Qi Zhang's electrifying organ performance

[YAMATI40]

Das ist ein WUNDERKIND !! WAHNSINN !

Stéphane

[crudhousefull]

This is one woman doing what usually takes 50 people in an orchestra. I can't believe how incredible this is

[crudhousefull]

I enjoyed the music. I can't believe that it's just one person who's playing all those instruments. I have the utmost respect for that lady's skill

[ninebreaker21]

TED, innovation for its own sake is not always for the best.

[BboySpikey]

1 Woman musical army?

[MrTakarajim]

pointless also if you play skillfully like tat coz ur song has no feeling.......... it's so stiff like metal........

[LetTheMusicFlow1]

@MrTakarajim Sense, there is none. Typos aplenty, however.

[luigiperso]

this is CRAZY

[MrTakarajim]

it sounds incredibly stiff and artificial............... shld improvise it properly......

[luigiperso]

@MrTakarajim , shut up.

[rubendow]

I thought I had heard some pretty impressive performances but this leaves me speechless. I am astounded. Absolutely the best performance of this kind I have every seen or heard.

[ssnl183]

very good organ player and she is beautiful too,can be an artist.....

[Danielstamm1]

o.O She scares me.

[itubeyoublah]

asians conquering the world

[AngeLoveMusiX]

...

[KNO3CS]

What's better than roses on a piano? Tulips on an organ!

[DancingSpiderman]

While 'merka wastes its resources designing more weapons of mass destruction which most likely will never be used, other countries like Japan are kickin our technological asses designing useful technology and honing the talent to create works of Excellence from their marvelous technology.

This song has been re-titled: The End Of The 'merkin Empire.

[Griffith101]

@DancingSpiderman Shes not Japanese quite obvious from her name. The technology is'nt that amazing this stuffs been around since the 80ties shes just very good at switching banks.

[kubarebo]

@Griffith101 Banks are switched automatically. The whole performance is preprogrammed, she basically fills in the blanks with melody and perhaps some percussion.

[rollerskater]

@DancingSpiderman although i generally agree with that feeling, Japan really is not the hotbed of electronic instrument innovation as America is, they haven't since the FM synth era (DX7, SY77, etc). and guess where they licensed that FM synthesis technology from?

[DancingSpiderman]

@rollerskater yeah , whut you sed may be true, but... Hello Kitty cell phone kicks ass on ANYthing 'merka has to offer.... and I'm a 48 year old guy saying that. Consumer electronics, Japan kicks 'merka's ass any day of the week. The only thing merka designs well is weapons. And that sucks. Any way anyone decides to look at it. It sucks that merka can't have factories producing consumer electronics , but there are "defense" related companies here in merka. meh

[whisperdancer]

@rollerskater I wonder what are the electronic instruments that USA manufactures that are better than the japanese ones? Kurzweil? DSI? Moog? I don't think so.

Germans and even the swedish (clavia) are far ahead of the north american brands...

[DancingSpiderman]

I LVOE it... she just put an entire symphony orchestra outta business. I love her. So Kawaii.

Later, hoidy-toidy bitches, all you viola players and buffoon players. Maybe 50Cent could hire y'all for his next VitaminWater parody commercial. bWAAhahaha

[xiangyik]

I think this sounds terrible compared to the original.... It does not add anything, and it sounds incredibly stiff and artificial compared to the orchestra. Thumbs down all you want, but at least tell me why you like this.

[kubarebo]

@xiangyik If all the bad things you have to say "sounds stiff and artificial", then I think Yamaha and the performer are doing a fairly good job. Think about it: it's a SINGLE PERSON playing. A couple decades ago this was impossible to do at all, well or not. Give Yamaha a few decades more, and you won't be able to tell the difference without seeing that there's no orchestra.

[ShiruSushi]

clapping between movements? :P

[Granaine]

the Love for One Organ

[HYPoKiiENT]

One word.

In-Fucking-Credible

[SamonMarquis]

Imagine the person who had to perform after this. It would seem ... anti-climatic.

[masterj9000]

amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[moondoggy385]

That is easily the single most incredible thing I've seen in a long time... 49 people who watched this video apparently had rather large and extremely uncomfortable sticks lodged deeply in their asses. I believe that this is the only circumstance under which someone could not enjoy this video.

[kshacklett]

@moondoggy385 Couldn't agree more..and I've had to remove a few sticks from my own ass. Your name looks familiar...have you seen my ELP videos?

[dylanlawless1]

Hottest girl at a Tedtalk

[zwog1]

breathtaking!!!!!!!!!!!

