Heidi LINER NOTES

My songs and my works, liner notes.🇯🇵

[heidilinernotes]

Heidi

As a music artist focused on studio production, I have created over 200 songs and released more than 30 works to date. My approach to music

[heidilinernotes]

The winner

What does it really mean to be loving? Among the people I have met, those I felt were truly loving shared one thing in common: they never gave up on mutual connection. In a time when it has become ordinary to simply erase things when they no longer fit, they were the kind of people who, in a good way, could carry on without being burdened by it. Such choices and actions may be right, and perhaps anyone could do them— yet in reality, they are not easy at all.

[heidilinernotes]

moist

Every time I feel the sweat seeping unconsciously from my skin, I’m reminded that most of the body is made of water. Water and music are alike— words and songs well up from within me, overflowing through music itself. Both are essential presences in my life.

[heidilinernotes]

The Time They Are A-Changin’(cover)

Bob Dylan's music has always sounded like hymns to me. Not just “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” which I sang this time, but also songs like “Blowin’ in the Wind” feel sacred in their own way.

I’m talking about the unique melodic lines in his singing— something deeply personal and difficult to explain in words. So I tried to sing it myself, to recreate that feeling.

While many point to his gospel influences in later albums like Saved after his conversion, what struck me as hymn-like were actually his earlier works— especially those from the early '60s.

[heidilinernotes]

star grass

There are times when I feel an odd sense of nostalgia for landscapes I've only seen on TV or in videos— foreign pastures I’ve never set foot in, old port towns, or cities surrounded by majestic mountains.

Memories that don’t exist in my own life, and yet somehow feel familiar and right.

I wrote this song while recalling a few of those places, imagining what life might be like if I were there.

And in the end, as I wrote, I came to realize something: wherever I am, the true purpose of my heart when making music or singing never really changes.

[heidilinernotes]

seek[VERSION]

This is the stripped-down version of “Seek,” sung and played simply with just voice and instrument. I added a touch of lap steel for color.

The purpose of revisiting a song this way is to reaffirm its value and explore it in a new light. To make it a song that can be heard at any time, regardless of when it was made that possibility only comes when the content truly carries meaning.

Each time I return to it, it becomes a trace of where I am, and where I’ve been.

Post by @heidilinernotes · 1 video

💬 0  🔁 0  ❤️ 0 · seek · I played around with a lyre harp and toy piano. I built the rhythm using an egg shaker and the MicroFreak. I approac

[heidilinernotes]

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star(cover)

In Japan, there’s a traditional children’s song called “Kira Kira Boshi.” On July 7th, the night of Tanabata, we held a special recording session at the studio.

We began by writing wishes on tanzaku paper strips and hanging them up. Then, the recording started.

I challenged myself to sing in four-part harmony—by myself. When I could truly connect with the melody and give shape to the images through singing, the joy was all the greater.

After the session, I wrote a Japanese interpretation of the English lyrics, in my own words and understanding.

[heidilinernotes]

music was there

Singing while playing the bass, adding harmonies as I ring the kalimba. That’s how the music comes into being.

There have been moments in daily life when I’ve felt many kinds of music. All of them quiet, fleeting— the kind you might pass by without noticing.

And yet, music has always been something rooted in nature, a story woven into the rhythm of everyday life.

[heidilinernotes]

Selene

What moves me in someone else’s music is often the sincerity behind it— a pure motivation, or an honest attempt I can feel within the song.

It’s never just about what I like or don’t like. I’ve listened carefully, choosing music based on what I feel is true or good.

That kind of music— I want it to always be close. And it’s the kind of music I’ve tried to follow in my own work, in the footsteps of those who came before me.

[heidilinernotes]

That's it [hatchback]

At the edge of the sea, beneath the morning glow, I sing and play the lyre harp. What I see, what I hear, and the words I’ve chosen— they’re all treasures I’ve gathered over time.

It’s up to me to decide. What feels right, what resonates— the thinking, the learning, the joy— they all belong to my music. It’s always been that way.

[heidilinernotes]

making a wish

A wish, I think, is also a promise you make with yourself. Because you’re the one who walks toward it, there’s no need to limit how many you have.

Looking back, I realize— some things in my life now were once wishes I made long ago. That’s why I’ve come to value holding wishes with depth and intention.

In the reprise, I played the kazoo for the first time. Surprisingly, it was fun. Next time, I’d like to play it more like a trumpet.

[heidilinernotes]

Leaves

By quietly following what the heart was reaching for— by choosing to look, to listen, to reflect— I began to sense something like light.

I would always reach for the guitar. Even without words, it felt as though we were speaking together in our own language. That’s how the music began to take shape.

Then now, I think, It all comes down to what kind of feeling I hold, and what kind of words I choose to place there.

[heidilinernotes]

New Moon

Day by day, little by little, and yet—something within me is shifting in a profound way. Lately, I feel as though I’m beginning to see the meaning behind it all. The answers, perhaps, are starting to take shape.

With a mind open and fluid, I can continue thinking, and change, when change feels right.

The key keeps appearing before me. And I wonder— what is it trying to show me?

[heidilinernotes]

speaking to stars

This song was built around a recording I made in high school. The original audio was nothing more than the sound of my trusty Casio keyboard, captured through the voice memo app on my phone. There were no vocals at the time—just sound.

But within that sound, I sensed the image of a planetarium. So I turned it into a song about stars.

"Perhaps the stars are the self. When we make wishes upon them, the prayers we send out may be reaching back to us."

[heidilinernotes]

literally

In my usual approach to chorus work, I record harmonies while listening to the main melody in real time— layering each take with the lead in mind.

But this time, after recording the main vocal, I deliberately avoided listening back to it. Instead, I added one, then another harmony take, without referencing the lead. The background choruses were recorded the same way.

By doing so, each part carried a stronger individual presence. And somehow, those voices—sung separately, without coordination— came together in unexpected harmony. There was a quiet joy in discovering that kind of beauty.

[heidilinernotes]

bouquet

A bouquet song, created around the theme of free rhythm. It’s sung in a freestyle manner, with no fixed tempo or beat. In addition to the background chorus that colors the entire piece, there’s a single layered harmony that follows the main melody.

Within this concept of free rhythm, singing a melody that came to mind that very day— and arranging and recording harmonies along with it— turned out to be one of the most technically challenging moments in my recording experience.

For the lyrics, I chose words inspired by the colors of different flowers. The release includes both stereo and mono versions, so that listeners can freely enjoy the contrast— the sounds that sweep to the sides, and the depth of the ones that stay in the center.

[heidilinernotes]

anew

This was the second track I made after I started using a DAW. The only instrument used was a MIDI keyboard. The rhythm track was created using finger drumming directly on the keys. The backing vocals behind the main vocal are actually reversed versions of the vocal track. Since I couldn’t clearly transcribe the lyrics into words, I translated them into Japanese based on the overall impression and feeling.