Please help me choose my future erhu

[sarasvati]

Hello friends !

I need to buy a new erhu and I would love to get some advices from you
I've been playing it for almost three years now, I'm training a lot (2-3 hours/day) and I'm starting to use it in some projects where I'm performing on stage and recording in studio.
Right now I'm still playing with the 1st erhu I own since I've started, it was cheap, bought it here in Mauritius and seller could'nt say what kind of wood it is.... I'm guessing it could be a cheap rosewood, but surprisingly ... it sounds quite nice !

Anyway, time have come to invest in a new one ! I've seen that Eason website has great reviews on this forum. They seem to be serious with the cities and shipping worldwilde.
And the sellers are nice, and answering nicely to the messages I've sent to them, I really appreciate that.


So I'm hesitating between these 4 :

- CONCERT GRADE PREMIUM AGED ROSEWOOD(III) ERHU BY YKM : goo.gl/GJjApu
Even if the video can't really tell about the sound quality, comparing to other videos with same sound set up - I like the sound of this one... It's clear and mellow. 

- PROFESSIONAL GRADE AGED ROSEWOOD ERHU BY YKM : goo.gl/dCpksR
The price is great, the sound seems good too. But how is the quality of this aged rosewood ? (like the previous one was a III one)

- CONCERT GRADE SUZHOU BLACK SANDALWOOD ERHU BY MMK : goo.gl/g2DM0Z
A friend told me that sandalwood is not that great...because it comes from Africa and that they are all new wood. What is your opinion about that ? Aged wood are surely better... 
the same friend also told me that I should maybe not buy a mellow and warm erhu as the climate where I live is really humid (between 60 to 90 %) and that the sound could change quickly
But I really like warm and mellow sound in erhu, this is what I'm looking for. And I like the sound of this specific erhu, that is why I'm keeping it in my choices, I would like your opinion on this one, maybe someone already purchased it ?

- CONCERT GRADE SHANGHAI AGED ROSEWOOD ERHU from manufacturer Shanghai Dunhuang : goo.gl/L7THJI
This is my last choice : because the price is a bit expensive for my budget, and I found the sound ok, but not as good as the aged rosewood of YKM.
I'm also hesitating to buy from manufatured industries... that does massive production. I feel better when it is from a person name like 'YKM' or 'MMK'.

But I may be wrong : does anyone knows about the work of Yu Kai Ming or Mei Ming Kun ?

If some of you have already bought one of those erhu, please let me know what you think about them.

If you have better recommandations, please let me know too. My budget has to stay around 700 $ 

Many thanks, 

Wishing you all a great day

Sarasvati

[edcat7]

Hi Saravati

I'd go for YKM's concert erhu. Then surprisingly I liked the MMK even though black sandalwood is an inferior wood to aged rosewood. I didn't like the Shanghai Dunhuang- too warm/wooly for my ears.

Another maker you might be interested in is Man Rui Xing - if you can get one made by him and not by one of his apprentices.

[sarasvati]

Hello Ed !

Many thanks for your quick answer and advices

I just google 'Man Rui Xing' and discover this octagonal erhu box : eason.com.sg/products/erhu/heh3.jsp apparently made by him
on a different eason website... is this the same eason ?
What is the difference with on Octagonal soundbox ? Fist time I see this

[paulv]

Hi Sarasvati,

Welcome to the forum. When choosing an erhu (or any other huqin) the quality of the wood and snakeskin matters, which equate to price. When I started learning erhu, my brother-in-law in China had an erhu made for me which consisted of antique rosewood and wild python skin. The rosewood was from old furniture salvaged out of villages in the 100-200 years old timeframe. These instruments can be made from wild or farm snakes -- wild is the best and more expensive and difficult to obtain -- farm-raised is the most popular because it's abundant -- these farms raise pythons for medicine and the skins go to the European clothing market (coats, shoes, hand bags, etc.) but I've found these skins to be weaker than the wild variety. Also, the scales on the skin should be at least 0.25 inches in diameter.

Erhu resonator boxes come as octagonal or hexagonal -- the 8-sided version has more harmonics which leads to a richer sound than the 6-sided (the more "rounder" the more harmonics -- it's a math/physics thing about vibrating membranes).

Also important, use a good violin rosin (dry and hard for solo performances) as all the erhu rosin is poor quality. When I was playing erhu, I was using Feng Feng strings which are very good quality.

Do you have a teacher or are you learning on your own? I'm asking because learning any musical instrument without a teacher can cause a student to develop bad playing habits which will impact you advancing.

Best wishes and enjoy your erhu playing!

Regards,
paul...

[edcat7]

Mar 1, 2016 11:20:11 GMT edcat7 said:

Hi Saravati

I'd go for YKM's concert erhu. Then surprisingly I liked the MMK even though black sandalwood is an inferior wood to aged rosewood. I didn't like the Shanghai Dunhuang- too warm/wooly for my ears.

Another maker you might be interested in is Man Rui Xing - if you can get one made by him and not by one of his apprentices.

I've strung my ebony MRX with erquan erhu strings and haven't played the MRX with erhu strings in years. From memory it's LOUD with a deep rich bass but again from memory, doesn't do subtlety well.
For those reasons I think it would suit performance conditions.

The better erhus by Lu Lin Sheng and Hu Han Ru takes years for them to be fully broken in.

[sarasvati]

Hello Paul

Thank you so much for your tips.