疯狂洋鬼子 

[calypsoblackpool]

a very impressive player,superb instrument how the organ has evolved over a number of years its capability is limitless

Paul Long

Organist entertainer

Blackpool

[thelord2000]

Best I've heard

[gatomjp]

Unbelievable! Amazing! Beautiful! Bravo!

[lamepiemujer]

Such gorgeous and sexy feet!!!!

[zwog1]

@lamepiemujer all chinese girls have sexy feet!

[lamepiemujer]

@zwog1 I'm sure of that, wish that the camera could focus longer close ups on her feet and how wonderful would be if she played barefoot or in sandals. Her toes will look soo sexy on that pedalboard!!!

[hackel137]

So frustrating that we cannot buy these outside Japan!

[Manimation1]

This may make me sound like a purist, but she's not playing an organ, it's more of a complex synthesizer.

[slyme1711]

that was massive, that organ is a beast, and Qi Zhang is gorgeous and talented .

[feb921993]

she rox

[CFNUN]

absolutely stunning

[LiTTlEKuAiKiA]

WOOTS~~~~~~~~~~PROPRO :DDDDDD

[OrganCat]

Remarkable sense of orchestration. BRAVA!!

[knightflyte]

Impressive arrangement and talent to get the beautiful music Qi Zhang.

I haven't played the organ in over thirty years. I had no idea of the quality of the sound these produce now.

Thoroughly enjoyed. Thanks.

[ExNihiloJimmy]

wish i was that seat xD

[OrganCat]

Does that remark make you a 'pedalphile?'

[theabelen111]

go girl!!!!!

[audiowiz]

That was a nice performance, thanks

[call0126244168]

It seems veryx2 good but the song is good for practice (good selfsatisfaction for the music player) not good for listening. I think 90% of the people don't know how to enjoy this type of music. Ha! ha! me too

[pavelmoarte]

I want to know who nthe fucking idiot is who recorded this. Someone apparently doesn't understand that you don't have to record the click of the keys. Annoying.

[arybarq97]

Lo mejor que he visto como organista electone. El arreglo es fabuloso, las registraciones perfectas y la habilidad de Qi Zhang, demuestra altísima técnica. El mejor instrumento en la mejor interprete.Felicidades.

[zpkt]

yowza

[kissuck]

the instrument is called Electone Stagea from Yamaha and it's been in Japan for decades.

Check it out... it's a great instrument to play with...

i know that cos i've been playing it for a decade =D

[skitchell]

look at them fingers go.. lol, fast as hell

[matreyia]

holy moly....that's hot.

[cristianoelectone]

nice !!

[urdifferent]

Even if she made a mistake no one would know haha

[JazzyWous]

Shed actually makes one lol.. on 1:45..

But that doesn't matter. SHE IS AWESOME! And lol her feet almost can't reacht the pedals. I loved the performance

[jaydragon33]

she's fuckin sick

[rubyredshoe]

i think the most important question is how is her mind able to comphrehend that much music and that many melodies at once?

[chillgirlette]

i've heard of a one-man-band, but a friggin one-man (woman :) ) orchestra!!??

flipping cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[CptJamesx]

epic. keep it up =)

[worriedaboutlife]

absolutely terrible.. she should get someone to write music designed arround the limited timbre of the instrument... music will be dead soon, good

[JonGUK]

Brilliant!

[bersaba]

I'm not sure what is more amazing. Her skill in playing, or the technology to allow those sounds.

Amazing.

[Pootsman666]

no shit

[octemberfury]

the skills

[luigiperso]

@bersaba , technology will always kiss ass to skill

[musicman7799]

класс!

[storozh587]

Я в шоке......круто просто слов нет

[pianoguyyy]

you amazing:) good luck to you

[tjmusic1]

That performance was nothing short of GREAT. I was once a artist for Yamaha when they were in this country. The HX1 was the bomb then. I bow to you.

[sikes1379]

Me gusta Mucho~! This is where Disney needs to pay for her skills. And anyone who wants a sound track! She is really good

[mossyburger]

just do a search on Electone Stagea and you'll find lots more performances of this yamaha muscial instrument.

[52ofem]

If you're implying it doesn't take skill to do this, then buy a Stagea and try and do this yourself.

[mossyburger]

no i'm not. i play electone previously too and her skill is incredible.

not all youtube posts are automatically made by trolls. have some faith in humanity.

[52ofem]

I'm saying it just in case....

[muzlinkage]

GAWD!

[nastar19]

one of the craziest thing ive ever seen, super qi zhang!

[ElPopularVale]

All sounds come from the electone? or is she also using external modules/computer?

[anubismusic]

nice! shes hot too^^

[tommytalks77]

moron...

[PinkFloydDudi]

She changes patches via a footswitch most certainly. Welcome to the wonderful world of MIDI...

