[A Sip of Books] How Does Music Influence Society? ... Answer from Studio Ghibli's Chief Music Director

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This is a collection of conversations between Joe Hisaishi and Takeshi Yoro, an authority in neuroscience and anatomy. Joe Hisaishi is the music director behind countless masterpieces representing Studio Ghibli, including "My Neighbor Totoro," "Spirited Away," "Howl's Moving Castle," and "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea." Within the broad theme of "Why do humans create music, and what significance do art and senses have in society?" the two cover a wide range of topics including music, art, science, philosophy, sociology, humanities, and insect ecology. Readers can also glimpse the important points Joe Hisaishi values in music and composition, as well as the intimate reflections during his creative process.

It is easy to think that sounds or music are heard only through the ears, but in fact, vibrations are detected by various parts of the body, so sound is not necessarily heard only by the ears. The ears are not just organs that capture the external world but are deeply connected to the inside of the body as well. - p.45 from Chapter 1: Humans Moved by Music

I believe such experiences are important in music. Music that can be easily obtained by pressing a few buttons on a mobile phone lacks heartfelt emotion. It will quickly become tiresome. This applies to everything: things you obtain through your own effort and action cannot be easily discarded or abandoned. At first, it’s fine to download and listen, but I hope that becomes a starting point to become a fan of that musician, buy CDs, find out when and where concerts are held, purchase tickets, and go to listen. The most moving way to listen to music is by making that effort yourself. Doing so makes the music unforgettable. - p.103 from Chapter 2: The Soil of Sensory Sensitivity

Placing a single note in time with a tap, I believe the best music is created from the moment the architectural work of composing music in time begins through various organic combinations, continuously building it as an objective entity. Of course, there are many times when it doesn’t go well. In that regard, Mozart’s music is a masterpiece objectively constructed in time, which is why it has become universally good music beyond eras. - p.127 from Chapter 3: What Is Good Music?

When pursuing that “genuine” path to some extent, I feel that I am not the one creating or choosing the sounds. It’s not that I am selecting, but rather that somewhere there is the best answer, a necessary solution where all pieces fit perfectly, and I must find it. This is not a fundamentalist idea that placing this element here must inevitably lead to this development. However, there is a difference between thinking that the chooser is myself and believing there is an optimal answer and thoroughly striving and struggling to reach it. Seen that way, even composers do not write music relying solely on their emotions. It is a process of exploration, thinking about what happens if I do this, what changes, and what changes again. - p.226 from Chapter 5: Empathy and Creation

Nowadays, people tend to reject things that do not benefit them. However, whatever materials are given, we must paint our lifelong work with them. Thinking that way gives new meaning even to things that seem pointless to try. Even if you only have cheap canvases and messy paints, you must paint as best as you can?that is the work of a lifetime. It seems that people in the past implicitly felt they had such a task, and it appeared in the form of practice or discipline. - p.236 from Chapter 6: All Humans Are Artists

If we accept the premise that humans are beings who change, we can cherish this very moment. Tomorrow’s me will be different from today’s me. It’s okay to be different. Even if you are not an artist by profession, if you think life is a work and you are the artist creating that work, you might find something to refer to or clues within such an artist’s life. - p.239 from Chapter 6: All Humans Are Artists

So We Listen to Music | Written by Joe Hisaishi & Takeshi Yoro | Translated by Jeongmi Lee | Hyunik Publishing | 272 pages | 20,000 KRW

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