"Travelers' Reverie" — Behind the Scenes of the Music of Sumeru

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《原神》须弥音乐由HOYO-MiX团队作曲，由伦敦交响乐团与民乐演奏家们合作录制。视频讲述了须弥音乐的创作理念，记录了须弥音乐制作的跨文化合作历程。
*Genshin Impact*'s Sumeru OST is composed by the HOYO-MiX team, and the songs featured were recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra with special guest folk musicians. This video tells the story of the Sumeru OST's creative philosophy, and documents a wonderful journey of cross-cultural collaboration.

## Video

陈致逸：「模进」是音乐创作中一种常用的发展旋律的手法，改变音高重复循环。随之而来的是愈发饱满的情绪传达，就如同我们在原神世界的旅途。旅行者的足迹从蒙德走到璃月，远渡重洋去往稻妻，再跨过层岩来到须弥。在一次又一次的探索中，蕴含着难以忘怀的故事。《原神》的音乐伴随着我们的深入探索，也在不断地推动着剧情的发展，传递不断叠加和沉淀的情绪。
Chen Zhiyi, Music Producer for *Genshin Impact* and HOYO-MiX: "Sequencing" is a commonly used technique in music composition to develop melodies by changing pitch and repeating cycles. It brings forth increasingly rich emotional expression, just like our journey in the world of *Genshin Impact*. The Traveler's footsteps take us from Mondstadt to Liyue, crossing vast oceans to reach Inazuma, and traversing layered cliffs to arrive at Sumeru. Within each exploration lies unforgettable stories. The music of *Genshin Impact* accompanies us in our profound exploration, continuously propelling the storyline and conveying emotions that accumulate and settle layer by layer.

蔡近翰：我愿意将HOYO-MiX团队的每一位同学比作音乐的修道者。我们有足够的耐心、毅力去坚持音乐的创作，将自我的音乐语言与市场需求相结合，做以成长为乐的人。在《原神》须弥音乐创作中，HOYO-MiX团队也在追寻着不同文化地区文明的足迹，在探索传统文化中寻求创新。
Cai Jinhan, Music Director, HOYO-MiX Manager: I am willing to liken every member of the HOYO-MiX team to practitioners of music. We possess enough patience and perseverance to persist in music creation, combining our own musical language with market demands, striving to become people who find joy in growth. In the musical creation for *Genshin Impact*'s Sumeru, the HOYO-MiX team is also following the footsteps of different cultural regions, seeking innovation through the exploration of traditional cultures.

陈致逸：在一个地区中呈现两种截然不同的地貌，也是在地缘文化探索中的一次创新表达。当「细雨和飞沙」的主题确认以后，我们首先想到的便是雨林覆盖的南亚以及沙漠无垠的中东。南亚对应着雨林场景，乐器使用了如Bansuri笛、Sitar琴、Tabla鼓等等。创作中试图融合瑜伽音乐的元素，充满着现代感的智慧与灵性，偶尔会使用非对称的复合节拍，富有「生命」的气息。中东对应着沙漠、赤王陵场景，乐器使用了如Ney、Duduk、Saz琴等等。音乐希望展现出充满史诗感的、年代久远的古代「智慧」。须弥的地貌异常复杂，在雨林和沙漠两大地区之下，藏有诡谲气息的「死域」，等待玩家去探索和净化。我们也进一步优化了互动音乐设计的方案，使悬疑的探索与战斗的紧张感统一。死域不同于其他场景，有种超脱现实的压迫感。
Chen Zhiyi: Presenting two completely different landscapes in one region is also an innovative expression in geocultural exploration. When the theme of "drizzling rain and blowing sand" was confirmed, the first things that came to mind were the rainforest-covered South Asia and the vast deserts of the Middle East. South Asia corresponds to the rainforest scenery, using instruments such as Bansuri flute, Sitar, Tabla drums, and more. The composition attempts to blend elements of yoga music, filled with a modern sense of wisdom and spirituality. Occasionally, asymmetric compound beats are used, exuding a vibrant "life" essence. The Middle East corresponds to the desert and scenes of the Mausoleum of King Deshret, employing instruments such as Ney, Duduk, Saz, and more. The music aims to showcase an ancient "wisdom" full of epic and age-old sentiments. Sumeru's landscape is exceptionally complex, with the enigmatic "Withering Zones" hidden beneath the rainforest and desert regions, awaiting players to explore and purify. We have further optimized the interactive music design, unifying the suspenseful exploration and tense battles. The Withering Zones stand apart from other scenes, evoking an otherworldly sense of oppression.

