"If you want to do good work, you must first sharpen your tools." All Jinghu enthusiasts have a common wish, that is, they want to have a few good Jinghus that they like. How to choose? 

The selection method I summarized it into five words: "look", "weigh", "play", "knock", "pull".

(1) "Look": "Quality" is good, "size" is accurate, "bamboo" is violent, and "meat head" is thick.

Jinghu "qin pole" is also known as "burden". Erhu "qin rod" is made of wood. Jinghu "qin pole" is a natural bamboo. Although it has also been processed, its "appearance", "size", "bamboo joint", and "meat head" are all formed naturally, and a good "load" is very rare. The "burden" is the most valuable part of Jinghu. "Chuanzi" is the sound box of Jinghu's pronunciation, which is of course important, but "Danzi" is the main body of Jinghu, and it is more important for the sound quality of pronunciation. Because it bears the tension of the strings, the pronunciation comes from the vibration of the strings, and then drives the resonance of the bridge, snake skin, piano barrel, and the whole Jinghu. Good sound quality is closely related to the stability of the tension of the strings. This is like shooting an arrow far, accurately and powerfully, the key is to have a good bow; the key is to have a strong penetrating power and good tone, and the key is a good "load". Therefore, the pronunciation of Jinghu depends on the quality of "Banzi" and bobbins. "Quality" is good, "Banzi" is thick on the top and thin on the bottom, "size" is accurate, "bamboo joints" are violent, and "meat head" is thick, mainly for "Banzi". The so-called "bamboo knot" is violent, which means that the "bamboo knot" protrudes obviously. The so-called "meat head" thickness refers to the thickness of the bamboo wall of the "load".

"Piano shaft": Unscrew freely. Does not slip. The position of the second bamboo joint of the burden is preferably in the center of the two "piano axes". (beautiful). The distance between the "piano axis" should not exceed four horizontal fingers. *

"Qin tube": the tube should be round, the wall should be uniform, the bamboo pattern is thick, and the bamboo yellow is thick (the yellow layer on the inner wall). The "iron core barrel" is even more rare.

"Snake skin": The scales are large, black and shiny, the scale lines are clear, and the black and white are better.

"Bow": Single section, in the center, straight and slightly longer, with appropriate weight and comfortable bow grip.

Of course, it also depends on the fine workmanship. The famous ones are better.

*[Explanation]: Little known is: Jiang Aibing (the model play "Take Tiger Mountain by Wisdom" playing the piano) and Gao Yiming (Shanghai Peking Opera Theatre) both think that: put the right index finger, middle finger, ring finger, little finger, and four fingers together, Insert between two "piano shafts" (the index finger is on the top, the little finger is on the bottom, and the back of the hand is close to the "duty"), if it is inserted into a joint near the fingertip (the second interphalangeal joint in medical anatomy), it cannot be inserted again. It is standard. If it can be inserted forward, it means that the distance between the "piano axis" is too large. This can make tuning the "pivot" difficult and the strings inaccurate. (Except for extra large or extra small hands for normal hand testing)

(2) "Wei":

The qin is held in the hand, and it takes some weight to weigh it (the qin is relatively compared to the qin). The "meat head" is thicker and heavier, and vice versa.

The bow, in the hand, is comfortable and slightly heavier.

(3) "Bomb":

Play the "qin drum" with your fingers, and it will sound "da (da), da (da)", which is crisp and loud, and the magnetic real sound is better. Use your fingers to play the "snake skin", and if the sound of "ta (ta), ta (ta)" is crisp and short, turn the door high, and vice versa, if you make a "pu, po" sound, turn the door low.

(4) "Knock":

The combination of the burden and the bobbin and the material determine the tone of this piano. The reasonable collocation of the burden and the bobbin is very important, and it is also the key to the pronunciation. According to the joint research of Le Tao and famous qin master Jiang Aibing, put the bobbin easily in the palm of your hand, tap the bobbin lightly with the thin end of the burden (the end that is inserted into the tuyere of the qin tube), and the percussion sound will be the same as before. If you can hear the magnetic sound of the drum, and faintly hear the sound of the drum (that is, there is resonance), that is the best combination of the drum and the drum, and the sound of the piano is absolutely good. The accuracy of this method has been confirmed by many times of practice. (Although this method is reliable, it is difficult to do. First, you have to have experience in knocking and listening, and second, the seller cannot choose this way. But in order to make the piano produce the best sound, it is indeed very useful when matching the burden with the bobbin. You You might as well use a piano with a good tone to test this method.)

(5) "Pull": You have to pull it to test the sound of the piano.

The "Xipi" piano should have a crisp pronunciation, strong penetrating power, and lingering metallic sounds.

The "Erhuang" qin should be pronounced brightly, the sound quality is pure, and the reverberation is lingering.

It is easy to make a sound when it is pulled, and it is easy to play the piano.

The piano shaft is free to twist the strings, easy to set the tone, not tight, not loose, not slipping, not out of tune.

In a word, a good Jinghu should be good in appearance, accurate in size, strong in bamboo knots, and thick in meat head. "Wei" has weight, "bounce" is magnetic, and "pull" is comfortable.

In addition, it should be mentioned that the old Jinghu with good material has a purer sound than the new Jinghu. This is related to the natural evaporation of the moisture in the piano material through the vibration of playing for many years. Lao Jinghu's "burden", "qin barrel" and "qin shaft" have been shaped through long-term running-in, and have reached the best pronunciation and vibration state. Therefore, Jinghu should be pulled often, and the more he pulls, the better the sound.