Mellow Cello Podcast

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Episode 9 Nineties Feel May 01, 2023

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Episode 9 Nineties Feel Nick Takénobu Ogawa

This twitch stream from Thursday April 27th 2023 started off with a nice mellow vibe, reminiscent of some of the jammier bands I used to listen to in the 90’s. I’m not sure what it is that gives things a 90’s sound to me, maybe it’s a feeling of optimism I associate with the time, or the lighter sort of dancey sound to the notes, but maybe it could just be the emergence of Spring that’s putting me in that mood. Things get a little more contemplative and moody with the second piece, which takes a little bit longer to coalesce, but I think there were some nice melodic moments here and there. About halfway in I start to develop a simple descending theme that I try to develop over different progressions. I think I almost get there with it, kind of creating a 50’s dreamy bop sound like a Chad and Jeremy song or something along those lines, or hints of it anyway. I ended things with a song that I’ve developed over the course of streaming and will eventually release as a standalone song that’s called “Regular Sick.” Thank you so much for listening!

Episode 8 Quicksteppin’ Apr 28, 2023

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Episode 8 Quicksteppin' Nick Takenobu Ogawa

Things started off to a quicker pace in this Youtube stream from Tuesday April 25, 2023, with a couple of fun little uptempo pieces. So much of the feeling of a piece is dictated by the percussion loop, and I just like to wing it and see what comes from trying out the first thing that comes to mind. The second piece is much jazzier, partially inspired by what I was listening to earlier in the day - my recent discovery of incredible jazz harpist Dorothy Ashby and her album Afro-Harping. For the third jam I kind of brought it back to a 90’s kind of feel, ending with more of a roots rock type of all hands riff. A couple of meandering pieces half way through, I think I almost got where I was trying to go with the 5th piece, sometimes It’s hard to truly arrive when you’re searching in the dark for a resolution to things. At 44 minutes is Midnight Bloom from Conclusion, followed by the Voyage Home. I finished things up with a piece that was originally written for a soundtrack, but has evolved over the course of streaming to a newer version that I will eventually release as a standalone song called Bamboo 2.

Episode 7 Cello Godzilla Apr 24, 2023

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Episode 7 Cello Godzilla Nick Takénobu Ogawa

This episode comes from the twitch stream on Thursday April 20, 2023. I had just been messing around making some AI art, specifically images of Godzilla playing cello over his most recent destruction of a city in Japan. This imagery, as silly as it may seem was the inspiration for the first couple of pieces, which have a bit of a sad destructive tone to them. Things lighten up quite a bit for the third jam at around 18 minutes in, with a nice little riff that grows out of a strange delay effect I found and ending up with a fun whistle effect I also have, and am always careful to use sparingly. After that was a little Toki Doki. Around 45 minutes in I kind of hit on an interesting darker and heavier theme, more in the vein of the destruction of a city by a giant monster. I land on some cool ideas I think, not without some occasional wrong notes, but they kind of add to the ambience of doom in a strange way. Then a more mellow meandering piece followed finally by Dreams.

A little AI art I created of Cello Godzilla using the second piece from the stream

Episode 6 Throwback Tuesday Apr 22, 2023

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Episode 6 Throwback Tuesday Nick Takénobu Ogawa

Lots of older pieces from the Youtube stream on Tuesday April 18, 2023. Sometimes I’m not feeling as creative and so it’s nice to just jam out some of my older pieces. Sometimes I’ll think I’m writing something new, but it’ll just be an iteration of an older piece. That’s kind of what happened at about 10 minutes in when I realized I was just playing Fight to Make it Up. After that is a piece originally conceived in a stream a while ago that I’ve been working on over time called “Kicking Rocks” which is yet to be released. Then some Light the Flame, followed by a little creative burst, and then Nobody Said and to finish things off Reversing.

Episode 5 Rainy Day Tango Apr 18, 2023

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Episode 5 Rainy Day Tango Nick Takénobu Ogawa

This episode comes from the live twitch stream on Thursday, April 13 2023. Once again things got a bit ambient about halfway through, turning a bit dark even at about the 30 minute mark. I’d just been joking with the live viewers about how Spotify wouldn’t allow my all music podcast on their platform, as they require any music in a podcast to be channeled through their music tool so they can extract all its monetary value, and more efficiently crush independent artistic spirit. I suppose that some of my misgivings about the ever-presence of algorithms and the control they exert in our daily lives can be felt around this moment. About 39 minutes in after some meandering I played Exposition from the album of the same name. This is followed by the piece that the episode get its name from, which viewers commented had a “rainy day tango” kind of feel to it. I finished things up with Toki Doki from the album Conclusion. Thank you to all who have listened and subscribed thus far, I truly appreciate your 5 star ratings!!

Episode 4 Youtubesdays Apr 14, 2023

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Episode 3 Mello Cellotron Apr 10, 2023

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Episode 3 Mello Cellotron Nick Takénobu Ogawa

This instrumental jam comes from the Twitch stream on Thursday April 6, 2023. I was feeling in a bit of a funk to start things off, but I found my groove at around the 50 minute mark with a fun harmonic progression that allowed for a nice build. Listening back I think there were some other nice improvs in here too, with a dark and mysterious one at 43 minutes in. I also threw in some older songs of mine, including Bamboo 2 at 26:30, an instrumental version of Traveling Light at 34:30 and to finish everything off Voyage Home from Momotaro at 57 minutes.

It’s funny how at the time of doing these I sometimes feel like I’ve missed the mark, but when I listen back I’m able to hear more things that I like than I expected to. It’s kind of a nice musical journal in that way for me, since I can reflect on things in a new light and find something more positive about it all than at the time of the compositional experience. It reinforces something I’ve long felt about the whole artistic process too, which is that it’s most important to just consistently show up rather than sitting around waiting for inspiration to strike. In other words if you’re already in place chipping away at something, you’ll be perfectly poised to take advantage when inspiration does strike, as opposed to only then picking up the tools to begin the process.

Episode 2 String Theories Apr 07, 2023

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Live composed on Twitch April 4, 2023

Episode 1 For Relaxing Times April 3, 2023 Apr 03, 2023

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The music from this episode was all composed and performed live during a Twitch stream on March 30, 2023. Twitch username Takenobumusic.

Mellow Cello Podcast Trailer Apr 03, 2023

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Background music taken from episode 1 For Relaxing Times