Break the sound dimension and feel the blend of “East and West, ancient and modern” in spatial audio
To celebrate the 100th birthday of the famous Chinese composer Zhou Wenzhong in the United States, the Beijing independent music labelbie Records Assemble nine groups of original musicians and sound artists to officially release the compilation album——“Living Water: A Continuing Discussion on the Blending and Co-evolution of Eastern and Western Music” initiated by Zhou Wenzhong (hereinafter referred to as“running water“).Adhering to Zhou Wenzhong“East and West, Past and Present“The creative concept of re-integration, by Apple Ecosystem and spatial audio technology supporting Dolby Atmos are the basis for production. Through the sharp attitude and practical spirit of experimentalists, this compilation actively explores the infinite possibilities of sound and inspires a deeper cultural exchange.
The compilation brings together Du Yun, Li Huadi,Gooooose,33EMYBWHua Lun Band, Sun Dawei,Knopha,otay: onii as well as Yoann Pisterman A total of nine groups of creators from China and around the world. They have different generations, different backgrounds, and diverse styles of music. Over the years, they have created different aspects of classical music, electronic music, rock music, ambient music, and experimental music. , and brought different connotations, extensions and emphases around the same theme“fusion music“providing their own insightful insights.
Western modernism blends with the spirit of ancient Chinese literati, and Zhou Wenzhong’s music of the century converges
Zhou Wenzhong is a world-renowned composer, educator and social activist. He is also known as I.M. Pei, a Chinese architect living in the United States, and Zao Wou-ki, a Chinese painter living in France.“Three Treasures of Overseas Chinese Art“.1940 In the middle of the 1980s, he went to the United States to study music, and successively studied with Russian composers and conductors.Nicholas Slonimsky,Edgard Varethe se and pioneers of tape and electronic music Otto Luening Learning composition, nourished by multiculturalism, Zhou Wenzhong’s early orchestral work “Shanshui” (1949) and “How Many Flowers Fall” (1956) all take the melody and sound of Chinese music as the starting point, the phonology of ancient poetry as the carrier, combined with Western harmony techniques, and gradually established his music creation that was influenced by Chinese traditional aesthetics, inherited and rebellious, and introduced Western technology.
On the one hand, Zhou Wenzhong received good academic training in modern western music, on the other hand, he studied Chinese poetry, calligraphy, painting, I Ching philosophy and Guqin in depth. Creation helps it become20 He is an outstanding representative of the first batch of composers who pioneered the combination of traditional Asian aesthetics and advanced Western concepts and techniques in the middle of the century. Zhou Wenzhong taught in the Composition Department of Columbia University for many years before his death, and trained many internationally renowned composers such as Chen Yi, Zhou Long, Tan Dun, Sheng Zongliang, etc. In the creation and teaching of cross-cultural contexts, he contributed to the cultural development of China and the United States. Communication and musical composition made important contributions.
bie Records Founder Meng Jinhui described Zhou Wenzhong’s influence on Chinese modern music and the original intention and vision of the birth of the “Living Water” compilation:“Mr. Zhou Wenzhong has made great contributions to the integration and exploration of Eastern and Western music and culture. His music works and writings are still very inspiring today.Through this project, we first hope that more people will know‘Zhou Wenzhong‘This name, as well as his great achievements in the integration of Eastern and Western cultures. In addition, to continue the topic of the integration of east and west, we hope to promote a new generation of musicians to continue discussions around this topic, and we also hope to use the language of music to break down cultural barriers and boundaries, so that the water from the source can flow to a wider place and nourish more groups. Generate more connections.“
Contrasting the perspectives of the East and the West, compiling a diverse and integrated culture
existbie Records In the paraphrase, the title “Living Water” is taken from“source of running water“The idiom, which shows the integration of Eastern and Western music culture “continued“”flow” It also means that the discussion and practice around this project can be traced from the source, and it is constantly evolving and developing, just like a living water body.
In Zhou Wenzhong’s works,mostIt uses Western musical instruments to compose music under the modernist Western composition system, but it shows the natural expression and practical exploration of Eastern aesthetics. The artistic conception and spirit of Chinese traditional culture interact with Western music in the refined abstraction and translation of Zhou Wenzhong, reaching a state of integration.However, with the passage of time, the world pattern is constantly changing. In today’s context,“Eastern culture“and“Oriental aesthetics“How is it reflected in the works of musicians?
