Traditional Korean music is looking for ways to reach out to the world --- by innovative
musicians bold enough to take a new venture.
Korean bands and foreign musicians...
Korean traditional instruments and western ones playing classical tunes.
It's a collaboration to create a completely new genre - our culture spot tonight with
Lee Minyoung.
Part of the greatness of music is how it brings human beings together...
regardless of race, age or even culture.
That's how it is that the sounds we call "Asian"... blend into the musical fabric of other, very
different cultures.
"First time, it was eleven years ago in a festival in Australia.
We were in the same program with Dulsori.
And we were very impressed by their rhythmic sound.
After eleven years, we decided to do something together with the music of Dulsori and the
sound of Lojo."
Lo'Jo is a French band that performs world music.
They combine sounds from all around the globe, including Western folk music, gypsy tunes
as well as North African.
Now they've added Asian elements to their recipe.
This is Lo'Jo's second collaboration with Dulsori, a South Korean band that performs
various kinds of Korean traditional music.
Though they're from completely different cultures, there's no need to analyze...
just listen and feel.
"I didn't feel that the two types of music were different.
Their performance was primitive and rough.
More like nature itself.
I felt like dancing around naked."
"You may wonder how Korean traditional musical instruments can stay in tune with Western
instruments.
I came here to see for myself how these two different kinds of music can blend into each
other."
Noreum Machi is a Korean group that performs the Korean traditional percussion music known
as samulnori, which has its roots in ritualistic chants or shamanism.
Next to them is Synergy Percussion, a leading musical powerhouse from Australia.
They're practicing for a collaborative performance slated for the 16th of October.
There was the wooden moktak used for Buddhist chants, metal instruments like the jing and
the Korean traditional janggu drum.
On the other side, I could see full drum kits with the bass drum, snare, hi-hat and the
marimba.
It's a strange combination, but it has it's own unique vibe.
"I'll show you how Timothy gets familiar with Korean traditional music -- by playing the
sound most familiar to him,... a piece by Bach."
"... so that sort of mitigates some of the difference in the sound, because janggu can
be really loud.
But as we hear in this piece, it can also be really soft and play a supporting role,
so that really brings these instruments together very nicely and, yeah, it's very fun to play."
It may have taken some time to get used to the sound of each other's instruments, but
they've done an outstanding job,... creating a new work of art by blurring the boundaries
of music.
"I see that the essence of the globalization of music and culture lies in interaction -- how
different kinds of music can easily fuse into each other.
The absence of interaction can create uniqueness, but the music may lack universality.
I hope we can get to know each other better through continuous interaction."
As he said, the root -- that is, the traditions long preserved by our ancestors -- should
be the very core.
But like trees growing new branches and sprouting new leaves,... embracing change takes us a
step further.... and offers greater novelty to the world.
Lee Minyoung, Arirang News.