I debated speaking on this subject but I think it highlights an overarching dilemma that many artists are facing at the moment with condensing their music to accommodate shorter video formats. After several years of ever-growing “short forms” we’re starting to see the potential downside that can stem from catering too heavily to that audience. Appreciate you all!
Yes , I had also noticed this 30-sec to a minute trend a few years ago and thought it was annoying. For me it takes two minutes or more for the vibe of a song to sink in. I guess Instagram ruined this. So many guitarists starting doing these short songs and it became just to showcase virtuoso riffs that they spent all week working on. (Josh Meader another example) Then add a cringe title, "When you Can't open a Jar or Pickles" (actual recent Ichika title) or " When you need to impress a girl but you only have a guitar and 30 seconds"" (actual Ichika title , what is the demographic here 14 years old?) I think he should get back to where is heart really is and keep doing longer music that has some interesting arrangements behind it , I do respect his genius. I wonder if Henson had heard him and got inspired to integrate this style into his own ??
Bro so many people love his old music, it literally sent you to a different dimension and was an emotional journey. His music now has completely changed and it kinda makes me sad. W take
Couldn't agree more on this. It's sad that Ichikas older actual full on compositions are heavily overlooked on today. I will never forget the time I first heard Illusory sense, it was like an entire told journey with ups and downs on one single guitar. I believe that the flashy, quick style has something to do with younger audiences tending to have shorter attention spans and not being capable of absorbing every detail in those old compositions. And Ichika knows that. He recently played flowers during a tone check before a show with no one around except 1 camera man. So I believe that Ichika is aware of this progression, but decided to ride along with it in order to not disappoint the, now, majority of his audience. There has to be someone to tell him that many people actually like his old style more. And I do think that it kinda worked because apparently, after a live show, someone asked him to play more old stuff, which he responded with by playing the Cloudbuilt riff (Epic 9 string metal). The fans of his older music need to stand up and make him realise his old style is very much loved by people!
@TheDiamondBladeHD THIS! The stories that were told throughout his older tracks is seriously unmatched. Most people are aware of his skill when it comes to playing but I'd argue most of his respect was earned from the incredible music he was capable of making. Truly 1 of 1
@Jrocka7x For people who only listen to his YT content, to them, that IS his music. Like you said, the sauce in his real projects but if you're not as familiar with an artist and they're only putting out flashy content, why would you not think their music would sound like that too. The disconnect is the real issue
Damn i was expecting this to be an L take but I actually found myself agreeing with everything you said. Away is my favourite song by Ichika and the world is still beautiful is probably my least favourite. Comparing those songs is like apples to oranges. The nature of the internet has def taken a hit to his sound. I hope I don't end up going down the same path.
TWISB is far from my favorite track but I did at least find it enjoyable which is heart-breaking considering I was saving EVERY insta and UA-cam vid he was dropping a few years ago. He did have a huge surge in audience growth so it seems like that was his way of keeping the non-musicians happy
Can we agree to disagree? You guys talking stinks about one of my favorite Ichika song smh... I find TWISB to be super soulful and groovy, really far from the gimmicky style you make it to be. I think you guys are just hearing what you wanna hear. I not a new Ichika fan btw. Been following him since 2019.
@@gab_gallard Yeah, we agree on disagreeing i guess. I've also been an Ichika fan since 2019, first seeing the Charles Berthoud collab. Since then I listened his stuff on spotify in a playlist I made with only the ethereal old style alongside Charles Berthoud's tracks, which fall under that exact same vibe. At the start I actually had trouble telling them apart just when listening to it (forn, he never fades, she waits patiently and Charles' Fable EP). And that's where I've recognised the musical genius of ichika and that will forever be my own definition of "Ichika music". Those flashy songs are just a side product in my view, where TWISB falls under by just listening to the TOD10n intro
I've always considered early Ichika to be the perfect counterpart to Tim Henson. A soulful, slow, and atmospheric virtuosic quiet kid (who still had great technical skill) contrasting a fast-paced, bombastic, and flashy geek. Now, it's like people just know him as the "Japanese Tim Henson mixed with Davie504" because they just wanna see Ichika shred and do insane gimmicks.
