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Edited by Emilee Jennings (emilee@groovekorea.com) muSIC & ARTS ROCK N ROLL SEOuL Column by Sophie Boladeras / Photos by Dylan Goldby T he gayageum’s silken strings have a discernibly Eastern twang to them, even when they’re em- bracing modern music. The gay- ageum is Korea’s best-known traditional instrument, dating back to the sixth century. Each instrument is usually 140 to 160 cm in length and, luckily for musicians, is played in a horizontal position. Though it might be tempting to compare the gayageum to the European zither, the instrument has a unique sound and history, which recently received a major signal boost thanks to an innovative young musician named Luna Lee. Her tributes to modern pop and rock songs played on this historic instrument have captivated Web audiences around the world, amassing an increasing number of views on her YouTube channel. Lee has been playing the gayageum since she was 11 years old, and has de- veloped some brilliant adaptations of songs from popular artists. The original gayageum was 12-stringed, but the modern versions are often designed to hold 20 to 25 pliable strings. When Lee plays, she uses her right hand to pluck or strum while her left raises the pitch and creates distortion and vibrato. Her recent album, “Luna by Luna,” con- sists of both cover songs and originals. It features renditions of tracks by Jimi Hen- drix, Pink Floyd, Air and Ryuichi Sakamoto. Lee carefully selected the album’s featured songs to showcase the gayageum’s distinc- tive sound.
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