traditional chinese instruments in modern music

[tcppocky]

hi, i need some suggestions for modern chinese music that uses traditioanl instruments. something sort of fast paced that can be danced to...

i've gone through wlh and jay chou's songs already, but most of those are kinda slow and would be harder to mix with the music i've selected.

suggestions are very much welcome...

[mewmew]

Traditional Chinese instruments, modern, fast - the first thing that came to my mind was 中華冷面 by 鄧麗欣. It's in Cantonese though. Not sure that matters but the 2 artists you did consider (wlh & Jay Chou) were Mandarin singers.

[leeyah]

Depends on what kind of dancing you've got in mind.

Fast pace? How fast? Of modern stuff ... 三国恋 by TANK? Slower stuff Jolin Cai's 独占神话 or Kenny Kwan's version of 月光光 in Mandarin or Cantonese (I love it! ) I also love 大地 by BEYOND, sounds good, & the group are somewhere halfway between modern and classic.

How about some Cantonese oldies: 沉默是金 by Leslie Cheung （张国荣）, 读书郎 or 梦飞行 by Paula Tsu, perhaps not modern enough, but fast enough.

Edited February 3, 2010 at 07:26 PM by leeyah
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[isela]

I can't think of any particular singer or band that does pop/rock music with traditional instruments. In the recent years there seems to be a "中国风" trend in pop music (with examples like Jay Chou's 青花瓷, 千里之外 etc). But even in these songs the arrangements of the music are done largely by modern means, with wide ranges of instruments used.

I guess it will probably take musicians forever to fill up this gap. To myself (and tons of other people I believe), the traditional instruments are still immediately link to those 1,000+ yr-old slow-paced music work. It just feels weird to hear 二胡 in disco music.

For one thing, 费玉清 from Taiwan does traditional-style songs sometimes solely with traditional instrumental arrangements. But one certainly does not want to dance to his music.

@ Leeyah: You are really deeply into our culture now!!! I've never heard of any of these songs you listed, but these are really nice! Keep it up!

[tcppocky]

thanks for all the advice~!