Bro I discovered Ichika back in late 2017 with the video "Ichika joins forces with Ibanez" And that was one of the most beautiful moments of my life. It honestly was one of the beat things my ears have heard and I doubt any other artist will make me feel like that again. It was an out of this world experience man. Now, he doesn't make stuff lije that anymore but just trying to show off his skills i get it, he needs to make money. But 2017-2019 era Ichika... Probably the greatest artist I've heard in my life.
I, too, really love his earlier music. So much so that I picked up his signature Ibanez guitar. It's one of the few single coil guitars I own, and I adore it. I don't know how the music is for his band Dios ... but I'll need to go and check it out. Hmm, yes, I agree that for some reason, the novelty shred stuff is not his most beautiful music. I really enjoy his original songs because they tell a story and they make a massive impact on me. "It had harmonics and lickity split notes" 😅 I do hope that Ichika will be able to create music that is true to his heart. As I truly wish to hear him continue to evolve his emotional and ethereal style of his 😊
Hey! Would you happen to own any rare/deleted/old videos of ichika that you would be willing to share with me? I search for his old and deleted stuff a lot and recently I haven’t been able to find much videos sooo now I’m asking people lol
I think this is a case of what the guitar player plays and what he wants to make music. You can take the same kind of separation on what music ppl hear in their day to day lives and what they play in a band. John Mayer is a very very skilled guitarist, yet his music is mostly simple. Maybe Ichika's youtube channel is just his playground, and that is why he doesn't post any of it on spotify
i've been more off put by the titles not reflecting what the music says with all of his recent videos but i share the same opinion and always drop a like because it's great playing and unique. the difference is flashy vs classy imo
I used to subscribe to Ichika a few years ago, but then it seemed like he was artificially speeding up his playing. Especially driven home to me by his rare live appearances on other channels that he could not control. Nothing against using technology to get a new sound; Les Paul, the man, was doing that in the 1950s, but he was honest about it. Ichika's fans, largely, seem blind to it.
i say this as 100% true cuz i knew about em since 2016 on facebook. his stuff back then was truly innovative and had feels and real tech. songs such as Shushui
I always found his videos to be more entertaining than his actual music. I love his playing style, but I’m over it after a few minutes. It’s very nice and pleasing to listen to but I don’t need more than like 6 to 7 minutes of it.
I fell in love with Ichika's lickety-split beep boop, but I'm also the type of person who loves putting too many toppings in my sandwich. The speed at which he plays gives the melody a texture, since you hear so many things at once. But it took me a while to understand that more notes isn't better music. A lot of his stuff is convoluted for no reason, indeed. But a lot of his best stuff is pretty complicated too. Anyway, I hope your channel blows up, this was a great video.
nobody talks about the fact that all his crazy older videos and more difficult stuff , he never performs them out. there’s no live footage of him playing any of the crazier stuff. they’re hyper edited and unrealistic(you don’t even hear string noise). i personally prefer the more relaxed sound, it sounds like genuine playing
I know Ichika is technically a very gifted player. But he is NOT GOOD at playing live. I seen multiple videos myself, and he doesn't have a great stage presence. He literally snaps the strings when he should be gently plucking them, and his tapping is hit or miss. Even worse, he really only plays his "lesser" songs in his shows, which is sad because I'm certain there are some fans in the audience who would love to hear "Orb" or "Illusionary Sense" in person. At heart, he is still very much a bedroom guitarist, but I hope his live act improves someday.
