Audio Recording 2:”Ethnic Fusion Elegy”
Fusion of Ethnic Funeral Music and Modern Electronic Elements: An Exploration of Melancholy and Innovation.
Audio
Details
The intent of the composition
The main purpose of this work is to explore the possibility of combining folk music with modern electronic music. I mainly want the listener to hear a gloomy and sad atmosphere, so here I use the "trap" element of modern electronic music combined with the "funeral music" element of the music of China's ethnic minorities - the "Yi"
The style of the composition and how that relates to the intent of the composition.
’The style of the composition, characterized by gloomy, dark, and bleak elements, is integral to its intent. This style is reminiscent of trap music, which often conveys themes of struggle, hardship, and the darker aspects of life through its atmospheric beats and lyrical content. Similarly, the funeral music of the Yi minority in China, known for its melancholic and somber tones, shares this intent of expressing sorrow, loss, and reflection on the transient nature of life. The fusion of these elements in the composition's style serves to evoke deep emotional responses, inviting listeners to explore complex feelings and the shared human experience of dealing with life's darker moments.
A brief description of the sounds and their sources.
The funeral music elements of the Yi, an ethnic minority in China, are mainly utilized in the prologue, the middle 8 bars of solo, and the ending, which come from the three types of sound sources used by the Yi funeral officiant "Bimo" to bless the souls of the dead, and the rest of the trap sound elements are the "808 drum kit" and the """. The rest of the trap sounds are the "808 drum kit" and the piano, bell and orchblast sounds from the "Zampler" and "Nexus" sound effects. The The "clown sounds", "sirens" and "mouth chords" add to the atmosphere.
The form of the composition and the reasoning behind the formal structure.
According to 8 bars as a category, the structure of this work is P-A-B-C-S-C'-B'-A'-A''-E, which borrows the "Crab Canon" from Bach's variations of "Musical Devotion" (the melody is reversed (flipped left and right, i.e., from the last note in the reverse direction until the very beginning of the first note), and then counterpointed with the original melody) into the chordal direction of the present work, where the vertical symmetry of A and A’ on the axis of “Chord B”, of B and B’ on the axis of “chord F”, and of C and C’ on the axis of “chord E” generates a different variant approach, which is also the technique of "imitation".
The use of tension and release.
The tensions and releases of the piece are structured as”R-Transition-T-T↑-R-Transition-TT↑-R.” The bars of the release are reflected in the funeral music of the “Yi “ethnic group, and the release and tensions are reflected in the faster tempo of the drum set and the superimposition of the "clown tone" and the "siren tone".
The use of imitation.
The technique of imitation is reflected not only in the "Crab Canon" of this work (the vertical symmetry of A and A' on the axis of "Chord B", of B and B ' on the axis of "chord F", and of C and C' on the axis of "chord E"), but also in the The use of the same chord direction with different instruments
The use of the “three times and then out” rule.
THREE TIMES AND THEN OUT" rule, this work is reflected in the addition of the mouth piece after the three identical compositions in the middle, as well as the blank
treatment after the three identical compositions at the end.
The use of augmentation and/or diminution.
The use of augmentation and/or diminution is reflected in the fact that, between A''' and A''', A''' is located in the chorus to the end of the articulation, where the original time value of A''' is treated with diminution treatment, making the time value a little more soothing, and also becoming a transitional form of Tension-Release.
TThe M4L (or equivalent) choices and implementations.
The three M4Ls are used for three elements of Yi funeral music, namely the opening, the solo, and the ending. The first M4L uses the "AutoTuna" Max patch in the opening, which automatically tunes the section to B major to match the key of the piece. The second patch is in the solo, using the "VIibrato" Max patch to automatically raise and lower the pitch of the section to reflect the different tones of the ghost's shouts. The last patch is at the end, where the "echo" max patch is used to increase the reverb in this section, giving it a soothing feel.
A random frequency Max patch was written at the solo to be a musical element during the improvisation
