Korean gayageum player Luna Lee is doing something pretty creative with her instrument – cranking up the distortion a little bit and playing some rock tunes. Lee's cover of AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" is a really cool rendition of the track that definitely hits on all the main melodies, yet has some neat improvisation and a great reimagining of the introduction as well. We previously spotlighted her gorgeous cover of Jimi Hendrix "Voodoo Child."
We saw a similar video from Michelle Kwan, who used a similar Chinese instrument, the guzheng, to offer unique covers of Metallica's "One" and Guns N Roses "Sweet Child O Mine"
Lee's YouTube channel is loaded with awesome covers, and she tells her backstory with the instrument and with music on her Patreon page.
My name is Luna and I am from Korea. I play conteporary music with a Korean traditional instrument called the gayageum. The gayageum has a beautiful sound and amazing potential so I wanted to share my music with many people. I've been on YouTube creating music videos for the internet since 2009. I have covered various genres of music.
However, the gayageum that I play is an ancient, traditional Korean instrument made for the purpose of playing traditional Korean music. My ancestors played the gayageum in a small room, so the sound did not need to be loud. But my music is performed with modern instruments such as the drums, bass and the guitar. So I had to redevelop my gayageum so that the sound would match that of the modern instrument. I had to increase the volume and pressure, develop tone and increase the sustain sound. And hoping to express the sound of gayageum more diversely like that of the guitar, I had to study guitar effectors and amplifiers and test them to see if they would fit to the sound of the gayageum. Playing modern music on a traditional instrument was not an easy process. I have come a long way from the beginning but still have a long way to go!
Check out Lee's entire YouTube page here.
