This band's tunes are somewhat different from traditional folk music performances. First, the chords of the guitar and keyboard were added, and then the clear erhu and the gentle bamboo flute were added. Before the end of the song, the clanging guzheng was cut in like a sharp sword, instantly bringing people to the memory of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes". inside.

Team leader Zhou Xiaoyu couldn't remember how many times he heard the folk music version of "Iron Bloody Heart", but standing in front of the live camera, he was still shocked time and time again - that kind of national and modern musical instruments collided and intertwined. There was an unexpected surprise in the conflict and fusion of the two, which he reminisced about in his heart for a long time.

In the Douyin live broadcast room of @tang Music Team, a two-hour live broadcast every day has been going on for a long time. Previously, due to the epidemic in Jilin, the band members were at home and forced to suspend work. Recently, the live broadcast has been resumed, and their popularity has not diminished. In addition to live broadcasts, they will also post some short videos of folk music performances in their accounts. More and more people come here, and through the performance of @tang music team, people see a new way of performing folk music - "popular" and "classical" coexist, "fashion" and "tradition" are integrated.

Through short videos and live broadcasts, these young people who have mastered traditional musical instruments such as flute, erhu and guzheng have gained over 2.3 million fans and over 11 million likes. The income from live broadcasts has solved the difficulty of the band's performance under the epidemic, and it has also made them more determined on the path of inheriting folk music.

From offline to online
Adhere to the folk music without changing the original intention

The story of @tang music team starts in September 2019. At that time, Zhou Xiaoyu's Guofeng Tavern in Changchun, Jilin Province opened. He loves folk music and wants to make the tavern a base for spreading folk music. In addition to the decoration and decoration of national elements, he also invited young players of traditional musical instruments such as guzheng, pipa and erhu to form a small folk orchestra, which officially began in Pub resident show.

But soon, he found that the road was not easy to take.

The "niche" of folk music is destined to have not many repertoires, most of which are classic and nostalgic old songs, which are not as popular and rhythmic as the current Internet celebrity songs. Most of the guests are fresh, and it is enough to take a few photos in the tavern, not to mention the appreciation of folk music, let alone the spread.

After the fresh period, the customers lost one after another, and Zhou Xiaoyu's heart was full of mixed feelings when he saw the increasingly empty seats in the tavern. Carrying forward folk music is his original intention to open this tavern, but when livelihood becomes a problem, no matter how good the ideal and persistence are, it is empty talk.

Close down or change to survive? Zhou Xiaoyu chose the latter without hesitation. He recruited Zhu He, who played the bamboo flute, Wu Peiyao, who played the erhu, Zhang Chi, who played the guzheng, and Yao Yifei, the guitarist, and Uncle Yu, the keyboard player, from the Jilin Academy of Arts to form a band combining Chinese and Western instruments. Young blood brings fresh changes. The band not only tries to interpret some classic pop songs of national style, but also adds some bright rhythms and adaptations of modern elements to classic folk music.

Soon, after adjustment, the re-arranged band's performance attracted more and more people. The pub was on fire, and the queue was full every day during peak hours. Many people said after watching the band's performance that they had no idea before that. , the national musical instruments can also perform popular repertoires in this way.

But the good times did not last long. Due to the repeated epidemics, Zhou Xiaoyu's tavern has become increasingly unstable after several rounds of closure and reopening. Zhou Xiaoyu, who has a premonition that the tavern is closing soon, is a little anxious: if he loses the carrier of the offline stage , what should the young band who has just started to do?

The rise of online social software such as Douyin gave him hope.

In July 2020, Zhou Xiaoyu tried to release the first folk music performance video "Wrangler City" on the account of Douyin@tang Music Team. "For the first time, I feel that the erhu is very trendy." "I believe that the national music will not be lost in the hands of our young people, and it will only become more and more brilliant." Netizens who were deeply shocked by the video left messages of encouragement.

