Chapter 303 "Snow Flower"

Nomura Shu and Sakai Izumi chatted with the people from Qingyinfang for a while, and then the intermission began.

Today's program will take at least six or seven hours to record, and it is impossible to record it non-stop. It is also lunch time, so we will pause for everyone to eat.

TV Asahi's menu was a little worse than Zhou Yan expected, and most people ate the same thing.

Zhou Yan and Kudo Shizuka's lunch boxes only contained sushi, grilled eel and some vegetables.

For Zhou Yan, who is on a diet, this box lunch is still very good. The only drawback is that the soup on top of their grilled eel rice is a bit too salty.

Zhou Yan felt that Neon's diet was a bit extreme. Many things were too bland, and many things were extremely salty. For example, he had eaten their ramen once before, and it was so salty that he couldn't eat it.

That stuff was so salty that Xu Sanguan was unwilling to eat it before donating blood.

At that time, he wondered if the store had overturned it, but he heard from others that the saltiness was normal in Neon.

After dinner, before the program recording started again, Shu Nomura found Zhou Yan: "Mr. Zhou Yan, can I talk to you alone."

Zhou Yan glanced at Nomura Shu, then nodded, "No problem."

They said they were chatting alone, but Zhou Yan still brought the office staff to act as translators.

Nomura led the two of them to the next room. After closing the door, Nomura got straight to the point and said, "Mr. Zhou Yan, can you go on stage to interact with the guests today? Not much, just a few minutes."

Hearing this, Zhou Yan laughed. Although Nomura Shu made this request just now, he felt that the TV station should have planned it in advance.

Asahi's idea is very simple. Zhou Yan finally came here. If he can be coaxed to show up on stage, the ratings will definitely rise.

You know, before this, no variety show had invited Zhou Yan. Of course they want this kind of gimmick for the debut of a variety show.

Zhou Yan thought for a while and said, "It's not impossible, but you must promise me two things."

Seeing Zhou Yan relent, Nomura Hide looked happy and said immediately, "Please tell me."

"First, ensure the broadcast time of Qingyinfang. We can't cut off their time just because I take up the time."

Shu Nomura nodded immediately, "There is no problem at all. After you come on stage, their scenes will only be more, not less."

"Well, secondly, it's over when you come to me. Don't go looking for Kudo Shizuka. I know that in Neon, my scandal with her has attracted quite a lot of attention, but I don't want your show to speculate on it."

Nomura Shu was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said, "No problem, we won't disturb Shizuka anymore."

In fact, Zhou Yan guessed what the TV station was thinking. They had indeed thought about inviting both Zhou Yan and Shizuka Kudo to the show. There was no need to deliberately speculate on the two of them. As long as they were on stage at the same time, they would definitely receive attention.

But since Zhou Yan said this, Nomura Shu could only agree that the cooperation with Zhou Yan would be long-term, and they did not want to lose the big for the small.

The TV station where Neon has the best relationship with Zhou Yan now is their TV station, but if Zhou Yan is unhappy, he can always switch to cooperate with other TV stations.

NHK has recently been eyeing Zhou Yan and wants to build a good relationship with Zhou Yan through the "Three Kingdoms" concert.

If the relationship between TV Asahi and Zhou Yan breaks down, NHK will probably laugh out of their dreams.

After hearing that Nomura Shuu agreed to his request, Zhou Yan asked again, "Then what are the specific arrangements for me to go on stage? Let me have a chat with you?"

"Well, let's just chat. If possible, of course we hope you can show off your talents, such as playing the bamboo flute."

"I didn't bring my bamboo flute."

Zhou Yan had never thought about going on stage, so it was naturally impossible for him to bring an instrument.

"We have one at the station. Do you want to prepare one for you?"

"No need." Zhou Yan shook his head.

He never shared wind instruments with others.

After thinking about it, he added, "There is no need to prepare anything. If you want to play, I will use the instruments from Qingyinfang."

"good."

…

The lunch break was not long. Not long after Zhou Yan chatted with Shu Nomura, the recording started again.

Qingyinfang played the second song "Guanghan Palace". This song is in the "Yulinling" album and is more popular among neon people. It is very popular and the audience at the scene is also familiar with it.

However, the audience had only heard the violin lead version, and Qingyinfang’s version made them feel fresh and new.

