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On Ensemble

On Ensemble Radio

General Info

  • Genre: Ambient / Jazz / Other

    Location Los Angeles, California, US

    Profile Views: 34377

    Last Login: 2/25/2010

    Member Since 8/26/2005

    Website www.OnEnsemble.org

    Record Label Turtlefield Music

    Type of Label Indie

  • Bio

    ...... .... On Ensemble – Ume In The Middle – May 5, 2009.... ..By fusing traditional Japanese drums, or taiko, and contemporary mediums like hip-hop, electronica, and rock, ..On Ensemble.. creates a beautiful chemistry of sound. On their second full-length studio album, ..Ume in the Middle.., releasing May 5, 2009 on Turtlefield Music, the fusion of time-honored eastern and western components with contemporary elements offer a modern-day feel to world music that is beyond interesting... ..Through continuous avant-garde musical stylings and a sense of giving back to the community, ..On Ensemble.. fortifies their sound by caring deeply about their music and their audience. The members, Masato Baba, Kristofer Bergstrom, Shoji Kameda, and Kelvin Underwood have been playing music for the majority of their lives and have studied taiko under professional groups and masters from the United States and Japan. Their experiences have helped them mold themselves and their sound into something they feel is important and meaningful... ..Producer and main composer of the group, Shoji Kameda, stresses ..On Ensemble’s ..live performances and recordings as two separate art forms. “You will never recreate the experience of a live performance on an album, because you aren’t experiencing the music as it happens,” Kameda says. “You’re not there with the artist feeding off their energy. Once you record something and play it back, it becomes an echo of that experience, a facsimile, a photograph of the moment. I feel like the way to make an album come alive is to embrace the studio and recording process as part of the creative process.” Ume in the Middle, recorded in the band’s small Silverlake studio, was approached in this manner and the product is a vibrant recording full of life... ..The song “After Rain” is one of ..On Ensemble’s.. signature pieces that they often perform live. “It has Japanese music elements with the fue (bamboo flute) melody in the beginning along with throat singing,” says Kameda. Throat singing, or overtone, is a particular style of singing in which the voice is able to generate two or more notes at the same time. These techniques are found all throughout central Asia; the most famous is the Tuvan style. “After Rain” is also driven by Underwood’s playing on the drum kit in 5/4, a non-standard time signature, and Kameda’s use of effects on some of the koto (Japanese stringed instrument) parts to get a guitar-esque sound, as well as a gated vocal effect. Combine that with Baba’s vocals at the end to give a rock tinge, and a riqq solo (traditional Arabic tambourine) at the end by the band’s good friend and frequent collaborator, Patrick Graham, and you have a highly developed song representative of the ..On Ensemble.. sound... ..While ..On Ensemble.. revolves heavily around the rhythmic melody of the Japanese drums, they cite contemporary jazz composer and Japanese harp player June Kuramoto, hand percussionist Patrick Graham, pianist/composer Kimo Cornwell, as well as jazz groups Esborn Svensson Trio, The Bad Plus, and Cinematic Orchestra among their influences. Sigur Ros, Mum, Mouse and Mars, Balinese Gamelan and overtone singing from Central Asia also find their way into the ..On Ensemble.. sound. The group has managed to gain a lot of knowledge about their music and genre, but is constantly trying to perfect it. ..On Ensemble.. is a band that is very conscious of trying to push boundaries within their art form, and are constantly learning and incorporating new ideas and elements into their music. .. .. .. .. .. License this music for commercial use through ..Pump Audio.. ..

  • Members

    ....Masato Baba..:.. Taiko, Percussion, Voice, Bamboo Flutes, Tuvan Throat Singing .. ..Kristofer Bergstrom:.. Taiko, Percussion, Voice, Koto, Turntable, Shamisen .. ....Shoji Kameda..:.. Taiko, Percussion, Voice, Bamboo Flutes, Tuvan Throat Singing .. ..Kelvin Underwood:.. Taiko, Percussion, Voice, Drumkit

  • Influences

    Too many to name! Cinematic Orchestra, Mouse on Mars, Old and New Dreams, Saul Williams, Tabla Beat Science, TV on the Radio, Miles Davis, John McLaughlin, The Bad Plus, Esborn Svensson Trio, Sigur Ros, Mum, Antipop Consortium, Boards of Canada, Doudou Ndiaye Rose, KODO, Javanese and Balinese Gamelan, overtone singing traditions from Central Asia, all of our teachers, sensei and artists who continue to inspire us.

  • Sounds Like

    2 parts Taiko (Japanese Drum), 1 part late-70s Jazz, 2 cups of computer geek, 3 tablespoons of nagauta, 1 part identity crisis, two shakes of hip-hop, and a dash of rock to taste.

