How I found myself through music | Anika Paulson

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: NAN-KUN WU

The philosopher Plato once said,

哲學家柏拉圖說：

"Music gives a soul to the universe,

「音樂給予宇宙一個靈魂、

wings to the mind,

給予心靈一對翅膀、

flight to the imagination

給予想像飛翔的能力、

and life to everything."

給予萬物生命。」

Music has always been a big part of my life.

音樂一直是我人生中 很重要的一部份。

To create and to perform music

創造和表演音樂，

connects you to people countries and lifetimes away.

能將你與不同國家、 不同時代的人們連結。

It connects you to the people you're playing with,

它能將你與一同演出的人連結、

to your audience

與你的觀眾連結、

and to yourself.

與你自己連結。

When I'm happy, when I'm sad,

當我開心時、當我悲傷時、

when I'm bored, when I'm stressed,

當我無聊時、當我有壓力時，

I listen to and I create music.

我會聽音樂、創作音樂。

When I was younger, I played piano;

比較年輕時，我彈鋼琴；

later, I took up guitar.

後來，我喜歡上吉它。

And as I started high school,

當我進入高中時，

music became a part of my identity.

音樂成了我身份的一部份。

I was in every band,

我隸屬每個樂團，

I was involved with every musical fine arts event.

我參與每個音樂藝術活動。

Music surrounded me.

音樂圍繞著我。

It made me who I was,

它造成了那時的我，

and it gave me a place to belong.

它給了我一個歸屬。

Now, I've always had this thing with rhythms.

我向來都對節奏很感興趣。

I remember being young,

我記得年輕時，

I would walk down the hallways of my school

我會走在學校裡的走廊上，

and I would tap rhythms to myself on my leg with my hands,

我會用我的手拍大腿來打拍子，

or tapping my teeth.

或輕敲我的牙齒。

It was a nervous habit,

那是種緊張時的習慣動作，

and I was always nervous.

而我總是很緊張。

I think I liked the repetition of the rhythm --

我想，我喜歡節奏的重覆性──

it was calming.

它能讓人平靜下來。

Then in high school,

在高中，

I started music theory,

我開始修音樂理論，

and it was the best class I've ever taken.

那是我上過最棒的課。

We were learning about music --

我們學習音樂相關的內容──

things I didn't know, like theory and history.

我不知道的東西，像理論和歷史。

It was a class where we basically just listened to a song,

在那堂課，基本上 我們就只是聽一首歌，

talked about what it meant to us

談論它對我們的意義，

and analyzed it,

並分析它，

and figured out what made it tick.

找出是什麼讓它能起作用。

Every Wednesday, we did something called "rhythmic dictation,"

每週三，我們會做 所謂的「節奏聽寫」，

and I was pretty good at it.

這是我很擅長的。

Our teacher would give us an amount of measures

我們的老師會給我們很多小節，

and a time signature,

和一個拍子記號，

and then he would speak a rhythm to us

接著他會對我們說一個節奏，

and we would have to write it down with the proper rests and notes.

我們得用適當的休止符 與音符把它寫下來。

Like this:

像這樣：

ta ta tuck-a tuck-a ta,

答、答、答卡答卡、答，

ta tuck-a-tuck-a-tuck-a, tuck-a.

答、答卡答卡答卡、答卡。

And I loved it.

我很愛做這練習。

The simplicity of the rhythm --

節奏的簡明──

a basic two- to four- measure line --

基本的二到四小節線──

and yet each of them almost told a story,

但它們又幾乎各自說自己的故事，

like they had so much potential,

好像它們如此有潛力，

and all you had to do was add a melody.

你需要做的，只是加上旋律。

(Guitar)

（吉它）

Rhythms set a foundation for melodies and harmonies to play on top of.

節奏為加在上面的 旋律及和聲奠定了基礎。

It gives structure and stability.

