Pop singers including Pu Shu (3rd from Left) and Yu Quan (4th and 5th from Left) and music insiders attended the press released in Beijing on Wednesday, November 7. The exclusive, world-renowned Unplugged series will start its China tour on December 15, jointly launched by the international entertainment giant Music Television, or MTV and Red Bull Vitamin Drink Co. Ltd.[Photo: CRIENGLISH.com /Xu Liuliu]

The exclusive, world-renowned Unplugged series will start its China tour on December 15, jointly launched by the international entertainment giant Music Television, or MTV and Red Bull Vitamin Drink Co. Ltd, according to the press conference released in Beijing on Wednesday, November 7. Pop singers including Pu Shu and Yu Quan and music insiders attended the press.

Unplugged series presented by MTV features acoustic performances by major artists from across the globe. The series has been acclaimed by music fans and critics alike for offering a new perspective on live music. Acoustic music refers to music that solely or primarily uses instruments that produce sounds entirely through acoustic means, as opposed to electronic means.

Acoustic music may still be amplified using electronic amplifiers. However, these amplification devices must be separate from the amplified instruments and need to reproduce its natural sound accurately. Chinese talented music producer and composer Zhang Yadong compared unplugged performances with normal ones.

"Based on the unplugged performances I have seen, singers usually sing by microphone but in a low volume. In my eyes, volume is the poison to singers. High volume could make a bad performance sound better because the audience is shocked. Different from that, unplugged performances present communication between the audience and the singers. Unplugged performances impact the audience only by the music itself."

From the very first Unplugged in October 1989 with Squeeze and Syd Straw, the pioneering series has gone on to become the "must do" show for performers. During these nearly twenty years Unplugged has stuck to its original idea of being raw, simple and fresh, bringing an intimate studio atmosphere for artists to perform for a small live audience. CRI's host and music insider Youdai has his own understanding of Unplugged and doesn't think every singer needs to chase unplugged.

"Not everyone can do the unplugged and not every song can be played unpluggedly. The singer needs to do a lot to play unplugged and should be raw, simple and fresh. Only the classic song makes the unplugged meaningful."

Unplugged's China tour will start from pop singer Pu Shu's concert in Beijing on December 15 and then move to Shanghai, presented by pop duo Yu Quan on December 22.