Classical & Jazz Musicians React: Red Velvet 'Red Flavor' MV + Orchestra Ver.

Ju Young: Oh, that's so lush Jason: This is cool Umu: Before reacting to Red Velvet, we wanted to let you know that we were able to edit and film this video thanks to our Patreon supporters. Ju Young: Since we are unable to monetize any of our react videos uploaded to this channel, it is our Patreon that provides us the funding in order to continue making our channel bigger and better. (Umu:) We actually have a lot of exclusive content uploaded to our Patreon, including reactions to Japanese rel

eases, live performances, games, and more. The full list for this extra content is pinned at the top of the  comment section below. (Ju Young:) We would really appreciate it if you can support us on Patreon at patreon.com /reacttothek Of course joining our Patreon is completely optional; you can also support us by  subscribing or leaving a like and comment on this video. Umu: Now my dears, don't you wait no more, the following reaction is so good you'll live happily ever after. Umu: Oh are you g

uys ready for the summer time? Raffi: I am so ready please give it to me right now; bring it to me. Sam: Oh my gosh yes. Umu: Well this song is going to make you  feel like it's already there. Raffi: Oh good. Umu: So you're now reacting to the five-member  girl group Red Velvet and two versions of their 2017 summer hit, Red Flavor. First you'll be reacting to the original 2017 release, so when you listen to this, I want you to picture yourself as if it's tomorrow, as if it's summer already, and

you have no stress in you, and you turn on the  car radio or like wherever you are the radio, and you hear this song come on, and I just want you to picture the summer amazingness, because the lyrical contents' theme is basically like a fruit flavored summer love. Through the song they evoke the taste of fresh fruit, candy, ice cream, and cocktails to paint a sonic picture like vibrant seasonal romance. Charlotte: I like cocktails Henry: Fresh fruit Charlotte: Cocktails Owen: I like this first f

rame. I like it a lot. It looks like they might be flavors for ice icy pop flavors. Umu: Well, you're actually close — in the music video you'll see them interviewing fruits and i saw— Sam: Interviewing fruits?  Umu: Yeah, interviewing fruits, and I saw a fan's theory (Umu:) is that each fruit represents like themselves  and it's just them learning more about themselves. Raffi: I want to be a fruit. Umu: Yeah isn't that dope? Raffi: What fruit would I be? Raffi: A banana (ba banana ba ba banana

nana ba banana ba ba banananana) Owen: At the bottom, those are the fruits' lives Kevin: I guess. Owen: "When i was small," or in the English one "As i grew up, I became full and ripe" (Owen:) The French one would translate to (Owen:) So it'd be like "When i was little, I wasn't sugary, but then I grew and I became full and ripe, I guess. Umu: The song is composed by Daniel Caesar and Ludwig Lindell, also known as Caesar & Loui. Henry: Fresh fruit margs Stephanie: This is so interesting Charlott

e: Hahorrwrr Owen: Drop Owen: Oh cool — I like — I felt like they're offbeats actually Kevin: This song makes me very happy. Owen: Nice — it's very summery. Raffi: Oh Sam: Yeah you're right, this is very upbeat like that. Raffi: Ahh rhythm complex Owen: Really amazing that she could  hit those offbeats so effortlessly at this tempo. Raffi: Smooth Sam: Yeah Owen: Yeah, it's a really fast tempo but it feels really effortless from all the instrumentation. Kevin: Also an interesting time to  put li

ke a half time thing Stephanie: Hahaha, yeah Charlotte: What is that sound? Raffi: Are those supposed to be the fruits talking? No? Kevin: Ooh, the second time we get to this section there's more synth, a bit more layering. Sam: Oh I like the Sam: Oh, did they both become watermelons? Owen: Such a bizarre...thing in the background Henry: I like the unison Sam: Talk your shit~ Raffi: Aw, I like her timbre, very high Sam: Yeah Ju Young: Wow Raffi: So fun Sam: This has very like 2010 pop aesthetics

