The wooden fish is a kind of wooden percussion instrument. The common wooden fish is shaped like a round sphere like a fist, and the middle part is hollow, which is used for sound resonance and amplification.
There is a sound hole on one side of the sphere, which is the same as the F-shaped hole of a violin. It allows the amplified sound to spread. on the shelf. The method of playing is to use a drum stick or a small wooden hammer to hit the resonance area on the outside of the instrument to make a sound.
The size of the wooden fish is different, the pitch is different, the bigger the volume, the lower the pitch. The large wooden fish used in temples has a frontal diameter of about 40 centimeters, and the largest is over 90 centimeters.
The diameter of the small wooden fish is only 4 cm, and it is only used in the Buddhist ritual "circling the lotus" (circling the Buddha hall). There are five kinds of medium-sized wooden fish that are often used, with a circle diameter of 7-16 cm. Mostly made of mulberry or pine wood. In the national band, there are complete sets of wooden fish with different pitches and different numbers, arranged and combined according to the pentatonic scale, the heptatonic scale or the twelve equal temperament. They are often used in lively and lively music. to imitate the sound of horse hooves. Muyu is a musical instrument for the festival of the folk art "Muyu Song" in Guangdong.
Wooden fish is a kind of wooden product with a shape resembling the shape of a fish head. It appeared very early in our country, but the recorded history is relatively late. This special utensil is not only found in temples. As early as the Ming and Qing dynasties, wooden fish has been used in court music, Kunqu Opera and folk music. Usually the big wooden fish is made of mulberry or toon wood, the largest surface diameter can reach more than 40 cm, and the sound is relatively low. Small wooden fish are generally made of sandalwood or mahogany, with a higher pronunciation.
The wooden fish used in temples are roughly divided into two types: one is round and the other is long. Generally speaking, the size of the round wooden fish is varied, while the elongated wooden fish are mostly about one meter.