How record collectors find lost music and preserve our cultural heritage | Alexis Charpentier

翻译人员: Howel Wang 校对人员: Conway Ye

I became obsessed with records when I was about 12 years old.

从12岁起，我开始痴迷于唱片，

My parents used to give me money to eat

我父母过去常常会给我钱来买东西吃，

and on most days, instead of eating,

但是我绝大多数钱都不是用在吃上，

I would save it and buy myself a record at the end of the week.

而是省下来，在周末给自己买唱片。

Here I am with a gigantic Walkman that's about half my leg --

这是带着一个笨重随身听的我，

大概有我半条腿那么长。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

It actually looks more like a VCR.

其实这随身听更像一个录像机。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

So when I was a teenager,

所以当我还是一个青少年的时候，

the obsession of buying cassettes, vinyls and CDs just kept growing.

我对购买录音带、 唱片、光盘的痴迷日益加深。

I was even working in a record store for many years

我甚至在一家唱片店工作过很多年，

and only ever got paid in records.

报酬就只是唱片。

One day I realized that I had thousands of records more

直到有一天， 我意识到我已经有几千张唱片，

than I could even listen to in my life.

我一生都听不完。

I became what many of us are:

我变成了和大多数人一样：

record junkies --

唱片瘾者，或者唱片挖掘人，

or record diggers, as we like to call ourselves.

我们喜欢这样称呼自己。

Record digging, as the name suggests,

唱片挖掘，就像它的名字暗示的那样，

means getting your hands dirty.

意味着会把我们的手弄脏。

It means spending hours rummaging through warehouses,

它的意思是花数小时的时间在仓库，

church basements,

在教堂地下室，

yard sales, record stores --

在后院的拍卖，在唱片店仔细寻找。

all to find records that have been forgotten for decades.

只是为了找到那些 已经被遗忘了几十年的唱片，

Records that have become cultural waste.

那些已经成为了文化浪费的唱片。

The earliest record collectors from about the '30s to the 1960s

19世纪30年代年到60年代间唱片收藏家

found and preserved so many important records

寻找并保存如此之多

本应该已经消失的的重要唱片。

that would have been lost forever.

In those days, most cultural and public institutions

在当时，大多数的文化和公共机构

didn't really care to preserve these treasures.

不太关注这些宝贝的保存。

In many cases, they were just throwing them into the garbage.

在很多时候， 他们将它们扔到垃圾堆里。

Record digging is a lifestyle.

唱片挖掘是一种生活方式。

We're absolutely obsessed with obscure records,

我们当然痴迷于晦涩难懂的唱片，

expensive records, dollar-bin records,

昂贵的唱片，投入多的唱片

crazy artwork,

疯狂的唱片

sub-subgenres.

以及主题很次的唱片。

And all of the tiniest details that go with each release.

包括那些唱片发行时的 一些最微小的细节。

When the media talks about the vinyl revival

当媒体提及近年发生的

that's been happening these last few years,

黑胶唱片的复苏，

they often forget to mention this community

他们总是忘记提起那些

that's been keeping the vinyl and the tradition and the culture alive

让黑胶唱片这种传统和文化幸存的团体，

for these last 30 years.

在过去的30年。

It's a very close-knit but competitive society, a little bit,

这是一个有点紧密结合 但是竞争激烈的社会，

because when you're hunting for extremely rare records,

因为当你狩猎极端稀少的唱片的时候，

if you miss your opportunity,

如果你错过了这个机会，

you might not see that record ever in your life.

你可能一生都见不到这张唱片了。

But I guess the only person in here truly impressed by record collectors

但是我猜这里唯一对唱片收藏家留下深刻印象的

is another record collector.

是另一位唱片收藏家。

To the outside world,

在其他人看来，

we seem like a very weird, oddball group of individuals.

我们唱片收藏家看起来 像一群很怪异的反常的人。

And --

但是——

（笑声）

(Laughter)

And they're mostly right.

他们多半是对的。

All the record collectors I know are obsessive maniacs.

所有我知道的唱片 收藏家都是迷恋唱片的疯子。

We know we're all crazy in some way.

我知道在某些方面我们都很疯狂。

But I think we should be viewed a little bit more like this.

但是我觉得我们应该被看成这样。

（笑声）

(Laughter)

We're music archaeologists.

我们是音乐界的考古学家。

We're hunting down the lost artifact.

我们在搜寻这些遗失的艺术品

We all have a list of records that we would do anything to get our hands on,

我们都有一张可以付出所有的唱片清单，

that we've been chasing for years,

这些唱片我们已经追寻很多年了。

and we actually call this list our "holy grails."