The previous song "Missing Through Time" highlights the performance of the pipa, and in this song "Guanghan Palace", the erhu is the protagonist.

The erhu version of "Guanghan Palace" is a little more sad than the violin version, with a stronger sense of farewell.

After the performance ended, everyone in Qingyinfang sat down again. Nomura Shu smiled and said, "Actually, both "Missing Through Time" and "Guanghan Palace" are relatively familiar songs to everyone. However, the version we heard before is different from today's version. The version played live by Qingyinfang is very different, and the version played live today was also adapted by Zhou Yan himself. "

"Which version is better, I think everyone has a different opinion, but in the new version, we can feel many different things. I have a suggestion, that is to invite Zhou Yan to the stage and let him talk about it What were you thinking about when we were talking about the adaptation?

Before Nomura Shu finished speaking, the audience applauded. Everyone turned their attention to Zhou Yan, and the camera was also pointed at him.

Zhou Yan nodded to the camera, then stood up and walked to the stage, and the translator quickly followed.

The staff quickly brought a microphone over. He took it and said with a smile, "Hello everyone, I'm Zhou Yan."

"Mr. Zhou Yan, it's an honor to have you come to the stage and tell us about the new versions of "Missing Through Time" and "Guanghan Palace". Do you have any special ideas when adapting them?"

"Actually, there are not many changes. The reason why you think the difference is big is because of the change in orchestration. Each instrument has its own unique features. The pipa has a special sound, a relatively loud volume, and the sound quality is crisp and bright, with rich fundamental tone. The overtones are very penetrating, and the piece "Missing Through Time" highlights the timbre of the pipa, which has a very sense of space. "

"I divide orchestration into three categories. The first category is to embed orchestration thinking into composition. This is easy to understand. That means that when I create music scores, I have already considered the setting and distribution of instruments, the selection of timbre and With the layout, the orchestration and music creation are integrated and inseparable. In most cases, the music I create is like this.”

"The second category is to first create a work and then complete the orchestral orchestration, such as today's two pieces. In this case, the composition will affect the orchestration, and the orchestration will promote the composition and influence each other."

"There is also the third type, which is to orchestrate other people's works. In fact, I think this type is not essentially different from the second type."

"Based on the second and third types, I would like to mention a concept, which is the freedom of orchestration..."

Hearing Zhou Yan talk about the topic in such a professional way, Nomura Shuu felt dizzy.

It's not that the professional content Zhou Yan talks about is not good, but it is too difficult to understand. Not to mention ordinary viewers, even Shu Nomura himself can't understand it.

Fortunately, Zhou Yan also knew that ordinary people could not understand, so he did not go further. He just briefly talked about the freedom of orchestration and brought the topic back, "In general, I combined the characteristics of the music itself and Qingyinfang. The performers made some simple arrangements for the music.”

After Zhou Yan finished speaking, Shu Nomura took the lead in applauding, "As expected of a teacher at the Conservatory of Music, his theoretical knowledge is so great. I want to ask a question, do composers like you, Mr. Zhou Yan, need to know most of the instruments?"

“I can’t say that I understand it, but it’s best for a composer to understand the timbres of most instruments. If you have the spare capacity, you can learn more about instrument techniques, which can help the composer create.”

"As far as I know, you are proficient in various musical instruments, such as bamboo flute, piano, violin, shakuhachi, guitar..."

Zhou Yan smiled and waved his hand, "No, I have been learning the bamboo flute since I was a child, so I am a little familiar with it. I also have some knowledge of the piano and violin. As for other instruments, my level is very amateurish."

"You are so humble. I wonder if we would be lucky enough to hear you play an instrument live?"

"No problem." Zhou Yan nodded and looked around the scene. Then he saw Zhu Lanxi's Erhu and said, "I see that everyone was very interested in the Erhu version of "Guanghan Palace" just now, so I will give it to you. Let me demonstrate the erhu and let you see how big the gap is between me and the professional players.”

Hearing Zhou Yan's words, the scene burst into laughter. Regardless of whether Zhou Yan's words were serious or joking, they somehow made the audience laugh.

Shu Nomura also nodded. He found that Zhou Yan actually had a sense of variety show. Although he didn't talk much, his performance was better than the girls from Sakai Izumi and Qingyinfang.

