The Wondrous Midi Compositions
of Yo Kubota

by Douglas Milburn
 

The Problem with Midi’s
The door that was first opened by jazz was flung wide by the computer, which gave instant, easy, cheap access to all possible tonalities, rhythms, and sonic structures.

One of the first such computer tools was the midi, an interface which gives a composer access to a variety of musical and percussive sounds. In unskilled hands, a piece of midi music is primitive and simplistic, generally sounding mechanical and monotonous. In talented hands, midi becomes a valid, rich means of musical communication.

How rich?

Here we will let the work of Yo Kubota speak for itself.

In the drop-down menu below you’ll find several of Mr. Kubota’s midi’s:

1. "Travel of a Holy Night."
Actually the title should be, "Travel of a Silent Night," because this is Mr. Kubota’s homage to THE central Christmas carol. As he describes it, the piece "repeats the melody of [Silent Night] six times with a scale of Miyakobusi(Japan), seven equally divided scale(Siamese), Pelog(Java), Bhairav(Hindu), Maqam Rast(Arab) and Pythagoras(Western medieval). Finally, all instruments play in concert."

2. "To the Victims of a Holy Night."
Again, this is "Silent Night" as you’ve never heard it. According to Mr. Kubota, "it's a parody of Penderecki's ‘To the Victims of Hiroshima.’" He notes that he "would like to dedicate this piece to the rejected lovers who drink with a vengeance in their despair on Christmas Eve."

This may be the single most remarkable midi I’ve ever heard. First, it is a true and accurate homage to/satire of Penderecki, containing eerie pseudo-orchestral effects beyond anything I thought midi was capable of. Second, it is a subtle, funny satire both of 20^th century "serious" music and simultaneously of the hypocrisy of sententious capitalist Christmas.

3. "Flow My Tears."
From the funny to the sublime. One of the most hauntingly beautiful songs in the Western canon is "Flow My Tears," by John Dowland (1562-1626). The song made him famous, and he used the melody repeatedly in various forms, most notably in his Lachrimae. This is one of those small works that a gifted singer on a good day can ride into the heavens. But reduce it to midi? Against all odds, Mr. Kubota has, working within the severe limitations of midi, done the song justice.

4. "Auld Lang Syne."
Yo Kubota has also been active in an area of composition known as fractal music, in which composers apply to sound the mathematical formulas which produce the lovely, infinite graphic regressions known as fractals. Here, Mr. Kubota applies fractal theory very subtly to another Western chestnut.

5. "Mandelbrot Suite No. 2."
For those with adventurous ears, here’s one selection from a multi-part composition by Mr. Kubota, using his own fractal software and his own wide-ranging midi abilities.