Qi Shuyu’s musical instrument (Photo provided by the Publicity Department of Liangjiang New Area)

CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- Hang, nutshells, gourd sand hammer…Previously, Qi Shuyu, a drummer from Chongqing Liangjiang New Area, performed an improvisation on the stage of the reality show “Our Band” with all kinds of objects (including daily necessities). He was unanimously praised by star tutors and known as a “wizard”. Recently, the reporter walked into Qi Shuyu’s studio in JS ECOOL to learn about his story.

While talking about the situation on the show, Qi Shuyu said that he named the performance as “Encounter”. “On the stage, when I met audiences for the first time, I wanted to give them a new experience.” For example, the coffee cup for daily use, which contains coffee beans, dead leaves and dead branches, sounds like a sand hammer, but it is more delicate, just like the feeling when the spring breeze blows the leaves.

Qi Shuyu’s studio, MOOS (Photo provided by the Publicity Department of Liangjiang New Area)

The whole performance was wonderful and progressive, exciting and comfortable, full of picture sense and imagination, and praised by many tutors.

Qi Shuyu’s particularity is not to use traditional or any popular musical instruments, but to use a variety of objects to produce sounds, and gives the objects the rhythm of music through the coordination of different angles and strengths. He can produce more than 5 different music sounds by clapping, applauding and rubbing his hands. In the additional test questions in the show, he could create a beautiful piece of music even with a bottle of mineral water.

Qi Shuyu, a native of Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, began to contact percussion instruments at the age of 4. He has learned Chinese national percussion instruments, Western percussion instruments, hand-beat percussion instruments, etc. He has also learned from masters from the United States, Germany, Cuba, India and other countries. He once was majored in Music Performance at Southwest University. “After graduation, I stayed in Chongqing, because it is close to Xi’an and I have room for free play.”

Qi Shuyu’s studio is located in JS ECOOL in Liangjiang New Area. “It’s quiet here, I can focus on creation, and meet with all kinds of interesting people.” He named the studio as MOOS. He likes the breath from nature, and this studio is also full of vitality.

Qi Shuyu performing on the stage of the large-scale music competition reality show “Our Band” (Photo provided by the Publicity Department of Liangjiang New Area)

In Qi Shuyu’s opinion, everyone is a performer, and every daily object has its own unique melody. Dinner plate, comb, sofa, paper and box can make beautiful notes in his hands. And his studio is full of such mysteries: the saponin randomly stacked in a pot can make a rustling sound; and in the corner, there are strings of dried nutshells which will give out the sound of wind blowing over treetops if they are shaken...

For the future, Qi Shuyu does have too many rules and regulations. “I will continue sharing my own creations online and make some new teaching videos to teach people to play with daily objects.” He said that by the end of the year, he would release his first story album to let people feel the cultural customs around the world in music, such as Hoomii of Inner Mongolia and percussion music of Nepal. (Translated by Zhang Ying, Fathom Language Limited)