Guqin 古琴 - Oulu Wang Ji

This is one of the most personalized pieces in my current repertoire; I owe a debt to Guan Pinghu and Pu Xuezhai, but the rendition is essentially my own. Among the most prominent masters, only Li Xiangting plays this piece today--and he does so in only about half the time. I enjoy slowing down radically, as it allows me to explore "space" and the architecture of lingering sound. Oulu Wang Ji ("Seagulls - Forgetting Schemes") is fundamentally a piece of admonition. It draws from an old story wherein a surprised fisherman discovers that seagulls have no fear of him until he thinks about killing them for dinner. How anybody could make that into a piece of music is beyond me, but apparently somebody succeeded! The music explores both the vast, misty scenery of the original tale and the stern moral lesson that our intentions are never entirely opaque to others, and that every motivation bears consequences.

For more videos, as well as all my weird opinions on guqin and music in general, check out my new website: www.scwguqin.com

- Stephen C. Walker

Category:

Music

Tags:

• guqin
• chinese
• music
• gu
• qin
• zither
• instrument
• china
• ancient
• classical
• traditional
• daoist
• daoism
• taoist
• taoism
• 古琴
• 古
• 琴

[batmobile13]

In your description you mention exploring "space" and architecture of sound. I think you should listen to a band called Neurosis. They have built a career heavily around this principle. I think the Guqin would fit in perfectly with these American metal pioneers who also use a type of drumming reminiscent of some traditional chinese war drums. Check them out. I recommend the song Eye of Every Storm.

[SCWguqin]

@batmobile13 Hey! I've had Neurosis recommended to me by a number of people. I'm a huge fan of Isis, who derived a lot of their sound from Neurosis - right?

[SnowLeopard84]

i cant get enough of your way of playing this. I would also like to know where i could get a copy of it in any form AAC, MP3, FLAC etc?

[SCWguqin]

@SnowLeopard84 This is the only recording really - nothing like an mp3 exists separately.

[iamluiwai]

兄弟你的古琴很中國，比龔一什麼叫春風的歌兒強多了，厲害。真的­禮失求諸野啊。原諒我野這字，我沒有貶義。

[SCWguqin]

Wow, thank you! And no worries - I definitely consider myself a 野人.

[dbadagna]

I love the way certain notes die away, yet the left hand keeps executing various intricate slides. The essence of guqin. It seems to have this aesthetic in common with Zen and shakuhachi playing.

[avivagabriel]

I'm especially attracted to:

(1) The clarity of your tones; it's as if your attention is entirely focused on every milisecond's pulse, pitch, and waver; and

(2) your tasteful slowing down of this piece; it's awesome to hear Oulu Wang Ji played with all the empty (full) space.

[emptyvide]

善哉！阁下令我汗颜，发我深思，促我长进。。。。。。叫我无地自­容。

在下习琴数载，仍难为听，难为听。

真个是，礼失求诸野。

[woshidadao]

@iamluiwai 曲目表达的意涵不同，你不能说春风很差，它是现代曲，表现的是新­疆民族风，而这首曲子是古曲，深远亢长，独树一韵

[byahnesh]

@ImOutsideTheBox

The dots mark the harmonics.

[ImOutsideTheBox]

I noticed theres dots on the neck, are those the equivelant of fretts? a tutor told me that its a safe bet to use the pentatonic scale when emulating eastern melody (im a guitarist) as its a universal scale but I realise alot of eastern instruments have broken down their notes into quater tones (or even more) so I dont know if a slide can solve that problem

[Crpetersena]

Interesting how much it sounds like a piano in some of the tones.. Very close in nature ... Thank you for sharing this performance.. 

[Resodeus]

the medium of video truncates 50% of what he is actually doing. anyone with a pulse in that room would be riveted to the floor

[yoshinori31]

@Harpearpa I am a Japanese.He looks a caucasian. I also think that he is a biginner and he has to make more more great effort. But he is a good player for his sincerity. I guess he respects asian tradition very much.

私は日本人です。彼は欧米人のようですね。彼は初心者で更に努力­を重ねなければいけないと思います。しかし、彼はその真摯さにお­いてよき演奏者だと思います。アジアの文化に敬意を持っているの­だと思います。

[KangSangCheung]

I really think you are one of the best you tube qin artist outside Asia. Would love hear more textures in your sounds. The space between notes is remarkable. Personally want to be surprise with the orientation of speeds. Like it a little bit more spice;) but again, it's personal, you are great!

[Harpearpa]

.......I am a Chinese, I have to say,he is still a beginner, the quality of the qin itself is good but his skill still need to improve. The music he made is too empty.

[yoshinori31]

子曰、

「知之者不如好之者。　好之者不如楽之者。」