Lu Yinyin, Lu Xiaoxing/text
Abstract: The art of Chinese calligraphy is known as a "silent sound", but with the help of current technology, it can also be transformed into a real "sound sound". Sound visualization and image sonatization are not only based on the theoretical assumption of audio-visual synaesthesia, but also have become a reality in some contemporary explorations of visual art and auditory art. As an experiment based on modern "micro-sound recording", "cursive auralization" allows people to hear the "chanting" of calligraphy, which not only allows people to truly feel the unique rhythm of Chinese calligraphy art, but also provides a new way to express the musical creation of Chinese calligraphy and painting art.
Keywords: cursive auralization, micro-sound recording, Huaisu's Self-Narrative Post, music creation
1. Theoretical assumptions of the auditory transformation of cursive writing
Mr. Zhou Wenzhong once said: "Calligraphy is the music of pen and ink, and music is the calligraphy of sound." "The auditory aesthetic of calligraphy is based on human audio-visual synaesthesia—the interplay of rhythm and rhythm in cursive writing, which produces a sensory shift from sight to hearing. For example, in Li Bai's "Cursive Songs", Huaisu's cursive script is described as "fluttering wind and rain and frightening" (1), although it reveals the basic law of the communication between sound and painting to a certain extent, but it does not form a one-to-one correspondence between music and painting; 100 composers will create 100 different pieces of music for "Orchid Pavilion Prelude", because this audio-visual synaesthesia varies from person to person; in the same way, if people resonate with the synaesthesia descriptions of their predecessors, and rely on imagination to fit the corresponding sound imagery, then everyone's understanding of "fluttering wind and rain" is also different. But in the field of sound, there are already ways to get a visual image to correspond to it.
(1) Sound visualization
Listening to Debussy's music, one can "see" colors and light and shadow in one's mind, and artistic imagination makes people no longer satisfied with "seeing" from their minds, but also want to see music with their eyes. Kandinsky expressed his audio-visual synesthesia in his paintings, trying to make the viewer see the sound. Klee uses a polyphonic system to express music in the picture. It seems that people can see music in their paintings, but this still needs to be done through the brain's synaesthesia switch, and this transformation is subject to the subjectivity of the person, because the subjective feeling leads to the difference in the sound of "seeing", and people want to see the sound with more certainty and without having to go through the brain to reprocess it. Although attempts to establish a one-to-one correspondence between the color spectrum and the scale have been falsified, from Castel's invention of the "color keyboard" model in 1735 to Lymington's invention of the "color organ" in 1895,(2) the exploration of how to make sounds visible has not stopped.
Sound is a signal that is difficult to observe with the naked eye under ordinary circumstances, and the academic community has not been able to establish a one-to-one correspondence between sound and optics, but it has taken the lead in making a breakthrough in the direction of physical acoustic waves. In 1680, the English scientist Robert W. Robert Hooke (1635-1703) discovered that when a glass sheet is sprinkled with flour and vibrates, the flour particles form a pattern that is both regular and complex. In the 18th century, the German musician physicist Friedrich Chladni (1756-1827) further discovered that the vibration of the sound emitter could be visualized, and through the physical experiment "Chladni Plate Experiment" (Chladni Plate Experiment) obtained the sound pattern, known as the "Kladni graphic", which made people see the rhythm and movement of sound, and became the most widely known way to visualize typical sound.
In 2014, New Zealand composer Nigel J. Nigel Stanford's (John Stanford) electronic music video "Cymatics" (see Figure 1) has attracted the attention of the scientific community. In this MV, every note of the entire piece is visualized. In the video, sound takes shape through sand, water, fire, and electricity, allowing the viewer to "hear" and "see" each note at the same time. The basic principle of this sound visualization begins with the Klarney experiment (see Figure 2), which visualizes sound by inducing vibrations of water, electricity, particles, and other substances through sound waves. This is known as "Phonology" or "Cymatics" (3).
Figure 1 Screenshot of "Sound Flow".
Fig.2 Klarney experiment
Another type of sound visualization is the use of digital images or acousto-optic systems to simulate the rhythm of sound waves, such as the sound wave display in the most well-known Window Media Player. German artist Karsten M. Carsten Nicolai excelled at exploring sound waves through large-scale installations, and at the same time wrote "Alva · Alva Noto has created a large number of related musical visualizations. In 2015, he and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto performed the album INSEN, which simultaneously displayed the piano sound on the big screen with various sound and light digital images, so that the audience could "see" the sound. In addition to the above-mentioned music visualization methods, with the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) in recent years, the visualization of music information can be more accurate and multi-faceted in different fields. (4) For example, a sound visualization system recently launched by Waseda University in Japan and Tokyo Electric Power University. The system is based on the principle of real-time localization (SLAM), which is implemented by first using a microphone to record sound in an area, then converting the sound into an AR image, which is presented through commercial mixed reality technology (HoloLens), and finally the sound takes on its form as several small cones (see Figure 4).
Figure 3 The effect of INSEN's live performance
Fig.4 Sound visualization system based on SLAM real-time positioning
From the Klarney experiment in the 18th century to the present, sound visualization has been presented to varying degrees in the fields of physical vibration, sound-optic interaction, artificial intelligence technology, etc., and further exploration of the audible image through a certain means, that is, to obtain the sound corresponding to the image.
Some contemporary artists have created works of art by associating images, colors, and sounds, but the basic principles are similar to Kandinsky's subjective connections. Contemporary "sonification" technology can transform non-auditory data into auditory form through physical models or mathematical empirical formulas. For example, NASA uses "soundization" technology to convert Milky Way astronomical data into audio. (5) However, the above-mentioned sound transformation methods cannot meet people's auditory aesthetic expectations of visual art works. At present, although great progress has been made in the exploration of sound visualization, there is still a lack of achievements in image soundization. The reason for this is that sound is a wave phenomenon generated by the vibration of an object, which propagates through a medium and is subsequently perceived by the auditory organs. ⑥
The auditory aesthetic of visual images is currently limited to the field of synaesthesia, but in fact, in the field of calligraphy and painting, people can also find meaningful sounds that correspond to visual images one-to-one.
