Zhao Cong - Sound of China [One Step]

Titles

Side 1

1. Moon Light on Spring River

2. Herdsman

Side 2

1. Ambush on all Sides

2. Chinese Beauty

Side 3

1. Song of Horse Herding

2. Dance in the Moon

Side 4

1. Blue Sky of West Region

2. One Rainy Night

The Pipa is one of the oldest Chinese instruments. The name "Pipa" originally refers to two fingering techniques. The two Chinese characters "pi" and "pa" stands for plucking the strings forwards and backwards, respectively. Due to its complete temperament, wide dynamic range, bright tone color and rich expressive power, the Pipa has been considered the most beautiful and expressive of all Chinese folk music instruments.

As a leading Pipa performer in China, Zhao Cong is known for her unique style which blends the classic and the modern in grace and harmony. Her innovative and dynamic performance reveals her distinctive versatility and ingenuity. All the songs played by Zhao Cong, on this album, were written by talented Chinese composer, Ma Jiu Yue. His love of Chinese traditional music and his natural gift, aptly demonstrate why his compositions touch our heart. Besides the beautiful composition of the songs, the production of this album itself yields some very interesting stories. Firstly, the music attracted the attention of highly experienced and revered, Danish sound engineer, Hans Nielsen, who not only owns the largest private recording studio in Denmark, but who has also produced and recorded thousands of albums. Secondly, the project has brought together both Chinese musicians and Western producers, to create a superb blend of world music which combines Eastern and Western culture. The marriage of these two different cultures has actually produced an extremely powerful and exotic musical panorama.

Modern Audio has released the album in Crystal Disc, UHQCD, HQCD and now UHQLP. UHQLP stands for Ultimate Hi Quality vinyl LP. Half-speed mastering and One-step processing together are utilized for the first time ever to produce LP record. The fomer results in vinyl reproduction that has excellent high frequency response and very stable stereo imaging. The latter process ensures the lowest surface noise and more musical detail and dynamics. As a result, UHQLP is a vinyl LP faithfully made to the original master source.