事实上，我们将这张清单称为我们的“圣杯”。

When you're digging for records,

当你在挖掘唱片的时候，

you're surrounded by music you don't know.

你会被你不知道的音乐包围着，

你会被人们曾经相信的未知，

You're surrounded by mystery and by all these dreams --

records that people once believed in.

和这些梦包围。

Imagine the thousands of artists who were destined to be legends

想象一下， 有千千万万的艺术家本应该成为传奇，

but for various reasons, were just overlooked.

但是，因为不同的原因，他们被遗忘了。

Many of these records only exist in a handful of copies,

许多的这些唱片只现存几个副本，

and some have never even been found,

甚至有一些还没有被找到，

never been heard.

也没有人听过。

They're literally endangered species.

严格来说，它们是濒危的种类。

I'll tell you a story

我告诉你一个故事，

that for me sort of sums up the value of the work of record diggers.

对我来说，它涵括了唱片挖掘的价值。

The story of a brilliant Montreal musician and composer.

这个故事是有关一个 杰出的蒙特利尔音乐家及作曲家，

Henri-Pierre Noël was born and raised in Haiti,

Henri-Pierre Noël

他在海地出生长大。

but he lived briefly in the US and in Belgium.

但是他在美国和比利时短暂地住过。

He passed through Montreal what was supposed to be for two weeks,

他本打算在蒙特利尔停留两周，

but he ended up staying for the next 40 years.

结果他在那里住了40年

When he was young, he learned to play piano

他在年轻的时候学过钢琴，

and developed a very particular way of playing his instrument:

自己开发出了一种 特别的方式来弹钢琴：

very fast and almost like a percussion.

极快，几近于只是震动的方式。

His style was a mix of his Haitian influences and folklore

他的风格结合了海地音乐及民俗

mixed with the American influences that he grew up hearing.

和美国音乐对他的影响。

So he created a mix of compas mixed with funk and jazz.

因此，他结合了放克和爵士。

As a young man,

作为一个年轻人，

he played and toured with live bands in the US and in Europe,

他跟随演出乐队在美国及欧洲巡回演奏，

but had never recorded an album or a song before moving to Canada.

但是在他移民到加拿大之前， 他没有出唱片或记录一首歌。

It was in Montreal in 1979

1979年， 他在蒙特利尔发行了他的第一张专辑，

that he released his first album called, "Piano."

这张专辑叫做《钢琴》。

Completely on his own, on Henri-Pierre Noël Records.

他的这张专辑完全是靠他自己，

He only made what he could afford: 2,000 copies of the record.

他制作了他当时能支付的2000张唱片。

The record received a little bit of airplay,

这张唱片只有一点点的播放量，

a little bit of support in Canada and in Haiti,

只得到来自少数加拿大人及海地人的支持，

but without a big label behind it,

但是唱片没有戴上一个很醒目的标签，

it was very, very difficult.

想要成功是非常非常难的。

Back then,

在当时，

if your record wasn't getting played on mainstream radio,

如果你的音乐没有在主流电台上播放，

if you weren't in jukeboxes or if you weren't invited to play on TV,

如果你的音乐没有纳入点唱机内， 或者你没有

被电视台邀请出演， 你成功的几率非常小。

the odds were completely against you.

Releasing an album as an independent artist

在以前，一个独立艺术家发行一张专辑

was so much more difficult than it is today,

比现在难得多，

both in terms of being heard and just distributing the thing.

在被听众听到以及市场分配方面。

So, soon after, he released a second album,

因此，很快，他发行了第二张专辑，

kept a busy schedule playing piano in various clubs in the city,

在城市的不同地点弹钢琴，

but his records started to accumulate dust slowly.

但是，他的唱片在慢慢积灰，

And those 2,000 copies in the span of 30 years

而他的那2000张唱片在30年的时间

easily started to get lost

不断消失，

until only a few copies in the world remained.

直到全世界只剩几张唱片。

Then in the mid-2000s,

然后在2005年左右，

一个蒙特利尔唱片挖掘家，科巴尔

a Montreal record digger that goes by the name Kobal

正在做每周几轮的唱片搜寻，

was doing his weekly rounds of just hunting for records.

He was in a flea market

在跳蚤市场，

surrounded by thousands of other dirty, dusty, moldy records.

被数千张脏的、 布满灰尘的、发霉的唱片包围。

That's where he found the "Piano" album.

