#mandarin music

[madamvoila]

i NEED NEED NEED more mandarin indie music recommendations!!!

[xinyuehui]

In my heart, I silently recite, and your voice will appear. You will find that I am saying to you, walk with me.

伍六七之记忆碎片 · SCISSOR SEVEN S5EP5

[graveltotempomp3]

Tony Stark 🤝 Odysseus

giving your enemy

your name and address

[faaun]

the way that diff languages sound r so fascinating they're all different and all so vivid

[pocketgalaxies]

isha's song got me CRYING FOR REAL FOR REAL

[astranauticus]

DOUDOU - Tong Tong (嗵嗵）Translation

嗵嗵

Tong Tong

神明神明张开嘴

God, oh god, please open your mouth

让我知道我是谁

So that I may know who I am

它把我向天上推

It pushes me up, towards the sky

略过尘与灰

Over all the soot and dust

不得不停歇不停歇

Can't ever rest, ever rest

黑夜在背上飞

The night flies over my back

来狂欢吧狂欢吧

Come and rave, let's rave

永远不下坠

And never fall

太阳太阳请你告诉我

Sun, oh sun, please tell me

为什么为什么

Why, oh why

遗憾那么多

Must there be so many regrets?

夜幕夜幕请你告诉我

Night, oh night, please tell me

该怎么做怎么做

What can be done, can be done

灵魂才不会破

To keep the soul from breaking?

嗵一声落下

"Tong!" it falls

果实嗵一声落下

"Tong!" the fruit falls

嗦嗦嗦嗦嗦嗦嗦

suosuosuosuosuo

我的脚下开了花

Flowers bloom beneath my feet

嗵一声落下

"Tong!" they fall

骨头嗵一声落下

"Tong!" the bones fall

可以了可以了

That's it, that's it

可以变回孩子了

we can become children again

神明神明张开嘴

God, oh god, please open your mouth

让我知道我是谁

So that I may know who I am

它把我向天上推

It pushes me up, towards the sky

略过尘与灰

Over all the soot and dust

不得不停歇不停歇

Can't ever rest, ever rest

黑夜在背上飞

The night flies over my back

来狂欢吧狂欢吧

Come and rave, let's rave

永远不下坠

And never fall

太阳太阳请你告诉我

Sun, oh sun, please tell me

为什么为什么

Why, oh why

遗憾那么多

Must there be so many regrets?

夜幕夜幕请你告诉我

Night, oh night, please tell me

该怎么做怎么做

What can be done, can be done

灵魂才不会破

To keep the soul from breaking?

嗵一声落下（壳中藏心惶惶）

"Tong!" it falls (in my chest, my heart is full of fear)

嗵一声开花（抬头见那天光）

"Tong!" the flowers bloom (look up to see the light from the sky)

嗵一声落下（浮生空空荡荡）

"Tong!" it falls (our short lives, empty and hollow)

变回孩子了（风带着我流浪）

Becoming children again (I wander on with the wind)

神明神明张开嘴

God, oh god, please open your mouth

让我知道我是谁

So that I may know who I am

它把我向天上推

It pushes me up, towards the sky

略过尘与灰

Over all the soot and dust

不得不停歇不停歇

Can't ever rest, ever rest

黑夜在背上飞

The night flies over my back

来狂欢吧狂欢吧

Come and rave, let's rave

（就安心吧安心吧）

(Rest your heart, rest your heart)

永远不下坠

And never fall

飞过麦穗

Fly over the grain fields

飞过霓虹光辉

Fly over the neon lights

飞过墓碑

Fly over the headstones

飞过瓦砾堆

Fly over the tile stacks

[misskanda]

I've been completely in love with Taiwanese duo 珂拉琪 (Collage)'s songs, especially TORATORAW and TALACOWA, for their blend of Taiwanese indigenous language (Amis話), Japanese language and poignant references to Taiwanese historical events in the lyrics. Their song for the game Nine Sols is also absolutely beautiful.

