Kenji Oh

Composer of contemporary classical and media music, based out of San Francisco and Los Angeles, And probably the most decorated SoundGym member, @Kenji Oh is this month SoundGym Hero.

So how long have you been on SoundGym? 

I started to subscribe the service immediately after I met the service. 

It looks I started on Feb 17, 2017. 

Being out of town and busy, I've been skipping the daily exercise for a while, but I'm ready to get back on track soon to improve my hearing skills!

What was your first connection to music?

I like singing since I was a small kid. High school choir was my first contact with an authentic music experience. This choir was very fine that we sang in national competitions. The first piece I sang there was Poulenc's Mass in G. Eventually I became a student conductor here. 

Soon after I started singing in the choir, my friends and I tried to create video game (RPG). Just because I was singing in the choir, my friends asked me to do music for the game, so I started composing using a Windows 95 computer. Since then, I've been composing for 22 years. 

We didn't even start making the game. But that I started composing then changed my life, obviously. 

You are probably the most decorated SoundGym member EVER, What is the Honor or Award you are most proud of and why? 

There are so many great artists and engineers in our community that I don't think I am "the most decorated" member. But if I am to choose something I'm most proud of, it would be this project named ZOFOMOMA.

Most recently, on Jan 27, 2018 at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, there was a world premiere performance of ZOFOMOMA, they say, "21st-century' Pictures at an Exhibition' in a nod to Mussorgsky".

ZOFO, SF-based Grammy-nominee piano duo, commissioned 15 composers around the world to write a new piece for piano four hands inspired by a work of visual art representative of his or her culture.

It was a great honor for me to be part of this project and to write a piece for it. 

It's a brilliant project and the piece as a whole is a great experience. I am absolutely proud to be part of this greatness. My piece is about 4 minutes. The whole piece (15 pieces + 14 arrangements of Mussorgsky's promenade in between) is about 75 minutes. 

Soon, there will be East Coast premiere on Feb 21 in Pennsylvania then on Feb 23 in Brooklyn, NY. There will be performances in Australia next year, and, I believe, in Europe at some point. 

For someone with a long list of education history, would you recommend now up comers to go for traditional education?

"traditional education" means education of music of western tradition, right?  Yes and No. It totally depends on what kind of music they want to be involved. 

Also, nowadays, you don't need to go to school to learn anything almost, at least up to certain level. There are so many resources to learn online or books. You can even ask someone for online private lessons, etc. 

The most important and meaningful thing you get from going to school, I believe, is to meet people. One of my teachers said "Being a musician is a lifestyle. Like a nun. You sacrifice yourself to music". Knowing these like-minded people, surrounded by them, studying with/from them shape you as a musician more and more. "traditional education" may be one of the places where you get that. 

Learning history and theory would make your music have richer context and would make you have a deeper understanding of your own music, not only others. It's much easier to compose when you know what your music is doing in your head precisely. Knowledge does help that.

As a classically trained composer do you have any tips for sound engineers or producers to improve their workflow in the studio when recording with professional musicians? 

I'm the one who needs to be taught about workflow in the studio, so I'm afraid to say if I had a tip. But if I have to say something here... understanding their language would be helpful. "Their language" means the way they communicate during rehearsals or how they talk about music. If you have a chance to observe some rehearsals (orchestra, small ensemble, choir... anything), you should do it and see how they communicate. Also, the better you are at reading music, the better you understand what the musicians are trying to do. By understanding the music (key points of the piece, difficult points, genre/style etc.) from reading sheets of music, you can prepare yourself better before the sessions. 

What is your go-to instrument? 

I compose on piano usually. 

Have you made music today?

No I haven't...

What have you been working on lately?

Recently, I've had stuffs to write like interviews as the recording of my piece for prepared guitar was released last month.

Kenji Oh: Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura – Josetsu Horikawa

Giacomo Fiore, prepared guitar

You can listen to it on the streaming services, as well. Please check out:  Spotify , Youtube, Apple Music 

I'm currently working on pieces for this musical theatre production in Japan. 

