Archive for the ‘音樂相關’ Category
20081105
Composition Workshop by Ensemble Modern @ Lee Hysan Concert Hall. The ensemble plays almost perfectly at the first sight reading, and they take seriously to try out any strange awkward techniques. Nice to hear Wong Kong Yu’s wonderful bassoon quintet as well as works by Michael, Austin and Chris. Joanna Lee is superb as a MC and translator. Lunch with composition fellows.
20081105-06
Cantonese Opera at SRRSH. Took some photos.
My camera is just a pro-sumer model Nikon Coolpix P80. Difficulty faced: hand-shaking and difficult to focus in the dark environment, limited angle (I should not move around during the performance), the shutter speed is not fast enough to capture a quick motion. But the good point of this budget-price camera is its sharp colour, its ability to adjust aperture and shutter and wonderful zoom. The price is much less then a DSLR + tele-len. The solution of hand-shaking is to choose higher light sensitivity, but the noise is severe for ISO1600 or higher. I limited to use ISO400 or ISO800, but the result is sometimes blurry. But cantonese opera is easier than taking photos for dance or drama, because every action ends up with a beautiful, static posture. So at whatever moment you press the shutter, it will be a nice image. 「身段」- beautiful body skills is a quality of chinese xiqu that western drama doesn’t have.
The background music is a mixture of real instruments (erhu and percussions) and pre-recorded synthesized instruments - the music arranger as well as the leading erhu player Li is really marvellous in arranging music for cantonese opera. He is perhaps the only person who knows the cantonese opera well, and has knowledge of both orchestra as well as computer sequencing. If you only listen to the synthesized soundtrack, it may not be so “realistic”, but together with the real erhu and luogu, the result is superb. He called the performance “a cantonese opera musical”, and he don’t want just songs after song, he used some theme (or motif) to represent the persons, e.g. 江河水 was used to represent the tragic main character 田氏. As a “musical”, the performance is enriched by beautiful lighting and sound effects.
20081107
Watched a witty, innovative performance of Liu Sola’s “The Fantasy of Red Queen”. The choreographer is 江青, and the show is about 江青…what a coincidence. Imaginative mix and use of guqin music, marches during the cultural revolution, revolutionary beijing operas, tango, jazzy old tunes, cluster and other contemporary music techniques, etc. Nice to put side by side the red queen of the cultural revolution and the nurse who represented the current materialistic China. Although the red queen has died, her propaganda has brain washed a whole generation of chinese people, and the DNA of pursuing power is still inherited in every Chinese, no matter it is a socialist or a capitalist society. The only minor thing that is disturbing is too many words and too much content. Seems it is better to tell the story in a not so straight forward way, or expand the story into a 2-hour opera.
20081108
Visited another LC’s home.
Concert by 弦風樂匯. Thanks very much my friends for playing my piece 遠古 and 蜀國弦!
When I try to analyze Gorecki’s Symphony No. 3, it seems like there’s nothing for you to analyze - would you try to analyze Ravel’s Bolero or Steve Reich’s In C? Everything written there is so simple and obvious. Ravel’s Bolero is no more than repeating the same themes with different instruments at the first glance, although actually there are lots of subtle changes (addition of parallel fifths, or parallel chords, etc.) But it is that simplicity which makes it so innovative. While some contemporary music focus on atonality and other devices to make a piece sound “new”, this Gorecki symphony is innovative because it is so simple. I can only think of famous quotes from JinYong’s novel: “重劍無鋒，大巧不工”, “天之道，捐有餘而補不足，是故虛勝實，不足勝有餘”, “無招勝有招”. Simplicity wins over complexity. It is the aesthetics that make a piece sounds so fresh and different from other pieces, NOT by means of any special techniques or any special notation.
Still, I want to go more deeply how it works. This is not a detail analysis of the piece, it merely serves as a listening guide, a description of what happens in the piece.
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Firstly, Gorecki knows how to restrict himself to as few materials as possible. Start from a single note, growing to two notes, and then to a short phrase, and then to a longer phrase written in a larger range - that is what the soprano is doing in the 2nd movement. If you tries to sing it, the melody does not sound particularly interesting. The tension lies in the gradual addition of notes, and gradual climbing up the scale in a wavy line. (see below) The phrase F marked below is similar to the beginning, just it is in the higher register with an inverted direction of motion (though not an exact inversion). Beauty of symmetry. And it ends with a monotone, Db, the beginning note.
And that are the 7th chords that contribute to the ethereal, heavenly sound (See below, and tries to play it on a piano). Notice that all string parts are divisi, even the double bass that gives a transparent tone colour. When we learn harmony in theory lessons, we are taught that it is good to leave a wide space between lower members in a chord, thus cello and double bass are often an octave apart in most classical and romantic reportoire. Well, this rule does not apply here (as well as in many modern music).
