Meklit Hadero: The unexpected beauty of everyday sounds | TED

譯者: Adrienne Lin 審譯者: Regina Chu

As a singer-songwriter,

我身為歌手兼作曲家，

people often ask me about my influences or, as I like to call them,

大家常問我的靈感來源， 但我喜歡這麼說，

my sonic lineages.

我的「聲音族譜」是什麼。

And I could easily tell you

我可以很爽快地回答，

that I was shaped by the jazz and hip hop that I grew up with,

成長的時候我受 爵士及嘻哈音樂風格影響，

by the Ethiopian heritage of my ancestors,

以及來自我祖先 衣索比亞的傳統音樂，

or by the 1980s pop on my childhood radio stations.

或是我童年時期廣播 常播放的 80 年代流行音樂。

But beyond genre, there is another question:

但是除了音樂流派之外， 還有另一個問題：

how do the sounds we hear every day influence the music that we make?

我們日常聽到的聲音 如何影響我們所創作的音樂？

I believe that everyday soundscape

我相信此些日常音景

can be the most unexpected inspiration for songwriting,

可成為不可思議之創作靈感，

and to look at this idea a little bit more closely,

進一步探討這一想法，

I'm going to talk today about three things:

今天我的演講將圍繞三大主體：

nature, language and silence --

自然、語言、無聲──

or rather, the impossibility of true silence.

更清楚一點， 真正無聲的不可能性。

And through this I hope to give you a sense of a world

從而我希望你更了解

already alive with musical expression,

這因多種音樂的情感表現 而豐富的世界，

with each of us serving as active participants,

我們每個人都是積極的參與者，

whether we know it or not.

雖然我們不一定意識到這問題。

I'm going to start today with nature, but before we do that,

我會從自然開始，但開始之前，

let's quickly listen to this snippet of an opera singer warming up.

請你聽一段歌劇歌手 為演唱暖嗓的音樂。

Here it is.

音樂開始。

(Singing)

（唱歌）

(Singing ends)

（歌唱結束）

It's beautiful, isn't it?

很好聽是嗎？

Gotcha!

你被騙了！

That is actually not the sound of an opera singer warming up.

這不是歌劇歌手開唱前的暖嗓。

That is the sound of a bird

而是一種鳥的叫聲，

slowed down to a pace

被放慢到一定程度，

that the human ear mistakenly recognizes as its own.

人耳誤聽為人的歌聲。

It was released as part of Peter Szöke's 1987 Hungarian recording

剛才的音樂就是一名匈牙利音樂家 於 1987 年出版專輯中一部分，

"The Unknown Music of Birds,"

名為《未發現之鳥類音樂》，

where he records many birds and slows down their pitches

為了突出鳥類叫聲本質，

他錄了多種鳥叫聲並放慢速度。

to reveal what's underneath.

Let's listen to the full-speed recording.

現在我們來聽一段正常速度的錄音。

(Bird singing)

（鳥類叫聲）

Now, let's hear the two of them together

現在連續聽這兩首，

so your brain can juxtapose them.

你們可以自己比較。

(Bird singing at slow then full speed)

（放慢的鳥類叫聲，然後正常速度）

(Singing ends)

（音樂結束）

It's incredible.

好奇妙！

Perhaps the techniques of opera singing were inspired by birdsong.

歌劇技巧大概從鳥類叫聲取得靈感。

As humans, we intuitively understand birds to be our musical teachers.

人類本能地將鳥類視為音樂老師。

In Ethiopia, birds are considered an integral part

在衣索比亞，鳥類被視為

音樂起源的一部分。zz

of the origin of music itself.

The story goes like this:

根據傳說，

1,500 years ago, a young man was born in the Empire of Aksum,

1500 年前，一個小男孩 出生於阿克蘇姆王國，

a major trading center of the ancient world.

當時的世界貿易中心。

His name was Yared.

他的名字為雅瑞德。

When Yared was seven years old his father died,

雅瑞德七歲的時候，他的父親去世，

and his mother sent him to go live with an uncle, who was a priest

母親將他交給舅舅撫養，

這位舅舅是衣索比亞正教的神父，

of the Ethiopian Orthodox tradition,

one of the oldest churches in the world.

為世界古老的教會系統之一。

Now, this tradition has an enormous amount of scholarship and learning,

因為此教派傳講大量知識，

and Yared had to study and study and study and study,

所以雅瑞德必須埋頭苦讀，

and one day he was studying under a tree,

某天他在樹下學習時，

when three birds came to him.

