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Post by o0bagel0o on Sept 14, 2007 3:22:10 GMT
I really like this song. But i understand that it cant really be played on the erhu. what would one have to do to play it? i really like this version www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj13KU3SAvE |
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Post by davidmdahl on Sept 14, 2007 5:33:18 GMT
Welcome to the forum! The tune is served best by an erquan erhu due to the lower voice, but I am sure that it is frequently played on a normal erhu tuned low. My teacher says that a thicker gauge of strings on normal erhu is a common trick. I prefer a solo arrangement, as in the following: www.musicfromchina.org/Choose the "meet our musicians" button, and click on the first video for Wang Guowei. Best wishes, David |
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Post by wanggx on Sept 14, 2007 10:52:10 GMT
Hmm.... You have to tune your erhu to G-D or A-E instead of the normal D-A. If you play on a normal erhu tuned low, the strings get really lose and the tone would be thin. Unless you use strings specially for er quan erhu. But it is better to play it on an er quan erhu. It is more mellow.
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Post by dsouthwood on Sept 14, 2007 14:30:55 GMT
My zhonghu is tuned G-D. What would the difference be between that an an erquan erhu? I'm sure the tone would be somewhat different, but how much would that matter?
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Post by wanggx on Sept 15, 2007 0:59:30 GMT
The er quan erhu is designed to play songs like er quan. So i suppose you have to play on the er quan erhu to obtain some kind of effect that the zhong hu is unable to do so. There are also songs like Chang Cheng Sui Xiang(Great Wall Capriccioso) that requires the Chang Cheng erhu(C-G).
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Post by jetz320 on Sept 15, 2007 2:38:31 GMT
I've played er quan ying yue on my zhonghu many times. afterwards, i compare it wth my erhu version. the erhu version is much nicer. since this song is made for erhu. the zhonghu doesnt have a tone like the erhu does. which is why erhu is so unique. i never knew about er quan erhus. that was what i never understood, why these er quan musicians can play such a nice clean pure RICH tone out of their erhus. so much explained
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Post by jetz320 on Sept 15, 2007 2:47:59 GMT
o yeah. wuts up with this guy saying that males play better than females? that is one of the best soloist ive ever heard and this guy is going to say hes heard better because they were male musicians?  ?? wtf guy? thats so sexist |
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Post by song on Sept 15, 2007 8:47:59 GMT
The Er Quan hu is an in between of the Erhu and Zhonghu. It's soundbox is slightly larger than the Erhu and overall dimensions slightly longer, but still smaller than the Zhonghu. It is specially made for the song Er Quan, deliberately calibrated lower to bring out the sorrow, anguish and despair of the song. The tone is closer to that of a Zhonghu but the feel is closer to that of an Erhu in my opinion.
Haven't had much experience with them but my new stocks of Er Quan hus just came in and I'm going to check them out.
Sung Wah
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Post by sanmenxia on Sept 15, 2007 16:27:00 GMT
I presume "erquan" strings are designed for the "erquan" erhu, but I've put some on an erhu and it seems to sound OK. I suppose the erhu body size might not be be ideal for the erquan strings and tuning.
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annk
Intermediate
Previously professional musician, now librarian ;-)
Posts: 38
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Post by annk on Sept 15, 2007 21:30:57 GMT
I had no idea, I thought Er quan ying yue was played on a zhonghu. This is very interesting. For now, I'm using the George Gao qqqianjin, and just move the "capo" down. I mailed Gao about this piece, and he said it didn't sound good on the zhong hu because the high register wasn't satisfactory. I thought he only said that to promote his invention, but now I see - there's a different instrument for this piece...
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Post by o0bagel0o on Sept 17, 2007 0:48:38 GMT
All this is very interesting.
heres another question i have been wondering: since the erquan erhu has a lower pitch would it be better to get this kind of erhu instead of a regular erhu to begin with? i mean, if i had an erquan erhu i would be able to play erquan ying yue and other erhu songs.
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Post by jetz320 on Sept 17, 2007 1:26:09 GMT
this er quan erhu is made for that song. that song has a very emotional deep tone to it. which is y its made 4 er quan. it's closer 2 a zhonghu, tuned to A-E and G-D. not every suitable if you tune it to D-A. Strings will alomost snap. to play er quan, if u must, then erquan erhu is the way to go. but if u want to just learn erhu, a regular one will do. i mean, the erhu is common. you can tune it lower, just won't sound as good. but i dont see the point of buying a erquan erhu for one song.
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Post by song on Sept 17, 2007 2:34:44 GMT
yes, buying a regular Erhu to play Er Quan songs is probably better than buying a Er Quan Hu to play Erhu songs. The ratio of Er Quan songs to Erhu songs is maybe 1:1000. And Er Quan Erhus are not as responsive as Erhus due to the thicker strings.
But a person might want to have than 1 Erhu in his collection and like the tone of a Er Quan Erhu. Just like you have a 6 string guitar and you might want to own a 12-string guitar at some point of time for a certain feel.
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Post by song on Sept 19, 2007 8:52:56 GMT
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Post by ychent on Sept 20, 2007 19:58:56 GMT
Welcome to the forum! The tune is served best by an erquan erhu due to the lower voice, but I am sure that it is frequently played on a normal erhu tuned low. My teacher says that a thicker gauge of strings on normal erhu is a common trick. I prefer a solo arrangement, as in the following: www.musicfromchina.org/Choose the "meet our musicians" button, and click on the first video for Wang Guowei. Best wishes, David Is Master Wang using an erquan erhu in this video? It sounds much lower. I've never played a zhonghu (but quite interested in it) or used erquan strings before; do they really have much less responsiveness due to the increase in string thickness? Thanks |
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Post by dsouthwood on Sept 21, 2007 4:24:25 GMT
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Post by song on Sept 21, 2007 13:12:57 GMT
Yes Master Wang used an Erquan Erhu.
That's Min Huifen in action.
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?? wtf guy? thats so sexist