就是在那里他找到了《钢琴》。

He wasn't specifically looking for it.

他那时候并不是专门来找它的。

Actually, you could say it sort of found him.

可以说更像是唱片找了他，

You could also say that after 20 years of record digging every single week,

也可以说在20年 每周不停的唱片寻找之后，

he had developed a sixth sense for finding the gold.

他养成了可以挖到宝藏的第六感。

He took the record and inspected it:

他带走了那张唱片并调查

the front, the artwork, the back, the liner notes,

正面，音乐，背后以及内页。

and he was intrigued by the fact that this Haitian musician made a record

他被一件事情吸引了，

那就是这位海地音乐家是在

in Quebec in the late '70s,

70年代后期的魁北克发行这张专辑的，

so he was intrigued.

所以他好奇了。

He took out his little, plastic, portable turntable

他拿出他那个在唱片探寻中

that he brought with him whenever he was on these digging quests

随时携带的小便携塑料电唱盘，

and put the record on.

并将唱片装上去。

So why don't we do the same thing?

我们也做一样的事情吧。

(Music)

（音乐）

He fell in love with the music instantly,

他立即爱上了这音乐，

but he had to know the backstory behind it.

他必须得知道它背后的故事。

He didn't know where it came from.

他不知道这张唱片的来历。

He knew the artist,

他知道那那个艺术家

at the time of the recording,

在发行的时候

was living in Montreal,

是住在蒙特利尔的，

so for months, he tried to track him down.

几个月里，他找到Noël的踪迹。

He even found Noël's business card inside the record sleeve.

他甚至在唱片封套里 找到了Noël's的名片。

That's how DIY Henri-Pierre Noël was.

这就是Noël 的动手能力。

So he found the card inside the record sleeve --

那么，他在唱片封套里 找到了他的名片，

of course he did try to call,

当然，他有试图打这个电话，

but after 30 years, the number didn't work anymore.

但是30年过去了， 这个电话号码已经失效了。

So it was only in Belgium,

只有在比利时，

where the artist had once lived,

那个这位艺术家曾经住过的地方，

that Kobal managed to find someone that knew the artist personally

科巴尔终于 找到了一个与Noël认识的人，

and gave him the contact.

并要到了联系方式。

So when he finally sat down with the artist,

所以当他终于见到这位艺术家的时候，

he made him a promise to someday find a way to get the album rereleased.

科巴尔承诺总有一天 要找到机会发行这张唱片。

He then arranged for a British label called Wah Wah 45s

然后，科巴尔把一个 名叫Wah Wah 45s的唱片和

to get the two albums reissued.

Noël的唱片一起重新发行。

And what happens very often is,

在专辑的重新发行项目中，

in these reissue projects,

阻碍是：

that it becomes very difficult to find the master tapes --

想要找到母磁带是非常难的

the original recording of the sessions.

母磁带是最初的录音，

Art can be destroyed by fires, floods, earthquakes,

艺术可能会被火灾、洪涝或地震毁坏，

thrown in the garbage,

被人扔掉，

or just lost forever.

或者永远遗失。

But thankfully,

但幸运的是，

the Henri-Pierre Noël tapes were safe

Noël的磁带幸存了下来，

and they were ready for remastering.

并且随时可以重新灌录。

The record was finally rereleased

这张唱片最终被重新发行，

and received praise from music critics, DJs and listeners worldwide --

收到了来自音乐评论家们，

DJ们及世界各地的听众的褒扬，

the praise that it should have received in 1979.

本应该在1979年就应该收到的表扬。

The artist was so inspired that he decided to revive his music career,

Noël很受鼓舞，重启了他的音乐事业，

get back on a stage, and play for new audiences.

回到舞台，为新的观众表演。

The artist, now in his 60s,

这位现在60多岁的艺术家告诉我：

told me, "This changed everything for me.

“这件事改变了我的一切，

I went from planning my retirement

我的计划从退休，

to playing on the BBC Radio in London, and on Radio Canada and more."

到去英国广播公司的电台，

加拿大和其他电台演出。”

But also it gave him a chance to play

同时，这也给了他

in front of his three sons for the first time.

第一次在他的三个儿子面前表演的机会。

To me, this story shows perfectly the work of record diggers at its best.

与我而言，这个故事最完美的展现了

唱片挖掘工作者的价值。

Beyond the rarity and the dollar value --

远不是唱片的稀少及价值，

and I'll be honest, we're totally obsessed by that --

老实说，是因为这份工作

the true beauty is to give art a second chance;

能给艺术第二次的机会

to save art from oblivion.