Shanghai sound artist GOOOOOSE Choose traditional Chinese percussion instruments“gong“(Gong), developed a song “Long Gong“(can be translated as“dragon palace“can also be interpreted as a gong with a long sound);33EMYBW Based on the textual description of the voices of beasts, gods and ghosts in “Shan Hai Jing”, the “Nan Shan Qi Yin” was written by citing the strange beasts and mountain gods in the first volume of “Nan Shan Jing”.An experimental musician who combines English, Zhejiang Haining dialect and Mandarin, and is also the lead singer of an alternative metal bandotay: onii In “Call of My Name”, a grotesque female voice with very strong dramatic tension is shown, and the listener seems to be in a major rain and blessing ceremony…
Awarded for the avant-garde opera “Angel’s Bone”2017 The first Asian woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize in Music in 2018, composer Du Yun paid tribute to Zhou Wenzhong and his mentor with his work “Faizi” Edgard Varethe seusing Indian classical wind instruments in a pioneering attitude beyond the paradigmShehnai sound, connected in series fromShehnai The development history of the musical instrument that evolved to the Chinese suona, tells the fusion of different races and cultures through time clues, and raises questions:“The impact, change and development of culture come from the encounters between different people, and the confluence of regions, history and culture is a natural process. At that time, I consciously aimed at Mr. Zhou Wenzhong’s interpretation of Eastern ideology, and wanted to expand its connotation: Where is the so-called Eastern in terms of geography and self-coordinates, and in our sense of perception? This is the direction I am looking for a breakthrough.“
One-stop spatial audio immersion experience,Apple End-to-end workflow empowers music creation and listening
Apple of Logic Pro Provides a powerful set of creative tools for professional music production, including spatial audio mixing capabilities.Creators can take advantage of the software’s built-in Dolby Atmos tools to create immersive spatial audio mixes, and useMac pass AirPods Max Perform binaural monitoring.This monitoring method can flexibly adapt to a variety of creative scenarios, and it is also compatible with most users from Apple Music The resulting spatial audio experience remains consistent.
Thanks to this new workflow, musicians can create in theMac use on Logic Pro Make spatial audio mixes and output project files for further processing by the mixer, thereby improving the overall efficiency of creation, and allowing musicians, producers, mixers, and mastering engineers to fully display their talents from all ports.By arranging different music elements in a wider three-dimensional space and setting up motion trajectories, these creators let more orchestration, more details, and more sound effects emerge in the music landscape of spatial audio, and then publish them on Apple MusicMusic fans around the world can therefore enjoy the immersive listening experience they expect anytime, anywhere.
With the blessing of spatial audio technology, musicians can display more creativity on the broader stage of the three-dimensional sound field. Hu Chao, one of the creators of “Kangji Bridge” and the guitarist of Hua Lun Band, said that spatial audio is like 2D arrive 3D Dimension boost for :“The sense of immersion is stronger for the audience, and due to the increase in dimensionality, some music details that may have been overlooked in stereo will be easier for the audience to hear.“GOOOOOSE It is believed that the popularization of spatial audio technology can restore the sound field of live performance to a greater extent, blurring the boundary between virtual and real:“Sound field and space are very important parts of music and sound works to me, and it is revolutionary to me to promote this technology and standard to ordinary consumers.“
“shacklesLi Huadi, the author of “, believes that technically speaking, the expansion of space enhances the width of points, lines and surfaces:“Electronic music is very concerned about the effect on sound density, so spatial audio compensates for the limitation of stereo dispersion. The sound is thickened and the dynamics are especially improved, which is very important for the increasingly sensitive ears. I am more and more concerned about small sounds. It seems that when you have to work hard to hear them, your brain will make up for the part that you seem to be unable to hear. At this time, the music resonates among people. Spatial audio adds to this subtlety.“
In order to better realize the“Sense of space“, to present more ingenuity and details that came out of the brainstorming of the creators. Zhang Lin, a senior audio engineer, served as the mastering engineer for the entire compilation, and provided “Faizi”, “Nanshan Qiyin”, “Dragon Palace”, “Fog” The four tracks are mixed with Dolby Atmos audio, using his rich professional experience to help the sound performance of the entire compilation. Zhang Lin analyzed the spatial audio listening experience from the engineer’s perspective for us:“In terms of overall presentation, the style and sound usage of each work are quite different, and the arrangement of the whole compilation has strong ups and downs, including from the beginning of modern electro-acoustic composition to the integration of traditional cultural images, and even the carrying of electronic music elements, and Atmosphere, enveloping experience, etc.“He pointed out:“Spatial audio first opens up the dimensional limit of mixing, and at the same time weakens the content bandwidth compression caused by the previous channel-based audio technology limitations, which makes louder louder no longer a necessary process, and music works can therefore maintain Nice dynamic.“
As Meng Jinhui said:“Technology has always been an important factor affecting the development of music.The emergence of spatial audio gives creators the opportunity to use new presentation methods to provide listeners with a new listening experience, while Apple Music The international dissemination of the Internet also breaks the geographical barriers, so that more people can share together in the first time.“
In this compilation, nine groups of musicians showed strong personal styles, broke through their original musical boundaries, and polished works that combine musicality and technicality, bringing fresh nourishment to the creation of Chinese contemporary music. Through the presentation of spatial audio, the curiosity, openness, spirit of experimentation and humility towards history and culture contained in the entire compilation will linger around you in all directions.
