Playing traditional suona on stage today will encounter many problems. For example, the chromatic performance is poorly grasped, the intonation is unstable, the timbre is not uniform, the speed is slow, etc., and even some scales are difficult to carry out continuously; there is a distant transition in the music, and the instrument cannot be changed in a short time. "Traditional musical instruments must also adapt to the times and keep pace with the development of music art." In 1992, wind musician Guo Yazhi invented the suona "live core" device, which made the traditional suona play a chromatic scale and a twelve-tone system. Enriched the expressive power of suona. With the help of the suona core, Guo Yazhi can control different music types and realize his own musical expression. The suona live core technology has also been continuously improved in practical applications, and has gradually been favored by the majority of suona performers. The suona live core has played an active role in the application of national band ensembles and modern music, pop and jazz music.

Traditional suona is not suitable for today's music

The suona is a representative national wind instrument in my country. In the past, it was mostly used in folk drum music classes and the accompaniment of local folk arts and operas. "The suona is a loud and individual instrument. It often appears as a solo instrument, and it is also very eye-catching in ensembles. As long as it comes out, it is the main melody or the climax of the music. I feel very lucky to be able to play the suona." Guo Yazhi graduated from the Central Committee In the Conservatory of Music, he has studied with famous suona and guanzi teachers such as Chen Jiaqi, Hu Haiquan, Ren Tongxiang, Wang Gaolin, Liu Bingchen, Liu Fengtong, and many folk artists.

In the 1990s, Guo Yazhi, who was proficient in nearly 30 kinds of wind instruments such as suona, guanzi, xiao, and xun, became the most popular performer in Beijing recording studios. TV dramas, movies, Spring Festival Gala... all kinds of programs have been recorded." His performances are included in classic works such as "The Tracker's Love", "Song of a Hero", and "Family and Folks". During the recording process, Guo Yazhi encountered problems such as frequent transfer and distant relationship transfer, and it was difficult for traditional suona to adapt to these complex situations. "Our generation has begun to come into contact with various types of music, and it is no longer simple folk music." Guo Yazhi realized that in the application of national band (solo), modern music, pop and jazz music, the traditional suona The adaptability has obviously fallen behind, and the traditional suona needs to be reformed.

Guo Yazhi's teacher Liu Bingchen is not only a suona player but also a musical instrument reformer, who invented the keyed suona that can play the chromatic scale. Inspired by the teacher, Guo Yazhi came up with the idea of improving the suona. If the core on the suona can be freely stretched, then the performer can improve on the timbre, skills and other characteristics of the traditional suona. Great portamento performance. Guo Yazhi spent one night drawing out the idea, and worked with Zhuang Zhenghe, a master from Beijing Xinghai Musical Instrument Factory, to produce the first-generation suona live core in half a month.

Does not change the structure, only replaces the copper core

The live suona core does not change the structure of the traditional suona, but just replaces the original copper core. On February 27, 1993, experts such as Chen Ziming, Wang Tiechui, Song Baocai, Hu Zhihou, Li Zhengui, Chen Jiaqi, Bei Yujie, Gui Xili, Zhuang Zhenghe and other experts attended the suona live core technology appraisal meeting organized by the Education Technology Department of the Ministry of Culture. Suona live core has made evaluations such as "a pioneering work", "small invention, great achievement", "a contribution to the cause of folk music" and "promotional value". In October 1993, the suona live core won the second prize of the Science and Technology Progress Award of the Ministry of Culture of China, and in the same year, it was awarded the utility model patent for the suona live core issued by the State Patent Office.

In June 1995, at the concert of the 45th anniversary of the founding of the Central Conservatory of Music, Guo Yazhi pioneered Huang Anlun's "China Imagination" with a live-core suona. This is a saxophone concerto, which Guo Yazhi transplanted into a suona score. In this regard, the "Music Weekly" commented, "How can the dissonance, modulation and many changes be played so calmly and smoothly? ... This new 'weapon' is the suona core he invented."

