"wheezing" sound on the D string

[d̗̰̗͆͘ǎ͔̱͈̰̬̫ͨ̌ͮͥ͗ͭ̕vid]

Is this normal? Whenever I play higher notes on the D string, it doesn't sound clear and sounds like a old man wheezing... The A string is perfectly normal and clear even at high notes though. does this have to do something with the damper, the string, or whatever?

Thanks,
david

[davidmdahl]

Without a recording of the sound, it is hard for me to diagnose the problem. Sound problems on erhu can be affected by the bridge, pad, and qianjin. More rarely, a string can be the problem. Make sure to clean off any rosin that is caked on the strings. The snake skin on cheaper erhus is sometimes not good for higher positions. Some years ago I had an erhu that looked beautiful, but just would not play well above the first 1.5 octaves. I made all of the usual adjustments, and replaced the strings, with little effect. I played it a lot over eight months, but it did not improve. A beginner erhu should be adequate for playing in the lower octaves, but may not be up to playing higher than that. One of the characteristics of an expensive erhu is the sound quality and volume at the higher positions.

This is not to say that it is not worth adjusting the parts that are easy to adjust, but be aware of the possible limitations due to the snake skin quality.

Best wishes,

David

[d̗̰̗͆͘ǎ͔̱͈̰̬̫ͨ̌ͮͥ͗ͭ̕vid]

Thanks David

[d̗̰̗͆͘ǎ͔̱͈̰̬̫ͨ̌ͮͥ͗ͭ̕vid]

I fixed the problem by changing the strings, tightening the qianjin, and by making the dampener more thick. I guess the quality of hose things were just bad. The outside string worked fine, which was the one I swapped out after snapping it after tuning it too much.