Entertainment: Is this how you play music?!

Chapter 396 Trains can drift too, huh?!

Brilliant music must have both appearance and meaning.

Excellent music allows people to understand the inner meaning beyond the surface.

The performance is the first one, and few audience members can quickly grasp its core meaning and expression, let alone immediately begin a deeper interpretation of the music. Therefore, the outward appearance is extremely important; if the appearance is not done well, the inner meaning will also be poorly conveyed.

Sofia is one of the few viewers who can see through appearances.

Many viewers couldn't see the deeper layers, but through the psychedelic appearance, they seemed to see a vortex-like portal.

It's a feeling that's hard to describe.

That is, after hearing it, I felt it was very profound, but I didn't know exactly what the profound meaning was.

After subconsciously glancing at the music title, various guesses seemed to form in my mind.

This doesn't stem from an instinctive reading comprehension ability, but rather from an explosive on-the-spot performance.

Light and shadow are merely a visual refraction.

But the unpredictable changes in sound are the main feature.

The fragmented rhythm was as unpredictable as a mother's ever-changing expression. This psychedelic rhythm, combined with Li Can's expression, clearly indicated that he was either heavily drugged or drunk.

It was so satisfying to type, I was almost addicted.

But his expression wasn't exaggerated or ferocious; instead, it had a kind of rational brilliance.

The hand movements were extremely swift and precise.

But his eyes were already slightly closed.

Winnie's performance was simply divine.

It lacked the usual wild and explosive energy, and it wasn't a gentle form of punishment like standing in the corner.

The way he treated the guitar was as if he were cradling a baby, gently rocking it, as if he had given it life.

But seemingly not fully awake in his intoxication, the beat suddenly intensifies in the next second.

Beneath her gentle face, her actions appeared somewhat cold.

The posture for holding the violin changes with each change in technique.

Finally, the drumbeats and guitar/bass sounds subsided, with only the sound blocks on the mixing console next to Chen Gang's keyboard still pulsating.

As the electronic sound effects spread, the stage suddenly darkened.

Four beams of light were emitted.

Three gray streaks shone on Li Can, Winnie, and Zhao Ze.

The three of them silently turned their backs to the audience and made no further moves.

Only Chen Gang's spotlight was changing colors, rhythmically switching with the movements of his hands.

That's a drum beat section from electronic music.

In the darkness, the mannequins on the stage, each in a different pose, were vaguely visible, but they didn't look real enough.

The bizarre stage aesthetics and stark contrasts are enough to send chills down your spine even from the surface alone.

The music stopped abruptly, without the slightest warning.

It was as if a person had suddenly died, or as if consciousness had gone blank and drifted away.

The lights stayed on for three seconds, and everyone on the stage remained motionless.

The stage was silent for a full three seconds.

The audience felt an urge to applaud after the show ended, but hesitated, unsure whether the performance was actually over.

This digital display of light and shadow, combined with the musical instrument show, truly left the audience speechless.

Having seen so many performances, I've never seen anything like this before.
Nobody's singing!
But it was this hesitation that led to this decision.

In three seconds.

Winnie picked up another guitar.

Facing the spotlight, he calmly and slowly slung the guitar over his body.

At the same time, the entire stage went completely dark.

The only bright spot attracted the attention of all the audience members, who were unaware that the staff were working in the dark, coordinating with the elevator to change the set design.

Winnie tossed the guitar she was holding behind her and slung another seven-stringed guitar over her shoulder.

Two guitars, one in front of the other.

On the big screen, "OD" changed to "Ego Death".

The sound of the guitar rang out again.

However, this time the guitar sounded somewhat harsh and hoarse; if one had to describe it, even the tone seemed to have turned gray.

The tone is slightly harsh, but the melody is very calming.

As the effects pedals changed, Chen Gang meticulously watched the process on the mixing console.

The tone also seems to gradually become more mellow.

The digital lights seemed to disappear, and the entire stage lit up.

After the mannequins were removed, the stage, without its eerie atmosphere, didn't feel empty at all; in fact, it seemed to make people feel much more relaxed.

"Relieve the pressure!"

Lin Xin, who was backstage, blurted it out.

I glanced at Zheng Jie and saw that his face was practically screaming "Holy crap, I've learned something!"

The stage is large, making it difficult to maintain; an empty space is something many performers try to avoid.

With fewer people, the focus must be on the audience. Zheng Jie's lighting design is precisely that focus, making the audience overlook the fact that the stage is large and empty.

