Talk:Isao Tomita

Snowflakes Are Dancing
Isao Tomita did not compose Snowflakes are dancing. He arranged other composers works. &mdash; 10:23, 15 June 2004 193.195.124.180


 * Correct (Claude Debussy did), regarding that and a dozen or so other albums of arranged classical music by various composers. Though he has composed some fine soundtrack music with and without synthesizer as well as original symphonic music. &mdash; 18:28, 13 December 2005 69.123.141.229


 * Back in the early days (e.g. 1948 on) the pioneers used the term 'realization' for electronic works. (Because they didn't exist until they were 'realized' by performance.) In 'Snowflakes' time it would have been said that Tomita 'realized' Debussy's music, Carlos 'realized' the Branderburg Concertos, etc. Twang (talk) 00:08, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

Merge from The Sea called Solaris

 * A merger from The Sea called Solaris to Isao Tomita has been proposed.


 * The Sea called Solaris doesn't seem like it deserves a seperate page. I propose to move the non-redundant content and redirect.  --Selket Talk 20:06, 28 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Merge. The song article is lonely and short. A merge may encourage expansion. -- Emana 00:05, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

Bermuda Triangle vinyl album color
Bermuda Triangle issued on the usual black vinyl, but also clear blue vinyl and also on coral vinyl. Is that encyclopedic? --LegitimateAndEvenCompelling (talk) 02:17, 7 July 2008 (UTC)


 * What about the secret message he encoded into Bermuda Triangle? --LegitimateAndEvenCompelling (talk) 19:29, 9 July 2008 (UTC)


 * I think so. (I have the coral vinyl issue.) --Aflafla1 (talk) 23:38, 21 April 2013 (UTC)

Poorly written, unfair and slanted article
Right in the lead section, the article goes like "...Tomita took electronic music much further, abandoning the note-by-note approach in favour of dynamic polyphonic music, using synthesizers to create new artificial sounds rather than simply mimicking real instruments" This sentence, besides demonstrating blatant ignorance, is slanted and misleading. This is not the place to go into technical depths regarding "simply mimicking" real instruments, a technique which is far from simple, pioneered and mastered by Wendy Carlos much earlier than Tomita. W.Carlos, by the way, also has always excelled in creating "new artificial sounds using synthesizers". The article goes on to say ..."His electronic renditions of classical music was a significant improvement over the work of Carlos". Besides the bad grammar, this is clearly a POV issue, purpose unknown. What is the writer so intent on proving?

It would be interesting to read what the writer of these unfortunate phases meant by "dynamic polyphonic music" and "note-by-note approach", which sound very amateurish when dealing with a discipline and art called Music, a subject that is badly mistreated (or even lacking) throughout the article. --AVM (talk) 23:55, 30 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Some Tomita fan just really has it out for W. Carlos. I've tried to edit out the POV material while :maintaining the primary information of the article.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by :75.142.118.62 (talk) 21:58, 21 :November 2011 (UTC)


 * I agree that the article is slanted and has huge POV issues. Compared to what was happening in the world of electronic music at the time, Tomita was a johnny-come-lately to synthesizers.  If he was only discovering in the early 70s that synthesizers could be used to do things other than mimic "real" instruments, then he was discovering that 50-60 years later than everyone else.  The frist electronic instruments (in the teens and 20s) were designed to create new and different sounds, and by the 1950s Ussachevsky, Varese, and others had already released albums of this stuff.


 * By 1974, when Tomita's debut electronic album "Snowflakes Are Dancing" came out, Walter Carlos has already released three albums of electronic realizations of "classical" music (and won a Grammy for one of them), and an album of "pure electronic music"; Roger Powell and Paul Bley were regularly using the synthesizer in jazz settings; Morton Subotnik had released five widely acclaimed electronic albums using synthesizers for other than mimicking "real" instruments (two commissioned, one a Pulitzer nominee); and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer already had four albums out using all of the techniques Tomita supposedly "pioneered", and were embarking on a world tour.


 * To call Tomita a "pioneer" of electronic music, in any sense, is ludicrous. He was a widely recognized figure in popularizing a certain form of electronic music, but it was at a time when a hundred others were doing the same thing, many of whom had been doing it for years before Tomita came along.


 * An objective rewrite of the whole article is in order.

Wording change possibly needed
In the 3rd paragraph in the Biography section this sentence - He eventually realized that synthesizers could be used to create entirely new artificial sounds in addition to mimicking real instruments. - the use of the word "artificial" seems inappropriate. Bob Moog once made the point that a synthesizer does not make synthetic (or artifcial) sounds, they are real sounds with nothing synthetic (or artificial) about them. A minor quibble on my part, but worth considering perhaps. — Preceding unsigned comment added by THX1136 (talk • contribs) 16:03, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

Additional releases worth mentioning?
The thought occurred that perhaps the quad releases of Tomita's albums like Snowflakes, Planets, Firebird, Kosmos, etc. might be appropriate for this article's "discography". I owned several of these on quad 8-track tapes and listening to his work in surround was quite wonderful compared to the stereo releases. I believe some of these have been released in 5.1, but am not certain on that point. — Preceding unsigned comment added by THX1136 (talk • contribs) 16:18, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

Award in 2012?
Here are two sources with images of him, in 2012 I think, apparently winning some kind of award:,. Any idea what that award was? Martinevans123 (talk) 21:43, 1 February 2016 (UTC)

RIP MASTER
As confirmed on facebook by his pr team, his protege: hideki matsutake, and columbia records, isao tomita passed away (may 5th 2016)

someone with better wiki skills than me please append this to the article as i am inconsolable.

http://columbia.jp/tomita/ - columbia records press release (english translation is also available on that page)

https://www.facebook.com/officialcolumbiaIsaoTomita/photos/a.120440668112612.24573.120076391482373/597582797065061/?type=3 (Facebook press release, english translation)

"Isao Tomita, composer and synthesizer artist, died May 5, 2016 of chronic cardiac failure at 2:51 p.m. at Tokyo Metropolitan Hiroo Hospital."

There are some people saying that this is fake but i doubt columbia would have made a eulogy page if it were fake, also considering they among most people would definitely know. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2605:6000:3D97:1A00:8537:F591:F83:8B5D (talk) 05:09, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Hoaxes about hoaxes
Very odd there's actual dispute about his death. As the above person suggested, there's official looking assertions he has passed on. But where's the global news coverage? Odd that such an important talent in the field of electronic music is not being recognized by major news feeds. I hope this is straightened out and appropriate obits are created by the news agencies here in America, if he is dead. I don't know his original stuff, but I know his version of Planets and Pictures and an Exhibition. Well worth listening to, for people who like pioneering electronic music — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:281:C102:3F40:4047:BB41:DC5:D4C8 (talk) 07:37, 8 May 2016 (UTC)
 * The New York Times obituary is posted at . Strawberry4Ever (talk) 03:26, 2 June 2016 (UTC)

Mononyms are nothing special?
I've removed "...also known mononymously as..." It's normal for composers to be referred to by family name. "Ludwig van Beethoven, also known mononymously as Beethoven..." would be ridiculous. Can anyone give a source for why this fact should be highlighted for Tomita but not for Tchaikovsky, Stockhausen, Takemitsu, ...? Jowa fan (talk) 10:02, 20 May 2022 (UTC)
 * Beethoven isn't known "mononymously", but he's often referred to by just his last name because of his relative notability (and uniqueness of his name in his field) unlike John Williams and other more commonly monikered individuals. In contrast Tomita released his albums as Tomita, was known professionally as a recording artist as Tomita, and is catalogued as such on most sites (often his name is specifically stylised as TOMITA) just as is Madonna or Morrissey. The mononymous status is not something just afforded to composers such as Mozart unless they specifically record mononymously (as Mozart 1 through 14 or so do as it's their chosen recording name).
 * Whether we should use the clunky "known mononymously" rather than simply "commonly known as Tomita" is debateable, but the significance of his recording name should be referenced early on. Koncorde (talk) 13:22, 20 May 2022 (UTC)
 * It's interesting that you picked Madonna as an example. Madonna is her first name, not her family name, so the fact that she's almost always referred to as just "Madonna" is much more remarkable than Mr Tomita being referred to as "Tomita".  And yet the word "mononymously" doesn't appear in her Wikipedia page at all (unless you're adding it right now).  Morrissey's page does say "known professionally as Morrissey", which looks odd to me, but it's a musical genre I'm much less familiar with, so I'm not touching that one.  As for Mozart, there isn't a committee out there awarding "mononymous status" as some kind of prize.  It's a common convention that public figures are referred to by family name alone.
 * To be clear, I'm not disputing the fact that Isao Tomita is often referred to as "Tomita". My issue is that putting this in the first sentence of the lede gives it undue significance.  I'm noting that the first two references within the lede are entitled "Isao Tomita, Japanese pioneer of synthesizer music, dies at 84" and "R.I.P. Isao Tomita, Japanese pioneer of electronic music, has died at age 84", so calling him just "Tomita", while common, is certainly not universal. Jowa fan (talk) 02:49, 21 May 2022 (UTC)
 * It doesn't matter if it's first or last name behind the "monomous" convention, the significance is that it is their professional name for recording and releasing. It isn't about a committe or convention of using second names for public figures but about some people having a stage or craft name. For instance Fat Boy Slim / Norman Cook. WP:OTHERSTUFF is other stuff for them to deal with. Koncorde (talk) 18:48, 22 May 2022 (UTC)
 * It's a shame noone else has commented here. With just the two of us, it's hard to establish whether any consensus exists.  Previously you said Whether we should use the clunky "known mononymously" rather than simply "commonly known as Tomita" is debateable.  I agree that it's clunky, so I've deleted the word "mononymously" but left in the "also known as" for now.  I'm still concerned about undue emphasis and about inconsistent usage in the sources, but I'm not planning to edit again unless someone else weighs in. Jowa fan (talk) 23:59, 11 June 2022 (UTC)
 * It's not inconsistent usage, it demonstrates that there is significance behind his "professional" name, a la Morrissey (his albums were literally all released as "Tomita"), his first name being relatively obscure in western press. For consensus - the article has stated "often known simply as Tomita" or variations thereof since 2011. Koncorde (talk) 00:19, 12 June 2022 (UTC)

"He eventually realized that synthesizers could be used to create entirely new sounds in addition to mimicking other instruments"
Did he need to realize that? I mean I guess he didn't had access to what was being produced everywhere else at the time but it's honestly quite surprising. In 1968 Andrew Rudin wasn't exactly using the moog to imitate real world sounds at all (https://youtube.com/7RdA0_y8djY) and the UK tv was already dancing to moog "artificial" sounds in 1971 (https://youtube.com/WklguzXdIC0) Mirad1000 (talk) 20:09, 11 May 2023 (UTC)