As a national musical instrument, cucurbit silk has a long history. Its origin can be traced back to the pre-Qin era. It is mainly popular in Yunnan, Dehong and Lincang areas where ethnic minorities such as Dai, Achang, Wa, Deang and Blang live together. local color. Hulusi is also known as cucurbit flute. It is called "Pale Weng" in Achang, and "Baihong Liao" in Wa language. It is evolved from the origin of cucurbit flute, the reed, because the vibrato it blows is as elegant and soft as shaking silk. And named.

Hulusi is often used to play folk tunes such as folk songs, or to play solo. It is most suitable for playing music or dance music with smooth melody. Generally, there are more long tones in the tune, rich chords, soft and harmonious music, and can express the player's feelings well. Thoughts and feelings.

The cucurbit silk is the most popular among the people of the Dai, Achang and other ethnic groups. It is a musical instrument for entertainment. There are many skilled craftsmen who make cucurbit silk in every village. Ringing cucurbit silk adds a lot of joy to people's lives.

The development of cucurbit silk

After the founding of the People's Republic of my country, Chinese national musicians carried out continuous reforms on the cucurbit silk. In 1950, the Yunnan Song and Dance Troupe first expanded the range of the cucurbit silk to 14 tones. In recent years, some literary and art groups in Beijing have developed two new types of cucurbit silk. Among them, the six-pipe cucurbit flute can play single tone, double tone, single melody plus continuous tone, and two chorus melody plus continuous tone. That is, it retains the unique timbre and style of the original instrument, increases the volume, expands the sound range, and enriches the sound color and expressiveness.

The structure of cucurbit silk

The shape and structure of the gourd wire is unique. It is made of a complete natural gourd, three bamboo pipes and three metal reeds. The bamboo pipe part is set with a copper or silver reed. The bamboo pipe in the middle is the thickest, and there are seven sound holes on it. It is called the main pipe. The hole (referring to the traditional cucurbit silk) can only emit harmonics that resonate with the main body. Usually, the left-side pipe makes a "3" sound, and the right-side pipe does not sound (or a low-pitched 6 sound).

The pitch and range of Hulusi

When all the seven sound holes in charge of the cucurbit silk are held down, the sound blown is the bass 5, and when all the seven sound holes are opened, the sound blown out is "6", which is the pitch of the cucurbit silk. When playing, the method of super-blowing is adopted, and the full-press is used to make the bass 5. With different breaths and fingering changes, an octave can be played, and all seven sound holes are closed (also known as the barrel tone), and the hexaphonic scale can be blown. Come, add an octave and another tone on the cucurbit silk to blow out the bass 5, 6, 7, plus 12356 eight tones. The sound range of the cucurbit flute is one octave and the other, and the arrangement is to take the bass 5 as an example, that is (bass 3, 5, 6, 7) 123 (4) 56.

Tuning of cucurbit silk

The tuning of the seven-hole cucurbit flute in charge is based on the actual pitch of the third hole in the supervisor. For example, the sound produced by the third hole in the supervisor is the key of the palace sound "1", which is the original tone of the cucurbit flute, such as the third hole. The actual pitch made by the hole is B-flat, which is the B-flat cucurbit flute. Here is a point to explain, that is, the actual pitch of the third hole shall prevail. In the fingering method, it is not only the third hole that is opened, but also open at the same time. One, two, three, three sound holes.

