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Post by scruffysmileyface on Nov 16, 2006 14:58:33 GMT
Hello all,
I'm just now discovering the gu zheng and other Asian instruments. My question is this:
Other than one being Chinese and the other Japanese, what are some of the differences between a gu zheng and a koto?
Thanks, ~scruff
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Post by Charlie Huang on Nov 16, 2006 15:54:08 GMT
Guzheng = more strings (21-27), metal nylon strings, more bright sound (almost harp like), wooden bridges, strings are different lengths, etc.
Koto = 13 strings, teflon strings, sounds more 'clicky' more earthy tone, longer than zheng, strings same length, strings pressed to the surface of the sound board when bending notes, plastic bridges, can be tuned suring a song by moving the bridges, etc.
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Post by scruffysmileyface on Nov 16, 2006 19:13:38 GMT
Thanks for the quick reply!
Sorry for the silly question, but your reply I might think one does not bend a note by pressing strings, nor tune by moving bridges with a zheng? Would that be correct on my part?
Thanks again for your help, ~scruff
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Post by davidmdahl on Nov 16, 2006 21:24:13 GMT
Note bending and movable bridges are of course aspects of both koto and guzheng. The koto does not have tuning pegs as the guzheng does, so it must be tuned with the bridges only.
Koto strings are much thicker than guzheng strings, and traditional instruments at least have thirteen strings. The koto is tuned to a different scale than guzheng, although of course they are each capable of being tuned to any scale desired. I have been having fun tuning my Vietnamese dan tranh to a Japanese scale.
A lot of information about koto and guzheng is available on the web which you can find via your favorite search engine. The Wikipedia entries are a good place to start. Recordings will also answer a lot of questions about style and technique.
Best wishes,
David
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Post by Charlie Huang on Nov 16, 2006 22:54:11 GMT
Thanks for the quick reply! Sorry for the silly question, but your reply I might think one does not bend a note by pressing strings, nor tune by moving bridges with a zheng? Would that be correct on my part? Thanks again for your help, ~scruff I missed a bit out. Guzheng you do bend notes by pressing the string, but to a lesser degree since they are higher tension. Bridges are used to tune, however, not during the piece. Koto players simply slide the bridge up and down the koto very smoothly; guzheng players cannot do this on the guzheng.
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Post by scruffysmileyface on Nov 17, 2006 13:04:12 GMT
OK thanks, guys. Looks like I have some research to do! I appreciate your help!
~scruff
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Post by jetz320 on Nov 21, 2006 0:32:42 GMT
The guzheng is kind of more advanced than the koto. The guzheng, of course has anywhere between 16-27 strings, while koto is strictly made with 13. Guzheng, you have a frame kind of, while koto I don't think you do.
Guzheng is the parent of koto; which happened around the 800's. China and Japan were doing a musical exchange and many of their main instruments today such as koto, shamisen, and shakuhachi are the children of Guzheng, xiao and san xian. Koto sounds are much more metalic too. The scales of the koto are also not tuned the same as guzheng. The length is 6 feet while guzheng is about 5.4. Gu zhengs are also made in various ways. The koto follows a strict way of making and hasn't had much change in the design since they began making them. They basically look all the same, while guzheng's soundboard could be light, or dark. The frame is also different.
A big difference is that kotos are SO DARN EXPENSIVE!!!!!! A pro koto cost about $7000-$10000!!!! The most expensive guzheng I've seen was only 8000. You can get a pro guzheng for $400!!! Just go to Carols website! There is a big price range.
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Post by guzhenglover on Nov 21, 2006 8:06:27 GMT
What I'd be really interested in is a comprehensive and systematic cross-cultural comparison of comparable string instruments that are in wide use today. So in China that would be the guzheng, in Vietnam that would be the dan tran, in Japan that would be the koto, in Korea that would be the gayagum, in Mongolia that would be the Mongolian (something), etc. etc. I wouldn't be as interested in the Chinese se for instance since it's not as widely played today as the guzheng, and anyway it may not have a direct, contemporary counterpart in other countries (though I understand that an equivalent of the se is still played in Japan).
I think such a comparison may well include, among other things, some of the differences that jetz320's pointed out. How interesting would that be! (I am aware of the many websites out there describing the similarities vs. differences between two instruments. What I'd like to see, though, is a thorough, comprehensive and systematic comparison of all zheng-like instruments in contemporary use).
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Post by jetz320 on Nov 21, 2006 14:59:16 GMT
The guzheng influenced all of todays Asian Zithers.
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Post by davidmdahl on Nov 22, 2006 0:27:47 GMT
What I'd like to see, though, is a thorough, comprehensive and systematic comparison of all zheng-like instruments in contemporary use). That would be interesting. Maybe someone has written a thesis close to your topic. You might do a thesis search. This is cheaper to do if you are associated with a college or university, although it may cost something even then. Best wishes, David
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Post by guzhenglover on Nov 22, 2006 3:22:29 GMT
Yes David, I agree with you. I think that the influence that the Chinese guzheng has on Asian zithers already been widely recognised. The question now is just how different and similar Asian zithers are to the Chinese guzheng, which is what I'd like to find out (and in a systematic and comprehensive way).
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Post by simon18i on Nov 8, 2008 20:02:35 GMT
In china, se is the parent instrument of guzheng. since zheng is played, se is slowly losing its popularity. Especially during the Tang dynasties, chinese culture like confucious teaching, architecture, music and literature spread to nearby countries.
The zheng spread from china to korea and from korea to japan. The japanese is very adhered to tradition, so the the modern koto is pretty much as the zheng handed to them by koreans hundreads or thousand years ago. this form of zheng only survives in the form of ancient paintings in china as the zheng has been slowly evolved to the modern guzheng as we seen today. the word gu is added later.
As for the korean gayageum, as the name implies, is created during the gaya confederecy. gayageum is created to replace the widely popular zheng at that time to better suit the taste of the korean music being played at the time.
the mongolian yatga is a combination of guzheng and gayageum. it is the result of the mongolian occupation in china during the yuan dynasties.
in the olden days, vietnamese also played the zheng like old korea and japan. the new form of dan tranh arise in the 50's. it has a second set of bridge that has the same effect of the "s" curve in guzheng and the left non playing side is made smaller.
Silk, horse hair and bamboo is traditionally used in zheng before silk becomes the popular alternative. all the above strings gives limited volume, trebble and sustain which is important for tone bending. so, the japanese replaced silk with teflon, chinese use steel wrapped with nylon to control the brightness and sustain, and the vietnamese used plain steel. korean and mongolian retained the silk strings.
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