164 / 203soundworksmylist |
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mixi communityYou might already know 164 as the composer of the popular songs,
shiningray and
Jibun Inch Monitor. It is also his first work, which is why he had quite a successful introduction in the Vocaloid community and continues to gain impressive following even now. 164, by the way, is often read in Japanese (ichirokuyon). 203soundworks come about when you add 164 and 39 (miku).
164's music is centered on guitar-rich rock songs ranging from rock ballads to rock-to-screamo borders, and he himself said he's basically interested in emo to hardcore songs. There are literally tons of good rock composers in the Vocaloid community, but what makes 164 unique is how he is flexible with his music. Despite his awesome guitar-playing, he does not base his music on guitars alone. Most of the time, his works are dominated by
really amazing drums, piano, violin, or electronic music, with the guitar melody vibrating underneath it before slowly rising to a loud chorus or instrumental. He is also very creative with his intros and instrument usage that no two of his works sound similar unless you focus on the guitar-playing.
His main Vocaloids are Miku and GUMI, although he also uses Rin/Len from time to time. His Miku seems to be stereotyped towards his rock/emo ballads probably because it's the genre he started with. GUMI was used more in his upbeat works. His Miku's tuning differs through time, as she was first tuned with a shaky deep voice, but recently she sounds higher and more solid with slight curves in her lines. His GUMI is also tuned solidly and often alternately very low and very high, despite GUMI's "breathiness" (which doesn't show much in his works). His Rin is tuned thin and high, a bit similar to LiveP's tuning with curls at the ends of her lines.
The popularity of his works led him to release successful solo albums like
EXIT TUNES PRESENTS the complete best of 164 from 203soundworks feat. Hatsune Miku and
Memory -164 from 203soundworks-. He has also contributed to a lot of EXIT TUNES compilations including
Super Producers Beat, Stardom 2, Vocaloanthems, and
Supernovas 1-5. He is also part of neko's album
Trapped in Her Eyes.
Aside from writing Vocaloid songs, 164 also participates in a band, PEIM, composed of Popeko, Espee, 164 and Mado (hence the acronym). He also lends his guitar-playing prowess to 40mP, in the latter's work for DAISYxDAISY. He and 40mP also collaborated recently to produce the beautiful song
Time Machine, which lyrics were written by 164.
sample songs•
sleeping beauty (Miku)
•
madder sky (Miku)
•
Kibou no Hashi to Jiyuu no Mahou no Tsugi (Rin)
•
Tokotoko (GUMI)
•
inori (GUMI)
nikki saysI didn't like Shiningray much, so in the past I tended to skim over 164's works, but when I listened to Madder Sky, I decided I should give him a listen. I was never disappointed afterwards :D. I prefer his upbeat songs more than his rock ballads, but his piano works in his ballads is awesome. I often await how he'd do his intro and what instrument he'd use because it's different every time XD. Despite the fact that I love GUMI to the extreme, I prefer listening to 164's Miku.
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fascinates2011-08-25 10:49 pm
