Solar Ray

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Solar Ray
File:Solar Ray - Hirasawa.jpg
Remix album by Susumu Hirasawa
Released October 11, 2001 (2001-10-11)
Recorded 6 July – 11 September 2001
Studio Studio WIRESELF 2001 Solar Version
Genre
Length 43:30
Language Japanese, Thai
Label Chaos Union, TESLAKITE CHTE-0004
Producer Susumu Hirasawa
Susumu Hirasawa live/remake chronology
error CD
(1990)error CD1990		 Solar Ray
(2001)		 nano-duplication memorials
(2003)nano-duplication memorials2003

Solar Ray (stylized and subtitled as SOLAR RAY Hirasawa best recycling album Recycled by P-MODEL kernel) is a 2001 remix album by Susumu Hirasawa. The centerpiece of "Hirasawa Energy Works", a project to produce music in an ecologically friendly way, it's heavily marked by a recycling concept.

Overview

In late 2000, Susumu Hirasawa switched cars from the gasoline-powered Citroën Xantia[1] to the hybrid electric Toyota Prius.[2] This triggered an interest in him for sustainable energy, later into the idea of using solar power to make music.[3] To that end, he purchased two 120-watt solar panels from Hokkaido-based renewable energy equipment retailer North Power for 200,000 yen, outfitted his home studio to be powered by them and connected two car batteries to store additional energy, which, combined with energy used directly from the panels during daytime, allowed Hirasawa to work for 12 hours.[4] To further optimize the work hours and prepare for bad weather days, instead of having all equipment turned on, as Hirasawa did in the past, only the ones necessary for what had to be done at a time were on. To this end, the studio was divided into areas: One was for composing/arranging (synthesizer, sampler, laptop, mixer), the other for recording/mixing (digital recorder, mixing console, recording booth);[5] instead of using an Amiga, Hirasawa emulated it through his Windows laptop (dubbing this "Solar AMIGA").[6] The studio was illuminated by less than 30 small low wattage blue LEDs. Hirasawa's workdays ended when there was no more energy remaining. In total, less than 7 kg of carbon dioxide were emitted during the making of the album.[7]

Solar Ray reuses old Susumu Hirasawa songs from previous albums, remixes them in the reutilised energetic Technopop style of P-Model (specifically, that of the "Defrosted" lineup that made P-Model & big body) mixed with Hirasawa's Symphonic Electronica style. The title can refer to either the method Hirasawa used to power his studio or it reutilises the name of a song from Hirasawa's debut, whose remix opens this album. In August 15, Hirasawa released free MP3 samples of the "Solar Ray" and "Philosopher's Propeller-1" remixes; in September 15, he released more samples, this time from the "Aurora", "Gemini" and "Virtual Rabbit" remixes. The cover art is designed to be featureless when seen under the naked eye, but would show detail when held to sunlight.[8]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Susumu Hirasawa. 

No. Title Originally from Length
1. "Solar Ray 2" (ソーラ・レイ 2 Sōra Rei 2) Water in Time and Space, 1989 3:37
2. "AURORA 2" (オーロラ 2 Ōrora 2) AURORA, 1994 4:27
3. "Philosopher's Propeller 3" (賢者のプロペラ 3 Kenja no Puropera 3) Philosopher's Propeller, 2000 4:44
4. "Gemini 2"   SIREN, 1996 4:14
5. "Sim City 2"   Sim City, 1995 4:49
6. "World Turbine 2" (世界タービン 2 Sekai Tābin 2) The Ghost in Science, 1990 4:11
7. "GARDENER KING 2" (庭師KING 2 Niwashi KING 2) Technique of Relief, 1998 4:43
8. "BERSERK - Forces 1.5"   BERSERK -Forces-, 1997 4:04
9. "Virtual Rabbit 2" (ヴァーチュアル・ラビット 2 Vāchuaru Rabitto 2) Virtual Rabbit, 1991 4:03
10. "IN THE SQUARE 2" (広場で 2 Hiroba de 2) AURORA, 1994 4:38

Track information

Solar Ray 2

This arrangement has a faster tempo than the original and the melody has been slightly changed.

