How to maintain the erhu

1. Skin

The maintenance of the erhu skin is very important to maintain the sound of the erhu, and is the most important concern of every erhu player. The erhu skin will have a long service life if it is well maintained.

Most of the damaged erhu skins we see are caused by improper storage and infrequent use. If the erhu is used frequently, its skin will maintain a certain degree of elasticity, and the erhu's articulation quality will be more stable. The tone of the erhu is in constant use, slowly pulled out, usually often use the erhu is a good maintenance and care of the erhu.

2. The barrels and rods

Most of the barrels and rods are made of hardwoods such as rosewood, ebony, and mahogany. Hardwoods are easily affected by the climate, so the tone of the erhu has a certain relationship with different climatic conditions and air humidity.

Hard woods are dense and delicate, and in a dry and wet or cold and hot environment, it will cause an imbalance of internal and external stresses in the wood, which will cause the barrel and the pole to crack in serious cases.

The erhu's prolonged exposure to excessive humidity will also cause the barrel and skin of the instrument to peel off. In order to avoid the above situation, you should put the instrument into the case when you are not practicing, and put some desiccant into the case.

3. Bow

During the use of the bow, do not touch the bow hairs with your hands, so as not to affect the performance after a long time when the bow hairs are stained with oil. Once you find more oil on the bow hair and affect the performance, you can remove the bow, wash the bow hair with soap in clean water, dry it, and then rub the rosin on it again.

After each playing, the bow hairs should be relaxed to return the bow to its normal shape, otherwise the bow will be deformed after a long time, affecting the performance of the bow. If the bow is not used for a long time in the case, you should put some moth-proofing agent in the case to prevent the bow hair from being bitten off by moths.

Expanded Information:

The development of the erhu

The erhu began in the Tang Dynasty, and has a history of more than a thousand years. It first originated from a minority group in the northern region of China in ancient times, and was then called "Xiqin". The poem "Huqin, Pipa and Qiang flute" shows that the huqin had already started to circulate in the Tang Dynasty, and it is a general term for both Western and Chinese stringed and plucked instruments.

To the Song Dynasty, and the huqin named "jiqin". The end of the Song dynasty scholars Chen Yuanliang in the "matter Lin Guangji" in this way: JI Qin this Jikang system, so the name "JI Qin".

Song dynasty scholar Shen Kuo in the "complementary talk - music law" recorded: "xining in the Palace Banquet, the workshop actor Xu Yan play JI Qin, square into the wine and a string off, diffraction is not easy to the piano, only a string end of its song." That in the Northern Song Dynasty has a very high level of performance.

Xu Yan for the emperor's ministers to play "Jqin", broke a string, still with another string to play the song. There is no skillful technique can not be done. Later Shen Kuo in the "Dream Streams" and recorded "Horsetail Huqin with the Han East, the sound of the song is still complaining about Shan Yu. Bow do not shoot to go in the geese, the return of geese now do not send out." It shows that in the Northern Song Dynasty, there was already a horse-tailed huqin.

The Yuan Dynasty "Yuan Shi - Rituals and Music Zhi" contained "Huqin system such as the fire does not think, roll Gu dragon head, two strings with a bow twisted, the bow of the strings to the horse's tail," further elaborated on the principle of the production of the huqin. By the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the huqin had spread to the north and south of the Yangtze River, becoming the main instrument for folk opera accompaniment and instrumental ensembles.

Baidu Encyclopedia - Erhu