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Before going into how Gorecki writes the 8-part canon of the 1st movement, first let’s have a look at the theme itself. Just like the 2nd movement, the theme is like an arch shape. The first phrase limits to three pitches only (E, F#, G), and then gradually the range expands to octave until it reaches the higher E, where the climax lies. The melody, again like a plainchant, is mostly stepwise. This is important. Stepwise motion makes it much more easier to write counterpoint.
All strings are divided into two parts, contributing to totally 10 separate parts in the string orchestra. But the whole exposition is just an 8-part canon. The theme starts off with half of the double bass, and then the other half enters, imitating the theme at an interval of a 5th higher. Then half of the cello enters, again at a 5th higher (but still in the key of E minor).
A midi demo of the above example:
[audio:http://licheong.com/music/Gorecki3_ex2.mp3]
The numbers under the staff indicates the interval between the higher notes and the bass note.
You will see that when the two parts are put together, they are NOT always consonant. There are a lot of second inversion too. Second inversion are often considered dissonant in harmony textbooks. But as most notes in the melody are linked stepwisely, even if the intervals between the two part are dissonant (2nd, 4th and 7th), they are just suspension or passing tones that immediately resolve afterwards. And dissonance, especially suspensions, are the dramatic moments, those are the moments where you feel sad and wants to cry.
And you will find that there are a lot of parallel 8ves! Parallel 8ves are considered “wrong” in textbook about four-part harmony. (You get 2 marks deducted when you write a parallel 8ve in HKCEE music exam theory!) But most teachers can’t explain why parallel 8ve is bad, they just told the students “you shouldn’t write parallel 8ve because it is bad”. But why is it bad? It is bad only because when two parts suddenly plays the same pitch, it sounds like suddenly it is a 3-part harmony, not a 4-part harmony, and the parts which play the same pitch will stand out, that makes it sound odd. BUT, it does not mean that parallel 8ve should never be used. It is often used in medieval music (organum) as well as in modern music (especially Debussy who deliberately breaks this rule), and also in music in other parts of the world (e.g. 自然和聲 in Sheng in Chinese music). It is just because parallel 8ves contributes a sound that does not sounds like music in the common practice, from baroque to romantic period. But even Beethoven and Bach wrote some parallel 8ve. (You can find a few parallel 5ths and 8ves in Waldstein sonata). Music comes before rules. Most rules in music theory are not universal, they are just a description of how some music works, but NOT all music.
A chord has only 3 notes, and the 3 notes can either go up, go down, or keep at the same pitch when it arrives at the next chord. So when it comes to 8-part writing, it is unavoidable to have parallel 8ve. In this particular case, parallel 8ve is an advantage, not an disadvantage, because by doubling the other parts, it makes the texture clearer. And these things contributes to the “renaissance” or even “medieval” sound of this piece. And here is a reduction of the 8-part canon, try to play it on the piano and you will discover the mastery of his work. It is not easy at all to write an 8-part canon like this.
A midi demo of the 8-part canon:
[audio:http://licheong.com/music/Gorecki3_ex1.mp3]
After going through the cycle of 5th eight times, the canon already go back to the tonic. (tonic-dominant-supertonic-submediant-mediant-leadingtone-subdominant-tonic) Lastly, the upper half of the 2nd violin and 1st violin enters, but they are just doubling the uppermost parts at an octave above.
And this is the structure of his first movement:
1. Beautiful harmony / suspension-resolution
2. Repeat and repeat
3. Sequence and sequence
4. Play it in major, and then play the same thing in parallel minor
5. High violin tremolos, or violin playing the melody at very high pitch
6. Viola + Cello playing a long, warm, dark melody together
7. Doubling of strings by woodwinds - like adding organ stops
8. Horns / trombones are either playing long pedal or sustaining chords most of the time. All brass play when it is dramatic moment
9. Regular phrase, and phrase quite often starts at downbeat (Elgar and Mendelssohn share the same regularity/stubborn-ness, while Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler are much more irregular in phrase and rhythm)
10. Almost always legato, staccato seldom appears except in scherzo.
11. Slow tempo dominates.
October 30th, 2008 Somebody
Tonight, I am watching a show by somebody
with video about somebody
and poems by somebody
Eating the food made by somebody.
Buying clothes designed by somebody.
Studying subjects taught by somebody.
Washing my brain with the language of somebody.
Taking an exam set by somebody.
Gossiping about somebody.
Gossiped by somebody.
Working for somebody.
Getting money from somebody.
Fixing the computer virus from somebody.
Arranging music by somebody.
Writing reviews about music by somebody.
Thinking with the mind of somebody.
Writing blog and imagining being read by somebody.
Acting in front of somebody.
All of the above are said by somebody.