@LioMcAllisterMusic-sw4vj This is a topic I don't even acknowledge HAHAHA. I've seen several of those performances and "Live Ichika" is not the real Ichika, I'm almost convinced its a clone. He really is a completely different player live. Considering how technical some of his older tracks were, it makes sense that he wouldn't play them live but it seems like he may just be an incredibly shy performer. If I heard him in person without knowing who he was, I'd have a VERY hard time believing he's as acclaimed as he his
Ichika used to have great stage presence waaaaay back when he was a metalcore bassist for a japanese band. You would never think the gentle ichika would headbang the breakdowns that hard
@@monfloral You should check out some more of his recent performances on UA-cam. He plays some pretty impressive stuff live and in his smaller shows he often improvises and all of them sound great. His older music like 'A Bell is not a Bell' or 'Illusory Sense' are extremley hard to play because they are so delicate and high tempo, however I would like to see him play some songs like 'Farewell' or 'Have a Nice Dream' live more often. Overall, I think your comment does not reflect his actual live ability: Sure he does not play his most challanging peices live (I dont know if you guys have tried to play them, but they are very very hard to nail the whole way through) but he still does nail many of his songs (all of which are incredibly hard to play).
I agree with this take for the most part, I just have a couple of criticisms. 1. Many of the most popular and flashy riffs on ichika's channel are songs that he actually composed before he created the channel (EG: 30 second audition) 2. Many of the videos that he uploads are genuine masterpieces (EG: Sweet, Last Hour of Life, 50 seconds to live, ect) While I agree with the general trend that you have outlined with his music, I don't think that It has really taken form until the past year and a half or two years. As you alluded to, I think it is likley that he would have relesed far more long form and compelling songs if he wasn't required to do UA-cam to make money. I also think that UA-cam can be a good outlet for artists. I think many artists relate to coming up with a nice progression or idea but not considering it enough to flesh out into a full song. UA-cam is a good platform for sharing moments like that, and this is shown by many of Ichika's amazing videos. However, as you said, a problem arises once UA-cam becomes the primary source of income for artists becuse it forces them to converge on the whims of the algorithm which tend to be thing that will retain viewers like flashy guitar playing. There is also the added factor of tens of thousands of fans who Ichika probably feels a responsibility to please since he became popular. I think these two factors (Needing money and Fans) are what keeps Ichika uploading short form videos as he does. Ichika has also started going on tour more often which is a way in which he can make money outside of UA-cam, although I kind of get the feeling that having to preform constantly would funnel you into a particular style as well and hinder your creativity. Overall I hope Ichika is able to find what is best for him, which will probably be what ends up putting him in the position to make music he likes. It is pretty hard to pursue your passion as an artist in the world we live in because the need to support yourself economically bottlenecks your creative potential. Hopefully that will change one day and artists can be free.
I hate the stigma of shred guitar being a gimmick, I agree he should make longer songs, but fast music is just as valid as slow music, and has all the same soul and emotion!
He didn't get worse, he was just faking it in a lot of his earlier videos and now he's been playing live it's kinda become much more obvious that he isn't physically able to reproduce that stuff so maybe he's just toning it down so it doesn't look so questionable
All these youtube guitarists are the same. You've heard one song you've heard them all. Technique wise they can't be faulted. Lot of techniques but terrible song writing.
wdym by young guitar videos? Do you mean the old video he made with youngguitar or just his older videos? Cuz if youre talking about the video with youngguitar, he wasn’t even playing his own guitars and he was super stressed out you can see him shake, ofc he wouldn’t play too well. But if you mean his older videos in general, then would you send me the video in question?
I debated speaking on this subject but I think it highlights an overarching dilemma that many artists are facing at the moment with condensing their music to accommodate shorter video formats. After several years of ever-growing “short forms” we’re starting to see the potential downside that can stem from catering too heavily to that audience.
Appreciate you all!
Yes , I had also noticed this 30-sec to a minute trend a few years ago and thought it was annoying. For me it takes two minutes or more for the vibe of a song to sink in. I guess Instagram ruined this. So many guitarists starting doing these short songs and it became just to showcase virtuoso riffs that they spent all week working on. (Josh Meader another example)
Then add a cringe title, "When you Can't open a Jar or Pickles" (actual recent Ichika title) or
" When you need to impress a girl but you only have a guitar and 30 seconds"" (actual Ichika title , what is the demographic here 14 years old?)
I think he should get back to where is heart really is and keep doing longer music that has some interesting arrangements behind it , I do respect his genius.
I wonder if Henson had heard him and got inspired to integrate this style into his own ??