[nycsym]

There are better sounding virtual orchestra applications than this and the composers at IRCAM in Paris have been doing electronic synthesis for 25 years already. She's OK. Still prefer the real deal when it comes to orchestras

[blupheonix44]

East West makes some of the best VST's. Check out their orchestra patches...

[nycsym]

Yes, I have the East West app and it is awesome!

[Armadillo312]

I'm speechless.

That was incredible beyond belief. wow.

[STUDIOXPSJ]

Just incredible.

[producermattpop]

How does she change the patches? Obviously, she is using splits across the keyboard but there is more going on, like the layered sounds with percussion hits etc. Are they programmed to change at a certain time and is she playing against a metronome? ANd what are the orange lights above the keys that keep changing? Pretty impressive.

[izod]

I was wondering the same thing.

I see she is using the foot pedals quite a bit, and perhaps one of them is a trigger to switch patch pre-sets? A click of the pedal moves you from one pre-determined set of patches to the other?

[producermattpop]

Yeah, could be.

[anlynes]

Those foot pedals are actually a fully functional keyboard with both initial and after touch. See my other comment on this thread on the patch changes.

[anlynes]

The sound changes are controlled by the row of buttons between the keyboards. Each button can store/recall almost every setting on the instrument. Changes can be sequenced (as is the case here) and/or operated manually by pushing them or using a footswitch on the main expression pedal. The main expression pedal is the right-most pedal that looks like a car gas/accelerator pedal.

[brownieboy1988]

In answer to your question, the orange lights are the registration menu and this is where the different combination of sounds etc are stored. She then can change them by kicking a small foot switch on her right foot expression pedal. She is playing this with a sequenced drum pattern that would have been created bar by bar beforehand. Hope that makes sense!

[producermattpop]

Yes it does, thanks!

[mrxelmoxx]

wooww O.o this is sick xD

[superbiroy]

its not an organ..

its ELECTONE aka STAGEA

anyway is bullshit to say that asian can't improvise.....

there is alot of different music board and system in asia...

make sure you know all of them before you make a general point...

[thegerberg]

The performance is electrifying!

This organ will be the greatest of all the new instruments of the 21st Century.

Thad

[pixelbind]

dang hands and feet

mesmerizing.

[aboxofjosh]

My favorite parts are 1:14 and 3:05 when the cameraman steps out of the shadows and stands there in silhouette all creepy-like.

[WtShtF101]

.....

[warrenmcurrier]

I want make a baby with this baby

[supajive]

shes a musical lyrical genius inpispirational phoenomal anamolly. i wonder if she likes fish sticks.

[kardentyrell]

holy crap, it's a human orchestra ;P

[TimeTravelerTN]

It would be impossible to get better than this. What a fantastic artist of music.

[mikontisot]

How does she get that incredible expression from silicon boards? Fantastic (I also love Prokofiev and you know he would love this)

[abysimus]

A stunning virtuoso performance. It is exhausting just watching her paly.

[len651]

Wow..

[leroyosmon]

Great technique... and beautiful as well!!!!

[bulboflight]

quiet poignant.. very nice. Although i do have to comment upon the idea of diminishing an orchestra into a single pianistic instrument, this is still quiet amazingly wonderful and reflects the wonderful advancements in technology.

[56Packman]

Fear not, the "unit orchestra" has been around for 100 years, this version, and those made by Roland use digital sampling to great realisim, but there will always be orchestras. Pulling 96 minds together to one common goal is a great human feat.

[cicciocharlienancy]

I fell in love.

[twicon]

so we need less ppl in every field every day but we increase..

[peziac]

Amazing, unbelievable.... WOW!

[LetTheMusicFlow1]

wat the heck? theres like a million instruments and only two keyboards! how does that happen?

[burningeko]

i think she's got a switch with her feet that switches between the different instruments. mad isn't it?

[anlynes]

Actually the sounds are controlled by the row of buttons between the keyboards. Each button can store/recall almost every setting on the instrument. Changes can be sequenced and/or operated manually by pushing them or using a footswitch on the main expression pedal.

[Qichin]

If you look carefully, there's actually a third keyboard underneath her feet. And yes, you play it with your feet.

[jaytonbye]

I have a hard time believing ONE PERSON could do that. Had I heard it without an accompanying video I would have assumed it was an orchestra. amazing

[whitespideralex]

She is controlling at least two spiders

[jigarashah]

WOW..!! That's amazing..!!

[mentalozy]

It's no match for my Air Guitar, bwah wooow

[kiwiplant]

There is a video better than this and on a real organ that has many more sounds. Search youtube for "Star Wars on the Wurlitzer"

[epocs]

dude... did you see the way see was pounding the crap outta that keyboard... and THAT is what you thought of ??

weirdo

[djd904]

WOW! That was simply Amazing.

