The mad scientist of music | Mark Applebaum

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Thu-Huong Ha

翻译人员: Yuguo Zhang 校对人员: Yilun Zhou

I thought if I skipped it might help my nerves,

嗯..我想着我如果跳过这段会使我缓解下情绪

but I'm actually having a paradoxical reaction to that,

不过我对刚才鼓掌有个矛盾的反应

so that was a bad idea. (Laughter)

所以..嗯..不太好.(笑声)

Anyway, I was really delighted to receive the invitation

不过呢,作为一个作曲家

to present to you some of my music and some of my work

我非常高兴能得到这样一个机会

as a composer, presumably because it appeals

去向你们展示一些我们音乐作品

to my well-known and abundant narcissism. (Laughter)

因为这正符合我出名和很强的自恋倾向

And I'm not kidding, I just think we should just

我没开玩笑,我认为我应该说出来

say that and move forward. (Laughter)

然后继续前进

So, but the thing is, a dilemma quickly arose,

不过呢,我马上就面临一个难题

and that is that I'm really bored with music,

就是我玩音乐都玩的无聊了

and I'm really bored with the role of the composer,

而且我对于作曲家这个工作也不感兴趣了

and so I decided to put that idea, boredom,

因为我决定将无聊作为

as the focus of my presentation to you today.

我今天演讲的主题

And I'm going to share my music with you, but I hope

我会跟你们分享我的一些音乐,不过我希望

that I'm going to do so in a way that tells a story,

我通过讲一个故事的方式来做

tells a story about how I used boredom as a catalyst

是一个我如何用无聊作为催化剂

for creativity and invention, and how boredom

来带给我创造力和想象力的,

actually forced me to change the fundamental question

以及无聊如何强迫去改变我曾再

that I was asking in my discipline,

这个领域中一直问自己的问题

and how boredom also, in a sense,

并且无聊如何促使我

pushed me towards taking on roles beyond the sort of

走向了超越最传统,

most traditional, narrow definition of a composer.

最狭窄定义的作曲家

What I'd like to do today is to start with an excerpt

我想以一段在

of a piece of music at the piano.

钢琴上的音乐开始

(Music)

(音乐)

Okay, I wrote that. (Laughter)

对,这就是我作的.(笑声)

No, it's not — (Applause) Oh, why thank you.

哈,其实不是---(鼓掌) 噢,谢谢你们.

No, no, I didn't write that.

没没,那不是我作的.

In fact, that was a piece by Beethoven,

实际上,那是贝多芬的作品

and so I was not functioning as a composer.

因此我刚才不算是个作曲家

Just now I was functioning in the role of the interpreter,

刚才我只是一个解释者

and there I am, interpreter.

对,我就是解释者

So, an interpreter of what? Of a piece of music, right?

解释者解释什么呢? 一段音乐,对吧?

But we can ask the question, "But is it music?"

不过我想问这个问题:"这是不是音乐呢?"

And I say this rhetorically, because of course

这是个修辞的问法,因为

by just about any standard we would have to concede

不管怎么说刚才那个

that this is, of course, a piece of music,

当然是一段音乐

but I put this here now because,

不过我先这个问题放在这里

just to set it in your brains for the moment,

先放你们的脑子里搁一会儿

because we're going to return to this question.

因为我们会回到这个问题中的

It's going to be a kind of a refrain

在整个演讲中会是

as we go through the presentation.

一种重复

So here we have this piece of music by Beethoven,

所以我这有一段贝多芬的音乐

and my problem with it is, it's boring.

不过呢,这段音乐很无聊

I mean, you — I'm just like, a hush, huh -- It's like -- (Laughter)

你想嘛..这就跟--嘘,嘘,你看--(笑声)

It's Beethoven, how can you say that?

那可是贝多芬啊.你怎么能那样说?

No, well, I don't know, it's very familiar to me.

嗯..我不知道. 这段音乐对我来说太熟悉了.

I had to practice it as a kid, and I'm really sick of it. So -- (Laughter)

小时候我就练习它..现在我都快吐了,所以呢--(笑声)

I would, so what I might like to try to do is to change it,

因此我想做的是改变它

to transform it in some ways, to personalize it,

以某种方式进行转变,对它进行个性化设计

so I might take the opening, like this idea --

所以就像是这样--

(Music)

(音乐)

and then I might substitute -- (Music)

我还可以加上--(音乐)

and then I might improvise on that melody

然后我还可以临时演奏

that goes forward from there -- (Music)

这一段----(音乐)

(Music)

(音乐)

So that might be the kind of thing -- Why thank you.

