Yoshi Wada

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For the Japanese novelist, see Yoshie Wada.
Yoshimasa Wada
Born(1943-11-11)November 11, 1943[1]
Kyoto, Japan
DiedMay 18, 2021(2021-05-18) (aged 77)[1]
New York City[1]

Yoshimasa "Yoshi" Wada (November 11, 1943 – May 18, 2021) was a Japanese sound installation artist and musician living in the United States. He lived in New York City for many years and later moved to San Francisco, California.[2]

Life[]

Born in Japan, Wada joined the Fluxus movement in 1968 after meeting George Maciunas.[3] He also studied with the North Indian vocalist Pandit Pran Nath. Wada's works often incorporated the use of drone and were usually performed at very high volume, allowing for the overtones within the sound to be heard very clearly.

He frequently performed his own compositions, which featured much freedom of improvisation, on Scottish highland bagpipe and voice,[4] and also employed a number of homemade instruments.[5] These included "pipe horns" (very long horn-type instruments made from metal plumbing pipe) as well as large reed instruments involving multiple bagpipe-like pipes connected to a large air compressor; due to their appearance, Wada named these latter instruments "Alligator" and "the Elephantine Crocodile". His music has been scarcely released on recordings, having seen only two LP releases, on the India Navigation (1982) and FMP[6] labels. Lament For The Rise and Fall of Elephantine Crocodile, The Appointed Cloud and Off the Wall were reissued by Japanese labels EM Records and Editions Omega Point in 2008.

Wada was also known for his mechanical and robotic installations. In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the mid-1990s, he performed a whimsically entitled piece, Lament for the Rise and Fall of Handy-Horn, in which several compressed-air "auditory flare" signals used for nautical emergencies (the "Handy Horn" brand named in the title) were sounded for the duration of their usefulness, giving rise to an alarmingly high-decibel air-pressure environment and charged psychoacoustic environment.

Discography[]

  • 1981: Lament For The Rise And Fall Of The Elephantine Crocodile (India Navigation)
  • 1985: Off the Wall (Free Music Production)
  • 2008: The Appointed Cloud (EM/Omega Point)
  • 2009: Earth Horns with Electronic Drone CD/3LP(EM/Omega Point)
  • 2012: Singing in Unison 3LP (EM)
  • 2018: (With Tashi Wada & friends) Frkwys 14 - Nue (RVNG Intl.)

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c Robin, William (2021-06-05). "Yoshi Wada, Inventive Creator of Sound Worlds, Dies at 77". The New York Times.
  2. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 15, 2006. Retrieved April 30, 2006.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20060415083333/http://www.gracia-territori.com/lem/2004/index2004-english.htm
  4. ^ Bath, Tristan (August 21, 2019). "Pipe Down: Tashi Wada Interviewed". The Quietus. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  5. ^ Eede, Christian (May 20, 2021). "Yoshi Wada Has Died, Aged 77". The Quietus. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  6. ^ "Off the Wall". FMP-Records. Retrieved May 22, 2021.

Sources[]

  • Johnson, Tom (1989). The Voice of New Music: New York City 1972-1982 -- A Collection of Articles Originally Published by the Village Voice. Eindhoven, Netherlands: Het Apollohuis. ISBN 90-71638-09-X. Available for free download at: [1]

External links[]

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