I've been analysing the official Mandarin translation of their songs for fun

[haveyoulistenedtothisalbum-poll]

Tracklist:

Anima • Go Through the Night • Shadow • Witches • Dreamlike • Wings • Happy but Sad • Deities' Party • Dear Humans (JP Version) • Gaze at Blue (Album Version) • Fable • Dream of You

Spotify ♪ Bandcamp ♪ YouTube

[5-cz]

an (incomplete) list of traditional chinese instruments

I recently had the chance to attend a few lectures by members of the National Chinese Orchestra - Taiwan, and I thought I'd share some of the information they gave (this is by no means a complete list and is based mostly on the notes I took during lecture）

Chinese instruments are divided into four families of instruments: woodwind, bow string, plucked string, and percussion. They are also divided into eight categories based on the material they are made of (or, in some cases, used to be made of). These categories are stone, earth, bamboo, metal, skin, silk, wood, and gourd.

笛子 (dízi)

There are five main types of 笛子: 曲笛 (qūdí)，梆笛 (bāngdí)，大笛 (dàdí)，小笛 (xiǎodí)，and 口笛 (kǒudí)。 They are traditionally made of bamboo and vary in length, resulting in different note ranges and timbres. 曲笛 and 梆笛 are the most common. 梆笛 is higher pitched and brighter due to its shorter length, and it is often used in music from northern China. 曲笛 has a much warmer, rounder sound due to its longer length and is often used in southern music. 口笛 is the shortest of them all and is very shrill; it is often used to imitate bird calls. 笛子 are similar to Western flutes in that the musician controls the pitch through covering or uncovering the finger holes, but the way the instruments produce sound is different. Western flutes create sound through the vibration of the air in the instrument, and while this is part of how the 笛子 produces sound, it also has a membrane that vibrates to produce sound. 笛子 are included in the woodwind family and the bamboo category.

笛子 （左边），笙 （右边）

笙 (shēng)

The 笙 is the oldest reed instrument in the world. It is a woodwind instrument consisting of many vertical pipes with reeds at the base that the musician controls through various keys in order to play specific notes. It produces sound through a reed at the mouthpiece of the instrument that the musician vibrates with their breath. It is the only reed instrument in the world that can be played both by blowing out and by breathing in. This is due to a door-like cut-out in the reed. The 笙 can play 38 notes across three octaves. Not only can it play single notes, but it can also play chords made of multiple notes played at the same time. It has been used in a wide range of music from traditional accompaniment (to 唢呐 or 笛子) to modern jazz pieces to solo pieces. In the modern day, it is often used in Chinese orchestras as melody and/or accompaniment. 笙 is included in the woodwind family and the gourd category.

二胡 (èrhú)

The 二胡 is one of the most well-known traditional Chinese instruments. It has only two strings that the musician plays with an animal-hair bow. At the base of the 二胡 there is a small drum that has a snake skin membrane on one side. This membrane vibrates in addition to the strings' vibration, creating a distinct sound. The 二胡 is often used to imitate animal noises, such as a galloping horse, in addition to its musical notes. The musician holds the 二胡 upright as they play it, keeping pressure on the strings with one hand and using the bow with the other. Unlike many Western string instruments, the 二胡 does not have a finger board. This allows the musician to play a wide range of notes and utilize many different techniques. 二胡 is included in the bowed string family and the silk category.

革胡 (géhú)

This is one of the newest Chinese instruments. The 革胡 was created in the 1950s. Many Chinese orchestras were using cello as a bass instrument, and the 革胡 was created in order to fill the gap in the bass register in Chinese orchestras. Even still, it is a very rare instrument, and the NCO - Taiwan is one of the only orchestras who uses it in its ensemble. It was made as a combination of the cello and the 二胡。This was done in order to get the full bass sound of cello while being able to blend more easily with the 二胡 and other Chinese instruments. The strings on the 革胡 correspond to the same notes as they do on the cello, but the 革胡 also has a drum at its base similar to the 二胡。This drum was originally covered with a snake skin membrane like the 二胡, but since it is a significantly larger area to cover, it is now covered with a man-made polymer. The 革胡 is included in the bowed string family and, though it was created after silk strings fell out of use, it is included in the silk category.