基本上就是这样---谢谢.

(Applause)

(鼓掌)

That would be the kind of thing that I would do,

这就是我想做的事情

and it's not necessarily better than the Beethoven.

这不必要比贝多芬的要好

In fact, I think it's not better than it. The thing is -- (Laughter) --

实际上我觉得的确没贝多芬的好.不过呢---(笑声)

it's more interesting to me. It's less boring for me.

对我来说更有趣,不是很无聊

I'm really leaning into me, because I, because I have

我也就更倾向于我自己,因为

to think about what decisions I'm going to make on the fly

我必须很快对于下一步做出决定

as that Beethoven text is running in time through my head

当贝多芬的调调在我脑子的走过

and I'm trying to figure out what kinds of transformations

我在尝试去找到我想要

I'm going to make to it.

做出的转变

So this is an engaging enterprise for me, and

因为呢这对于我来说很意思

I've really leaned into that first person pronoun thing there,

我的确为我自己创造一些东西,

and now my face appears twice, so I think we can agree

现在我的图片出现第二次了,所以我觉得我们可以说

that this is a fundamentally solipsistic enterprise. (Laughter)

这实际上是一个唯我论的实业.(笑声)

But it's an engaging one, and it's interesting to me

不过这很吸引人,有意思

for a while, but then I get bored with it, and by it,

但过了一段时间,我又觉得无聊了,

I actually mean, the piano, because it becomes,

我觉得钢琴没意思了,因为

it's this familiar instrument, it's timbral range is actually

我太熟悉了,它的音调宽度实际

pretty compressed, at least when you play on the keyboard,

很狭窄,至少当你在弹键盘的时候,

and if you're not doing things like listening to it

而如果在你把它点燃后

after you've lit it on fire or something like that, you know.

你又不去听它,就更无聊了.

It gets a little bit boring, and so pretty soon

所以很快呢,我把所有

I go through other instruments, they become familiar,

的乐器都玩了一遍,它们都变得对我来说很熟悉

and eventually I find myself designing and constructing

到了最后我开始自己设计和制作

my own instrument, and I brought one with me today,

乐器,今天我就带来了一个

and I thought I would play a little bit on it for you

我可以给你们演奏一段

so you can hear what it sounds like.

你可以听听是什么样子

(Music)

(音乐)

You gotta have doorstops, that's important. (Laughter)

你肯定得有钩环嘛,这很重要.(笑声)

I've got combs. They're the only combs that I own. (Music)

我还有梳子,这些我唯一拥有的梳子.(音乐)

They're all mounted on my instruments. (Laughter)

他们都在我的乐器上固定着.(笑声)

(Music)

(音乐)

I can actually do all sorts of things. I can play

我其实可以做很多. 我可以用

with a violin bow. I don't have to use the chopsticks.

一个小提琴的弓来演奏. 我不需要用筷子

So we have this sound. (Music)

所以呢我就有这样的声音.(音乐)

And with a bank of live electronics,

有着这一堆电子设备

I can change the sounds radically. (Music)

我可以急剧地改变声音.(音乐)

(Music)

(音乐)

Like that, and like this. (Music)

比如说这样.(音乐)

And so forth.

以及等等.

So this gives you a little bit of an idea of the sound world

因此呢,你可以大概了解下这个乐器的声音

of this instrument, which I think is quite interesting

我认为这很有趣

and it puts me in the role of the inventor, and the nice thing about —

而且我还变成了发明家,而这个

This instrument is called the Mouseketeer ... (Laughter)

乐器呢就叫做米老鼠小人...(笑声)

and the cool thing about it is

最酷的呢

I'm the world's greatest Mouseketeer player. (Laughter)

就是我是这个世界最好的米老鼠小人演奏家(笑声)

Okay? (Applause)

对吧?(鼓掌)

So in that regard, this is one of the things,

所以说呢,

this is one of the privileges of being,

这就是作为发明家

and here's another role, the inventor, and by the way,

的一大好处,顺便说下

when I told you that I'm the world's greatest,

我当给你说我是世界上最好,

if you're keeping score, we've had narcissism and solipsism

如果你记得话,我们已经有自恋主义和唯我主义了

and now a healthy dose of egocentricism.

现在呢是一股自我中心主义情结

I know some of you are just, you know, bingo! Or, I don't know. (Laughter)

我知道你们其中一些人 "哈,对!" 好吧.其实我也不知道.(笑声)

Anyway, so this is also a really enjoyable role.

