Suona and the ignorance of commoners

[Charlie Huang]

I've seen part of a rather sad TV drama (part, because my mother changed channels as you'll see why) about a struggling musician in HK who started to play suona and was subsequently stigmatised for playing what the people around him call 死人音樂. I am wondering to what extent do Chinese people associate the suona with this rather unfortunate labelling and ignorant assumption. Either way, it made me feel very angry after thinking about it.

[calden]

CCC:

It might be because the suona is so loud and nasty that only dead people can tolerate it. Or it might be that one good dose of a suona phrase will kill you.

There is a similar double-reed. very loud and piercing, instrument from Britany (West coast of France, not Spears) called the bombard. Although it's not associated wtih funerary rites, it's got a real edgy reputation, kind of like highland pipes.

www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary/textb/Bombard.html

[davidmdahl]

calden said:

It might be because the suona is so loud and nasty that only dead people can tolerate it. Or it might be that one good dose of a suona phrase will kill you.

LOL! These are definitely outdoor instruments. In context of a drama (eg. Cheo opera) or other special events, suona and the like can be very effective. They had to have something for such occasions before electric guitars and amplifiers.

A Vietnamese friend who knows I play the erhu/nhi asks how I am doing on "that funeral instrument". I take it in fun. <g>

Best wishes,

David

[jetz320]

The first time I heard that, I thought that there was something dieing. I was watching some documentary at Stanford about a traditional marriage in China and then all of a sudden, there is this horrible noise. It creeped me out so bad. The noise is like a dieing animal, the one instrument I would never play.

[Charlie Huang]

The Korean's use a similar instrument in their trad and court music (which requires taste to appreciate). I dunno, but I find suona, when played in a yayue context, rather flavoursome, elegant and grand. I think commoners cannot view it in a context other than 'dead peoples' music', which is a shame and makes me livid and want to slap them all the more...

Let's put it this way. It is like my parents calling a pipa a blind beggar's instrument, girls' instrument, instrument only an old retired geezer would play, etc. It is all the more spleen rupturing for me and all stems from ignorance and lack of thinking...

[/rant]

EDIT: By what I call a "commoner", I mean someone who is musically challenged (i.e. cannot play music and/or appreciate music); stems from the term used to describe undergraduates at Oxford and Cambridge who do not hold a scholarship or exhibition.

[calden]

admin said:

Let's put it this way. It is like my parents calling a pipa a blind beggar's instrument, girls' instrument, instrument only an old retired geezer would play, etc.

CCC:

When I lived in Qingdao I took up pipa. A good Chinese friend (good enough to share real laughs with me) said that pipa was commonly known to be mostly played by fat ugly girls, because they could hide behind it. Terrible!

But I've heard worse. Shite, I play banjo! Certainly in the US the banjo suffers from the image it help nail down in the movie Deliverance: a gap-toothed severely mentally challenged hillbilly living in the mountains.

I personally like loud street music instruments. They are the soul and life of most other music, in my opinion.

Carlos

[Charlie Huang]

TBH, the people who go on about suona being dead peoples' music, etc are frankly superstious to the 1st degree.

[song]

Come on, the suona isn't that bad. Its a colorful and lively instrument in the hands of a good player.

The funeral suona players are the ones that give the instrument the bad name. The good suona players will be playing in professional orchestras. The really lousy ones can only play in funeral bands, and these are players that the public gets to hear, hence the poor image of the suona.

The instrument even has a modern version. Additional information can be found here: www.eason.com.sg/resources/intro/suona.jsp

I'll see if I can find some good audio clips of the suona to do the instrument some justice.

Sung Wah

[song]

Alright, follow the link below and just click on any of the realplayer icon(in blue) to listen to the clips.

www.chinakongzi.com/2550/music/zxst/05.htm

The first 13 clips are suona solos.

Sung Wah

[Si]

I can sit listening to chinese orchestral music and then when i see the suana player getting ready, i cant help but groan ( is he going to imitate a duck or goose, helpppp!).

Why cant it sound more like a clarinet or oboe, is what every chinese composer should be lamenting.

But im from the guqin camp, so i can never appreciate the suoana. Same does for drums and cymbals.

[damien]

This thread is rather amusing hahaa One Vietnamese lady makes fun of me for playing Erhu too as it's used in funerals there. And this last comment about "Is he going to imitate a duck or a goose" made my day. I think the Suona sounds powerful sometimes, especially in Turkish music.

[hermanwitkam]

damien said:

I think the Suona sounds powerful sometimes, especially in Turkish music.

That's the Zurna

[dragoonat]

OMG how can u say that abut suona all instruments are to be respected no matter the appearrance, nd sound ...... same applies to people tooo lol woot ;D i like the suona its different tha all those common instruments today!