Hulusi, also known as "gourd flute", is called "筚郎叨" in Dai language ("筚" is a general name for wind instruments in Dai language. "Lang" means straight blowing, and "nag" is gourd), which is a single reed reed instrument of Dai, Achang, De'ang, Wa, Brown and other ethnic groups, which is a reed wind instrument, mainly spread in Dai, Yi, Achang, De'ang and other ethnic groups. It has a long history, its origins can be traced back to the pre-Qin period, and the gourd silk can be divided into three types: high, medium and low. Hulusi's masterpiece is "Phoenix Tail Bamboo in the Moonlight".

2 Instrument details edited

[1] The gourd flute is a wind instrument of ethnic minorities in China, and it is one of the most favorite and commonly used instruments of the Dai, Achang, Wa and other ethnic minorities living in southwest China.

Gourd flute

The gourd flute has a long history, and its origins can be traced back to the pre-Qin period (before 221 BC), but today's gourd flute still retains the characteristics of its ancient counterparts.

The shape and construction of the gourd flute is unique, it is made of a complete gourd, plus three bamboo pipes and three metal reeds. At the end of the handle of the gourd, a bamboo pipe is inserted as a mouthpiece, and the gourd is used as a resonance box; three bamboo pipes of different thicknesses are inserted into the bottom of the gourd, each bamboo tube is inlaid with a copper or silver reed, the middle one is the thickest, and there are seven sound holes on it, which can blow the melody, and the auxiliary pipes on both sides can only produce harmonies that resonate with the main pipe.

Like other flute instruments, the volume of the gourd flute is relatively small, but the timbre of its main body is soft and delicate, and the sustained sound of the two auxiliary pipes gives people a subtle and hazy beauty. Because the trills it blows are as elegant and soft as shaking silk, some people call it "gourd silk".

Due to ethnic and regional differences, the gourd flutes of other ethnic minorities in Yunnan Province are still different in shape and performance methods. However, they all have a common characteristic, that is, they are often used to play mountain songs, especially good at playing melodic music, the tune is generally more long, the chorus is rich, the music is soft and harmonious, and can better express the player's thoughts and feelings.

Later, Chinese folk musicians improved the gourd flute, and these new instruments not only maintained the unique timbre and style of the traditional gourd flute, but also increased the volume, expanded the vocal range, and enriched the sound color and expressiveness. The gourd flute, a folk instrument of China's ethnic minorities, has stepped onto the stage, and it has also appeared on the world art stage with the visit of Chinese musicians.

This kind of musical instrument uses a half-cut small gourd as a speaker, with three bamboo pipes of different lengths inserted side by side at the lower end of the bamboo tube of the gourd, embedded with copper building pieces, and a longer bamboo tube in the middle has seven holes. When blowing, the mouth blows the thin end of the gourd, referring to the sound hole of the bamboo pipe in the middle, while playing the melody, the left and right bamboo pipes emit a fixed single tone at the same time, and the melody constitutes a harmony. Its music is soft and delicate, mellow and simple, extremely expressive, and is deeply loved by the people of Yunnan. In recent years, it has also attracted a lot of attention at home and abroad. The ensemble of some cucurbit instruments and modern electronic instruments can also reflect the perfect combination of the two instruments, presenting a new feeling of intimacy and tactfulness of the combination of classical and modern, warm and intoxicating.

The Dai people are versatile and can sing and dance. During the festival, you can hear the moving music of rowing a dragon boat in the middle of the river, putting a "high rise" (an earthen rocket made of bamboo tubes) on the riverside, or "swinging" in the square or drinking and feasting in the bamboo building.

