Sound Atlas声音世界地图

A field guide to musical styles For listeners & music makers

244 styles
8 styles
Music family

Guofeng & Chinese Tradition

Sounds only China has: gufeng melody, opera singing, Chinese instruments and grassland long-song.

This family only holds styles with a distinctly Chinese sound. Guofeng and gufeng are about poetry and mood, branching into electronic and dark strands; Chinese instruments and vocal styles are the instruments and singing themselves, plus the wide grasslands and the northwest. Chinese pop, Chinese hip-hop and Chinese rock sit with pop, hip-hop and rock by sound; to see every Chinese-language style, browse Region → Chinese.

Above a sea of clouds, two travellers part at a ferry crossing, leaving a single lamp on the shore.
A night festival stage shaped like an ancient pavilion, lanterns pulsing to the beat, an original DJ in a hanfu-inspired jacket, the crowd raising folding fans.
A misty ancient village at night, red lanterns swaying, an old wooden gate with blank paper charms, a line of faceless lantern-bearers on a stone path.
A traditional opera stage with red pillars and modern lights, an original performer in costume flinging water sleeves.

What they share

  • Pentatonic scales
  • Chinese instrument colour
  • Poetry and mood

Branches

Starter prompt

Chinese guofeng, 80 BPM, guzheng and erhu melody, bamboo dizi, pipa, pentatonic scale, soft modern drums, gentle female vocal in Mandarin with classical poetic lyrics

A general starting point for this family; swap in a specific style’s keywords for sharper results.

All styles