缺陷吉他手的安比拉樂(lè)章
一位美國(guó)吉他手罹患了特發(fā)性震顫障礙后,他賴(lài)以謀生的吉他生涯不幸地被劃上了句號(hào)。然而命運(yùn)給他關(guān)上了一扇門(mén),音樂(lè)卻奇跡般地為他打開(kāi)了一扇窗……
Track 7
by Joel Rose
翻譯:寒星
文字難度·
Robert Siegel (Host): Imagine if your hands shook so badly that you couldn’t even lift a glass of water. The condition can be1)devastating if you’re a musician, and that was almost the case for guitarist Richard Crandell.
Joel Rose (Reporter): Richard Crandell started playing guitar when he was a kid.
(Soundbite of acoustic guitar music)
Rose: For Crandell, it was a2)revelation.
Richard Crandell: With an3)acoustic guitar, you could create a whole4)orchestra. In other words, I could play these solo pieces that sounded fine just the way they were.
(Soundbite of acoustic guitar music)
Rose: In the early 1970s, Crandell left his job and his marriage in Buffalo注1, New York. He moved to the West Coast and started writing songs of his own.
(Soundbite of acoustic guitar music)
Rose: Crandell5)went on to record half a dozen albums; one of his tunes was even recorded by his idol, Leo Kottke, but Crandell never achieved Kottke’s level of fame. And these days, the guitar seems to cause him more frustration than joy.
1) devastating ['dev?ste?t??] adj. 毀滅性的,使荒廢的
2) revelation [rev?'le???n] n. 顯露,啟示
3) acoustic [?'ku?st?k] adj. 原聲的,非電聲的
4) orchestra ['??k?str?] n. 管弦樂(lè)隊(duì),交響樂(lè)團(tuán)
5) go on to 接著做……
注1:布法羅,又譯水牛城,美國(guó)紐約州西部港口城市,位于美加邊界上伊利湖的最東岸。
Crandell: If my life depended on it and I had to play the dance section of “Be Good or Be Gone,” this is how it would come out. (Soundbite of misplayed notes) I can’t play it.
Rose: Richard Crandell was6)diagnosed six years ago with essential tremor注27)disorder. His hands shake when he tries to write, use a computer, or play difficult passages on the guitar. It was around this time that Crandell got a job offer—a local concert8)promoter asked Crandell to drive a tour bus for9)Afropop star Thomas Mapfumo and his band. But Crandell had never driven a bus before.
Crandell: I was10)petrified because I was responsible for the lives of 14 Africans. I was not11)mechanical, I had a terrible sense of direction, but they trusted me.
Rose: Crandell successfully12)piloted the tour bus from Oregon注3to Alabama注4and back.
Crandell: They had totally cleaned out the bus. I looked under one of the seats and there was—I found this mbira. And I said, oh, what’s this?
Rose: The mbira is a traditional thumb piano from Africa. Crandell’s comes from Zimbabwe. It’s a flat piece of wood that he holds in his hands, with a row of metal13)strips across the top that he plays with his thumbs.
(Soundbite of mbira music)
Rose: To his surprise, Crandell discovered that his hands don’t shake when he plays it.
Crandell: I didn’t say, oh, I’ve got essential tremor; I better start playing mbira. I just like the sound of it.
Rose: Crandell taught himself how to tune and play the mbira. (Soundbite of mbira music) Crandell’s songs caught the ear of the14)saxophonist,15)composer and producer John Zorn. In 2004, Zorn brought Crandell to the East Coast to record. He16)recruited Brazilian-born Cyro Baptista to join Crandell in the studio. (Soundbite of mbira music) Baptista and Crandell made two records together. They’ve gotten strong reviews and even made a few17)critics’ top-10 lists.
Crandell: I’m grateful to have my little mbira. It18)turns out that I’ve gotten more attention on that than I ever got on the guitar. My19)mission at this point is to calm the world with this music because it seems to be so20)soothing.
