Chinese Instruments

[jaycat]

Here's some more stuff off of Boston Craigslist that i have no idea what it is, but someone may find interesting. NFI . . .

http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/msg/5934589071.html

[Roger Moss]

They seem to be some very nicely made stuff. Probably make beautiful music too. Ever heard a hammered dulcimer? Check out Ted Yoder on YouTube.

[rockies]

You should purchase them and play bluegrass on them like this. See John Reischman band. Sorry I don't know how to do a link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LALgWz0xc0
Dave

[jaycat]

Somehow I don't see that happening. Cool link though.

[rockies]

Boy with a name like Jaycat and those instruments you'd be a shoe-in with the Jaybirds
Dave

[catmandu2]

As the ad correctly states, the zheng is a Dunhuang model 696D (duo crane) - which is probably the most ubiquitous student/intermediate model around - has been produced for many years and is a very popular model. The price indicated is not terrible, although you can score a new 696D for $568 from 'Sound of China' in CA - shipping in the USA is about $60 iirc, and stands are included (nfi). https://youtu.be/AQeIsLkB0cI

Hard to identify the model/make/quality of the yangqin.

[Jim Garber]

The liuqin on the video is probably the closest to mandolin in pitch range. The pipa is a larger version of that, probably more like mandola. Those Chinese musicians are excellent.

[gtani7]

Someone posted this Korean Gayageum by Luna Lee vid on the cafe a while back. Blew my socks and shoes off!

I don't remember if it was smoke on the water or some other rock classic, but shows that your imagination can stretch its bounds

[catmandu2]

Cool, an opportunity to extol the virtues of a couple of instruments (nmc) I dearly love.

I've been playing the HD for 3 decades. I love the way the yangqin (basically equivalent to our HD) is deployed in trad Chinese music - the instrument is one of the 'classical' instruments (used in trad forms for a very long time). Similarly, the santoor (also basically equivalent to the 'anglo' hammered dulcimer) is one of the trad/'classical' Indian instruments. I love the way these plucked/struck zither instruments are deployed in this music; seeing Shivkumar Sharma (with Zakir Hussein) as a young adult blew my mind and got me in love with trad Indian music. I'm not as much into hammering out fiddle tunes et al. the way it's commonly deployed in the USA, not to mention the alpine/bavarian hackbrett music, and czech cimbalom (where again the instrument is preeminent in the trad forms). While I do my jigs and reels, I'm especially fond of old scottish airs and pipe tunes, and on a large resonant instrument (not the small ones popular in the USA). Fiddle tunes are fun, but they quickly muddy on the instrument, unless you wanna use dampers...but which I find kills the instrument...i find the beauty on the instrument is the resonance, and modalism of the music (as I do with harp, pipes, hardingfele, etc).

The guzheng - I feel, is the most eminent and superb of the plucked stringed instruments (bei bei in that youtube above demonstrates the range of this instrument). It's the 'ultimate' stringed zither-type instrument: as much of (both) the hands are deployed in a multitude of playing techniques. The dynamic range is beautiful. I fell in love with this instrument at about the same time in life - 30 years ago - upon hearing wollenweider's fabulous solo (lunar pond) on 'caverna magica.' https://youtu.be/MVQl_61PTfI

I only just recently got an opportunity to study guzheng. It's one my son really enjoys fiddling on too (my avatar)

*fwiw, the zheng, HD and harp fora are very sparsely active; unlike the MC more generally .. (evidenced here as someone took the time and interest to post this thread)