Introductory Video of the Dizi, Chinese Bamboo Flute

We've just finished an introductory video on some of the basics of the Dizi.

This video shows you the different parts of the Dizi. It also shows you how to hold the Dizi, the fingerings and the posture.

So with the how to fix the dimo video and this video, you should be able to get a good sound out of the Dizi and look good doing it!

If you haven't got a Dizi, head over to our store here to purchase one.

It's great fun!

(Special thanks to Joyce Poh for her help in the videos)

Update on Video on How to Fix the Dimo on the Dizi

I've done an update to my video on How to Fix the Dimo on the Dizi.

From the emails that I have received, quite a number of beginners don't know that the tubes of Dimo that they bought needs to be sliced open before use.

Some of them paste 2 pieces of Dimo (before cutting them open) together because they find that 1 piece is not big enough to cover the hole. Of course the result is disastrous.

The new version comes with English subtitles with some additional information.

Here it is:

New Stocks of Shakuhachi in D and G Key

Our new stocks of Shakuhachi just came in. We have them in both G and D keys.

Here are their individual root shots:

D key Shakuhachis:



Purchase them here:
http://www.eason.com.sg/products/shakuhachi/wsk1.jsp

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G key Shakuhachis:



Purchase them here:
http://www.eason.com.sg/products/shakuhachi/wsk2.jsp

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I'm working on some free instructional videos for the Dizi, like what I did for the Erhu. I hope you're as excited as I am.

Dizi, Chinese Bamboo Flutes by Xie Bing

I had a new batch of Dizis (Chinese Bamboo Flute) that came in today by a maker called Xie Bing (解兵).

Xie Bing's flutes were actually brought to my attention by Zhan Yong Ming, who is a 1st grade Dizi performer in China. He was in China a while ago and we asked him if he could pick and bring back one lot of Xie Bing Dizis to Singapore.

He came to our shop this afternoon with the Dizis. I'm not a flute player so I'm usually very excited when excellent flute players share their opinions on the different Dizi makers.

Zhan Yong Ming was full of praise for Xie Bing's Dizis. He told me the quality of his Dizis has improved tremendously over the years. XB's flutes are easy to play, has excellent tone and has excellent intonation. He has been introducing the Dizis to all his students recently.

He took a few Dizis and tested the different octaves in front of me. I not so discreetly took out my digital camera and took a few clips.

By the way, he just used scotch-tape to tape over the dimo hole for convenience sake. So you can imagine how good it sounds with the dimo on:









See how the high notes are reached with ease.

And they look gorgeous as well:



I have his F, E and D key flutes listed on my website currently:

- Xie Bing F key Dizi
- Xie Bing E key Dizi
- Xie Bing D key Dizi

The keys not listed but in stock are high A, high G, C, low A and low G. You can contact me at tansungwah@eason.com.sg if you want to order them.

I know some of you might be thinking, these bamboo flutes might be prone to cracking. What if I bought one and it cracks not due to my negligence?

Well, we have good news for you. We've spoken to Xie Bing and he has agreed to do a 1 to 1 exchange if his Dizi cracks due to climatic changes (not if you drop it on the floor or bash your friend with it.)

But please take good care of it by keeping it in the cloth case provided when you are not playing it. Do not hang it out to dry after playing.

So there you have it. Xie Bing's Dizis. Quality guaranteed. You get a new piece if it cracks naturally. (We'll need to bill you US$12 for the return postage though)

If you are interested in seeing performances of Zhan Yong Ming, here are some youtube videos of him when he was younger:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxKiaB3GNPA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYqfkCuzLo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOGm6RlF9zI

A search would yield more results.

Dimo Applicator and Clip on Tuner/ Metronome

The new stocks of dimo applicator is from a different manufacturer. According to some customers who've used it before, the construction still feels flimsy, but at least the dimo jiao stays on the stick instead of wanting to fall off like the previous design.


Design not much to shout about. I've reduced the price to US$4.99 for a pair.

