The 'Early Music' Erhu

Author(s): Colin Huehns

Source: The Galpin Society Journal, Vol. 54 (May, 2001), pp. 56-61
Published by: Galpin Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/842445
Accessed: 01/10/2009 12:52

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless
you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you
may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.

Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=gal.

Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed
page of such transmission.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Galpin Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Galpin Society
Journal.

http://www.jstor.org
 COLIN HUEHNS

The 'Early Music' Erhu

The erhu is a Chinese bowed stringed instrument with two strings;

instruments of this family are unique for, unlike any bowed stringed
instrument anywhere else in the world, the bow-hair is placed between the
strings of the instrument and the strings are stroked with both the inner and
outer faces of the bow-hair. The instrument comprises (see Figure 1) a thin
spike, at the top of which are two pegs - one for each of the two strings. At
the other end of the body is a tube resonator at the front of which is a
membrane (traditionally of snakeskin) on which is placed a bridge, over
which the two strings run.
Instruments of this family were first made eight to nine hundred years
ago in China and have been popular ever since, initially as folk instruments
accompanying traditional opera, though since Liu Tianhua's reforms in the
1920s and 1930s, the erhu has become a solo instrument of distinction,
widely performed on and also taught in conservatoires.
As with many folk instruments, erhuwere not normally preserved as objets
d'art and once the snakeskin membrane had become soft or damaged as

pegs

restrainingloop
or qianjin

spike si
-- strings
chamber
resonating

bow-stick

bridge
'f e^^ feltpad
supportingstand
snakeskin

Figure 1. Diagramof the modemerhu.

56
 Figure2.
Frontviewof the 'earlymusic'erhu
(right)andmodern erhu (left).Notice
theqianjinorrestraininglooptowards
thetopofthespikejustbelowthepegs.

would normally happen within a few decades, they were normally

discarded. Thus, very few erhusurvive from the period before the Com-
munists took power in 1949. On a recent trip to China however, I was
lucky enough to be able to purchase one such pre-1949 instrument, to have
the opportunity to re-string it in the traditional manner with silk strings,
and thus to be able to compare it with my recently-made erhu,bought new,
which I normally use when teaching and performing.
Both are fine instruments and can be said to be representative
instruments of the period which produced them. My 'modern' erhuis made
from the finest grade of wood normally used for erhu - red sandalwood
(pterocarpusindicus);my Chinese experts were unable to tell me what wood
was used for my 'early music' erhubut it is clear that it is not red sandalwood
or hong mu ('red' wood), the wood types nowadays most usually used for
erhu construction. As one would expect, the modern erhu is tooled with
more precision, the vertical spike is straight and the pegs are fitted
perpendicular to the spike; on the other hand, the vertical spike of the 'early
music' erhuis slightly, but noticeably, curved and the pegs fit in at slightly
oblique angles.
The innovations in erhu construction since 1949, rather similar to the
innovations in violin construction at the beginning of the nineteenth
century, are all intended to increase the volume of the instrument.
Compared with the violin, the erhu is a much quieter instrument and
attempts to match the projecting power of the violin have been the spur to
innovations in erhu construction since 1949. Nevertheless, when
performed publicly, the erhunormally still requires amplification. Even so,
the innovations carried out on my early music erhuto produce my modem
erhuhave still resulted in an approximately four-fold increase in its volume.
The most important of these is to increase the size and change the
construction of the small resonating chamber at the foot of the erhu.Where
once this was a simple cylinder with a circular face at either end, now it is,

57
in this modern erhuat least, an octagonalcylinder.This modern erhuis
recognisableas havingbeen madein a Beijingworkshopby the octagonal
shape of its resonatingchamber;modem erhufrom Suzhou (another
importanterhu-making centre)arerecognisableby theiruse of a hexagonal
resonatingchamber.The modernerhu resonatingchamberis now carved
out of one piece of wood where once it was constructedfrom a set of
longitudinalplatesjoined by thin sliversof wood; these slivers,in the case
of this erhu,areof another,lighter,colour (when I acquiredthis erhuthere
wasa largecrackon one of thesejoins andthisneededto be mendedbefore
the instrumentcould be played).The wood is alsonow thicker,more solid
andheavierthanbefore.The volume hasalsobeen increasedby insertinga
toilet roll-shapedappliance(made out of wood) into the modern erhu
resonatingchamber.The attractivewooden latticeat the backof the early
music erhuhas also been removed to allow the sound greaterfreedomto
ringout andonly the vestigeof thisremainson the rim of the modem erhu
(thoughthisrimremainscircularin both instruments).The overallshapeof
the chamberhas also changed:where once it was the samein diameterat
both ends,now it is largerin diameteratthe snakeskinendwith a noticeable
tapertowardsthe other (back)end.
Earlymusic erhuspecialistsin China requirethatthe instrumentshould
containno metalwhatsoever,feeling that this addsa metallicedge to the
sound.This is certainlya purist,ideologicalandslightlyromanticidealand
if eachitem of metalon the modernerhutakenindividually,were replaced
with wood, there would only be a marginaleffect on the overallsound,
though the cumulative effect of all these changes would still be
considerable.Let us startwith the pegs. In this modem erhu,the wooden
pegs have been replacedby brasspegs fitted with an internalscrew. Thus
tuning is easilydone simplyby turningwithout applyingpressureas with
guitarpegs, as opposedto relyingon the frictionbetween the peg and the
hole into which it is insertedto hold the peg in place.In fact,only-afraction