Care of cucurbit silk

When the cucurbit silk is shipped from the factory, the reeds are adjusted to the best state. The user cannot move the reeds. Sometimes due to improper use of air when playing, the cucurbit reeds will be deformed, and the range will be narrowed, and the timbre will be narrowed. worse. In serious cases, no sound can be heard. The deformed reed should be repaired by an experienced professional, and the reed should be placed on the original tube body for adjustment. It cannot be removed at will and exchanged with another cucurbit reed. , this is because the exchange of the tube body changes the coupling vibration conditions, and cannot be pronounced normally, which is the difference from other musical instruments. The cucurbit flute should not be blown hard. It is a musical instrument played by the super-blowing method. Generally, the cucurbit flute is not produced by flat blowing (except for the fundamental tone). Therefore, the air should be used appropriately when playing. It should be played from slow to urgent, especially when playing. When the high notes are "5, 6", the breath should gradually slow down. When playing the bass "567", the air flow should be urgent, and the breath should sink. There is a feeling of falling, otherwise the reed will sink and bend, lose its due elasticity, and cause damage. . To prevent the sundries from being brought into the cucurbit silk while playing, it is best to rinse your mouth before playing to keep the inside of your mouth clean. Usually, it should be handled with care. When not blowing, it is best to store it in a special box to avoid damage.

The purchase of cucurbit silk

The structure of cucurbit silk is very special, mainly composed of three parts, namely natural gourd, bamboo tube and copper reed, so the three main components should be carefully screened in the selection. The appearance of cucurbit silk should be fine and beautiful, and then look at the three components separately.

The choice of air box gourd: choose mature gourd, yellow in color, thick and firm skin; immature gourd with thin skin, white color and easy damage.

The choice of bamboo pipe is very important, because it directly affects the sound quality. A good cucurbit silk should first of all have a fine and mature bamboo quality. Relatively speaking, it has a certain weight, and it is not appropriate if it is too light.

The choice of the reed is particularly important. The quality of the reed should have certain technical standards, vibration frequency, fatigue resistance, etc. These indicators cannot be verified due to limited conditions. You can only feel the vibration of the reed and the bamboo pipe through an audition. Choose whether the sound from the coupling is good or bad.

The most important thing when buying cucurbit silk is the pitch problem. Because the change of temperature difference has a great influence on the vibration frequency of the reed, the smaller the contrast of a good cucurbit silk, the better, and it is relatively stable. To identify the intonation, use the fingering for the bass 5 to play the lowest note 5 first (this note is unstable and mostly high) and the high note 6. If there is no problem with these two notes, play the scale again to see if each note is correct. Pronunciation is clean, no murmur (durring).

Requirements for the attached pipe: The main standard is that the pitch is the same as that of the supervisor, and the sound volume is clean and smaller than that of the supervisor (the volume cannot exceed that of the supervisor, otherwise it will overwhelm the guest). If the above conditions can be satisfied, this is a good cucurbit silk.

Hulusi playing posture

Hulusi should pay attention to posture, which is not only a matter of performance image, but more importantly, in order to adapt to the physiological characteristics of the performer, give full play to the skills, and better express the music content. The playing posture of cucurbit flute is divided into two types: sitting and standing.

1. Vertical

It is the posture of standing and playing. Generally, this posture is used in solo performances. It requires the body to stand upright, naturally relax into a vertical shape, the feet should be slightly separated, the chest should be straight, the left hand is on the top, the right hand is on the bottom, the arms are slightly bent, and the elbows are slightly bent. Sagging, the tube body is slightly forward, and the upper body is at a 45-degree angle.

2. Sitting

This posture is generally used in ensembles, requiring the body to sit on the chair naturally and relaxedly, the legs should be slightly separated, the body should be straight, the head should be straight and the shoulders should be flat, and the left and right elbows should form a 45-degree angle with the body.

How to hold cucurbit

It is required to relax the fingers naturally, hold the cucurbit silk in an arc, relax the muscles of both arms and elbows, and the contact holes of the finger pads should have a peripheral edge. It is elastic, and if it is too tight, the hand is sore and the sound is suffocated, which is not good for performance. In addition, when opening the finger, it is not advisable to lift it too high, otherwise it will make the fingers stiff and affect the playing speed. Generally, lift your finger to 2--3 cm above the sound hole.