让艺术不被遗忘。

The work of a good record digger is a constant loop of three phases.

一个优秀的唱片挖掘工作者的工作

包含三个循环的阶段。

The first thing we do is hunt.

第一阶段是搜寻唱片。

We spend hours, days, years of our lives

我们日复一日年复一年

rummaging through dirty and dusty record bins.

在肮脏、布满灰尘的唱片箱子里翻找。

Everything that we can do to find our hands on the gold.

为了可以找到珍品，我们可以做任何事。

当然，你可以在网上找到好的唱片，

Yes, you can find good records online,

but for the deepest treasures,

但是那些藏的最深的珍宝，

you need to get off the couch and into the wild.

需要你离开沙发，去荒野中。

That's why we call it record digging and not record clicking.

这就是为什么这份工作是“挖掘唱片”，

而不是“点击唱片”。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

So what we are is music archaeologists.

所以，我们就是音乐考古学家。

But then the next thing we do is we gather.

我们下一阶段要做的就是收集。

Based on our taste, expertise, personal agenda,

基于个人品味，专业知识以及收藏目标。

we choose carefully which records to save,

我们认真的甄选要留下那些唱片，

which records mean something to us.

哪些唱片对于我们有意义。

We then try and find out every little thing we can about that record --

然后，我们会试图查明 关于这张唱片的所有信息：

the artist, the label

艺术家、发行公司、

and supervital information

以及其他重要的信息，

like "Who's that playing trumpet on track three?"

比如“小号是由谁演奏的呢？”

Then we file them, we contextualize them,

然后我们将这些信息文字化，归档，

and we keep them safe.

并确保这些文档的安全。

We are music archivists.

我们是音乐档案保管员。

And the last thing we do to close the loop is we share.

最后一个阶段是分享。

Most record diggers that I know have some sort of a way

我知道的大多数唱片挖掘者中，

都有一条渠道来分享他们的发现， 来赞扬艺术家，

to share their discovery and elevate the artist

through an album reissue,

通过唱片再发行，

a web article, a radio show.

一篇网络文章，一期电台节目。

We give records back their rightful place in music history.

我们将唱片放回 它在音乐历史上本该有的位置。

We are tastemakers and curators.

我们是风向创造者与监护者。

We are musicologists.

我们是音乐理论家。

So for myself

所以于我自己

and most of the record collectors I've encountered in 20 years,

以及这20年我遇到的 多数唱片收藏家而言，

I think that we all have some sort of an outlet

我想我们都有某些分享

for these discoveries.

我们发现的渠道。

I think it's our way to keep our sanity and sort of sense of purpose

我认为这是在对这件事情的迷恋中，

in this very maddening obsession,

保持明智以及目的性的方式，

because it can be sort of a lonely one.

因为这有时候是有点孤独的。

But I think we also do it because it serves the human need

但是我想我们的目的，

还有因为唱片挖掘服务

to pass along cultural knowledge.

人类将文化传递下去的需求。

Speaking of the need for curation,

说到引导的必要性，

in an era of overwhelming choice,

在这个充斥着各种选择的时代，

it's been demonstrated

有一件事情已经被证实了，

that too much choice actually hinders discovery.

那就是，事实上，太多的选择会阻碍发现。

For example,

举个例子，

if you're trying to watch something on Netflix,

如果你想在Netflix上找点东西看，

you're actually only browsing through a catalog of 6,000 titles.

你其实需要浏览6000个标题的目录。

Now, compare that with Spotify;

现在和Spotify比较，

if you want to pick something to listen to,

如果你想找点音乐来听，

you're browsing through a catalog of 30 million songs.

你需要浏览三千万首歌的目录。

So I think as you can see,

所以我想如你所见，

this notion of paralysis by choice

比如，选择的阻碍性这个概念，

affects music more than movies,

对音乐的阻碍比之电影更大。

for example.

And there's a few studies

现在有几个研究

that are starting to show the effects of this.

开始调查过多选择的影响。

A recent look at the UK music market

英国的音乐市场显示，

shows that the top one percent of artists in the UK are actually earning 77 percent

事实上仅1%的英国音乐艺术家占据了

总行业77%的总收入。

of the total revenues inside the music industry.

That's 2013,

这是2013年的调查，

and that's progressively getting worse,

现在的情况对部分人越来越糟糕，

or progressing.

或越来越好。

Anyway, if you're in the one percent, I'm sure you're happy.

如果你在这1%内，我敢说你很高兴。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

So the takeaway for me is

所以，这个对于这种情况我认为，

it's easier for people to listen to music than ever before.

