Wu Fei's Music Daily

I composed this three-track guzheng piece yesterday, inspired by the five and the only flowers on the crabapple tree in my forest (photo below). Crabapple trees usually blossom in early April only for 10-14 days. I do not water it. It has been there for who knows how many years even decades. This fall, for the first time it blossoms in the later summer and early fall with just a few flowers. I tol...

Yesterday, I created my third composition on the valiha - a tube zither from Madagascar. I recorded this piece on two tracks interacting with each other. The valiha is considered the "national instrument" of Madagascar. Thanks to my friends Tasha and David for letting me explore and swim in the glorious sound waves of their valiha. Hope this piece brings you a moment of joy! Wu Fei 吴非 Wufeimusic...

This multitrack prepared guzheng + spoken vocal was composed and recorded, performed by me. A prepared instrument is a string instrument has had its sounds temporarily altered by placing bolts, screws, mutes, rubber erasers, and/or other objects on or between the strings. I used three metal key chain rings on D, A, G strings. The Chinese tongue twister in the piece is: “天上一只鹅，地上一只鹅。鹅...

This multitrack guzheng piece was created and recorded yesterday after spotting a rare fall blossom of the crabapple tree in my front yard (photo below). This is the first time for me to see this tree flowering in later summer / early fall since I moved to this house in Nashville several years ago. Crabapple usually blossom in bright pink in early April for about two weeks. I had to look it up to...

I composed and recorded this three-track guzheng piece yesterday in the middle of a very humid and hot day in Nashville. The inspiration came from seeing a big female tiger swallowtail butterfly in the forest (photo below). They have been coming back every summer, which makes me happy. One interesting fact about living in the forest is that incests and plants don’t always come back every year. Man...

I recorded this two-track guzheng piece yesterday. Both of the tracks were improvised in one long take without any time signature. It was a new approach for overdubbing that I’ve been experimenting. I often end up in a zone that it wasn’t set up intentionally when I laid down the first track. Having an absolute open beginning and zero plan from the moment I sat down in front of my instrument has l...

This solo guzheng piece was recorded yesterday, performed by me. Lately, I have been sorting old family photos over the internet with my relatives in Beijing. I come from a big family from my father’s side. Most of my relatives still live there. The Wu family tree goes back to at least six generations in Beijing. Everyone has been very close. As my uncles and aunts getting older, several of them p...

This three-track guzheng piece was composed and recorded yesterday, performed by me. A month ago, I visited my dear friends in the ancient town of Ondarroa in the Basque Country in northern Spain. The road and the buildings (photo below) have been there for more than 1100 years. My friend’s mother Afra is 89 years old, a costume jewelry designer from Milano who married a Basque sportsman who was a...

Dear all and friends in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the historical trip of the Philadelphia Orchestra to China in 1973, I am honored to perform with the orchestra presenting my work “Hello Gold Mountain 同舟” on September 21, Thursday in Memorial Hall, Chapel Hill, NC presented by Carolina Performing Arts. Second half of the evening is Beethoven Symphony No....

This three-track guzheng composition was created and recorded yesterday, performed by me. I played around with tone colors again on rapid chord plucking patterns. Last month, I was in Rouen, France visiting family members. One of the historical landmarks there is the Rouen Cathedral. As I stepped in the big door, someone was playing Bach on a church pipe organ. The sound was so powerful that my ar...

I had fun creating and recording this 3-track guzheng composition yesterday while it was raining outside in Nashville. Before music was became serious in my childhood, I thought about becoming a scientist. Albert Einstein wished he’d be a musician if he wasn’t a scientist. I would’ve loved to have met him and play silly! Hope it brings you a moment of joy into the weekend! Wu Fei 吴非 Wufeimusic.c...

This composition was composed and recorded on 3-track prepared-guzheng, performed by me. Musical instruments whose timbre has been altered by placing various objects (preparations) on or between the instrument's vibrating strings (or other sound source). In this piece, I used four metal key chain rings to be attached on four different strings - one ring on one string. The sound that may sound like...

