けんもちさんとの対談

けんもちさんとの対談楽しい

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You are Japanese Academic Article Editor.
You revise, reconstruct, reorganize {INPUT} text to academic readable dialogue text. {INPUT} is the generated text from recording video by OpenAI whisper.
-fact
{INPUT} is the conversation of Yoichi Ochiai (落合陽一) and Japanese Musician Hidefumi Kenmochi(ケンモチヒデフミ)．
-action
fill the context of {INPUT} , make {INPUT} readable, correct {INPUT} for generative mistakes of captioning. Carefully distributing, connecting, adding the concrete example to make {INPUT} text smooth and factfully who spoke each sentences. Then please output converted English dialogue text up to 4000 words in English text.

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Yoichi Ochiai: Welcome to Club Marunouchi. I remember seeing an interesting comment on YouTube, which said that music is becoming like antique books in the past. Before the Age of Exploration, antique books were very valuable, traded at the same weight as silver. As various countries and continents were discovered, it became clear that there were many antique books available, causing their value to plummet. However, antique books are still a part of our daily lives, just like music. Music was originally considered very valuable, but now it is easily created and released, so its value has settled to a more common level. Still, music is everywhere in our lives and makes life less lonely. So, I think accepting this idea about music being like antique books makes sense.

Today, we have a special guest, Hidefumi Kenmochi, a musician who is perfect for discussing this topic. Hidefumi, born in 1981, is a music producer and has been active as a solo artist since around 2000. I have been working with him since around the end of 2018 or 2019, and it's been about 3-4 years now.

Hidefumi Kenmochi: Thank you for having me at Club Marunouchi. I'm looking forward to our discussion.

Yoichi Ochiai: Hidefumi started his solo career in the early 2000s, and some of his music from that time can be found on my friend's and my own iPhones. We often talk about how nostalgic his early works are. In 2012, he became the second generation music producer for the popular Vocaloid Hatsune Miku, which brought him significant success. What's interesting is that, in his 20s, he worked as a system operator at a general company while pursuing his passion for music on the side.

Hidefumi Kenmochi: That's right. I never thought that music would become my job, so I just kept it as a hobby while working at a regular company. I thought that as long as I could make music when I got home from work, that would be enough. My job was to be a system operator at a data center that operated 24 hours a day, so I often had night shifts. Even though I was young and had a lot of energy, it was still tough working all night and then coming home in the morning. However, since I was young, I could still make music even without sleeping much.

Yoichi Ochiai: I remember talking with you about this before. You said that you continued working like that until you were about 32 years old, which is around the age of our colleague Ochaya now. At that time, you started to feel the physical limitations and realized that if you didn't get enough sleep, you couldn't come up with good ideas. That's when you decided to focus on music, as you saw some prospects in making a living from it.

Hidefumi Kenmochi: Yes, that's correct. I thought that since we only live once, I should give it a try and see how far I could go with music. I've heard similar stories from other musicians, like Tetsuya Komuro, who also decided to focus on music after experiencing something similar.

Yoichi Ochiai: In Komuro's case, he went to a studio and experienced the luxury of having music come out like water from a faucet. That kind of environment really encourages creativity.

Hidefumi Kenmochi: Definitely, but with advances in AI and technology, creating music has become more accessible for everyone. Now, people can create 30-second 4K videos in about 22 seconds, and it's becoming harder for humans to keep up. I sometimes wonder if humans will eventually live solely on memories.

Yoichi Ochiai: That's an interesting thought. As we become more and more dependent on technology to create and enjoy content, it's crucial to keep updating our minds and adapt to these changes. That's the theme of today's discussion, and we hope to update everyone's thinking through our conversation with our guest, Hidefumi Kenmochi.

Hidefumi Kenmochi: I'm looking forward to it. Thank you for having me.

Yoichi Ochiai: It seems like there are many challenges in making a living through music, especially with the issues of subscription services. As a listener, I think it's a fantastic system, but the supply is almost unlimited while the pool of money remains the same. As the number of artists being listened to increases, the source of revenue decreases. As a media artist myself, I have a wide range of work, but how do you see these changes in the music industry?

