(Chinese Version)

[Our aim is to record individuals and entrepreneurs in the Internet industry through TMTpost’s new column Photo Gallery: whether young ambitious entrepreneurs who have just found their place in the world of business, star investors who walk through different venues, programmers who spend hours of time writing codes in front of the computer screen, or Internet operators, geeks, even delivery guys…It is their collective efforts and devotion that constitute the Internet world we live in right now, so their moments are worth recording, and remembering. Photos don’t lie, but they don’ tell the whole truth; photos are free, but they are also full of traps. Therefore, only we present the images we see, and you are free to have your own understanding of these individuals.]

Editor’s Note:

“The sales of music instruments through proper channels in China surpassed 150 million every year, while few people know exactly which instrument they should buy,” said Chen Lei. As a 15-year professional musician, Mr. Chen was often asked for help to choose the better one out of two guitars. Yet, he always finds it hard to give a direct answer, because there is no such thing as a good or a bad guitar, but only an appropriate or an inappropriate one.

In the summer of 2015, Mr. Chen established the Ironman Music Channel, in hopes of making it the most professional electric music instrument assessment platform and rid Chinese music fans of many stereotypes towards music instruments. Up till now, the Ironman Music Channel has cooperated with lots of world-famous electric music instrument brands, such as ESP, Musicman, Dean, schecter, Orange, Ianey, Hotone, etc. In addition, Mr. Chen, a super fan of metal music, is the founder and leading singer of a metal music band called MoonThought.

On Feburary 4th, 2016, Mr. Chen was composing for the new program. Since the summer of 2015, the Ironman Music Channel has already released over 60 original video programs (special programs included). In each program, Mr. Chen would play a new piece of music to test the performance of an instrument.

Before recording a new program, the team members are adjusting the microphone. At present, there are four members in the team, all of whom are guitarists. As usual, their programs are updated once a week. What Mr. Chen talks about in the program are mostly common sense, for example, the features of the wood, sound, mechanism, etc. “We attempt to help guitar fans to better choose their own instruments, instead of asking others’ suggestions over which one is better. Now that we want to establish an assessment platform, not an online retailing platform, we have to be objective and fair,” explained he.

“All the leading music instrument retailers, including Guitar Center, Sam Ash, Sweet Water, etc. started as guitar sellers, but began to pay more attention to music instrument assessment in recent years,” Mr. Chen believed that the latter service was more important and what guitar fans were in dire need of, “Many Chinese guitarists see other guitarists’ instruments and want to buy one of their own. However, they never bother to ask what kind of instrument they really need. We teach them how to choose instruments that best fit themselves. For example, we would teach them how to choose effect units, and some of the basics of an effect unit, such as feature, mechanism, instruction, etc.”

Mr. Chen planned to make a program on choosing guitar bags. In the above picture, he was discussing with film editors over the details of the program. “Many guitarists’ guitars have been damaged due to poor express or airline express service,” said Mr. Chen. Mr. Chen found three kinds of guitar bags and emulate three different scenarios: dropping from the stage in music festivals, poor airline express service and water-proof test.

Sun Chen was a sound mixer, a drummer as well as a super fan of electric music. Before joining the team, he was a tutor of IELTS. He made up his mind to join them because he wanted to start doing something he really liked.

Mr. Chen and his colleagues were improvising at the music hall overlooking Xiang River. After he rented the house, he changed it into a photographing and office place. In 2016, he planned to further explore this place, expand the brand “Ironman Music Channel” and start producing interview programs in the rock music circle.

“Many people would prefer to buy guitars that are more expensive, yet more money should be spent in buying music, textbooks,” said he. Mr. Chen started playing guitars at the age of 14, and had been playing guitars and composing new songs for two hours a day for 18 years.

Up till now, the Ironman Music Channel has already attracted a large crowd of professional music fans. Its website is going to be launched in the first half of 2016. “A website is enough for us in this stage, and it’s still too expensive for us to develop an app,” Mr. Chen preferred to make the Ironman Music Channel a third-party music instrument assessment platform, “it is our wish that we can help Chinese music fans get rid of some common stereotypes.”

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[The article is published and edited with authorization from the author @fliesslaughterhouse, please note source and hyperlink when reproduce.]

Translated by Levin Feng (Senior Translator at PAGE TO PAGE), working for TMTpost.