Traditional Musician Forges New Sounds, Emotions

By Chung Ah-young

Staff Reporter

How can traditional music be defined today? It is sometimes trapped in past glory, repeating the age-old format, but often fails to cater to modern interests. Many fusion musicians are trying to fill the void between past and present needs.

Jung Mina, a ``gayageum'' (12-string instrument) player, composer and lyrist, started her music career in the heart of the indie music scene ― Hongdae (a clubbing district near Hongik University in northwestern Seoul) ― where all diverse music genres and new experiments are incubated among young artists.

``I have regularly performed in clubs in Hongdae for five years. I started somewhat differently from other fusion musicians. I wrote my own music there. It was a kind of rule to survive on the indie scene,'' Jung said in an interview with The Korea Times.

The 30-year-old musician studied the traditional instrument at the National High School of Traditional Music and then at Hanyang University. She released her first album "Sangsamong'' (Love Dream) in 2006, but her popularity as a fusion indie musician had already heated up in the clubs.

``I have enjoyed indie music regardless of genres. So I have hung around the area to see many indie music bands and various artists from an early age. It's natural for me to debut in Hongdae although I play a traditional musical instrument,'' she said.

She was the first fusion musician with a gayageum to perform there on a regular basis. Indie music's diversity and dynamism has inspired her to create a new music style different from other similar musicians.

Jung's second album, ``Afterimage,'' released in March forges contemporary sounds that successfully blend traditional instrument's sounds with bass guitar rhythms.

Her ``gayageum'' sounds are close to that of the acoustic guitar as she used simple plucking techniques without too much emphasis on ``nonghyeon'' (various vibrations and hand movements exerted on the string).

``I want to put the ``gayageum'' in harmony with other modern instruments. Sometimes, fusion music with traditional instruments sounds very unnatural. So I want to create music that can be mixed with other Western musical elements,'' she said.

To better compose and perform with her instrument, Jung learned Western music theory, particularly jazz. She said that traditional musicians have some limits in performing Western music because of the simple note range of traditional music.

So the musician uses a 25-string ``gayageum'' to give variations from low to medium and high notes to broaden the range of music.

China and Japan have similar zither-like instruments but they require tools to play with, but the ``gayageum'' is played only with the bare hands and thus creates soft and ``warm'' sounds that stimulate human emotions.

``The gayageum is kind of my language to portray joy, sorrow, happiness and frustration,'' she said.

It was not easy for her to succeed in the professional music industry because of financial hardship. She worked at various places from a convenience store to a horse racing park and call center to make a living.

Jung writes ballads based on her experience with profound lyrics. Among her songs, ``Jumeokbab'' (Rice Balls) is about her own story when she sold ``jumeokbab'' on the street every morning to earn money to play music.

``I am a musician who plays a traditional instrument. But I live in modern times, and I play music about youngsters like me living in modern times and create contemporary emotions,'' Jung said.

Now she is preparing for her first solo concerts with bassist Seo Young-do.

``The performance with Seo has totally changed my second album concept. When he came to the studio to record just `Afterimage,' we improvised it just for fun. But we found it very impressive to play the gayageum with the bass guitar. It creates a perfect harmony,'' she said.

After the improvisation, she scrapped the original plan that included just one track with him and teamed up all the tracks. The album contains two versions of ``Afterimage'' ― the original version using the acoustic bass guitar and the 14-minute improvisation version featuring the fretless bass.

Seo is one of the leading jazz musicians in the nation, who has developed his expertise in jazz, pop, R&B, funk and Latin music.

``It's my first solo concert. I am excited and at the same time pressured to perform well,'' Jung said.

Her second album consists of instrumental music different from her first album ``Sangsamong'' consisting of folk music, including some vocals. ``Sangsamong'' sold nearly 10,000 copies that catapulted the nameless indie musician into the mainstream industry.

The concert will be held in the Jayu Theater of Seoul Arts Center from April 16 to 17. Tickets costs from 25,000 won to 30,000 won. For more information, call 070-7553-5770.