Erhu-zhonghu ramble

[dsouthwood]

I have been frustrated for a while because I didn't seem to be making any progress in learning the erhu. Part of my frustration came from the erhu itself. It just didn't sound all that good. I'm sure that much of the problem was my bowing technique--or lack of it--but the instrument itself had a tone that seemed harsh to me. When I played my teacher's erhu, I got a very sweet sound; when I played mine, it was anything but sweet. When my teacher and I took the time to compare the two instruments, both of us playing each of them, he ended up suggesting that I oil the snakeskin. He suggested the kind of oil used on leather jackets.

On a hunch, I went to Boot Barn, because I know that some shoes and boots are made of snakeskin, and I asked them for a conditioner that was made for snakeskin. They recommended "Bick 4," a conditioner made by Bickmore for exotic leathers. After the first light treatment, I noticed a difference in the sound, and after a second treatment a week or so later, I could hear a distinct difference. At my lesson tonight my teacher immediately remarked on how much better my erhu sounded. The tone is now much smoother and sweeter.

I had also moved the qianjin a little farther up the neck so that my fingers would have more space and not be as crowded on some of the intervals. My teacher pointed out that the extra tension required to tune the slightly longer string was making the tone more strident. He put it back where it belongs, and the tone is now definitely mellower.

My bowing has also been improving, partly because I have put the melodies aside and have been mainly doing basic bowing and fingering exercises. I think I was too eager to start playing actual tunes and so I started doing that before I was really ready. Going back to basics is paying off.

But I have a theory about something else that might be helping my bowing. When I play my zhonghu, the vibration of the inner string is very noticeable (it's tuned to the G below the D that the inner string of the erhu is tuned to). It struck me that there might be an optimum bowing speed that would match the vibration of the string, and so I tried to find that speed. It did seem to me that some bowing speeds would give a richer sound than others. It also seemed to me that when I tried the same thing on my erhu, I also seemed to get a richer sound with what appeared to be the "optimum" bowing speed. It is probably not something I ever would have noticed on the erhu, but the vibration of the low string on the zhonghu is so pronounced that the effect was very noticeable. So I would like to see your comments on this. Could this be a real phenomenon, or is it all in my imagination? Maybe I'm just getting better at bowing and instead of taking credit for it, I'm inventing a mechanical reason for the improvement. What do you all think?

[calden]

Dennis, you're definitely getting better. Your ears are becoming attuned to the subtle mechanical nuances of the instrument and how it's constructed. Bowing is SO important in playing the erhu. On a violin it's also important, but I have found that the attack and bowing speed and consistency of speed are really, really important in making good, clear notes.

Carlos

[song]

Hi Dennis,

I suppose the optimum bowing speed is relative to the pressure of the bow on the strings. The more strength you use (to play louder), the faster you need to bow to avoid croaky tones.

Sung Wah

[calden]

Re bowing speed and strength: My son took Suzuki violin for almost four years, and he worked a lot on bowing speed to regulate volume. He was supposed to keep steady weight on the bow and make notes louder by more bow movement, i.e., faster speed on a single stroke. The teacher explained it thusly - that if you have more bow hair length producing the note over a given period of time, there is more volume. It is a combination of speed and pressure, but pressure alone isn't the only factor. I have thought about this a lot with erhu and my playing, and I can definitely express dynamics via bow speed.

I find that my weakest technical skill, and one I'm working on always, is the attack and end of notes. I'm always striving to get the exact correct pressure at the tippy top of the note to bite it right off without that famous erhu bark: a good clean start.

Carlos

[maaltan]

I find that my weakest technical skill, and one I'm working on always, is the attack and end of notes. I'm always striving to get the exact correct pressure at the tippy top of the note to bite it right off without that famous erhu bark: a good clean start.

I'm currently working on that hard also (when i have a chance). I have a real problem getting a start without a squeak or bark. I find ending a note easier (except on stacatto) but i still mess it up alot.

Also my playing is FLAT. my vibrato has a square or sawtooth wave feel to it and starts and stops are always too abrubt. but i guess that all comes with learning.