Testimonial from a Hulusi customer

Recently we sold a rosewood hulusi to a customer in Portland, USA.  He was so happy with the hulusi that he wrote us a testimonial.  I just want to share it here.  The below is in no part edited by me.

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I am EXCEPTIONALLY pleased with my concert-grade rosewoood hulusi from Eason Music. I had previously bought another hulusi from a different company in the same price range, also of rosewood, and had to return it to China at my own expense because it was improperly tuned, hard to blow, and smelled strongly of toxic chemicals that gave me a sore throat. After returning it I searched some more on the Internet and found positive reviews about Eason music, so I contacted them.

Tan Sung Wah at Eason graciously answered all my questions and concerns before I placed my order. He even took videos of the exact instrument being played on his iPhone and e-mailed them to me so I could ensure that the tuning was acceptable. Exceptional customer service.

When I first held my hulusi from Eason music I was very pleased with how much more solid it feels compared to the hulusi from the other company. It weighs at least twice as much as the other instrument, which to me indicates higher quality materials and construction. It has a wood wind chamber instead of a gourd, which of course would add weight, but even the pipes are heavier when hefted separately. 

Then I tried playing it. The other hulusi was very hard to blow (the reeds probably needed adjusting, something I'm not familiar with yet). The Eason instrument played beautifully right out of the box. And while the other instrument's tuning was not internally consistent (two notes were off by more than 1/4 step), The Eason instrument's scale sounded perfect. All the notes are a little bit sharp (I knew this already from the videos I was sent) but they're in the acceptable range and can be played with other instruments well enough. Most importantly, the tuning is internally consistent.

Then I turned on the drones. They use a nice twisting tube with hole mechanism that's easy to use, and most importantly, they're in tune with the main pipe. The other instrument used a flimsy hinge mechanism that, while easy to open and close, would probably wear out quickly, and the drones were way off pitch from the main pipe.

Within 30 minutes of opening the package I was improvising and truly enjoying my wonderful new hulusi. 

And now I know to go to Eason for all Chinese musical instruments. THANK YOU EASON!

Paul Erdman

Portland, USA

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So if you are thinking of buying a Chinese musical instrument and need more information or need to hear how the actual thing sounds like, please feel free to drop us an email at tansungwah@gmail.com.

The heavier the erhu, the better?

A lot of times I hear customers commenting that the heavier the wood the better the erhu.

While it may be true in some sense, there are still other factors affecting the sound of the erhu like the snakeskin, type of wood, skill of the maker etc.

But most importantly, the weight that you feel in your arms while holding the erhu may not be the actual weight of the erhu.

Take a look at this:

Yes the round silverish thing in the centre of the baseplate is a piece of lead.

This piece of lead will make the erhu feel heavier than it actually is.  Some even inserts 2 blobs of lead instead of one.

I don't think it is the intention of the makers is to mislead buyers, but to give it a heavier base so that it feels more stable on your lap when playing.

So the next time you hold a very heavy erhu, it might be because of the lead in the baseplate.  

Thus, do look at other factors in buying an erhu other than the weight.

Rosin for your Erhu makes a difference

Few of us realize the impact erhu rosins has on the sound and feel of your erhu.

Some rosins are more sticky than others.  Some offers more grab.  Some gives out more rosin powder.  Some are easier to apply.

Recently we did a blind test on a few types of rosin.

What we did is we took 7 different types of rosins and applied them on 7 new erhu bows.

The rosins that we used were (in order of price):

1) Pirastro Oiv Rosin

2) Pirastro Schwarz Rosin

3) Song Rosin

4) 4 different kinds of Leto Rosin

The bows were attached to 7 Hu Han Rou aged Rosewood erhus.

I did not know which bow is rosined with which brand of rosin and I tested them one by one.

After playing all the 7 erhus with different rosins on the erhu bows, my preference were as follows:

1) Pirastro Oliv Rosin

2) Pirastro Schwarz Rosin

3) Song Rosin

4) 4 different kinds of Leto Rosin

Yes!  Exactly from the most expensive to the least expensive.  

I find that Pirastro Oliv Rosin produces the most satisfying grab on the strings.  As for the 4 Leto rosins, they all feel quite the same to me, although they were sprinkled with bronze, silver and gold dust respectively.

So does that mean the Pirastro Oliv Rosin is the best rosin for the Erhu?

The plot thickens......

I got one of my erhu instructors to do the blind test as well, and guess what he said?

"The one with Leto rosins are the best!  The Pirastro Oliv Rosin and Pirastro Schwarz Rosin is too sticky for my liking."