Li Can, however, did the opposite.

By using mannequins and lighting, and through subtle changes in musical rhythm and melody techniques, a sense of change and a touch of the eerie is created.

An unfamiliar melody, a varied rhythm, and a melodic design that ebbs and flows with emotion.

Viewers can easily develop a sense of unease that is difficult for themselves and others to be aware of.

This is one way to increase the pressure of performing.

Similar to large-scale, multi-person dance performances on a huge stage, this show uses extreme spatial occupancy and a massive amount of information through lighting and shadows to compress the viewing experience and increase the viewing pressure.

This is the basic logic behind why large-scale programs are more likely to shock audiences, just like so-called "epic" music films.

Epic music features multi-orchestral, rich harmonies, countless instrumentations, and a texture formed by the sounds of numerous tracks.

It stems from the pressure exerted on the audience by performers who construct grand narratives using massive amounts of information.

Li Can's show has a small cast, but it's packed with information.

Changes in rhythm, technique, and melody, combined with projections, lighting, and stage design, all create a complex interplay of information that constantly bombards the audience, effectively increasing their stress.

Large-scale wars involve a large number of people, and even if the battle formations and attack methods are simple, a slight change can still confuse the enemy.

While the best martial arts students may be few in number, their moves change extremely quickly, which can be just as dazzling.

This is the essence of information content; it is the skillful mastery of the balance between the quality and quantity of information, in order to "increase pressure" on the audience through different modes of expression.

This was amazing enough in itself, but what was most amazing was that Li Can, while conveying a huge amount of information, created a transition that allowed the audience to catch their breath through this stress-relieving method.

This will not only turn the emptiness of the stage from a disadvantage into an advantage, successfully relieving the audience's viewing pressure, but will also prepare for the "incremental information" to come!

"That's outrageous."

Zheng Jie's eyelids twitched.

I just felt that this was the real lack of martial ethics.

"I'm doing subtraction, but he's doing addition. The same problem feels completely different when solved with simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division versus when solved with advanced calculus!"

"Yes, and art is not entirely mathematics; adding is not a futile task."

Lin Xin nodded repeatedly, praising the performance.

Making a mathematical problem more complex is not inherently problematic in mathematics, but it can be criticized as "unnecessary."

But art is different, because art is a form of direct expression.

The increase in information is by no means useless. It's like laying out a math problem for someone to see; ordinary addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division are certainly not as impressive as a solution that uses sophisticated and cutting-edge theories and formulas to solve a problem with no numbers but full of letters.

Ordinary people may find the variety of techniques overwhelming, while professionals may be captivated by the beauty of formulaic application.

Lin Xin and Zheng Jie's few words had a profound impact on the people around them.

While Jiang Youzhen and Qian Hao could somewhat compensate for the situation, top-tier singer Huang Ya was completely dumbfounded.

This is way beyond my knowledge; I'm starting to not understand it anymore.

"Have I been a fake singer all these years?"

But clearly, there's more to come that people won't understand.

The next person to express surprise was Li Jianwei.

Although Li Jianwei is a veteran vocalist, his years of experience and expertise are undeniable; he was immediately impressed upon hearing the voice.

"Hmm? That's creative, a nylon-string electric guitar?"

"?!!"

When these words were spoken, Zheng Jie and Lin Xin were both stunned.

Electric guitars cannot use nylon strings because nylon strings have very low tension; they are generally used for classical guitars and acoustic guitars.

Even folk guitars and fingerstyle guitars don't use nylon strings.

Nylon strings are generally only used on classical guitars. However, nowadays, a very small number of nylon strings are used in a special way on folk guitars. Such guitars are neither classical nor folk, and are considered crossover guitars, which are very rare.

Electric guitar?
This thing absolutely needs to use steel strings to maintain the string tension, because only steel strings can provide sufficient tension.

String tension greatly influences playing style.

Classical guitars should never be played with strings that are too tense, otherwise the sound will be extremely harsh, many techniques will be difficult to play, and most importantly, the tone will lose its classical richness.

The soundboard of a folk guitar is relatively stiff, and nylon strings are not enough to fully drive the soundboard.

Not to mention electric guitars.

But now, Li Jianwei could tell at a glance that the strings of this seven-string electric guitar were actually nylon strings.

"what?!"

Zheng Jie and Lin Xin were dumbfounded, unable to believe that Teacher Li Jianwei had misheard.