You're totally right about the importance of the quality of snake skin and wood. And I wish I could find an antique rosewood with a great skin... But it is difficult to judge the quality when you're buying online. And for now I haven't had much choice. I hope one day I'll be able to go to China and choose my erhu there... being able to test them !
But for now, the only reliable online sellers I found was Eason. But maybe you have other contacts to share ? Do you know Eason ? Have you already purchase something on their website ?
I didn't know that we could buy wild skin... is that actually legal ? I'm asking because I must have a CITES certificate so that it passes customs without problem here.

Thank you for the infos about octagonal boxes, very interesting. Why is that so rare to find if it offers such great harmonics ?

The rosin that I can buy here in mauritius isn't great at all... I'm planning to buy on eason the rosin < PIRASTRO OLIV ROSIN EVAH OLIV EVAH >, I've read it is a good one, what do you think about it ? They also sell Fang Fang string on this website, I'll try them - thank you for the tip

My learning story is complicated I had some teachers for a short amount of time. I've started with a crash course with a teacher from China who came in Mauritius for 6 weeks. He gave me some great basics, it was a hardcore crash course we were doing 6 hours of erhu / day, the teacher was really strict and spoke only mandarin. But it was a wonderful experience ! unfortunately there are no based erhu teacher here in mauritius, they only come once a year ... But after this teacher, the chinese cultural center stopped making erhu crash courses. So since that, I was learning by myself. I had a great help from the book of Patty Chan and her audio tracks. Then one year and a half later, I went back to the Chinese Cultural Center because a Wushu teacher there started some 'helping class' for erhu players, as he plays erhu really well. When I went back I was happilly suprised that they were impressed by my improvements, and they really encouraged me. I was also affraid to get bad habits, but I had no choice : it was learning by myself or stop the erhu because no teacher in the country. So I went there when I could but it was a difficult timing, the classes were from 9 to 10 pm after his wushu class, and I don't drive, public transports here are completely not reliable and stop at 8pm. So I had to organise myself to find someone kind enough to pick me after my class at 10pm... every friday night !
So I've continued to learn by myself. Going there sometimes to get some tips, and see if I'm still on the good path. Then I started to follow Ling Peng online lessons, which are really great, with videos. I also did a lot of Skype sessions with her, she is so nice, encouraging and gave me great tips.
I'm also working on jamming with the instrument - escaping a bit from the music scores- and compositions. Absolutely not pretending that I'm doing something incredible, but it is something that I'm developping with feelings... I still need to learn a lot of course, it's only the beginning, and it is the challenge of my life ! And finally I'm glad that I have to struggle like that, it keeps the fire inside me alive.

Also, I do play other instruments, percussions mostly, and I sing. This may I've helped me in my erhu learning. I've got a band here, we do world music, we compose our songs. And since last year I'm adding the erhu to our work. we are actually working on the recording our first album, and we have gigs coming up soon.
I just urgently need a new erhu for all those future projects.

What do you think about the erhus I've on my first message ? Which one of them would you recommand ?
Or maybe you could recommand something else ?

Thank you for your interest in my thread and for your help

[sarasvati]

Thanks again for interesting tips Ed about the erquan strings. Does Ebony is considered as a quality wood ?

[kenste]

Don't have much to add other than the fact that I have the concert grade shanghai aged rosewood erhu and I really love it.

[edcat7]

Eason has a blog about farmed vs wild snakeskin. It makes a lot of sense but I doubt if anyone can hear the difference. I see real ebony in erhus a lot less nowadays, simply because of it's rarity. A lot of what passes as ebony may be black sandalwood instead. Real ebony is heavy, my MRX is way heavier than either my LLS and HHR. It is also thought to sound deeper and warmer to rosewood.

For this reason I choose an ebony gaohu instead of a rosewood one. However sonically, aged rosewood and if you deep pockets, Indian small leaf sandalwood are better.

[paulv]

Hi Sarasvati,

Instead of quoting your post, it easier to answer your questions individually.

I haven't purchased anything online, so I can't recommend anything to you -- sorry!

Yes, many countries require a CITES cert to import -- countries like Canada (last I heard) doesn't allow it in at all.
Wild snake is stronger and imperative for jinghu as the skin has to be very tight to ensure high pitched notes.

Don't know why the hex-box is more popular -- most of the pros I see in videos all have oct-box erhus.

I'm not familiar with that particular rosin, but if it's hard and dry, it will be good for erhu -- stay away from rosins that are for cello as they are very soft (relatively speaking).

Thx for the correction: the strings are Fang Fang and not Feng Feng -- I forgot!

Interesting story regarding your erhu "journey" -- check out www.georgegao.com/ as he has lesson that can be purchased.

Since you have a band, how about doing some recordings and put them on YouTube?

I'm not familiar with the erhu recommendations that were posted - sorry!

Regards,
paul...

[davidmdahl]

If I were to buy a (another) good erhu, Eason Music would be my vendor of choice. I suggest contacting Sung Wah there and get his advice, based on the stock he has on hand. I don't think that the Man Rui Xing erhus most easily available are up to the quality of YKM and some other options.

As for snake skin, I would not stress over that. The CITES is supposed to guarantee that the skin was from a farmed snake. Whether the snake was farmed or not, the maker will match the quality of the skin to the quality of wood and workmanship at the price point.

Best wishes,

David

[sarasvati]

Hudge thank you to all of you, for your answers and time !
I'm in contact with Tan Sung Wah, and I'm glad to have your opinions too.
Hopefully I'll find what I need soon

Keep up the great work on this forum, it is very useful

Wishing y'all a shiny day

[edcat7]

Mar 2, 2016 5:47:21 GMT sarasvati said:

Wishing y'all a shiny day

What, in hot, sunny London? :0

[sarasvati]

hahaha yes sending you some hope, it's always good