Ok this is what I've been busy with lately. After much thinking and discussion with some Erhu instructors, I've created a video on how to do the rolling vibrato. The video is divided into 3 steps: (1) finger movement (2) bowing (3) combining finger movement and bowing.
Each step should be mastered before moving on to the next. And master each finger first before moving on to the next. It is a slow and tedious learning process but it beats having a convulsion every time you do vibrato.
And there is no substitute for a face to face lesson with a Erhu teacher. You should get a teacher to tweak your moves whenever you have the chance.
Here it is:
4) How to do rolling vibrato on Erhu
The rest of the earlier videos are here:
1) How to hold a Erhu Bow
2) How to bow the Erhu
3) How to play the Erhu - Left Hand Position
Bridges Over Troubled Snakeskin
I did an interesting experiment with different types of bridges to test how different bridges affect the tone of the Erhu.
The Erhu used in this experiment is a Shanghai Dunhuang aged Rosewood Erhu.
All other factors remained the same, although I would prefer to vary the thickness of the felt dampener according to the height of the bridge, because the tension of the dampener on the snakeskin affects the sound. But to compensate for that, I try to choose bridges with the same height as much as possible.
Click on the individual bridges to hear the sound clips:
Ebony * Rosewood * Whitewood
Violet Sandalwood * Young Sandalwood * Ebony Sandalwood
Violet Sandalwood * Small Leaf Sandalwood * Mystery Bridge
The Erhu used in this experiment is a Shanghai Dunhuang aged Rosewood Erhu.
All other factors remained the same, although I would prefer to vary the thickness of the felt dampener according to the height of the bridge, because the tension of the dampener on the snakeskin affects the sound. But to compensate for that, I try to choose bridges with the same height as much as possible.
Click on the individual bridges to hear the sound clips:
Ebony * Rosewood * Whitewood
Violet Sandalwood * Young Sandalwood * Ebony Sandalwood
Violet Sandalwood * Small Leaf Sandalwood * Mystery Bridge
Clearly there are some subtle differences in the tone. Some high notes ring out more, some have more volume, some sound more hollow and some sound cleaner.
Would love to hear some comments from you.
Dynamic Dimo
Learned this from Mr BCK (the one of dimo fixing fame) today:
A Dizi sounds its best on the 4th day after you fix the dimo. Whenever he has a performance, he will change the Dimo on his Dizi 3 days before his performance. That is when the Dizi will sound the brightest and clearest.
But don't just leave the Dizi alone for the first 3 days. You have to blow it everyday so as to vibrate the Dimo for it to reach optimum level on the 4th day.
A Dizi sounds its best on the 4th day after you fix the dimo. Whenever he has a performance, he will change the Dimo on his Dizi 3 days before his performance. That is when the Dizi will sound the brightest and clearest.
But don't just leave the Dizi alone for the first 3 days. You have to blow it everyday so as to vibrate the Dimo for it to reach optimum level on the 4th day.
A Tale of Two Snakeskins
I thought this is an interesting thing to share. Ever looked at the back of the snakeskin on your Erhu under light? You should see something like this:
You can see a thin layer of flesh or veins or whatever you call those things underneath the snakeskin. This is the how the traditional 'Erhu skinners'(people who attaches the skin to the Erhu) do it.
Recently, I came across a Erhu with the back of the snakeskin that looks like this:
The back of the Erhu is 'cleaned' and stripped of all the fluffy sinewy things on the surface. This is the work of some new 'Erhu skinners'.
So said the new 'Erhu skinners' about the traditional 'Erhu skinners': "They are quite sloppy in their Erhu making. If you look closely at the back of the snakeskin, you can see a lot of leftover flesh, sinews, veins still attached to the snakeskin. If you look closely at our Erhus, the back of the snakeskin is cleaned thoroughly. We took pains to remove all the excess parts using our bare fingers."
When I showed the work of the new 'Erhu skinners' to a Erhu performer from China and he has this to say: "The fluffy, sinewy things are the soul and life of the snakeskin. It is what gives the Erhu its richness and characteristics. Without that, the Erhu is nothing."
So which do I think is better? I sell Erhus by both new and traditional Erhu skinners so I'm going to give a politically correct answer - both have their own pluses and minuses. The 'cleaned out' Erhus does seem to sound cleaner and the traditional Erhus does seem to have more character.