它提供了結構和穩定性。

Now, music has these parts --

音樂有這些組成成份：

rhythm, melody and harmony --

節奏、旋律、和聲，

just like our lives.

就像我們的人生一樣。

Where music has rhythm,

音樂有節奏，

we have routines and habits --

而我們有慣例和習慣，

things that help us to remember what to do and to stay on track,

這些事項協助我們記住 要做什麼、並順著軌道走，

and to just keep going.

就一直走下去。

And you may not notice it,

你可能不會注意到它，

but it's always there.

但它總是在那裡。

(Guitar)

（吉它）

And it may seem simple,

它可能看似很簡單，

it may seem dull by itself,

單獨看它可能覺得很乏味，

but it gives tempo and heartbeat.

但它能給予拍子與心跳。

And then things in your life add on to it,

你人生中的事物接著被加在上面，

giving texture --

產生了織體──

that's your friends and your family,

也就是你的朋友和家人，

and anything that creates a harmonic structure in your life

以及任何在你的人生中、 你的歌曲中，

and in your song,

創造出和諧結構的事物，

like harmonies,

就像和聲、

cadences

終止式、

and anything that makes it polyphonic.

任何讓它複音的東西。

And they create beautiful chords and patterns.

它們會創造出美麗的 和弦和節奏模式。

(Guitar)

（吉它）

And then there's you.

接著，還有你。

You play on top of everything else,

你在所有事物之上演奏，

on top of the rhythms and the beat

在節奏與拍子上演奏，

because you're the melody.

因為你就是旋律。

And things may change and develop,

事物可能會改變、會發展，

but no matter what we do,

但不論我們做什麼，

we're still the same people.

我們還是同樣的人。

Throughout a song melodies develop,

一整首歌曲中，旋律會發展下去，

but it's still the same song.

但它仍然是同一首歌。

No matter what you do,

不論你做什麼，

the rhythms are still there:

節奏仍然在那裡：

the tempo and the heartbeat ...

拍子，以及心跳……

until I left,

直到我離開，

and I went to college

我去上大學，

and everything disappeared.

一切都不見了。

When I first arrived at university,

當我初次到達大學，

I felt lost.

我覺得很迷失。

And don't get me wrong -- sometimes I loved it and it was great,

別誤會我──有時 我很愛大學，它很棒，

but other times,

但其他時候，

I felt like I had been left alone

我覺得我被丟下，

to fend for myself.

完全靠自己。

It's like I had been taken out of my natural environment,

就像是我被帶出了我的自然環境，

and put somewhere new,

放到一個新地方，

where the rhythms and the harmonies

在那裡，節奏與和聲，

and the form had gone away,

以及形式都不在了，

and it was just me --

只有我──

(Guitar)

（吉它）

silence and my melody.

寂靜，以及我的旋律。

And even that began to waver,

但就連那些也開始搖擺，

because I didn't know what I was doing.

因為我不知道我在做什麼。

I didn't have any chords to structure myself,

我沒有任何和弦可以構建出我自己、

or a rhythm

或是一個節奏、

or a beat to know the tempo.

或一個拍子，來讓我知道節拍。

(Guitar)

（吉它）

And then I began to hear all these other sounds.

接著我開始聽見其他的聲音。

(Guitar)

（吉它）

And they were off-time

它們的時間不準、

and off-key.

音調不準。

And the more I was around them,

我越是在它們的附近，

the more my melody started to sound like theirs.

我的旋律聽起來就越來越像它們的。

And slowly I began to lose myself,

慢慢地，我開始失去我自己，

like I was being washed away.

好像我被沖走了。

But then the next moment --

但，下一刻──

(Guitar)

（吉它）

I could hear it.

我能聽到它了。

And I could feel it.

我能感覺到它了。

And it was me.

它就是我。

And I was here.

而我在這裡。

And it was different,

它很不同，

but not worse off.

但不是每況愈下，

Just changed a little.