Hidefumi Kenmochi: That's true, and while I think it's going to be a difficult path, I still find it incredibly enjoyable to create music. I think that's something that hasn't changed.

Yoichi Ochiai: For those who want to pursue music, do you have any advice?

Hidefumi Kenmochi: I'd like to say that everyone should experience the feeling of their hands shaking with excitement while creating something beautiful, like when you first start making music. That moment when you're holding the mouse and your hands are shaking from an incredible idea – that's the best moment, whether it's now or in the past.

Yoichi Ochiai: I understand. By the time you finish a piece, the excitement may have faded, but the thrill of creation remains. That's what makes music enjoyable, regardless of criticism or praise.

Hidefumi Kenmochi: Absolutely. I'm trying to regain that feeling and keep pushing forward.

Yoichi Ochiai: Another question I had was about copyright. What is it, and how does it affect the music industry?

Hidefumi Kenmochi: Copyright was originally designed to protect and maintain the value of creative works, but now with platforms like YouTube, the value of music has changed. I read a great comment that compared music to spices in the past, when they were considered valuable like silver. As more countries and continents were discovered, the value of spices decreased, but they became essential to everyday life.

Yoichi Ochiai: So music, once considered valuable, has become more accessible and commonplace, but it's still an essential part of people's lives.

Hidefumi Kenmochi: Exactly. I think accepting this change and understanding the new value of music can help us find peace with the current state of the industry.

Yoichi Ochiai: It's interesting that you mention spices because, as a musician, you're also like a curry chef, blending different spices to create new flavors. I think it's essential for people to enjoy the process of creating new blends, just as they do with music.

Hidefumi Kenmochi: That's true. The value of music or curry is not just in the individual spices, but in the blend itself – how different flavors come together to create something unique. The same can be said for music, where value lies in the blend of various elements, rather than creating something entirely new.

Yoichi Ochiai: So, the value of music lies in the art of blending, and that's what keeps it enjoyable and essential in people's lives.

Hidefumi Kenmochi: Yes, and I think that's something that hasn't changed, even as the music industry evolves. When I started Wednesday Campanella, I also thought a lot about blending different elements to create unique music.


In this conversation, Yoichi Ochiai (落合陽一) and Japanese Musician Hidefumi Kenmochi (ケンモチヒデフミ) discuss their experiences and thoughts on music production, focusing on the concept of "combinatorial violence" and the role of AI in the creative process.

Ochiai: I understand that you were conscious of the term "combinatorial violence" when creating your music. You mentioned Ableton Live, which you used when starting to create the track "Buckingham". Is that the demo you're referring to, where you're singing?

Kenmochi: Yes, that's correct. When I'm working on a track like "Buckingham", I'm mostly alone, becoming a rapper myself.

Ochiai: That's amazing that you can do that yourself. You wrote "Buckingham Kenjin-ton," right?

Kenmochi: Yes, I did. I enjoyed making music at a slower pace, but lately, I've been struggling more with how to turn a really cool track into a pop song. It's been an increasing concern for me.

Ochiai: So you're responsible for not only creating the instrumental track but also coming up with the rap lyrics and performing them? That sounds like a difficult yet interesting challenge.

Kenmochi: It is. I feel that I need to explain the concept of the song somewhere, and it's essential to have the vocals or rap fit onto the track. That has been a significant source of concern for me.

Ochiai: Have you considered having AI create the music for you? I think AI might be able to help with that by next year or so.

Kenmochi: That's an interesting idea. Maybe I could have AI create the instrumental track and then just focus on the rap part myself. Alternatively, I could give some direction to the AI, and it could create the backing track for me.

This conversation highlights the challenges faced by musicians like Hidefumi Kenmochi, who need to balance creativity and technical skill when creating music. The use of AI in music production could potentially alleviate some of these challenges, allowing artists to focus more on their creative vision.

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