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10GOKU LAISHIR
3 years ago
So recently I put out my first-ever proper music piece. It's a cover/re-arrangement/remix?, but it is also an 88-piece orchestra, so like, have at it if you're not aware: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/50244066/
I think I'll re-do whatever reflections I have here in the future when I've had more time to mull over, but wow this project has been something. I haven't drawn anything substantive in over a month since I've been so busy with finishing the song, but boy it's been a long road.
I proposed the first sketch of what would be 10GOKU LAISHIR to Hanzo and Majic all the way back in May, actually. It was a very crude sketch using a free orchestral VST. It was a Western orchestra too, and I still didn't know the song was in E minor; the sketch was done right over top the original track downloaded straight off of YouTube in glorious 192kbps res, and only consisted of a string section and percussion. I didn't know how to write for Western brass at the time—okay, to be fair, I still don't now—and I was honestly really fucking scared of approaching Hanzo and Majic for permission to get this project going. So, of course, I was just really glad that both of them just went "hell yeah go for it, here's the stems". I didn't even know what I was really doing at the time. Like, I still don't really now, but I really really didn't know what I was doing then.
I went, well, I don't know how to write music, but I DO want to write this orchestral cover. So I think I just started there, slowly and steadily. Learned me basic music theory, chord progressions, modal interchange. June was a big breakthrough moment for me, because it was when I made "10goku 2.flp". It was my sketch experiment exploring a new idea (which would eventually evolve to become the final intro) but also in Chinese orchestra. The thought hadn't even occurred to me till then. I want to say that October was when the project kicked into high gear, because that's when "10goku 3.flp" was created and oh god FL Studio tracks your time good lord 106 hours are you kidding m--
I did have some music lessons when I was younger (I was a piano Asian), but nothing I really took seriously until much later; for all intents and purposes, 10GOKU LAISHIR is 80% what I learned in basically the last month and a half. It's been an absolute doozy of a ride. But I wanted to say there's no way this would have been possible without the support of a lot of people I'm indebted to:
* Of course, there's Hanzo and Majic, who of course let me do this sort of thing at all. Letting someone else, especially someone who's totally unproven, remix your baby is not a given and I was fully expecting them to be hesitant when I first proposed the idea, especially when the proposal was "hey, I want to write an orchestral arrangement for it". The perceived cultural gulf between hip-hop and classical music scenes is one made of turbulent waters, especially considering I was, again, still totally unproven at the time. I'm still not sure if I can really convey how thankful I am: they had every place to believe I could just be another jackass who likes the Second Viennese School way too much and thinks rap is "bad music", on top of the fact I still don't really listen to much hip-hop even now. Hence, massive shoutout to them; beyond being the original musicians of 10GOKU they are also foundational. 10GOKU LAISHIR It really would not have happened without their amenity.
* Hanzo, again, but this time for being patient with educating me on hip-hop musical customs. It is a very foreign world to someone whose childhood musical tentpoles were Elite Beat Agents, Ghibli scores, and The Beatles. I'm still not an expert, by any means—my most crowning achievements so far was being able to identify CREAM by the Wu-Tang Clan is East Coast, and being able to describe what a "chopper flow" is—but it is definitely more than I knew six months ago. I'm not sure what collaborations are in store in the foreseeable future—hip-hop music is still not something I'm inclined to. But I've always wanted to grow to appreciate it at least and this is a big step towards that, and I have Hanzo to thank almost exclusively for it.
* The other [glances at Notion page] real OG in this equation is Shost. Also superbly patient, I cannot thank them enough for entertaining my thoughts and helping me bumble my way through music theory. They're the one who answered many dumb questions about music theory and writing, which also helped me actually formalise a lot of my thoughts as someone of East Asian cultural background into something tangible that I could actually build off of. I hinted on Twitter about how I accidentally invented a new scale for this song. I still stand by that (I think the best name I have for it right now is the "Yonanuki Tan-Cho Onkai"), but again without their help, I'd have gotten nowhere. I was talking to them last night about how I kind of wish I recoded our workshop sessions so that you all could know of the beautiful moments when both of us would yell "高胡 STUCK", but on second thought, I think it's weirdly special enough to save it for just between us two.