Suona live core aroused the interest of composers. Guo Yazhi used suona live core to perform Qin Wenchen's "Calling the Phoenix", Jia Guoping's "The Trembling of the Line of Decadence", Wen Deqing's "Trace No. 4", Mei Guangzhao's "Bauhinia", Zhu Shirui's "Phoenix Nirvana", Deng Leyan's "Dragon Lantern" and "Falling Up", Zhang Haofu's "The Long River in the Desert", Huang Qiong's "Bird Twitter from Altadena" and other modern music works. Qin Wenchen was the first composer to create a work for a suona with a live core. His suona concerto "Calling the Phoenix" tailored for Guo Yazhi was premiered at the Beijing Concert Hall in May 1997 and became a representative work of modern suona works. "This kind of difficult technique is very difficult for traditional suona. They can only be performed by the living core suona invented by suona performer Guo Yazhi and performers with superb performance skills." Department of Composition, Central Conservatory of Music Evaluation by Professor Li Jiti.

Play music in line with the times

"Suona live core gives me more opportunities on the stage and allows me to play music that is in line with the times." Guo Yazhi has played in the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Hungary, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Switzerland and all over China. In 1999, after leaving the Central Conservatory of Music, where he had been teaching for 9 years, Guo Yazhi joined the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra and began his 12-year suona principal career. He took the initiative to dabble in various genres and styles of music, and used a variety of instruments to play various styles of music in the special concert "Guo Yazhi's Winding World - The Legend of Suona", which was well received by all walks of life. In 2009, at a pop concert held at the Hong Kong Coliseum, he collaborated with singer Hacken Lee "Woman Before Marriage". Facing an audience of 20,000, he imitated the saxophone with his suona, playing and dancing for 15 consecutive performances, which made Hong Kong people feel uneasy. Suona has a new understanding. In 2012, he won the Hong Kong Artist of the Year Award.

In 2011, Guo Yazhi applied for the Berklee College of Music, and his family moved to the United States to study jazz performance. When he first arrived at Berkeley, he met guitarist David Fiuczynski and performed with him many times. He became a school "celebrity" and was affectionately called "Uncle Suona" by his classmates. Since then, he has been frequently invited to participate in various music festivals and important performances. He often attends major music performances and online video recordings of the academy, premieres the works of several Chinese-American composers, and leads the annual Berkeley Chinese New Year. Concert”, and also led the Berklee College of Music Band to attend the Singapore Arts Festival and the Guangzhou Jazz Festival in China.

In the performance practice, Guo Yazhi summed up his experience and continuously improved the suona live core technology. In 2002, he launched the second-generation suona live core. At the beginning of 2016, he redesigned the suona live core based on the feedback of the majority of suona players on the application of the live core. In March 2017, the third-generation suona live core produced by the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra Ren Zhaoliang and refined by Shenzhen Chengmei Precision Mould Parts Co., Ltd. was successfully launched. The early live cores were all welded with copper coils, and the third-generation live cores use seamless cutting technology to make the inner wall smooth and tidy, and the vibration achieves the best performance through physical design. All parts are made by full CNC machine tools with unified size and specifications. Parts of the same model can be freely replaced, which is convenient for later repair and maintenance, and solves the problem of scrapping the whole set after a certain part of the previous generation of live cores is damaged.

The third-generation suona live core is ingeniously conceived, has a simple and elegant appearance, is scientific and durable, and is suitable for almost all suona musical instruments. For example, the D-tuned active core can be used on the D-tuned suona, and it can also be used on the E-flat suona; the C-tuned active core can be used in the C-tuned suona, and it can also be used on the #C-tuned suona; Or on the suona in A key, it can also be used on the big G suona; the large G key can be used on the big G suona, and it can also be used on the large pole suona in Northeast China. The inner core of the live core can also be used as a traditional core, with a bright tone comparable to the traditional core, with stable pitch and strong expressiveness.

The starting point of the suona live core is based on all the characteristics of the traditional suona, such as the tone and technique. While performing all the traditional techniques, the performer uses the small action of the live core to expand and contract to instantly improve the semitone, complex tonal conversion and large scale. The performance ability of amplitude portamento is very popular among suona players. Chen Jiaqi, a professor at the Central Conservatory of Music, commented: "For modern works with many temporary inflections, transitions, and off-keys, the suona with a live core device has better performance than the traditional suona." Suona performer Hu Haiquan commented. : "He can not only retain the traditional playing style but also play the twelve well-tempered music, which is the most successful part of his reform."

"To form a perfect musical instrument, it must go through long-term practice and continuous improvement before it can be useful. The live core is my starting point in the suona reform. I believe there are still many things to do. Friends, discuss and go hand in hand." Guo Yazhi said.