People have heard many more musical instruments than they can name.

Thinking about DP's obviously new and innovative work, and then I pictured Winnie slinging two guitars over her shoulder.

Clearly, these are specially made nylon strings.

"How is this different from drifting on a train?"

Lin Xin and Zheng Jie were deeply shocked.

Trains and cars are both vehicles and means of transportation, but if you use a train to perform drifting maneuvers that are considered car drifting, that's really going too far.

"The Death of Myself" is currently underway.

Winnie played the seven-string guitar with exquisite precision and smoothness.

The meticulous, fast-paced, and highly detailed performance, with its bouncy and textured sound, will leave you speechless with amazement just by listening or watching.

The nearly vertical, 90°-angled soundboard allows for a full display of the tapping and plucking motions, resulting in a crisp and clean sound.

Few electric guitarists perform this kind of thing, but DP did.

Finally, the music took a turn.

After that showy maneuver, there are subtle changes in the clean sound effects, interspersed throughout, along with a soothing and distinct melody.

Like a drowning person grabbing onto a piece of driftwood, this suddenly highly recognizable scene will instantly draw people's attention.

[Holy crap, this is so much fun!]

This part is so refreshing.

[Guitar Queen! Guitar Queen! That's amazing!]

The viewers' comments were so focused on the live stream that they didn't even bother asking where the lead singer had gone.

By now, I've been completely captivated by the guitar performance.

Instead of using drawn-out notes for embellishments, the artist showcased incredibly delicate technical skill in a very ordinary and natural way.

It leaves no time for anything else.

As the drum kit suddenly rose up.

Winnie took a deep breath, and decisively pulled the guitar in her arms under her right arm at the end of the musical phrase, while reaching back with her left hand to grab the steel-string guitar.

Immediately step on the effects pedal!
"Buzz~"

The familiar distorted guitar blared, playing the melody theme.

The guitar that suddenly shot up drew uncontrollable cheers from the audience.

But clearly, the cheers came a little too soon.

Winnie switched effects and started playing a slap section!

When the camera panned to Winnie and the finger movements were clearly seen, the entire live chat exploded.

[Holy crap! Traditional slap! The guitar is taking on bass duties now, the bass is doomed!]

【It's a fucking guitar slap, huh?!】

[Electric guitar slap, it silenced me.]

This is truly explosive.

Slap is a bass playing technique, most notably characterized by "striking".

It's not plucking, it's striking.

The traditional slap involves striking a string with the thumb to produce a sound, and then quickly plucking the next string.

Because the bass tone is very low and is more responsible for the rhythm, and because the distance between the strings and the bridge is different, this is almost a unique playing technique for the bass.

But now, this thing has appeared on a guitar.

The slap guitar technique, where the thumb hammers the strings, truly left the audience, including those who frequently watch rock music online, completely stunned.

Using a guitar slap isn't exactly a rare thing, but it's truly uncommon to see a serious and big-name band doing it. Now, Winnie, the lead guitarist of DP, not only does it, but she's very skilled at it, and she's made it incredibly impressive.

With a flick of the hammer, the strings resonate on the frets.

There aren't many slap sections.

Soon, it shifted to the traditional solo style.

The cheers and bullet comments increased significantly.

But netizens who noticed the title of the work and made some connections held their breath, completely forgetting to cheer.

Having listened attentively for so long, you've already grasped the message being conveyed.

The abrupt ending of OD seems to foreshadow the endless nature of addiction and dependence, while "The Death of the Self" begins with a rambling self-narration, using the transformation of techniques to construct a neurotic stylistic shift.

That solitary guitar seemed to be telling a story of changing self-awareness.

[Physical perception independent of society or environment]

Addiction and dependence.

It stems from a lack of self, or an excess of self.

Whether it is a lack of self or an excess of self, one will actively or passively embark on a path of no return—the pursuit of self-destruction.

The concept of self-death originates from ancient mysticism. It is a way of seeking communication with God and the universe, a fanaticism in preparation for merging with the truth of the universe and completely annihilating the self.

Human Instrumentality

In modern times, self-death is often described as a result of medication.

With the musical style changing one after another.

Some audience members who began to understand the core of the music became even more excited, but their demeanor became quieter and more attentive.

In the music world, there are very few outstanding works that not only have excellent sound quality and are powerful and pleasing to the ear, but also develop and extend in terms of technical skill, arrangement, artistic breakthroughs, and even philosophical and ideological depth!
(End of this chapter)