ADHD generation
Whatever you think of this, this kind of content is what makes your channel so important to the modern guitar scene
Appreciate you! Someone's gotta talk about it
Bro so many people love his old music, it literally sent you to a different dimension and was an emotional journey. His music now has completely changed and it kinda makes me sad. W take
i feel like he can really blend his two styles into what he plays in Dios as he's not the main focus of attention letting him serve the music.
Couldn't agree more on this. It's sad that Ichikas older actual full on compositions are heavily overlooked on today. I will never forget the time I first heard Illusory sense, it was like an entire told journey with ups and downs on one single guitar. I believe that the flashy, quick style has something to do with younger audiences tending to have shorter attention spans and not being capable of absorbing every detail in those old compositions. And Ichika knows that. He recently played flowers during a tone check before a show with no one around except 1 camera man. So I believe that Ichika is aware of this progression, but decided to ride along with it in order to not disappoint the, now, majority of his audience. There has to be someone to tell him that many people actually like his old style more. And I do think that it kinda worked because apparently, after a live show, someone asked him to play more old stuff, which he responded with by playing the Cloudbuilt riff (Epic 9 string metal). The fans of his older music need to stand up and make him realise his old style is very much loved by people!
yo do you have a link for the flowers tone check?
@TheDiamondBladeHD THIS! The stories that were told throughout his older tracks is seriously unmatched. Most people are aware of his skill when it comes to playing but I'd argue most of his respect was earned from the incredible music he was capable of making. Truly 1 of 1
Great video! Enjoyed watching. My first time hearing of or listening to Ichika was from watching your video years ago. You bring great content! 💜🥰
I think that what he regularly puts out isn't his music at all. It's just content and showing his growth. His bodies of work is where the sauce is.
@Jrocka7x For people who only listen to his YT content, to them, that IS his music. Like you said, the sauce in his real projects but if you're not as familiar with an artist and they're only putting out flashy content, why would you not think their music would sound like that too. The disconnect is the real issue
Friend of mine literally brought up this topic a few hours ago and then this pops up on recommended
Spot on
Damn i was expecting this to be an L take but I actually found myself agreeing with everything you said. Away is my favourite song by Ichika and the world is still beautiful is probably my least favourite. Comparing those songs is like apples to oranges. The nature of the internet has def taken a hit to his sound. I hope I don't end up going down the same path.
TWISB is far from my favorite track but I did at least find it enjoyable which is heart-breaking considering I was saving EVERY insta and UA-cam vid he was dropping a few years ago. He did have a huge surge in audience growth so it seems like that was his way of keeping the non-musicians happy
Can we agree to disagree? You guys talking stinks about one of my favorite Ichika song smh... I find TWISB to be super soulful and groovy, really far from the gimmicky style you make it to be. I think you guys are just hearing what you wanna hear. I not a new Ichika fan btw. Been following him since 2019.
@@gab_gallard Yeah, we agree on disagreeing i guess. I've also been an Ichika fan since 2019, first seeing the Charles Berthoud collab. Since then I listened his stuff on spotify in a playlist I made with only the ethereal old style alongside Charles Berthoud's tracks, which fall under that exact same vibe. At the start I actually had trouble telling them apart just when listening to it (forn, he never fades, she waits patiently and Charles' Fable EP). And that's where I've recognised the musical genius of ichika and that will forever be my own definition of "Ichika music". Those flashy songs are just a side product in my view, where TWISB falls under by just listening to the TOD10n intro
I've always considered early Ichika to be the perfect counterpart to Tim Henson. A soulful, slow, and atmospheric virtuosic quiet kid (who still had great technical skill) contrasting a fast-paced, bombastic, and flashy geek.
Now, it's like people just know him as the "Japanese Tim Henson mixed with Davie504" because they just wanna see Ichika shred and do insane gimmicks.
