Mellow Cello Podcast

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Episode 69 Harpin on it Jul 29, 2024

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Episode 69 Harpin on it Nick Takénobu Ogawa

This episode comes from the Youtube stream on May 2, 2025. The opening piece is one that I really like, and will adapt into a piece with Japanese lyrics. The swinging bass line really provides some nice forward movement that at the same time evokes some kind of nostalgia. The second piece grows out of a small repetitive pizzicato loop, and takes a while to develop, but gets going with the arco section, which uses the quick repetition as a bit of a trampoline for some bouncier melodies. The third piece is a familiar progression, and the arco explorations sound more lyrical as a result. The fourth piece is on the darker side, exploring the realms offered by a back and forth plucked pattern. The fifth piece stays a bit resolutely in a sort of limbo state of more incidental random sounds, without ever quite needing to coalesce around a specific melody or chord pattern, as I was experimenting with a different way of using my loop pedal with perhaps mixed results. The final piece has more of a desert feel to it, with more of an orange and sepia hue to the tone and character of the progression.

Episode 67 Triple Threat Jul 02, 2024

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Episode 67 Triple Threat Nick Takénobu Ogawa

This comes from 2 combined livestreams, each of which was abbreviated due in part to user error on my part for failing to record parts, and because I sang in some of the songs and have decided to exclude those pieces. The pieces are from Youtube live streams on April 12, 2024 and April 23, 2024. In the first half I was still in the midst of total thrall from my experience with totality, which I’d driven roundtrip to Bloomington Indiana to see, camping in a cow field, in the second my mind was on Earth day and all the climactic consequences surrounding the very big idea of the Earth.

Things develop gradually and rhythmically, as I build up a driving rhythm primarily with arco parts at first. I think this makes the entrance of the pizzicato arpeggio a lot more satisfying when it does come in. I really like the very jolly sounding place that the lead arco figure takes after the pizzicato loops have been set, there’s something very happy-traveleresque about the sound of the theme. The next piece is one that I’ve been working on and developing into a Japanese lyric song about my experience viewing the eclipse and how the whole world seemed to disappear. This piece has some really nice figures throughout, and I just really enjoy the sort of optimistic vibe it has. The third piece is a familiar progression, but it eventually takes on a wistful tone, with a wandering not quite lost sensibility.

In the second half the fourth song is from the second livestream. Things are a bit more somber and serious, with a heavier melancholy feeling, quoting some earlier themes I’ve used. I think the heaviness of the 5th piece is my favorite, with its dark drive, I really feel that this piece travels somewhere in time or space. There is a moment where I drop my bow, or knock over some of my streaming decor which you may notice. The final piece continues in the dark and heavy vein, but with a bit more sway to it, giving it more of a heavy dream like dance feeling to it.

Episode 65 Post Eclipse May 20, 2024

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Episode 65 Post Eclipse Nick Takénobu Ogawa

This episode comes from the youtube stream on April 11th 2024, just a couple of days after I drove 10 hours to experience the totality of the eclipse, which was an amazing experience. I have skipped forward a number of months because of the experimental singing that I was doing. It’s my feeling that while this was a worthwhile experiment, as it exists I’d prefer to spend more time editing the songs with vocals to make them more concise. There’s a lack of vocal clarity and a lot more empty space in these streams as I try to tackle a new form of live composition, which in the end never quite materialized in the way I’d envisioned. With some editing I may be able to make some of the pieces from this period work, but I’d prefer to keep this podcast solidly instrumental and use the vocal pieces as a separate project.

Starting with this episode there will be many more pieces with pre-recorded percussion loops, which I think give a nice texture to things and make for a more modern sound. The first piece is very driving and resolute, with a bit more edge in the arco parts, since I’m able to achieve more exacting rhythmic loops thanks to the well defined percussion. I really like the more expansive and laid back second piece, and like the juxtaposition of the swaying/sweeping arco and more bouncy pizzicato. The third piece is a real slow burn that builds gradually and really feels like it hits home with the entry of the low end. Something about the percussion keeping things driving forward makes me a lot more comfortable with letting things develop gradually, and to be more experimental with textures. The fourth piece adds a ‘chopped’ arco sound on top of the percussion, and then takes a little while to come together chord progression-wise, and ventures into some more dissonant textures. The fifth piece is built solely around a ‘chop’ rhythm, and ventures into some much more spacey textures, with a very relaxed overall beat. The sixth song stays similarly relaxed, with some nice arco figures, but with the introduction of a more driving bass. The final piece develops into something much more triumphant and rapid paced, with quick bowing that’s provides more excitement to things and is a more epic way to end things.

