Take a piece of rubber band and cut it . Take the rubber band and lodge it between the two strings just before and after the qianjing. I've tried it and find that it takes away some noise. Your Erhu will sound slightly cleaner, but some of the edge in the tone is lost. You decide.
Here's how it looks like:
Ok, I'll like to add another picture. This is the original idea from Claude. A rubber band just below the qianjing instead. I added the rubber band above the qianjing as well in the original picture because I saw Mr SYR put a piece of cloth in between the strings just above the qianjing for noise reduction.
It sure looks neater.
I am impressed by the rubber band you found Sung Wah. hehe I put a new larger band piece on mine now (will make you a photo) and only stick it below the qian jin. Maybe this way it has less effect on the part of the sound you want to keep (the edge). The trick was given to me by Lan Tung who is the erhu soloist of the Orchid Ensemble and on the band Tandava. She comes from Taiwan and lives in Vancouver, BC, Canada since 1994 !
ReplyDeleteBest regards
Claude
what's the purpose of putting the rubberband?
ReplyDeleteIt takes away some noise giving a cleaner sound.
ReplyDeleteSung Wah
It doesn't look so pretty, lor.
ReplyDeleteLooks better with a small piece of larger rubber band just under the qian jin. Actually, if you don not look close, you won't be able to see it ! I really like the sound my erhu (bought from Eason - aged rosewood Suzhou erhu) with that. And as Sung Wah was saying, on this erhu, the sound gets better and better the more you play on the instrument, rubber band or not !
ReplyDeleteI've seen a piece of sponge or felt placed between the strings above the qianjin.
ReplyDeleteTried. No noticeable effect.
ReplyDeleteI've tried this before, but the rubberband keeps dropping off . Do you face this problem? Any other suggestion?
ReplyDeleteJeen (",)