Click here to purchase the Dimo applicator.

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We have another new digital device to keep your instruments in tune and your rhythm in check.

It's a clip on digital chromatic tuner + metronome.


We think it looks great and works well.

It says 3 in 1 but we're still trying to find out what is the 3rd... We're quite sure it doesn't have the tone generator.

Click here to purchase the device.

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I have queries from some potential customers about whether they can buy things from my online store if they do not have a paypal account. Well, as long as you have a credit card you can purchase items from my online store.

Look for this message after you checkout and click on the Continue link.

New Stocks of Hulusi and Dimo's Alter Ego

Our new stocks of Hulusis are here. Mr BCK had a go at the Black Sandalwood model again.



If anyone would like to learn how to play the Dizi, Suona or Hulusi with Mr BCK, please contact me at tansungwah@eason.com.sg.

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I'm sure you know I've posted some videos on youtube. One of them was on how to fix the dimo onto the dizi.

If you are familiar with youtube, they allow you to link youtube videos to your website. And if you are the owner of the video, you can see who has linked your video to their website and the number of clicks the link received.

So I was looking at the links to this video and the link with the most number of hits is an Israeli blog.

I was thinking....wow... Israelis are quite interested in Chinese Bamboo flutes. I clicked on the link and it brought me to this blog with the title "Disease of the Living Dead".

The website is mostly written in Hebrew. I was looking for clues as to how my innocent Dimo is related to the Living Dead.

So I browsed through the pictures to find something to link to my Dimo. Body piercings...nope.....gravity defying rainbow colored hair....nope....graffiti.....nope.....leather and chains......nope.....gothic makeup......nope......earring hole big enough to put a G key bamboo flute through it...maybe.

Let's look at his choice of music genres....Industrial...no, Grindcore...no, Hardcore...no, Metalcore ...no, Breakcore...no, Noise...no, G.B.M...unless it stands for G key Bamboo Flute Music.

Oh wait. The writer of the blog is called Dimo!

But it still does not explains why my Dimo pasting video was linked to his blog but I decided to stop browsing anyway.

I wouldn't have any clue what's written about it even if I find it.

Click here for the website if you are curious what it looks like.

Bao Dizi squaring off with Dong Dizi

Today Mr BCK of fixing dimo fame was in my shop to pick a Dizi. We had him try some new Dizis from a new maker named Bao.

Here's him playing a D key Bao flute:



Not bad, he says, but let me try one of Dong's D flute:



Immediately he says, Dong's flute still sounds the best. The notes are crisp, clear and focused. And you can feel the difference in the quality of bamboo in your hands.

So after looking at the videos what do you think? Bao's flutes cost 20% less than Dong's flutes though...


Here's a short clip of the Shanghai Dunhuang Rosewood Small Sanxian I mentioned in my previous post:

Hulusi Product Page is Up!

Ok I did it.

I said I'll do up the Hulusi page by Friday and I did it. At times I felt my resolve ebbing away but because put myself on the line by declaring it on my blog I stuck to my task so here it is: The Hulusi product page.

The sound samples was done by Mr Boo of "Fixing Dimo Video" fame. They sounded really good on its own.

Click here for one of the Hulusi sound samples.

There is just 1 slight problem. I don't have a lot of Hulusis left to sell.

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Ladies and Gentlemen, the Yangqin product page will be up by next Friday or you can call me a liar!

This is how a Yangqin looks like for those new to Chinese Musical Instruments:


By the way, because of the ever depreciating US dollar, we will be revising our prices early next year. So if you are thinking of buying anything from our online store, now is the time to take action!

Hulusi Page Coming Soon!

I've been rather busy the last few days because I attended a 3.5 day course that has really long hours. The class starts at 9am and ends at 1am everyday! As a result I have quite a few backlog of online orders, so if anyone receives their items late, my sincere apologies.

One of the things that was said over and over again during this course is to stop procrastinating and take action to do whatever it takes to succeed, to put ourselves on the line for the things we intend to do.

