How to chooseerhu is a hot topic among friends. For many years, people have talked about paintings and short stories, giving people the feeling of looking at flowers in the mist. I often encounter masters who have played the violin for decades, and the famous erhu master who has made pianos for decades, sometimes it is vague. It seems that the purchase of musical instruments really requires our knowledge of musical instrument acoustics, material science, mechanics, and production technology. Only on the basis of erhu performance can we truly know what we have in mind. Of course, if you want to appreciate the wonderful Erhuperformance, you can search “erhu music” on youtube, and use flvto youtube to mp3 to download it.
Now, I would like to share my experience of buying erhu for many years with piano friends as follows:
1. Check the resonance focus area of the piano tube
The jargon is good, the sound of a good piano must be “bound”, which means that the resonance of the erhu piano tube must form a focal point, otherwise, its sound will be scattered and vacant, empty and not solid, with high pitches will be empty, and bass will be thin. After the sound of the piano skin is vibrated, the sound wave is extended along with the mouth of the piano tube obliquely to the bell mouth and focused into a pyramid-shaped waveform area. ), become a key element to adjust the balance of erhu high and bass. When the treble area (ie, the lower position) moves forward in the resonance focus area, the volume is loud and the sound quality is solid; when the resonance focus area is moved backward, the volume is small and the sound quality is thin. The low range (ie upper position) is just the opposite. In order to balance the high and low frequencies, the location of the resonance focal area must be reasonable.
Experience has proved that it is better to set the resonance focus to a point behind the axis of the piano shaft. The simple way to determine the resonance focus area is: during the audition, the left-hand feels the vibrating sense of the piano shaft, headstock, and piano rest. This indicates that the resonance focus is exactly on the center axis of the piano shaft. In addition, we can also hear from experience Erhu’s resonance focus area.
2. Pay attention to the expressiveness of erhu
Expressiveness is the essence of Erhu. Specifically, we can proceed from two perspectives: the first is the sensitivity and comfort of the erhu. High-quality erhu requires responsiveness, the bow will sound when it touches the strings, the sound quality is pure and full, and it is not muddy; it feels comfortable to hold the piano, gives the player a sense of affinity, and fully stimulates the player’s musical inspiration. The second is the control and potential of Erhu. The piano can behave and play as the player wants, retracting and playing freely, the strong play does not “explode”, the weak play does not “empty”, the high pitch does not “scream”, and the bass does not “swallow”.
It can play freely in the contrast of sound range and strength, without feeling “difficult”, and has good controllability. Just like a car with strong horsepower, which allows the driver to fully enjoy the fun of driving, a good piano should also give the player the feeling of being one with the piano. Expressiveness is a feeling that is not easy to say but can only be understood, and there is no standard or scale to measure. It needs the erhu producers and players to understand and grasp.
3. Pay attention to the penetrating power of Erhu sound
Another important indicator for evaluating the sound quality of erhu is “penetration”. Penetration is the strength of timbre, sound quality, and volume, and it is an important internal quality factor for erhu’s excellence. Personal experience: Penetration should be the manifestation of erhu’s sound to resonance and harmony. Vibration is the source of sound waves, without vibration and sound-simple physical principles. Analyzing the structure and pronunciation principle of the erhu, it can be found that the sound of the strings is transmitted to the piano skin (vibrating membrane).
At this time, the center of the piano leather has a large amplitude and low frequency, and the amplitude near the edge gradually decreases. The vibration amplitude of the echo reflection in front of the skin is small and the frequency is high. Through the resonance of the piano and piano tube, coupled with the resonance of the piano rod and the piano holder, the erhu makes a beautiful sound. I believe that the erhu vibration frequency range with good penetrating power should be wide, the main audio is prominent, and the secondary audio is harmonious and coordinated.
Just like a speaker, the coordination of high, medium, and bass makes the music penetrating and appealing. Large volume does not mean good penetrating power, and the standard of penetrating power does not depend on the increase in volume. Penetrating power is an important indicator of erhu production skills and quality. There are many ways to test the penetrating power of a piano-based on my own experience and feelings. Among them,
