Takashi Kokubo - Oasis of the Wind II ~ A Story of Forest and Water ~

Takashi Kokubo - Oasis of the Wind II ~ A Story of Forest and Water ~

1.  Awakening of the Forest

               Crisp crickles and crystal callings, the forest stretches, sighs, and opens its eyes.  Groggy and genki, pure morning light filters through the canopy.  Gentle sun softly encourages microcosms of life by warming the ground.  Total peace, Complete harmony; this is the forest of all being.  From here is derived the gelatinous ambiguous ethereal form of consciousness that wiggles itself unendingly, only perceived by some.  From here, this vegetative portal, new beings transform from death to spirited life and every moment is a divine celebration.

               Flora sways to and fro in dance, water sings in endless harmonies, the air breathes melody.

               Harmonically this song is straight forward.  It’s a vamp between Db major 13 and Gb major 13 for the entire 18 some minutes.  Various melodic themes are subtly introduced, each theme focusing on a specific note grouping.  The following themes I could identify:

               -“Main theme”, the metallic chime sound is C, Db, C, Ab, Eb, Ab, F.

               -Bass theme for Db major is Db, Ab, Bb, Db and then sometimes down to a lower Db.

               -Bass theme for Gb major is lower Gb, higher Gb, Db, Eb, Bb.

               -Oboe sound theme is C, Db, Eb, C, Ab, Bb, over the Gb major chord usually.

               -Marimba theme something like Eb, Db, C, Db, possibly harmonized in 4ths or 5ths.   There’s a lot more happening in this theme than I was able to decipher.

               -Various half step trills either creating a major 7^th or lydian effect.

               In summary, each theme is sensitive to chosen notes, following strictly to either their exact melodic idea or if departing, not adding too many note variations.

              

2.  Memory of Summer

               Suspended in the lilting air, transparent indigo nearly palpable thoughts, dreams, and memories whisper. 

               This track is divided into 3 sections, ABA.  The first section (A Section) is comprised of a bass riff going between G sus or G major type of thing, then after a while to an F major type of thing:

               -G D A D, G D A D, G D C D, G D B D.  

               -F C A E, F C A E, F C G E, F C G E.

               These two chords bop around a while.  What also stands out the most is the synth pad which seems to be playing a descending harmony, starting on high G note, then descending F#, E, and finally D.  I think it’s voiced as follows:

               -B E G, A D F#, G C E, F# A D.  These are all triad shapes happening over top of the G bass.

               After this G and F section, the song takes a break, then returns with the same ideas transposed down a whole step, F and Eb.  As far as I could tell, everything is played the same just shifted down.  This is the 2^nd (B) section.  After a little bit of time here the song goes back home to the A section before winding down.

3.  Distant Blue Star

               In space, surveying the entirety of the universe.  Kaleidoscope of sacred geometry and cosmic entities.              

               The final track lulls us to peace with a I, V, I, IV chord progression in Db major.  Db major, Ab dom 13, Db major, Gb major.  All themes are very ambiguous, but I caught some emphasis on the 13^th scale degree over the Ab7, so that was cool =). 

               There are the echoed marimbas half step trilling, airy almost non-existent synth pads that transcend the 4^th dimension, and various living wind breathes invigorating the atmosphere.