Raffi: Yeah Kevin: It's not a summer anthem without some sort of chanting. Owen: Offbeat chants. Henry: Bread Raffi: Ooh Sam: Okay Raffi: everything you'd want in a vocal phrase was just there. Sam: That is...wow. Umu: Well that is Wendy — that's the solo gal that you guys reacted to last week and loved. Raffi: I want to be a fruit Umu: Ppfff Sam: Yeah? Raffi: Yeah. Sam: Okay. Raffi: Make me a fruit Umu: Okay, we'll do our best to make that happen. Raffi: Thanks. Umu: Yeah i know this isn't y

our cup of tea Charlotte: Definitely not. Umu: But whether it was your cup of tea or not, I would like to ask you guys the second it started (Umu:) you knew immediately, yeah this is for summer — what musical aspects throughout the song shout SUMMERTIME BOP Raffi: They're happy. Umu: Are you not happy when it's not summer? Raffi: Usually people are not happy during the academic year. Um no I'm kidding. Sam: Raffi's like 'I was miserable all year' Raffi: Well the percussive the...I'm not gonna s

ay tinny, but i'm gonna say tinny like no, but bright, clear. (Raffi:) it sounds like a parade. You know or like yeah Umu: So marching band in the percussion Raffi: Like marching band in the summer, yeah, there's so much more than that, (Raffi:) but the vocals were really bright, right, and tight harmonies Henry: And then i think we do hear a lot of like the trombone and lower brass kind of hits like hits for summer songs too (Henry:) And then everything  is so major in this [singing]and a straw

berry now[/singing] (Henry:) and even when the verses *sings* really outlines an entire descending major scale, which just (Henry:) screams like, at least in like a Western musical canon, just happiness so it's Umu: Happiness! La la la la la la la la la la Happiness Sam: I like what you said about the percussion because that's actually what i was going to talk about sort of i think what you're referring to is that they chose a lot of high-pitched percussion instruments, (Sam:) There was a lot of

hand  clapping and there was also a lot of snares, (Sam:) and even the kick or the — I guess you'd call that a kick drum — they accented the higher frequencies of that, (Sam:) rather than making it sound really bassy, and sort of going off of that, the synths that they used (Sam:) even though there were some that were  doing the lower registers when going to F-sharp to E to A, (Sam:) you still heard like the rattle of the higher frequencies, (Sam:) rather than them sort of taking that out to ma

ke it sound more like an 808. (Sam:) So that's kind of something that I noticed for how they were able to create that summer effect. (Sam:) But also what Raffi was saying about the happy — the sheer Joy when they were singing, Sam: that was definitely — that definitely shown through. So that was really fun. Stephanie: I feel like something that made me get those summer vibes from this...definitely the visual is part of it (Stephanie:) definitely big time, but like musically might be the articula

tion — it was just like not heavy, but like kind of light Leon: I think the music made them even hotter. Umu: *laughing* Umu: What was so attractive about the music? Leon: Like the melody is amazing, like it's so catchy, but (Leon:) I think the most important thing is they just eliminate all the unnecessary stuff and just leave the percussion and drums, (Leon:) and then sometimes only like few brass sound bass, and then that sound really reminds me of Shake It Off (Leon:) It's like those kind of

like light vibes and then really happy things. (Leon:) Like some songs if they have good melodies, maybe just eliminate the chords, and then it will become a hit. Umu: You were in such deep concentration. Jason: Yeah, there's a lot there's a lot happening. Ju Young: This gives me like hot girl summer vibe, like i said that before Umu: What does that mean? Ju Young: I don't know; I think it's like with the mix of like something about like marching Umu: Oh like snare percussion, yeah Ju Young: It

sounded like fresh. Ju Young: I think it was because like the lyrics too like they were talking about like fruits and stuff (Ju Young:) and then when I think of fruits like i think they're like fresh and also like the color palette of the music video, (Ju Young:) I feel like all of that was just like oh my god it's a hot girl summer in like the Bahamas where there's like yeah (Ju Young:) or just like coconuts you know that's what I thought of. Owen: That was great, that was so much fun, but yea

h it's a very summer, happy vibe i mean it's interesting. (Owen:) How they did those offbeats *singing offbeat sixteenths* (Owen:) Like that, but they made it feel, you know, super easy as they were just kind of going through those. Kevin: It's an easygoing song, for sure. Owen: Right, like musically they just did a great job with it — the singers did. (Owen:) I really liked the synths I liked...the percussion is my favorite part. (Owen:) You have the drums and then they had all these extra litt

