Need Something New? Try Doujin Music
Posted on: 8 March 2017
Every part of the world that has a different ethnicity has its own evolving music scenes. You could spend your entire life looking for new music in the United States and be satisfied, but a whole new world of different sounds exists across the seas that even your past sampling experience can't tap into if you don't live there. There's a lot to cover, but one huge super-genre--or even a philosophy--of music, called Doujin music (同人音楽 or doujin ongaku), creates its own styles, riffs on existing styles, and creates favorites for fans of existing media. Here's a look at doujin music and what it could bring to your next music event.
What Is Doujin Music?
Have you ever heard a catchy song in a video game, TV show, or movie? Are you a fan of a fictional character to the point where you'd like to see them in other stories, and imagine the kind of music they would have? Doujin music covers all of that imagination and more.
The word doujin has no direct translation, but it can be roughly translated to creative fans or a circle of people who create works based on something else. For the music industry, this means everything from remixing existing music from movies and video games to creating music for a book or comic that had no music to begin with.
Creativity can come from multiple angles, but one trap to avoid is thinking that these are just remixes. True enough, many amazing musicians such as the Touhou Doujin metal group Demetori or the massive network of creators in the OCRemix community create their own renditions of existing video game music. Others, such as Sakuzyo, create original works for books and comics that haven't been made into an audio version, or want to audition to have their fan works become official.
Fan Music? How Big Is This?
Japan is a completely different culture from the US in ways that can't be considered by just looking at food, architecture, or the stereotypical (and very outdated) oriental riff. The worlds of pop, rock, R&B, hiphop, and many other genres are in Japan just as they are in many other countries, but the way Japan handles fandom is completely different.
No matter how it happened, it's more socially acceptable to be a fan of something to the point of creating professional-grade content that would put some radio stations and TV networks to shame. There's a lot of it to consume, whether you want remixes or something completely original that has the video game, Japanese anime, or unique Japanese techno feel.
A DJ can handle the presentation of this great musical biome of sorts, but a theme must be built and a sample of different sounds should be worked over by you and the DJ before any sessions or musical events start. To enjoy some great new, original music that likely won't reach American radio stations, contact a DJ, like one from Royal Entertainment, and talk about some doujin music.
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