Thus the conclusion is........different rosins suit different people!

If you like sticky rosins with good grab, the Pirastro Oliv Rosin is good for you.  If you prefer a smoother experience, the Leto rosins are good (coming to our store soon).

So, be adventurous to try out different types of rosin to see what suits you best.

Visit our Rosin store here.

Rosewood Zhongruan for Sale!

We have a rosewood Zhongruan for sale!

In line with our Christmas promotion 2013, we have put up a very special rosewood Zhongruan for sale.

The usual price was S$650 but we are clearing them at S$380!

The Zhongruan for sale is from Shanghai Dunhuang Yun Brand.  It comes with friction tuning pegs instead of the usual mechanical pegs.

Here's a run down of the pros and cons of this Zhongruan:

Pros:

• Slightly smaller build than usual zhongruans, easier to handle
• Very comfortable and effortless to play
• Sweet sounding
• Classic look with the friction pegs (zhongruans started off with friction pegs)
• Superb value rosewood zhongruan at S$380 instead of S$650

Cons:

• Looks slightly aged
• Case that comes with it looks quite aged too
• Friction pegs might be challenging for some to handle

Here's how it sounds:

Click here for a Zhongruan Chord Chart for you if you decide to strum it like a guitar or ukulele.

If you're looking for something that plays well and sounds good, click here to purchase this Zhongruan.

Bamboo Flute for Christmas Anyone?

Christmas is around the corner!

We have put together some packages and offers for this special festive season.

First up is a Christmas Dizi Package.

We realised that many might have a mind block looking at all the different keys and types of Chinese dizi that we stock.

Nevermind that, we have narrowed it down to just the key D with 3 different quality of bamboo flutes to choose from based on your budget.

Your Chinese bamboo flute purchase will come wrapped in a Christmas wrapper complete with ribbons and a Christmas card.

Please order before 28 November to make sure the Christmas Dizi Package reaches you before Christmas if you are at the other side of the world from us.

Do check back for more Christmas specials from us!

Click here for >> Christmas Dizi Package

Free Music Workshops for Erhu, Guzheng, Dizi, Pipa, Zhongruan and Hulusi

Thinking of picking up a traditional Chinese instrument?  You can try them out first at our free music workshops!

We are glad to announce that we are conducting free 45min music workshops for the Erhu, Guzheng, Dizi, Pipa, Zhongruan and Hulusi.  Coached by our experienced teachers, this is the best time to discover the magic of Chinese traditional instruments.

The workshop is open to people of all ages and no prior music experience is needed.  All instruments are provided.

So check out our schedules below and book a slot now! (Email: EasonMusicPteLtd@gmail.com or call 6294-7522)

Workshop venue: 1 Rochor Road, Rochor Centre, #02-612 (5-min walk from Bugis MRT)

Bilingual Guzheng Book for NUS Chinese Instrumental Examination

Here's something new for this year's NUS Chinese Instrumental Examination for Guzheng.

They have released a version that is bilingual.

Which means, everything that you see in Chinese in the 3 books (Grade 1-3, Grade 4-6, Grade 7-8) is translated into English beside / below the Chinese characters.

Perhaps more and more non-Chinese reading people are taking up the Guzheng....

The price tag is different as well.  The additional English words will cost you S$4 more!

Have a good day!

Pictures of New ABS Erhu Hardcases

The Erhu ABS hard cases are here and they come in 3 colors.  Direct translation from Chinese would be:  Purplish Silver, Greyish Silver and Purplish Red.

Here are pictures of them:

Price of the case is US$131.   We did not bring in a lot of them so please book one if you are interested.

New Shipment of Instruments and Accessories

New shipment of goods just arrived.  Lot of new and old things as well.

Here's a summary of what's here:

1) Erhu and Zhonghu bows by Wang Xiao Di (WXD)
2) Erhu bows with extra hair by Li Huai Gang (LHG) - Li Huai Gang makes bow for erhu professionals in China
3) Ah Bing Silver Erhu / Gaohu / Zhonghu strings
4) Professional Beijing Xinghai Liuqin / Zhongruan strings
5) Travel size Guzheng from Yangzhou (Something else other than Shanghai Dunhuang)
6) Reduced sized Sandalwood/ Rosewood Guzheng from Songbo / Taiwan

7) Wan Qi Xing Erquan Erhu and black sandalwood Erhu
8) Ebony Banhus from a maker who is not Man Rui Xing
9) New Liuqin and Zhongruan by runaway disciple of Song Guang Ning
10)  Zhongruans and Daruans from Song Guang Ning / Zhang Xin Hua
11) Jiayue high quality erhu hardcase
12)  Lots of Chinese cymbals and gongs
13) Zhonghu hardcase
14) Suzhou Rosewood Zhongruan with shell engravings

More details coming up!