Tell us a bit about your workflow when composing?

I often sketch with visual image on a music notebook. Yes, pencil and paper. Mix of written words, illustrations, graphics, music notes are on the pages during this research/sketch/planning phase. I usually have this phase long. When I actually write, I write from the beginning to the end most of times knowing what I want to do mostly (but not too concretely). I always wait too long to actually start writing that I get very busy towards deadlines. But there is something good about writing with the momentum for me. This phase is much shorter than the planning phase usually. It is a huge stress to fight with deadlines, but I accept that this is how my processes are to compose music.

Any habits you have before starting a session?

I don't have too many experience to be in a recording session, but when I do, if it's a session for my music, I review my own music as much as possible. I often find lots of good things that I was not totally aware of doing it during composing. Sometimes in a very profound and sometime a very well crafted way. Being aware of these features of the piece that is to be recorded, I can tell performers and engineers what to capture.

Who have been the biggest influences on you and how do you think they've shaped your music?

I went to Kyoto University of Education for 5 years (2000-2005), living in Kobe. It took 2 hours to commute. Back then I thought it was important to listen to a variety of music. I had 4 hours of listening every day. As I wanted to be a media composer, I listened to lots of movie soundtracks, video game soundtracks, and my favorite genre--choral music. (By the way, I think 90's video game music for old consoles has special quality because of the musical limitations the consoles had.)

Similar to that, when I was living in Tokyo by myself (2005-2008), I had plenty of time in between my first job and the second. I purchased a big TV. TVs are surprisingly cheap now, but it was expensive then. It was crazy to spend most of my saving for TV when I did not have a job. Somehow I felt that it was very important. I watched 3-4 movies every day for 4-5 months. I kept the habit even after getting the second job, but maybe 1-2 movies for weekday and 2-3 for a day off. I think I developed my sense of storytelling, form, development etc. from movies. These extensive experience of listening and watching absolutely influenced and polished my ability to understand and to create art in forms that unfold over time.

Also, living in the states opened my eyes wide towards Japanese culture.

I believe Goethe's saying "Those who know nothing of foreign languages know nothing of their own" is very true. The Blue Marble can be seen from a far distance from the earth. 

I have mixed identity. My mother is Japanese, my father is 2.5nd-generation Chinese immigrant. (His father was first-gen, his mother was 2nd-gen immigrant) I didn't consider myself as Japanese or Chinese (My passport was Chinese until I got Japanese citizenship at age of 23. BTW, you have to give up your original citizenship to get a Japanese one, so I had to lose my Chinese citizenship then). Even after getting my Japanese citizenship, my identity was not simply Japanese, but someone with Japanese citizenship. But I realized how much Japanese I was by living outside of Japan, born and grown in Japan, speaking the Japanese language. It is very natural for me to explore Japanese culture and express it living outside of Japan, having complexed identity.

What is one of your favorite sounding instrument and why?

To choose only one instrument is very hard, but I have to say one of my most favorite idioms is choral music. So, the voice is my favorite sounding instrument.

The biggest advantage of voice is that it can speak text. Also it can produce so many kind of timbre and color. I often use so-called "extended techniques" when I write for choir. Please check out some of my choral music here

The one score you wish you would have written?

My favorite soundtracks are The Last Emperor (Ryuichi Sakamoto) and Whisper of the Heart (Yuji Nomi). But I don't wish I would've written them because they wouldn't be what they are if I had written them.

What does the future hold for Kenji Oh in the music industry?

It is hard to tell the future of the music industry and it's even harder to tell how I would be in it, honestly. But, in the ideal future I dream, I'd like to be collaborating with lots of performers I admire and respect, to create great music together that last hundreds of years, and that get performed by performers in the future that I would never know. 

Last question, What is your favorite SoundGym Feature and why?

Daily exercises! It's the core of the SoundGym! and it's important to do it every day. I like it that SoundGym sends me reminders when I skip daily exercise. I need those reminders.