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ezFolk Forums > Other Instruments > Erhu > A collection of Erhu articles from different interesting sites. |
| Moderated by: Tony Provencher, Richard Hefner |
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| A collection of Erhu articles from different interesting sites. | Rate Topic |
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| Posted: Tue Nov 13th, 2007 11:27 pm |
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1st Post |
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thunderbird Approved 
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I would like to share some of the interesting sites and stories which I came across during my quest for more knowledge in this beautiful Chinese traditional strings instruement. The articles could be cultural, mythical, scientific, political, musical or just simple folk stories about the Erhu. If you do have anything you read and would like to share with us...please post here or create your own topic. God bless! The first article is very basic...I guess when I build a house, I would like to start from the basement...so I am compelled to post a "basement" level article about the Erhu... The follow is an excerpt from site: http://members.shaw.ca/eip14/what_is_erhu.htm
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| Posted: Tue Nov 13th, 2007 11:30 pm |
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2nd Post |
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thunderbird Approved
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Erhu (a two-string bowed fiddle) was first introduced during the Song Dynasty (960 to 1279 A.D.), It is an ancient instrument which is extremely popular in China today as a medium for both traditional and contemporary music. It was evolved from xiqin, the instrument of Xi Nationality who lived in the north of China, at ancient China, people resided in the central part of China usually called the various minorities of northern and western region as "Hu", thus borne the name "Huqin" (Hu's fiddle). Formally, the erhu was mostly used in the south area of the middle and lower reaches of Chang Jiang River. Throughout its 500 years old history, it has been constantly improved. Its tone now become mellow and bright. Erhu was mainly use as an accompanying instrument of the folk songs and local operas. Not until 1920s, for the first time, a celebrated musician Liu Tianhua played erhu as a solo instrument. So the erhu was upgraded to a solo instrument from thereafter. The instrument has 2 strings with the bow clasped between them. The thin and long neck ends in two pegs that are standing serially, not obstinate. The sound box is covered by a snake skin which gives the instrument its distinctive tone color. As mention before, Erhu is also referred to as Huqin. It is a mid-high toned instrument whose mid-low tone sounds forceful, sad and lavish. And become clear, bright and cheerful when it plays in high tone. Because Erhu has a wide musical range (3 octaves), so it gives the instrument tremendous tonal flexibility and powerful expression, to voice the temperaments and feelings of human  
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| Posted: Tue Nov 13th, 2007 11:52 pm |
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3rd Post |
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thunderbird Approved
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You can listen to some of the most famous erhu songs from this site:http://members.shaw.ca/eip14/erhu_music.htm....one click will take you to the Erhu music wonderland...free!
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| Posted: Tue Nov 13th, 2007 11:59 pm |
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4th Post |
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thunderbird Approved
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Chen Yao Sing ( 陳耀星): China first-class Erhu player. He is famous for developing many erhu techniques to enhance the expressiveness of Erhu, especially in the fast songs. He is the composer of "Galloping War Horses". (the biography website is in Chinese) Min Hei Fen ( 閔惠芬): China first-class Erhu player. Her repertoires are wide in themes and rich in styles. In 1977, Seiji Ozawa was deeply touched by her performance of "River Water". The principal commentator of Boston Symphony Orchestra wrote in the paper "Min Hui-fen is one of the greatest string players in the world". The following link is a must see website. It is her Erhu solo concert in year 2000 in China. The page contain pictures and 4 video clips. From the Video session, click on "Song 2" and then you will see what Erhu is really about...^_^ Zhu Chang Yao ( 朱昌耀): China first-class Erhu player. He is now employed as the chairman of Jiang Su Province Opera House, the principle of Jiang Su Arts and Literatures Association, a member of China musician and an administrator in the Club of Chinese Cultural Orchestra. He famous composition is "the Scenery from Jiang Nan". (the biography website is in Chinese) Jiang Jian Hua (江見華): the world’s foremost erhu virtuoso. At the age of just 14, Jiang was selected to play for Seiji Ozawa. In 1988, she performed ‘The Second Spring of China Reflecting the Moon’ and Ozawa sat and cried through the performance. This is another recent article about her from Shanghai Star.com.cn, an online newspaper in China. Chen Jun ( 陳軍): a young and talented Erhu player who has a high reputation in China. He won a lot of prices and become as successful as his famous father Chen Yao Sing, who is an Erhu master. Actually, I saw him in person 10 years ago. Indeed, he was really nice and very skillful. I admire him a lot. This is his Chinese biography website [url=http://www.cciv.cityu.edu.hk/~cciv/art/1999-2000-b/siu/#? ? ? ?]Xiao Bai Rong[/url] ( 蕭白鏞): China first-class erhu player. He is famous at his "freestyle" characteristic in playing Erhu. The following link is a clip when he performed in a music award ceremony in Hong Kong in 1993, to pay tribute to a famous singer, Teresa Tang, who died in asthma at the same year. You can watch the clip in window media format or real player format. Xiao is going to appear at around 1 min17 sec from the clip. George Gao ( 高韶青): A famous musician who was born in China, and later moved to Toronto, Canada. The following is his official website. George Gao's erhu music pages And you can find out the information about his up-coming concert in Toronto at Debut Atlantic. Sunny Wong ( 黃晨達): a young and talented Erhu player, who also achieved a great success as his father Wong On-yuen, who is the chair of Erhu group in Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra. The link above is his official site. Ma Xiao Hui ( 馬曉暉): a principal Erhu player of Shanghai National Music Orchestra, Nomination Prize Winner of Shanghai Ten Excellent Young Performers, artistic director of Hong Kong Youth Music Association. Song Fei (宋飛): a famous erhu artist in Shanghai, China. This link include her video clip of erhu performance. Ma Xiang Hua (馬向華): she held an erhu music concert in Edmonton, 2000. Wong Kwok Ton ( 王國潼): the top Erhu player in Hong Kong, he is now a music professor teaching Chinese traditional music at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Xu Ke ( 許可 ): he was born in China; he is the top Erhu player in Japan now. He was playing erhu in the Silk Road Project with Yo-yo Ma.
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| Posted: Wed Nov 14th, 2007 02:01 am |
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5th Post |
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tansungwah Approved 
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Hi thunderbird, the link doesn't work. thunderbird wrote: You can listen to some of the most famous erhu songs from this site:http://members.shaw.ca/eip14/erhu_music.htm....one click will take you to the Erhu music wonderland...free!
____________________ 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 Nov 14th, 2007 02:58 pm |
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6th Post |
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thunderbird Approved
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Try http://members.shaw.ca/eip14/Bonus.htm and click on the "music" icon! I have tried this address just now...it works!...please enjoy the free and fun stuffs!  Last edited on Mon Dec 3rd, 2007 03:34 am by thunderbird |
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| Posted: Mon Dec 3rd, 2007 03:32 am |
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7th Post |
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thunderbird Approved
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Man-made skin Erhu: http://cmusic.idv.tw/suona/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=8279 There are about 5000 Erhus improrted to Hong Kong annually...roughly 400 python snakes have to be killed to meet the need...the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra (香港中樂團)has been experiementing with recyclable fiber membrane to replace python skin...they have spent roughly 2 years and successfully made 2 goahus with the PET polyester film (PET聚脂薄膜)...sorry,I don't have time to translate the rest...please use whatever translation program you have to do the job or if you can read Chinese...please enjoy! Happy sharing! 港中樂團創環保胡琴救蟒蛇 纖維膜代蛇皮 音質更佳 【明報專訊】本港每年從內地進口約5000多把胡琴，以4公尺長的蟒蛇皮可做12把二胡推算，每年要殺逾400條蟒蛇取皮。香港中樂團去年創先河，採用可循環再造的纖維膜，取代蟒蛇皮製造胡琴，不僅改良了胡琴的音質，更符合保育原則，達到藝術和環保雙贏。把該薄膜進一步應用到革胡的研究，亦快將成功。 「不殺生又能達目的 最好不過」 常見的胡琴包括高胡、二胡和中胡，自古以來均採用蟒蛇背部的皮製造。香港中樂團藝術總監閻惠昌說，用蟒蛇皮製造胡琴有不少缺點，如蛇皮要先弄濕才放到胡琴，但容易令胡琴出現啞音，蛇皮又不適合潮濕和乾冷的天氣。他坦言，用PET聚脂薄膜取代蟒蛇皮，出發點不是環保，而是追求卓越，用最好的材料製造樂器，「不用殺害生命又能達到目的，是最好不過」。 該樂團樂器研究部主任阮仕春花了約兩年，去年成功用PET聚脂薄膜製造了兩把高胡，並在去年底的音樂會中「初試啼聲」。阮仕春說，外國多年前已將PET聚脂薄膜應用於西樂，如定音鼓，但不曾將這技術移植至中樂，國內亦有以人造蛇皮取代蟒蛇皮製造胡琴，但效果不理想。 胡琴壽命可長10年 他引述演奏家余其偉說，傳統胡琴要使用3、4年才可公開演出，用PET聚脂薄膜製造的胡琴只需一個月便可灌錄唱片。為改良胡琴，阮仕春可說「無皮不用」，他曾研究用牛、羊、豬、魚，甚至駱駝和鹿皮等製造胡琴，但效果不佳。用PET聚脂薄膜製造的胡琴不單音色佳，壽命預計可達10多20年，較傳統的約10年長。 阮仕春說，很多國家已嚴禁帶蛇皮入境，樂團攜帶傳統胡琴到海外演出，要通過繁複的手績，近年內地亦開始嚴控蛇皮來源，用蛇皮製樂器的生製商需要領牌。香港中樂團現時有45把胡琴，樂團將逐步將蟒蛇皮轉為PET聚脂薄膜。 阮仕春 said, "Many countries have banned illegal python skin...the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra members (Erhu musicians) when giving an oversea performance, have to go through many complicated formalities and regulations before the Erhu can be allowed to enter the host country....etc. * Sorry I have to run...please read on and enjoy! 內地年產50萬胡琴 殺蛇6萬 內地年產逾50萬把胡琴，阮仕春以一條4公尺蟒蛇皮可做12把二胡、精製二胡只可做3、4把推算，每年約要殺6萬條蟒蛇。他的「新發明」雖可保護蟒蛇，但暫難引入內地。「我們認為好的東西，未必所有人都接受。但我們不會跟覑別人的尾巴，用蟒蛇皮製造胡琴，早晚被淘汰。我們走在時代的前端。」   
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| Posted: Mon Dec 3rd, 2007 04:24 am |
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8th Post |
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Clyde Approved 
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Thank you bird, that was very interesting please keep it up . God Bless
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| Posted: Tue Apr 1st, 2008 12:07 pm |
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9th Post |
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woodstock Approved
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Hi Thunderbird, None of the websites that you listed works. It is disappointing because I like to listen to more of 閔惠芬's work. Will
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| Posted: Sun May 18th, 2008 08:51 am |
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10th Post |
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jamesf Approved 
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Thanks for these. I have nothing to contribute to this thread but the registration confirmation email for this forum requires me to post something within 24 hours or else...
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| Posted: Sun May 18th, 2008 03:49 pm |
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11th Post |
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Clyde Approved
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Thank you for joining the forum Jamesf, and welcome. God Bless
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| Posted: Sun May 18th, 2008 06:22 pm |
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12th Post |
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Den Approved 
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Welcome jamesf You'll have countless hours available to you throughout this forum , sometimes entertaining and plenty of priceless tidbits of wisdom throughout ! dont believe that you have nothing to contribute.... even beginning beginners have a good time here posting Den
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| Posted: Mon May 19th, 2008 12:30 am |
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13th Post |
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dsouthwood Approved 
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Although this article isn't strictly about erhus, it does have some bearing on the availability of materials: Giant pythons invade southeastern Florida: study Thu May 15, 11:06 PM ET (AFP) Giant pythons capable of swallowing a dog and even an alligator are rapidly making south Florida their home, potentially threatening other southeastern states, a study said. "Pythons are likely to colonize anywhere alligators live, including north Florida, Georgia and Louisiana," said Frank Mazzotti, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences professor, in his two-year study. The pythons thriving in Florida are mostly Burmese pythons from Myanmar that were brought over as pets and then turned loose in the wild. From 2002-2005, 201 of the beasts were caught by state authorities, but in the last two years the number has more than doubled to 418, Mazzotti said in his study published on the university website. The largest python caught so far in Florida measured five meters (16.4 feet) and weighed 70 kilograms (154 pounds). Mazzotti said the serpents, despite their awesome size, are not poisonous, but are excellent swimmers and able to cover great distances in little time. Some, trapped and released with radio transmitters, swam 60 kilometers (37 miles) in a few hours. Highly adaptable, pythons prey on cats, dogs, hares, foxes, squirrels, raccoons and even alligators, allowing them to thrive in a variety of environments. After populating the Florida Everglades -- a vast marshland -- where it is estimated they number 30,000, the giant python is now spreading across the rest of the peninsula. "Females may store sperm, so they can produce fertile clutches for years. And a 100-something pound snake can easily be producing 60, 80 eggs a year," said Mazzotti, adding that the reptile could eventually populate the entire southern United States.
____________________ Music contains all of life. |
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| Posted: Mon May 19th, 2008 01:07 am |
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14th Post |
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Den Approved
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30,000 running around loose.......... I guess they wouldnt be an endangered species in that locality .
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| Posted: Mon Jun 23rd, 2008 08:25 am |
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15th Post |
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smithchau Approved 
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內地年產50萬胡琴 殺蛇6萬 Translation of the above Chinese text: Mainland China produced 500,000 Huqins annually killing 60,000 snakes So if some form of trade agreement can be reached, the american problem can be solved by China in just half a year! Last edited on Mon Jun 23rd, 2008 08:26 am by smithchau ____________________ Enjoy life. |
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| Posted: Wed Jul 30th, 2008 11:25 pm |
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16th Post |
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huqiner Approved
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thunderbird wrote: Jiang Jianhua's name should be 姜建华. And 王国潼 would be better known as Wang Guotong
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