Music Origins, History, Creation, Special Musicians…

[PopeBeanieModerator]

If anyone here feels stuck in a rut, this woman (who names her Youtube channel “Soprano Notes”) has A LOT of great insight into the Hi Ren piece.

At one point, I’ve seen some reactors feel totally horrified, stupefied enough to not know how to hear and deal with what’s coming next. This reactor handles her first viewing in the best way I’ve seen, out of several reactors. If you are emotionally vulnerable, I recommend you let this insightful, professional singer take you through the experience.

It’s 25 minutes long, but (imo) easier to watch than the original piece. She doesn’t interrupt very often, but finally cuts it in half to comment, which gives people some time to catch up and realize what’s been coming at them at 100mph.

At the very end, he pulls up the guitar jack that was hanging, tucks it into his hospital gown, puts his right hand over the jack (near his heart), and just stops there like a pose. I’ve my idea that this is a symbolic gesture that means something. Is it as obvious to you as it is to me? While of course I could be totally wrong.

[PopeBeanieModerator]

@unseen I ran into a Modern Life for the 70’s Mind reaction to Hi Ren (also see above), and watched. Good tip, to just skip the narrative on Bob’s personal life.

At the end of the review he picked up on how the camera recording changed to human-held, making it feel more real, at the most personal moment. The opera singer (above) also pointed this out. And all reviewers I watched until Bob’s missed the nice long reverb at 13:10, that I also liked the first time I heard it.

Hi Ren is massively epic, imo. I wouldn’t compare the body of his work to TW’s, but this song in particular hit a lot of emotions in people. I thoroughly enjoyed even the darkest parts, while I’ve seen more than one reactor break down emotionally, as if they felt they were watching Satan or other evil, in person. To me, it was a great performance, from darkest to lightest, and I won’t say more here because I don’t want to spoil it.

 

[UnseenParticipant]

PopeBeanie wrote:

Late PopeBeanie edit: If you’re feeling emotionally vulnerable, I recommend you watch this video doled out more in stride in the next post instead of this all-at-once, original version of the video.

I was so turned off by that performance which I watched in a different reactor’s reaction video that I couldn’t take anymore, not for emotional so much as musical reasons. I believe I wrote a comment that I couldn’t imagine how little they’d have to charge for a ticket to get me to want to go to a venue to witness that. LOL

To each their own. I think it put me off Ren so much that I’ll always find some other musical avenue to explore.

[PopeBeanieModerator]

For others here, out of dozens of reviews of Hi Ren, none disliked Ren’s musical style, and most, especially the professional guitarists, commented on how creative and talented he is as a guitar player. I’m still in awe of it every time I watch. I consider Hi Ren as a short opera, as the story takes us through a very emotional topic, and the dynamic guitar style emphasizes the range of expression required for uncovering the theme of Ren’s mental health experience. People who know guitars point out he’s playing a top-notch classical, Cordoba guitar… and it sounds great!

Only one reviewer I watched complained about the theme, saying he practically despises hearing Ren “whine” about his mental health issues, and that no one should ever do that in the music industry, much less for nine long minutes. No other reviewer I’ve watched has used that word, “whine”.

A few reviewers broke down, sometimes crying, due to their unfortunate physical and mental health experiences, but they all still appreciated the performance, especially the last couple of minutes that tied up the loose ends, with words only, as narrative poetry.

The version of Hi Ren I suggested is a “studio live” performance, meaning it had no audience, and some editing in post of the live performance took place. E.g. the opera singer’s review/reaction that I suggested pointed out a place where she thinks a breath from Ren was probably edited out from the middle of a long verse, while most reviewers don’t seem to have noticed it. (I didn’t notice it until she pointed it out.)

Ren’s other work is very different, as he’s a very dynamic talent. Even if Hi Ren is the only work that I love from him so far, I think he’s still an epically creative genius and performer.

[Author]

Posts