YURI
Samples of My Music
Vocal
I co-wrote the lyrics of “I’m Yours Till I Die” with Agnieszka Stachowiak, a classmate at NYU Steinhardt Summer Workshop. This was my first big band song arrangement and which I recorded with a big band from Tokyo College of Music (TCM) in September 2017. Eric Fukusaki, a singer-friend, interpreted the song. “I’m Yours Till I Die” is a happy love song and perfect for weddings! Indeed, my sister used it as her theme song when she wed a year ago.
Instrumental
My idea of composing and arranging this song was to represent an extremely busy city but full of life and happiness just like my beloved city Tokyo! The saxophone, electric guitar and electric bass were recorded live, and other instruments, such as trumpet, trombone, drums, and percussions, were MIDI recordings that I added.
I was in my third year at TCM and taking a course called World Music. Here, I learned many types of music across the globe including Indian music. I was especially drawn to the sound of sitar. This inspired me to compose “Yuri Visits India” where I got to highlight the sitar sound. Guitar was recorded live and I added other instruments from MIDI.
Inspired by my composition class on Latin music, I composed “Salsa” in 2015 in my sophomore year at TCM. I arranged and recorded the song two years later. The saxophone, electric bass, drums, and percussions (shaker, conga, bongo, timbales, guiro, wood block, cowbell), were actual instruments recorded at the studio of TCM, and I added MIDI instruments. Other instruments, such as piano and electronic piano, etc. “Salsa” is an upbeat song and makes you think of sunshine and summer.
I composed this song in my composition class in 2015. This song was mixed in the recording studio by a professional audio engineer. All instruments were MIDI recordings created by me. As the title suggests, you can experience funk and Latin when you listen to “Funky Latin”.