Thinking back, I do have a lot of things that I 'plan to do' or 'wish they were done', but were left hanging, especially for things on my online website.

So I decided to put myself on the line here by telling my readers what I am going to do by when. If I miss my deadline please feel free to leave a comment to criticize and ridicule me for being a slacker, underachiever etc.

Lets start with an easy one first: 1. To list Hulusi products on my online store.

This is a Hulusi by the way:


I had all the information, pictures and sound files since more than half a year ago.

So, this link to the Hulusi page should be working by this Friday 7 December 10:00pm (GMT+8:00).

If not, you know what to do....

Dong Xue Hua Flutes and Xiaos

Our new batches of Dong Xue Hua Dizis and Xiaos just arrived.

Dong Xue Hua Dizis and Xiaos are arguably the best around. Don't just take it from me, but this is what I gather from my customers who are professional musicians.

Although I have brought in different brands of flutes over the years, most of my customers still swear by his flutes. They say his flutes are very responsive and sound the best.

I've previously sent Dizis of different makes to a well known Christian flutist in Ireland and he also likes Dong Xue Hua's flutes the best.

I have a few customers who collects every key of his Dizis and Xiaos.

This time I brought in only 5 of his Xiaos - 2 G, 2 F and 1 E:

You can purchase them in our online store.

His Dizis are here.

Introduction of Chinese Bamboo Flute (Dizi) Video

Check out this introduction of Chinese Bamboo Flutes by a guy called Raymond Robinson. The Dizis he used in the video are Dong Xue Hua flutes from us.

The Dizi That is Too Clever For Its Own Good

Saw this newly designed Dizi at the Shanghai Music Fair:


It has a bronze plate attached to the dizi for you to slide over the dimo hole. The purpose is to protect your dimo after you fix it on your dizi when it is not in use.

One end of the dizi that is made of bone or buffalo horn can also be detached to reveal a secret compartment where you can store your dimo and er jiao.

Clever right?

Except that the bronze cover creaks and feels like it needs oiling when you slide it. And the secret compartment feels like its going to drop off any moment, spilling all the secrets in your dizi....

Longest Chinese Bamboo Flute, Dizi I've ever seen

I saw this very long Dizi in one of the booths in the Shanghai fair.

I'm not sure how long, but it is much taller than an average Chinese man.

You'll need 3 persons to play the flute: 1 to blow the flute, the other 2 to do the fingerings.

The flute has 2 mokong (the hole where you put the dimo) because the vibrations from 1 is not enough.

The flute is in the key of C.


Below is a slightly shorter low D dizi, placed alongside a low G and a low Bb. The low D dizi has 2 mokong as well but can be handled by 1 person alone.

Dynamic Dimo

Learned this from Mr BCK (the one of dimo fixing fame) today:

A Dizi sounds its best on the 4th day after you fix the dimo. Whenever he has a performance, he will change the Dimo on his Dizi 3 days before his performance. That is when the Dizi will sound the brightest and clearest.

But don't just leave the Dizi alone for the first 3 days. You have to blow it everyday so as to vibrate the Dimo for it to reach optimum level on the 4th day.

Video - How to fix the dimo on the dizi

I posted this video on youtube a long time ago.



I just want to add 2 more things:
- The natural lines on the Dimo runs parallel with the length of the Dizi.
- The creases that you make on the Dimo(see video) runs perpendicular to the length of the Dizi.

Today also happens to be the National Day of Singapore.

So happy birthday Singapore!

Hooray! My Dizi splitted!

Was showing Mr BCK of Singapore Chinese Orchestra a splitted Dizi the other day. (Mr BCK incidentally is the one in the video "How to fix the dimo")

He says he is always very happy when his Dizi splits. This shows that the bamboo is of good quality. The tone that comes out of the Dizi will be crisp and clear. He'll just use super glue to fill the cracks and continue to use it. Of course the Dizi it might not look as nice as before.

But don't you go running to your fireplace with your Dizis to deliberately crack them...