Videos

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Comments

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  • cLuStErLuCk

      ..
     HEY HEY !!! :)) HOW ARE YOU ??
    ..THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR SHARING YOUR COOL SPACE AND TALENTS WITH US !!..
      ...we hope you can find something to love in here as well !!

    ..**150+ TUNES ON OUR PLAYER / PLAYLISTS COVERING MANY ROCK / METAL GENRES  & *OTHERS* FROM OUR BANDS PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE !!  & SOME SPECIAL FRIENDS AS WELL ;) !!  ..we're appreciative of all musical styles so we hope there's something for all along the journey through our 16 spaces (all in our top friends if you space-hop through..)  ..**PLEASE DON'T JUDGE BY THE FIRST FEW TRACKS HERE AS IT REALLY IS ALL DIFFERENT WITH THE MANY MOODS OF OUR SONGS & THE VOCALS...
         
       **we seem to have a.. Grungy, Spongy, Rocky, Cocky, Thrashy, Brashy, Crashy, Jazzy, Spazzy, Snazzy, Bluesy, Snoozy, Woozy, Punky, Funky, Crunky, Boppy, Poppy, Hippie-Hoppy, Bit too Sloppy, Happy, Sappy, Rappy, Zappy, Tippy-Tappy, Top-Alternative, Indie-40 type New Acoustic-Wave, Scream-o-Emo-Billy, Hair-Techno sound !!!
     ..with some Electro-Country, Show-Death, Speed-Trance, Soul-Fusion, Prog-Grass, Mellow-Core, Classical-Rhythm & Shock, Folk-Opera, Ethnic-Americana, Christian-Goth, and but of course...  ..Lounge-Metal*  ;)) ..added to the mix to keep it a little more interesting ;)

    ....***** FUTURE CLASSIC ROCK BAND !!    ....*of sorts !! ;o !!
     
      ..ALTHOUGH WE'RE NOT THE BEST ENGINEERS ON THE BEST GEAR.. *and I'm far from a trained vocalist. ;o !! ..WE THINK WE'VE GOT SOME COOL ..MEMORABLE SONGS - GIVEN THE CHANCE** ;))..
    ..and our forthcoming effort sounds much better in the quality dept !!!..
     **48 new tunes on 3-discs and finally near completion after 4 years;)) ..and once again with the musical styles.... 
      ....**ANYTHING GOES !!!** ;-P

    ....**PLEASE VISIT.. PLEASE LISTEN.. PLEASE ENJOY.. ;))
    .. and PLEASE POST YOUR COMMENTS / ADS HERE ANYTIME :)) !! 
    ....OUR FRIENDS ARE AWESOME AND FROM ALL MUSICAL WALKS OF LIFE..;)).. THEY CERTAINLY COME BACK FOR MORE WHEN THEY LOVE WHAT THEY HEAR SO PLEASE DO LET THEM KNOW YOU'RE HERE :)) ;))    ..**THANKS SO MUCH AGAIN FOR ROCKIN' WITH US AND WE WISH YOU A SUCCESSFUL YEAR AHEAD !!!
    .....Sincerely...Rockingly... ROB* & TODD* :))

    .....cLuStErLuCk..vulcan..drop..cusp..omega..

    .. whew !!! ;)... * ( DON'T PANIC !!.. we only post this crazy-long thing one time !! ;o )... THANK YOU* !!!
    ..

    1 year ago
  • DISSTRICK

    Hey, just stoppin by to show sum luv on ur page.  By the way, we just uploaded a track from our new album "That's What SHE Said" plus 9 tracks from our 1st album.  You should check 'em out and tell us what you think.  You won't "regret" it.

    1 year ago
  • Tampa Taiko

    Tampa Taiko is playing a concert performance in Ybor City at Hillsborough Community College's Mainstage Theater on Wednesday, April 4th. This is a great chance to see the Big, Loud Drums in a setting that allows the audience to experience the full excitement of traditional Japanese Drumming.

    Tickets are $13 at the door, but advance sale tickets for $10 are available via this link: CLICK FOR TICKETS

    Thank you,

    Ron Collins
    Managing Director
    Tampa Taiko Japanese Drumming Ensemble
    www.TampaTaiko.com

     

    1 year ago
  • ROb BRaId

    hope u have a good day as well








    2 years ago
  • Patricia Johnson

    hope you have a good day !







    2 years ago
  • Adetha Buchheim

    Just wanted to say hi

    2 years ago
  • Dorothy Holle


    You guys are amazing ! Keep up the good work! Much Love and Respect.

