Wu Wei of the London Philharmonia Orchestra demonstrating how a sheng is played The unique elements of this object as well as its untranslated Chinese characters still pose mysteries. The sanxian differs by having a snakeskin covering (or resonator) and only three strings. It resembles a hybrid of two instruments: the ruan which is a four-string, fretted instrument known, like the banjo, for the characteristically circular shape of its body and the sanxian which shares with this object the long neck, relative lack of frets, and body shape. However, this chordophone does not fall neatly into any of the classifications of Chinese string instruments. This example appears to have come from the Miao culture of the Guizhou Province. Plucked lutes such as the above also have a long history and have been used by several of the country’s cultures. There is a long history of string instruments in China, with perhaps the most famous being a variant of the zither called the guqin. This post looks at a group of recently acquired musical instruments from China and Southeast Asia and looks at what makes them unique. Within these five groupings though is a brilliantly wide scope of different sounds. Musical instruments from around the world can be classified into five different groupings based on what produces their sound: for idiophones like cymbals this is the vibration of their body, membranophones like drums have vibrating membranes, chordophones like guitars have vibrating strings aerophones like flutes vibrate air rather than any part of the instrument, and electrophones are instruments which have electric action, amplification or in the case of the theremin rely on a mild form of witchcraft. Just as a culture’s paintings are influenced by the brushes they use their music is a product of their instruments. Like the visual arts, there is a universality to music that is only affected by a handful of factors. Detail of Gong ( Kyizi), 19th to 20th Century
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