二胡 （左边），革胡 （中间），扬琴 （右边）

扬琴 (yángqín)

The 扬琴, also sometimes written 洋琴, is a percussion instrument. It was originally from Persia before it was brought to China through trade. Many countries have their own versions of this instrument, originally called the santūr, and like others' variations, the Chinese version has become unique to China. The 扬琴 has 144 strings that the musician hits with thin bamboo mallets. The strings vibrate, producing various musical notes. What is unique about the 扬琴 as compared to other variations is that it uses bamboo mallets. These are a lot more flexible than wooden mallets, and so the musician is able to play very quick notes using the vibrations of the mallet. This also allows the musician to use techniques that are unique to the 扬琴。扬琴 is included in percussion family and the silk category (the strings used to be made of silk, but they are now often made of steel).

https://web.northeastern.edu/music-chinese/

https://www.britannica.com/art/Chinese-music/Classification-of-instruments

https://www.britannica.com/art/yangqin

[timetravelstudies]

God mandarin the most beautiful sounding language ive ever heard i wish i had unlimited time forever so i could learn it…………

[shiweimigi]

March 10, 2024 - "空街" (A Wide and Empty Alley) - Original song

Compose, arrange: Cuber虹

Lyrics, planning: 祈羽笙

Tuning: @shiweimigi

Mixing: 風权

Art: 林凡PENG

Video: 北有枝

Vocalist: Yuezheng Ling V5 Normal

Also available on SoundCloud and bilibili

[theneurodivergentfox]

People: TikTokkers going to Xiaohongshu are just replacing one brain rot app with another 😡😡😡

Me: *looks up from the six minute video of an auntie making a tea pot from scratch* 什么？

[hadleysmis]

Soundtrack/playlist for music of 悲惨世界 (2023)

1. 长途跋涉后的夜幕（Le soir d'un jour de marche）Night after a long journey

2. 惊醒的冉阿让（Jean Valjean réveillé）Jean Valjean awakes

3. 迎客主教（Monseigneur Bienvenu）Welcoming Bishop

4. 悲惨的回忆（Souvenir des Misérables）Tragic memories

5. 芳汀（Fantine）

6. 德纳迪一家（Les Thénardiers）

7. 小珂赛特（La petite Cosette）Little Cosette

8. 马吕斯的���天（Le printemps de Marius）Marius' spring (season)

9. 爱波妮（Éponine）

10. 路障街垒的躁动（Rumeur de barricades）The turmoils of the barricades

11. 伽罗石之歌（La chanson de Gavroche）Gavroche's song

12. 巴黎在战栗 (合唱) Chorus ed.（Paris tremble）Paris is shaking

13. 这是伏尔泰的错（C'est la faute à Voltaire）It is the fault of Voltaire

14. 伽罗石之死（La mort de Gavroche）Gavroche's death

15. 魂归星辰（L'âme s'étoile）The soul returns to the stars

16. 不眠之夜（La nuit blanche）Sleepless night

17. 喜悦的欢乐结局（Fin joyeuse de la joie）A joyous happy ending

18. 晨曦（Aurore）Dawn

19. 巴黎在战栗 （Paris tremble）Paris is shaking

(Sorry if I got the translations wrong, I relied on Google Translate!)

In case the video didn't link to become a playlist, hopefully this one will work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvnsyUnldro&list=OLAK5uy_kmdPwVy_md0_liubPYnBKmAp5uZTnT9o4&index=1

[mvvocaloidgifs]

【YUEZHENG LING】 Wrong + Right / CircusP × Marvin Valentin

[gotjacobian]

Finished the "HOT-TO-GO" translation, which I'll put under a cut. Original lyric is in italics at the top, then mandarin and (pinyin), and then [a more literal translation] and some notes on why we picked what we did.