(2) Auditory transformation in cursive writing
Cai Yong used "If you sit and walk, if you fly" to describe the movement of calligraphy in "On Brushwork". It can be seen that the calligraphers of the Qin and Han dynasties have recognized that calligraphy is essentially the presentation of the movement trajectory of lines. In particular, the cursive "one-stroke calligraphy" made calligraphy, a plastic art, have a sequential movement of time trajectory, and thus developed into an art with both painting and musical characteristics. If calligraphy is seen as the process of writing a book, this temporality is even more evident.
The brush (different from the hard pen used in Western calligraphy and painting) is a unique soft pen writing tool, "but the soft pen is strangely raw" (7). Therefore, in the process of creation, the pen has a certain direction, giving the brush a directional "force". The slightest movement of the fingers and wrists will produce a wealth of changes such as lifting, turning, severity, urgency, and intermittentness. In short, writing on silk and rice paper dipped in ink itself has the material basis for the rhythm and rhythm of sound. During the formation of the work, the wild grass produces a meaningful and irreproducible sound (rubbing the silk silk or rice paper when the brush writes). This sound is not a psychological sound of subjective synaesthesia, but an objective physical sound that completely coincides with the calligraphic lines in rhythm and rhythm, which can correspond to the visual images of cursive works. If these sounds can be accurately extracted, cursive aural will no longer be just an idea.
In fact, when the art of calligraphy was born, the sound of writing already existed. Since the human ear cannot fully capture the volume of this sound (8), it is not noticed, let alone explored. Just like the physical phenomenon that the vibration of sound waves produces regular patterns, it has always existed, and it was accidentally replaced by Robert Brown. Hook discovered. It is not so much that human beings have completed the visualization of sound, but that people have discovered the visual form of sound and presented it through visual technology. In the same way, cursive writing also has its own sound, but it is difficult to capture by the human ear under normal circumstances.
As to why the author only mentions the concept of "cursive auralization" and does not mention "image auralization", or only talks about cursive writing and does not talk about other visual images? Broadly speaking, all the sounds of painting and writing can be thought of as auditory information that generates images. In the case of the "Klarney Graphic", the rumbling sound on the construction site causes the sand to shake and is visible, but its pattern is irregular and has no aesthetic significance, so it is not considered a visual graphic of sound. Only images that generate regular and meaningful images of auditory information are considered to be "image auralization". For example, when writing with a fountain pen, the sound of the stroke is single and does not have a change in timbre, so it cannot be auralized. The tools and characteristics of cursive writing (soft pen, nib belly, eight-sided edge, and the dryness and wetness of the ink) and the internal structure of cursive (movement temporality) make cursive writing sound have timbre changes and rhythmic rhythms. In addition to the aesthetics of the sound itself, the sound also carries the emotion and spirit of its parent body, that is, the calligraphy work itself. These are undoubtedly important factors in making "cursive auralization" possible.
The sound of calligraphy is the music played by the calligrapher with a brush on the paper, which once existed in time and space, and is the chanting and telling of the art of calligraphy itself. Therefore, the auralization of cursive writing is the "auditory restoration" of cursive works. Since the process of creating cursive works is one-off, the information in the auditory part is not recorded and is lost. Therefore, if you can accurately extract the sound of the cursive writing process, you can harbly retrace the moment closest to the calligraphy work, and you will be able to understand the work further.
2. The practice of auditory conversion in cursive writing - micro-sound recording method
Cursive script flourished in the Tang Dynasty and was represented by Zhang Xu and Huaisu. The temporality generated by the continuous and rhythmic writing of cursive is an important formal factor in the rhythmic and auditory aesthetics of calligraphy art. The most temporal or musical, and most suitable art form for experiments, is the cursive handscroll. Zhang Xu's "Four Posts of Ancient Poems" and Huaisu's "Self-Narrative Posts" are the masterpieces of cursive handscrolls, both of which use medium-sized brushes to leave a flying wild cursive script in continuous waves, which is the most temporal. Therefore, this paper takes Huaisu's "Self-Narrative Post" as an example to conduct a micro-sound recording experiment.
Known as the world's first cursive script, Huaisu's Autographic Notes is one of the pinnacle works of wild cursive art, and its font size, paper size, and handscroll shape are similar to those of most classic cursive works, so it is quite representative. Select a part of the "Self-Narrative Post" (see Figure 5), where the transition from the gentle to the climax, the handwriting and emotions are slow and backward, reflecting the rhythm and rhyme of the "Self-Narrative Post". If the sound of the "Self-Narrative Post" can be accurately and clearly extracted (which can only be written temporarily today), this method can be replicated and extended to the study of other classic Xingcao and Xingshu works.
Fig.5 Excerpt from the Self-Description
(1) Difficulties
Mrs. Wei of the Eastern Jin Dynasty "Pen Array Diagram" cloud: "'Point' is like a peak falling stone, and it is really like a collapse." (9) The velocity potential energy of the point is described here, which causes a mental sound like a peak falling rock. When a powerful dot painting like a "peak falling stone" falls on the paper, it can also make a slight but powerful writing sound. Contemporary composer Wen Deqing has been inspired by calligraphy and has created a series of musical works related to Chinese calligraphy, which have attracted wide attention in the music industry. The composer himself wrote about how to create musical works based on the synaesthesia effect of the interaction between music and calligraphy: "When writing, there is an extremely subtle physical sound of pen and paper rubbing...... Even after the calligraphy work has taken shape, the viewer seems to be able to perceive a kind of mental sound through association. (10) In the 60s of the 20th century, the Czech artist Milan · Inspired by the sound of pencil drawing on paper, Milan Grygar created "Acoustic Drawings" (11), which became an important banner of contemporary art in the world. It can be seen that both Chinese and foreign artists have perceived and paid attention to the sound of calligraphy and painting, some are simply curious and interested in the aesthetic rhythm of the sound of calligraphy and painting, and some are because this sound can reflect the rhythm of the work itself at that time.