不过这个角色的确很有意思

I should concede also that I'm the world's worst Mouseketeer player,

我还应该说我还是世界上最差的米老鼠小人演奏家

and it was this distinction that I was most worried about

而我最担心的就是

when I was on that prior side of the tenure divide.

我在我终身占有东西上我是有优先地位的

I'm glad I'm past that. We're not going to go into that.

不过我现在已经不是

I'm crying on the inside. There are still scars.

我在内心里哭.还有伤痕呢.

Anyway, but I guess my point is that all of these enterprises

不过我想说的是所有这些实业

are engaging to me in their multiplicity, but as I've presented them

都使我变得多才多艺,

to you today, they're actually solitary enterprises,

而且他们都是独自的实业

and so pretty soon I want to commune with other people, and so

所以很快我想和其他交流

I'm delighted that in fact I get to compose works for them.

我很高兴我可以给其他人作曲

I get to write, sometimes for soloists and I get to work with one person,

我有时候给独奏者作曲

sometimes full orchestras, and I work with a lot of people,

有时候给整个管乐团作曲,我和很多人在合作

and this is probably the capacity, the role creatively

而这就是我的角色创造力

for which I'm probably best known professionally.

我其实就是以这个最出名的

Now, some of my scores as a composer look like this,

对于我作为一个作曲家的谱子

and others look like this,

有些是这样

and some look like this,

有些是那样

and I make all of these by hand, and it's really tedious.

我这些都是我手做的,很麻烦

It takes a long, long time to make these scores,

花很长很长时间才做出来

and right now I'm working on a piece

现在我正在作一个180

that's 180 pages in length,

页长的谱子

and it's just a big chunk of my life, and I'm just pulling out hair.

这占用我生活很大部分,我就不停地揪头发

I have a lot of it, and that's a good thing I suppose. (Laughter)

不过我头发挺多,所有这是好事.(笑声)

So this gets really boring and really tiresome for me,

不过最后我又觉得无聊了

so after a while the process of notating is not only boring,

但一段时间后乐谱又变得无聊了,

but I actually want the notation to be more interesting,

而我想要乐谱变得更有趣

and so that's pushed me to do other projects like this one.

因此我就错了一些其他的工程

This is an excerpt from a score called

这是其中一个乐谱的一部分

"The Metaphysics of Notation."

"符号的形而上学"

The full score is 72 feet wide.

整个谱子有72英尺那么长

It's a bunch of crazy pictographic notation.

是一组疯了一般的图像式的谱子

Let's zoom in on one section of it right here. You can see

让我们放大一下.你可以看到

it's rather detailed. I do all of this with drafting templates,

这其实非常细节化. 这些我都是通过先打草稿,平尺,

with straight edges, with French curves, and by freehand,

法式曲线(译者注: 一种曲线模型), 以及用我的双手制作的

and the 72 feet was actually split

而这72英尺长其实是分成了

into 12 six-foot-wide panels that were installed

12个6英尺宽的在Cantor 艺术中心博物馆大厅

around the Cantor Arts Center Museum lobby balcony,

的各处阳台上都有摆放

and it appeared for one year in the museum,

在这个博物馆里放了一年

and during that year, it was experienced as visual art

在这一年,通常这些谱子都是用作视觉艺术品

most of the week, except, as you can see in these pictures,

除了你在这个图片里可以看到,

on Fridays, from noon til one, and only during that time,

只有在每个周五,从正午到1点,

various performers came and interpreted these strange

许多演奏家就出来然后开始演奏这些

and undefined pictographic glyphs. (Laughter)

奇怪的图形字符.(笑声)

Now this was a really exciting experience for me.

这对我来说十分激动人心

It was gratifying musically, but I think

音乐上给予我满足,不过我认为更重要的

the more important thing is it was exciting because I got to take on

是我承担了另外一个角色

another role, especially given that it appeared in a museum,

在这个博物馆中,

and that is as visual artist. (Laughter)

我其实是个视觉艺术家.(笑声)

We're going to fill up the whole thing, don't worry. (Laughter)

我们一会儿要把这个填满呢,别担心.(笑声)

I am multitudes. (Laughter)

我非常多才多艺的.(笑声)

So one of the things is that, I mean, some people

因此有些人会出来说

would say, like, "Oh, you're being a dilettante,"

"你其实全都对这些一知半解."

and maybe that's true. I can understand how, I mean,

或许这没错.我可以理解

because I don't have a pedigree in visual art

因为我在视觉艺术上没有什么血统

and I don't have any training, but it's just something

我也没什么训练,只不过这是我一个

that I wanted to do as an extension of my composition,

作曲的一个扩充

as an extension of a kind of creative impulse.