只是稍稍改變。

Music is my way of coping with the changes in my life.

音樂是我用來應對人生改變的方式。

There's a beautiful connection between music and life.

音樂與人生之間，有著美麗的連結。

It can bind us to reality

它將我們與現實結合，

at the same time it allows us to escape it.

同時又允許我們逃離現實。

Music is something that lives inside of you.

音樂是存在於你的內在的。

You create it and you're created by it.

你創造它，你被它創造。

Our lives are not only conducted by music,

音樂不只是扮演我們人生中的指揮，

they're also composed of it.

也是我們人生的作曲家。

So this may seem like a bit of a stretch,

這或許聽起來有些誇張，

but hear me out:

但聽我說完：

music is a fundamental part of what we are

音樂是我們、及我們週遭一切，

and of everything around us.

根本的一部份。

Now, music is my passion,

現在，音樂是我的熱情，

but physics also used to be an interest of mine.

但過去，物理也曾是我的興趣。

And the more I learned,

我學習越多，

the more I saw connections between the two --

我就越能看見兩者見的連結──

especially regarding string theory.

特別是關於弦理論。

I know this is only one of many theories,

我知道它只是許多理論之一，

but it spoke to me.

但它會對我說話。

So, one aspect of string theory, at its simplest form, is this:

所以，弦理論的一個面向， 最簡單的形式就是這個：

matter is made up of atoms,

物質是由原子構成，

which are made up of protons and neutrons and electrons,

原子是由質子、中子、電子構成，

which are made up of quark.

這些又是由夸克構成的。

And here's where the string part comes in.

這就是和弦有關的部份了。

This quark is supposedly made up of little coiled strings,

夸克應該是由小小的、 盤繞的弦所構成，

and it's the vibrations of these strings that make everything what it is.

是這些弦的振動，構成萬物的本質。

Michio Kaku once explained this

加來道雄曾經在一場叫做

in a lecture called, "The Universe in a Nutshell,"

「深入淺出談宇宙」的演講中， 解釋過這一點，

where he says,

那場演說中，他說：

"String theory is the simple idea

「弦理論是個很簡單的想法，

that the four forces of the universe --

宇宙的四股力量──

gravity, the electromagnetic force, and the two strong forces --

引力、電磁力、和兩股強核力──

can be viewed as music.

可以被視為是音樂。

The music of tiny little rubber bands."

小小橡皮圈的音樂。」

In this lecture, he goes on to explain physics

在這場演說中，他接著解釋，

as the laws of harmony between these strings;

物理就是這些弦之間的和諧定律；

chemistry, as the melodies you can play on these strings;

化學就是你可以用這些弦 來彈奏的旋律；

and he states that the universe is a "symphony of strings."

他說，宇宙是「弦的交響樂」。

These strings dictate the universe;

這些弦支配著宇宙；

they make up everything we see and everything we know.

它們組成我們所見、所知的一切。

They're musical notes,

它們是音符，

but they make us what we are and they hold us together.

但它們造成了我們， 讓我們能連結在一起。

So you see,

所以，

everything is music.

一切都是音樂。

(Guitar)

（吉它）

When I look at the world,

當我看向這個世界，

I see music all around us.

我看到我們身邊都是音樂。

When I look at myself,

當我看向我自己，

I see music.

我看到音樂。

And my life has been defined by music.

我的人生被音樂給定義。

I found myself through music.

我透過音樂找到我自己。

Music is everywhere,

音樂無所不在，

and it is in everything.

它在萬物當中。

And it changes and it builds

它會改變，它會建造，

and it diminishes.

它會縮減。

But it's always there,

但它永遠都在那裡，

supporting us,

支持著我們，

connecting us to each other

將我們彼此連結在一起，

and showing us the beauty of the universe.

讓我們看見宇宙之美。

So if you ever feel lost,

所以如果你感到迷失，

stop and listen for your song.

停下來，注意聽聽你的歌曲。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）