Traditional instruments | Shengyong between birds and animals stumble

     Today to know a Chinese ancient musical instrument, Sheng! For the name of a lot of people feel very strange, said not heard of. But you must have seen it in ancient Chinese operas. Let me introduce you. The Sheng is one of the oldest musical instruments in China. It is the earliest free reed instrument in the world. It is also the ancestor of most reed instruments in the world. The Sheng plays an important role in Chinese national musical instruments. It is one of the most representative instruments of Chinese musical culture and also a kind of traditional instrumental music. The Sheng belongs to the Reed family, and is the ancestor of most reed instruments in the world.

    The pronunciation is pure and elegant, the tone quality is soft, the singing is strong, has the Chinese folk color. The invention of the Sheng dates back to the Yin dynasty (1401 -- 1120s BC) , when it was called "Harmony."

    The Sheng is a clarinet instrument of the Miao, Dong, Dai people, Yao, Zhuang, normal nature of man, Hani, Turkey and Keno ethnic groups. Sheng, called"Yu" in ancient times, has a long history and an important position in traditional Chinese musical instruments. Its timbre is melodious, sweet and loud, its bass is deep and powerful, and its treble is clear and bright, with rich expression and appeal, in the performance, Sheng Solo, Ensemble and ensemble, often with erhu, pipa, Sanxian and other instruments.

    Known as the "King of Chinese musical instruments", the Sheng was often used as a solo instrument in ancient court music and appeared in folk music performances, sheng is the first instrument to use free reed in the world, and it has played a positive role in promoting the development of western musical instruments.

The characteristics of Sheng are mainly embodied in the following aspects:

1. Unique timbre: Sheng timbre bright, sweet, soprano crisp and transparent, soft and full tenor, bass is rich and deep. This kind of rich timbre enables the Sheng to display vivid and diverse musical images when playing.

2. Harmony function: compared with other blowing instruments, Sheng's unique feature is that it can blow out harmony. The multiple reeds of the Sheng can produce different sounds at the same time, thus forming a rich harmonic effect.

3. Production Process: Sheng production process is very complex. From the selection of raw materials to processing and production, all require careful operation. Sheng used bamboo, mahogany, brass and other materials, need to be processed from the original state, such as bamboo to cut into different lengths of small segments, and use lathe processing to make it smooth inside and outside, and then through the bamboo; The sounding reed is made by sawing large pieces of brass to a specified size and by a cumbersome thinning process.

4. Playing skills: Sheng playing skills rich and varied, including blowing, sucking, swallowing, vomiting and other playing methods. Players can control the breath, fingering and mouth shape, etc. , flexible play a variety of timbre and musical effects.

5. Cultural connotation: as one of the traditional Chinese musical instruments, Sheng has a long history and rich cultural connotation. It carries the Chinese nation's music tradition and the artistic spirit, is the national music culture important constituent. With the development of the times, Sheng in keeping with the traditional characteristics of the foundation, but also constantly innovation and improvement. The performance skills and music expression of modern Sheng have been further enriched and developed, making it glow with new vitality in modern music.