作为一种具有创造力的冲击

I can understand the question, though. "But is it music?"

但是我可以理解这个问题:"那这到底是不是音乐呢?"

I mean, there's not any traditional notation.

对此其实没有传统的说法.

I can also understand that sort of implicit criticism

我也可以理解那种间接的批判

in this piece, "S-tog," which I made when I was living in Copenhagen.

"S-tog" 这是当时我在哥本哈根住的时候我作的

I took the Copenhagen subway map and

我把哥本哈根的地铁地图拿来

I renamed all the stations to abstract musical provocations,

然后我重新命名了所有的站台,都变成了音乐的音符

and the players, who are synchronized with stopwatches,

然后被秒表计时的演奏家

follow the timetables, which are listed in minutes past the hour.

就跟着时间表,这些都是以分钟内来计算的

So this is a case of actually adapting something,

所以这是实际上改造一个东西,

or maybe stealing something,

或者说偷窃也行.

and then turning it into a musical notation.

然后把它变成一副乐谱

Another adaptation would be this piece.

另外一个改造是这样的

I took the idea of the wristwatch, and I turned it into a musical score.

我把一个腕表变成了音乐谱子

I made my own faces, and had a company fabricate them,

我做了我自己的脸型,然后叫一个公司生产出来

and the players follow these scores.

然后演奏家就按着这些谱子演奏

They follow the second hands, and as they pass over

当他们通过各种各样的符号时,

the various symbols, the players respond musically.

他们的演奏出来是不同的

Here's another example from another piece,

这儿有另外一个例子

and then its realization.

以及我得到的结论

So in these two capacities, I've been scavenger,

所以在这些例子中,我是一个清道夫

in the sense of taking, like, the subway map, right,

将地铁地图拿来

or thief maybe, and I've also been designer,

或者小偷吧,我还是个设计师

in the case of making the wristwatches.

因为我做了腕表

And once again, this is, for me, interesting.

这些还是非常有趣

Another role that I like to take on is that of the performance artist.

另外一个我想要的角色是演出艺术家

Some of my pieces have these kind of weird theatric elements,

一些我们的作品都有奇怪的剧场元素

and I often perform them. I want to show you a clip

我经常演奏他们,我想给你们看个我演奏

from a piece called "Echolalia."

"Echolalia"的片子

This is actually being performed by Brian McWhorter,

这实际上是被Brian McWhorter演奏的

who is an extraordinary performer.

他是个很棒的演奏家

Let's watch a little bit of this, and please notice the instrumentation.

让我们看一点,尤其注意乐器部分

(Music)

(音乐)

Okay, I hear you were laughing nervously because

好吧,我听到你们在偷偷笑

you too could hear that the drill was a little bit sharp,

因为你听到了这段有点刺耳

the intonation was a little questionable. (Laughter)

音调很奇怪.(笑声)

Let's watch just another clip.

让我们看另外一个

(Music)

(音乐)

You can see the mayhem continues, and there's, you know,

你可以听到这还是挺刺耳的,

there were no clarinets and trumpets

而且这里面没有单簧管或者喇叭

and flutes and violins. Here's a piece that has

或者笛子或者小提琴.

an even more unusual, more peculiar instrumentation.

这有一个更不寻常的段子,使用更奇特的乐器

This is "Tlön," for three conductors and no players. (Laughter)

这是"Tlon", 是由三个指挥家没有演奏家来完成的

This was based on the experience of actually watching

这是根据两个人在用

two people having a virulent argument in sign language,

图形语言进行激烈争吵的经历而编来的

which produced no decibels to speak of,

这里面没有可以说出来的细节

but affectively, psychologically, was a very loud experience.

不过这心理上还是非常吵闹的

So, yeah, I get it, with, like, the weird appliances

因此,有着这些奇怪的设备

and then the total absence of conventional instruments

却毫无传统乐器

and this glut of conductors, people might, you know,

和这一大堆指挥家,人们可以会问

wonder, yeah, "Is this music?"

"这是不是音乐呢?"

But let's move on to a piece where clearly I'm behaving myself,

不过我们先看一个我在表现我的片子吧

and that is my "Concerto for Orchestra."

我是我的"管弦乐音乐会"

You're going to notice a lot of conventional instruments

你看到很多传统的乐器

in this clip. (Music)

(音乐)

(Music)

(音乐)

This, in fact, is not the title of this piece.

这其实不是它的标题

I was a bit mischievous. In fact, to make it more interesting,

我刚有点淘气,实际上我多加一个空格

I put a space right in here, and this is the actual title of the piece.

