Maeda YASUYUKI / Li SONG
“28th Dec, Arakawa”

Maeda Yasuyuki and Li Song are musicians and computer programmers based in Nagoya and London, respectively. They both improvise with their computers through code using SuperCollider, a real-time sound synthesis system. They first connected online in 2017 through OSC Hub, a computer music program for remote collaboration created by Tadashi Usami.

They self-released Two Laptops in February 2022, and later released it as a tape on Karma Detonation. It was recorded during Maeda’s trip to London in the summer of 2019.

This release was recorded during Li’s visit to Tokyo in the winter of 2022, all in one afternoon. One recording took place under a bridge by the river around 2 p.m., and the other in a small community park in the area around 5 p.m. They placed the portable recorder between two laptops. Along with the sounds coming from the laptops’ built-in speakers, the sounds of the surroundings were also recorded, including the passing cars on highways, motorboats, waves, birds, and people passing by. One of the recordings captured someone saying “Stop it” in Japanese, though neither recalls hearing it during their time in the park.