But unfortunately, people still don't pay enough attention to the sound of calligraphy and painting. After research, the author believes that a large part of the reason is that it is difficult to extract and record sound, and it can only be experienced at one time, but cannot be extracted and reproduced, and it is difficult to carry out research. As mentioned earlier, the brush, as a soft pen, has a more rhythmic sound and is more delicate than a hard pen in the writing process. But to extract or record its sound accurately and clearly, it is much more difficult than with a hard pen. After testing, when writing "Self-Narrative Post" with a brush (font size of about 3~5 cm square), the friction sound between the brush and the paper is only about 10 decibels, which is much lower than the ambient noise in a quiet room in the city (about 30~50 decibels). Therefore, it is extremely difficult to extract the sound of calligraphy with a brush that is less than the ambient noise, which almost challenges the limit of "micro-sound recording", and requires a variety of difficult processes such as "noise reduction". For example, enlarging the font and using a huge brush to increase the volume of friction makes it easier to obtain sound, but it defeats the goal of the experiment. This is because the value and significance of cursive sound lies in the "auditory restoration" of calligraphy art, making it an auditory expression of "vividness" and carrying the original auditory information of calligraphy art. In short, the value and classicality of the art of calligraphy itself determine the value and significance of the sound of writing.
(2) Design of recording schemes
The use of "micro-sound recording" such as recording calligraphy and writing sounds must eliminate environmental noise, so a recording studio with good acoustic insulation is a necessary condition. The author chose Shanghai Sanyou Recording Studio.
1. Microphone placement design
"Micro-acoustic recording" requires not only an ultra-quiet environment, but also the use of high-sensitivity, low-noise equipment, air sound transmission, solid media sound transmission, and other methods. The medium of calligraphy is ink, so the pickup device must be kept at an appropriate distance from it.
When designing the recording scheme, the bracket microphone setup scheme is first formulated, and the conventional method of hanging is adopted, and the bracket is as close to the sound source as possible. After testing, the use of high-sensitivity condenser microphones and microphones with a large amplification of 70 decibels can receive a clearer brushstroke sound. However, under this extreme amplification, some problems that were not a problem in the first place were revealed: air disturbance sound (caused by the writer's friction with the air when writing), electrostatic crackling sound (a small static electric sound that is usually inaudible), the noise of the microphone and amplifier, the writer's breathing sound and other subtle sounds, all became obstacles to "microsound recording", and it was very difficult to record the sound of calligraphy. When the microphone preamplifier gain is turned on to its maximum limit, the sound of the stroke is at a normal level, and any subtle sound, such as a gentle exhalation, will overload the microphone level. The writer's breathing, movements, static electricity (see Figure 6) and other disturbing sounds will be picked up by the pickup head before the calligraphy sound, resulting in the captured calligraphy sound not being clear enough and accompanied by a large amount of noise beyond the volume of the calligraphy sound. In short, the first bottleneck encountered in the experiment is the ambient noise that is difficult to solve and deal with. So, this experiment tried to increase the writing friction to increase the volume, and at the same time tried some special microphone settings. For example, use a hard pen and coarse paper, or even mix sand in the ink to increase friction. The above methods must be consistent with the objectives of the experiment: a medium-sized brush, the size of a hand-rolled paper, and continuous writing in cursive script.
Fig.6. Waveform of electrostatic burst
In summary, the setup of the microphone is crucial. In cases where it is difficult to obtain clear sound in a stand microphone setup, experiments in other ways are required. Two pressure sensors (PZM) (12) are selected to improve the pickup efficiency (see Figure 7), and the pickups are closer to the sound source, which can eliminate environmental interference, so that the writing sound can be picked up by the pickup capsule. This makes it possible to obtain a clear sound of the details of the calligraphy movement.
Fig.7. Voice pickup on the PZM interface
2. Equipment configuration
(1) Microphone preamplifier. The RupertNeve 5024 microphone preamp, one of the most prestigious in the recording industry, is used to maximize the gain while using a silky low negative feedback setting for a good signal-to-noise ratio and detailed sound quality.
(2) Sound recording. Using the Pro tools audio workstation, the 96 kHz sampling frequency and 24 bit sampling depth are set to ensure the processing leeway for post-editing noise reduction.
(3) Microphone. Choose a high-performance microphone to effectively control noise (static electricity, breathing, loud ambient sounds, etc.).
The volume of the target sound source is only about 10 decibels, and the ambient air noise in the soundproof recording studio is also about 10 decibels, so the acquired sound is immersed in the ambient noise of the recording studio. (13) If you want to retain the detailed sound, the clarity of the sound source will be affected by the noise to a certain extent, and the sound that is always accompanied by the noise will make the human ear uncomfortable. If the noise segment is removed, the detailed vocal area of the writing will be lost, and the experimental goal will not be achieved. This is the second bottleneck encountered in the experiment. This requires the help of Ferdinand Manson (14). The company's Austrian engineers custom-built two high-precision, extremely low-noise capsules, the sE8 Omni omnidirectional small diaphragm condenser microphones. With this capsule, the linearity of the sound is enhanced, preserving the most natural sound quality, ensuring continued smoothness and a balanced frequency response. After comparison, it can be seen that the use of cardioid head and non-directional (omnidirectional) microphone capsule can greatly reduce the sound of human breathing and air disturbance, which meets the experimental requirements.