3 Historical origins, edit

Gourd flute

The history of cucurbit silk is relatively long, and its origin can be traced back to the pre-Qin era, which is evolved and transformed from gourd sheng. In terms of structure, it still maintains the relics of ancient musical instruments, the number of pipes is the same as that of the three pipes, and the two auxiliary pipes do not open the sound holes are exactly the same as the ancient pipes, and the continuous fifth interval is vividly compared with the "harmony of the voices" of the ancient pipes. However, its supervisor has 7 sound holes, which are very similar to the flute of later generations, and show its leap in history.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, China's national music workers carried out continuous reforms on the gourd flute. In 1958, the Yunnan Provincial Song and Dance Troupe first expanded the vocal range to 14 tones. In recent years, some literary and artistic groups in Beijing have made two new kinds of gourd flutes. Among them, the six-pipe gourd flute can play single notes, double tones, single melodies with sustained tones, and two harmonic melodies with sustained tones. It not only maintains the unique timbre and style of the original instrument, but also increases the volume, expands the vocal range, and enriches the sound color and expressiveness. In the great garden of national musical instruments in our country, it has become an eye-catching wonder. At the beginning of 1980, the visiting group of the Central Chinese Orchestra used this new gourd flute to play for the Japanese people, which was welcomed and praised.

There is such a legend among the Dai people: a long time ago, a flash flood broke out, a Dai family Xiao Bu Mao picked up a big gourd, through the stormy waves, rescued his sweetheart, his loyal love touched the Buddha, the Buddha put a pipe on the gourd, Xiao Bu Mao blew out a beautiful music, suddenly calm, flowers bloomed, peacock opened the screen, wishing the couple auspicious happiness. Since then, the gourd silk has been passed down from generation to generation in the Dai family.

The Dai people are versatile, can sing and dance, in the festival, whether it is rowing a dragon boat in the river or putting a high rise by the river, or in the square to catch up, or in the bamboo building to drink and sing, you can hear the moving singing. Zanha (folk singers) sing ancient legends and beautiful myths to the accompaniment of Hulusi, the sufferings of the old society and the happiness of the new society.

4 Instrument Construction Edits

Hulu silk construction

Hulu silk, Dai language called "Lang Lang", "筚" is the general name of the Dai wind instrument, "Lang" is the meaning of direct blowing, "nag" is the gourd, and the local Chinese is also known as the gourd flute. 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 whole gourd is an air box, the lower part of the gourd is inserted into three bamboo pipes of different thicknesses, each of which is inserted into the bamboo pipe part of the gourd, inlaid with a copper or silver reed, the bamboo pipe in the middle is the thickest, there are seven sound holes on it, it is called the main pipe, the two sides are attached pipes, only the reeds are set on it, and the sound hole is not opened (referring to the traditional gourd silk), which can only send out the harmony that resonates with the main pipe. Usually the left tube pronounces a "3" sound, and the right tube does not pronounce a sound (or a bass 6 sound).

This kind of musical instrument uses a gourd as a speaker, and the gourd mouth is used as a mouthpiece, and it is common to insert three bamboo pipes of different lengths with a piece of tongue reed, side by side, into the bottom of the gourd. The overall length is about 30 cm. There are also single-tube, double-tube or four-tube ones. No matter how many bamboo pipes there are, most of them are in charge of the middle pipe, and the rest are the secondary pipes. The main pipe has 7 sound holes, the front six and the back one, the traditional gourd wire sub-tube is not opened, only opened at the bottom of the pipe body, blocked with a plug, the plug and the pipe body are wired, and the little finger is used to open it when needed. The current modified gourd wire does not use the traditional stopper, but instead has a sound hole above the tube like the main pipe. This makes it easier to use the sub over and over again while playing, and gives you more control and flexibility. When blowing, the fingers control the sound hole of the main pipe to play different pitches, if the main and auxiliary pipes are opened at the same time, the blowing time several pipes in unison, the melody only comes from the main pipe, and the secondary pipe is only set off by a harmonious and continuous single note, usually a pipe pronounces an A, and a pipe pronounces an E tone, producing a harmonic effect, giving people a subtle, hazy beauty.

The gourd silk of the Achang people is similar to that of the Dai people, and the Achang language is called "Pat Leong", which is made of gourd and golden bamboo tubes. The blowpipe is 6 cm long, the main pipe is 50 cm long, and the secondary pipe is 33 and 17 cm long, respectively.

