ICMC/25/d2/1100 Concert n08/02 String Theory, Soaring Dragon
String Theory, Soaring Dragon
- Also extremely cool. Amazing visuals
#Description
- Full Title: <String Theory, Soaring Dragon> Composed for Guqin, Electronic Music, and AI
- String Theory, Soaring Dragon is written for guqin, electronic music, and AI. The inspiration for the work comes from String Theory in theoretical physics, which aims to explain the properties of all fundamental particles and forces through a unified theory and describe physical phenomena in the universe, including quantum mechanics and general relativity. The core idea of String Theory is that fundamental particles are composed of one-dimensional “strings,” with different vibrational modes corresponding to different subatomic particles. The guqin, one of the oldest stringed instruments in Chinese civilization, carries the excellent traditional culture of China and was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2003. The work combines String Theory in physics with the abstract imagery of guqin music in a hyperdimensional manner, creating a unique musical experience. Based on the traditional Chinese guqin piece “Longxiangcao,” the team developed a guqin traditional music dataset and used deep learning technology to train and generate new guqin music. Combined with electronic music and high-precision motion capture technology, the piece integrates human performers playing classical instruments, virtual instruments, and AI-generated guqin music into a multimedia presentation that combines audio-visual synesthesia and interactive sound and image elements. This organic fusion of real and virtual elements paints a future vision of the musical metaverse, showcasing the vitality and creativity of the Chinese nation, known as the “descendants of the dragon,” in the development of the musical metaverse.
- WANG Youdi is the first doctor of guqin performance in China. She graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music and is currently an assistant professor of Guqin performance at the Xi’an Conservatory of Music and the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. She is the only gold medalist in the professional group of the National Guqin Competition in 2009, which is the highest award in the field of guqin performance. In 2021, she received the Outstanding Instructor Award at the Wenhua Award, the highest honor in the field of Guqin teaching. She is also the founder and director of the “Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Guqin Art Week,” which funded by the National Art Fund and supported by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau. In 2022, she performed the Guqin music for the Spring Festival Gala program ” A Tapestry of a Legendary Land.”
#Author #Composer
- Person/Enyang Liu
- LIU Enyang is a doctoral candidate in Electronic Music Composition at the Department of Music Artificial Intelligence and Music Information Technology at the Central Conservatory of Music, supervised by Professor Li Xiaobing. He has long been deeply involved in the research and creation of electronic music, with his works winning awards five times at the Beijing International Electronic Music Festival. In addition to his achievements in electronic music, Liu has extended his creative explorations into various fields, composing a substantial amount of music for film and television, theatrical stage productions, experimental art, pop music, and advertisements. He has participated in the music creation for films directed by renowned directors such as John Woo and Gu Changwei.
- Person/WEI Bing
- Dr. WEI Bing, Associate Professor in the Department of AI Music and Music Information Technology at theCentral Conservatory of Music (CCoM); Executive Committee Member of China Computer Federation (CCF) Computational Art Branch; crossover artist; founder of the “Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Guqin Art Week”, funded by the National Art Fund and supported by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau. Holding dual Ph.D.s from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and CCoM (supervised by President YU Feng and CAE Academician DAI Qionghai), he graduated with B.Eng. and M.Eng. from Tsinghua University, and with career experience at Christie’s and Lévy Gorvy in the fine arts industry. He led the pioneering “AI Shi Pu” project developing AI-driven digitization of Guqin Jian Zi Pu, and created the world’s first AI-generated Guqin piece “Zhu” (2021), featured in CCTV’s documentary “Age of Digital Intelligence” and major academic forums. His digital artworks, including interactive installations, have been exhibited at the Asia Digital Art Exhibition (2021), Guangzhou Cultural Fair (2021), CIFTIS (2023), and Zhongguancun Digital Music Festival (2023).