Ultimately, there are a lot of factors that affects the sound of the Erhu besides the snakeskin.
You can see a thin layer of flesh or veins or whatever you call those things underneath the snakeskin. This is the how the traditional 'Erhu skinners'(people who attaches the skin to the Erhu) do it.
Recently, I came across a Erhu with the back of the snakeskin that looks like this:
The back of the Erhu is 'cleaned' and stripped of all the fluffy sinewy things on the surface. This is the work of some new 'Erhu skinners'.
So said the new 'Erhu skinners' about the traditional 'Erhu skinners': "They are quite sloppy in their Erhu making. If you look closely at the back of the snakeskin, you can see a lot of leftover flesh, sinews, veins still attached to the snakeskin. If you look closely at our Erhus, the back of the snakeskin is cleaned thoroughly. We took pains to remove all the excess parts using our bare fingers."
When I showed the work of the new 'Erhu skinners' to a Erhu performer from China and he has this to say: "The fluffy, sinewy things are the soul and life of the snakeskin. It is what gives the Erhu its richness and characteristics. Without that, the Erhu is nothing."
So which do I think is better? I sell Erhus by both new and traditional Erhu skinners so I'm going to give a politically correct answer - both have their own pluses and minuses. The 'cleaned out' Erhus does seem to sound cleaner and the traditional Erhus does seem to have more character.
Ultimately, there are a lot of factors that affects the sound of the Erhu besides the snakeskin.
Help! I can't get my Erhu in tune!
Some people might find tuning Erhu with wooden pegs a pain, especially if the pegs tend to slip or if they are stuck very tight. Fortunately, there are Erhus with bronze tuning pegs that makes tuning a breeze.
Unfortunately, only the starter grade Erhus are fitted with bronze tuning mechanisms. The intermediate and above models all comes with wooden pegs. So what do you do if you just cannot get to the centre of your AP tuner?
Enter the fine adjusters.
Type 1: China made fine adjusters
They work by hooking the string and pulling the string towards the fine adjuster. Works fine but some users said the screw on the adjuster sometimes screws up. What do you expect a screw to do anyway?
Type 2: Wittner made fine adjusters
Wittner is a German company famous for its music stands and string instruments' tail pieces. Their fine adjusters are made of better materials and work by pushing the string away from the adjusters. Some users commented that it often breaks the string. But I think they push it till the string bends at a right angle. Don't turn it so much and you'll be fine.
Type 3: Do-it-yourself(DIY) fine adjusters
Just take a piece of qianjing string and loop it once around the neck, and once around the string above the qianjing. Tie it somewhere near the qianjing to start off. Adjust the pitch by moving the DIY fine adjuster up and down. Good for purists who don't want any metallic stuff on their Erhu. A bit flimsy though.
So that's all folks.
But for your information I never use fine adjusters on my personal Erhu...
Update: Some commented that the metallic fine adjustors eats bow hairs if you're not careful. Thought I'll leave a note about this here.
Unfortunately, only the starter grade Erhus are fitted with bronze tuning mechanisms. The intermediate and above models all comes with wooden pegs. So what do you do if you just cannot get to the centre of your AP tuner?
Enter the fine adjusters.
Type 1: China made fine adjusters
They work by hooking the string and pulling the string towards the fine adjuster. Works fine but some users said the screw on the adjuster sometimes screws up. What do you expect a screw to do anyway?
Type 2: Wittner made fine adjusters
Wittner is a German company famous for its music stands and string instruments' tail pieces. Their fine adjusters are made of better materials and work by pushing the string away from the adjusters. Some users commented that it often breaks the string. But I think they push it till the string bends at a right angle. Don't turn it so much and you'll be fine.
Type 3: Do-it-yourself(DIY) fine adjusters
Just take a piece of qianjing string and loop it once around the neck, and once around the string above the qianjing. Tie it somewhere near the qianjing to start off. Adjust the pitch by moving the DIY fine adjuster up and down. Good for purists who don't want any metallic stuff on their Erhu. A bit flimsy though.
So that's all folks.
But for your information I never use fine adjusters on my personal Erhu...
Update: Some commented that the metallic fine adjustors eats bow hairs if you're not careful. Thought I'll leave a note about this here.
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