苑迪萌：在音乐的设计上，通过结合偏向无调性的管弦乐和电子音色，点缀一些民族乐器，营造一种诡异沉重甚至恐怖的氛围。
Yuan Dimeng, HOYO-MiX Music Producer: In the design of the music, a peculiar, weighty, and even terrifying atmosphere is created by combining predominantly atonal orchestral and electronic sounds, with the addition of some ethnic instruments.

陈致逸：其实在创作之初，我们只能在网上看到不同文化地区的民族音乐家乐手演奏的视频。幸运的是，在最早去伦敦录制蒙德音乐的时候，我们参观了大英博物馆，见到了古埃及与苏美尔文明的历史文物。在比利时布鲁塞尔参观了世界乐器博物馆，拍摄了大量的照片。为了尽可能地创作好须弥地区的音乐，音乐组三年来一直在酝酿，蓄势待发。
Chen Zhiyi: In fact, at the beginning of the creation process, we could only watch videos of folk musicians and instrumentalists from different cultural regions online. Fortunately, when we went to London to record the music for Mondstadt, we had the opportunity to visit the British Museum and see historical artifacts from ancient Egypt and Sumerian civilizations. We also visited the Musical Instruments Museum in Brussels, Belgium, where we took numerous photos. Over the past three years, the music team has been brewing and preparing in order to create the music for the Sumeru region as effectively as possible. We are now ready to unleash our efforts.

Martin Robertson：Duduk几乎可以说是最古老的木制乐器之一了。我甚至见过一支是从金字塔里挖掘出来的。这个乐器历史悠久，并且它的设计很简单。它是由杏木以及竹子巧妙制成的。通过吹奏震动就可以发出优美的声音。
Martin Robertson, Duduk Player: Duduk is probably the most ancient woodwind instrument. I have seen one that was pulled out of a pyramid. They've been around a long time, and it's a very simple design. They're made out of apricot wood with some kind of very cleverly-crossed bamboo, and it basically vibrates so you get the beautiful noise.

陈致逸：对于民乐老师们来说，用这些极具民族特色的乐器来演奏非传统的音乐并不是他们习惯的事。所以这个合作过程就需要我们不断地沟通和磨合。
Chen Zhiyi: For folk music teachers (musicians), it is not customary for them to play non-traditional music using these highly distinctive ethnic instruments. Therefore, this collaborative process requires constant communication and adjustment from us.

Kuljit Bharma：如果你在网上搜索西塔琴，你会搜到西塔琴有28根琴弦。但恐怕你搜不到的是，演奏者只会弹奏28根琴弦中的一根弦，其他的27根琴弦是在主弦下自然振动的。这点其实并不广为人知，所以西塔琴在很多乐段中的演奏是极其困难的。
Kuljit Bharma MBE, Folk Music Producer and Tabla Player: If you Google sitar, it would say sitar has 28 strings. One thing maybe is not on Google is that Sitar has 28 strings but the player only plays one string. The other 27 strings, they vibrate naturally underneath the main string. So this research is not fully known worldwide. It's very difficult to play in many passages.