Figure4.
Rearviewsofthemodern erhu (left)and
earlymusicerhu (right).
Figure3.
Sideviewof theearlymusicerhu (left)
58 5 andmodernerhu (right).
 Figure5.
Thepegsofthetwoerhu.
Theearlymusicerhu is
on theleft;themodemrn
erhuis on theright.

of modern erhuhave this innovation, considered to be a boon because it

allows for effortless tuning of the strings. Whether the peg is metal or wood
seems to have little effect on the overall colour of the sound, but with metal
pegs, the string passes over a metal roller on its way out of the peg. Placing
a small piece of folded paper here, that is, avoiding a metal string touching
a metal roller, has a considerable effect on timbre, removing a small, but
clearly noticeable, harshnessin the sound.
The string on its journey downwards passes through the qianjin (see
Figure 1) before it reaches the playing area. Both erhuhave been fitted with
the time-honoured device of tying a shoe-lace here to keep the strings in
position. Almost all modern erhuare sold with metal qianjinand this really
does add nastiness to the sound: far better the shoe-lace! At the bottom end
of the erhu, the string is attached to the instrument, in the early music
version, on to a wooden spike, in the modern version on to two metal
screws. The purist would remove the metal screws and replace them with
wooden ones, but, in this case, the effect on the sound really is marginal.
One of the most attractive parts of the early music erhu is the lovely
dragon head at the scroll end of the instrument. Dragon heads are not
unknown in modern instruments, but more usual is the curved end shown
here. These dragon heads may be attractive to look at, but their effect on
the sound is minimal. At the other end, the modern erhuis equipped with a
heavy wood support whereas the early music version is without this. This

Figure6.
A viewofthestritgsofthe
twoerhu (bowremoved).
Themodernz erhu is on the
left;theearlymusicerhu
is on theright.

59
recent innovation is found on perhaps only half of modern erhu.It helps to
allow the sound to project out unencumbered by folds of clothing and, in
addition, has the useful function of anchoring the erhumore securely on the
left hip. Without this support, the erhucan jump around when changing
position or applying heavy vibrato; frequent and complex position changes
are very much part of modern technique.
Most closely connected with the sound the erhu produces are the
innovations connected with the bow and the strings. Previously, strings
were usually made of silk; nowadays, this has almost entirely been
superseded by metal. This is now so universal that it is virtually impossible
to get hold of silk strings. The reasons for this are in partpractical:silk strings
break easily and it is common for strings simply to snap in performance; silk
strings also loose their pitch quickly like gut violin strings. However, the
sound difference is immense and, in this respect, the timbres produced by
strings made of these two different materialsbelong to two different worlds.
The silk string sound is soft and gentle, almost woolly, but also very
beguiling; the metal string sound is more robust and smooth. Under the
fingers, silk strings have a finely woven texture which caresses the
fingertips; metal strings feel hard and smooth. Silk strings tend to give a soft
attack and react only gradually to friction with the bow-hair - a lot of rosin
is required: metal strings are much more instantly responsive. In higher
registers, silk strings are particularlyweak and open strings tend to produce
wolf notes - not so metal strings. While these are not insurmountable
problems by any means, tuning silk strings to lower pitches than metal
strings certainly helps.
The bows used by both instruments also show marked differences. Most
likely to have greatest impact on the sound is the difference between the
width of the bow-hair: with the early music erhu,there are perhapsa quarter
of the number of strandsof the modern erhubow-hair. Silk strings snap too
easily for there to be any more strandson the early music bow. The sheaf of

Figure 7.
The bowsbelongingto the
two erhu (removedfjrom
betweenthe strings).
The modernbowis on the
left; the earlymusicerhu
bow is on the right.

60
 Figure 8. The authorplaying the erhu (modernversion).The bodyof the instrumentis
placedon the lefthip, the spike held vertically,and the instrumentbowedhorizontally.

strandsis cylindrical with the early music erhubow; it is flat with the modern
erhubow and held flat by metal or plastic flattening sheathes through which
it passesat both point and heel. These differences have a considerable impact
on the volume and timbre ofthe sound produced: the sound is thicker, richer
and louder with the modern erhubow and quieter and more delicate with the
earlymusic erhubow. The shape ofthe bow is also different:with the modern
erhu bow, the bow-stick and hair run broadly parallel for much of their
length; with the early music erhu,the bow is much more arched, particularly
towards the point. The early music bow is also shorter than the modem bow.
The tension on the bow-hair is also different: much looser on the modern
erhubow; this is perhaps because innovations and improvements in bow
technique have given modern players the ability to be able to control and
manipulate a looser bow-hair. The modern erhubow-hair tension can also be
changed with the same screw mechanism as that of a modern violin bow
whereas with the early music erhubow, the bow-hair would need to be
untied, re-wound and re-stuck, a very complex and time-consuming
process. The modern bow also has the addition of a small frog at the heel
mainly so that the hair can be removed easily from the frog by simply
unclipping it if the player wants to remove the bow from between the strings.
Taken together, these innovations in construction are considerable.
They place the music played by the two different erhuinto two different
sound worlds. The modern erhuis versatile, can project its sound and can
play a vast variety of different music from concertos to regional music of
various different styles. The early music erhuis limited to that small amount
of music, mainly the so-called 'silk-bamboo' music of southern China and
the compositions of Liu Tianhua and his contemporaries where finesse of
texture, deftness of execution and subtleties of timbral palette are most
important. But both, nevertheless, express different aspects of the same
aesthetic ideal.

61