Erhu terrible sound! please help

[aiward]

Hi all,

I have bought an erhu a few days ago. I tried to tine the instrument, but i already broke a string...After ordering a new set of strings i reattached the qianjin and the strings.

But now i only get a very scratchy sound. Only when i try a higher tone it would play nicer, but when i play open strings it sounds like a dying horse or something.

I see that the strings are normally apart just at the end of the instrument and for the rest they are together. But this time my strings are to much apart.


Can someone please help how i can fix this?


Thanks.

[davidmdahl]

Welcome to the forum, Aiward. Your erhu problem sounds like the strings are wrapped around each other, probably at the qianjin. Trace each string and make sure that they don't cross each other anywhere.

If that's not it, then check the basic setup. The strings should loop off the pegs as close as possible to the ends of the pegs. The D string (thick, inside) is looped off to the left of the top peg. the A string (thin, outside) is looped off to the right of the lower peg. The strings meet at the qianjin (but do not cross), at a distance of about a thumb's width from the neck. The strings cross over the bridge at about the center of the snake skin. There may be a wider channel in the bridge, so make sure that the D string is laying in the wider channel. If in doubt, just turn the bridge around and see if there is an improvement.

There should be a felt or foam pad under the strings between the bridge and the bottom of the erhu. Proper adjustment of this pad can make a big difference in the sound.

It is also possible that you don't have enough rosin on both sides of the bow hair. This may not be the problem if you get better sound on fingered notes.

Good luck!

Best wishes,

David

[xahoc]

I had this problem also when I began. One solution is to make sure that the strings are touching at the qianjin. A cause of this problem could be that the qianjin is too far up, preventing the strings from touching. This would also explain the broken string, as you are tuning it very taut!

Additionally, like Mr Dahl said, make sure both strings start from the ends of the pegs. If they are uneven, the qianjin will not provide equal dampening.

[eugene]

Not sure does it help
www.erhulessons.com/info/troubleshooting-the-tone