Dursun Can Çakin：我非常开心周围有能和自己站在同一个角度去看待世界的人，因为我们有相似的兴趣，特别是涉及到了音乐。那项目的其他部分就只是一些细节了。一旦与情绪和情绪表达有关，无论通过什么形式展现，音乐总是美好的。如果我们能恰当地表达这些情绪，那将使我非常高兴。
Dursun Can Çakin, Saz Player: It is always nice to be around people that can look at the world from the same point of view as you as we have similar interests, especially where music is involved. The rest of the project becomes just a detail when it involves emotions and getting those emotions across. Music is always nice no matter what form it takes. If we can express those emotions properly, that would make me very happy.

Eliza Marshall：所有这些都让我的大脑保持着活力。我很高兴我在做的更像是某种传播文化的行为。美妙的音乐，中国的作曲家们，印度的音乐风格。我是英国人，但我从小就受到世界文化的影响。所以能够将所有这些联系起来，我认为这些真的是很棒的东西。
Eliza Marshall, Basuri Player: All these things keep my brain alive. And I love the fact that we can kind of cross-pollinate between exactly what we've been doing today — wonderful music from Chinese composers, Indian styles. I'm British, but I've been brought up with lots and lots of world influences. So to be able to kind of connect all of those, I think it's a really wonderful thing.

苑迪萌：当把这些来自不同文化地区的传统乐器用想象力组合在一起的时候，就形成了一种代表须弥文明的新秩序。或许玩家刚踏上须弥的土地时，最先吸引他们的可能是风景奇观。但随着冒险深入，个性迥异的角色和他们背后的故事也渐渐浮现。
Yuan Dimeng: When these traditional instruments from different cultural regions are imaginatively combined, they form a new order that represents the civilization of Teyvat. Perhaps, when players first set foot on the land of Teyvat, they are initially attracted by the breathtaking scenery. However, as the adventure deepens, diverse characters with unique personalities and their stories gradually emerge.

场景音乐侧重画面感和沉浸感，能体现一些游戏独有的文化和色彩。剧情音乐强调与剧情展开相配合的张力。版本PV音乐更像是内容的融合，会把新版本的精华部分压缩在一起。而角色音乐我觉得最大的特点是为每一位个性鲜明的角色量身定制主题旋律以及编曲风格，尽可能通过音乐将角色的外在特征和内在特质都放大呈现给玩家。
The scene music focuses on visual and immersive experiences, reflecting the unique cultures and colors of the game. The story music emphasizes tension that complements the unfolding narrative. The music for Version promotional videos is more like a fusion of content, compressing the essence of the new version together. As for character music, I believe its biggest feature is tailoring the theme melodies and arrangement styles to each distinct character, aiming to present their external features and inner qualities to players through music.

在团队中，我们会分别承担这些不同的音乐板块制作，只有当这些板块组合在一起，才是一个完整的《原神》音乐世界。角色音乐的旋律会更加流行，听感上也更为强烈。
Within the team, we each take responsibility for different sections of music production, and only when these sections come together does it create a complete musical world of *Genshin Impact*. The melodies in character music tend to be more catchy and emotionally impactful.

在编曲上通常我们会融合一些EDM、摇滚、Trap的元素，让角色的特点更加鲜明具有冲击力，也有的时候会跳出框架做出更有意思的风格。比如枫原万叶的角色演示结合了Hip-hop，尝试将他浪人的感觉配合画面表现出来。创作时，我们也会通过不同的乐器来表现角色的性格。例如，在第一张《闪耀的群星》专辑里，钟离的主奏乐器是二胡，而在《闪耀的群星II》里，优菈的主奏乐器是木吉他。角色的主题旋律与游戏中的音乐主题是一脉相承的。角色音乐和故事背景、故事场景需要建立内在联系。比如在3.0版本PV中登场的多莉是一位出没在奥摩斯港的商人，这里远离教令院的约束，更加自由奔放。针对她的角色音乐，我们的团队在使用了须弥战斗曲主题的同时，对它做了一个Hardstyle的Remix。
In terms of arrangement, we often incorporate elements of EDM, rock, and trap to make the character traits more distinct and impactful. Sometimes, we even step out of the framework to create more interesting styles. For example, in the [Kaedehara] Kazuha's Character Demo, we combined it with hip-hop to express his image of a ronin in tandem with the visuals. During the creative process, we use different instruments to showcase the characters' personalities. For instance, in the first album *The Stellar Moments*, Zhongli's featured instrument is the erhu, while in *The Stellar Moments Vol. 2*, Eula's featured instrument is the acoustic guitar. The character themes are closely connected to the game's overall music themes. Character music and the background story and scenes should establish an intrinsic connection. For example, Dori, who appears in the Version 3.0 promotional video, is a merchant who frequents Port Ormos. Here, she is far away from the constraints of the Akademiya, allowing her to enjoy greater freedom and independence. Regarding her character music, our team incorporated the Sumeru battle theme and created a hardstyle remix of it.

