Legendary electronic music pioneer speaks
If there’s a name that’s synonymous with Japanese electronic music it’s Isao Tomita, whose 1974 album Snowflakes Are Dancing was an early experimental work that, alongside Western works such as Walter Carlos’ Switched-On Bach, provided a foundation for modern electronic music.
In an interview for Resident Advisor, Tomita is joined by Hideki Matsutake – one of his pupils and one-time member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (Matsutake is also better known for his own electronic music venture Logic System). Now aged 80, Tomita recalls flying to the US to purchase a Moog synth and the 16 months it took to write and produce Snowflakes Are Dancing in which he adapted the works of Claude Debussy for the electronic age.
