Walking into the RT-Mart Dahua store at No. 1051-1067 Hualing Road, a fresh breeze swept in. Refreshing classical music makes the shopping trip unique. All this is the credit of "enthusiast" store manager Zhang Huiguo, who is nearly sixty years old in Shanghai to turn his hobby into a work advantage, and provides the hypermarket with pop, classical, ethnic and other types of high-quality background music, which is affectionately called "store DJ".
Pictured: Zhang Huiguo in regulating the equalizer Xinmin Evening News reporter Wang Kai photographed (the same below)
The "soundtrack" is very well-edgy
It seems to be a simple "store DJ" job, but it is very exquisite to study carefully. Different store areas, different date and time, tracks, volume, timbre should be adjusted, but also with other stores to make differences, highlight their own characteristics, Zhang Huiguo introduced it endlessly, such as a number of family treasures.
To do a good job in the soundtrack of the store, we must first be very familiar with the customer group of the store, which is Zhang Huiguo's experience of 20 years of daily inspection of the store five or six times a day. He said: "When the door first opened, the store had the most elderly people, the music must be light, it should be soothing, some elderly people will have heart disease, high blood pressure, can not withstand the drums, fast-paced rock music and so on." At noon, the staff should replenish the goods, and the appropriate acceleration of some rhythm can make everyone feel refreshed. From the afternoon to the evening, there are more young people returning from work, and the music can be replaced by the style they prefer. When the store is closed, many stores will put the saxophone style "Homecoming", but I prefer Fei Yuqing's "Goodnight Song", which has a sense of intimacy with everyone saying goodnight. When encountering a specific festival, Zhang Huiguo will also change into a song that conforms to the festive atmosphere, "When doing New Year goods, you must put a fast pace, while listening to songs while strolling, stepping on the point, shaking your head, snapping and buying things." ”
Picture said: Speaking of his own song selection, Zhang Huiguo gushed endlessly
The ambient soundtrack of different areas and different scenes is also quite exquisite, "for example, once you enter the door, customers have not yet started shopping, which is the time when music is most needed, you can appropriately adjust the volume, shape the style tone of the store, and also fill the 'blank' at the door." When it comes to the shelf area, customers have to carefully select products, and music has to reduce some sense of presence. If the music is on, the noise is irritating. Every day when he patrols the store, he has one more job than the ordinary store manager - checking the sound, dozens of sound positions in the store, the volume can not be wrong, in order to bring people "like a concert hall listening."
Since 2000, Zhang Huiguo has spontaneously started a "pilot" at the RT-Mart Zhabei store where he was working at that time. Since 2006, he has been officially responsible for the production and playback of music in the store, and the "store DJ" has been upgraded to "music director". He leads a music team that produces background music for more than 500 stores across the country every quarter. When doing the "pilot", Zhang Huiguo took out his treasured discs from home to play, and now every time he signs a music copyright, the amount can reach millions of yuan, so he laughs and calls himself a "million music producer" in the store.
Pictured: Zhang Huiguo selects cDs
"Philharmonic" sleeps and forgets to eat
Why do supermarket managers, who are busy with everything, focus on background music? Of course, it is because of Zhang Huiguo's obsession with music. This obsession also begins with his childhood. "When I was a child, I didn't have any 'art cells', but my parents were 'ticket friends' and loved to listen to plays on the radio, so I followed the hum, and when my father found out, he began to teach me to sing at home, which was my musical enlightenment." When he was in middle school, a seafarer from Zhang Huiguo's neighbor's family would bring back many original music tapes every time he returned from the sea, and he would take an empty tape to rip and listen to it.
What impressed Zhang Huiguo the most was that he received his first salary after joining the work, "The salary was 36 yuan in total, and I ran to the record store and spent 35 yuan to buy a vinyl record." "In order to listen to this disc, he took out his pocket money savings and spent 50 yuan to buy a record amplifier with his own audio listening." Unexpectedly, in the first month of work, I also 'upside down' 49 blocks. Zhang Huiguo humorously laughed at himself. But a disc could not satisfy Zhang Huiguo's ears, so he made a group of music "enthusiasts" and met every once in a while to go to the door of the record store to exchange discs. "In this way, you only need to 'refund more and make up less' for the difference between the two discs to hear a new disc."
