Two versions of a song are released, what do we usually do first? Find the difference.
When I heard the Spring and Autumn versions of the dark bar song "Spring and Autumn on the Strings", I immediately turned on the "Find Difference" mode and tried to find the difference between them.
It's a pleasure, it's pure fun. What's the difference, I personally heard it including but not limited to: Intro directly made the difference, the "Autumn" version is composed of electric guitar riff with vocal humming melody, the "Spring" version is dominated by the box piano, and the electronic dotted tone is assisted. The opening paragraph alone shows the characteristics of the two songs, the former is more traditional and elegant, and the latter is more modern and ethereal. Then the human voice officially enters, which is more clear, and the "autumn" version of the vocals is in front, and the sound volume is realistic. The "Spring" version of the vocals is far-reaching, quite distant. Further down is the Interlude section, where the "Autumn" version is a vocal chant melody that is melodious and relaxed. The "Spring" version will be handed over to the instrument, and the vocals will completely withdraw. This gives me a direct sense of hearing that the previous version is like a personal experience of the main perspective, and the second version has the observation of the bystander, which is the difference between near and far, and also the distinction between "entering" and "leaving".
Somehow, from these two versions, I heard two states of mind, one actively joining the world, the other isolated.
Therefore, for me, the two versions of "Spring and Autumn on the Strings" are not only different treatments at the level of arrangement, but also the diversification of artistic conceptions resulting from them. That is, from the moment I heard the difference, the two versions built a variety of pictures. In "Autumn", what I feel is the realism based on The Musical Form of Fox Rock, with a large number of white lines outlining the real scenes in life. In "Spring", it is a freehand style similar to Dream-pop, such as ink painting showing a surreal poetry.
So the question is, which of the two versions of Spring and Autumn is better? Realistic or freehand, which is closer to the most realistic dark bar?
It's not that I'm perfunctory, it's the answer I can give: all good, all right.
I think that the original intention of two versions of a song is definitely not to compete with each other, but to show the rich plasticity of the work, so as to meet different aesthetic needs. And it is not difficult to find that whether the theme focuses on "spring" or "autumn", the song "Spring and Autumn on the String" pays special attention to the sense of atmosphere in music, and is trying to be similar to the emptiness and depth of Ambient Music. Therefore, although there are differences in the details of the arrangement, the main line of thinking is the same.
As for realism or freehand, everyone who knows the dark bar should know that his songs have always been a combination of the two. In his past works, we can hear the happiness in the rivers and lakes and the churning in real life, depicting both the peach blossom source and the projection of the human world. These are also reflected in "Spring and Autumn on the String". The emphasis of both versions on realism and freehand only makes his characteristics as a musician more distinct, but never deliberately separates.
It is the same song as it is, and both versions are realistic and freehand Fusion. Just like the lyrics in "Spring and Autumn on the Strings", it seems to be a realistic depiction of pastoral elements, but in fact, they are all imaginative in wording, "A bunch of Cuiteng under the eaves / Bundled half-cut year", "The pool water is too shallow / How to support / The accumulation of years", "The wind knife is too blunt / How to scrape off / The old cocoon of the years"... And so on, the text is simple but picturesque. As for the music, the folk elements in the "Autumn" version have a sense of landing, but you can pay attention to the way you listen to the singing style of the dark bar, gentle and fresh, with a sufficient amount of dreamy atmosphere. In the "Spring" version, the same spatial atmosphere music is animistic, but the overall Lo-fi texture always locates the scene in the real world.
It is difficult to separate realism from freehand works that talk about dark bars.
There is no need to deliberately figure out which part is realistic and which part is freehand, after all, in his music they are always integrated. I think this is exactly the recognition of dark bars as a singer-songwriter, and realize the overlap of reality and illusion in the song in the most smooth way.
My understanding is that "Spring and Autumn on the String" is stacked through two versions of the two seasons of spring and autumn, and it is the whole life. The so-called "spring and autumn on the string" is actually "life on the string", in this song you and my life can be understood.
Ingeniously, giving two versions formally sets the tone for life: there is no single standard answer, only different choices. From this, I feel that this treatment is quite "conceptual", far more than providing two different senses of hearing, but allowing everyone to find the most familiar way of associating life.
Yes, I see listening to dark songs as interacting with life. As a singer-songwriter, he knows how to make the work appealing, and definitely does not rely on technical intricate tricks to "catch the ear", but focuses on the full life atmosphere. Just like listening to "Spring and Autumn on the Strings", in essence, this is a very simplified work, no matter which version of the melody, lyrics, arrangement of the dimensions belong to the refinement, to put it bluntly, very plain. But it is on the basis of the plain that the song perfectly captures the various forms of life, there are sadness, there is nostalgia, there is sweetness, there is sighing.
Entering the mood of the song, it is natural to open a real-life experience. Of course, there is no shortage of beauty. In particular, the combination of words and musical sentences is quite poetic, and "Spring and Autumn on the Strings" has already laid a poetic tone for the whole song. When it comes to this, labels such as "Chinese style" or "ancient style" will emerge in the trend. The song does make people think of these labels, but compared to the characteristic instrument elements and the routine of the pentatonic scale, "Spring and Autumn on the Strings" is more exquisite in its way of achieving the "ancient style" effect.
I think the key is, leave blank. Blank space may be the most important point of our traditional music, and the appreciation and beauty in "Spring and Autumn on the Strings" are based on the base of white space. On the one hand, it is to build a sense of space horizontally, expand the field of music, and extend the artistic conception of words, that is, to experience the exchange of infinity with the whole world here. On the other hand, the longitudinal elongation of the time value, although the lyrics are dense, but there is no sense of urgency or oppression, and the singing of the dark bar ensures the looseness of expression.
Although the song is not dynamic and distinct, it also has rich layers and variations under the action of blank space. That's what it's called, don't have a hole in the sky.
In my past works, I have experienced more of the experimental spirit of dark bars, to explore the combination of different musical elements. In addition, there is his sense of edge and corner, and the momentum and pleasure of walking in the rivers and lakes. In "Spring and Autumn on the Strings", I felt introverted, an indifferent singer who rubbed realism and freehand into the depths.
The taste of "Spring and Autumn on the String" is very light, just like life.