In the Wa people of Ximeng, the gourd silk is called "Baihong Liao", 3 bamboo pipes are inserted into the bottom of the gourd, sealed with wax, and the upper end and the bamboo blowpipe are only two centimeters long. What is particularly unique is that in addition to the seven sound holes, the main tube has two air holes at the bottom of the front. The supervisor plays the melody, and the two pipe pipes produce a sustained note of pure fifths to accompany the melody. If a sustained sound is not needed or a single sustained sound is required, the secondary pipe can also be blocked.

5 Musical instrument data editing

class

The gourd flute of the Achang people is similar to that of the Dai people, and the Achang language is called "Pat Leon", which is made of gourd and golden bamboo tubes. The blowpipe is 6 cm long, the main pipe is 50 cm long, and the secondary pipe is 33 and 17 cm long, respectively.

In the Wa people of Ximeng, the gourd flute is called "Baihong Liao", 3 pipes are inserted into the bottom of the gourd, sealed with wax, and the upper end and the bamboo blowpipe are only two centimeters long. What is particularly unique is that in addition to the seven sound holes in the main pipe, there are two air holes at the bottom of the front. The supervisor plays the melody, and the two pipe pipes produce a sustained note of pure fifths to accompany the melody. If a sustained sound is not needed or a single sustained sound is required, the secondary pipe can also be blocked.

The gourd flute of the Achang people is similar to that of the Dai people, and the Achang language is called "Pat Leon", which is made of gourd and golden bamboo tubes. The blowpipe is 6 cm long, the main pipe is 50 cm long, and the secondary pipe is 33 and 17 cm long, respectively.

In the Wa people of Ximeng, the gourd flute is called "Baihong Liao", 3 pipes are inserted into the bottom of the gourd, sealed with wax, and the upper end and the bamboo blowpipe are only two centimeters long. What is particularly unique is that in addition to the seven sound holes in the main pipe, there are two air holes at the bottom of the front. The supervisor plays the melody, and the two pipe pipes produce a sustained note of pure fifths to accompany the melody. If a sustained sound is not needed or a single sustained sound is required, the secondary pipe can also be blocked.

Score according to the number of pronunciations of the attached tube

Two-tone gourd silk - only the treble tube produces a single tone, and the other tube only plays the role of an accessory.

Three-tone gourd silk - both attached pipes each pronounce a single tone. The bass tube is not commonly used, especially the mid and low cucurbit silk has almost zero practicality. [3]

According to the form of attached tubes

Plug type - the monophonic tube is plugged with a soft plug and pulled out when in use.

Advantages: The soundhole of the attached tube is normally closed. Disadvantages: You can only pull the plug when using the interlude of the track, and the transition is slow.

Press the hole type - the pronunciation of the monophonic tube is controlled by the opening and closing of the sound hole with the little finger of the upper hand or the thumb of the lower hand.

Advantages: It is convenient to cooperate with the supervisor in time to play, and the conversion is fast. Disadvantages: The sound hole of the tube is normally open, and you must hold the sound hole with your fingers for playing the tracks that are not commonly used with the pipe, which affects the flexibility of other fingers.

Polyphonic - There are four sound holes on the polyphonic tube, and the first, third, fourth, and fifth sound holes of the main tube are spoken, which can be used with the main tube to pronounce simple melodic sounds.

Divided by pitch

It can be divided into ultra-treble cucurbit, treble cucurbit, tenor cucurbit, alto cucurbit, tenor cucurbit, bass cucurbit, ultra-bass cucurbit, etc.

Divided by vocal range

Traditional cucurbit silk - the standard traditional cucurbit silk has a pure octave and a pure fourth, that is, it contains seventeen semitones, a total of nine whole bore tones. When the cylinder is pronounced as 5 (so), the sound ranges from 3 (mi) to an octave of 6 (la), and the sound holes are arranged as 3 5 6 7 (bass group) 1 2 3 5 6 (treble group).

Loudspeaker range gourd silk - it is divided into two types: keyed and unkeyed. On the same main, the vocal range is broadened to one octave and another five tones.

By origin

Yunnan gourd silk - sweet timbre, mellow and clear, is a standard traditional gourd silk, with a distinct Dai style.