le sounds (Owen:) that were just popping in on really interesting syncopated intervals that really filled it out, (Owen:) and also made it dance-y in an unpredictable way because you didn't know where they would jump in, (Owen:) but it all kind of came together — if you isolated each part, you would...it would take maybe a couple times (Owen:) before you figured out exactly where each beat landed for each instrument, but then all together as a whole, (Owen:) you just kind of get this collage tha

t comes together  into one picture as far as where the beats land. Kevin: I've listened to this song a lot. I went to KCONs, and I hear this a lot, (Kevin:) and at one point I was like kind of rolling my eyes whenever it came up, because it was so overplayed, (Kevin:) but then at some point afterwards — probably the last year, probably during pandemic, (Kevin:) maybe it is because of the pandemic — the song really clicked for me, like so hard, (Kevin:) and so I think this bridge — the part where

the percussions go away — it's one of my favorite bridges in K-pop (Kevin:) I think that bridge is so good it just elevates the song and I like that, in the very end, (Kevin:) they kind of reference the bridge again by having it sort of get slower and then the trailing off. (Kevin:) I just think that bridge is such a great...it just turns the song into something better and more special, and (Kevin:) yeah it's just...the expression in that bridge is so great. Umu: If an orchestra was to do an ar

rangement of the song, how would you arrange the song? Henry: Replace the flavors with the brass. Umu: To which instruments? Various: "Trombone and horn section" "cellos" "brass would play the syncopation" Jason: I would do cellos and bass and bass drum, because it's a deep song Umu: What would get the melody? Ju Young: I feel like for this like clarinet-wise, Ju Young: we're probably just gonna have like whole notes like  Jason: Just playing chords just filling in chords. *birds cawing* Umu, wh

ispering: You got this Stephanie: Like classical orchestra? Henry: I don't know, I'm a vocalist axe ax ask the person that actually does this. Charlotte: Axe the person that does it. Umu: Noooo Sam: I have no idea Umu: Okay vocalists Raffi: Pizzicato, pizzicato. Umu: Oh, pizzicato? Raffi: Pizzicato, pizzicato. I'm a sucker for pizzicato; it's sexy. Like pizzicato I don't know why, just plucked strings. (Raffi:) I'm not trying to be gross — I'm being serious, it's a very sexy sound, and so summe

rtime. Stephanie: I feel like i could see violins, I was thinking with like good articulation, maybe... Leon: Yeah Charlotte: My theory is that if they choose to rearrange it, then it'll be too woodwindy, (Charlotte:) versus I think this is supposed to be brass poppy  Henry: Yeah Charlotte: trumpet, horn, Henry: She didn't mention oboe Charlotte: Saxophone can be...so more like on the side of like a jazz band/pop band type of thing, like pep band. Kevin: I never know with these orchestral versio

ns of K-pop because i've never been able to guess them right, (Kevin:) so at this point, I think the less i expect, the better. Owen: I was just curious about how they're gonna use oboe (Owen:) Where's that gonna come in? How are they gonna do that? Kevin: Well, the song is in A, so all that oboe needs to do is start with the tuning note, Umu: and then Boom Kevin: And then that would be the end Jason: I think...okay, the melody.......probably like flute, oboe,  piccolo, and probably clarinet and

bassoon for... (Jason:) just do like the the woodwind section for like the [melody] and then bassoon for like the low end Jason: If you really want it to be like a layer of melody (Jason:) Your eyes are very wide. (Jason:) What plays the bass?  Umu: Well, let's see, shall we? Umu: So, in early 2020, SM Entertainment, which is Red Velvet's label, announced a collaboration with Seoul Philharmonic (Umu:) in recreating their artists' songs for orchestra. (Umu:) so you are now reacting to the 2020 r

earrangement release that Seoul Philharmonic recorded Stephanie: Wow, that's so it's gonna be so interesting Umu: It's conducted by David Yi and their arrangement is by Inyoung Park Kevin: You know, for this particular piece, they should have just temporarily changed the name to the (Kevin:) Seulgi Philharmonic Orchestra Umu: AAAAAAAA Raffi: Three two one Raffi: The tuning! I love that. Sam: That was a very vocalist thing of you to say. Raffi: No, it's just like the it's like charisma like you'r

