Non Guzheng Photos of Shanghai Dunhuang Musical Instruments Co., Ltd 'Yun' Factory

Here are the non Guzheng photos from the Shanghai Dunhuang 'Yun' factory tour.

Man giving Erhus their necks...

Woman giving color to the necks of the Erhus...

Man working on Erhu resonators...

Man fixing the rear window of the Erhu resonator...

Man touching up on the neck of the Erhu resonator...

Those are resonators of Gehu (the erhu equivalent of the Cello)...

Man skinning the pipa to shape...

Almost finished pipas...

Lacquer room...

Woman working on the frets of a Yue Qin (Moon lute)..

Unfinished Zhongruans...

Piled up Zhongruan bodies...

Finished Zhongruans...

Guzheng Making of Shanghai Dunhuang Musical Instruments Co., Ltd

Sometime in October factory last year, I had tour of the factory of Shanghai Dunhuang Musical Instruments Co., Ltd where we are the sole distributor for their 'Yun' brand Chinese Music Instruments in South East Asia. Shanghai Dunhuang 'Yun' brand is actually a different brand from Dunhuang Brand, although they share the same boss. If you are familiar with Singapore's media industry, they are like mediacorp and the ex-mediaworks, always competing with each other but the directorship trace back to the same person.

That is another story for another day. Shanghai Dunhuang 'Yun' Brand produces excellent quality musical instruments, especially the Guzheng. Below are some pictures that I took on their Guzheng making. Not in any order of work in progress.

Storage area of different anatomy of the Guzheng....
Unfinished business #1...

Strings unattached...

Covers...

Some internal structures of the Guzheng...

Unfinished business #2...

Craftsman carving the 'Yun' brand on the side of the Guzheng...

Women painting the putting color to the 'Yun' brand on the side of the Guzheng...

Another storage area...

Guzheng soundboard exfoliation...

Unfinished business #3...

Unfinished business #4...

Unfinished business #5...

Unfinished business #6...

Craftsman doing something to the sides...

Skeletons in the closet...

Soundboard added...
Unfinished business #7...

Manicure and pedicure...

Where's are my teeth? (Click here for the finished product)

Hmmm....

Raw materials...

Some internal structure being carved out from blocks of wood...

Fossilized bridges...

Keeping the soundboard in place...

Raw materials...

Raw materials...

Full bodied buffing...

Almost finished business...

There you go...
Finished business!

Packed up and ready to go....
Click here for one of the intended destinations!

So you see, a lot goes into that Guzheng you have in your living room.

And this little girl wants to do it all by herself...
Finally, the man who has been in this business since 1978 - my father...

Shanghai Music Fair 2007 Again

Ok, I've been busy with the John Goldie concert lately so I hardly have time to post anything. The concert's just ended and I must say the Erhu blended very well with the rest of the musicians. I'll post some video clips in a while.

But first, here are the rest of the Shanghai Music Fair 2007 photos:

First up a set of Erhu photos with funny headstock, taken from the Dunhuang booth. Don't mind the spotlight in the background.





This is Lu Lin Sheng's booth...


This is Lu Lin Sheng's booth on the second day. Their Erhus sure clear out fast!


This is Man Rui Xing's booth. They make fabulous Erhus, Gaohus and Pipas.


This is the booth of Zhang Zhong. I accidentally caught one of their Erhus on my bag and it fell on the floor and broke its neck. Ouch! I had a very good Erhu by them sold to someone in Louisiana.


Snakeskin for Jinghus....


Jinghus with dragon headstock...


Now this is an oddity from Shanghai Dunhuang Musical Instruments Co., Ltd. It is a newly designed Gehu. I wonder what is going through their minds when designing this.


And this is a 6 string Zhongruan = Guitar. The worse thing is it plays like a cheap guitar.


And this albino Liuqin looks like its missing something... Oh! Where are the pegs?

If you look closely, it uses guitar tuning mechanisms instead.


And what is this for? To be revealed...