New ABS Erhu Hard Case!

Well, well, Jiayue has came up with another type of high quality erhu case.

If you remember, they started off with these kind of erhu cases.

A bit chunky and heavy and with silver metal locks.  The surface gets scratches easily and you have to buff it often with car wax or something.  I remember telling that to a Korean customer who bought it and he was quite pissed and I never heard from him again.

Then they came out with a slimmer shape/design which is significantly lighter.  

In view of the easily scratchable surface, they also introduced a rough texture exterior that is suppose to resolve that problem.

After a while, for reasons unknown, they reverted back to this design again.  

But this time, they changed the locks to black and the easily scratchable surface improved a lot.  It seems lighter at the same time, more sturdy than its predecessor.

But now, they came up with this: An ABS surface erhu hard case.   

It adopted the shape of its second generation case.  But the exterior is glossy shiny ABS!  

The interior is plush and comfortable as usual.

The locks have changed again.  I don't know how to describe these locks except that it has a spring mechanism inside.  It looks more dainty than the previous locks used.

On the back are rings for you to attach straps so that you can sling them over your shoulder.

All in all, we think it is the best looking erhu hard case so far.  And despite the glossy surface, it does not seem to scratch as easily.  

We only have 12 pieces of assorted colors coming to us in 2 week's time.

So if you are interested in one, be sure to book early with us!

The Guzheng Song Bo?

We have been selling only Shanghai Dunhuang Yun Brand Guzhengs for the longest time.  Not that there are no other Guzheng manufacturers in China.  In fact there are thousands of Guzheng makers in China.   But mainly because Yun brand Guzheng sounds great and there are not many that sound better than them. 

But recently we decided to bring in another brand of Guzheng.  The brand is called Songbo 松柏.  They are actually by a Taiwanese Mr Cai who was makes his Guzhengs in Taiwan.  He only shifted his production to China only recently.

We have actually known Mr Cai for a long time already.  We see him once every year in Shanghai and would meet up for dinner or something.  Everytime he would tell us to bring some Guzhengs back to try and we would say all right, maybe next time.

So maybe next time has arrived.  We are going to order some pieces in to Singapore.

Why do we like their Guzhengs? Well, they look gorgeous and the finishing is better than any that we have seen.  The tone is quite different from Shanghai Dunhuang Yun Brand.  It sounds deep, resonant and clean compared to the warm, sweet tone of most 'Yun' brand Guzhengs.    

Here are some pictures of their Guzhengs:

- Zitan Sandalwood Guzheng

- Rosewood travel size mini-Guzheng

-  Here are some demos on youtube:

We will not be ordering much this time, so if you like what you see and would like to make a pre-order, please visit us at our showroom or drop us an email at tansungwah@gmail.com to avoid disappointment.

We are quite confident that when asked, "The Guzheng Song Bo?" with your purchase, your reply will be "Sibe Song...."

("Song Bo?" is colloquial language for "Are you satisfied?".  "Sibe Song" would mean "Very satisfied")

 

Launch of EasonMusicStore.com

Its been 6 years since we first set up of our webstore (www.eason.com.sg).

Since then we have sold thousands of Chinese music instruments and accessories to customers all over the world.

In order to serve you better, we have finally upgraded to a bigger and better webstore @ www.EasonMusicStore.com!

Here are some new features from www.EasonMusicStore.com:

1) Local Shipping Options
We have added domestic shipping options so that locals in Singapore can order their instruments and accessories at the comfort of their home!  We can help you pick and test if you are buying instruments.

2) Currencies in USD and SGD
You can choose to pay either in US dollar or Singapore dollar by choosing the display currency at the top left corner.  (Default is US dollar)

2) Search Function
Want to find something fast?  Just use the search box at the top right corner of the website

3) More Shipping Options 
You can now choose the shipping option that fits your need and budget.  Once you add to cart the items you want to buy, click on estimate shipping to show cost of different shipping options.

4) Automatic Combined Shipping
Combined shipping is automatically calculated.  This just means you save on shipping whenever you order multiple items.

5) More Products and Better Navigation
We have much more products online now!  And you can now choose to display the products according to price, view products according to different manufacturers etc.

What's more, from now to 25th March, registered customers on www.EasonMusicStore.com will enjoy a one time 8% discount on all products ordered via www.EasonMusicStore.com.

So pop over there and sign up now!

www.EasonMusicStore.com

Happy shopping!