Thunder.
July 21, 2022 6:24 AM   Subscribe

Hear Thunderstruck by AC/DC on a guzheng

What is a guzheng?

"Guzheng is the romanization of 古箏. 古 (gǔ) means old or ancient. 筝 (zhēng) refers to a zither-type instrument, something with strings stretched between two bridges. The two together, "guzheng", means a zither with fixed bridges on both ends and moveable bridges in the center."

It has a rich history and of recent years has started making a comeback.

Previously on the blue covered on a gayageum, which also rocks.

More guzheng tunes here, here, here

And more unique Thunderstruck covers here, here, here, some of these posted previously on the blue.
posted by glaucon (15 comments total) 22 users marked this as a favorite
 
The percussive effects were especially satisfying. But did I miss a rationale for the outfit? Costume? It could be an AC/DC nod or like a harness of some kind.

Fun and rich, thanks for this.
posted by abulafa at 6:28 AM on July 21, 2022 [3 favorites]


The artist always performs masked, and seems to change their outfit according to the tune.

There are more covers of western songs, and lots of traditional music, in Moyun's channel; exploration will be rewarded.
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:48 AM on July 21, 2022 [2 favorites]


"I don't believe in multi-track. I am the multi-track."
posted by clawsoon at 7:41 AM on July 21, 2022 [5 favorites]


I love the guzheng! The guzheng tag on Bandcamp yields some neat results. My personal favorites as of late are Jarrelle Barton's Zheng, Erica Dee Mah's The Sargasso Season, and the self-titled album by River Full of Fruit.
posted by heteronym at 7:48 AM on July 21, 2022 [2 favorites]


This artist is wonderful--thank you for introducing me to her work!
posted by indexy at 7:52 AM on July 21, 2022 [3 favorites]


What is she adjusting with the tool I the first part?
posted by signal at 8:24 AM on July 21, 2022


Ancient Chinese whammy bar, @signal!
posted by spacewrench at 8:26 AM on July 21, 2022 [3 favorites]


signal, I think that's a tuning wrench. She's using it like a guitar's whammy bar to provide a lowered-pitch vibrato on that one string since pressing on the strings on the other side of the bridges can only do a raised-pitch vibrato. (on preview: spacewrench, jinx!)
posted by indexy at 8:29 AM on July 21, 2022 [2 favorites]


Doh, of course!
posted by signal at 8:30 AM on July 21, 2022


What a terrific find! It had me expecially excited because just yesterday I was watching guitar youtuber Rob Scallon learn about about the koto, which seems to share some zitherlike DNA with the guzheng and gayageum. The video is one of many where Scallon meets talented musicians to enthusiastically nerd about about unusual (to him/his typical audience) instruments; I'd love to see him or someone similar sit down down with Moyun. But glaucon's links are more than enough to get me started!
posted by col_pogo at 8:39 AM on July 21, 2022


I love this.

I mean, for accaddacca it's (IMNSHO) a crap tune, but it fits so nicely with the "I will do your whole band with two hands" thing.
posted by pompomtom at 8:49 AM on July 21, 2022


That got me banging my head, or at least nodding. Nice find, thanks for posting!
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 8:51 AM on July 21, 2022


(also fascinated by the mask. I wonder if I could get something N95 that presents "oldish white guy with ginger goatee")
posted by pompomtom at 8:52 AM on July 21, 2022


Ancient Chinese whammy bar, @signal!
posted by spacewrench at 8:26 AM on July 21 [1 favorite +] [!]


is...is this where I say "eponysterical"?
posted by adekllny at 9:37 AM on July 21, 2022 [10 favorites]


Deform from within
By Wu Na is a very cool album of you like these asian zither style instruments. Very different in mood, it's also a great headphone listen. Something that would fit in very nicely in Eno's old Ambient series
posted by MikeHoegeman at 2:25 PM on July 21, 2022 [1 favorite]


« Older “Have you ever wondered what happens to the things...   |   The 50 Greatest Fictional Deaths of All Time Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments