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| Moderated by: Tony Provencher, Richard Hefner | Page:   1 2 3   |
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| Different Method Setup | Rate Topic |
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| Posted: Wed Mar 5th, 2008 05:27 am |
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21st Post |
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tansungwah Approved 
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Clyde wrote: Hello to all, Hi Clyde, Well said. Reminds me of the Karate kid story. When the teacher asked him to paint the fence without explaining anything. But before following blindly what your teacher said, be sure of his/her credentials first. I've seen some teachers teaching the wrong basics to students and it is difficult for the student to change when it becomes a habit. If you can play, you might not be able to teach. But if you can teach, you should be able to play. SW
____________________ Online Store: Erhu Pipa Guzheng Liuqin Ruan Sanxian Yangqin Hulusi Dizi Suona Xiao Chinese Music Instruments Blog Follow me on Twitter! |
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| Posted: Wed Mar 5th, 2008 06:14 am |
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22nd Post |
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may Approved 
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I've had an experience, where someone moved my dampner all the way to the bottom, as far from the bridge as possible, and I didn't like the results very much. It sounded scratchy to me. And perhaps, also dued to my limited skills in erhu, I had difficulties producing a smooth and stable note with the dampner so far away. Generally, I like to place it just barely touching the bridge, but folded a couple of times so it fits snugly. I've also been using a spongy foam until recently, when I replaced it with wool felt. Works really well, and I love the sound. The other thing was the bow. This person also tightened my bow almost as tense as a violin bow. I didn't like the feel or the sound of that either. Somehow, I don't think it's supposed to be wound up tight like that. So as soon as I got home, I loosened it back to the way I had it before, and set my dampner back in place as well. All well meaning, but not for me. So far, I've changed the bridge, re-tied the qian jin, moved it to where I think is the best spot for me and the erhu, tried different dampners, and even got a new bow. I think once we get to know our own erhus, we find a way to set it to the way that gives us the most pleasure from playing. Clyde gave me this wonderful advise, to really get to know my erhu and listen to it. Finally, everything came together, and I truly enjoy playing my erhu more than ever. (Er...that's not to say I'm good at it! LOL! But I'm finally making some progress after year and a half of struggling.)  MayAllenZ wrote: Sung Wah,
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| Posted: Wed Mar 5th, 2008 06:22 am |
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23rd Post |
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AllenZ Approved 
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Clyde. Thanks for the great advice and interesting excerise. I'll definitely keep those in mind. Sung Wah, Hahaha. The same goes with martial arts, but at least you can easily check the credentials of martial artists.... as for Erhu teachers.... that's a problem. May, I think I need to spend more quality time with my Erhu than my Shamisen these days. Thanks~!
____________________ To hell with circumstances. I create opportunities. "You're lucky Buddhism teaches freedom from desire, because I've got the desire to kick your ass!" 【温故知新】 「古きを尋ねて、新しきを知る」 |
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| Posted: Wed Mar 5th, 2008 10:24 pm |
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24th Post |
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Clyde Approved 
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God Bless Last edited on Thu Jul 10th, 2008 05:52 am by Clyde |
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| Posted: Thu Mar 6th, 2008 12:01 am |
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25th Post |
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woodstock Approved
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Hi Sung Wah, I just came across May's post. I moved the dampener closer to the bridge and I found the sound more to my liking. In fact I like it to be more mellow if it is possible with a rosewood erhu. Are there any other things that I could experiment with to get it more mellow, Thanks. Will
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| Posted: Thu Mar 6th, 2008 12:11 am |
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26th Post |
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Den Approved 
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woodstock wrote: Hi Sung Wah, one of the fellas on a much earlier post somewhere, had some good luck with placing a very thin felt shaped to the base size of the bridge, place under the bridge. I remember reading it somewhere, from someone, but forget now those details. maybe it was even you?? anyway, at that moment the guy thought it worked marvelously. Den
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| Posted: Thu Mar 6th, 2008 02:50 am |
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27th Post |
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tansungwah Approved
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Hi Will, Are you using a black bridge? It should make the sound more mellow. Are you in a dry climate? The dry climate makes the snakeskin tauter and makes it sound sharper and brighter. One unnatural way of doing it, is to apply pressure on the snakeskin to loosen it. Some place weights on the snakeskin overnight over a period of time to loosen the snakeskin. But do it at your own risk. The more natural way of doing it is to play the Erhu everyday and vibrate the snakeskin to season it. But that could take months or years and it depends on the way you bow as well. If you bow like a mouse you will hardly work out the Erhu. One Erhu teacher tells me he massages the snakeskin of new Erhu everyday to season it faster. I suppose that is a better option than placing weights on the Erhu. Clyde, about spotting a good teacher. It's quite hard to tell if you do not have any to compare. Maybe from the playing of other students, the attitude of the instructor you can see some signs. SW Last edited on Thu Mar 6th, 2008 05:20 am by tansungwah ____________________ Online Store: Erhu Pipa Guzheng Liuqin Ruan Sanxian Yangqin Hulusi Dizi Suona Xiao Chinese Music Instruments Blog Follow me on Twitter! |
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| Posted: Thu Mar 6th, 2008 11:24 am |
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28th Post |
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woodstock Approved
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Hi Den, I am already doing that. Thanks. Sung Wah, Yes, I am using the black bridge. Putting a weight on the snake skin sounds a little drastic. I do live on an island but it is air conditioned and besides it is officially still winter here (65F-75Fo). I do practice a lot. I hope to finish all the exercise in the work book before I go up to NYC for lessons. There is an exercise on grace note (hint,hint)  . I am happy with what I got and should leave well enough alone. Thanks again.Will
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| Posted: Thu Mar 6th, 2008 11:31 am |
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29th Post |
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woodstock Approved
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Allenz, I am learning the how to say "LEAVE MY ERHU AS IT IS" in mandarin so Mr. Zhang won't go around change things . BTW, I wouldn't trust those martial art credential too much.Will
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| Posted: Thu Mar 6th, 2008 01:39 pm |
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30th Post |
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thunderbird Approved 
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Clyde wrote:Yes Den it is one dime for each finger, however it is difficult at first to do more then one finger at a time. Clyde, Could you use a different font...I have a hard time reading your posting on my screen...thank you for your consideration. Bird 
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| Posted: Thu Mar 6th, 2008 01:44 pm |
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31st Post |
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AllenZ Approved
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LoL, Will. Nah for marital arts credentials, I just go to the schools themselves and say I'm planning to join but I need to ask a few questions before. Then I question eveything from their techniques to even ask for a demonstration to see how the theories are applied. You can just see by common sense in some situations where if its all BS or not. Trust me, I conducted some interviews with some BS schools in NYC before. You wouldn't believe some of the stuff they try to pass by you. Too bad you can't do that with Erhu..... Asking them to prove their skill by asking stuff like "Let's see you play Saima really fast!" or "Let's see you play some Lau Tin Ha (Liu Tianhua)!" doesn't work out. LoL. I thought you took a few lessons from him already? So what's your verdict? ^_- Last edited on Thu Mar 6th, 2008 01:46 pm by AllenZ ____________________ To hell with circumstances. I create opportunities. "You're lucky Buddhism teaches freedom from desire, because I've got the desire to kick your ass!" 【温故知新】 「古きを尋ねて、新しきを知る」 |
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| Posted: Thu Mar 6th, 2008 02:21 pm |
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32nd Post |
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woodstock Approved
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Allenz, I only had two lessons from Mr Zhang. My first 3 lessons was with another teacher. Without going into detail, they arranged a teacher who was going to teach me the gaohu. But told him that I wanted to learn the erhu and bought the gaohu by mistake. He was winging it because I didn't even get the work book until I had the lessons with Mr Zhang. I think this (Cantonese) teacher thought I was too old to learn. I think Mr Zhang is OK. I don't know how good of a player he is. As long as he can teach me how to play the erhu, I don't think it matters how good he can play. Does your group lessons cover all the material in the work book? I will probably have questions for you later. Will
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| Posted: Thu Mar 6th, 2008 03:31 pm |
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33rd Post |
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AllenZ Approved
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Will, As for the textbook, apparently he was teaching another Cantonese kid privately before me, and they were up to Chapter 2 of that general textbook. He shoots thru them pretty fast. Oh, I didn't know they had a Cantonese teacher, man, I can't really communicate well with Sifu Cheung with my half ass Hong Kong Mandarin.
____________________ To hell with circumstances. I create opportunities. "You're lucky Buddhism teaches freedom from desire, because I've got the desire to kick your ass!" 【温故知新】 「古きを尋ねて、新しきを知る」 |
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| Posted: Thu Mar 6th, 2008 05:23 pm |
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34th Post |
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KenK Approved
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tansungwah wrote: The more natural way of doing it is to play the Erhu everyday and vibrate the snakeskin to season it. But that could take months or years and it depends on the way you bow as well. If you bow like a mouse you will hardly work out the Erhu.Hello Sungwah- I bought my erhu at Clarion music in SF Ca. about 6 months ago. The guy at the store said something that made me think the skin would sound better with time. I'm familiar w/ how finer classical guitars "open up" over time when they're played. They seem to change a lot during the first 2-3 years then it levels off. Since I heard this about the snakeskin I've been very curious about it. Can you talk some more about this? What kind of change will happen? How long does it take? I play it often but not daily. I think I play pretty hard and loud. Although I'm new to the erhu, I've played guitar, piano, percussion and some wind instruments for a long time. So in some ways I'm a beginner but in other ways not. Thanks, KenK 
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| Posted: Thu Mar 6th, 2008 08:46 pm |
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35th Post |
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AllenZ Approved
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Hi Ken, Check out the topic: "Erhu Skincare" on the board. We were talking about using Erhu Skincare products against the humidity and it from dry..... according to a few, you can also try to mellow out the tone of your Erhu by moisturing the skin alittle? So you might want to check that topic out as an alternative. Otherwise, just play it more everyday. The constant pressure of the strings + bridge, the skin will stretch (from wear) and the tone would be more mellow (mainly because the skin is becoming more loose). Last edited on Thu Mar 6th, 2008 08:48 pm by AllenZ ____________________ To hell with circumstances. I create opportunities. "You're lucky Buddhism teaches freedom from desire, because I've got the desire to kick your ass!" 【温故知新】 「古きを尋ねて、新しきを知る」 |
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| Posted: Thu Mar 6th, 2008 11:15 pm |
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36th Post |
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KenK Approved
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Hi Allen- I think I read that post (or another one like it at another forum). Seems like quite a few people think oiling the skin is bad idea, so I'll probably not do it. I'm just curious about how the skin changes. I can't be sure, but I though it was something other than just loosening. Thanks, Ken
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| Posted: Fri Mar 7th, 2008 01:39 pm |
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37th Post |
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tansungwah Approved
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I'll just shoot whatever comes to mind because to be organised takes too much effort. And these are just my views and not the absolute truth. Its not just the loosening of the snakeskin. Its something more than that. Snakeskin is a biomaterial with lots of cells and sinews. The constant vibration could cause some molecular changes to the cell structure. When the Erhu gets more seasoned, some changes to the tone will be expected. You might find that the tone becomes rounder, or the tone becomes warmer, some of the harshness and noise in the tone is gone, the high notes ring out clearer and better, and sometimes the tone becomes more mellow. When the skin sags though, yes the tone becomes more mellow, but the diction of each notes becomes blur. Its like moving the pickup switch of a stratocaster from the bridge pickup to the pickup near to the neck. You get this warm, fuzzy tone but when you play fast notes it sounds like a jumbled mess. Some people like this kind of tone but certain songs require otherwise. You can increase the definition of the tone but using a higher bridge though. And how much potential the Erhu has in terms of sound improvement and how long it takes to season very much depends on the quality of the snakeskin and the Erhu maker that puts the snakeskin over it. Lu Lin Sheng likes to drap the snakeskin really tight to the extent that it sounds really harsh when new. But it allows the player to slowly work the skin and lengthen the peak performance period. The bowing method also affects the seasoning of the snakeskin. As I mentioned earlier if one bows softly there won't be much vibrations. Sometimes I hear instances of people ruining the sound of a good Erhu over a period of time because of the way they play. Sometimes just by setting up your Erhu and leaving it there will have positive changes to the tone because the Erhu gets accustomed to the climate and environment. I'm particularly impressed with the advice of Clyde to May about getting to know your Erhu. I think all instruments have a soul within them. If you take good care of them, show them care and concern they will grow together with you. If they are mistreated and left alone even a small Leaf sandalwood Erhu is no better than a piece of firewood. SW
____________________ Online Store: Erhu Pipa Guzheng Liuqin Ruan Sanxian Yangqin Hulusi Dizi Suona Xiao Chinese Music Instruments Blog Follow me on Twitter! |
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| Posted: Fri Mar 7th, 2008 05:54 pm |
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38th Post |
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KenK Approved
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tansungwah wrote: Its not just the loosening of the snakeskin. Its something more than that. Snakeskin is a biomaterial with lots of cells and sinews. The constant vibration could cause some molecular changes to the cell structure.Hello Sung Wah- Thanks for your answer. That is something like what I thought might be happening. It's not too different from how a nice classical guitar opens up over time. I already notice that the higher notes sound better than before on my erhu. Probably I'm playing better than when I first got it, but the skin is likely beginning to season as well. On a guitar, most of the changes will occur in the first year or two. Is it the same with the snakeskin? KenK Last edited on Fri Mar 7th, 2008 05:55 pm by KenK |
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| Posted: Fri Mar 7th, 2008 06:20 pm |
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39th Post |
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Clyde Approved
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God Bless Last edited on Thu Jul 10th, 2008 05:53 am by Clyde |
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| Posted: Fri Mar 7th, 2008 08:54 pm |
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40th Post |
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AllenZ Approved
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Clyde, Actually, I really appreciate your posts on the board, no matter what's the subject we're troubled with, it seems you're the first one to give us your detailed, experienced advice on it. Many thanks for that, especially from a newbie like me~
____________________ To hell with circumstances. I create opportunities. "You're lucky Buddhism teaches freedom from desire, because I've got the desire to kick your ass!" 【温故知新】 「古きを尋ねて、新しきを知る」 |
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