setting up an erhu from scratch

[stringdidj]

Hello,
Just a few questions,
I have an old erhu with no strings and a broken snakes-skin that I am repairing, It is my plan to learn to play the erhu this year, and before I begin I have to make it functional!
I plan to use a recycled drum head to make the repair

Will the sound produced from this skin(calf) be ok?

(Later in the year I will get a better erhu when I can afford it.)

What type of string is used to make the qianjin?

What woods are best for the bridge, Is lighter weight the way to go? Maple/rosewood/ebony?

Most modern erhus seems to have a built-in stand to raise the instrument up, should I add one of these to the erhu I have got?


Thanks in advance!!!

(I make musical instruments for a living in england UK http://www.michaeljking.com)

[davidmdahl]

Welcome, Stringdidj!

I have heard that some erhus are available with deer hide skins for areas where snake skin is difficult to import. You might need to experiment with the tension and thickness of the skin.

It does not matter much what sort of string is used for the qianjin. I think that silk is pretty common, but I have used waxed dental floss in a pinch, and it worked well.

I think that for strings and bridge, you might order the real thing. The cost with postage is pretty minimal even from Asia, and you can use them as a baseline for trying out other options.

Best wishes,

David

[calden]

Stringdidj:

For head material you might also try Fibreskyn, which is a faux-calfskin material made by Remo for old-timey banjos. It will be MUCH more stable than calfskin in your English climate. I emailed the company about a year ago to try and get some unmounted material, but they never got back to me. However, buying a new banjo head is only about $12-$15, certainly reasonable enough for experimenting with a couple of erhu heads.

I agree with David about getting the strings and bridge. They are cheap and will do what they are supposed to do. No sense in reinventing the wheel, and they'll sound better than cobbling something together.

Carlos

[stringdidj]

Carlos How do you fit Fibreskyn to an erhu?
with the natural skin you just soak it and attach with animal glue, the drying gives the required tension, with a non porous plastic how can this be achieved?
I would prefer a man made alternative if it was possible.

BTW I have just bought an erhu from ebay that comes with 2 bridges 2 sets of strings and 2 bows, so i will have an instrument as reference/comparison as well as providing the missing bits.

For the future can anyone recommend a cheap supplier of parts/strings in Asia/elsewhere that is accessible online?

[calden]

Actually...

I don't know how to fit it - it's something I wanted to try. I build instruments as a hobby and I was thinking about variations on an erhu - larger body, wooden head, violin-shaped body, etc. etc., and was speculating on how to attach a synthetic head. I think if you made a pattern of the actual head shape, and add tabs sticking out that would, when mounted, be the SIDES of the head - you know, the 1/2" or so that is on the side of the body, you could glue those on, pulling it down while doing so. Then you could glue a strip all the way around that side edge.

Or something.

Carlos

[maaltan]

stringdidj said:

Carlos How do you fit Fibreskyn to an erhu?
with the natural skin you just soak it and attach with animal glue, the drying gives the required tension, with a non porous plastic how can this be achieved?
I would prefer a man made alternative if it was possible.

BTW I have just bought an erhu from ebay that comes with 2 bridges 2 sets of strings and 2 bows, so i will have an instrument as reference/comparison as well as providing the missing bits.

For the future can anyone recommend a cheap supplier of parts/strings in Asia/elsewhere that is accessible online?

hey my multi-discipline skill set might be of help here.

I might be able to help with streching a synthetic skin.

Do you know what monokote is? it is a plastic that shrinks when heated. It also has an adhesive backing. It is typically used for the skin on RC airplane wings and fusceloges(blah however its spelle). It also comes in ..oh about every color. also for about $15 you can buy a roll that will make several hundred erhu heads. you might be able to get a scrap for free from your local hobby shop for next to nothing.

You should be able to modify the natural skin method using this. the adhesive is activated by heat. cut the plastic out, use a small iron on low heat (or buy one made for it) to tack it down around the outside of body. then use a hot hairdryer to shrink it. I cant remember all the details on how to use it but the website has lots of instructions.

I would be careful though.. the shrinking process is stong enough to crack wood. Probably not enough to worry about when dealing with the heavy hardwoods of erhus but i figure I would mention it.

Dont know what the tone would be but it feels to have the same thickness and tonality to it as synthetic banjo heads When you flip a plane with with your finger it gives the same dull like thud/bong as a banjo. again i know very little about instruments in general so i might be completely wrong.

------------------
aaand i forgot the link

www.monokote.com/

[davidmdahl]

stringdidj said:

For the future can anyone recommend a cheap supplier of parts/strings in Asia/elsewhere that is accessible online?

I have bought several erhus, a zhonghu, extra bows, and strings from Cadenza (www.cadenzamusic.biz) located in Singapore. I suggest going to the Contacts page, find the email address for Sales, and send a note listing your needs. Not everything available is listed on their website, so it is best to ask.

There are a few other sources in the San Francisco area, but I don't have experience dealing with them. The shipping on strings and bridges at least is little enough that it does not matter much where you order from.

It is worth noting that some cheap erhus come with bows strung with nylon hairs. These bows are worthless in my opinion. The rosin just does not stick very well to nylon. Horsehair bows do not cost very much and are much more effective. You can often dramatically upgrade a cheap erhu by replacing the bow, strings, and bridge with good quality parts.

Best wishes,

David

[YouLanFengChune]

Hi!

I'mfrom Cadenza.
I will suggest sending ur erhu resonator box to singapore, where i will fix it up and reskin for you. I have a team of makers in Singapore specializing in erhu production.

Perhaps you could pte message me.

thanks.

[stringdidj]

Thanks YouLanFengChune I may contact you in the future about re skinning.
I have decided to make a copy of an erhu to try the heatshrink plastic on.
With this old erhu For now I have used the drum skin I already had, I think the sound is better than the cheap snakeskin erhu I bought off ebay, but the sound isnt as good nearer the bridge.

Pics here:
www.michaeljking.com/erhu.htm

[sanmenxia]

Hey that erhu looks good, I wonder what it sounds like, is there a way you could post a sound sample?

[stringdidj]

There is a sound clip on the bottom of the webpage I made now
www.michaeljking.com/erhu.htm

[YouLanFengChune]

hmm...

to remove skin off erhu, soak the skin part (not the whole resonator box-- the pieces of weood may fall apart)

if made b4 1990s, it will come off easily in 24 hours. If made after 1990s, it takes 48 hours and a bit of yanking...

[stringdidj]

The skin came off in minutes fortunately. (see webpage www.michaeljking.com/erhu.htm)The quality of the skin that came off seemed much higher than the skin on my cheap ebay instrument.

[maaltan]

maaltan said:

hey my multi-discipline skill set might be of help here.

I might be able to help with streching a synthetic skin.

Do you know what monokote is? ...

An update, monokote will not work. It doesnt hold up to the pressure of the bridge. It sags after a few minutes.

did anyone ever find a reasonably acceptable substitute?

[YouLanFengChune]

Haiz. I can send u a piece of cheaper snake skin. How you plan to mount it is really a big problem. The pressure on any erhu skin is at least 200 lb, and you can stand on it without it saggigng or tearing.
the reason why most opther skin cannot work is that only snake skin can withstand the huge pressure. you can try cat skin or dg skin though. The japanese tried it on shamisen, after snakes ran out.