The sense of variety show is a very subtle thing. It doesn't mean that you have to be deliberately funny to have a sense of variety show. Like Zhou Yan, he obviously doesn't tell jokes and is even serious, but it still makes people feel interesting.

Shu Nomura has come into contact with many creators, and he found that the thinking of many creative geniuses is different from ordinary people. For example, some directors, writers, and musicians have very different ideas from ordinary people, and what they say is also very interesting.

And Zhou Yan is a combination of director, writer, and musician, so it seems reasonable that he has a program effect.

After Zhou Yan got the erhu, he briefly tried it and then played a piece, which was a combined version of "Drinking the Water of the Yangtze River" and "Guanghan Palace".

His level is indeed very average and cannot be compared with Zhu Lanxi's. The audience can hear it, but the general audience's feeling is not so obvious. They think Zhou Yanla's performance is already very good and very professional.

After finishing this piece, Zhou Yan hugged the erhu and smiled and said, "I just mentioned three types of orchestration. The first one is to create music scores based on the orchestration. Now I can show you how to experience it live."

Nomura Shu said in surprise, "Mr. Zhou Yan, do you mean to compose a piece of music on the spot?"

Zhou Yan nodded, "That's what it means. I want to create a piece of music that matches the sound of the erhu. Of course, since it is created on the spot, the music will definitely not be very complicated."

Before the translator could translate Zhou Yan's words, there was already a burst of cheers, because they all saw Zhou Yan nodding.

Shuya Nomura said with a look of surprise, "That's great."

Shu Nomura was already very satisfied with being able to bring Zhou Yan to the stage to show his face, but he never expected that Zhou Yan would compose a song on the spot for such a favor.

Improvisation is Zhou Yan's specialty. In the videotape released by their TV station in cooperation with Tomson, Zhou Yan showed his improvisation skills in Jiangjuntuo.

Although "Borrowing Cucumbers" is not a big hit among Zhou Yan's many songs, it is also loved by some listeners because such light-hearted songs account for a small proportion.

Some TV programs and TV series with a more relaxed style also like to use songs such as "Sanmao", "Borrowing Cucumbers" and "Secret Joy" as background music.

Before playing the song, Zhou Yan said again, "I promised a good friend that I would give her a gift, and the next song is a gift for her."

Zhou Yan said "she", but the translator said "he", so the audience didn't think much about it.

Only Shizuka Kudo knew what Zhou Yan meant at the scene. Tomorrow is her birthday, so Zhou Yan said this now, obviously saying that this song will be given to her as a birthday gift.

Shizuka Kudo leaned forward, holding her chin with her hand, quietly looking at Zhou Yan, waiting for his performance.

Zhou Yan didn't say anything after that, took a deep breath, and prepared to start playing.

When Nomura Hide came to him at noon, he began to think about what song to play on stage.

Originally, he thought that playing some old songs would be enough, but thinking that Shizuka's birthday would be tomorrow, he wanted to give her a little surprise.

Other gifts, he could only give to Shizuka privately, but a new song, he could give it to her in front of so many people.

After deciding to play a new song, Zhou Yan began to think about what to play, and then he thought of a song, which was "Snow Flower" by Mika Nakashima.

This song is widely circulated throughout Asia, and there have been many cover versions, and there are several Chinese versions alone, which shows that everyone loves this song.

Although the cover version of a certain Korean artist is average, it has also been sought after by many fans, which shows that the song itself is indeed very good.

The reason why I thought of this song is that it is quite suitable for playing with violin or erhu. Among the instruments of Qingyinfang, except for bamboo flute, dongxiao, and erhu, he can only play a little. The others are really not good.

Moreover, the theme of this song is love, which is more suitable for Kudo Shizuka.

Zhou Yan did not play the prelude of this song, but started playing directly from the main song.

Originally, there were some whispers in the studio. When the tune of "Snow Flower" sounded, there was no other sound except the music. Everyone held their breath and tried not to make any sound.

Even the cameraman was cautious and did not dare to move too much, for fear of destroying the artistic conception.

The melody of the main song of "Snow Flower" is simple and very catchy, which is very similar to the ballads that the elders sang in their ears when they were young. It is like the wind blowing gently and the snow falling slowly.

However, after a short section, the emotions have risen a little, like a woman who is singing softly, walking on the snow in the forest, expressing her love to her lover, but she seems to be worried about gains and losses.