e excited for it to start. Sam: Oh interesting Raffi: Oh Kevin: So more actively syncopated Owen: That's true. Henry: Oh, I love the pizz. there — that's cute Ju Young: Ohh that's so lush Jason: This is cool Kevin: The weird kick drum — there's like a very synthetic kick drum going on in the verse (Kevin:) it kind of works. Owen: It's fun that they highlight the motives as they're appearing. Ju Young: Oh they said like Gershwin Jason: in the horns Owen: Nice Jason: That syncopation was cool. J

u Young: Oh he's playing on a Tosca Henry: That was cool. I hope that comes from the rap, actually. Jason: She's really good Sam: I never thought they would use the oboe for the melody but it makes so much sense (Sam:) considering what kind of other pieces they're taking inspiration from Owen: It's also a fairly chamber-y orchestra, definitely not the full symphony Henry: I like the piano's more present this time Kevin: I think the piano part so far is my favorite; it's very tastefully added. (K

evin:) It could easily have sounded out of place. (Kevin:) Oh is — is that the rap part? Oh that's really cool. Owen: Wow Stephanie: Wow Jason: He's giving me like Stravinsky vibes, because like the piccolo trumpet and Raffi: Mmmm. It's like summer breeze Kevin: The violinist is smiling because he likes the bridge too. I feel you. I know. Owen: Good to use the brass to bring it back in. Kevin: Honestly, yeah Ju Young: Oh, they said OSSIA (t/n: an ESM 'new music' ensemble) Jason: Yeah, for real R

affi: Oh, yeah Raffi: It's that vocal line, making it sing. Sam: Interesting choice that they had the violin playing the last Raffi: Bravi Sam: That's an interesting choice they made. (Sam:) Yeah, that was really cool. Raffi: Little kid dancing, you better dance Sam: Okay, dancer Raffi: You better dance, you better spin Jason: That was a great orchestra; that was a really cool arrangement, too. Ju Young: There were sections where it was just like so lush Jason: I like the woodwind lines Ju Youn

g: At 0:52 Jason: Yeah, that was really nice Ju Young: That shit is so f*cking lush Ju Young: The way that (violins?) Jason: I like the horns. Ju Young: I don't think they do that in the song. Jason: It was good, it was good, though Ju Young: This is like Stravinsky part Jason: Yeah, this is the Stravinsky — like all the interjections from the piccolo trumpet. Kevin: I think they nailed the rap section — I don't know if I liked how the rap section was composed. (Kevin:) It got a little too avan

t-garde with all the stacking fourths (Kevin:) it's just you have a fourth and you have another fourth and then it's just all this stuff (Kevin:) if you hear it there's a lot of that stuff. (Kevin:) and that sounds cool when you play it a bit, and there's a lot of jazz and funk that does it. (Kevin:) but when there's nothing that like leads  it back into like you know if they go (Kevin:) and then at some point you want to introduce some other notes to give it context (Kevin:) you know or even if

you want to get crazy but like... I'm not a jazzer; you can tell nothing made any sense (Kevin:) but like by adding other notes that aren't just *plays quartal triads* you're giving it...you can give it more context (Kevin:) and make it mean something. Especially because afterwards you're going: (Kevin:) you know, there should be  there should be something that connects Owen: and the basses go: (Owen:) and having those really strong cadences, too (Owen:) I feel like a bridge between the the wi

ldness and the very poppy chords is cool. Jason: This is kind of like a musical breakdown. Umu: It's the rap section. Ju Young, Jason: OOohhh Jason: Yeah, and then Ju Young: It's the bridge Jason: With the piano, that gives it like this...that bridge vibe. That just that... ~mmhh~ pretty. Raffi: I really didn't see the flute coming, and to use that, an instrument as breathy — breath tone, I guess, as the flute, (Raffi:) like it just sounded like a breeze, or like the wind coming in (Raffi:) Just

everything had purpose and meaning, it seemed like, and oh my gosh the violin at the end (Raffi:) because i was craving — you craved that last melodic vocal line at the end and then the violin just made it sing just (Raffi:) There was a lot i really really like it. yeah Charlotte: I feel like I don't like the oboe by itself but i like it when it's colored by a clarinet or colored by a flute (Charlotte:) I feel like it's just too Henry: Piercey Charlotte: Yeah, and it's not...that's the oboe. Sh