Throttle, Mouth and Mouth

1. Throttle

The space where the breath passes between the upper and lower lips during finger blowing. The damper can be large or small, and it changes with the pitch of the sound. Decrease the damper when playing low notes and widen the damper when playing high notes. The position of the damper should not be left or right, it should be in the middle of the lips, and the upper and lower lips should contain the blow hole of the cucurbit silk. This depends on the production of the blow hole of the cucurbit silk to determine whether the upper lip is slightly more prominent than the lower lip (generally Under normal circumstances, the upper and lower lips should be the same).

2. Tone

The breath that blows through the damper is the breath of the mouth. The tone of the mouth is divided into priorities. The choice of the tone can control the strength and air consumption of the air. Because the cucurbit flute is a vertical blowing type reed pipe coupled vibration instrument, it is mainly composed of a reed and a bamboo pipe to couple and vibrate. When playing, hold the blow hole with your mouth, and use the method of super blowing, the air flow passes through the air box (gourd), makes the reed tongue part of the reed vibrate, and stimulates the resonance of the air column in the tube to make the sound. Genes are generally not used when playing (tub sound blown by the slow blow method). The speed change of the throttle is controlled by the activities of the high abdomen, diaphragm and thoracic cavity, and the three parties should be well controlled.

3. Mouth

The size of the mouth is determined according to the size of the damper and the priority of the tone. Be sure to pay attention to the close coordination between the mouth and the wind at the door. Although the tone of voice and the strength of the mouth can be divided into priorities when playing the cucurbit flute, but because the method of playing the cucurbit flute is over-blown, the priority is relative and has a limit, that is to say, it changes within a certain range. The reason is limited by its own conditions (the sound range is too narrow). #p#Pagination title#e#

One cucurbit silk can play several tunes

Because the traditional cucurbit flute has seven pronunciation holes (heads) in production, one pronunciation hole has one sound (cannot blow an octave on a sound hole through the change of breath like a bamboo flute), plus a tube tone can make a total of Blow out eight notes. Therefore, in general, the traditional cucurbit flute can change the original fingering by moving the position of the palace sound. In theory, it should be able to blow out five to six tones. However, due to the limitation of the range and scale arrangement, the traditional cucurbit flute can only change to four tones at present. And there are only two commonly used tunes, that is, the bass tone is "5" and the bass tone is "1". Taking Hulusi in the key of C as an example, in addition to this key (the third hole is 1), it can also be played in the key of G (the drum tone is "1"). It is a six-tone form based on the national pentatonic scale. There are certain limitations, not all music can be played, it should be selected according to the range of the music. The best tune is to use the third hole as "1" to play. If the music needs to be transferred, it can be solved by replacing the cucurbit silk. , the commonly used cucurbit silk has B, C, D, F, and so on.

The breathing method of cucurbit

Breathing is just a subconscious action, so how to use breathing to make cucurbita make a pleasant sound. Breath is the source of energy and the force that determines the vibration process of the sound body. Whether you can master the correct breathing method and apply it in the cucurbit flute is a very important topic.

We know that when playing, whether it is the intensity of the sound or its continuation, it depends on the player's breathing, and the longer the exhalation, the longer the sound. Therefore, the inhalation should be short, rapid and without noise, and the exhalation should be smooth, even and prolonged. How to meet the basic requirements of breathing, we must master the scientific method. The most scientific method is currently considered to be the mixed breathing method.

How to breathe in cucurbit

When picking up the cucurbit silk to hold the blow hole, firstly, the corners of the mouth should be slightly opened, and the tongue should be naturally retracted a little. Otherwise, it will drive the reeds in the air box to make a grunting sound.) At this time, the chest cavity and abdomen have a clear sense of expansion, and attention must be paid to the coordination of the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles in order to complete reasonable inhalation. , this is the chest and abdomen combined with inhalation. The practice method is to blow out the lit candle. At this time, you usually take a deep breath subconsciously. At this time, the inhalation tends to relax naturally, or bend down to take a deep inhalation. The sense of expansion, so it is easy to find the feeling of correct inhalation.

How to Exhale Hulusi

The best exhalation is that the more uniform the exhaled air flow, the smoother the sound, the fuller the exhaled air flow, and the wider the sound.