Let's hear it for Chinese Music!

paulrmartin · Post by **paulrmartin** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 5:10 pm

Here's one I am going to get slaughtered by Ken on.

I love Chinese music so much it follows me everywhere.

I put this little thing together in about 3 hours after pondering the actual sound I wanted for 6 months. I used the Mini Erhu and Mini Dizi from Kong Audio in here.

Enjoy

paulrmartin · Post by **paulrmartin** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 5:18 pm

To the person who downloaded the music before I updated, do it again. It sounds much better with a fade-out at the end

dawman · Post by **dawman** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 5:31 pm

Xie Xie,

I happen to love Chinese Music also. When I used to go to the Theatre to see Bruce Lee Movies over and over the Erhu was always my favorite sound, and also the Pipa.

Damn when I heard this I thought I was watching the scene from " Fists Of Fury " where Bruce Lee ( Chen ) was forced to leave his Martial Arts school and go into hiding, very sad melody, but the Erhu always seems to travel through many emotions that why I love it so.

You might want to give the SoundDemon guys a shot. They are real Chinese people that made their Erhu. It's a GS3 library I use, but I am told they have a K2, and AU available.

Please keep sharing your talents here Paul, it is quite helpful.

I never listen to music on the radio but rather cd's I burn of what I want to listen to.

And I absolutely love not having to hear vocals 24/7.

As Usual A Very Nice Job.

BingoTheClowno · Post by **BingoTheClowno** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 6:41 pm

Nice! I like it. Are those tambourines at around 2:30?

paulrmartin · Post by **paulrmartin** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 6:51 pm

nope. That is one of the free loops you can download at Kong Audio. I had to notch filter one very loud finger cymbal near the end of the loop...

Post by **hubird** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 9:17 pm

I would've expected more of the typical (black keys) melody lines so recognizable in this music?
That loop should get a better place in the mix tho

RedSun · Post by **RedSun** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 6:47 pm

Hey Paul!

Really nice!

It's exactly the kind of music I'd expect to hear during the credits of a good movie like Hero or Curse of the golden flower.

kensuguro · Post by **kensuguro** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 11:26 am

Kong music's stuff is seriously good. Nice unison with the dizi and erhu. The melody is very mainland Chinese. Strange thing about my melody is it's more Taiwanese, since my melody has more Japanese influences.

Apart from legato and all the bow related articulations, there is an overall stylistic guide you can use for how to bend the notes. It all roots in the language and the intonations, but since that'll require too much time to learn, you can check out the chinese opera tunes. Not the Erhu, but the soprano relative, Jing-hu was used to accompany the lead vocals in traditional chinese opera (Beijing Opera, or Jing-Ju) , and it seems to me that the bend styles have evolved from there. (based on vocal style)
http://www.chinapage.com/xwang/index0.html

The vocal style also carried over to pre war swing/big band era (during japanese occupation), when shanghai was at its highest. Those are definitely worth a listen since they retain the bend characteristics, but also exaggerates them so it blends better with the western based accompaniments. I can't find any at the moment.. I wonder if they can even exist on the internet.. I'll let you know if I find any.

The movie Farewell My Concubine captures the final days of Beijing Opera, with a mix of how the Japanese takeover happened, and it s cultural consequences. But best of all, it takes you into the life of a lead prima in a Beijing Opera company.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106332/

Actually, most interestingly, there is nothing foreign about the piece you wrote. It's peculiarly native, and that's an amazing feat. Great work!

zangsta · Post by **zangsta** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 3:30 pm

Great work! Well done !

Jörgen

paulrmartin · Post by **paulrmartin** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 3:48 pm

Thanks Ken for the most instructional post I could have dreamed of!

Of course, I don't have time to learn the spoken language but learning to listen to the singing to inspire my articulations will be a lot of fun.

My wife also says this should play during the end credits of some movie.

Thanks for the great comments, guys

Post by **Neil B** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 11:26 am

That is really good Paul. Oriental without being oriental if you know what I mean.
I have to agree with the comments of others above me and I think it would work well in a film score. Now I know what the instruments you wer eon about sound like.

Nice track.