Entertainment: Is this how you play music?!

Chapter 350 is unconventional, but highly effective!

"."

Zong Yan's attitude made Zhao Ze's eyes twitch.

People are different. If a student suddenly has a whim to try something unconventional, the teacher will only slap them across the face to bring them to their senses.

But if it's the producer, then it's fine.

Even now, if Zhao Ze were to use some fancy tricks, Zong Yan wouldn't find it offensive. However, it would be difficult to shift his perspective from that of a student in the short term, and this really has nothing to do with whether or not he has become famous.

It's like when you're an adult and start working, you might feel guilty and try to hide it from your parents if you want to smoke again.

If my father were to throw me a cigarette one day, even if the lighter was in the refrigerator, I would feel it was burning hot and I would be terrified.

After all, no matter how successful you are, it's hard to erase the memory of your father whipping you with a belt.

"Aze, cooperate well."

Professor Zong Yan's words made Zhao Ze straighten up, and the young man immediately stood at attention.

"receive."

"puff."

Receiving those two words made Li Can burst out laughing. He felt that an "OK" emoji or a thumbs-up emoji should have been added after them.

"Take a break. Training for 'The Butterfly Lovers' will officially begin tomorrow."

Li Can laid out the work procedures and then waited for the next day.

The next morning, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra was already waiting in the rehearsal room of the Golden Hall.

After getting to know each other over the past few days, Li Can has become quite familiar with the musicians.

San Dezi's hellish jokes played a significant role in this.

"Hey! Mr. Li, what jokes have you prepared for us today?"

James, the junior leader, waved his little hand, eliciting a burst of laughter from the crowd.

"Watch your head, or the trombone will poke your head."

Li Can pursed his lips.

This positioning puts the trombone behind the trumpet, allowing the clarinetist to escape unscathed, but putting the trumpeter in danger.

"Try to bear it if you get poked. If you shout and disrupt the rehearsal, you'll be sitting at the same table as the viola player."

"??"

Amidst bursts of laughter, the viola players innocently raised their heads.

Damn it, you can make fun of the viola with any joke, right?

"What are you looking at? If any of your violas are out of tune, I'll beat you all to death until only one of you is left."

"Hahahaha!"

The viola players' faces darkened, signifying that the orchestra's happy times were about to begin.

"Alright, enough fooling around, let's get started. First, I'm going to break down some important points for everyone."

After the laughter.

Li Can waved and moved on to the main topic.

Joking around is fine, but it will absolutely not interfere with serious matters.

With just one command, all the musicians were ready and awaiting Li Can's next instructions.

There are many things to note and details to pay attention to in "The Butterfly Lovers".

If I had to describe it, it would be "Pinduoduo, the best way to make music."

The story itself originates from Yue Opera, and in the violin concerto "The Butterfly Lovers," the melodies, rhythms, and harmonies of Yue Opera are very distinctive, while also incorporating some details from Peking Opera and Huangmei Opera.

However, its expressive techniques are entirely classical, using purely Western musical instruments.

This involves the simulation of timbre and emotional color.

This places strict demands not only on the lead violinist.

In terms of difficulty, there is really no difficulty. In the field of performance, it can be said that anyone with hands can do it. If you start learning the piano from elementary school, you can reach the basic requirements of the music difficulty level by the age of eight or nine if you have a little talent.

But if you want to play well.

That would be incredibly difficult.

The exquisite detail is clearly evident in the music, and the difference between "being able to play" and "playing well" is magnified infinitely in "The Butterfly Lovers".

As for the energy of musical emotional expression.

Only two words.

"Unrestrained".

Contrary to what many people might think, the subtlety that represents Xia Dynasty art is completely absent. The entire piece is incredibly unrestrained in its emotional expression, even more romantic than romanticism itself.

Unlike conventional approaches, Xia Guo's subtle emotions are completely hidden beneath delicate techniques and presented through unrestrained performance.

How to convey the subtlety and delicacy rich in Eastern aesthetics amidst unrestrained emotional performance is the most challenging aspect of a show.

This is why, even though the difficulty level wasn't high, Li Can didn't choose his good friend Zhao Ze.

age.

To truly create a performance that resonates with audiences of all ages, the actor must be at least not too young. If the actor is under thirty, he is likely to be overly unrestrained and lack subtlety. If the actor is over fifty, he is likely to be incredibly subtle and composed, but his passion may be slightly lacking.