Northern Hulusi - Rough, open, and loud in tone. However, the cucurbit silk produced by some manufacturers is one tone less than the standard traditional cucurbit silk.

Other origins of gourd silk - different timbres.

Divided by the form of disassembly

Detachable gourd wire - the main pipe and the attached pipe can be removed from the gourd, which is convenient for professional maintenance and convenient for users to make minor adjustments.

Non-detachable gourd wire - the main pipe and attached pipe are bonded to the hoist, and non-professional maintenance personnel cannot disassemble it.

Divided by tuning form

Adjustable gourd wire - the main pipe and the attached tube are installed with copper tuning syllables (referred to as copper plugs), which can make subtle adjustments to the pitch and cannot adjust the cylinder tone. Tuning is non-linear and cannot be changed after setting.

Non-tunable gourd wire - copper tuning syllables (referred to as copper plugs) are not installed on the main pipe and attached tube.

tone

Gourd flute

Hulusi is a reed-pipe coupled vibration instrument, with a total of 3 types of high, medium and low tones, and is commonly used in D/E/F/G/A/B/ and other tones. The differences in customs and regional environment between various ethnic groups make the structure of the gourd silk instrument also different.

Because the traditional gourd silk has seven pronunciation holes (supervisors) in the production, one pronunciation hole and one tone (it cannot be like the bamboo flute through the change of breath in one sound hole can be blown an octave), plus a cylinder sound can blow a total of eight tones. Therefore, the traditional cucurbit silk can theoretically blow out five to six tones by moving the position of the palace sound and changing the original fingering, but due to the limitation of the vocal range and the arrangement of the scale, the traditional cucurbit silk can only turn four tones, and there are only two commonly used tones, both the tube tone for the bass "5" and the tube tone for "1", and this tone (the tube tone for 5) is the most commonly used. Take C key gourd silk as an example, in addition to blowing out the key (the third hole for 1) can also blow out the G key (cylinder tone for "1"), it is a national tone pentatonic scale based on the six-tone mode, there are certain limitations in the blowing music, not all music can be played, to be selected according to the sound range of the music, the best key is to play the third hole as "1", if the music needs to be transposed by replacing the gourd silk to solve, generally commonly used cucurbit silk has a flat B, C, D, F and so on.

The range of the gourd silk is not as familiar as the bamboo flute, which can reach more than three octaves, usually within 9 degrees, and no more than 11 degrees at most, which is a national scale. Its timbre is soft and delicate, mellow and simple, soft and charming, extremely expressive, and deeply loved by the people. Whether it is folk music or professional stage, you can hear the beautiful sound it plays.

Hulusi is often used to play folk tunes such as mountain songs and minor tunes, and is most suitable for playing melodic and lyrical music, such as "Phoenix Tail Bamboo in the Moonlight" and "Deep Love" have become its representative classic repertoire. Hulusi is the most popular among the people of Dai, Achang and other ethnic groups, it is a musical instrument that helps to entertain during entertainment, in the festival, whether it is rowing a dragon boat in the river or putting "Gao Sheng" on the riverside, or "catching up" in the square or drinking and feasting in the bamboo building, you can hear its beautiful sound. Young men and women convey affection, or people walk on the road and work in the fields, and often blow the gourd silk, adding a lot of joy to people's lives.

range

1. Super treble (gourd silk handicrafts): small B key, small flat B key, small A key, small G key

2. High tone: minor F, minor E, minor E-flat, minor D

3. Tensoprano: minor D flat key, minor C key (beginner preferred), B key

4. Alto: B flat (beginners preferred), A key

5. Tenor: A-flat, G-flat

6. Bass: G flat, F flat

7. Subwoofer: Big E, Big D, Big C

characteristic

The gourd flute is often used to play folk tunes such as mountain songs, and is most suitable for playing melodic music or dance music, with more long tones in the tune, rich chorus, soft and harmonious music, and can better express the thoughts and feelings of the performer.