(攝於中央圖書館 Delifrance 門外的花草，2008年9月)
Classical/Jazz 和流行曲的錄音過程很不同，前者強調樂隊是一個整體，錄音的時候雖然也可以將樂曲分段灌錄再剪接，但通常都是整個樂隊一起錄，不會逐件樂器分開錄。流行曲卻是一件一件樂器分開錄，常見次序是先把鼓的節奏錄了（方便其它樂器數拍子），然後錄低音結他，再錄結他、鍵盤，最後才到人聲。每一件樂器/人聲可以錄幾take，然後將每一take的精華剪接在一起。兩者不單單是做事出發點不同，他們對甚麼是好的音樂的理解本身就已經不同。
古典/爵士樂/傳統民間音樂：
1. 音響上，古典音樂和爵士樂都著重環境的真實acoustics。不同的場地：是Concertgebouw、是西敏寺大教堂、定還是紐約的一間狹小的酒吧，聽眾就是希望在錄音裏感受到有如身在現場。音樂廳的殘響如果恰到好處，是一個優點而不是缺點。酒吧的聲音比較乾燥，但卻會讓人感到樂手和觀眾距離很接近。這正正是爵士樂想做到的。
2. 古典/爵士樂有 live recording，當然也有studio recording。但即使是 studio recording，樂隊作為一個整體是重要的，樂手要一起演奏才有交流。一首弦樂四重奏絕對不可能錄完小提琴再錄中提琴、大提琴，幾作樂器要一同呼吸、一同起伏。古典音樂充滿 rubato，中樂的速度變化更加多。這些都需要現場合奏才能做得到。爵士樂的樂手之間有即時反應才會擦出火花，對手有不同動作，就要作出不同的反應。如果是 live recording，觀眾的拍掌聲、演出者的呼吸聲以至Glenn Gould 那樣彈琴時低聲哼唱，聽眾並不會介意聽到，甚至喜歡聽到。
3. 古典音樂裏，樂器大多數是不需要擴音的，古典樂迷不喜歡擴音，覺得擴音把樂器的音色變得粗糙，而且不自然。樂隊是self-balanced的，每一位樂師在演奏時自自然然會令每件樂器音量平衡。（若果演奏者怎樣遷就也無法令音量平衡，那就是作曲/編曲者的問題了！）因此，如果 mic 的位置放得好，甚至可以簡約到用一對立體聲的 mic 已經可以錄出非常好的效果。
4. 在古典/爵士樂裏，如果錄音效果已經很好，在 mixing 的過程裏不需要太多動作，也沒有可能做太大的動作。這是因為既然整個樂隊是同時間錄音，每一支 mic 主要是接收最接近的樂器的聲音，但距離較遠的樂器也會收到一點。即是說每一條 track 並不是完全獨立的某一件樂器的聲音，那麼要調較起來就會有點困難了。而且古典/爵士樂強調自然，把音質改變反而會令人覺得奇怪。（當然，凡事都有人突破的，Miles Davis的fusion唱片就在爵士樂上加上很多人工的聲效，這就是其創新之處了。）
當然，這並不代表古典音樂的唱片裏一定是原汁原味，沒有加手腳，據說很多所謂live recording也有經過剪輯，但他們做得巧妙，讓聽眾絲毫沒有發覺做了手腳。據說有鋼琴家在一首 concerto 音樂會現場錄音之後，不滿意自己彈的 cadenza 出了錯，事後補錄，但仍然稱為live recording。這種只求「完美」，不怕造假的做法，其實和奧運開幕禮的幕後假唱，性質上是一樣的。有些人會覺得這是欺騙，不能接受，有些人會覺得只要好聽，又有何妨？
流行曲：
1. 樂器通常是一件一件分開錄的(over-dubbing)，好處是方便後期製作，在 mixing 的過程裏可以作很多的調整。於是，混音師的重要性幾乎等同於一位編曲。由於在流行曲，樂手很多時是即興 jam 出來的，不一定看著樂譜演奏，每一 take 錄音總會略有不同。Mixer 有權力可以決定選用他認為是「較好的」一 take。假如錄音之後發現材料太多，樂器之間互相干擾的話，mixer 甚至可以進行刪剪。Mixer 可以決定那件樂器比較重要。於是 mixer 的品味、他對不同樂種的經驗很重要，足以影響最後成品的效果。假如把同一首音樂，同一個錄音，而由兩個不同mixer 的製成品互相比較，就會發現不同混音版本竟然可以相差很遠。
2. 流行曲的空間感是人工製造出來的。studio裏面種種吸音棉，目的就是讓錄音的時候幾乎沒有殘響，所有殘響都是後期製作的時候用機器或者軟件加進去的。這樣的好處也是讓mixer可以有很大空間去發揮他的想像力，他可以決定每一件樂器的在虛擬空間裏的位置。他們不介意這種人工的空間感，更藉此可以模仿出任何奇特的環境（隧道、水底、山谷、電話談話般的音質…）。