I can be the one, I’m your new addiction 我可以成为你的，想成为你的瘾 (Wǒ kěyǐ chéngwéi nǐ de, xiǎng chéngwéi nǐ de yǐn) [I could be yours, want to be your new addiction]

It’s all in my head, but I want nonfiction 都是我的想象, 但我想要现实 (Dōu shì wǒ de xiǎngxiàng, dàn wǒ xiǎng yào xiànshí) [It's all imagination, but I want reality]

I don’t want the world but I'll take this city 我不要全球 但要拿下这城市。 (Wǒ bùyào quánqiú dàn yào ná xià zhè chéngshì. [I don't want the world, but I'll take this city]

Who can blame a girl, call me hot not pretty 不要叫我漂亮，你要叫我火辣。 (Bùyào jiào wǒ piàoliang, nǐ yào jiào wǒ huǒ là.) [Don't call me pretty, call me hot.]

Pretty direct translations. The last line is the biggest change. We dropped the first question and went for an exact translation of "You shouldn't call me pretty, you should call me hot." It keeps the beat better, and putting 火辣 (huǒ la, hot) at the end keeps the punchiness better than 漂亮 (piàoliang, pretty) would. And it comes a bit closer to actually rhyming (though I didn't really put much effort into preserving that - I think it would take a level of mastery I definitely don't have)

Baby, do you like this beat? 宝宝,你喜欢这歌吗? (Bǎobǎo, xǐhuān zhè gē ma) [Baby, do you like this song?]

I made it so you’d dance with me 我写了它好和你跳舞 (Wǒ xiěle tā hǎo hé nǐ tiàowǔ) [I wrote it to dance with you]

It's a hundred-ninety-nine degrees 是一百九十九度啊 (Shì yībǎi jiǔshíjiǔ dù a) [It's a hundred-ninety-nine degrees!]

When we’re doing it baby, doing it baby 等到我们做的时候， 我们做的时候 (Děngdào wǒmen zuò de shíhòu, wǒmen zuò de shíhòu) [By the time we do it, By the time we do it.] Numbers are one of the things I know well at this point, so I was very pleased at how closely the scansion matches across languages there. It matches too well - you fall one syllable short because of the 度(dù)/degrees swap, and really can't change anything without making the line significantly harder to sing. My gf and I went back and forth for a while about how to finish the phrase, and just ended up adding 啊which indicates an exclamation, and also works as an "ah!" for the singer to play with going into the next bit. For the last line, there's an impressively close equivalent to "doing it" as a euphemism in 做 (zuò, do or make, contextual sexual connotations fully included). Which I learned when it came up as one of the characters to memorize on a flashcard website I was using, and I got a very weird look when I asked what it meant.

Snap and crack and touch your toes 啪啪啪，触摸你脚趾 (Pā pā pā, chùmō nǐ jiǎozhǐ) [ Snap, snap, snap, touch your toes]

Raise your hands now body roll 举手现在屁股摇 (Jǔ shǒu xiànzài pìgu yáo) [Raise your hands and shake your ass now] 啪啪啪(Pā pā pā) is onomatopoeic for snapping, but ALSO has some convenient sexual connotations! And I had no idea how to get "body roll" , so went with the more vulgar, but also more easily translated, 现在屁股摇 ( xiànzài pìgu yáo, "now shake your ass". 屁股 is one of the words I already knew how to translate, because I went to middle school with a lot of kids who spoke chinese.)

Dance it out, we’re hot-to-go 通宵开门打包带走 (Tōngxiāo kāimén dǎbāo dài zǒu) [Open all night 'for takeaway']

H-O-T-T-O-G-O You can take me hot-to-go 可以把我打包带走 (Kěyǐ bǎ wǒ dǎbāo dài zǒu) [You can have me 'for takeaway']

We kept the spelling, and I think an "actual" translation/cover would too. I am very pleased with the swap of "dance it out" for something that's the equivalent of a shop window "open 24 hours" sign, also. And then, of course. "打包带走" (dǎbāo dài zǒu) literally means " wrapped up like a dumpling and taken away" and practically means "as takeout", and we put that in anywhere "hot-to-go" shows up in the original song.