有三隻鳥飛來他旁邊。

One by one, these birds became his teachers.

每一隻鳥陸續成為他的教師。

They taught him music -- scales, in fact.

牠們教他音樂，其實就是音階。

And Yared, eventually recognized as Saint Yared,

後來，雅瑞德被尊稱為聖雅瑞德，

used these scales to compose five volumes of chants and hymns

用此音階寫成五卷聖歌和讚美聖詩，

for worship and celebration.

給各種禮拜及節慶使用。

And he used these scales to compose and to create

他也從這些音階譜出及發明出

an indigenous musical notation system.

一套當地使用的記譜法。

And these scales evolved into what is known as kiñit,

這些音階演變成 衣索比亞音階 (kiñit)，

the unique, pentatonic, five-note, modal system that is very much alive

其獨特的五聲音階， 由五個音組成的調式，

現在在衣索比亞還普遍使用及發展。

and thriving and still evolving in Ethiopia today.

Now, I love this story because it's true at multiple levels.

我很喜歡這個故事， 因為它在很多方面都可考證。

Saint Yared was a real, historical figure,

聖雅瑞德是一位真實人物，

and the natural world can be our musical teacher.

而自然世界 也可以成為我們的教師呀！

And we have so many examples of this:

有很多相似的例子：

the Pygmies of the Congo tune their instruments

剛果俾格米人（矮人族）

根據山鳥叫聲調整琴弦。

to the pitches of the birds in the forest around them.

Musician and natural soundscape expert Bernie Krause describes

音樂家兼自然音景專家 伯尼克勞斯描述，

how a healthy environment has animals and insects

一個健康的環境會有各種動物及昆蟲

taking up low, medium and high-frequency bands,

占據低、中及高頻率的音頻，

in exactly the same way as a symphony does.

和人類的交響樂一樣。

And countless works of music were inspired by bird and forest song.

數不清的曲子 以鳥類和森林作為靈感。

Yes, the natural world can be our cultural teacher.

沒錯，自然世界 可以成為我們的文化教師。

So let's go now to the uniquely human world of language.

現在我們來談獨特的人類世界語言。

Every language communicates with pitch to varying degrees,

每個語言通過各種音高交流，

whether it's Mandarin Chinese,

無論是華語，

where a shift in melodic inflection gives the same phonetic syllable

如果你將音調發錯， 會讓相同的拼音音節

an entirely different meaning,

產生不同的意思；

to a language like English,

或者其它語言像英語，

where a raised pitch at the end of a sentence ...

在句尾語氣上揚……

(Going up in pitch) implies a question?

（提升音高）代表問句，對嗎？

(Laughter)

（觀眾大笑）

As an Ethiopian-American woman,

身為衣索比亞美裔婦女，

I grew up around the language of Amharic, Amhariña.

我在阿姆哈拉語環境中長大。

It was my first language, the language of my parents,

這是我的母語，是我父母說的語言，

one of the main languages of Ethiopia.

是衣索比亞主要語言之一。

And there are a million reasons to fall in love with this language:

我有一千萬個理由喜愛這個語言：

its depth of poetics, its double entendres,

詩歌的深度，雙關的詞語，

its wax and gold, its humor,

隱藏的涵義，幽默的特性，

its proverbs that illuminate the wisdom and follies of life.

生活中有智慧的俗語以及反語。

But there's also this melodicism, a musicality built right in.

但更主要的是包括在 詞語裡面的旋律感。

And I find this distilled most clearly

我發現這種旋律感在

in what I like to call emphatic language --

我所稱的「強調語言」中 明顯突出——

language that's meant to highlight or underline

即明顯指出、強調意思之語言，

or that springs from surprise.

或者表示驚訝的狀態。

Take, for example, the word: "indey."

例如 indey 這個字，

Now, if there are Ethiopians in the audience,

如果在座有衣索比亞人，

they're probably chuckling to themselves,

他們一定會咯咯笑起來，

because the word means something like "No!"

因為這個字的意思是「不行！」

or "How could he?" or "No, he didn't."

或「他怎麼能這樣呢？」 或「不，他沒有。」

It kind of depends on the situation.

根據具體的情況而不同。

But when I was a kid, this was my very favorite word,

可是在我小時候， 這是我最喜歡的字，

and I think it's because it has a pitch.

我想是因為我喜歡它的音高。

It has a melody.

它有旋律。

You can almost see the shape as it springs from someone's mouth.

這個字發出來， 我們幾乎可以看到它的口型。

"Indey" -- it dips, and then raises again.

