I find an interesting instrument called chakhe. It is an instrument in Thailand. It is a zither or lute with three strings. It is made out of wood in a crocodile shape. The highest two strings are made out of silk yard or nylon and the lowest string is made out of brass.
One of the things that I like in the musical culture of china is the opera or xiqu. I remember watching it with my grandparents when I was young. There was a theater near our house that has opera every night. We would always go to it. I like the way they combine martial art and dance together. I also like their way of singing and the way they act out the stories. I was amazed by it the first time I watch it. I was also amazed by how there are characters can change their face. I think I figure out how it is done. Overall I really like the style of Chinese opera.
Gamelan is the traditional ensemble of music in Indonesia. It is made up of mostly percussion instruments. The instruments that make the music are gong, kempul, kenong, bonang, saron, gender, rebab, suling, and Kendang barrel drum. It is interesting to see the people playing in harmony with each other especially with so many different instruments. The kenong and bonang are played by multiple people at the same time.
Morin khuur is one of the most important instruments in Mongolian and is considered a symbol of the Mongolian symbol. It is a bowstring instrument that is made out of wood. It has a trapeziform wood frame with two strings. The strings are made out of nylon or horsetails.
Guqin is an instrument of Taiwan. Taiwan is a part of China and guqin is also an instrument of China. It was called qin in the earlier time, which is the name I know it by but it is now called Guqin. Guqin is a zither that has seven strings attach across a wooden base. The strings are plucked the create music. The tuning peg is usually to the side of the peg but the modern one has it in the middle. The instruments were played even since ancient times.
When watching the Chinese opera I was surprised when I started to see them do flips. I have been to a few operas here at Converse and I have never seen anything like the acrobatics they preform.
ReplyDeleteI found your research on the chakhe to be so interesting! A silk string seems like it would be so fragile!
ReplyDeleteI enjoy operas as well! I agree, it is fascinating how the characters change their appearance so quickly!
ReplyDeleteI love when they change their faces in Chinese operas. It's like a magic trick and I cannot understand how they do it so quickly and smoothly.
ReplyDeleteI also did some more research on the Gamalen's. The gongs are really fascinating and it's so cool that multiple people play the kenong and bonang at the same time!
ReplyDeleteI really liked that video of the Chinese opera, my roommate is from chine and she has talked about Chinese opera before. The way they change their faces is so cool.
ReplyDeleteIt is very cool to learn more about the Chinese opera. I still wonder how they change their faces very fast. And it was good to learn about more instruments you have mentioned.
ReplyDeleteThe Guqin instrument looks really cool. The video that you posted was amazing.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the Chinese Opera video (Spring Fest 2019). I think the traditional Asian costumes are beautiful. The singing and dancing was awesome.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to hear that you attended Chinese opera when you were younger. But I can't believe you figured out how the face-changers work, and you didn't tell us in your blog! You'll have to let me know sometime--I'm just mystified :-)
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