Joseph Hwang
Let's look around "Ttechang", a unique K-pop cultural phenomenon. It's been a while since we've used this word. "Ttechang is a Korean compound word. "Tte" means "gathered crowd" in Korean. "Chang" is a Korean phonetic value that comes from a Chinese character that means "to sing" in Korean, so when you put those two syllables together, you get the idea of a crowd of people singing together.
The sight of a crowd gathering and singing in unison is a sight that can be seen anywhere in the world. But why is "Ttechang" so special in Korea, and what is its value and significance in K-pop culture, especially fandom culture?
A typical ttechang can often be heard in military anthems or the cheers of spectators at sporting events. Chanting serves the function of bringing people of different backgrounds and personalities together as a crowd and uniting them with a common goal and purpose. It's a unifying experience that brings people of different backgrounds and personalities together in one place. This function and phenomenon is what happens at a pop concert.
But isn't that a little strange? In the military or at sports events, music is just a tool. It's not the main purpose and object of the audience. But at a concert, where the performer brings the music to the audience, only the performer is obligated to do so. The audience has come to the concert hall to see and hear the artist perform. And they've willingly paid the artist for the privilege of doing so. Therefore, the music of the artist on stage and the music of the audience singing along can conflict. In a way, the audience's ttechang can be a business interruption for the artist. However, K-pop's ttechang has turned this dilemma into a part of the artist's concert performance. This is the meaning and value of ttechang in K-pop fandom culture.
1. Definition of Ttechang
Ttechang differs in form from choral singing, in which the melodies and harmonies are played in unison, but ttechang is when the audience sings a song together. It is also sung loudly and in unison, and there is collaboration, with the audience supporting or following the leading artist on stage, and the spontaneity of the audience is a key element. There should be an element of spontaneity where the audience is not rehearsed before the performance, but there is also a certain controlled pattern to the performance of the song as if there is a director. The important thing is that the audience participates in the scene while enjoying the artist's performance. Taken together, these characteristics of ttechang can be said to be an expression of fandom, in which the audience is so enthusiastic about the music that they participate in an auxiliary and spontaneous sing-along part of the performance, following rules tacitly agreed upon by the participating audience members, without interfering with the artist's dominant performance.
2. Simultaneity and Duality of Production and Consumption
The following paragraph quotes part of the English abstract of the research paper "Type and Meaning of 'Ttechang (Group Singing)' in Concert Hall of Popular Culture (May 2016)" by Choi, Hyekyung, Graduate School of Film, Dongguk University.
"Considering various cases, types of ttechang could be divided into basic (singing, rejoinder, remodeling) and expansion (motion, picket, event) types. Through types of ttechang, the researcher confirmed that ttechang possesses not only characteristics of fandom such as distinction and differentiation, and production and participation, but also characteristics of communal play culture made by active, voluntary, and certain rules."
In her paper, Choi categorized ttechang into two main types. One is the "basic type," in which the audience sings only, the other is the "extended type," in which events are added to the song. And those are subdivided into three formal categories within each main two categories again. In any case, the main format of the concert with the audience singing in unison remains the same, and according to the artist's repertoire, the concert is laced with various and detailed events by the fans in each situation.
The important thing is that the fans don't interrupt the artist's performance at any time. The improvisational nature of the performance means that fans adjust their behavior to the situation, sharing and communicating in a format, that has been discussed in advance by the fan community. This is made possible by the presence of cell phones.
Two factors are the creation of cyberspace for online fan communities to exchange opinions, make decisions, and share their determinations, and using cell phones as tools to quickly disseminate impromptu changes in the situation or actions to be taken on the spot. These make concert culture unlike anything humanity has ever seen.
This difference has given the audience the status of producers and consumers of culture at the same time.
3. Celebration and Amusement
Ttechang is necessarily responsive and interactive because it is the audience's response to the artist on stage. This is what makes ttechang fundamentally different from other collective vocal performances. The artist's performance should be preceded, and then the audience's ttechang can follow it up as a response. It's a rule, a ritual.
Ttechang is filled with love and respect for artists. This love and respect is discussed and recreated by a community of fans. The fans consider returning this love and respect to the artist and consider the form and method - but there's always added an element of improvisation. The conclusions reached by the fan community are then communicated to the fans, who then, perform their rituals within the sacredness of the concert. Ttechang is the result.
Therefore, ttechang is a rewarding process of amusement, celebrating the artists who, have been loved and admired by fans and sharing a sense of accomplishment in a format that unites them in a league of their own. The fans' expression of respect for artists is unified and always includes playfulness. This is why artists are moved by the fans' ttechang at concerts. When the artist sees a unified and consistent format on stage, the artist gets evidence that his unstructured fans have communicated with each other, and the result is not on stage, but in the audience seats. Ttechang turns the audience seats into another stage in the concert hall. The stage and the audience seats become one, and the artist and the fans are moved and excited by the emotion of unity. In this moment there is no hierarchy, no discrimination, only love, respect, and excitement. It is a scene where dreams that are impossible to experience in ordinary life become reality for a moment.
** References and quotations:
https://www.dbpia.co.kr/journal/articleDetail?nodeId=NODE11395482
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