陈致逸：彼此进行了呼应，雨林和沙漠两个地区需要同时适配相同的战斗音乐，以保证统一性。因此，在配器中，我同时使用了南亚与中东的民乐器，再和管弦乐融合在了一起。个别的独奏乐器会随着地区的不同而作细微的区分。比如说，同一首战斗音乐，当出现在雨林地区时，管乐器使用的是来自印度的Bansuri笛，音色听上去很柔软很细腻。而出现在沙漠地区，依旧是同一首战斗音乐，但是管乐器换成了Ney和Duduk，乐器是来自中东地区，音色显得很沙哑和狂野。另外，须弥战斗音乐中使用的主题不光延续了对先前的蒙德战斗音乐进行了变奏处理，其中一首我还大胆地尝试了使用Fibonacci数列进行创作，使节奏律动变化丰富多元，听感上很现代。 "Chen Zhiyi: There is a mutual resonance between them. The rainforest and desert regions require the same battle music to ensure consistency. Therefore, in the orchestration, I combined the traditional musical instruments from South Asia and the Middle East with the symphony orchestra. Certain solo instruments are subtly differentiated based on the region. For example, in the same battle music, when it appears in the rainforest region, the woodwind instrument used is the Bansuri flute from India, producing a soft and delicate tone. On the other hand, when it appears in the desert region, the woodwind instruments are replaced with Ney and Duduk, instruments from the Middle East, creating a raspy and wild sound. Additionally, the main themes used in Sumeru's battle music not only continue the variation of the previous Mondstadt battle music, but in one of them, I boldly experimented with composing using the Fibonacci sequence, creating rich and diverse rhythmic changes, resulting in a modern auditory experience.vertical=1"

Robert Ziegler：有很多令人印象深刻的乐段，其中我尤其记得X063（《流金疾驰》）。它有很多变化的节奏，比如12 12 123 12345 12..等等。因为这些节奏非常扣人心弦，因此每个人都很快地掌握了它。通常，当我们遇到比较大的段落时，我们会把它切成几个小的部分进行录音，然后再把它们组合在一起。
Robert Ziegler, Conductor and Music Producer: There are several really memorable pieces. One in particular I only know it as x063 ("Gilded Runner"). It's got a lot of changing rhythms, so you have 12 12 123 12345 12 and on and on like that. For this rhythm, it's really thrilling, so everybody sort of comes to grips with that very quickly. And quite often when we have a large piece. What we'll do is record it in very short sections and then we'll assemble it together.

陈致逸：而与草元素关联最为密切的战斗曲，是一首为全新怪物翠翎恐蕈量身定制的战斗音乐。我使用了一个极其简约的音乐动机，每次动机重复时，通过不一样的装饰音演奏方式使音乐动机发生裂变，然后再将节奏律动打乱，进行切片再重组。对于乐器演奏来说异常困难，很难找到节拍的重音在哪里。但正因为旋律简约，而演奏法和细节的处理复杂，让这首战斗曲与众不同。
Chen Zhiyi: The battle music closely associated with the Dendro element is a custom-made composition for the brand-new monster, Jadeplume Terrorshroom. I used an extremely simple musical motif, and with each repetition of the motif, I created variations through different ornamentation and playing techniques, causing the motif to undergo fission. Then, I disrupted the rhythmic patterns, sliced and reassembled them. It was exceptionally challenging for the musicians to perform, as it was difficult to find the accentuation of the beats. However, it is precisely because of the simplicity of the melody and the complexity in the execution and details that make this battle music unique.