AURORA 2

The lead synth melody and the guitar solo are taken from the P-MODEL song "HEAVEN", from the album Perspective.

Philosopher's Propeller 3
Gemini 2
  • It was featured in the first episode of Paranoia Agent, a series whose soundtrack was composed by Hirasawa.
  • A live version is included in the PHONON 2550 VISION video.
Sim City 2
  • A live version included in the LIVE Byakkoya video.
GARDENER KING 2

This arrangement is more relaxed than its original counterpart

  • Hirasawa played both versions of the song in the "Hirasawa Energy Works - Solar Live LIVE SOLAR RAY" show, he never played "GARDENER KING 2" again.
BERSERK - Forces 1.5

This arrangement's vocals drop one octave, described by Hirasawa as "painful singing".

  • A live version is included in the PHONON 2553 VISION video, re-arranged by Hirasawa in the style of "The Aggregated Past - Kangen Shugi 8760 Hours" project and informally called "BERSERK - Forces 1.5.2".
Virtual Rabbit 2
  • A live version is included in the PHONON 2551 VISION video.
In the Square 2
  • A live version is included in the PHONON 2550 VISION video.

Surplus Power

During the production of the "Hirasawa Energy Works" project, a surge of surplus power happened; during this surge, Hirasawa recorded: "D", an instrumental version of "Electric Light Bathing" from the SIREN album ("D" is short for "Denkōyoku", the romaji spelling of the song's title); "Audio File to Honor the Hunters", an alternate mix of the "Solar Ray" remix, with a speech in place of the standard mix's vocals and "LOOP The Sound Track β1", a composition originally intended to be included in the "Sim City" album that was left unfinished by Hirasawa; it was later re-utilised as the soundtrack for the short film "loop", conceived as a looping presentation, this short was intended to be viewed in passing in a large, open public space; it contains time lapse and real time footage supporting alternative energy concepts; the graphics are the animated extension of a cover design for Hemispheres that was inspired by the "Hirasawa Energy Works" project. The short was made by twenty2product, a motion graphics and interactive design company that had previously worked with Hirasawa on the short film "densha"; they later collaborated when Hirasawa did: The soundtracks to twenty2's intro sequence for the International Designers Network's second iteration of the "IdN My Favorite Conference" conference and twenty2's trade show loop featuring Adobe Expert Support; twenty2product also did motion graphics work for Hirasawa's "Interactive Live Show 2003 LIMBO-54" and "INTERACTIVE LIVE SHOW 2006 「LIVE Byakkoya」" tours.

Personnel

Live Solar Ray

Hirasawa Energy Works
Solar Live
LIVE SOLAR RAY
File:Susumu Hirasawa - LIVE SOLAR RAY.gif.png
Video by Susumu Hirasawa
Released September 24, 2002 (2002-09-24)
Recorded 10 November 2001
Venue Monument Plaza, Tsukuba Science Park, Tsukuba, Ibaraki
Genre
Length 1:22:00
Language Japanese, Thai
Label Chaos Union, TESLAKITE
Producer Susumu Hirasawa
Susumu Hirasawa video chronology
INTERACTIVE LIVE SHOW 2000
Philosopher's Propeller
version 1.4
(2000)String Module Error: Match not found2000		 Hirasawa Energy Works
Solar Live
LIVE SOLAR RAY
(2002)		 Interactive Live Show 2003
LIMBO-54
(2003)String Module Error: Match not found2003