Bro I discovered Ichika back in late 2017 with the video "Ichika joins forces with Ibanez" And that was one of the most beautiful moments of my life. It honestly was one of the beat things my ears have heard and I doubt any other artist will make me feel like that again. It was an out of this world experience man. Now, he doesn't make stuff lije that anymore but just trying to show off his skills i get it, he needs to make money. But 2017-2019 era Ichika... Probably the greatest artist I've heard in my life.
So yes I was immediately in love with A bell is not a bell ! And I loooove the early stuff he played with crazy proggy metal stuff.
I, too, really love his earlier music.
So much so that I picked up his signature Ibanez guitar. It's one of the few single coil guitars I own, and I adore it.
I don't know how the music is for his band Dios ... but I'll need to go and check it out.
Hmm, yes, I agree that for some reason, the novelty shred stuff is not his most beautiful music. I really enjoy his original songs because they tell a story and they make a massive impact on me.
"It had harmonics and lickity split notes" 😅
I do hope that Ichika will be able to create music that is true to his heart. As I truly wish to hear him continue to evolve his emotional and ethereal style of his 😊
Hey! Would you happen to own any rare/deleted/old videos of ichika that you would be willing to share with me? I search for his old and deleted stuff a lot and recently I haven’t been able to find much videos sooo now I’m asking people lol
He hasn't got worst, he just sold out
I just realised that I have started to wonder away from his music
I think this is a case of what the guitar player plays and what he wants to make music. You can take the same kind of separation on what music ppl hear in their day to day lives and what they play in a band. John Mayer is a very very skilled guitarist, yet his music is mostly simple. Maybe Ichika's youtube channel is just his playground, and that is why he doesn't post any of it on spotify
just subscribed. like your chan a lot fratello 🎉
i've been more off put by the titles not reflecting what the music says with all of his recent videos but i share the same opinion and always drop a like because it's great playing and unique. the difference is flashy vs classy imo
I noticed this too.
I started to lose interest in Ichika when I realized he abuses that progression all anime intros use. shit gets boring.
I used to subscribe to Ichika a few years ago, but then it seemed like he was artificially speeding up his playing. Especially driven home to me by his rare live appearances on other channels that he could not control. Nothing against using technology to get a new sound; Les Paul, the man, was doing that in the 1950s, but he was honest about it. Ichika's fans, largely, seem blind to it.
i say this as 100% true cuz i knew about em since 2016 on facebook. his stuff back then was truly innovative and had feels and real tech. songs such as Shushui
I always found his videos to be more entertaining than his actual music. I love his playing style, but I’m over it after a few minutes. It’s very nice and pleasing to listen to but I don’t need more than like 6 to 7 minutes of it.
His videos are just as ethereal as his music which I LOVE. They really do add that extra layer of atmosphere
I fell in love with Ichika's lickety-split beep boop, but I'm also the type of person who loves putting too many toppings in my sandwich. The speed at which he plays gives the melody a texture, since you hear so many things at once. But it took me a while to understand that more notes isn't better music. A lot of his stuff is convoluted for no reason, indeed. But a lot of his best stuff is pretty complicated too. Anyway, I hope your channel blows up, this was a great video.
I wouldn’t say it’s worse, just different and yes, more accessible to an extent.
nobody talks about the fact that all his crazy older videos and more difficult stuff , he never performs them out. there’s no live footage of him playing any of the crazier stuff. they’re hyper edited and unrealistic(you don’t even hear string noise). i personally prefer the more relaxed sound, it sounds like genuine playing
He played his older songs (2017-2018) plenty of times live wdym? I got footages if you want.
left hand gang 💪 subbed
I know Ichika is technically a very gifted player. But he is NOT GOOD at playing live. I seen multiple videos myself, and he doesn't have a great stage presence. He literally snaps the strings when he should be gently plucking them, and his tapping is hit or miss. Even worse, he really only plays his "lesser" songs in his shows, which is sad because I'm certain there are some fans in the audience who would love to hear "Orb" or "Illusionary Sense" in person.
At heart, he is still very much a bedroom guitarist, but I hope his live act improves someday.