相比以前，人们很容易就能听到音乐，

People have more music at their disposal than ever before,

人们有更多的音乐供他们选择，

yet people choose to listen to more of the same music than ever before.

但是人们选择听类型差不多的音乐。

And that's a sad thing.

这挺令人伤心的。

Inspired by my love for music research, record digging and curation,

在音乐的调查、挖掘和传导活动的激励下，

I started a website called "Music Is My Sanctuary" in 2007.

我在2007年创建了 一个名叫“音乐是我的圣地”的网站。

Our slogan has always been "Future Classics and Forgotten Treasures."

我们的标语一直都是“未来的经典音乐，被遗忘的宝藏”，

And it shows our love for discovering music

这个标语表达了我们对于发现音乐，

以及给人们介绍古老 和新颖的音乐的热爱。

and introducing music both old and new.

From humble beginnings,

我们从无人知晓，

we've built a worldwide platform with a massive audience

到如今拥有大量听众，

with over 100 collaborators.

和超过100位合作伙伴，

We've created over 10,000 pieces of content,

我们已经创作了超过10000首曲目，

over 500 hours of audio content.

超过500小时的音频内容。

Our audience consists of people

我们的观众是那些

who just want more than what's being offered to them

不满足于主流音乐频道的人。

by mainstream music channels.

They want to do --

他们想要，

they want to dig deeper,

他们想挖的更深，

but they don't necessarily have 20 hours a week like us nerds,

但是他们没必要我们这些呆子一样，

每周花20个小时。

so they trust us to do that for them.

所以他们相信我们可以帮他们完成。

Curation is at the heart of everything we do.

引导是我们所做的核心。

We believe in human recommendations over algorithms.

比起计算机算法， 我们更相信人们的推荐。

I could talk about the passion of record digging for days,

我可以花几天时间 来谈我对唱片挖掘的热情，

but let me conclude this way.

但是让我总结一下。

After many years of doing it,

在从事这份事业那么多年后，

a record collector's collection becomes sort of his autobiography.

一个唱片收藏家的收藏逐渐成为他的自传。

Last year, I was DJ-ing in Poland,

去年，我正在波兰打DJ，

and the people that were hosting me,

招待我的那些人

they had this amazing record collection,

拥有惊人的唱片收藏，

and of course I was intrigued

这当然引起了我的兴趣，

and I said, "Are you selling these?"

我问他：“你们是在卖这些唱片吗？”

They then explained to me that it was the collection

他们对我解释说

这些只是他们一个很好朋友的收藏品，

that belonged to their dear friend Maceo who passed away a few months earlier.

他的这个朋友几个月前去世了。

And they were doing a project of inviting different people

他们计划邀请不同的人，

to take the collection and to create something new from it,

带走这些收藏， 并根据它们来创作新的唱片，

whether it's sampling or DJ mixes,

不管是用作样本还是DJ混音，

you know, just to give it a second life.

赋予它了第二次生命。

And so after a few hours of going through the collection myself

所以在我用几个小时浏览完这些收藏，

and creating a DJ mix from it,

并根据他们创作了一曲DJ混音之后，

even though I never got the chance to meet him,

即使我没有机会和这位收藏家见面。

it felt like in a special way,

我有了一种和特别的感受，

me and him,

我和他，

we got to talk about records for a few hours.

我们在一起花几小时来探讨唱片。

So, as record diggers,

所以，作为一个唱片挖掘工作者，

our work and our record collections are there

我们的这份职业和我们的唱片收藏

to be passed on to the next generation.

将会传给我们的下一代。

Beautiful art deserves to be cherished, shared and rediscovered.

美丽的艺术品值得被珍藏，

分享和被重新发现。

Embrace curators;

支持唱片导听员吧，

we are alternative voices to the mainstream music channels,

我们是主流音乐频道、 数字或其他渠道的另一选择。

digital or otherwise.

我们的音乐多的难以计算。

Go beyond the algorithm.

Whatever kind of music you like,

无论你喜欢什么音乐，

there are so many websites, radio shows, DJs, record stores out there

有很多的音乐网站、 电台节目、DJ、唱片商店

that are just waiting to share their discoveries with you.

在等着和你们分享他们的发现。

We do this work for you.

我们的工作是为了服务大家。

All you have to do is open your ears and take risks.

你要做的只是花时间去听，

这些音乐将会改变你们的生活。

This music will change your life.

谢谢。

Thank you.

(Applause)

（掌声）