一个对木琴一无所知的小伙子,机缘巧合下与木琴有了接触并爱上了这种乐器,从此一发不可收拾……小伙子让我们看到了梦想的力量,那你呢?在追逐梦想的路上,你能走多远?
It was the early 1980's and Ron Samuels' good friend had just returned from the Oregon Country Fair with news about an incredible instrument that had turned the whole crowd on1)—the marimba2). Those days, marimba bands were frequent but nobody really knew much about the instrument itself. Ron knew he had to find one. He didn't yet know it, but the marimba would soon take over Ron's entire life.
20世纪80年代初,罗恩·塞缪尔斯的好友刚刚从俄勒冈乡村集市上回来,带回消息说有一种绝妙的乐器引起了大家的兴趣——它叫木琴。那个时候,木琴乐队很常见,但是却没有人真正了解这种乐器本身。罗恩知道他必须找到一架木琴。那时他对木琴还知之甚少,但是之后木琴却主宰了罗恩的一生。
A college student at Humboldt State University at the time, Ron searched for—and amazingly found—a marimba in the music department on campus. The instrument had a warm, dark sound that you could feel in the depths of your body and soul. Ron instantly fell in love with it.
当时罗恩还是洪堡州立大学的学生,他在学校音乐系搜寻并且惊喜地找到了一架木琴。这种乐器的声音柔和、深沉,能触动你身体和灵魂最深处。罗恩立刻爱上了它。
"I think I actually always had that sound in my head to begin with3), even though I had never studied it. It was a sound I recognized."
“我想实际上那个声音从一 开始就一直在我的脑子里,即使我从没有学过木琴,但那个声音我本来就认识。”
Playing the marimba at school when he could, Ron became more passionate about the instrument, being more intrigued4) by the possibilities of what it might do. The same friend who had introduced him to the marimba began urging him to make one himself, to really explore those possibilities of sound that he was reaching for. As a child Ron had loved building blocks and Erector Sets5), but he'd not been extraordinarily passionate about building things. He'd never been into making model airplanes or anything along those lines. In fact, the only class he'd failed in college was his woodworking class! But the marimba was so intriguing. Ron decided to go for it6). What the hell, why not?
罗恩在学校一有机会就弹木琴。他越发热爱木琴,对这种乐器究竟能发出多么美妙的声音也越发感兴趣。当初那位向他介绍木琴的朋友开始鼓励他自己造一架木琴,从而真正去发掘木琴声的美妙之处——这正是他一直努力探究的。小时候罗恩喜欢搭积木、玩建筑拼装玩具,但他并没有特别热爱制作物件。他从来没有特别爱做飞机模型或其他类似的东西。事实上,他在大学里唯一不合格的课程就是木工课!但是木琴却是如此让人着迷。罗恩决定试试看。管它呢,为什么不试试?
"I'd never made any instrument before, never really even worked with wood, metal, or other serious building materials. But, enthusiasm can overcome a lot of challenges!"
“在那之前我从来没有做过乐器,甚至从来没有真正用木头、金属或者其他正儿八经的建筑材料做过东西。但是,热情能够战胜很多困难!”
Ron's first marimba took over a year to build. It addressed7) all the big questions acoustically8) and musically. Building it became a full-time obsession. "Before I went down this road, I didn't have a plan. I was in college and I dropped out to pursue marimba-making full-time. I dropped out before I even knew this was going to be a business ... it was just much more interesting than going to college!"
罗恩做第一架木琴花了一年多的时间。在这架木琴上,所有听觉和音乐上的大问题都得到了解决。罗恩为制作木琴而倾注了全部的时间、精力和热情。“在走上这条道路之前,我并没有设定计划。当时我在读大学,为了专职做木琴我辍了学。我甚至还不知道制作木琴会成为一门生意就辍学了……只不过做木琴比上大学要有意思得多!”
"Most of my friends became engineers, biologists, that sort of things, all in the sciences. For as much as9) they are a part of the counterculture, they all had more of a classic approach to education and a career. My parents had been fairly involved in the 1960's Civil Rights Movement and had never really subscribed wholeheartedly to the 'establishment' approach. They thought it was pretty outside the box10) but they could tell I was really enthusiastic and they wanted me to follow my heart—they really did. They actually loaned me some money to buy my first tools. They were really pleased to see me stick with it."
“我的朋友大多都成了工程师、生物学家等等这类的职业,都在科学领域工作。尽管他们实际上也是主流文化的叛逆分子,但在接受教育和事业选择上他们却都走了一条传统的道路。我父母曾深入参与20世纪60年代的民权运动,他们从未真正完全赞同过这种‘创业’方式。虽然他们认为这种方式非常不落窠臼,但是他们能看出我热情非凡,希望我能跟随我心之所向——他们也真的做到了。实际上他们借了些钱给我购买第一批工具。他们真的很高兴看到我对此坚持不懈。”
With no marimba-making schools out there, Ron had to figure out the process by himself. His interest in building a better marimba propelled11) him to get a job in a woodworking shop. Lucky for him, the particular shop that hired him was an excellent place to learn woodworking skills.