(3) Selection of writing materials
The purpose of the experiment was the auditory transformation of cursive writing, not the auditory transformation of the Self-Narrative or Huaisu's Self-Narrative, since neither of the latter is possible. Regardless of whether the "Self-Narrative Post" in the collection of the Palace Museum was written by Huaisu himself or copied by later generations (15), the calligraphers have already made it ancient, and the temporary writing (or copying) of today's people is different from the original calligrapher in terms of speed, rhythm and rhyme, and the pen and paper used as materials cannot be restored. Therefore, in the experiment, although the pen and paper used in the original text of the "Self-Narrative Post" will still be examined, and the materials will be as close as possible to the writing of the original post. However, these are not necessary, because the Autonarrative is not used as an object of transformation or reference in this experiment, but as a reliable model for temporary writing, with the aim of transforming the visual cursive lines into auditory transformation, so that people can experience the rhythm of cursive writing from the auditory sense. Therefore, the selection of writing materials should focus on the following three elements:
(1) Conform to normalcy. The writing materials should be in line with daily cursive writing and easily accessible, and the writer should be in a regular state of writing.
(2) Increase the volume. Try to choose materials that can make loud noises among materials that are suitable for daily cursive writing. For example, choose a stiff hair made of animal hair, and a rougher paper surface.
(3) Timbre quality. This is a supplement and trade-off to the previous one, "increase the volume". While increasing the friction, it is also necessary to pursue the delicate timbre beauty of the brush when it comes into contact with the rice paper, and retain as many sound layers as possible, that is, the details of the brush and ink.
1. Brushes
The selection of brushes must meet the requirements of both visual and auditory effects. In terms of visuals, the images written with a brush must meet the basic requirements of cursive writing. If the brush resembles a broom, although the sound volume is sufficient, but the written image does not conform to the basic transformation system of cursive writing, it cannot be used as an experimental material for the "auditory transformation of cursive writing". From the auditory point of view, the brush needs to be able to write a relatively clear sound (with a certain volume), the details of the written image can be distinguished (the rhythm and rhythm of cursive writing are examinable), and the timbre is beautiful (to meet certain aesthetic appeals). The above is the basic need for the experimental goal.
What kind of brush is used in Huaisu's "Self-Narrative Post" can be speculated according to the relevant literature. Fang Yizhi of the Ming Dynasty said in "Tongya": "The pen has a column, a quilt, a heart, and a pair." This is about the requirement for brushes since the Han and Jin dynasties. Song Ye Mengde's "Summer Retreat" said: "After Xining, he began to use an unintentional pen, and his wind changed. "Since about the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, there began to be a round and mature unintentional softer pen, and after Qianlong Weng Fanggang and others in the Qing Dynasty, they began to use extremely soft sheep's hair to make pens. Ming Sun Ying's "Calligraphy and Painting · Huaisu self-description post also believes that "self-description post" is like a rabbit pen written: "Gu Yuyi is flying, then it is still necessary to let him, play with him like a sheep's pen book, this is like a rabbit pen book, so that the rhyme is a little different." Rabbit hair is the best material for making pen hair, Wang Xizhi's "Pen Sutra" Zeng Yun: "Where the pen must be used autumn rabbit, autumn rabbit, mid-autumn to take the millimeter." Mr. Xu Bangda, a calligraphy and painting connoisseur, also believes that "Tang · Sun Guoting's "Preface to the Book Pedigree", Seng Huaisu's "Bitter Bamboo Shoots", Yan Zhenqing's "Manuscript for the Sacrifice of Nephews", and Du Mushu's "Zhang Haohao's Poems", etc., seem to use a kind of hard and not too much ink absorption. (16) To sum up, it can be inferred that the brush used by Huaisu to write the "Self-Narrative Post" is about a hard-hearted brush, and a hard-hearted pen made of rabbit hair (caliber: 0.7 cm; outward: 2.5 cm). If the brush is selected according to this specification, the volume obtained in the experiment is too subtle to be perceived by the capsule only at the rapid return to the front, and the other sounds in the writing process are almost buried in the ambient noise, which is difficult to capture with current recording equipment and technology.
Experimental pens need to choose a brush with greater friction and more sound, so you can use a hard (such as wolf, mouse, purple, bear) thick pen. Comparing the experimental results, it can be seen that the volume obtained by the stone badger's thick pen (diameter: 2.0 cm, front: 5.5 cm) is relatively large, with a relatively clear writing sound, and the timbre is rich. But this thick timbre lacks detail, and the sound expression of the details of the pen movement is lost. At the same time, the thick pen is not suitable for the size of the font of the "self-description post" and the transfer pen, and is not suitable for the temporary writing of the "self-description post". For this reason, the author then selected a brush with a smaller caliber for testing. Among the many brushes, the stone badger long sharp pen (diameter: 1.3 cm, outward: 7.0 cm) is a common brush for cursive writing and creation, which can not only produce a certain volume, but also the details can be distinguished, and the timbre of the contact paper is solid and clear, which meets the requirements of cursive writing. Therefore, the stone badger long edge pen was finally selected (see Table 1).
Table 1 Brush selection scheme
2. Rice paper
The basic requirements for the selection of rice paper are: visually, the writing is smooth, not too much ink, and in terms of hearing, the writing sound is clear (the volume can be obtained), rich in variety (there are both high and low registers), and the timbre is beautiful (aesthetic appeal). As for the paper used in the "Self-Narrative Post", Qing Anqi's "Moyuan Huiguan" is judged to be "white linen paper" (17), and Mr. Fu Shen's "diagnosis" of the paper used in the National Palace Museum in Taipei, China, is that "the paper is white and thick, the fibers are slightly thick, and there seems to be hemp (these can be seen more clearly at the edge of the breach)". From this, it can be concluded that the paper of the "Self-Narrative Post" is "white and thick linen paper" (18).