安比拉琴(mbira)廣泛見(jiàn)于非洲各地,又名Kalimba、Sanza、Kangombio、Leekembay或thumb piano。它是津巴布韋人民最喜愛(ài)的樂(lè)器之一。在20世紀(jì)30年代,這種樂(lè)器瀕臨絕跡,但在六七十年代重見(jiàn)天日,并受到西方國(guó)家人們的歡迎。安比拉琴采用22~28根長(zhǎng)短不一的彈性金屬條排列成一排或兩排作為發(fā)聲體,下面采用木頭或葫蘆瓜作為共鳴箱。演奏時(shí)用兩手拿著琴體,兩只大拇指按壓金屬條彈奏。
6) diagnose ['da??gn??z] v. 診斷
7) disorder [d?s'??d?] n.(身心機(jī)能的)失調(diào),紊亂
8) promoter [pr?'m??t?] n. 組織者,推銷(xiāo)者
9) Afropop ['?fr??p?p] n. 非洲流行音樂(lè)
10) petrified ['petr?fa?d] adj. 嚇呆了的
11) mechanical [m?'k?n?k?l] adj. 機(jī)械的
12) pilot ['pa?l?t] v. 駕駛
13) strip [str?p] n. 條片,條帶
14) saxophonist ['s?ks?f??n?st] n. 薩克斯管吹奏者
15) composer [k?m'p??z?] n. 作曲家
16) recruit [r?'kru?t] v. 招募
17) critic ['kr?t?k] n. 評(píng)論家
18) turn out 結(jié)果是……
19) mission ['m???n] n. 使命,任務(wù)
20) soothing ['su?e??] adj. 撫慰的,使人寬心的
注2:常見(jiàn)的運(yùn)動(dòng)障礙性疾病,震顫主要見(jiàn)于手和頭部,其次見(jiàn)于四肢等其他部位。
注3:俄勒岡,美國(guó)西北部、太平洋西北沿岸的一個(gè)州。
注4:阿拉巴馬,美國(guó)東南部的一個(gè)州。
參考譯文
羅伯特·西格爾(主持人):想象一下你的雙手抖得拿不起一杯水。如果你是一名音樂(lè)人,這樣的情況可能是毀滅性的,而這幾乎正是吉他手理查德·克蘭德?tīng)柕脑庥觥?/p>
喬爾·羅斯(記者):理查德·克蘭德?tīng)枏男【烷_(kāi)始玩吉他。
(木吉他音樂(lè)片段)
羅斯:對(duì)于克蘭德?tīng)杹?lái)說(shuō),這是天賦的展露。
理查德·克蘭德?tīng)枺褐灰话涯炯?,你就能營(yíng)造出一整個(gè)管弦樂(lè)隊(duì)的感覺(jué)。換言之,我可以獨(dú)奏這些作品,和管弦樂(lè)隊(duì)演奏的效果相比毫不遜色。
(木吉他音樂(lè)片段)
羅斯:上世紀(jì)70年代初期,克蘭德?tīng)柗艞壛嗽诩~約州水牛城的工作和婚姻,移居到了西海岸,開(kāi)始創(chuàng)作自己的歌曲。
(木吉他音樂(lè)片段)
羅斯:接下來(lái)克蘭德?tīng)栦浿屏肆鶑垖?zhuān)輯。他其中的一首曲子甚至被他的偶像利奧·科特基翻錄,然而克蘭德?tīng)柌辉@得科特基那般的名聲。而如今,吉他給他帶來(lái)的挫敗感似乎遠(yuǎn)大于快樂(lè)。
克蘭德?tīng)枺喝绻倚枰克S持生計(jì),我就不得不演奏《不乖就走開(kāi)》的舞蹈樂(lè)段,結(jié)果就會(huì)是這樣。(彈錯(cuò)的樂(lè)調(diào)聲片段)我彈不了。
羅斯:六年前,理查德·克蘭德?tīng)柋淮_診罹患特發(fā)性震顫障礙。每逢書(shū)寫(xiě)、使用電腦或者演奏復(fù)雜的吉他樂(lè)章時(shí),他的雙手就會(huì)發(fā)抖。大約就在確診這個(gè)疾病時(shí),他獲得了一個(gè)工作機(jī)會(huì)——當(dāng)?shù)匾粋€(gè)演唱會(huì)的承辦方請(qǐng)他為非洲流行音樂(lè)明星托馬斯·馬普福莫及其樂(lè)隊(duì)開(kāi)巡演巴士。但克蘭德?tīng)栆郧皬奈撮_(kāi)過(guò)巴士。
克蘭德?tīng)枺何耶?dāng)時(shí)嚇呆了,因?yàn)槲乙?fù)責(zé)14位非洲人士的生命安全。我不懂機(jī)械知識(shí),方向感也很糟糕,但他們信任我。
羅斯:克蘭德?tīng)柍晒Φ貙⒀惭蒈?chē)從俄勒岡州開(kāi)到了阿拉巴馬州,并安全返回。
克蘭德?tīng)枺海ɑ貋?lái)后)他們徹底清掃了那輛車(chē)。我在其中一個(gè)座位下面看到了它——我找到了這把安比拉琴。我說(shuō),哦,這是什么?
羅斯:安比拉琴是非洲一種傳統(tǒng)的拇指鋼琴??颂m德?tīng)柕倪@把安比拉琴來(lái)自津巴布韋。它是一塊可以讓他握在手里的平板木頭,上方分布著一排金屬條狀按鍵,可以用雙手拇指彈奏。
(安比拉琴音樂(lè)片段)
羅斯:克蘭德?tīng)栿@訝地發(fā)現(xiàn),他在演奏這把琴的時(shí)候,雙手不抖了。
克蘭德?tīng)枺何耶?dāng)時(shí)并沒(méi)有想著,噢,我患有特發(fā)性震顫,所以我最好學(xué)學(xué)演奏安比拉琴。我純粹是喜歡它的音色。
羅斯:克蘭德?tīng)栕詫W(xué)如何調(diào)音和演奏安比拉琴。(安比拉琴音樂(lè)片段)克蘭德?tīng)柕那俾曇鹆怂_克斯管演奏家、作曲家兼制作人約翰·佐恩的關(guān)注。2004年,佐恩帶著克蘭德?tīng)杹?lái)到東海岸錄制音樂(lè)。他招募了生于巴西的塞羅·巴普蒂斯塔加入克蘭德?tīng)柕囊魳?lè)錄制。(安比拉琴音樂(lè)片段)巴普蒂斯塔和克蘭德?tīng)栆煌浿屏藘蓮垖?zhuān)輯。專(zhuān)輯反響強(qiáng)烈,甚至登上了一些樂(lè)評(píng)家的十佳榜單。
克蘭德?tīng)枺耗軌驌碛羞@把小小的安比拉琴,我心懷感激。有了它,我得到了比我之前演奏吉他時(shí)更多的關(guān)注。我現(xiàn)在的使命是用這安比拉琴的琴聲安撫這個(gè)世界,因?yàn)樗?tīng)起來(lái)是那么地?fù)嵛咳诵摹?/p>
Disabled Guitarist Finds New Sound in Mbira