Introduction to Qiang Musical InstrumentsWhat are the traditional musical instruments of the Qiang?

The Qiang flute is made of bone, with a leather rope and whip hanging in front. In the beginning, there were only four tones: Gong, Shang, Jiao and Yi. It is said that a Beijing celebrity added a treble pressure hole, forming the five tones of "Gong Shangjiao and Zhongyu". Later, Han Ma Rong recorded in his "Flute Fugue" that "the modern double flute began in Qiang". When the hole added by the Ming army appeared, it was called the soprano, and the pentatonic ended.

The Qiang flute is a six-tone double-barrel clarinet made of oil bamboo. It is about 50 centimeters long and 1~2 centimeters in diameter. It has a double tube wings, six holes in the tube, the head of the tube inserted bamboo. It is played with "gill ventilation". Therefore, this sound can be heard all the time. Its voice is clear and slender, and its range is not wide, but it is very sweet. Early scholars have noticed this, Qiang flute, Qiang flute in the Tang and Song poems are ubiquitous.

Chords:

This is a small instrument favored by Qiang women. Most of them are homemade. When young men and women fall in love, the young man will make a string for the young woman as a symbol of trust. The woman can also control herself.

The main material for the rope is bamboo, which must be cut from thick, flexible strips. It looks like the sounding reed of a pedal organ and is only 2/3 of the length of the reed. it is tied with a string at each end. When playing, the string is pulled on the bamboo reed to produce the sound. The sound is rolled up and the sound remains.

But the range is very narrow, less than an octave. Its sound varies depending on the strength of the player's strings, the position of the tongue in contact with the reed, the size of the mouth, and the strength of the airflow in the mouth.

Bell Ringing:

The Qiang's religious ritual is the shaking of a musical instrument, also called bell ringing. It is shaped like a plate, made of brittle copper, with a milky white upper part and an outward-facing flared mouth in the lower part, about 10 centimeters in diameter. There is a small hole in the creamy white top, which contains an ancient hammer with a bell handle attached to the outside. It has a clear, soft, crisp tone. It has a feminine character.