The author used white linen paper made according to the ancient method on the market to conduct writing and recording experiments. This kind of white linen paper paper is thick, the timbre is thick, the sound is less high-frequency (19), and the timbre variation of the pen is slightly insufficient. According to the timbre defects of the paper thickness and the low frequency part, the author chose Xihe hemp paper, which is slightly thinner than ordinary hemp paper, but its paper toughness and density are large, and it is easy to cause discomfort when smelling it for a long time, and the timbre obtained is sharp and brittle, and the high-frequency part is more. Recording requires that the paper has both coarse fibers, which can generate friction, and not be too thick to make the timbre stuffy. After comparison, Yunlong parchment paper was finally selected (see Table 2). The fiber of Yunlong leather paper is long and strong, forming a small bulge on the surface of the paper, and the friction increases when the brush bristles meet resistance, and the subtle writing sound can be amplified to a certain extent.
Table 2 Rice paper options
3. Ink
The writing medium of calligraphy is ink. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the production of pine smoke ink matured, and this period was also the peak period of the development of Chinese calligraphy art. Pine smoke ink is made by burning pine wood to obtain pine smoke powder, which is then melted with cloves, musk and gum. In the Song Dynasty, oil smoke ink appeared, and pine smoke ink coexisted. Xie Songdai, the founder of "Yidege", developed the "Yuntouyan" ink in the fifteenth year of Guangxu (1889), and the ink entered the stage of mass consumption as a fast writing ink. According to the writing age of the "Self-Narrative Post", it can be seen that Huaisu used pine smoke ink. In this experiment, pine smoke ink, oil smoke ink grinding and Xuanzong ink writing test were selected, and the results were as follows: the addition of pine smoke powder and spices made the friction of ink writing greater than that of water, the writing was thick and moist, the ink rhyme was smooth, and the sound was warm and moist; the sound of oil smoke ink grinding and writing was almost no different from that of pine smoke ink; modern ink was made of carbon smoke, rubber matter, additives, etc., and the glue was heavy and sluggish, the timbre was also viscous, and the water was thin and the sound was thin, so it was not applicable.
Due to the similarity of the sound test effect of the grinding of pine smoke ink and oil smoke ink, and the pine smoke ink is close to Huaisu ink, the ancient handmade pine smoke ink was finally selected as the experimental ink.
4. Bookcase
Before entering the Central Plains on the high table and big chairs, people sat on the ground on many seats, holding Jane, silk and paper in one hand and writing with a pen in the other hand. By the Song Dynasty, with the gradual popularity of high seats with feet down, writing at the desk became an irreversible trend. For example, in the painting of the Song Dynasty's "Eighteen Scholars" (see Fig. 8), a person sits on a couch and holds a calligraphy, which is the same as the writing style of today's people. (20) According to the records of Huaisu's writings, there is a description of the dragon and snake written on the wall. The purpose of this experiment is to make cursive scripts aural, so the mainstream writing method is selected, and the recording mode adopts the PZM interface mode. As for the selection of the bookcase, the basic elements are still conducive to cursive writing, with sufficient volume, clear timbre and beautiful timbre in the sense of hearing.
Fig.8 Eighteen Bachelors from the National Palace Museum, Taipei, China
As can be seen from Figure 8, the high table painting has a stone surface, a wooden surface and a wooden cushion felt. Compared with the above materials, the following conclusions are drawn: (1) The interface of the stone surface is relatively smooth, the friction is small, the writing sense is slippery, the writing volume is low, and the timbre is hard. (2) The writing sense of the wooden desktop is better than that of the stone surface, and its surface has a natural wood texture, which increases the friction, which is conducive to the pen master grasping the paper, and will not affect the pen path due to the deep texture; (3) As an interface, wool felt has the property of sound absorption, and when writing on wool felt, the written sound will be "adsorbed", so it is not applicable. To sum up, the author chooses a wooden desk. After a variety of experiments and screening, the paulownia wood case for guqin recording was finally selected (see Table 3). The rice paper is covered on the table, pressed with a paperweight, and the PZM is used to transmit the sound (which can increase the sensitivity by six decibels). Paulownia wood is a high-quality wood for making musical instruments, and it has its own resonance, making the writing process like a pen tip playing on a musical instrument, and the sound is mellow.
Since then, with Zhu Fangyu becoming the general manager of the team, he would rather give up the high salary to hire high-quality foreign aid, but also revitalize the Hongyuan youth training system. As a result, Hongyuan has shown signs of a strong revival.
Table 3 Options for book selection
(4) Writing experience
The characteristics of the "one-stroke book" in the wild cursive style are obvious, among which, when the rhythm changes such as light and heavy, swift, blank, pause, emotion, etc., it is slow, sometimes violent, sometimes astringent, sometimes sluggish, sometimes struggling, sometimes bending. When recording calligraphy in the studio, there are three things to pay special attention to in order to get a clear and detailed sound.
One is "astringency". If it is dipped in thick ink, the lubrication of the ink (liquid) will reduce the friction between the brush bristles and the rice paper, so the friction will be increased by using a thirsty pen, but if the pen is dry and sluggish, it will cause the bristles to be unable to move. To experience the key method of "slow flying" (21) in Zhang Huaijun's "On the Ten Methods of Using the Pen", it is necessary to use the pen late and vigorously, but also to fly flexibly.