Hirasawa Energy Works_Solar Live - LIVE SOLAR RAY is a recording of the first Hirasawa Energy Works_Solar Live - LIVE SOLAR RAY show. Hirasawa organized a "Energy Hunting" online event for his fans: They would divide themselves into five teams of "hunters", each team received a pocket sized solar powered battery charger and aimed to charge enough batteries to power Hirasawa's guitar amplifier, amplifier wireless receiver and Miburi for the show. To cut power consumption, Hirasawa forewent his PA system for FM broadcasting (attendants were asked to bring FM radios and headphones to the concert) and created the "Graviton" (グラヴィトン Guraviton?) (called "Dynamo Synthesizer" (ダイナモ・シンセサイザー Dainamo Shinsesaizā?) at the time), a large MIDI sampler powered by kinetic energy through his spinning of a wheel attached to it (Hirasawa kept using the Graviton in live shows from 2003 to 2011).[9] The shows marked the return and the last appearance of two instruments last used in the mid 90's: Analog synthesizers (a Korg MS-20) and Miburi (Hirasawa's only use of the white model). Songs from Solar Ray and from Hirasawa's solo albums, in their original arrangements, were performed. The first show happened in the rain, which led to a shortened encore due to a lack of energy. A different edit of the show, with no visual filters and different angles was broadcast in NHK-BS2 as part of a 80's New Wave Special highlighting P-Model on 28 November 2001; the special was hosted by Hirasawa's associate and multifaceted tarento Kensō Katō, and his interviews with some concertgoers were part of the special.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Susumu Hirasawa. 

No. Title Originally from Length
1. "Solar Ray 2" (ソーラ・レイ 2 Sōra Rei 2) Water in Time and Space, 1989  
2. "Philosopher's Propeller 3" (賢者のプロペラ 3 Kenja no Puropera 3) Philosopher's Propeller, 2000  
3. "Caravan"   Sim City, 1995  
4. "Sim City 2"   Sim City, 1995  
5. "The Garden Where the Solutions are Found" (課題が見出される庭園 Kadai ga Miidasa Reru Teien) (instrumental) Philosopher's Propeller, 2000  
6. "Nigredo (Blackening)" (ニグレド(黒化) Niguredo (Kokka)) Philosopher's Propeller, 2000  
7. "ELECTRIC LIGHT BATH" (電光浴 Denkōyoku) SIREN, 1996  
8. "Gemini 2"   SIREN, 1996  
9. "GARDENER KING 2" (庭師KING 2 Niwashi KING 2) TECHNIQUE OF RELIEF, 1998  
10. "World Turbine 2" (世界タービン 2 Sekai Tābin 2) The Ghost in Science, 1990  
11. "Virtual Rabbit 2" (ヴァーチュアル・ラビット 2 Vāchuaru Rabitto 2) Virtual Rabbit, 1991  
12. "BERSERK - Forces 1.5"   BERSERK -Forces-, 1997  
13. "AURORA 2" (オーロラ 2 Ōrora 2) AURORA, 1994  
14. "Echoes (CHARAN SANITWONG 24)"   Sim City, 1995  
15. "GARDENER KING" (庭師KING Niwashi KING) (encore) TECHNIQUE OF RELIEF, 1998  

In the second Solar Live show, Hirasawa also performed "FGG" (from The Ghost in Science), "Nurse Cafe" (from SIREN), "BRIDGE BUILDER" (橋大工 Hashi Daiku?), "TECHNIQUE OF RELIEF" (救済の技法 Kyūsai no Gihō?) (from TECHNIQUE OF RELIEF), "Philosopher's Propeller-1" (賢者のプロペラ-1 Kenja no Puropera-1?), "Rubedo (Reddening)" (ルベド(赤化) Rubedo (Sekka)?) (from Philosopher's Propeller) and "IN THE SQUARE 2" (広場で 2 Hiroba de 2?).

Release history

Date Label(s) Format Catalog Notes
September 24, 2002 (2002-09-24) Chaos Union, TESLAKITE DVD CHTE-0023 Packaged in a jewel case.
VHS CHTE-0024 Last Hirasawa release in this format. Out of print.

References

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External links

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