I wonder how much one of those will set you back.

It seems like the last instrument you would ever need.

[anlynes]

Around 12,000USD

[urthstudio]

I was mesmerized. Beautiful performance, fantastic timbres from a powerful keyboard and to top it off a wonderfully expressive performer. Nothing is lacking here. especially her hard work.

[320iguy]

some of the first piece didn't seem to 'mesh' but all in all it's a great piece.

[entelechi]

WOW!

[BreathInSpaceFilmz]

Holy crap, the music is like a sugar rush.

[getiki]

The beginning is clearly from a zelda game.

[ellocotheinsane]

Absolutely AMAZING! ... stunning performance ... funny how there is an endless count of criticism to this video and not a single video response to demonstrate how well the critics do it and how 'easy', 'mechanical', 'practiced' and 'heartless' QiZhang's performace is ...

shameless hypocrites

[91DarkMagic]

its not just the song you look at...look at her fingers you idiots and stop critizing "omg its just a song from a movie that sounds bad"...i really wonder if you guys can do something like this, go practice more on your piano and become like her >_>

[CharlieBaltazar]

It's all about the settings on the workstation that resembles an organ. Nothing too fancy here, but it was interesting.

[ken5921]

oh please volcom2003 jus because you met 'some' people in asia who plays piano without improvising dosen't means OTHER people can't play without a score sheet.. There are many talented people in asia.. You just haven't saw it yet..

[nofare]

this gives us an idea of how long she spent practicing. that's what's amazing - the music is utter garbage.

in the end, she's like a perfect machine. nothing more. no heart goes into those performances. it's "only" practice -- impressive technically. 14 year-olds who know nothing about life give "amazing" performances playing Bach too.

[volcom2003]

I know exactly what you mean...I recently moved to Asia and I've found a lot of people here know how to play the piano but when you ask them to improvise or even play something without having the sheet music in front of them they can't...they're basically just robots.

[oswright]

wow ! inspirational - 5 stars...oscar wright, rome

[0candle0]

sounds a bit like the theme from rogue squadron on n64

[nuvemcaos]

best comment ever

[DanimusMaximus87]

Amazing....

[wildmanatm]

Who makes the keyboard?

Looks like a custom rig to me.

Brilliant player too!

[peter47a]

It's an organ, a Yamaha Electone.

[pogingjazzer]

electone is just a toy! i would rather go with piano! a real instrument or a hammond b3. no automatic stuff. by the way great player!

[daviblight]

there always seems to be a part when the musicians in ted talks just create random chaos that is suppose to be enjoyable and i cringe a little because it's over kill. Talent or not.. double the noise doesn't make it twice as good.

[anlynes]

I'm not a fan of this type of music, but I appreciate her skills. Some facts on the instrument:

*Yamaha Electone ELS-01C

*Sold only in Asia

*Costs around 12,000USD

*Row of buttons between the keyboards is the Registration Memory. Each button can store/recall almost every setting on the instrument. Changes can be sequenced

*Pedals are a fully functional 20 note keyboard with initial and after touch

*There are 2 voice sections per keyboard, plus 2 solo sections, organ and k'board percussion

[superdiza]

Ted's music is always so fucking pretentious..

[buymyhouse]

She is so beautiful and talented. I'd let her play my organ anytime!

[Lintassimilator]

talented my ass. it's pretty common for parents of countries like china to put their kids through some kind of instrument practice from early age so basicly i doubt there's any talent behind it, it's years and years of practice

[nefertum]

Wow, this is absolutely amazing!

[noctus]

Her performance is incredible, but the sounds on that machine are pretty damned corny. She needs a better sample banks.

[tukkek]

I agree with you. She's an amazing musician, but I don't really like synthetic sounds. She could do this at the piano (without all the effects and some adaptation of course) - I think it would sound much better.

[aleeks831]

OH MY GOD.

How ... seriously haha. Epic control of her instrument, controlling an entire orchestra at her fingertips (conductor included!) .... the part where she does the percussion with her feet blew my mind wow. Incredible.

[ksalbrecht88]

Yeah, my jaw literally dropped when I saw that myself.

[facemanwheatus]

Fantasy, Video Games, Sci-Fi epics are a few of the images this music conjures up.

I love it.

[yomochi]

I love this!

[djslay34982]

This Sucks.

She has talent but this song sucks ass

[Petchhyy]

Not to keen to be honest.

[KjFourFive]

final fantasy came to mind when hearing the first part good stuff :-)

[goten1201]

It was horrible, I didn't get it at all.

[superghoul]

What.-- what is there to go?

[poopistation]

totally overrated performance or should i say ..... a promotional video for Yamaha?