The second is "disease", that is, speed. To be precise, it is the instantaneous change in the speed of writing, which in turn creates a "potential" with a sense of power, and the instantaneous acceleration creates a large frictional force. For example, the last stroke of the character "couple" (see Fig. 9) in the work accelerates back to the front and makes a "swish" sound, and the last stroke of the character "Xuan" in the work (see Fig. 10) suddenly accelerates and makes a flying white sound. In the picture, the blurring of the writer's hand shows a clear sense of speed. The movement of the pen in calligraphy pays attention to "late" and "disease", that is, there is a delay and a disease, and the time turns from the fast to the late, and the time from the late to the fast, which is a kind of "changing speed". Eastern Han Dynasty Cai Yong's "Nine Potentials" cloud: "Astringency lies in the method of tightening the war." In the aesthetics of calligraphy, we pay attention to the dialectical unity of "tightness" and "astringency", that is, the combination of astringency in illness and astringency in astringency, the combination of rapidity like a drum beat and chanting like a mountain, that is, the so-called "two methods of 'disease' and 'astringency', the book is wonderful" (22). Therefore, illness and astringency are not two unrelated brushes. Kong Yingda Shu "The Book of Rites · "Music Notes" says: "The stanza stops, and the performance is made." Correspondingly, astringency is the "stopping" force that sinks downward, and disease is the force of movement, that is, "work". The unity of illness and astringency has achieved the rhythm and rhythm of the pen, and when you pay attention to the auditory rhythm of the strokes when writing, you can experience "it must be astringent".
Figure 9 Screenshot "couple"
Fig.10. Screenshot "Xuan"
The third is "reverse", that is, the reverse front of the pen, the reverse front into the paper. One "reverse" and one "in" are to increase the friction on the paper surface by adjusting the angle of the pen tip (the pen barrel reaches an obtuse angle with the direction of the pen), the pressure depth of the pen edge, etc., so as to obtain a larger volume and more detailed performance. In the previous article, when analyzing the rhythm of the "Self-Narrative Post", we have talked about the rhythm change within a single stroke, that is, "a wave of twists and turns, three times over its pen". When Bao Shichen of the Qing Dynasty discussed Deng Shiru's calligraphy in "Yizhou Shuangji", he proposed to go against the front of the pen: "The cover pen is slightly behind the left, and the tip of the pen touches the paper, that is, the reverse ......" (23) The tilt direction of the pen barrel is opposite to the direction of the stroke movement, and it always goes against the front of the paper. When writing, if something is refused, try to fight, and naturally "gradually frustrate", producing the inner rhythm of the line, leaving traces of sound. If there is no inner frustration, a slip by, there is no sound. Di Chongguang attaches great importance to the "reverse" pen in the "Book Raft", and applies the mystery of "reverse" and "anti" in the pen in Lao Tzu's "Tao Te Ching": "The rebellious one, the anti-also" and "will want to go with it, and it will be against it,...... What you want to do, you must stop, and the book is the opposite. (24) To move forward, there must be an accumulation of backward strength, and the backward force is "reverse", that is, by adjusting the angle of the pen and the depth of the pressure of the pen edge, the friction between the pen and the paper surface is increased. The generation of this force does not lie in the force exerted by the wrist force, but in the control of the angle, that is, the control of the pen. For example, Di Chongguang emphasized that "the law is in the combination of the pen, not the strength of the wrist", "the combination of the potential" is the reverse is astringent, astringent is force, and the force is potential. In the last stroke of the word "send" (see Fig. 11), the sound of turning the wrist to move the pen can be clearly heard, and the way of moving the pen here is also in line with the calligraphy law. There are corresponding records in the books of the past dynasties, and Liu Xizai's "Book Overview" said: "If you want to use the pen everywhere, you must use the reverse word formula." (25) Cai Yong's "Nine Potentials" said: "Zang Feng, dot paint the traces of entry and exit, want to go left first and right, and then return to Zuoyier." (26) It can be said that the reverse out and the reverse in, the front is hidden, and the force is injected into the word, which is the key to "entering".
Figure 11 Sending a screenshot
In short, today's attention to the sound of writing will make the strokes deeper and more rhythmic "singing", which coincides with the brushwork of taking advantage of the front, fighting the pen, breaking the obstacle, slowing and flying, and penetrating the back of the paper in ancient Chinese calligraphy. Today, people are concerned with the three elements of Chinese calligraphy: the speed of the brush, the angle of the stroke, and the depth of the stroke. Rather than simply and isolating these calligraphic tips with the rhythm and rhythm of calligraphy, it is better to say that the insightful knowledge of calligraphy by historical calligraphy theorists has described the inner spirit of calligraphic lines from different perspectives. The "chanting" of the pen also attaches great importance to the inner vitality of the line, which is the explicit expression of the calligraphic charm in the different sensory channels of vision and hearing.
(5) Post-noise reduction processing
The total level of the noisy part of the recorded sound still exceeds that of the written sound, so noise reduction is a problem that must be solved. There are many noise reduction methods, but to retain the sound details of the writing stroke as much as possible (even the sound of ink smudging on the paper), the general noise reduction methods and software are basically ineffective, and you must design the corresponding digital noise reduction circuit architecture.
Before digital noise reduction, unrelated noise in writing spaces is first manually removed. For the treatment of electrostatic pops, the waveform can be amplified by Pro Tools and then manually corrected on the computer screen with a "wave pen" (see Figure 12), the frequency range of the calligraphic sound can be measured by spectral analysis, and the low-frequency part of the air disturbance can be removed with a filter. The calligrapher cannot be asked to hold his breath to write, in order to reduce the sound of air disturbances, which will affect his performance. All good calligraphers pay great attention to the breath, so in order to ensure the natural artistic creation of the artist, it is necessary to carry out post-noise reduction treatment. That is, the sound is divided into eight frequency bands (see Figure 13) and processed by inputting a pre-designed digital noise reduction signal.
Fig.12 The "wave pen" manually removes the electrostatic pop
Figure 13 Digital noise reduction circuit bench
III. Results and Significance
(1) Experimental results
"Pushing the limit" can be used to describe the process of "cursive sounding" (the sounding of some temporary writing in Huaisu's "Self-Narrative Post"). In the experiment, the recording equipment was used to the limit, and the sound of the brush in the same range as the ambient noise in the air and the sound decibel was very low. According to the results of the audio data (see Fig. 14), the timbre and rhythmic changes of the local written sound in Huaisu's "Self-Narrative Post" have regularity, and it can be considered that the experimental results have realized the theoretical hypothesis of "cursive auralization".