* KDEN for teaching me about digital music production. Again, superbly patient with me, and I owe them a lot; they showed me how to mix and master, particularly how to use EQs and compressors to process vocals clearly. I know they'll read this and be all modest—don't believe them, they know more than they let on.
* Additional shoutouts to to Steve for entertaining my hardware and VST adventures, and June because she's aunt June and that's just kind of her deal.
Last but not least, shoutout to my fellow CJKasians in furry subculture. We might be the "most" represented in the fandom of any nonwestern culture, but we all know that it's not something to be grateful for. We know white furries only extract the bits of our culture that is convenient to them, and leave us in the dust to try to hope someone likes the less marketable parts that aren't easy incorrectly rotated katakana on a t-shirt. I share and struggle under that environment too. The indecipherable distant chatter in the distance at the end of 10GOKU LAISHIR was Nonstop speaking at their Beasts from the East event from earlier this year. It encapsulates a lot of my feelings that I also tried to convey in the song.
Hanzo made an astute observation the other day about how he's the only published Asian rapper in the fandom, and how now his song was remixed by, what appears to be, the only Asian Chinese orchestra writer in fandom too. It feels lonely sometimes, but also exhilarating. He wanted to call this rearrangement the "True Asia Edition", which while I decided against because really the only Asian cultures being represented here were that of Japan and China, a part of me still feels there is still very true contained within that original title. 'cause he's right, this is a "true Asian edition", something that is rare in this community yet also something that is not really seen as a problem when the biggest commercial entities in this fandom are those that peddle, as Nonstop puts it, shirts written by Google Translate. It's a "true Asia edition", one not commercialised or sanitised to please those who do not need to and never will care for our people, but unfiltered and delivered raw. No one talking on our behalf.
So thank you all, CJKasians, and Asian furries more broadly. You are all still special to me; if there's anything for you to take away from this, it's that I want you to go out and make your own True Asian Edition anything. We need it more than ever.
I'm Kavaeric; I am a visual artist, and not only am I now a musician who composes for Chinese orchestra, but I am the only one in the entire furry fandom who can do it. みんなありがとう、谢谢大家🧧🌸
I think I'll re-do whatever reflections I have here in the future when I've had more time to mull over, but wow this project has been something. I haven't drawn anything substantive in over a month since I've been so busy with finishing the song, but boy it's been a long road.
I proposed the first sketch of what would be 10GOKU LAISHIR to Hanzo and Majic all the way back in May, actually. It was a very crude sketch using a free orchestral VST. It was a Western orchestra too, and I still didn't know the song was in E minor; the sketch was done right over top the original track downloaded straight off of YouTube in glorious 192kbps res, and only consisted of a string section and percussion. I didn't know how to write for Western brass at the time—okay, to be fair, I still don't now—and I was honestly really fucking scared of approaching Hanzo and Majic for permission to get this project going. So, of course, I was just really glad that both of them just went "hell yeah go for it, here's the stems". I didn't even know what I was really doing at the time. Like, I still don't really now, but I really really didn't know what I was doing then.
I went, well, I don't know how to write music, but I DO want to write this orchestral cover. So I think I just started there, slowly and steadily. Learned me basic music theory, chord progressions, modal interchange. June was a big breakthrough moment for me, because it was when I made "10goku 2.flp". It was my sketch experiment exploring a new idea (which would eventually evolve to become the final intro) but also in Chinese orchestra. The thought hadn't even occurred to me till then. I want to say that October was when the project kicked into high gear, because that's when "10goku 3.flp" was created and oh god FL Studio tracks your time good lord 106 hours are you kidding m--
I did have some music lessons when I was younger (I was a piano Asian), but nothing I really took seriously until much later; for all intents and purposes, 10GOKU LAISHIR is 80% what I learned in basically the last month and a half. It's been an absolute doozy of a ride. But I wanted to say there's no way this would have been possible without the support of a lot of people I'm indebted to:
* Of course, there's Hanzo and Majic, who of course let me do this sort of thing at all. Letting someone else, especially someone who's totally unproven, remix your baby is not a given and I was fully expecting them to be hesitant when I first proposed the idea, especially when the proposal was "hey, I want to write an orchestral arrangement for it". The perceived cultural gulf between hip-hop and classical music scenes is one made of turbulent waters, especially considering I was, again, still totally unproven at the time. I'm still not sure if I can really convey how thankful I am: they had every place to believe I could just be another jackass who likes the Second Viennese School way too much and thinks rap is "bad music", on top of the fact I still don't really listen to much hip-hop even now. Hence, massive shoutout to them; beyond being the original musicians of 10GOKU they are also foundational. 10GOKU LAISHIR It really would not have happened without their amenity.