3. 在流行曲和搖滾樂，絕大多數時間樂器是需要擴音的。他們不介意擴音對音質做成改變，甚至需要擴音去製造不同的音色，以至有點刺耳的「拆聲」distortion經常是他們想要的效果。樂器之間的音量平衡也需要 mixer 去調較。
4. 一些電子音樂(electronica)，甚至已經把錄音和混音的分界線模糊了。因為很多聲音，都是從電腦裏面製造出來的，甚至可以用現成的樂曲、一些現成的樂句的loops，重新拼貼和編排。這麼說，演奏者、作曲者、混音者很可能是同一個人，一腳踢用電腦搞掂。那麼他在混音過程中，仍然可以在不停地創作和改動，可以隨時加一段，隨時錄多一件樂器。這和過去的音樂製作過程實在太不相同了。過去，音樂的製作是：作曲者構思，然後寫成樂譜，然後由演奏者加以演繹，再由錄音師去錄音。現在這個過程可以倒過來，第一步可能已經是錄音混音，然後再直接在聲音上加以修改。
5. 一首流行曲裏面，通常只有一個速度，很多時從頭到尾不變，漸快漸慢是很少運用的。這是因為每一件樂器分開錄，大家想簡單地捕捉到同樣的速度，唯一的方法就是聽著 click track(拍子機)，又或者先錄好鼓聲，以鼓手的速度作為其它樂器速度的標準。這和古典音樂、中樂和其它傳統民間音樂相反，猶其中樂，其精采之處正正在於速度非常有彈性，每一句都可以加快減慢。
音量上，古典音樂和爵士樂都是充滿起伏對比，這一樣正正是他們的樂迷所喜愛的。但也是這一點，令這些樂曲不利於在電台廣播，因為有時音量微小到幾乎沒有聲音，聆聽的人隨時以為收音機接收不到訊號而轉台。流行曲從頭到尾音量變化不大，如果和古典樂並列在一起播放，古典樂在音量上會被比下去。因此，在各地的電台，古典音樂/爵士樂等等往往要獨立放在另一個電台，被孤立了。
從以上幾點看來，可以發現古典/爵士樂和流行曲不單單是做事方法不同，而是大家的口味也太不同了！我們總是奇怪為甚麼它們總是好像互不相干，大家有不同的聽眾，這些聽眾群雖然可能有交集，但交集的部份總是很少。不同類型的音樂，本身就屬於不同的文化，好像要有不同的耳朶才能夠接受。雖然總也有些人渴望找到共通之處，想搭一條橋樑引領另一邊的聽眾過來看看。若果做得恰到好處，可能真的能把兩邊的聽眾都吸引過來。但做得不好，卻也有可能令兩邊的觀眾都感到陌生和排斥。
友人的一隊中樂和band的混合樂隊正正面對著這種兩難。很佩服創作人的視野、創意和坐言起行的魄力 ，他們並不希望「cross-over」，因為cross-over 這個字意味著表面上的混合，而他們希望做到的是這個組合的獨特聲音。他們的第二輯唱片裏有幾首樂曲是以流行曲的錄製方法去錄音。但也有一兩首是整隊band一起演奏去錄音，只要細心去聽就會發現兩種音質很不同，前者是完全乾淨，近似流行曲的聲音，後者卻是接近傳統合奏的聲音。另外，最大的難題其實是「速度」，正正因為這種逐件樂器分別錄音的模式，逼使每一件樂器要生硬地跟隨同樣的速度去灌錄，這樣雖然很準確，但傳統中樂的那種「彈性速度」的特質便沒有可能發揮作用了。在某些情況，不同風格的特性可以彼此混合，但有時不同的風格就像是兩極，一種特性突顯了，另一種特性就會被削弱，是此消彼長的關係。到底如何取捨，除了是作曲者和演奏者的口味之外，mixer 的視野和經驗有決定性的影響。很可惜的是香港可能缺乏這種人，有幾多人會懂得而且接受很多種不同風格的音樂？
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p.s. 最近發現，原來內地也有很多人在做類似的事。手頭上有一張唱片是廣州的一隊叫「絲竹空」的組合，在旺角的一間專賣內地唱片的「聽雨音樂」有售（在通菜街威威唱片旁邊）。那張唱片叫做《敦煌敲擊》，卻其實和敲擊的關係不大，是中樂和爵士樂的結合，演奏水準不錯，作曲者彭郁雯據說是Berklee music 畢業的，編的樂曲也很有心思，不落俗套。另一張是上海的一隊叫The Yellow Music Ensemble的組合，也是以中樂和爵士樂結合，也很不錯。
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