I composed and recorded this piece on three-track guzheng yesterday. Most of the pitches are played open string harmonics. It means I lay my left fingers lightly on the strings at the exact half way point of the total length of each strings. And then I use my right hand to pluck the strings to get the pitches that are an octave higher than the actual strings. Playing in such a way not only gives m...

This multitrack guzheng composition was created and recorded yesterday. Last week, I was visiting my cousin and her husband in Rouen, France. They have been living there for more than 30 years. They were thrilled to have family members to visit them from overseas since we are all scattered around the world living in different continents. They took us all over the place to see local sights. One was...

This multitrack guzheng piece was composed and recorded yesterday, inspired by my a zither made by my friend Xabier Irinodo, an Italian musician and instrument inventor. In 2006, I played at Xabier’s music shop called Sound Metak in central Milano. That was my first time seeing this zither (photo below) made by him. Two weeks ago, I stayed with Xabier’s family in their holiday home in Mendexa in t...

Dear all, I have finally returned home in Nashville, Tennessee. Thank you for your patience. My holiday was extended by three extra days by the cancellation (Air Canada) of my return flight from Montréal to Nashville that was supposed to bring me home last Saturday. My family and I were stuck in Montréal until Tuesday. However, we were lucky to turn the stressful situation into another holiday in...

This solo guzheng improvisation was recorded yesterday after a couple of days of stormy and steamy weather in Nashville. I had no power for a whole night because of the strong wind and rain on Friday. The city was extremely quiet and calm after the storm knocked out the power. I was surprised how many noises were in the house when the electricity was on all the time. When I sat down to record this...

This guzheng waltz was composed and recorded yesterday, named after a humming bird drinking in the feeder in front of my window (photo below). What an amazing creature it is! I heard the sound of its wings flapping which intrigued me to imitate the sound from my fingers’ plucking. Hope this piece brings you fun energy into your weekend! Wu Fei 吴非 Wufeimusic.com This is a public episode. If you'd...

This night song was composed and recorded on two-track guzheng yesterday. I used the form of a baroque minuet as an intro in the piece. A minuet is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in 3/4 time. The English word was adapted from the Italian minuetto and the French menuet . The term also describes the musical form that accompanies the dance, which subsequently developed more f...

Dear all, A childhood dream is coming true for me: The Philadelphia Orchestra will perform my symphony orchestral composition Hello Gold Mountain 同舟, presented by Carolina Performing Arts featuring me on guzheng/voice and oud master Shanir Blumenkranz (Silk Road Ensemble). Time : September 21, 19:00pm Venue: Memorial Hall, UNC Chapel Hill, North Carolina Hello Gold Mountain is inspired by real s...

This composition was created and recorded yesterday on two-track guzheng, inspired by the wild potato vine (photo below). They are blossoming on the hills near my home in Nashville. Yesterday was Father’s Day. What a wonderful coincidence that a nickname of the plant is called Man of the Earth! Happy Father’s Day! Wu Fei 吴非 Wufeimusic.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this w...

This guzheng + vocal improvisation was recorded yesterday inspired by a live streaming music salon I watched. I got up early yesterday morning to watch this rare live event that was held in Beijing (Nashville is 13 hours behind Beijing). Muqam master Yiliham Reyim, from Yarkant County of Xinjiang, gave a two-hour music performance and Q & A, presented by China Digital Traditional Music 中国音网 ,...

This piece was composed and recorded yesterday dedicating to the millions of high school seniors who are taking the national college entrance exam 高考 at this very moment in China. Every year, in the first week of June, the biggest and most intense exams on earth take place in China for three days. This exam will determine millions of young people’s future in the most dramatic way. I just found o...

Every year on this day, I think of my hometown Beijing with a heavy heart. A group of mothers lost their teenage children in a horrific event on this day thirty four years ago in my hometown. I was still a kid. Now as a mother, I created this piece as if playing my child’s favorite song to put him to sleep. The melodic element from the beginning is typical intonation of traditional story telling a...

Summer is here! A big storm just hailed down in the forest right before I started to warm up for this recording. The sun was still out beaming while the rain poured down. I was inspired instantly by this natural phenomena and improvised this track in one go. Hope it brings you a moment of high energy into your adventurous weekend! Wu Fei 吴非 Wufeimusic.com This is a public episode. If you'd like...