From that day on, Zhou Xiaoyu saw another form and possibility of the spread of folk music on Douyin. Later, due to various reasons, the tavern closed, Zhou Xiaoyu shifted the focus of all work from offline to online, and brought this cross-border folk band into the stage of new media, conveying the beauty of traditional culture.

Only 3 months after entering Douyin, @tang Music Team has won more than 1.5 million followers due to the professional performance strength of its members, popular and action-oriented repertoire, and a new combination of Chinese and Western musical instruments. Among them, "Iron Blood Danxin" alone has received up to 720,000 likes. Through the video of @tang Music Team, netizens learned that the erhu is not only tragic, but can also play cheerful melodies; the sound of the bamboo flute can be vivid and interesting in addition to being clear and distant; Wind music works have a "rock" feel. The mashup of traditional folk music and modern musical instruments is not only a "new era" and "old time" facing each other, but also an indispensable "Renaissance" belonging to young people.

one person and a group of people
Sparks collide in tradition and fashion

@tang Music Team's start-up team is a group of young people, mostly students, with their own life plans and dreams. Due to various reasons such as academics and life, the members have also undergone several adjustments and changes: For example, at the beginning, let the band Zhu He, a flute player who came out of the circle with "Iron Blood Danxin", left the band because he was going to study in a different place. Players such as dulcimer and guzheng who joined in succession have also temporarily left, but every member who joins the band has excellent ability and also has a heart that loves folk music.

The process of changing people and running in is painful and happy for Zhou Xiaoyu. I remember that when Zhu He just quit, because he could not find a suitable bamboo flute player for the time being, Zhou Xiaoyu invited a dulcimer player to join in, but the two musical instruments, dulcimer and guzheng, had similar timbres, and there would be "fights" when playing; Later, I also tried to find a lead singer and wanted to transform the band into a good singing and playing, but it took some time for the "old fans" in the live broadcast room to accept the new faces, and they would also compare the new and old members. During that time, the number of people in the live broadcast room plummeted from tens of thousands to hundreds, and Zhou Xiaoyu felt that he couldn't do it any more several times.

In the end, after several rounds of "exchange" and running-in, @tang music team formed today's fixed team consisting of Erhu Peiyao, Dizi Yuyu, Guzheng Qiqi, Keyboard Laoyu and Guitar Jiacheng. Several young people born around 2000 have high attainments in the performance of instrumental music.

The keyboard player is a few years older and is the "big brother" in the band. In this band, which is labeled with traditional folk music, he is sometimes ridiculed by netizens in the live broadcast room as "superfluous" when he plays Western instruments. , but in fact he is the "Dinghaishenzhen" of the band. From what style of clothes to wear for each live broadcast, to picking up scores and divisions for each song, arranging and supervising the rehearsal of band members, etc., he is old-fashioned and makes overall plans. Although he is "tired", he can make music he likes. He is also happy.

Erhu Peiyao and Dizi Yuyu are both graduate students. The sweet-looking Peiyao has a somewhat boyish personality. When playing, her eyes that seem to be able to talk convey countless tender emotions, but she often "louds" when chatting with fans. Peiyao hopes to let more people know that Erhu is not only "Erquan Reflecting the Moon" and "Horse Racing", but also cheerful and popular.

The beautiful and straightforward Dizi Joy has been in the team for a year. Because the former Dizi Zhu He is very popular, fans still compare the two from time to time, but Joy is in a good mood. She just wants to use her performance to tell everyone, With the development of the times, music is also improving, you don't have to stick to the past." Over the past year, she has used her strength to persuade everyone, and she has attracted countless fans.

The demure and elegant guzheng Qiqi in the video is the youngest post-00 generation in the team, still studying for an undergraduate degree. After the end of a song in the live broadcast room, it will give the audience in front of the screen a "comparison", and the fans quickly fell in love with this little sister. After a long period of running-in and adjustment, everyone has found their place in the band and can also shine in their own solo.