苑迪萌：「古文明的遗产仍在影响着须弥，但新生的智慧已经敲响序曲。」作为一个将知识作为资产管理起来的国度，须弥的故事核心离不开「智慧」二字。
Yuan Dimeng: "The legacy of ancient civilizations still influences Sumeru, but the prelude to new wisdom has already begun its overture." As a nation that values knowledge as its most valuable asset, the essence of Sumeru's story revolves around the concept of "wisdom."

陈致逸：因此，我们需要在「智慧」这一大主题背景下，涵盖雨林和沙漠两种截然不同的音乐风格。这是目前为止我们音乐团队所遇到的最艰难的挑战。须弥的音乐整体有一个特性，旋律的发展始终会围绕着「模进」这一传统作曲技术的表达。这也是为了贴近「智慧」这一核心的精神。何为「模进」呢？或许大家还记得3.0版本前瞻直播中，须弥的交响乐主题曲开场的旋律是以模进的方式不断地裂变，最终使音程关系、调性发生了改变。同时我借鉴了古典作曲家里姆斯基科萨科夫的交响组曲《天方夜谭》中的一些配器元素，配上了充满色彩的和声语言与流动的内声部织体。这首序曲的旋律主题对应着幕间PV「冬夜愚戏」的最后，在柯莱梦中出现的诡异画面，使用了「模进」的作曲手法。很自然的就为之后须弥地区的音乐发展承上启下，奠定了基调。
Chen Zhiyi: Therefore, we need to encompass two completely different music styles, the rainforest and the desert, within the overarching theme of "wisdom." This has been the most challenging task our music team has encountered thus far. The music in Sumeru has a characteristic where the development of melodies always revolves around the expression of "progression," a traditional compositional technique. This is also to align closely with the core spirit of "wisdom." What does "sequencing" mean? Perhaps many of you still remember the symphonic theme of Sumeru showcased in the Version 3.0 Special Program. The opening melody continuously undergoes progression, causing changes in the interval relationships and tonality. Additionally, I drew inspiration from some orchestration elements in Rimsky-Korsakov's symphonic suite "Scheherazade," incorporating colorful harmonic language and flowing inner voices. The melodic theme of this overture corresponds to the eerie scene at the end of the Interlude Teaser "A Winter Night's Lazzo," appearing in Collei's dream. By employing the compositional technique of "sequencing" in a natural way, it sets the tone for the subsequent musical development in the Sumeru region.

蔡近翰：随着地区风貌、游戏玩法和故事剧情的不断丰富，HOYO-MiX未来也会面临更多的挑战。让HOYO-MiX的音乐更加与世界同轨，更加不设限，是HOYO-MiX当前在「突破」上的重要目标。我们希望紧跟世界审美的动态变化，把中式的语感和审美融入不同文化地区的标准，创造出具有原神特色的世界音乐。我们和旅行者一样，也在不断探索和挖掘中成长、突破。往后的音乐之旅中，我们也将继续陪伴着大家、带给大家更多惊喜。
Cai Jinhan: As the regional aesthetics, gameplay, and storyline of the game continue to evolve, HOYO-MiX will also face more challenges in the future. Making HOYO-MiX's music more aligned with the world and breaking limitations is an important goal for HOYO-MiX at present. We hope to keep up with the dynamic changes in global aesthetics, integrating the essence of Chinese language and aesthetics into the standards of different cultural regions, and creating world music with the distinctiveness of Genshin Impact. Just like the Traveler, we are also growing, exploring, and breaking through in our continuous journey of discovery. In the future musical journey, we will continue to accompany everyone and bring more surprises.