzuki: Shinichi Tanaka also mentioned that, the parts where no sound is being produced, the pleasant feeling of silence.

Hosono: At the time, the new digital technology was flooding the market. It was a time when that was happening, and everyone was chasing it. We are now in an age where we no longer think about analog.

Suzuki: Why did you so actively use consumer equipment?

Hosono: When I was working on Philharmony, the sampler was a high-end piece of equipment. It was an EMU, and I believe mine was product number 68. By the way, the first place was Stevie Wonder (laughs).

I learned that I didn’t need such expensive equipment, and that it was better to be more materialistic, thanks to the influence of hip-hop. For example, African Bambaataa’s use of the Korg SDD1000 (digital delay) to improvise on the spot and press buttons to sample. I felt that the heavy, heavy way of making music that YMO had been making up until then was already outdated. I thought that YMO had used the TR-808 to its fullest, but Bambaataa used it in a fresh way. His influence was strong. It was a turning point, the equipment started to get cheaper.

“It was the atmosphere of the time. The feeling of ‘going above the limit.’ The Internet didn’t exist yet, but we were already in an age of information overload.”

Haruomi Hosono

Suzuki: “Alternative 3” which seems to have been made with that same sensibility, is particularly impressive.

Hosono: That was an improvisation. I was in a trance and listening to some kind of sound source. I played the turntable and randomly sampled it with the SDD1000. Then I made loops of the sounds I accidentally recorded, and layered the sounds while listening to them (laughs).

Suzuki: Is that so?

Hosono: We also used this technique in “Night on the Galactic Railroad” (1985 film) and “Coincidental Music” (1935).

Suzuki: I think it was the same with “The Endless Talking”…

Hosono: Yes, that was the culmination of improvisation! I recorded it on endless tape for an installation at the University of California, San Francisco. I had a lot to do at the time. There was a lot of information available other than just music.

Suzuki: I think there were a variety of instruments used. Something old, dare I say.

Hosono: The woodwind sounds in “SFX” were from the DX-7.

Suzuki: Also, Linn Drum, Kurzweil piano sound source, TR-808 and 909, E-mu Drumulator…

Hosono: I have fond memories of the Drumulator (laughs).

Suzuki: It’s strange that there are only six songs on “SFX”. Outtakes (“Akuma no Hatsumei” and “Hokkyoku”) have been found, but Hosono-san, did you write the rhythm and the provisional songs?

Hosono: I put in the chords and then stopped working. It was just six carefully selected tracks of “SFX.”

Suzuki: What did you think when you finished it?

Hosono: I didn’t like the Japanese version of “Body Snatchers” so I made a different version, which I liked better. I still like “Strange Love” and “Androgena” as songs. But “Alternative 3” is the best!

Suzuki: At the time, I remember feeling relieved that “Strange Love” and “Androgena” were included on the radical album “SFX,” thinking, “Hosono is a pop musician after all.”

Hosono: At the time, the music I was listening to was all extreme hip-hop, but 6 beats just didn’t cut it, so I started making stuff with beats. That was the period when I was absorbed in that kind of thing.

Suzuki: What music influenced you at the time other than Afrika Bambaataa?

Hosono: Maybe Foetus, heavy metal hip hop.

Suzuki: I remember it fondly. After that, Hosono-san developed the “SFX” sound, created a new unit called F.O.E, and came up with the concept of O.T.T. (Over the Top) (laughs)

Hosono: It was the atmosphere of the time. The feeling of “going above the limit.” The Internet didn’t exist yet, but we were already in an age of information overload. It was overflowing, and I decided in my own mind that it was an era of excess. I originally took the name from a Sylvester Stallone movie (1987’s “Over the Top”) (laughs).

Suzuki: Hosono-san, I actually like Sylvester Stallone. I’ve been watching the new movie too.

Hosono: Yes, I think he’s talented. About half of me thinks so. I’m a fangirl. I like Stallone (laughs).

Hosono talks about “Medicine Compilation”

Suzuki: A strange album from the time when Hosono had long hair (laughs). To be honest, for a long time, I didn’t like the “Medicine Compilation” album…

Hosono: Me too.

Suzuki: So when I listened to it again this time, I thought it was “very good!” This is a shared opinion between me and Mr. Terada, but it’s definitely better than it was back then. I wonder what that means, like I’ve finally caught up with the album. Maybe I’ve come to understand the feelings of Native Americans (due to my age)?

Hosono: Really? Ah, when I was a native speaker, I was doing practice sessions for my grandpa.

Suzuki: Was “Medicine” a rehearsal for your grandfather? (laughs) At that time, trance music was at its peak, and you were obsessed with the mixture of house and ambient music. It was a time when the keyword “quiet hip” (radical silence) was emerging.

Hosono: I don’t really remember much about that time…

Suzuki: I think so. At the time, Hosono-san was just making music every day, like automatic writing. It’s like a daily training session.

Hosono: (listening to “Aiwoiwaiaou”) I finished this one day the day before we started mastering. I thought, I have to include this one.

Suzuki: This song is New Orleans meets Medicine vibe.

Hosono: My feeling with “Aiwoiwaiaou” was Africa. When Africans listened to this song, they said it was their music. They said it sounded like Fela Kuti.

Suzuki: Around this time, you were also playing the Bendir drum on a daily basis. What was that about?

Hosono: Going back a little, during the time of my previous album, Omni Sight Seeing, I was fascinated by a band that used the Bendir, and I became obsessed with it. I was drawn to traditional Moroccan “Berber music” and “Gnawa” (music that induces listeners into a trance state and exorcises evil spirits). So I started playing the instrument that no one else was playing. Since I didn’t have one, I was playing bendir in my own way.

Suzuki: As I recall, it was kind of a strange beat.

Hosono: Triplet beats. It’s a way of playing that can be two or three beats. I thought that was the basis of the musical rhythm, and I played it by myself. So after “Omni” and “Medicine”, I was into Arab and European ambient music, African music, etc. I also went to Hawaii and studied with Dr. John C Lilly (a brain scientist).

Suzuki: I mentioned “quiet hip” a while ago. You found a lot of keywords during this time. You were more enthusiastic about them than about music.

Hosono: Yes. The keywords are “calm” and “tranquility.”

Suzuki: There were also works like “Algae” and “Tabula Rasa.”

Hosono: “Algae” is still an important phrase. What started back then has continued on. The consciousness, the concept, the important culture has been flowing continuously, but people in the world don’t seem to notice it.

Suzuki: At the time, I was worried, wondering, “Where is Hosono going?”

Hosono: Yes, it’s a mass of anxiety.

Suzuki: The book “A Good Day to Die” (by Dennis Banks and Richard Erdoes) was also read enthusiastically.

Hosono: I was really immersed in it. These things go beyond individuality and are like the “wisdom of the world,” so they are all important.