James: Ohhhhhhh no…
Melissa: What? James: It's happening…
Melissa: What?
James: I'm peeing myself. This guitar is SO good.
[Rossini's Semiramide Overture plays]
Umu: So now you're reacting to Mamamoo's Solar, in a song from her solo project titled "Emotion."
For part 5 of her project, she covered Lee Jung-sun's "Alone People".
Jordan: So, to pay homage to the original artist, you'll be listening to a snippet of his performance first,
and then compare it to Solar's adaptation and new arrangement after. Elizabeth: Okay.
Jordan: The lyrics convey the pain people feel when alone,
and because we don't want to be alone, when we meet others, we don't want to say goodbye.
Aaron: [tiny emotional noises] Jordan: We want to love… to soothe our loneliness.
Aaron: Oh, man!
Fiona: Let's make Aaron cry in 3, 2, 1… [plays song] Aaron: This is a lot…
James: Ooh.
Melissa: This is… James: Is that harmonica? Yeah. Melissa: Yeah.
J: It's nice. M: But one-note harmonica.
Isaac: Ooh!
Kevin: More Bruce Springsteen. Isaac: Seven chords?
M: I love that harmonica.
M: This is like, country music… but like, good country music.
Kevin: Oh, I like that. Oh, augmented.
Henry: This is a hilarious bass sound. But it's like, really classic.
It's… it's brought up SO far in the mix.
Elizabeth: I actually really like his voice.
Aaron: Oh yeah. I love a good string section.
J: Hmm. He has a really interesting…
M: What? J: …tone.
M: Yeah… I love this.
Isaac: [claps along with beat]
Kevin: We'll finish the first chorus. Isaac: [sings along with the song]
K: The strings are an interesting choice. Because they went for a folksy vibe.
I think, if the strings sounded more real…
Ooh, ooh ooh… Nice little… little transition chord.
I: [hums along with song] K: Little modu—… little tremolo… Shostakovich?
J: He has (M: [whispers] Yeah…) a really interesting voice.
M: I like this. J: He almost sounds like smoker.
M: Yeah. Yeah. J: Like, in that kind of like… low, kind of wilty way. I actually really liked it.
No, I really like it. It sounds like a classic. M: Yeah, it sounds so familiar to me, even though (J: Yeah.) I've never heard it before.
I: I don't know, 'cause I watch a lot of vintage… or, older anime.
This reminded me of a few of them, actually. 'Cause they had very slow openings… (K: Mm.) which is kinda…
…kinda rare, nowadays. But it's just like wow… like, the timbre of it's like very raspy, like very…
…in and out. (K: Mm.) And then the way they dish out the phrases, very just like…
…kinda just bounces. In a raspy fashion. Yeah, it's very… very nice. It sets a very… common ethereal mood.
K: Hmm. Yeah, I really like it. I think that his delivery is very special.
And right from the beginning, he like… chooses to go against the rhythm, and do a lot of rubato, and that's really awesome.
I really like the style. It does give me, like, a huge throwback, like, '60s, '70s, '80s stuff. So…
Umu: Okay. Go ahead to Solar's. I: [sings] Mamamoo. Mamamoo.
K: 3, 2, 5. [plays song]
J: Guitar?
Oh, but it's FLAMENCO guitar… M: It's like slide guitar…
M: Slide guitar, with like the [imitates guitar sound] J: Ooh, I love this!
H: Oh, that was just the intro! E: Oh, never mind.
H: [disappointedly] Awww. That was really nice!
H: Oh no. E: Is that a Walkman?
H: It's a reference to the days of old.
F: That's us! A: Yeah.
F: I love Solar.
A: Is that a Walkman? F: Aah. Hipster.
A: Whoa. F: Ooh!
J: Ooh… ooh! That's weird.
Whoa.
H: Ohh. E: That's a…
H: Killer! E: Can we classify that as vibrato?
H: Yeah, it's the… the Rhodes tremolo is going between the channels. E: Oh, is it?
H: Yeah, Fender Rhodes. Oh, baby! (E: Ooh, that's…) That's so cool.
I: Wow…
K: It's kind of in rhythm, too. I: It keeps scrolling back and forth.
J: Hm.
J: That's a beautiful melody. M: Yeah.
J: Well-written melody. M: With cool counter-melody in the background.
E: Ooh, is that like, MIDI brass? H: Mellotron horns. They could… could be real horns.
Bring 'em in in the next verse, not in the first verse? Ooohh… [grunts]
F: This is more modern, like, the sounds are all more homogenous…
It's (A: Yeah.) more like… vocal-heavy, based on the voice.
I: And now we're picking it up!
K: Some crunchy chords.
Yes!
K: [sings snippet of piano part]
F: Ooh! A: Oh! Little minor…
F: That… whoa. A: To the major lift!
A: Love it. F: That was… exciting. Whoa!
J: Ooh…
J: Harmonic minor scales…
M: Whoo… J: We like them.
K: I definitely like the instrumentation more than the original.
The strings felt a little tacky in the original.
K: Ohh.
That's a jazz guitarist, right there.
I: [sings part of bass line]
I: Ooh! Good vibrato.
J: Oooh…
Ohhhhhhh no…
M: What? J: It's happening.
M: What?
J: I'm peeing myself. This guitar is SO good.
It's SO good. (I'm not actually peeing myself.)
Umu & Melissa: [cracking up] J: But it's SO GOOD! Sorry.
I just wasn't ready. I knew it was coming, and it came, and I was like "oh my god!"
M: What, the piss? J: What?
M: The piss, or the slide guitar?
J: Both! J & M: [laughter]
K: Ahh. I: Okay.
K: And her voice is also free, but in a different kinda way.
Not as much rhythm-ly… rhythmically.
Just the dynamics… very free.