Professor Zong Yan was in his forties, which was exactly the time when he was in the best mental state.

As the saying goes, "Don't read Water Margin when you're young, and don't read Romance of the Three Kingdoms when you're old." To break this rule, you need extremely strong basic skills, and you need to start at the level of a master.

"Alright, next up is the detailed structure, let's begin."

Li Can raised his baton and got into work mode.

For the conductor.

The performance on stage was actually just a work report.

The real work is the vast amount of content done offstage before the performance.

The work involves knowledge from almost all disciplines in the music academy, and the details must be focused on the most subtle color changes of each instrument. Only top masters can master it, and pursuing a state of effortless mastery is as difficult as climbing to heaven.

At this moment, the musicians sat up straight, and the advisors stood at attention.

"At the beginning, the bass should be played softly, and the drums should be played on the rim without too much vibration. The viola and violin should follow up with a gradual increase in volume, and the crescendo should be lengthened, but the final dynamics should still be controlled to be slightly weaker."

"The string accompaniment is based on the single notes of the harp. Harp, remember, the volume here must not be loud."

"Leave room for the flute to shine."

Li Can's gaze was fixed directly on the principal flutist.

The principal flutist nodded solemnly, gripping the 18K rose gold flute tightly in his hand.

"The flute is very important. For the whole opening, I want it to have a feeling of dawn. The flute cadenza is very long, light, and bouncy, imitating birdsong. Play it like a spring morning. Try it now."

Accompanied by Li Can's joyful single draw.

The musicians' Muggle time has begun.

These contents are not difficult for musicians.

However, Li Can was meticulous in his expression, delving into the details to an extremely precise level.

Splendor.

As the name suggests, it features gorgeous colors.

In the cadenza, the instruments will definitely "show off," which is quite challenging, very eye-catching, and allows for greater freedom in performance.

But in "The Butterfly Lovers," it's completely different.

Almost all of them are different processing methods.

"It's too ornate. I don't need such elaborate expression. I don't want to hear any information about talent in your flute virtuosity."

"Vitality, whether the climax has vitality, determines the quality of the entire work."

Speaking of it.

Li Can paused. After scanning all the musicians, he slowly explained the basic performance mindset for the entire piece.

"Music is not for showing off talent, it's for changing lives."

Li Can's words not only startled the principal flutist slightly.

The other musicians were also deep in thought.

Hardy, who was supervising the rehearsal, took a deep breath and savored the words.

One sentence sums up the ultimate goal of musical art.

And the ultimate goal of this artistic concept will be the foundation for a perfect performance of "The Butterfly Lovers".

After saying this.

The opening performance was immediately imbued with spirituality.

Vitality, warm and dynamic.

The chemistry between a top conductor and a top orchestra is very strong, and it's not difficult to truly grasp the essence of it.

This work, which was originally the most difficult to integrate, has made surprisingly good progress.

Li Can did not strictly limit the duration and intensity of each note, but instead arranged the rehearsal based on a seemingly unreliable "feeling".

But this is actually the most profound method.

feel.

Ultimately, it's just an aesthetic experience, and the rehearsal process of "The Butterfly Lovers" is entirely based on the aesthetic expression itself.

The rehearsals are progressing steadily, which is very encouraging.

"Joyful, yes, this part of the story is about the excitement and novelty of Zhu Yingtai disguising herself as a man to study. You might not feel it deeply, but put yourself in her shoes. When you skipped class to go out and play, hey? Do you get the feeling?"

"Yes! I'm a little scared and a little apprehensive, but mostly I feel novelty and excitement. Whether I'll get beaten up later is another matter, but right now I'm absolutely happy!"

"Good students who have never skipped class, don't worry. You can imagine it as the feeling of being anxious about missing classes after taking sick leave, combined with the joy of being able to rest well."

Li Can's words brought smiles to the musicians' faces.

It's clear that not many of them are truly honest and straightforward.

Skipping class? Who hasn't had a complete student life?

Most students have skipped classes to some extent before entering society. Even if they didn't skip class but asked for leave, the feeling is still similar. They can relate to that feeling of being on edge but also quite happy.

As for why this explanation is given?
Very simple.

Western musicians may not fully understand the cultural background of ancient East Asia, and forcing their way in will only increase the time and effort required.

There wasn't much time available for rehearsals.

Therefore, it is sufficient to simply state the logic and then use analogies to describe the texture; there is no need to get bogged down in the details.

After that, through well-developed drills, one will naturally have a deeper and more intuitive understanding, which is exactly the "correction" mechanism that Li Can mentioned.

Even ordinary people wouldn't go astray with such feelings, let alone these musicians who have undergone long-term training.
Not serious.

But it works.

Moreover, it is very effective.

The first time around, I just went through a general process, summarized it, and took notes. The detailed analysis hasn't even begun yet.

However, the speed and the effect of this first run were excellent.

Before I knew it, I had sorted out more than half of the music content.

“Come on, Professor Zongyan, please demonstrate the treatment of the lead violin in this passage.”

Zong Yan demonstrated as required.

Li Can turned his head.

"Did you hear that? This is the expression of crying in Yue Opera, which comes from the West Lake landscape melody section of the Yue Opera Legend of the White Snake!"

"Come on, teachers, give us a proper cough cough demonstration."

“Perfect timing. The violin can imitate the erhu extensively. Zezi, you take the erhu and accompany the two teachers.”

As Li Can spoke.

Zhao Ze nodded.

Under the watchful eye of violin teacher Zong Yan, he picked up the erhu and unleashed a rapid and powerful performance.

The usefulness of Yue Opera experts began to become apparent.

By breaking down the details of the expression, we aim to give Western musicians a more direct and localized feel for the expression.

This will be of great use in subsequent rehearsals.

Yes, this is a singing segment.

However, in Western orchestral music, the goal is to transform vocal passages into musical passages.

The highest level of vocal artistry is to transform the human voice into a musical instrument.

The highest level of musical instruments is the singing quality of the human voice.

"not only that."

"In order to express the feeling of being heartbroken and restless within a subtle emotional foundation, the violin uses the texture of different strings with the same note and glissando."

Li Can swiped his finger.

The music design that transcends national cultures is immediately apparent; the compatibility between Western music and the stories of the Xia Kingdom, as well as the folk music of the Xia Kingdom, seems to have never been so synchronized.

"The violin, the note 'fa', is played first on the second string, then the third string. When the note changes, it is accompanied by vibrato, with a slight glissando texture to reach the correct pitch. This is a kind of rhythm in Chinese speech."

The musicians were amazed by Li Can's handling of color.

The second string of a violin is in the middle to high range, while the third string is in the middle to low range or low range.

By changing positions, the same pitch can be played on different strings, but the colors will be completely different.

The third string is thicker than the second string, so even the same note will sound more resonant.

The same note, played on different strings, creates an extremely subtle change in color in an instant without any change in melody.

Such treatments are not uncommon in Western musical works.

But such emphasis, such obviousness, even the variation in the strength of two different strings playing the same note—such emotional expression is truly rare.

At this moment, time and space seem to have reversed somewhat.

Western music seems to have become more rational, while Eastern music is incredibly emotional.

After the rehearsals produced some initial visual effects, Hardy became restless.

To understand the intensity of an emotional expression in a piece of music, a musician only needs to observe how the color variations and treatments are done to gain a basic understanding.

After gaining a slight intuitive understanding, Hardy became even more convinced.

This piece is quite powerful!
The story is full of twists and turns, leaving one feeling emotionally unsettled.

This is a completely dramatic way of handling things!

The imagination conveyed by the entire instrument is difficult to describe in words.

It is not a sonata, not a concerto, not Yue opera, and not an imitation.

The splicing and bridging are aboveboard, and the overall texture is seamless.

It reveals a strong ability to understand cross cultures.

It's just like a highly skilled master who has combined completely different techniques like Nine Yin and Nine Yang, creating a cultivation path that transcends martial arts on the spot.

Zongyan felt it the most deeply.

At first, Zong Yan had some concerns about the development of music in Xia Kingdom.

But as I took over the music, such worries gradually lessened.

Now, as Wei'ai rehearses under Li Can's direction, the quality she exudes has made Zong Yan forget what "worry" even means.

The most stunning fusion of Eastern and Western musical arts is none other than "The Butterfly Lovers"!
Zong Yan even felt he could just open a bottle of champagne.

It's already a sure thing!
(End of this chapter)