    2 years ago
  • Brittany Smith

    just wanted to say i am such a big fan of all that you do.
    have a good day!






    2 years ago
  • Brittany Smith

    just wanted to say i am such a big fan of all that you do.
    have a good day!






    2 years ago
  • DAVId NOlen


    You're so good. I love your music!
    (:

    2 years ago
10 of 154More

Bio:

On Ensemble – Ume In The Middle – May 5, 2009

By fusing traditional Japanese drums, or taiko, and contemporary mediums like hip-hop, electronica, and rock, On Ensemble creates a beautiful chemistry of sound. On their second full-length studio album, Ume in the Middle, releasing May 5, 2009 on Turtlefield Music, the fusion of time-honored eastern and western components with contemporary elements offer a modern-day feel to world music that is beyond interesting.

Through continuous avant-garde musical stylings and a sense of giving back to the community, On Ensemble fortifies their sound by caring deeply about their music and their audience. The members, Masato Baba, Kristofer Bergstrom, Shoji Kameda, and Kelvin Underwood have been playing music for the majority of their lives and have studied taiko under professional groups and masters from the United States and Japan. Their experiences have helped them mold themselves and their sound into something they feel is important and meaningful.

Producer and main composer of the group, Shoji Kameda, stresses On Ensemble’s live performances and recordings as two separate art forms. “You will never recreate the experience of a live performance on an album, because you aren’t experiencing the music as it happens,” Kameda says. “You’re not there with the artist feeding off their energy. Once you record something and play it back, it becomes an echo of that experience, a facsimile, a photograph of the moment. I feel like the way to make an album come alive is to embrace the studio and recording process as part of the creative process.” Ume in the Middle, recorded in the band’s small Silverlake studio, was approached in this manner and the product is a vibrant recording full of life.

The song “After Rain” is one of On Ensemble’s signature pieces that they often perform live. “It has Japanese music elements with the fue (bamboo flute) melody in the beginning along with throat singing,” says Kameda. Throat singing, or overtone, is a particular style of singing in which the voice is able to generate two or more notes at the same time. These techniques are found all throughout central Asia; the most famous is the Tuvan style. “After Rain” is also driven by Underwood’s playing on the drum kit in 5/4, a non-standard time signature, and Kameda’s use of effects on some of the koto (Japanese stringed instrument) parts to get a guitar-esque sound, as well as a gated vocal effect. Combine that with Baba’s vocals at the end to give a rock tinge, and a riqq solo (traditional Arabic tambourine) at the end by the band’s good friend and frequent collaborator, Patrick Graham, and you have a highly developed song representative of the On Ensemble sound.

While On Ensemble revolves heavily around the rhythmic melody of the Japanese drums, they cite contemporary jazz composer and Japanese harp player June Kuramoto, hand percussionist Patrick Graham, pianist/composer Kimo Cornwell, as well as jazz groups Esborn Svensson Trio, The Bad Plus, and Cinematic Orchestra among their influences. Sigur Ros, Mum, Mouse and Mars, Balinese Gamelan and overtone singing from Central Asia also find their way into the On Ensemble sound. The group has managed to gain a lot of knowledge about their music and genre, but is constantly trying to perfect it. On Ensemble is a band that is very conscious of trying to push boundaries within their art form, and are constantly learning and incorporating new ideas and elements into their music.


License this music for commercial use through Pump Audio

Member Since:

August 26, 2005

Members:

Masato Baba: Taiko, Percussion, Voice, Bamboo Flutes, Tuvan Throat Singing
Kristofer Bergstrom: Taiko, Percussion, Voice, Koto, Turntable, Shamisen
Shoji Kameda: Taiko, Percussion, Voice, Bamboo Flutes, Tuvan Throat Singing
Kelvin Underwood: Taiko, Percussion, Voice, Drumkit

Influences:

Too many to name! Cinematic Orchestra, Mouse on Mars, Old and New Dreams, Saul Williams, Tabla Beat Science, TV on the Radio, Miles Davis, John McLaughlin, The Bad Plus, Esborn Svensson Trio, Sigur Ros, Mum, Antipop Consortium, Boards of Canada, Doudou Ndiaye Rose, KODO, Javanese and Balinese Gamelan, overtone singing traditions from Central Asia, all of our teachers, sensei and artists who continue to inspire us.

Sounds Like:

2 parts Taiko (Japanese Drum), 1 part late-70s Jazz, 2 cups of computer geek, 3 tablespoons of nagauta, 1 part identity crisis, two shakes of hip-hop, and a dash of rock to taste.

Record Label:

Turtlefield Music

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