Toshimaru Nakamura is a Japanese musician, active in

free improvisation Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any general rules, instead following the intuition of its performers. The term can refer to both a technique—employed by any musician in any genre—and as a recognizable genre of ...

and onkyokei. He began his career playing

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

guitar, but gradually explored other types of music, even abandoning guitar, and started working on

circuit bending Circuit bending is the creative customization of the circuits within electronic devices such as children's toys and digital synthesizers to create new musical or visual instruments and sound generators. Circuit bending is manipulating a circuit ...

. He uses a

mixing console A mixing console or mixing desk is an electronic device for Audio mixing (recorded music), mixing audio signals, used in sound recording and reproduction and sound reinforcement systems. Inputs to the console include microphones, signals fro ...

as a live, interactive

musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make Music, musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person ...

: "Nakamura plays the 'no-input mixing board', connecting the input of the board to the output, then manipulating the resultant

audio feedback Audio feedback (also known as acoustic feedback, simply as feedback) is a positive feedback situation that may occur when an acoustic path exists between an audio output (for example, a loudspeaker) and its audio input (for example, a microphon ...

Todd S. Jenkins Todd or Todds may refer to: Places Australia * Todd River, an ephemeral river United States * Todd Valley, California, also known as Todd, an unincorporated community * Todd, Missouri, a ghost town * Todd, North Carolina, an unincorporated c ...

(2004). ''Free jazz and free improvisation'', p.250. . "His principal tool is his 'no-input' mixing board used to create feedback and tiny electronic sounds that are amplified tremendously." Nakamura's music has been described as "sounds ranging from piercing high tones and shimmering whistles to galumphing, crackle-spattered bass patterns." Nakamura founded the ensemble A Paragon of Beauty in 1992. He has recorded solo albums, worked as a

session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...

, and collaborated with artists including Sachiko M ("a kindred spirit"), Otomo Yoshihide, Keith Rowe, John Butcher,

Espen Reinertsen Espen Reinertsen (born 1979 in Gran, Norway) is a Norwegian saxophonist, flutist, composer, and music producer. Biography Reinertsen released his debut solo album in 2015 on the label of Susanna Wallumrød, SusannaSonata. He followed up with t ...

Nicholas Bussmann Nicholas Bussmann is a composer and performer. He founded the Love Song Competition, which takes place every year in Berlin. Nicholas Bussmann has collaborated with Toshimaru Nakamura ( Alles 3) and Martin Brandlmayr (Kapital band 1) amongst othe ...

, Taku Sugimoto, Tetuzi Akiyama, dancer Kim Ito, and drummer Jason Kahn.

Sources

External links

Toshimaru Nakamura Home Page
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110724180424/http://www.kobokusenju.no/site/toshimaru Toshimaru Nakamura's bio on Koboku Senjû website {{DEFAULTSORT:Nakamura, Toshimaru Free improvisation Electroacoustic improvisation Living people Japanese experimental musicians Samadhi Sound artists Year of birth missing (living people)