Reported by:
Khoo Xin Yi Jr3Z(6)
Music speaks. On the 28th of December, a Music Listening Session was held by the Kuen Cheng High School Music Composing Club and Cartoonist Club. Half of the songs featured were composed by the Music Composing Club, each with eye-catching artwork drawn by the Cartoonist Club.
Hosted by members of the Music Composing Club, the event kicked off with an explanation of the theme 《云·彩》, meaning clouds and colours. Different colours represent the feelings we receive from different types of music and how we interpret them in our own unique way. The event was split into 8 sections, each represented by the colours black, white, red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.
The theme of the first segment was the colour black, giving a hint of darkness and mystery, much like the night sky. The hosts played an instrumental song composed by the Music Composing Club named 《夜幕低垂》, translating into “Night Falls”. The song includes melodies played by the piano and cello along with a glockenspiel ending. Following up was 《末日飞船》, “Doomsday Spaceship”. Composed by Zhou Shen and Tang Hanxiao, the song features pitch perfect high notes and electronic beats, also being known as the main theme of a movie titled “The Wandering Earth” and quotes lines from “Divine Comedy” by Dante.
White symbolises clouds and snowfall like winter, bringing the participants another original instrumental song, 《九霄之城》, “The City of the Nine Heavens” written by the Music Composing Club. Right after was a K-pop song, “Winter Bear” by Kim Taehyung (V from BTS). It was said that “Winter Bear” was the first ever English song composed by Kim Taehyung.
Artwork by the Cartoonist Club for “A Malaysian Christmas”
Next up, the green theme showcased an original song titled “A Malaysian Christmas”, featuring lyrics about how Malaysians celebrated Christmas in the pandemic. The hosts pointed out that a vibraphone was used for the opening and closing of the song. “Feeling You” by Harrison Storm was then played with a soothing guitar for the melody. For the red theme, the hosts played “Feast”, an Original Sound Track (OST) for an anime called “Kamisama Kiss”. The instrumental was composed by Toshio Masuda and Yoshiharu Matsuzaki. The second red themed song was the Music Composing Club’s original song 《无悔》, “No Regrets”, playing a more traditional styled instrumental with emotional lyrics.
Artwork by the Cartoonist Club for 《无悔》“No Regrets”
The hosts then announced a 15-minute intermission where those who were interested could play two guessing games. In one of the games, the participants had to guess the song and composer names based on the audio alone, and in the other, they were only given segments of pictures from the music videos to guess. The games received quite a positive response from the participants as they showed a great amount of activeness.
After the games, the event proceeded with the blue theme, giving everyone the feeling of youth and spring time joys. The hosts showcased《迷境》, meaning an enticing scenery, and mentioned that the song is in an RnB style with lyrics about a relaxing getaway by the sea. Next was “Youth”, 《少年》, a trendy song composed by Meng Ran. The colour orange reminds us all of warmth or a soothing scenario. The original song “Light in the Night Market of Arabia” included instrumentals like the cello, double bass and tambourine, even featuring enticing vocals. Then came “At My Worst” by Pink Sweat, featuring Kehlani. The song gives the listener a soothing melody and beat while staying in an RnB style.
Artwork by the Cartoonist Club for “Light in the Night Market of Arabia”
When autumn comes, the leaves fall and turn yellow, reminding us of calming dreams yet bringing us joy. Composed by Jiayu Yu, the song 《和你》, “With You”, comes in with a sweet RnB tune and is actually a part of a trilogy. Yet another song by the Music Composing Club was introduced, namely 《梦幻之岛》, “The Island in Dreams”. It holds a catchy waltz style beat and was inspired by the 70’s era of Disney. Another waltz was composed by the Music Composing Club, featuring carnival-like instrumentals in “Carousel of Joy”, the main theme of Kuen Cheng High School’s Online Carnival back in June. Moving on was 《孤独》, “Loneliness” by G.E.M. who was inspired one night while playing Ludwig Van Beethovan’s Moonlight Sonata on the piano. The song became a trendy hit soon after its release.
Artwork by the Cartoonist Club for “Carousel of Joy”
Before ending the sharing session, the hosts surprised the participants with a small Easter Egg, showcasing a collaboration between the Music Composing Club and the Cartoonist Club, showing a short film about a girl trying to free her kingdom from the curse of being only black and white. She travels through oceans and mountains before obtaining a special gemstone that she used to break the curse. In the end, the kingdom was brought back to life with colours swirling everywhere and kids singing the tale of how the girl had freed the kingdom. With that, the sharing session ended with the main theme song of the event, 《云·彩》.
Final Frame of Short Film by the Cartoonist Club for 《云·彩》