VOA标准英语2015--音乐与技术的融合——佐伊·基廷

 

Zoe Keating: A Symphony Unto Herself 音乐与技术的融合——佐伊·基廷

NEW YORK—

Avant garde cellist¹ Zoe Keating has a unique sound fusing music with technology. The musical artist performed her work at the SubCulture club in New York City and wowed .

Zoe Keating is a talented and engaging musician.

Originally from northern California, Keating struggled to overcome a performer’s nightmare.    

“I really wanted to be a classical cellist and I had one big problem, which was that I had terrible, terrible, terrible stage fright. Whenever I would perform in front of someone I would just totally fall to pieces and my hands would shake, I’d drop the bow," said Keating with a laugh.

Keating realized her problem only happened when she played classical music. When she improvised², or played in a rock band, her stage fright disappeared.

Cello³, Apple

Before performing full-time⁴, she earned her living as a computer programmer -- a skill she used to create a musical repertoire⁵ that is technologically⁶ integrated. She produces a symphony of sounds with just one instrument, her cello, and an Apple computer.  

“What I do is take a layer of cello, play it, record it, play another layer, play another layer, play another layer and then I use my feet to control the computer to play those layers back at different times," she said. "Or play them backwards⁷, or chop them up and do it all on the fly on stage.

"My feet are usually tapping a pedal, I have a mini-controller on the right hand side and the mini-controller sends different commands to the computer -- all the things you might normally do with your hands on the computer. So I think technology  has really allowed my music to happen. Without it, I wouldn’t have had these tools to create it," said Keating.

Critical, commercial success

Keating’s music has been used on TV and movies soundtracks, like the TV hit "Breaking Bad," and the film "The Secret Life of Bees." Less structured are her improvisation⁸ and composition for live audiences. They love it and her.  

“I think she’s an incredible innovator⁹ and she’s using a classical format¹⁰, but in her own unique way and her compositions are very compelling,” said fan Paulette Myers Rich.

“I love cello to begin with and when I heard her music and her rendering¹¹ I was like fascinated.  I couldn’t believe she does everything,” said Natalia Tabares.

Another concert goer,  Craig Bundy, said, “She is a musician that’s brilliant. And then someone who understands the technology in a way a lot of people never actually achieve.”

And it all began when Keating was just eight years old and her music teacher picked her to play the cello -- because she was the tallest kid in the class. Now, Keating is reaching musical heights undreamed of when she was a child and had no idea what a cello was. 

1 cellist   

n.大提琴手

参考例句：

• The cellist's bowing was very sensitive . 那位大提琴手的弓法十分细腻。 来自辞典例句
• World-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma founded The Silk Road Project in 1998. 世界闻名的大提琴家马友友于1998年创建了丝路工程。 来自互联网

2 improvised   

a.即席而作的,即兴的

参考例句：

• He improvised a song about the football team's victory. 他即席创作了一首足球队胜利之歌。
• We improvised a tent out of two blankets and some long poles. 我们用两条毛毯和几根长竿搭成一个临时帐蓬。

3 cello   

n.大提琴

参考例句：

• The cello is a member of the violin family.大提琴是提琴家族的一员。
• She plays a melodious cello.她拉着一手悦耳的大提琴。

4 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

5 repertoire   

n.(准备好演出的)节目，保留剧目；(计算机的)指令表，指令系统， <美>(某个人的)全部技能；清单，指令表

参考例句：

• There is an extensive repertoire of music written for the flute.有很多供长笛演奏的曲目。
• He has added considerably to his piano repertoire.他的钢琴演奏曲目大大增加了。

6 technologically   

ad.技术上地

参考例句：

• Shanghai is a technologically advanced city. 上海是中国的一个技术先进的城市。
• Many senior managers are technologically illiterate. 许多高级经理都对技术知之甚少。

7 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

8 improvisation   

n.即席演奏(或演唱)；即兴创作

参考例句：

• a free-form jazz improvisation 自由创作的爵士乐即兴演出
• Most of their music was spontaneous improvisation. 他们的大部分音乐作品都是即兴创作的。

9 innovator   

n.改革者；创新者

参考例句：

• The young technical innovator didn't lose heart though the new system was not yet brought into a workable condition. 尽管这种新方法尚未达到切实可行的状况，这位青年技术革新者也没有泄气。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Caesar planned vast projects and emerged as a great innovator. 恺撒制定了庞大的革新计划。 来自英汉非文学 - 文明史

10 format   

n.设计，版式；[计算机]格式，DOS命令:格式化(磁盘)，用于空盘或使用过的磁盘建立新空盘来存储数据；v.使格式化，设计，安排

参考例句：

• Please format this floppy disc.请将这张软盘格式化。
• The format of the figure is very tasteful.该图表的格式很雅致。

11 rendering   

n.表现，描写

参考例句：

• She gave a splendid rendering of Beethoven's piano sonata.她精彩地演奏了贝多芬的钢琴奏鸣曲。
• His narrative is a super rendering of dialect speech and idiom.他的叙述是方言和土语最成功的运用。