Pictured: A CD purchased by Zhang Huiguo himself
Up to now, Zhang Huiguo spends more than 6,000 yuan to buy records every year. The equipment at home has been upgraded repeatedly, and the most expensive line will cost tens of thousands of yuan. Fortunately, his family's obsession with him gave the greatest support. Occasionally, when he listened to music and forgot to eat, his wife would count him down with concern: "Your ears are so smart, and the nuances of a line can also be heard, how can I ask you to eat and you can't hear it!" ”
Zhang Huiguo firmly believes that there is infinite power in music. Every day at the end of his busy work, he came home to listen to music, when he calmed down, freed his head, and immersed himself in his own world. Through the work of "store DJ", Zhang Huiguo hopes to pass on the power he feels to all colleagues and customers.
Pictured: Zhang Huiguo (left) and colleagues check commodity inventories
There is no threshold for "pleasure"
In the past, when Zhang Huiguo selected songs for the store, he would always give priority to the instrumental version of popular songs, or familiar folk songs. In recent years, he has slowly put beethoven, Mozart, Bach and other classic classical music works into the song list. Zhang Huiguo admitted that when he first came into contact with classical music, he could not understand it at all, so he read many books on music history, music theory, art, and philosophy, and gradually touched the doorway. He also traveled to Germany and other countries with a high level of classical music development to listen to concerts, and he felt that everyone's musical literacy needed to be improved little by little. "We should not reject 'Xiao Bai', but should let them listen more, ask more questions, feel more, give them enough opportunities and time, in order to cultivate more people to listen to and understand classical music, not to say become 'enthusiasts', at least have a pair of 'ears to discover beauty'."
Pictured: Customers are picking out dishes
After playing classical music, Zhang Huiguo received some feedback from the public: "The music in this store is different, old man! It made him happy and even more surprised. The joy is that his work has been affirmed, and the surprise is that the artistic accomplishment of Shanghai citizens is improving day by day, and there are thousands of confidants hidden among the customers who come and go, which gives him more motivation. "I offer only a small amount of power, but always add some artistic elements to people's daily lives, do a little thing for the development of classical music." Next, Zhang Huiguo revealed that he is ready to list some song libraries for customers, open the "on-demand" service, and let everyone customize the most favorite "shopping background music" for themselves. (Xinmin Evening News reporter Wu Xuying)
Comment now on the living artist
After reading Zhang Huiguo's story, one word popped up: Life Artist.
Hypermarket, Chai Rice Oil Salt Sauce Vinegar Tea; Concert Hall, Bach Chopin Beethoven. This Shanghai grandfather combined the two hardly. Going to the store is a job, listening to vinyl is a hobby. Zhang Huiguo combined the two perfectly. He derives joy from his profession, and that happiness motivates him to redouble his work. Although the position he occupies is inconspicuous, he carefully considers with the spirit of craftsmanship to make the ordinary hypermarket different.
Pictured: Zhang Huiguo used ingenuity to make the hypermarket different
In this virtuous circle for 20 years, he himself changed from an ordinary employee to a "music director". It's an eye-opener – the position of music director exists not only in a symphony orchestra, but also in a theater, but also in a hypermarket! A DJ that plays background music can also create millions of dollars for the company. It's a life of openness!
Zhang Huiguo has never attended a conservatory and is completely self-taught, but decades of love and study have made his music appreciation extraordinary. He has a pair of "musical ears" and a pair of eyes, not only can feel the beauty of audiophile-grade sound, but also can create beauty in the ordinary work day after day, and bring this beauty to the public. As the sculptor Rodin put it: "The broadest meaning of the word artist refers to those who are pleased with the profession in which they are engaged." So, there are many artists in all professions. ”
Discover beauty, create beauty, transmit beauty, and everyone can become an artist of life. (Shao Ning)