Maybe many people will pay more attention to the players of the three traditional musical instruments: flute, guzheng and erhu, but Zhou Xiaoyu believes that the roles of guitar and keyboard are also indispensable, traditional folk music because of its unique historical charm and The era resonates, and modern pop music also has distinct characteristics in the control of melody and rhythm. The two are not contradictory, and can create more possibilities through collision and fusion.

reality and ideal
How Gu Yun was reborn through live streaming

"Thank you, Brother Hai, a song "House of Flying Daggers" is given to Brother Hai and the friends in the live broadcast room." Brother Hai is a frequent visitor to the live broadcast room of @tang Music Team, and every time he will give gifts as rewards Express your love for this folk band. The live broadcast reward is also the key to supporting Zhou Xiaoyu and his team.

Zhou Xiaoyu still remembers the scene of the first live broadcast. At that time, the account fans reached 1 million, and many fans suggested to them: it is time to start the live broadcast. So, Zhou Xiaoyu set up a simple live broadcast room, set up his mobile phone, turned on the lights, and started his live broadcast career with the band ignorantly.

On the first day, there were only a few hundred people in the live broadcast room, but on the second day, the crowd swarmed.

"It is now the age of popular folk music, and most fans hope that their children can study or work in this field in the future," Zhou Xiaoyu is very pleased with this. Even fans who have never tipped on Douyin told Zhou Xiaoyu that because the children in the family like their performances, they strongly ask their parents to give them gifts.

The relationship between the band members and the fans is cordial and natural. There is a fan, Brother Dao, who is far away in Nanjing, and is considered by everyone as "a member as important as the band performers". Brother Dao, who likes traditional folk music, accidentally swiped the video of @tang Music Team on Douyin, and felt that his eyes were bright. He learned to leave messages on Douyin, swipe gifts, and encourage their live broadcasts. Later, when the band was difficult to operate and almost disbanded, Brother Dao called the band members one by one to communicate with each other, so that everyone regained their confidence, and Brother Dao himself became the most important friend of @tang Music Team.

Today, operations are no longer a problem. Regular members of the @tang music team can earn tens of thousands of yuan each month through live streaming. Although this income is not high compared to other celebrities with more than 2 million fans, it can basically match the offline income. Revenue from the show was flat.

To a certain extent, the live broadcast has alleviated the business dilemma of the band. Zhou Xiaoyu used most of his income to pay members' salaries. He never forgot that when he first opened a bar in 2019, the folk music players who came to apply for jobs required far less treatment than popular instruments such as guitars and bass, which made him sad. After paying the members' salaries, the profit is actually very limited, but Zhou Xiaoyu still gives priority to upgrading the live broadcast equipment. In addition to building real and antique live broadcast scenes, SLRs, digital mixers and other equipment are also used to achieve multi-lens cut mirrors. Now, in the live broadcast room, people can see Peiyao's frown and smile when he pulls the erhu up close, and can also carefully appreciate the slender fingers plucking the strings together, and the vivid joy or anger when the bamboo flute is happily played. expression.

Zhou Xiaoyu has his own ideas on how to make @tang music team go better. He hopes to use Douyin and other self-media platforms to make classic folk music art popular and bring it to more people, so as to realize the promotion and inheritance of folk music in the process of dissemination. Compared with whether he wants to promote someone in the band or earn more traffic, he hopes to build the @tang music team into a platform for young people to show their musical skills. Young members may be attracted by the trajectory of their lives. Leave temporarily, but @tang music team can always be in the live broadcast room, in the hearts of people who love folk music.

For the dissemination of folk music, Zhou Xiaoyu has even greater ambitions - he hopes to take the @tang music team to travel all over the country, play folk music in various well-known scenic spots in a synchronized way online and offline, and spread classics. "Such a good thing should be seen by more people." This is Zhou Xiaoyu's constant love, and it is also another form of inheritance of traditional folk music in the information age.

Using cross-border notes, @tang music team collided and merged popular music and national musical instruments. Several young people who plucked strings and played the piano embraced traditional art in the new world of the Internet, and made more people feel the beauty of folk music. and hope.