Getting to Know Some Poems and Their Related History

[Bibu]

I am making some of clips on reading Chinese poem, especially Tang poem , the associated  geographic and history would also be illustrated as well.

 

below is a very draft clip, I would like to know if this help and what sort of knowledge , of course associated the poem you would like to know. Cheers.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68RiuJ--mHw&t=5s

[Luxi]

Where is the poem? The text should be there - text better than subtitles.

 

Get rid of the piano, it's too noisy and not suitable for Tang poems. It's like trying to drink champagne with Walkers crisps.

If there has to be background music, it must be Chinese classical music and at a very low volume so as not to drown the voice.

 

The notes and commentaries in Baidu wiki (search by the poem title) are very good, it'd be nice to have that translated into English.

https://baike.baidu.com/item/登鹳雀楼/5590

[Bibu]

thanks for the commens.

 

Background music takes me a lot consideration, I will try Chinese music next time and see what's happens

 

My purpose is not Chinese character and wiki teaching, there is too much of it on the net.  Anyhow, I put text at the end of the clip and I would put the text somewhere in the on going clips, that is a must to have as you put it..

 

 

[Luxi]

Having the poem on the clip or as a first comment below the screen would help. Thanks! 

[Bibu]

check this one, how do you feel ?

 

https://youtu.be/uBvN2cuimI4

[Luxi]

I liked that one, thanks! I had just read that poem (and explanation notes) last week, so I remembered it well. Amazing that it was composed by a 7 year old child!

I liked your commentary and the reading in 陕西 pronunciation --- I think the official pinyin is Shaanxi ?

[mungouk]

On 5/28/2018 at 9:14 PM, Bibu said:

Background music takes me a lot consideration

 

Why do you think background music is necessary?  Listening to a clearly recorded voice is much more important that atmosphere I think.

 

On 5/28/2018 at 9:14 PM, Bibu said:

My purpose is not Chinese character and wiki teaching

 

So who is your "target audience" exactly, and what are you aiming to do for them?  if you can be clear on this then it might help you to make decisions about presentation and content.

 

As @Luxi said earlier, it would really help to put the full text of the poem in the video's description, as well as (or instead of) on the video itself.  Not only does this make it easier to follow, and copy/paste for study purposes, but it will also mean parts of the text are searchable on youtube, and will show up on other search engines.

 

 

[Bibu]

@luxi I I am glad you like 秦腔，It used to be considered  as 老土. 雅言is official until Han dynasty, nobody knows exactly how it was spoken. Today's "雅言“ is Mandarin, LOL.  this long video  shows dialects in China: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmUZH5Zb2kI&t=1467s.  A pity, all these dialects is vanishing quickly now.

 

@mungouk I put text in des as well, good point. All my video is to talk something about poem you normally not heard as a language learner, so enjoy, and tell me what sort of  content you like to hear and see. 

 

BTW, I am a Mandarin teacher now, for not more than 1 years, I am learning via my video as well.

[mungouk]

6 minutes ago, Bibu said:

I put text in des as well, good point

 

Great. Small point maybe, but I would put the whole text in hanzi first, and then the whole text in hanyu pinyin underneath.  Mixing them together makes it much harder to read, and there will be plenty of people who have no interest in seeing the pinyin at all.

Keep going!  

[Lu]

I actually think background music is useful, it adds something. It should be soft and unobtrusive, but it's useful.

 

@Bibu, something about your pronunciation: you say 'dy-NAS-ty', but it should be 'DY-nas-ty'. I hope this is helpful for your future videos!

[mungouk]

15 minutes ago, Lu said:

I actually think background music is useful, it adds something.

 

@Lu I'd be interested in your thinking here.  You're clearly a very advanced learner, but for those like me, it's the opposite. 

 

For us, at best, background music distracts from being able to hear clearly what's being said.  (Can you imagine HSK exam audio with that theme tune playing all the way through?). 

And at worst, most amateurs making youtube videos have no idea how to balance background and foreground sounds, which almost always means the music is too loud and makes the content virtually unusable. 

 

Maybe if you're an expert listener adding "authentic" atmosphere is a nice-to-have.  For more novice learners it's a big distraction IMHO. 

 

(Yes, maybe this content is not aimed at people like me, but that doesn't mean we don't want to learn any Tang poetry....)

 

[Lu]

I'm not an expert on Tang poetry, traditional Chinese music or video-making, so my opinion is just that of a casual listener. Soft background music, to me, adds a little wall-paper to the video. Just the spoken text to me can sound rather dry. But I can see there are all kinds of good arguments for leaving it out.

[mungouk]

@Lu fair enough.

 I guess the question should really have been aimed at @Bibu...

[Luxi]

Classical Chinese poetry goes with music, no question there. The problem in a recording, is that the music can easily drown the voice - which is fatal in a learning video  

In his second video, @Bibu used headphones with a microphone attached, so his voice was well on top of the music and there were no problems listening to what he had to say. Besides, the music was proper Chinese music and there was no clash there. Wasn't that much better? ?

 

Western music doesn't go well with Tang poems, they're too delicate and subtle, even the softest piece of classical music seems to bash them to bits.  I much prefer the way classical Chinese music and poems sometimes can blend and enhance each other, there's nothing quite like it when it happens.

 

[Bibu]

thanks for the comments, my friends.  I am so glad you like something in my video, dislike something, this make me feel good as well.

 

background music and my spoken English is the two things trouble most.谅解is very key here for both or us, I am catching up  as I did not speak English for a while.

 

For Music, I got different thinking. if I am sticking to Chinese traditional music, I would run out of my music library very soon, 1 or 2 months? Secondly, Chinese classic music all  sounds clam peacefully, slowly,  while Tang poetry is of huge varieties,  you can not find a good match lot of times. western music is quite different, anyhow, some oriental western music appears,  I would try 1 or 2  sometime. 

 

Any other music suggestion would be always welcome.

 

I record on a Blue Yeti USB microphone, no worry about my voice quality, it is REALLY not so good,LOL, especially I got a 热感冒 these 2 days, was told that boiled coke with slice of ginger  is  a remedy, I just can not find a coke in my refrigerator, LOL.

 

all in all, I wish you guys get some enjoyment from my clips, some knowledge?  great! I am learning  as well, of course , with joy.

[Bibu]

about  video making: I use imoive to mix sounds, pics, videos together,  I can easily adjust the sound level of background music. 

[Shelley]

Shame you can't have a button - music/no music and then people can choose.

[Bibu]

one new clips on Li Bai:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI2vF71vRJw&index=6&list=PLoRUObyDuD8UqeECyEB7AhHTYtGIMdgTi&t=0s

[Luxi]

16 hours ago, Bibu said:

if I am sticking to Chinese traditional music, I would run out of my music library very soon,

 

I created too much trouble for you, sorry! Any music you have, if it is at a low volume and the voice is clear, will be alright. 

 

The place in your last poem is beautiful but Li Bai's poem 独坐敬亭山 seems very sad, I think. 

 

 

 

[Bibu]

no need sorry, we both come here for fun and knowledge, and I am glad to know any thoughts toward my clips.

 

It is a pity I did not  shoot much pics when I was in 宣城and敬亭山, as the scenic is far from I imagined. In ancient time , I guess till Qing dynasty, look over 宣城 from敬亭山 would be great, two rivers join to one at the south gate, a small walled city,  surrounded with farm field, rice field, flickering  with the  sunset/rise, white sails on the rivers... 谢朓北楼, distinguished in the middle of the town....

 

yes, it is a sad poem, try to taste the inner peace as well.