Fig.14. Sound waveform (amplified part)
The sound of cursive writing, due to its own timbre charm and inseparable conjoined relationship with the parent body (calligraphy art), tends to trigger synaesthesia from hearing to vision in the brain relatively quickly. The image in my mind may be calligraphy, the sea, or the waves of the Jialing River that inspired Huaisu ("Huaisu listens to the water of the Jialing River at night and cursive writing is good" (27)), so that a "visual-auditory-visual" synaesthesia loop is formed. Such a synaesthesia experience is closer to what is now often referred to as an "immersive" (28) audio-visual experience.
(2) The significance and value of the experiment
Thousands of years ago, Huaisu's pen used to "chant" enthusiastically, not so much the pen end, but the chanting of Huaisu's body and mind, sometimes low, sometimes high-pitched, full of light and severe rhythms, the rhythm of ups and downs, and the emotions of tossing and turning. Ming Xiang Mu's "Calligraphy Yayan" has a saying: "For example, the strings are stroked in the qin, and the wonderful sound is sent with the fingers." (29) He likens the writing of the brush to the stroke of the strings. More than 400 years later, people have heard the "wonderful sound" of real calligraphy from the tip of the pen, and the rhythmic beauty of calligraphy that has existed thousands of years ago has been discovered, displayed, and amplified. It is a rediscovery of sound art in traditional art and is closely related to contemporary sound art.
The experiment recorded the sound of the author's temporary writing of the "Self-Narrative Post", which was the sound of the author's temporary writing, rather than the sound of Huaisu's writing of the "Self-Narrative Post". As mentioned earlier, you can record the present, but you can't go back to the past. If the "Self-Narrative Post" is analogous to a musical score, and the brush is analogous to a musical instrument, the author records the "Self-Narrative Post" that is "played" by today's people. The "Self-Narrative Post" "played" by Huaisu existed thousands of years ago, but it has long been lost in the long river of history.
The sound itself is meaningless, because the ontology of the recorded sound (the fragment of the "Self-Narrative Post" written by the author) lacks value, and the meaning and value of the sound depend on the ontology. "The auralization of cursive writing", or "the sound of cursive writing", is meaningful as an experiment that breaks down the barriers between sight and hearing. If Huaisu is resurrected and he writes this cursive script, then the sound of this record is valuable. Because the cursive sound is generated by the writer himself in the creative process, it cannot be reproduced, as a one-to-one correspondence of auditory information, showing the chanting and telling of the work itself. The sound carries the artistic information and genes of calligraphy itself, and is the "portrait" of calligraphy in the sense of hearing. It can be seen that the recorded sound corresponds to the rhythm of the calligraphy creation process, and although the cursive sound is not a symphony, it can still reflect the rhythm of the work at that time, and the speed and general dynamics of the writing can be examined through the sound. Observing the details, it can be found that the slight changes in force and the slight movements of the pen tip are "leaked" through the sound, and the sound information can also be amplified by the volume for people to investigate and study more clearly. Sound is like a key that unlocks the mysteries of a work of visual art, and if you can hear and record the sounds hidden in a work of visual art, you can further understand the work. At the same time, the waveform diagram of the sound obtained by the "aural calligraphy" can be displayed through the spectrum technology, which provides practical support and reference for the musical creation of Chinese calligraphy.
As early as the early 80s of the 20th century, Mr. Qian Xuesen, a famous scientist, proposed: "Science and technology are constantly advancing, productive forces are constantly developing, and literature and art will also appear in new forms driven by the modernization of science and technology." (30) He also pointed out that "we will not forget China's 5,000-year-old glorious literary and artistic tradition, but we must use the latest scientific and technological achievements to carry forward this literary and artistic tradition in the 21st century!" and "only by breaking through the boundaries of disciplines and giving full play to the function of comprehensive understanding from various perspectives can we find the path of innovation" (31). Qian Xuesen's predictions and appeals have been confirmed at the moment and have formed a broad consensus. Times are changing, and so are people's needs. In the past, the understanding and grasp of the art of calligraphy could only focus on silk and rice paper, for static viewing, and then imagine their wielding. Nowadays, with the help of cameras, people can watch the process of writing. This is of great help to the exploration of the mysteries of brushwork. The ancients likened calligraphy to a "silent sound" (32), but this "silent sound" has been extracted and amplified with the support of today's technology, becoming a "sound sound". The expression of calligraphy not only has a visual process, but also has an auditory dimension, realizing the unity of vision and hearing. This opens up a new way to carry forward the art of calligraphy, and also provides a new possibility for the creation of music to express the art of Chinese calligraphy and painting.
Exegesis:
(1) Pan Yunxuan, ed., "On the Books of the Five Dynasties of the Middle and Late Tang Dynasty", Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House, 2002, p. 234.
(2) 1860年德国科学家亥姆霍兹(Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz,1821—1894)证伪了色谱与音阶等价对应的假想。 参见:L.Koenigsberger,Hermann von Helmholtz,tr. By F.A.Welby,New York,1965,pp.174—175.
(3) Derived from the ancient Greek: , meaning "wave", the process of visualizing sound through a visible substance, known as cymatics.
(4) Liang Xiaojing: Research on Music Information Visualization, Master's thesis, China Conservatory of Music, 2019.
(5) Image data from the project came from NASA's X-ray observatories and space telescopes. Technicians convert X-ray, visible, and infrared data collected from the Milky Way into audio. See https://chandra.si.edu/photo/2020/sonify/animations.html, browsing time: 2022-04-20.