@LioMcAllisterMusic-sw4vj This is a topic I don't even acknowledge HAHAHA. I've seen several of those performances and "Live Ichika" is not the real Ichika, I'm almost convinced its a clone. He really is a completely different player live. Considering how technical some of his older tracks were, it makes sense that he wouldn't play them live but it seems like he may just be an incredibly shy performer. If I heard him in person without knowing who he was, I'd have a VERY hard time believing he's as acclaimed as he his
Ichika used to have great stage presence waaaaay back when he was a metalcore bassist for a japanese band. You would never think the gentle ichika would headbang the breakdowns that hard
You must also understand the fact that His audience is american, And his english isn't that great.
@@monfloral You should check out some more of his recent performances on UA-cam. He plays some pretty impressive stuff live and in his smaller shows he often improvises and all of them sound great. His older music like 'A Bell is not a Bell' or 'Illusory Sense' are extremley hard to play because they are so delicate and high tempo, however I would like to see him play some songs like 'Farewell' or 'Have a Nice Dream' live more often. Overall, I think your comment does not reflect his actual live ability: Sure he does not play his most challanging peices live (I dont know if you guys have tried to play them, but they are very very hard to nail the whole way through) but he still does nail many of his songs (all of which are incredibly hard to play).
@@TheDiamondBladeHDSEGGESTION momentos
I strongly suggest Looking at dios ( a band ichika is apart of).The music is more like his old music
I agree with this take for the most part, I just have a couple of criticisms.
1. Many of the most popular and flashy riffs on ichika's channel are songs that he actually composed before he created the channel (EG: 30 second audition)
2. Many of the videos that he uploads are genuine masterpieces (EG: Sweet, Last Hour of Life, 50 seconds to live, ect)
While I agree with the general trend that you have outlined with his music, I don't think that It has really taken form until the past year and a half or two years. As you alluded to, I think it is likley that he would have relesed far more long form and compelling songs if he wasn't required to do UA-cam to make money.
I also think that UA-cam can be a good outlet for artists. I think many artists relate to coming up with a nice progression or idea but not considering it enough to flesh out into a full song. UA-cam is a good platform for sharing moments like that, and this is shown by many of Ichika's amazing videos. However, as you said, a problem arises once UA-cam becomes the primary source of income for artists becuse it forces them to converge on the whims of the algorithm which tend to be thing that will retain viewers like flashy guitar playing. There is also the added factor of tens of thousands of fans who Ichika probably feels a responsibility to please since he became popular. I think these two factors (Needing money and Fans) are what keeps Ichika uploading short form videos as he does. Ichika has also started going on tour more often which is a way in which he can make money outside of UA-cam, although I kind of get the feeling that having to preform constantly would funnel you into a particular style as well and hinder your creativity. Overall I hope Ichika is able to find what is best for him, which will probably be what ends up putting him in the position to make music he likes.
It is pretty hard to pursue your passion as an artist in the world we live in because the need to support yourself economically bottlenecks your creative potential. Hopefully that will change one day and artists can be free.
I hate the stigma of shred guitar being a gimmick, I agree he should make longer songs, but fast music is just as valid as slow music, and has all the same soul and emotion!
Agreed
E standard is his best song imo
you got my sub
He didn't get worse, he was just faking it in a lot of his earlier videos and now he's been playing live it's kinda become much more obvious that he isn't physically able to reproduce that stuff so maybe he's just toning it down so it doesn't look so questionable
All these youtube guitarists are the same. You've heard one song you've heard them all. Technique wise they can't be faulted. Lot of techniques but terrible song writing.
I saw young guitar videos, and he could not play the pieces he had written. The problem was his muting. He writes well though.
wdym by young guitar videos? Do you mean the old video he made with youngguitar or just his older videos? Cuz if youre talking about the video with youngguitar, he wasn’t even playing his own guitars and he was super stressed out you can see him shake, ofc he wouldn’t play too well. But if you mean his older videos in general, then would you send me the video in question?
TWISB is a banger full of soul and groove though. It's all a matter of taste. Your taste is not more valid than the taste of the rest.
Never heard of him. Never heard of you either. I'm good.
Why'd you click on this video and comment on it then? No need for a comment like this if you're not interested