“Indey” — 音調先往下降後再往上升高。

And as a musician and composer, when I hear that word,

身為音樂家和作曲家， 每次聽到此字，

something like this is floating through my mind.

這樣的畫面就在我的腦海裡展現。

(Music and singing "Indey")

（音樂和唱 indey）

(Music ends)

（音樂停止）

Or take, for example, the phrase for "It is right" or "It is correct" --

另外一個例子， 代表「沒錯、正確」——

"Lickih nehu ... Lickih nehu."

"Lickih nehu ... Lickih nehu."

It's an affirmation, an agreement.

就是確定、同意。

"Lickih nehu."

"Lickih nehu."

When I hear that phrase,

我聽到此詞的時候，

something like this starts rolling through my mind.

音樂泉在我的腦海裡流出。

(Music and singing "Lickih nehu")

（音樂及唱 “Lickih nehu” 聲）

(Music ends)

（音樂結束）

And in both of those cases, what I did was I took the melody

以上兩個例子，

我都以這些字的旋律和分句，

and the phrasing of those words and phrases

and I turned them into musical parts to use in these short compositions.

轉成音樂的因素，從而寫成短曲。

And I like to write bass lines,

我喜歡寫低音音樂，

so they both ended up kind of as bass lines.

所以以上的兩個短曲都是低音的。

Now, this is based on the work of Jason Moran and others

根據賈森莫蘭及同事的研究，

who work intimately with music and language,

他們是音樂及語言研究專家，

but it's also something I've had in my head since I was a kid,

也是我從小時候一直關注的，

how musical my parents sounded

就是我父母

when they were speaking to each other and to us.

彼此對談與跟我們對話時 具音樂性的腔調。

It was from them and from Amhariña that I learned

正是他們講的阿姆哈拉語 讓我推出一個觀念，

that we are awash in musical expression

就是語言充滿了音樂風格，

with every word, every sentence that we speak,

在每一句我們說出的話，

every word, every sentence that we receive.

在每一句我們聽到的話。

Perhaps you can hear it in the words I'm speaking even now.

你們或許可以在我現在說出的 每一句話中領會到。

Finally, we go to the 1950s United States

最後，我要談一首 1950 年 美國的音樂作品，

and the most seminal work of 20th century avant-garde composition:

為 20 世紀前衛派 最具影響力的曲子：

John Cage's "4:33,"

約翰·凱吉之《4′33″》，

written for any instrument or combination of instruments.

寫給任何樂器或任何組合樂器。

The musician or musicians are invited to walk onto the stage

演奏家受邀上舞台，

with a stopwatch and open the score,

帶著碼錶並把樂譜打開，

which was actually purchased by the Museum of Modern Art --

此樂譜已被當代藝術博物館 收購作展覽專用——

the score, that is.

只有樂譜，就這樣。

And this score has not a single note written

這張樂譜上沒有任何音符，

and there is not a single note played

演奏家在整整 4 分 33 秒的時間 也不彈任何一個音。

for four minutes and 33 seconds.

And, at once enraging and enrapturing,

（觀眾）在又生氣又著迷的狀態下，

Cage shows us that even when there are no strings

凱吉告訴我們就算琴弦不被彈，

being plucked by fingers or hands hammering piano keys,

鋼琴弦不被敲，

still there is music, still there is music,

音樂還是顯現， 對， 音樂還是顯現。

still there is music.

音樂依舊顯現。

And what is this music?

所以這首裡面的音樂是什麼呢？

It was that sneeze in the back.

在遠處有某人打噴嚏。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

It is the everyday soundscape that arises from the audience themselves:

這首音樂就是觀眾的日常音景：

their coughs, their sighs, their rustles, their whispers, their sneezes,

咳嗽、歎氣、耳語、 打噴嚏、衣服摩擦之聲音，

the room, the wood of the floors and the walls

屋子、木板牆、木頭地板

expanding and contracting, creaking and groaning

因熱脹冷縮發出吱嘎作響的聲音，

with the heat and the cold,

the pipes clanking and contributing.

水管劈劈啪啪也來湊一腳。

And controversial though it was, and even controversial though it remains,

雖然此曲充滿爭議性， 而且一直備受爭議，

Cage's point is that there is no such thing as true silence.

凱奇的觀點就是沒有真正的無聲。

Even in the most silent environments, we still hear and feel the sound

甚至在最無聲的環境中， 我們還是能聽到及感受到

of our own heartbeats.

我們心跳的聲音。

The world is alive with musical expression.