(6) Sound waves are mechanical waves (mechanical waves need a medium to propagate), light is an electromagnetic wave, that is, the vibration of the electromagnetic field, itself is a kind of substance, and does not need to propagate with the help of a medium; light has wave-particle duality, when it exists in the form of particles, it does not need to be propagated by a medium.
(7) Selected Editing Point of the Ancient Books Collation Research Office of East China Normal University: Selected Papers on Calligraphy in the Past Dynasties, Shanghai Painting and Calligraphy Publishing House, 1979, p. 6.
(8) The average volume of the cursive brush rubbing against the paper is about 10 decibels, which is about equal to the ambient noise of a quiet room and lower than the human ear. However, the volume can reach 30 decibels when it returns sharply.
(9) Ibid. (7), p. 22.
(10) Wen Deqing, "The Transformation of the Art Form of Calligraphy and Music: A Trace of the Creation of My Suona Concerto 'Traces No. 4'", Journal of the Central Conservatory of Music, No. 1, 2015, pp. 46-65.
11 Milan · Grigar paints with pencils and a variety of objects, and records random sounds, leaving a special sound for each painting. In May 2012, when he first traveled to China, he held a solo exhibition at the Today Art Museum in Beijing, where he asked the audience to put on headphones placed next to the paintings and gaze at the paintings. As a result, the lines become elongated notes, and the dots are staccato, and the toy chickens dipped in ink peck at the paper in succession, forming a continuous staccato performance. It can be seen that the sound he defines does not only refer to brushstrokes, but also includes all sounds (including ambient sounds) produced during the painting process. These sounds can be used to explore the audiovisual relationship. It is true that the sound of the hard brush used to create Western paintings mainly lies in the change of rhythm and volume, and the sound itself cannot produce a more independent artistic aesthetic. Although there are great differences in terms of painting materials, painting methods, cultural connotations, traditions, etc., Western artists' research on the sound of painting and related artistic practices can still be used as a reference for the study of the sound aesthetics of Chinese painting and calligraphy.
12 In 1987, Edward Ron and Ronald · Wicksham invented the "Pressure Zone Microphone", or PZM for short, and later the "Boundary Microphone". The difference between an interface sensor and a normal sensor lies in its application to the interface. The interface in question is the reflective surface that the sound pressure reaches. The pressure zone refers to the pressure area where the direct and reverse sound of the sound pressure boundary are basically in phase. Therefore, the head (diaphragm) of the microphone and the reflection interface must be close together.
13. In a recording studio with excellent sound insulation conditions, the ambient noise is about 10 decibels, while in a generally quiet room, the ambient noise is about 30~50 decibels.
14 Ferdy Manson 4D Company is the first team engaged in professional music engineering in China, the company has international advanced professional technology, and is the owner of WFS TRON synthesis technology.
15 Some scholars believe that the Autobiography is a facsimile of the Northern Song Dynasty. Up to now, the "Self-Narrative Post" in the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei, China, has been identified as a sample of Huaisu's wild grass and is a manuscript, and it has not yet been determined whether it is the authentic work of Huaisu himself. See National Palace Museum, Taipei, China: "Self-Narrative Post" Volume Inspection Report, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2005.
16 Xu Bangda, Introduction to the Appraisal of Ancient Paintings and Calligraphy, Cultural Relics Publishing House, 1981, p. 20.
17 Anqi: "Moyuan Huiguan · The Complete Book of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy (Volume 10), Shanghai Painting and Calligraphy Publishing House, 1996, pp. 316-321.
18 Fu Shen, "Calligraphy Appraisal and Clinical Diagnosis of Huaisu's Self-Description", Shanghai Painting and Calligraphy Publishing House, 2018, p. 101.
19 The frequency range of human ear hearing is about 20~20 000 Hz. The higher the sound frequency, the higher the pitch, and the lower the sound frequency, the lower the pitch. It is generally customary to divide the audio into certain frequency bands, such as high frequency, medium frequency, and low frequency.
20 It is also rumored that Song Li Gonglin's Elegant Collection of the West Garden depicts Wang Xu, Cai Zhao, and Li Zhiyi watching Su Shi write calligraphy, with Su Shi sitting on a high chair and writing at his desk.
21 Pan Yunxuan, ed., On the Books of Zhang Huaijun, Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House, 1997, p. 269.
22 Ibid. (7), p. 424.
23 Ibid. (7), p. 645.
24 Ibid. (7), p. 561.
25 Liu Xizai, "Commentary on the Book Overview", Jin Xuezhi, Shanghai Painting and Calligraphy Publishing House, 1990, p. 209.
26 Ibid. (7), p. 6.
27 Guo Xi, "The Elegance of the Forest and Springs", trans. Xiong Zhiting et al., On Song Painting, Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House, 2000, p. 17.
28 The so-called "immersive" experience is the use of some lights, images, sound and other effects to trigger various senses of the human body, so as to give participants the feeling of being in a virtual thematic state and environment. A typical example is "virtual reality" (VR), which is to enter a virtual scene through a specific device for an in-depth experience.
29 Ibid. (7), p. 535.
30 Qian Xuesen, "The Modernization of Science and Technology Must Drive the Modernization of Literature and Art", Science Literature and Art, No. 2, 1980, pp. 3-7.
31 Qian Xuesen, The Art of Science and the Science of Art, People's Literature Publishing House, 1994, p. 287.
32 In the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Huaijun's "Discussion of Calligraphy" described calligraphy as a "silent sound." See the Ancient Books Collation Research Office of East China Normal University: Selected Essays on Calligraphy in the Past Dynasties, Shanghai Painting and Calligraphy Publishing House, 1979, p. 146.
(Meng Yunfei transferred from "Music and Art (Journal of Shanghai Conservatory of Music)" 2023 No. 1 P111-124,5)