e plays it amazingly well, I love her sound; it's so clean, it's so crisp (Charlotte:) but i'm almost just like it's too clean it needs something else that's in it for me to enjoy it in this context Henry: I like that they feature different  woodwind instruments for the different singers Charlotte: I like that the the last time we went back to [the chorus] the flute took it out of the bridge into the last chorus (Charlotte:) which was a nice color change instead of the  oboe having it first and

then joined by clarinet, (Charlotte:) the flute took it and then the oboe joined — I liked that. Henry: I was thinking that they might have different woodwind instruments be the different singers (Henry:) to like represent their different timbres and different vocalists jumping in (Henry:) and I enjoyed that they did that really tastefully — I thought this was a really tasteful arrangement. Kevin: I do like hearing a kick drum in the verse so there was uh the one time i heard the electronic perc

ussion, (Kevin:) I thought it was actually used quite tastefully. I still think that it sounded more like a studio orchestra, (Kevin:) a little bit some of the production didn't feel as grand as it could have been. (Kevin:) Maybe some of it has to do with like how many people played in it; it felt a bit like a chamber thing. (Kevin:) But i still feel like in the production part...like I've heard Beethoven symphonies played by like small orchestras, Owen: That can work well Kevin: But the sound e

ngineering was so good (Kevin:) that yeah it made it gave it its own flair while the strings were just a little on the thin side. (Kevin:) Like the historical accuracy whatever, but like yeah, when you have so much percussion, (Kevin:) I felt like there could have been a bit more reverb, a bit more of this a bit more of that, (Kevin:) but yeah it did feel a little tinny. Owen: It did feel a little tinny, absolutely, yeah. Owen: And I also think it's partly how it was recorded and  partly that t

he strings didn't feel as though they were digging in (Owen:) in a rhythmic way as much as they could have. I thought the arrangement was really great. (Owen:) Park did a great job, I think. Whenever you have an orchestra trying to play that sort of rhythmic music — (Owen:) orchestras sometimes collaborate with other artists too, when they sing in front of the orchestra, you know , (Owen:) and have that sort of thing, and it can be done well or could be done where the classical musicians play wi

th classical rhythms and have that sort of floaty rhythmic texture (Owen:) that doesn't necessarily get to the point that you can achieve with just three funk musicians (Owen:) and get that locked in rhythmic feel, and that's really  hard to do especially with so many musicians. Leon: Because it's really groovy — they use a lot of staccato which doesn't really apply in that kind of grooving style, (Leon:) because like classical people if they want to be staccato they would more be like Prokofiev

or Shostakovich, (Leon:) like aggressiveness, not grooving and then and then chill feel — still kind of different. Sam: A lot of bigger orchestrations, it's very difficult to sort of write out what part gets the melody at what time, (Sam:) because you really want to make it have sort of that bigger sound of an orchestra, (Sam:) while also sort of making the melody sort of have the same sort of character of the original, (Sam:) but something I really liked about is that sort of choosing the obo

e is the first instrument to sort of make that statement followed by sort of the first and second violins to sort of play the second — the sort of the secondary part of the exposition, (Sam:) that was really cool, because at least for me, like the oboe has a very vulnerable sound (Sam:) when the oboe has a tune that's very memorable within either a symphony or just like a work of music (Sam:) that just really brings out the strengths of the oboe, in my opinion. (Sam:) I really like also sort of

when the bells were doubling with that string part as it went into the second verse, (Sam:) was really successful in my opinion, because it added a warmth while also adding sort of (Sam:) an eagerness to listen to what comes next. That was really cool. Umu: What are your thoughts on a K-pop label signing a contract with the Seoul Philharmonic and to cover their stuff? Jason: That's awesome. Ju Young: When you look at it at a... Jason: larger spectrum? Ju Young: Yeah, larger spectrum, (Ju Young:)

this is a great way to get kids into classical music Jason: Not even just kids. Jason: Not kids just people who aren't interested in like orchestral sound or music at all. Charlotte: I will say i think it's very cool  that this is an ongoing thing that they decided to do to sign on to continue doing covers, (Charlotte:) because I think it's important to continue to make like classical music accessible to a younger generation, (Charlotte:) and the younger generation is growing up in this very p

op-centric world which is totally fine, (Charlotte:) but classical music is kind of dying, and so classical musicians have to find a way to stay relevant, (Charlotte:) and I think this is an incredibly smart way to do it. Kevin: We're going to juxtapose this  with the orchestral... the an orchistral orc arrangement