Episode 63 Sometimes Apr 26, 2024

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Episode 63 Sometimes Nick Takénobu Ogawa

This episode comes form the youtube stream on December 12 2023, the last one of the year. The title comes from the closing song Toki Doki, and is the english meaning of the Japanese phrase. Things start off with a nice expansive mid tempo piece that has a thoughtful repeated pizzicato figure that keeps things contemplative throughout. The piece has a second half to it built around big arco layers that introduce a dreamier feeling to things. The second piece grows gradually, but becomes more and more shimmering as pizzicato layers are added, with a dance-y-ness to it that I really like. The third piece delves into a ring-y ethereal realm, with nice sweeping figures that swirl in and out into some really nice ambient spaces. Things take a slightly darker turn with the fourth piece, sounding more like the quest for clues in some sort of spiritual detective story, which eventually opens up into the sounds of some kind of important discovery. The fifth piece is a further iteration of the fourth, with a tempo increase and building off the same bass line, with more layered experimentation. I close things out with an instrumental rendition of Toki Doki.

Episode 61 Post Turkey Day Apr 12, 2024

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Episode 61 Post Turkey Day Nick Takénobu Ogawa

This episode comes from the Youtube livestream on November 28th, right after the Thanksgiving holiday. It takes me a little while to find the groove, but I eventually get there, with some washy bowing rhythms making things sleepy and sweeping. The next piece has a spacey contemplativeness to it that gradually grows into something warmer and more grounded. The third piece also has some nice big warm moments, and a laid back sleepy quality to it. The fourth piece begins with a bit of a mystical quality to the chord sounds that continues to expand with new layers into something more driving and somber. The fifth piece is livelier, with a more upbeat strummed chord progression and bouncy bass. The final piece develops into something nice and epic once all the layers get established, with a cool pizzicato thematic element that almost sounds like a Western movie, or some sort of showdown.

Episode 59 Meditative Moods Mar 22, 2024

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Episode 59 Meditative Moods Nick Takénobu Ogawa

This episode comes from the youtube livestream on November 16 2023. Things get off to a very nice mellow start, growing into an expansive descending river of bowed lines. The next piece grows out of a quicker paced back and forth arpeggio, evolving slowly out of an atmospheric ether, and then changing directions halfway through into something more upbeat. The third piece takes a little while to settle into itself, but once I find the bass line it has a nice groove to it. The fourth and final song is slower paced, built around another more atmospheric and stranger sound, but eventually developing into some nice crunchy arco lines.

Episode 57 Survivors Mar 15, 2024

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Episode 57 Survivors Nick Takénobu Ogawa

This episode comes from the youtube stream on November 9 2023. Things get off to a flow-ey and somewhat dreaming start, with a shimmery loop that develops some nice bowed layers. The second piece develops with more drive, and continues in a dreamy vein, but in a perhaps more determined way. The third song starts off fairly weird and atonal but then develops into a very nice glassy exploration of wintery landscapes and shimmering sounds. The fourth song is probably my favorite of the stream, and develops with more weight, and with the bowed parts has some nice gravitas. The fifth piece is a bit of a weird soundtracky sounding piece, exploring some strange alien flora. The final piece is a more familiar arpeggiated pattern that grows, but with a nice/strange airy ambient loop in the background that whispers throughout.

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Episode 55 Feeling Froggy Mar 07, 2024

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Episode 55 Feeling Froggy Nick Takénobu Ogawa

Things get off to a vibey start in this episode from the youtube livestream on October 26 2023, incorporating the whistling effect quite early, which I enjoy using because the treble register it provides pops out so much. The second piece develops from a persistent trickle into a big warm wave that ebbs and flows. The third song has a nice walking pace, with some swirly dreamy elements that drift in and out. The fourth piece takes a darker turn built around a weirder percussive effect, with some distinctly amphibian characteristics, which gradually metamorphosizes into something brighter. There’s something inspirational feeling about the final piece, thematically speaking, and with the quicker tempo and brighter sound of things.

Episode 53 Crushing It Feb 21, 2024

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Episode 53 Crushing It Nick Takénobu Ogawa

This episode comes from the youtube livestream on October 24 2023. Things get off to a nice airy start, built around a repeating arpeggio that has an 80’s movie interlude feel to it. The next piece develops into a broader sweeping journey that has some nice galloping tremolos. The third piece builds harmonies off a dancey kind of bass groove, and then has a nice alternative arpeggiated bridge progression. The fourth piece has some nice thematic elements to it, with a call and response feel to things. The 5th piece builds off of an almost electronic beat into a nice running arpeggio, and the final piece ends on a more contemplative note.

Episode 51 Hectic Recharge Feb 02, 2024

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