Love is a very complicated thing. When happiness comes and people imagine the future, the more beautiful the imagination is, the more afraid they are of losing what they have in front of them. The melody of "Snow Flower" expresses this complex emotion.

Winter is coming, and lovers snuggle together, warming each other. The beautiful future is in the spring after winter, but when spring comes, what will the world look like, and whether this feeling can still be so passionate, but there is no way to know.

The melody of this song has a different magic, which can draw the audience's thoughts into the music.

Izumi Sakai was full of surprise. She has always known that Zhou Yan is talented, and all Japanese people should know this, but she didn't expect Zhou Yan's talent to be so exaggerated.

Can such a beautiful and moving melody be created by just improvising on the spot?

There is an idiom in China called "Looking at the ocean and sighing", which means that you will feel your own insignificance when you see great things. Izumi Sakai has such a feeling at this moment.

She originally knew that there was a sea, and she also knew that this sea was very big, but only when she walked to the side of the sea could she truly feel the vastness and magnificence of the sea that exceeded her imagination.

It turns out that a person's musical talent can really reach this level.

In fact, Izumi Sakai and Zhou Yan have had some connections. Zhou Yan previously shot an advertisement for Panasonic and wrote the song "Meteor". At that time, many people in Japan voted for Japanese singers to sing this song, and she was also on the list.

Her company also tried to find Zhou Yan to help her write a song, but it never worked out.

At that time, their company paid great attention to the song "Meteor" because their Zard was originally a rock band. Compared with other songs written by Zhou Yan, "Meteor" was more suitable for them.

But unfortunately, this song was not obtained.

Just when Izumi Sakai was surprised by Zhou Yan's talent, what she didn't expect was that the surprise was still to come.

When the chorus of "Snow Flower" sounded, many people at the scene widened their eyes. The melody suddenly became firm and passionate from the previous gains and losses, as if to say, no matter what the future holds, I must persevere.

Compared to the main song, the chorus has a much stronger impact on the ears, and the melody is catchy, and you can even hum along after listening to it once.

However, no one at the scene hummed along because they didn't want to ruin the beauty of the moment.

Didn't Zhou Yan say before that because it was created on the spot, the song would be very simple? But now why do they feel that this song is not simple at all and sounds very complete?

In fact, what they don't know is that Zhou Yan said that it is complicated in comparison with other traditional songs. After all, this is a pop song, so the melody is relatively simple.

If it is not simple, it may not be so catchy and catchy.

If someone else was on the stage, some people might doubt whether this was created on the spot, but that was Zhou Yan. They couldn't doubt Zhou Yan at all, and they would only think that Zhou Yan was really amazing.

After the sound of the erhu sounded, Shizuka Kudo did not change her movements. She kept holding her chin with her hands. Her eyes were now full of stars.

She suddenly recalled the scene of Zhou Yan teaching her to play the piano in the staff dormitory of the Central Conservatory of Music two years ago.

At that time, she also played a few notes casually, and Zhou Yan composed the song "Little Hands Pulling Big Hands".

And every time she thought of that time, she felt blushing. It was also that time that she was sure that she had fallen in love with Zhou Yan completely.

It's really a blessing to have a composer boyfriend.

No one noticed that Shizuka Kudo was blushing at this moment. Even if they noticed it, it would be nothing, because the stars in the eyes of the young female audiences at the scene were denser than Shizuka Kudo, and their faces were redder than Shizuka Kudo.

Nomura Hide couldn't help but sigh that this man was so charming that few girls could escape his palm.

In recent years, although Zhou Yan didn't show up much, he fascinated Japanese female fans.

In the past two years, whenever Japan ranked the most handsome foreign stars, Zhou Yan was at the top of the list, and there was no suspense.

In fact, not only the most handsome foreign male star, last year there was a survey on the popularity of Asian male stars, and Zhou Yan actually surpassed several popular male stars in Japan and ranked first.

Zhou Yan's only shortcoming is probably that he can't sing.

If Zhou Yan can sing again, and occasionally sing and play by himself, then the lethality will be even higher.

Of course, maybe Zhou Yan can sing, but he just doesn't open his mouth normally. Anyway, up to now, they haven't heard Zhou Yan sing. (End of this chapter)