H: Another one.
E: The higher you modulate, the more expressive it is. H: That's true.
E: [puts finger to forehead]
K: Oh, I love like… going up to the iii, the mediant. That's so good.
J: Ahhh.
J: [sings snippet of vocal melody]
E: Walking in heels on the beach… you go, girl. That is TOUGH.
A: And she's just letting it out. I'm just like: "sing, girl!"
F: Mm-hm.
F: Though it's still soft.
J: Sustain! …For your life.
Oh!!
M: She still has got more air! J: Oh, and riff!
If you have the air… (M: Yes!) You clearly have the air. M: So much air.
I: [whispered] Yes!
K: Wow…
I: Ooh! Ooh. K: Very cool. And then the panning. I'm glad they didn't overuse the panning
throughout the song. I: Mm.
K: Yeah, it was nice to… open with that, and it's nice to close with that. I: Hm.
I: Ooh.
I: Great.
A: [deep breath]
F: That was nice. A: Ohhh! (F: Oh…) Okay, wait. So… she plays (F: Wait, it's not…) the Walkman,
and then that's the song that's (F: [gasps]) singing, and then… wait, oh my god, it's not over!
F: Okay. A: It's like how…
Music evokes memories, or like…
So… she's, like, sitting at the bus stop, or something, and then puts it in… the tape, in her Walkman,
and then remembers… like, has this flow of memories. And like, this one…
And I think that's what, like, really great loves does to people. (F: Mm-hm.) It's like, you have
all these great memories, and then, like, something kind of, like… triggers that.
And then puts you back into that, like, nostalgic feel. (F: Mm-hm.) And I definitely got that through all the music.
And… wow.
F: I think that's (A: I love that.) well said. And like, she… portrayed that.
Solar like… I liked seeing this soft side of her. A: Yeah.
F: And… her, like, totally being swept away by music. And, um…
That whole idea, of like, being transported to a different time.
I like how, um… it kept the guitar aspect, and it stayed pretty true to the melody, I think, of the older song… uh, the original.
And… I think Solar's version added a little bit more, like, minor zest, (A: Yeah.) if you will.
And that kept it a little interesting and jazzy.
H: Cool. E: That was a… that was actually a really interesting adaptation, because…
The… the original was sort of a bit much, with like, the harmonica. And the… and the, like, strings.
And it did… it felt, just very…
It did feel kind of dated, I think. So… she was really smart, in the way that she, like,
updated the instrumentation.
And I think updated the general, like, aesthetic of it, a little bit.
H: Yeah. E: So it was definitely, like, a… laid-back, sort of…
…like, retro vibe.
H: It used, like, Fender Rhodes, and…
…horn… a cheesy old horn patch, and very simple drums.
And the sort of light, kinda '60s, '70s, R&B guitar.
Like, just playing… scratch, and underneath. Like…
Very simple texture. And it was… modern sounding, but with dated sensibility. (E: Yeah.) And I really liked that.
I: I thought it was very… pleasant, to listen to it, and as Kevin mentioned, there's a…
…beginning motif, which is the pans, left and right of your ears, and then…
It sets up this really calming mood, with the… I think it's, like, chime… no.
What instrument is that?
Umu: Was it the keyboard? K: It's like a synth keyboard (I: Synth keyboard?) sound, that… yeah, it…
…gave a little bit of that percussion-ish, xylophone vibe, (I: Yeah.) or glockenspiel, but it's…
I: It's still synth, right? K: It's a synth keyboard.
I: Man, whenever synth happens, like… the instrumentation just… anything can go.
K: Yeah. It's a "synth-ony!" [cringes at his pun] I: "Synth-ony!" [laughter]
K: I can't believe that's the first time I made that up. (I: Yes!) I feel stupid, like my past self is dying.
Both: [laughter]
I: Uh, this has really nice mood, and the structure of the phrasing, it's like…
Well, your first phrase goes up… and then the last phrase, or the second phrase… falls downwards.
So it's like… it's… it's so basic!
K: Do you think that, um, this version… (I: Mm-hm?) …makes the contours stand out a bit more?
I: Oh, much more! 'Cause I… I felt more of the contour. (K: Mm-hm.) And… well, because…
The way she takes time going up, and also the way she cadences… it's really brought out.
But the other one is… I was more focused on… I think the instrumentation, much more.
Because I think the… the mixing…
I heard more of the instruments there [the original version]. (K: Mm.) This one, it's like,
I heard more of her voice. Which… should be the main focus, until later, she changes to the guitar solo.
K: Well, I think one of them is like a cool jazz piece, which is the latter, the Mamamoo version.
But the… the first version is very much like… the folk singer delivery, where, like…
It's a different type of delivery, like…
Both work, but… the folk singer delivery makes you not think about the contours as much.
As much as you just think about his… the way he's enunciating everything, because…
There's so much more freedom, and it's so… not poppy, like…
There's a lot… there's almost like an overload of, like, information, like…
…he's changing the dynamics, and the way everything sounds, but in the jazz version, everything's a bit more…
…stable. And so the song itself kind of comes out. (I: Yeah.) And at the end of the day, like I said, um…
…when the song was playing… I like the latter version more, but only because I feel like…
The jazz outfit, the instrumental combo, really works. But both are great. It's a great song. I: Yup.
J: Ooof. Okay. M: Wow.
M: Bro… J: Yeah, it was a good… homage.
Another similarity between the two was the conversational tone…
…of the singing. It was very… like, she was full singing, you know, in a lot of places, but there was also some,
like, whispers. It was very conversational, because it… it…
I felt like there was something there. It was really, really heartfelt.
Umu: Hello everyone! I'm Umu, ReacttotheK channel creator, and I'd like to thank you for watching this video.
I really hope you enjoyed, or learned something from it.
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