### Insert Credit Gaiden #4 - Human Face On An Obi: An Interview with Masaya Matsuura
Brandon Sheffield interviews musician and game designer [Masaya Matsuura](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masaya_Matsuura) of the band [Psy・S](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psy-S), discussing the early days of computer graphics and sound, making music for anime, and why Vib Ribbon was so hard to get screenshots of. Intro by Alex Jaffe, edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman.
I mostly liked this interview, up until Matsuura-san started spewing the pseudo-science about analog recordings and frequencies. The simple truth is that most audio equipment, including speakers, microphones, and most other components in the chain, are designed with the human range of hearing in mind. Whether analog recording has some magical ability to represent all frequencies or not, there is going to be some device somewhere in the chain that‘s going to perform some limitation, and the net effect is that those frequencies are cut or minimized, and that’s before we even get to issues of human hearing and how the body does or does not respond to frequencies outside the range of human hearing. That said, Matsuura's openness to such ideas is not uncommon among musicians. I think the pursuit of sound and experience encourages being open to ideas which amount to so much superstition, much as with pro athletes (cupping, really?) who are always on the lookout for some edge over the competition.
I prefer Brandon's approach (at least as presented here), which is more akin to, "by it's very nature this recording will be unique to me, so I get to listen to my own personal experience."
@“marurun”#p143091 I forgot about that part! I‘ll have to go back and listen again because I wasn’t thinking of it that way when he said it.
There's a lot of superstition in this community for sure, and I once heard "audiophiles and science are like oil and water" when someone was trying to find out whether it was true that a particular record washing device left a "film" on the record after.
I don't need perfect clarity in my music anyway, though sometimes it's striking when I feel like I can perceive it.
when i saw this in the references, i thought of the ps1 game Tail of the Sun from artdink
and i remember dan ryckert playin it on stream a bit, it looked so cool and vibey
need to play that game sometime...
@“marurun”#p143091 There’s a fine line between appreciating the mystery of experience and avoiding expert information, for sure. This video is very cringey at points (2011, baby!) BUT if you persevere I think it’s a high quality, concise and relatively simple explanation of common misconceptions around analogue vs. digital audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIQ9IXSUzuM
I also just happend across this Mac game by Masaya Matsuura: [The Seven Colors: Legend of PSY・S City ](https://archive.org/details/thesevencolorsiso) https://archive.org/download/thesevencolorsiso/sevencolorsbigboxfront.jpg
Last year while on studying abroad in Tokyo, I introduced my university kei-on club to PSY・S and got to perform a couple of their songs (Doushite and Fuzzy Pain)! Felt like this episode was for me
Interestingly, none of my music nerd friends there had heard of PSY・S, but took to them quickly of course.
I think I know that seemingly out-of-place, tear-jerky feeling in his music that Brandon described. Songs that feel like saying yes to Life.
If those DJ sets are public (and he keeps doing them) I hope I can make it to one eventually!
Looks like I remembered incorrectly and he wasn't on the obi, but the back of the box and manual. Whoops!! Kind of invalidating the title of this podcast here.
Anyway I guess this was from our second time meeting. [URL=https://i.imgur.com/rfzmWuR.jpg][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/rfzmWuR.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
Ah I had no idea he did some music for City Hunter! I love PSY•S. Chasing The Rainbow is probably my absolute #1 favorite song from them. Love the music video for it too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wHyRdxmyZg
I'd listen to it a lot during development of our first game, and it sort of became an unofficial theme to a specific character in it to me.
Great episode, and loved the live performance recording at the end.
@“marurun”#p143091 Going into too much detail would reveal more about about my secret identity than I’m comfortable with, but having in the past worked for a niche but well-regarded company that manufactured and sold high-end ‘audiophile’ equipment, I can confirm that the management and senior engineers at these places don‘t believe in the snake oil they’re selling.
Bit late to listen to this, but wow I enjoyed it! Not just Matsuura talking about his history and career, but the way the interview was very natural and the conversation flowed easily.
The preface for Funny Love really was wonderful and then when the song kicked in I got goosebumps! Specifically [Frission](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frisson) which I get with music. I know a fair bit about the science of music and hearing, but for that one I just really enjoyed it for what it was, which was magical!
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/uKQAAOSwPxljfXwz/s-l1600.jpg
https://archive.org/download/thesevencolorsiso/sevencolorsbigboxfront.jpg