The accompaniment of Xingshan drums

The musical instruments used in Xingshan Waigu include: one drum. It consists of a small drum, a single-skin bangzi, a drum beam, a drum fork, a burden, etc. When playing, you put the "burden" on your shoulders and the "drum fork" on your waist (or abdomen), which is very convenient for playing while walking. On happy events or celebrations, red candles can be lit at the front of the drum beam; during funerals, white candles can be lit at the front of the drum beam.

The most common way to hold a drumstick is between the thumb and index finger, with the fist facing up. In addition, it can also be held between the index finger and middle finger, or between the middle finger and ring finger, or even between the ring finger and little finger. Playing the drum with the back of your hand facing upward is called a yin hand gesture, while playing the drum with the palm facing upward is a yang hand gesture.

One big gong. The gong surface is larger (about 36 cm), there is no gong chamber (gong light, gong navel), the gong edge is narrow, and the pronunciation is "Su" (thick and long). According to old artists, the gong produced in Laohekou is the most famous among the gongs used in the pre-foundation period.

A pair of leaves. The leaves are similar to the large cymbals used in Taoist rituals, except that the leaves are straight. Both hands can also be moved when playing the leaves, which plays an important role in the drumming music. All the drumming artists know: "The success of the drumming depends on whether the leaves are well-flowered." That is to say, the focus of playing the leaves is to add flowers.

A horse gong. The horse gong mallet can be held in the same way as a drumstick. It can be held between the fingers and struck with the yin or yang hand. It is rare to throw it up for performance.

Suona 1-2 (mostly two) or more. Nowadays, most of them are wooden poles. In the past, the copper poles produced in Laohekou were more expensive. Suona playing uses eight sound holes, so it is also called "eight sound holes" and does not require cyclic ventilation. There are two ways to hold the whistle. It can be placed flat (the whistle is parallel to the lips) or vertically (the whistle is perpendicular to the lips). The whistle is harder, so it is usually placed flat. The whistle is softer, and it is often placed vertically to avoid "blocking the sound".

The coordination of the two suonas. Due to the limited range of the "Gong Diao", the two suonas can only be played at the same time. When playing "Pingyin", it is usually played in octaves (one suona is at a higher octave and the other is at a lower octave), commonly known as "upper and lower hands". ”, “old man with young man” or “double blow”.

The "Pingyin" played in the low range is called "Manshou" or "Xiashou", and the "Gong Diao" played in the high range is called "Shangshou". The music card that starts with "manshou" is "positive", and the music card that starts with "upper hand" is "reverse" (or "turned"). Now take the tune "Snowflakes Piao" as an example. The one with the pronunciation of "full hand" is called "Snowflakes Piao", while the one with the pronunciation of "upper hand" is called "Snowflakes Piaofeng (reverse) hand" or "Snowflakes Piaofiao (reverse)". hand".

Later, the aigu music was mostly for wind and percussion music, and was rarely sung. In its heyday, Weigu was called an "eight-person team" according to veteran artists. In addition to the above-mentioned instruments, the wind instruments also included sheng, Xiao, Guan, and flute, and the percussion instruments also included small cymbals and Tang gongs (xuanzi). Wait, a small drum is added to the front end of the current drum beam. "It sounds very beautiful when playing and very elegant when singing." At that time, in addition to various folk activities, the drums were also sung in teahouses and on the streets. It was played while walking and sung while sitting around the table, hence the name "Weigu".