这才是它的标题

Let's continue with that same excerpt.

让我们继续

(Music)

(音乐)

It's better with a florist, right? (Laughter) (Music)

我肯定会是个好的种花人,对吧?(笑声)(音乐)

Or at least it's less boring. Let's watch a couple more clips.

其实不是很无聊啊.让我们再多看几个

(Music)

(音乐)

So with all these theatric elements, this pushes me in another role,

因此这使我承担上另一个角色

and that would be, possibly, the dramaturge.

那就是剧作家

I was playing nice. I had to write the orchestra bits, right?

我做的很不错,写那些管弦乐的东西,没错吧?

Okay? But then there was this other stuff, right?

不过那还是其他东西,对吧?

There was the florist, and I can understand that,

还有个种花人,我理解那个

once again, we're putting pressure on the ontology of music

我们还是在给音乐这个概念施压

as we know it conventionally,

正如我们通常认定的一样

but let's look at one last piece today I'm going to share with you.

好吧,我们来看今天的最后一个

This is going to be a piece called "Aphasia,"

这个叫做"Aphasia"

and it's for hand gestures synchronized to sound,

这是跟音乐同步的手势

and this invites yet another role, and final one

这使我变成另外一个角色,也是最后一个

I'll share with you, which is that of the choreographer.

也就是编舞者

And the score for the piece looks like this,

这个谱子是这样的

and it instructs me, the performer, to make

去指导我作为演奏家

various hand gestures at very specific times

去在不同时间打出不同手势

synchronized with an audio tape, and that audio tape

与放的磁带同步,而那个磁带里

is made up exclusively of vocal samples.

都是声音的样本

I recorded an awesome singer,

我录下了一个超棒的歌手

and I took the sound of his voice in my computer,

然后我在我电脑里使用了他的声音

and I warped it in countless ways to come up with

我用了无数的方法把它改变

the soundtrack that you're about to hear.

成了这样.你们马上会听到

And I'll perform just an excerpt of "Aphasia" for you here. Okay?

我就为你演奏一部分,可以吧?

(Music)

(音乐)

So that gives you a little taste of that piece. (Applause)

这差不多就是那种感觉.(鼓掌)

Yeah, okay, that's kind of weird stuff.

好吧,刚才那个比较奇怪

Is it music? Here's how I want to conclude.

那这是不是音乐呢?这是我想说的.

I've decided, ultimately, that this is the wrong question,

我最终决定了,那个问题是问的不对的

that this is not the important question.

这不是重点

The important question is, "Is it interesting?"

重点是,"是不是有趣呢?"

And I follow this question, not worrying about "Is it music?" --

于是我开始思考这个问题,而不去想这是不是音乐

not worrying about the definition of the thing that I'm making.

不去担心我所做东西的定义

I allow my creativity to push me

我允许我的创造力

in directions that are simply interesting to me,

去向那些我认为有趣的方面去推进我

and I don't worry about the likeness of the result

我不会担心结果

to some notion, some paradigm,

对于一些观点,或者范例的影响

of what music composition is supposed to be,

以及音乐作品应该是什么样

and that has actually urged me, in a sense,

这样以来,我实际上被激励了

to take on a whole bunch of different roles,

我承担了一大堆角色

and so what I want you to think about is,

因此我想让你们思考的是,

to what extent might you change the fundamental question

你可能会改变你的领域中

in your discipline, and, okay,

的基本问题,

I'm going to put one extra little footnote in here,

我最后还是想在这里做个注脚

because, like, I realized I mentioned

因为,我意识到

some psychological defects earlier, and we also,

前面一些心理学的缺陷,

along the way, had a fair amount of obsessive behavior,

以及很多的着迷的行为

and there was some delusional behavior and things like that,

还有些妄想的行为

and here I think we could say that this is an argument

我觉得我们应该说这是对自弃

for self-loathing and a kind of schizophrenia,

和精神分裂症的辩论

at least in the popular use of the term,

至少通俗语言是这么说

and I really mean dissociative identity disorder, okay. (Laughter)

其实我的意思是多重人格分裂症.(笑声)

Anyway, despite those perils, I would urge you

好了,不说那些了,我会建议你们

to think about the possibility that you might take on roles

去想想你可以承担的角色

in your own work, whether they are neighboring

在你自己的领域,不管是靠近

or far-flung from your professional definition.

还是远离你的专业定义

And with that, I thank you very much. (Applause)

因此,我非常感谢你们.(鼓掌)

(Applause)

(鼓掌)