I woke up alone staring at my ceiling 我独醒得早，仰屋兴叹 (Wǒ dú xǐng dé zǎo, yǎng wū xīngtàn) [I woke up early alone, looking up at the house and sighing]

I try not to care but it hurts my feelings 我努力不在意可我内心困扰 (Wǒ nǔlì bù zàiyì kě wǒ nèixīn kùnrǎo) [I try not to care but I'm troubled inside]

This translation of "staring at the ceiling" is very... literary? It is 'staring at the ceiling' in this context. The direct translation is something like "to stare at one's house in sadness" and comes with associations of truly unmitigated despair. This greatly entertains me, so I kept it. The translation of "hurts my feelings" here is also more directly "troubles my heart" which is pretty good. The first time I tried to translate it, the literal translation was "hurt my face" (fun fact - the 'saving face' idiom in english comes from this equivalency in chinese) and my gf laughed for like five minutes.

You don’t have to stare, come here get with it 不要只是盯��， 可以来得到我 (Bùyào zhǐshì dīngzhe, kěyǐ lái dédào wǒ) [Don't just stare, you can come and get me] No one’s touched me there in a damn hot minute 很久没有人操过我了 (Hěnjiǔ méiyǒu rén cāoguò wǒle) [It's been a long time since anyone has fucked me.]

Apparently the "it = me" implication "get it/with it" here doesn't translate well? Which I find interesting because mandarin usually seems very ready to leave stuff like that up to context in other situations. I was also proud of the next one - mandarin is left-branching, not right-branching, so communicating the sentiment "no one has touched me in a long time" goes in the order "in a long time, no one has touched me." Which breaks my brain a little when I have to say things, but that's not the point - the humor of this line comes from having a euphemistic first half and more intense/explicit back half. So I flipped which clause was the explicit/non-explicit one to keep that.

What's it take to get your number? 你可以留下电话号码 (Nǐ kěyǐ liú xià diànhuà hàomǎ) [You could leave your phone number]

What's it take to bring you home? 我真的很想带你回家 (Wǒ zhēn de hěn xiǎng dài nǐ huí jiā) [I really want to take you home] Gf and I also talked a lot about these. Apparently this kind of rhetorical structure is really hard to do concisely in mandarin. Like it exists, but the primary way you communicate stuff like what would be communicated the weird verb tense sandwich of "what does it take to get" is by sticking a bunch more words in a sentence. I'm still not totally satisfied with what we came up with, but it was tough to try and hit the right tone. The "leave your phone number" thing is also apparently just how you say that, though most of the suggestions i saw for a "get your number" translation on i.e. reddit were actually "add me on WeChat" lol.

Hurry up, it's time for supper 快点，晚饭时间到了 (Kuài diǎn, wǎnfàn shíjiān dàole) [Come on, it’s dinner time]

Order up, I'm hot to go 下单了, 打包带走 (Xià dānle, dǎbāo dài zǒu) [Order up, for takeaway]

Hurry up, it's getting cold 快点吧，天要冷了 (Kuài diǎn ba, tiān yào lěngle) [Come on, it’s getting cold]

Last few lines! The first thing I came up with for the "it's time for supper" I was told sounded too much like "your mom calling you in for dinner" and there was much discourse about what fixing that would even entail. I was pleased that there's also a pretty nice translation for "Order up" that fits the beat.

[haveyoulistenedtothisalbum-poll]

Tracklist:

Heavy Is The Crown (Original Score) • I Can't Hear It Now • Sucker • Renegade (We Never Run) • Hellfire • To Ashes and Blood • Paint The Town Blue • Remember Me (Intro) • Remember Me • 这样很好 (Isha's Song) • Cocktail Molotov • What Have They Done To Us • Rebel Heart • The Beast • Spin The Wheel • Ma Meilleure Ennemie • Fantastic • The Line • Blood Sweat & Tears • Come Play • Wasteland • Enemy (Opening Title Version)

Submitter's note: PLEASE go watch Arcane, it's an incredible work of art and passion, and any time a track in this album starts playing, stuff is about to get INSANE.

Spotify ♪ YouTube