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Post by blueharp on Sept 28, 2004 4:41:51 GMT
I think I have found a reasonably priced guqin table alternative.
The Ikea Online Catalog listed a Side Table that is just about the right size. The model is Lack and the price... $30 US! The legs screw on and off easily making it at least somewhat portable.
Needless to say I made the pilgrimage to the local Ikea with my tuning fork. I found the floor model and it amplified the tuning fork nicely.
Just to test I went around the store trying other tables/desks - including the solid wood ones.
Amazingly the Lack table seemed to respond best.
It is always nice to have alternatives!
Steve
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Post by Charlie Huang on Sept 28, 2004 12:13:34 GMT
It is good to find a cheap alternative. I've tried to find an alternative, but failed. To be honest, I wanted a proper guqin table because I wanted it to look nice and sound better. The one that was sold in CCN that I got does make the sound better, but you have to screw the legs on and then place the sound board on top (with the silver screws still visable). They advertised it as 'foldable', but it isn't! The one that they sold before was foldable and it looked much nicer and partical than their latest one! This one I got seemed to be a little bit higher than a normal guqin table. I saw a guqin table that was previously owned by LXT and it was much shorter and lower than the CCN one, and I liked it more! I think CCN found a cheaper alternative in my books...
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Post by blueharp on Sept 28, 2004 18:18:02 GMT
I tried the folding table and it was way too low for me, plus it didn't seem to do anything for the sound. The table that CCN is currently offering looks and sounds quite nice, John Thompson used one at a recent performance with nice results. I was going to try building one from the measurements given in Jim Binkley's translation of the Yu-ku-chai qin-pu, www.cs.pdx.edu/~jrb/chin/index.htmlbut the Ikea table is an economical alternative and it doesn't look too bad. |
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Post by Charlie Huang on Sept 28, 2004 22:26:20 GMT
I had to use those office swirly chairs at maximum high to be able to play comfortably on the current CCN one! I don't like it too high. The LXT table was at the correct height for me and sounded magnificent when I played on it. It was the one where you slot the two side panel leggy things on and can take them off when you finish, so very practical. I'd love to get that table someday.
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Post by blueharp on Oct 7, 2004 7:39:44 GMT
Here is the website for a company in Beijing that has a Padauk qin table for $120 / Euro 120. www.rosewoodmi.comSeems like a bargain but doesn't include shipping. They also list "professional" strings for $40 / 40 euro. Several people have told me that the Beijing strings are terrible, and to buy the professional strings from CCN. Take a look at their guqin offerings. Their "Tang style Professional" guqins don't even remotely resemble any guqin I have ever seen. Enjoy! Steve |
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Post by Charlie Huang on Oct 7, 2004 12:35:03 GMT
Trouble is, they don't stick pictures up for the table or the stool, so how would one know what it would look like?
Their Tang Dynasty style qins look interesting, though I am slightly sceptical as to the playability of the instrument...
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Post by blueharp on Mar 25, 2005 9:03:39 GMT
Charlie,
I am thinking about building a qin table and am gathering information. Many of the parts (legs etc) are available pre-made at a home-improvement store quite reasonably.
The Lack table from Ikea is OK but it is quite high. Plus due to the way it is made the "box" has carboard baffles supporting the top which I believe deaden the sound.
The illustrations from the Yu-ku-chai-qin-pu and the Mei'an qin-pu are fairly close to each other and are a great help.
Do you happen to have Gong Yi's book that gives qin table measurements?
In his VCD he seems to be using a type of portable table that sounds great. I think I understand how the legs attach but am wondering if he documents it in his book (drawings etc).
So far the biggest challenge is that the thickness of the wood used to construct the "box" is never mentioned. I believe it about a centimeter but am not sure. The other challenge is figuring out a method to make the legs detachable but stable.
The material as stated in the Mei'an qin-pu can be wutong or pine. Wutong isn't easily available but pine is quite easy to find and not terribly expensive.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Steve
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Post by Charlie Huang on Mar 25, 2005 14:17:58 GMT
According to GY, the length is 100cm, height is 68cm, width is 30-40cm. The distance between the table top and the top of the chair should be around 23-25cm. His table is the same style as mines, but the legs and front and back pieces are screwed together, and the top board in loosely put on the frame.
LXT's table, length 90cm, height 63cm, width 37cm. His table uses two flat planks of wood (with a square hole in the middle of each) as the legs, which can be attached through slots at the side of the yop board (which is like a box with the bottom plane missing.
As for the soundbox, in ancient times, it is rather larger, but modern tables are around 1cm thick. The tables talked about in MAQP and YGZQP are of the ancient style, with a rectangular hole at the top for the head of the qin's tuning pegs to go it. Modern ones don't have this as it is bothersome to make, they use a plain table shape. Whichever style you choose is really up to you.