没有教授木琴制作的学校,罗恩只有自己弄清制作程序。制作一架更好的木琴的兴趣促使他在木工店找了一份工作。幸运的是,他受雇的那家木工店是一个学习木工技术的好地方。
Young and single, Ron spent nearly every evening and weekend working on his marimba, determined to get it right. "What musicians were looking for in the sound of a marimba I had already sort of come to the conclusion that this is what a marimba should sound like and I was bent on12) achieving it, for myself. The idea really was just to have a nice instrument for myself."
作为一个年轻的单身汉,罗恩几乎将每个晚上和周末的时间都花在了他的木琴上,决心要把它做好。“我大概得出了一个结论,即木琴的声音应该达到音乐家所寻求的标准。我决心让我的木琴做到这一点,为了我自己。我的想法真的就只是让自己拥有一件好乐器。”
About three years into his marimba-making quest, Ron had started honing13) his skills and began thinking that it might actually be possible to turn his passion into a real business. His marimbas were sounding better and better all the time.
在自己的木琴制造生涯进入第三个年头以后,罗恩开始打磨他的技术,并开始思考或许真的能将自己的兴趣转换为一门真正的生意。他做的木琴也总是越来越动听。
"I started going to this one trade show, the Percussive Arts Society International Convention. I went as an observer for a few years, just to meet marimba players and get their ideas on what they want to hear. One year I drove from Arcata to Austin, Texas, with a few of my marimbas and came home with several pages full of all the things I'd have to change in my instruments. I made the changes and went back the following year, this time to come home with only three-quarters of a page of changes. I made all those changes and went again. Then, people started buying them!"
“我开始去参加一个贸易展览会,叫国际打击乐艺术协会年会。我作为观察员去过几次,只是去见见木琴演奏者,听听他们的意见,问问他们想听到什么样的声音。有一年我开车载着我的一些木琴从阿克塔到了得克萨斯州的奥斯汀,回家时带回了好几页纸,上面写满了需要对我的木琴做改进的地方。我改进了我的琴,第二年又去了,这一次我带回了仅仅四分之三页纸的改进意见。我做了所有的改进并且又去了一次。之后,人们开始买我的木琴了!”
In 1989, about five years after he'd taken the job at the woodworking shop, Ron quit to run his marimba business full-time. And he's been at it ever since. His company, Marimba One, is now known for its high-end14), world-class professional instruments and is a leader in the marimba world.
1989年,在木工店工作了大约五年后,罗恩辞了职,开始全职做木琴生意。从那以后他就一直做这行。他的公司“木琴一号”,现在以其高端、具有国际水准的、专业的乐器著称,是木琴界的领头羊。
Years after stumbling upon15) his first marimba and dropping out of college to make a better one, Ron is still hard at work trying to create the perfect instrument. "It's a lifelong, evolving process. I always have to fix it and make it better."
从最初偶然发现他的第一架木琴,到为了制作一台更好的木琴而从大学辍学,再到几年后的现在,罗恩依然勤勤恳恳,努力制造出完美的乐器。“这是一个毕生的、不断进步的过程。我总是需要对它进行调整,把它做得更好。”
His favorite time to listen to the instrument that stole his heart is at a rehearsal, when you can walk around and really hear what a musician is trying to bring out in the music. It is then when he connects most with that deep, warm magical sound that drew him into the world of the marimba so many years ago. One day, he will make a marimba that will fully reveal the secret of that sound to the rest of us. Until then, he and Marimba One will keep on keeping on.
他最爱在彩排时听人演奏那个让他着迷的乐器,那个时候他能够四处走动并能真正听出音乐家试图通过音乐传达些什么。就是那一刻,他与多年前将它带入木琴世界的那个深邃、柔和、奇妙的声音最是紧密相连。有一天,他会制作出一架木琴,能把那个声音的奥妙完全地呈现给我们其他人。在那之前,他和“木琴一号”将会一直继续努力。
1. turn on: <俚> (使)产生兴趣(或爱好、热情)
2. marimba [mE5rImbE] n. 【音】马林巴琴(即木琴)
3. to begin with: 原先,本来
4. intrigue [In5tri:^] vt. 激起……的好奇心(或兴趣)
5. Erector Sets: 美国一种建筑拼装玩具,由A. C. Gilbert于1911年打造,两年后开始批量制造并销售,深受全球儿童喜爱。
6. go for it: <口> 大胆试一试
7. address [E5dres] vt. 处理,对付
8. acoustically [E5ku:stIkElI] adv. 听觉上,声学上
9. as much as: 实际上;差不多
10. outside the box: 打破常规的
11. propel [prE5pel] vt. 推动;激励,驱策
12. be bent on: 决意
13. hone [hEun] vt. 磨练;训练
14. high-end [5haI5end] adj. (产品等)同类中最贵的,最高档的,高端的
15. stumble upon: 偶然遇到,碰巧找到