The gourd flute is the most popular among the people of Dai, Achang and other ethnic groups, and it is a musical instrument for entertainment, and there are many skilled craftsmen who make flute in each village. Young men and women often play the gourd flute when they express their affection or when people walk on the road and work in the fields, adding a lot of joy to people's lives.

6 Playing method editing

Play fingering

Hulusi fingering

(1) The ring finger, middle finger and index finger of the right hand use the first finger belly to open and close the first, second and third sound holes respectively, and drag the thumb under the main pipe. The ring, middle, and index fingers of the left hand are opened and closed with the first finger belly, and the fourth, fifth, and sixth sound holes, and the thumb open and open the seventh sound hole located in front of the main tube.

(2) Take a deep breath and inhale as much air as possible, and after inhaling, the breath sinks, so that the airflow is evenly exhaled outward in a controlled manner, and the breath should be stable and not strong or weak.

(3) In the blowing, slow blowing should be used for high notes (reduced airflow), and sharp blowing should be used for low tones (increased airflow).

Note:

1. The little finger attached to the left and right sides of the sound pipe can not be fixed and should be flexibly mastered according to the situation when playing, such as when using the upper three fingers (that is, opening and closing four, five or six sound holes), the little finger of the right hand should be attached to the lower side of the first sound hole, and the little finger of the left hand can be naturally raised with the performance, so as not to affect the flexible use of the upper three fingers in the performance.

2. Each sound hole must be pressed tightly with the first finger belly of the specified finger when pressing (both closing), and no air leakage will be done, otherwise it will affect the pitch and timbre. When playing the cucurbit, the arms and wrists should be relaxed, and the fingers should be moderately bent inward. When opening the sound hole, the fingers should not be raised too high, too high will affect the speed and flexibility of the playing, but not too low, too low will affect the pitch and volume.

Playing posture

Standing

The requirements are: the body stands naturally, the feet are slightly apart, stand firmly in a figure of eight, the legs are upright, and the center of gravity of the body is placed between the legs (if necessary, it can be moved left and right). The upper body is straight, but not stiff. The head is tilted straight up, and the chest is naturally erect. Look straight ahead. Shoulders are relaxed and balanced. The elbows should hang down naturally, and the arms should not be clamped around the body, but should be at a certain distance from the waist (about 10 cm) in the center line in front of the body. The instrument forms an angle of 45 to 50 degrees to the body.

sitting posture

The requirements of its upper body are the same as the standing posture, generally sitting in the front third of the chair, with both feet standing on the ground, one foot slightly forward, one foot behind, but not legs or two***. The sitting position should be appropriately high and low so as not to affect the full movement of the respiratory muscles.

Holding the law

The fingers are required to be naturally relaxed, hold the gourd silk in an arc, the muscles of the arms and elbows should be relaxed, and the finger belly contact hole should have a sense of circumference. In addition, when the fingers are opened, they should not be raised too high, otherwise the fingers will be stiff and affect the playing speed. Generally, the finger can be raised 2---3 cm above the sound hole.

Tuning skills

Gourd flute

Hulusi is a wind instrument, and all wind music will be more or less affected by changes in temperature and humidity, and there will be subtle changes in pitch under different regional and climatic conditions. In order to cope with this change, it was necessary to adjust the pitch appropriately, which led to the creation of an interface tuning socket. The tuning socket extends or shortens the length of the air column inside the instrument through the expansion and contraction of the copper interface to achieve the change of pitch to meet the needs of performance and teaching. The principle is to pull out the plug-in position, the air column in the bamboo tube increases, the overall pitch will be relatively reduced, on the contrary, the overall pitch will increase, so that the instrument can be adjusted between 10 cents to minor seconds, in order to achieve the purpose of harmony with the band and CD music.

When using the tuning gourd wire, pay attention to the force not to be too strong when unplugging and unplugging the interface, nor to push straight and straight, but to use appropriate force to rotate left and right while pushing and pulling until the pitch is adjusted to the appropriate height. Try to avoid using the instrument to some outsiders or people who don't understand it at all, so as not to misoperate, causing the connector to be deformed, damaged or leaked. In terms of maintenance, it is necessary to regularly or irregularly supplement the appropriate amount of lubricating oil to the copper interface to avoid corrosion and rust of the interface.