I'll post pictures and sketches to clarify if you wish.
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Post by blueharp on Apr 2, 2005 23:35:36 GMT
Charlie, Many thanks!! I am most appreciative of the information.  ;D I'll post pictures and sketches to clarify if you wish. If you have time to postpictures and/or sketches I would most grateful. Steve |
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Post by kyokuhon on Apr 11, 2005 20:32:44 GMT
Yes, me too!
K.
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Post by Charlie Huang on Apr 13, 2005 12:17:37 GMT
Sorry, it's taking rather longer than expected. Basically, I've been busy these few weeks. Also, it is a bit of a bother to scan the pics, as I have only two USB ports that are taken by my tablet and modem, so I have to unplug my modem before I can stick my PSC on and scan the pics, then resize them, stick them online, etc... A lot of bother and hassle for me. But do bear with me.
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Post by Si on Aug 19, 2006 9:02:46 GMT
I was asking my local shop about the diagram in the Mei an and the other books. The shop keeps tell me that nobody used this old fashioned type these days. They all seem to be basic flat tables.
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Post by Charlie Huang on Aug 19, 2006 9:16:08 GMT
They are old fashioned. You have to build them.
Also, I heard that a computer desk is good for a qin table, especially one with drawers to act as soundbox. Of coures, the high must be adjusted accordingly.
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Post by YouLanFengChune on Aug 19, 2006 10:45:39 GMT
Hi!
Just came back.
i have an associate in Shanghai, who makes furniture for instruments. Guqin tables are made of Chicken Feather wood, Suanzhi, Huali, Xue Tan, Wu Mu and Zi tan.
I think they come in neat nice packages.
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Post by Si on Aug 19, 2006 11:45:21 GMT
YouLanFengChune
dont suppose you can put me in touch with him, then i can visit him? Cos I live in Shanghai you see.
Cheers
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Post by carol on Aug 19, 2006 15:31:32 GMT
We have people in L.A. that custom orders from local Chinese Rosewood furniture stores that have factories in China. Just give them the size and design, they'll be able to make it in China and send here with their regular shipment. I asked that person how much it costs, and got a response as "a few hundred dollars". hahah.
I remember seeing similar stores in Oakland and San Jose.
As for me, I custom order my guzheng stools and some furnitures from a Persian store that has factory in Indonesia. I found the price quality as good as the Chinese stores but price is only 1/3 to 1/2.
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Post by YouLanFengChune on Aug 20, 2006 1:07:47 GMT
hey, OF COS i can put you in touch with him.
send me an email, yeahohoho@yahoo.com
i'll give u his number...
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Post by YouLanFengChune on Aug 20, 2006 1:09:13 GMT
actually, guqin depends on its table for max resonance. Hence, we need to apply soime laws of physics into making a table.
We should call it "Guqin peripherial sound amplifier" rather than just a "table"
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Post by carol on Aug 20, 2006 16:01:31 GMT
The ones I saw the person custom ordered from the furniture store all have sound box that looks like a drawer. I tried my Zhen Chengwei guqin on it, and it makes it really loud and resonant.
When I put guzheng on it, it makes guzheng more focus and loud. I would want to play my guzheng on one of those, but it's too high for guzheng playing.
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Post by Si on Aug 21, 2006 2:38:56 GMT
i wonder why the man in the shop seems to think that these sound boxes aor not so good. IS it cos he does not sell them or maybe modern qins dont need them as much with the nylon strings?
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Post by Charlie Huang on Aug 21, 2006 9:04:01 GMT
Probably that, but maybe cos it's more big and, what's the word, ... erm... cumbersome?
Plus, there's a hole in the table which some may not like since some may use the table for other purposes when the qin is put away, like a side table and a hole isn't gonna cut it.
The sound box is defo bigger that your average qin table, so it amplifies the sound perfectly for silk strings. MN probably don't need that much amplification. Either way, you have to build your own.
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Post by Si on Aug 21, 2006 10:14:22 GMT
Our receptionist was helping me look at the table problem - a chinese man on a chinese forum said that as long as the table is made from good wood - then the sound will be good like hong mu (rose wood) and suan mu (apparently this is sourwood - whatever that is?). I have a nice selecton of pictures of different table styles that i will post in a few hours once I upload them. here is the link I hope it works:- s106.photobucket.com/albums/m241/syburn/[ftp]http://s106.photobucket.com/albums/m241/syburn/[/ftp] s106.photobucket.com/albums/m241/syburn/one of those should work! |
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;D