這個世界充滿音樂表達。

We are already immersed.

基本上我們一直沉浸在音樂裡。

Now, I had my own moment of, let's say, remixing John Cage

我自己也有可以說是重混 約翰·凱吉的經驗瞬間。

a couple of months ago

就在幾個月前，

when I was standing in front of the stove cooking lentils.

我站在爐子前煮著扁豆的時候，

And it was late one night and it was time to stir,

那時已經很晚， 可是到了該攪拌的時刻，

so I lifted the lid off the cooking pot,

所以我打開鍋蓋，

and I placed it onto the kitchen counter next to me,

把蓋子放在旁邊的流理台上，

and it started to roll back and forth

蓋子就滾來滾去

making this sound.

發出這種聲音。

(Sound of metal lid clanking against a counter)

（金屬蓋子碰撞流理台的噹啷聲）

(Clanking ends)

（噹啷聲停止）

And it stopped me cold.

我瞬間凍住。

I thought, "What a weird, cool swing that cooking pan lid has."

我想：「蓋子搖擺聲 真是好酷好怪！」

So when the lentils were ready and eaten,

所以在扁豆熟了，也吃完了之後，

I hightailed it to my backyard studio,

我馬上帶著鍋子到後院的錄音房，

and I made this.

錄出來此曲子。

(Music, including the sound of the lid, and singing)

（音樂，包括蓋子聲音及歌聲）

(Music ends)

（音樂停止）

Now, John Cage wasn't instructing musicians

約翰·凱吉沒有意思要告訴音樂家

to mine the soundscape for sonic textures to turn into music.

將任何背景聲音寫成曲子。

He was saying that on its own,

他的意思是，我們周圍環境本身

the environment is musically generative,

已經常常產生聲音，

that it is generous, that it is fertile,

非常多量、豐沛，

that we are already immersed.

我們已經被音樂圍繞著。

Musician, music researcher, surgeon and human hearing expert Charles Limb

音樂家、音樂研究家、 手術醫生及聽力專家查爾斯·理姆

is a professor at Johns Hopkins University

是約翰霍普金斯大學教授，

and he studies music and the brain.

他專長研究音樂及腦部。

And he has a theory

他也定出一個理論，

that it is possible -- it is possible --

指出很可能，非常有可能，

that the human auditory system actually evolved to hear music,

人類聽力系統是為了聽音樂而進化，

because it is so much more complex than it needs to be for language alone.

因為這比聽懂語言 這個簡單目的複雜的多。

And if that's true,

如果這論點是正確的，

it means that we're hard-wired for music,

意思是我們天生就是要聽音樂的，

that we can find it anywhere,

而且我們到處都可以找到音樂，

that there is no such thing as a musical desert,

音樂沙漠是不可能存在的，

that we are permanently hanging out at the oasis,

因為我們一直身在音樂綠洲中。

and that is marvelous.

這真是絕妙。

We can add to the soundtrack, but it's already playing.

我們可以把這些聲音加進創作中， 不過這些已經在演奏了。

And it doesn't mean don't study music.

他不是告訴我們不要學音樂。

Study music, trace your sonic lineages and enjoy that exploration.

還是要學音樂，還是要追溯 你的聲音族譜，並享受這場探險。

But there is a kind of sonic lineage to which we all belong.

可是有一種聲音族譜 是我們都屬於的。

So the next time you are seeking percussion inspiration,

下次你在尋找打擊樂的靈感時，

look no further than your tires, as they roll over the unusual grooves

就近去聽你的車輪在高速公路上

of the freeway,

碾過稀少的凹凸處的聲音；

or the top-right burner of your stove

或者去聽你家右邊的爐頭，

and that strange way that it clicks

在打火點燃時

as it is preparing to light.

發出的卡嗒聲。

When seeking melodic inspiration,

要尋找旋律的靈感時，

look no further than dawn and dusk avian orchestras

就近去聽早晨或傍晚之鳥叫聲，

or to the natural lilt of emphatic language.

或者是強調語音之自然悠揚聲音。

We are the audience and we are the composers

我們是聽眾，也是作曲家，

and we take from these pieces

我們可用現有的聲音資源。

we are given.

We make, we make, we make, we make,

我們創作，創作，一直創作，

knowing that when it comes to nature or language or soundscape,

因為知道大自然或語言或音景

there is no end to the inspiration --

可以帶來永恆靈感，

if we are listening.

只要我們認真聆聽。

Thank you.

感謝大家！

(Applause)

（鼓掌聲）