It is important to note that tuning is only a small adjustment to the absolute pitch of the pitch, and cannot be used as a transposition. Because the tuning of the cucurbit is different for different pitch adjustments, in principle, the closer the tone to the reed is more sensitive to the adjustment of the tuning interface, and the farther away the more sluggish, and the barrel tone 5 will not be controlled by the change of the tuning interface.

Breathing method

Generally, it can be summarized into three types: chest breathing, abdominal breathing, and chest and abdominal breathing (mixed breathing). It is currently recognized as the most scientific method of mixed breathing. Its superiority is manifested in the coordinated action of the entire respiratory muscle group, forming a whole movement, so the breath inhalation is large, the breath is deeper, and it is easy to control when exhaling. The mixed breathing method is introduced below: the so-called breathing includes two aspects: "inhaling" and "exhaling". When inhaling, relax all parts of the body, inhale through the mouth and nose at the same time, and be careful not to lift the shoulders and bring out any sounds. Mixed breathing involves inhaling air into the lower abdomen, between the chest and abdomen, and into the ribcage. Lifting the shoulders will prevent the breath from sinking, and the breath will be stored in the chest cavity, which is called chest breathing. To avoid.

Inhale as much air as possible, dilating the lobes of the lungs, and the natural outward expansion of the middle, lower, and abdominal cavity of the chest cavity lowers the diaphragm. After the gas, the breath sinks. At this time, the abdomen and waist are full of breath, and the chest feels more relaxed. The correct location for gas storage should be the lower thoracic cavity and abdominal cavity. Therefore, when you inhale, not only can the abdomen not contract inward, but it should bulge slightly outward, and the waist will also expand outward.

The practice of inhalation method is very important, the most used by the wind music is the qi, if the qi is not used correctly, not only can not play well, but also seriously affect the health of the body, here are several methods: first, blow out all the breath in the chest and abdomen, and then inhale in a very relaxed state of the whole body. If there is a feeling of cold air entering the chest and abdominal cavity at this time, it means that the inhalation method and gas storage site are basically correct. Secondly, you can also experience the inhalation action of deep inhalation after smelling flowers and strenuous exercise (such as long-distance running, hiking, etc.). Inhalation during blowing requires a large amount of air to be inhaled in a short period of time, so it is common to inhale at the same time as the mouth and nose to relax the larynx.

Gourd flute

When exhaling, the abdominal muscles, psoas muscles, and diaphragm are required to be controlled at all times (i.e., maintain a certain level of tension), so that the breath can be exhaled in a controlled and even manner. As the breath is exhaled, the abdominal muscles, psoas muscles and other related muscle groups gradually contract, and the diaphragm is also reduced. It is important to emphasize here that when you first exhale, you must not immediately tuck your abdomen (you should "top" it slightly outward). This is because immediate abdominal tightening will cause the abdomen to squeeze inward, forcing the originally descending diaphragm to reset prematurely, thus squeezing the breath into the chest and increasing the burden on the chest. In this way, it is not only not conducive to controlling the speed of exhalation, but also affects the physical health of the player for a long time. When about half of the breath is blown, the abdominal part naturally retracts inward, and this exhalation process is more correct. And don't wait until all the breath is used up to inhale.

In short, the exhalation during blowing should always be evenly delivered under a certain pressure. The breath should be steady, not strong or weak. To achieve this requirement, it is necessary to practice repeatedly. You can practice by blowing long notes or by exhaling into the back of your hand. Through practice, learners will feel the speed, pressure, stability, etc., of the breath, thus enhancing the ability to consciously control the breath. Explain two points: length, strength and other specific conditions, and flexibly grasp the amount of inhalation.

There are "rapid blowing" and "slow blowing" in the blowing. The air pressure is high and the air velocity is faster. Slow blowing is the slow exhalation of the breath. In general, the low bass is played with a sharp blow, and the middle and high notes are played slowly. Mastering and applying the correct breathing method is essential for playing cucurbits and other wind instruments, and must be highly valued by learners.