* Hanzo, again, but this time for being patient with educating me on hip-hop musical customs. It is a very foreign world to someone whose childhood musical tentpoles were Elite Beat Agents, Ghibli scores, and The Beatles. I'm still not an expert, by any means—my most crowning achievements so far was being able to identify CREAM by the Wu-Tang Clan is East Coast, and being able to describe what a "chopper flow" is—but it is definitely more than I knew six months ago. I'm not sure what collaborations are in store in the foreseeable future—hip-hop music is still not something I'm inclined to. But I've always wanted to grow to appreciate it at least and this is a big step towards that, and I have Hanzo to thank almost exclusively for it.
* The other [glances at Notion page] real OG in this equation is Shost. Also superbly patient, I cannot thank them enough for entertaining my thoughts and helping me bumble my way through music theory. They're the one who answered many dumb questions about music theory and writing, which also helped me actually formalise a lot of my thoughts as someone of East Asian cultural background into something tangible that I could actually build off of. I hinted on Twitter about how I accidentally invented a new scale for this song. I still stand by that (I think the best name I have for it right now is the "Yonanuki Tan-Cho Onkai"), but again without their help, I'd have gotten nowhere. I was talking to them last night about how I kind of wish I recoded our workshop sessions so that you all could know of the beautiful moments when both of us would yell "高胡 STUCK", but on second thought, I think it's weirdly special enough to save it for just between us two.
* KDEN for teaching me about digital music production. Again, superbly patient with me, and I owe them a lot; they showed me how to mix and master, particularly how to use EQs and compressors to process vocals clearly. I know they'll read this and be all modest—don't believe them, they know more than they let on.
* Additional shoutouts to to Steve for entertaining my hardware and VST adventures, and June because she's aunt June and that's just kind of her deal.
Last but not least, shoutout to my fellow CJKasians in furry subculture. We might be the "most" represented in the fandom of any nonwestern culture, but we all know that it's not something to be grateful for. We know white furries only extract the bits of our culture that is convenient to them, and leave us in the dust to try to hope someone likes the less marketable parts that aren't easy incorrectly rotated katakana on a t-shirt. I share and struggle under that environment too. The indecipherable distant chatter in the distance at the end of 10GOKU LAISHIR was Nonstop speaking at their Beasts from the East event from earlier this year. It encapsulates a lot of my feelings that I also tried to convey in the song.
Hanzo made an astute observation the other day about how he's the only published Asian rapper in the fandom, and how now his song was remixed by, what appears to be, the only Asian Chinese orchestra writer in fandom too. It feels lonely sometimes, but also exhilarating. He wanted to call this rearrangement the "True Asia Edition", which while I decided against because really the only Asian cultures being represented here were that of Japan and China, a part of me still feels there is still very true contained within that original title. 'cause he's right, this is a "true Asian edition", something that is rare in this community yet also something that is not really seen as a problem when the biggest commercial entities in this fandom are those that peddle, as Nonstop puts it, shirts written by Google Translate. It's a "true Asia edition", one not commercialised or sanitised to please those who do not need to and never will care for our people, but unfiltered and delivered raw. No one talking on our behalf.
So thank you all, CJKasians, and Asian furries more broadly. You are all still special to me; if there's anything for you to take away from this, it's that I want you to go out and make your own True Asian Edition anything. We need it more than ever.
I'm Kavaeric; I am a visual artist, and not only am I now a musician who composes for Chinese orchestra, but I am the only one in the entire furry fandom who can do it. みんなありがとう、谢谢大家🧧🌸
Madash
~pambrose99
Super awesome! I only recently started following, and I definitely thought you were a professional musician with all the cool music you were putting out.
