Sheng Chao: The origin of the "four famous pianos"

　　Speaking of Shi Shanpeng Bamboo Qin Society, people who like Jinghu or ticket fans who are obsessed with Peking Opera are not strangers. Search for the words "Shi Shanpeng" on the Internet, the introduction article will appear "four famous pianos", there will be Mei Lanfang, Shang Xiaoyun, Cheng Yanqiu, Xun Huisheng and other names, and now visit the Bamboo Qin Society, there are many feelings.

　　Faded gold signboard

　　No. 72 South Xinhua Street, Xuanwu District, a courtyard that is so old that people will miss it casually. The courtyard door is small and cannot accommodate two people coming and going side by side. The lower edge of the plaque with gold characters on a black background has been somewhat damaged, and unlike other plaques, which look down slightly downwards to passers-by, it hangs so straight on the lintel, stubbornly as if it were going to say something.

The plaque reads "Shi Shan Peng Bamboo Qin Society". The font is not good-looking, and the gold paint of the word "Qin" has also fallen off a little, and it is impossible to see the glory of the past. Fashionably dressed young people walked by the door, and few people looked up and stopped to look. Yes, Bamboo Grove Society, just by looking at the name, I already know that it is not the title of recent years, and it cannot be touched by a little fashion, how many people can attract it? Fortunately, in front of the glass factory, the distance is only 500 meters, and the antique taste is in line with the ground.

Walking into the yard, one turn, two turns, less than thirty steps have been to the end. A row of wooden windows and wooden doors of the house in front of you, the opposite one is the operation room, the wall in disrepair, a hard rod propped across the wall, carrying more than a dozen or twenty finished huqin. "These are all done more by doing order work. People order one, we generally make two or three, let people pick one of the best to go, the rest of the takeaway. Shi Yousheng, the third-generation head of the Bamboo Qin Society and the grandson of Shi Shanpeng, pointed to these Huqins.

　　The violinist is alone

　　Shi Shanpeng, the founder of Zhuqin Society, is a native of Tongxian County, and at the age of 12, he entered the Beijing Liuli Factory Ma Liangzheng Huqin Shop as an apprentice. In 1930, he went to Tianjin Jiushengzhai Huqin Shop as a huqin producer. In 1932, he returned to Beijing and founded the Shi Shan Peng Bamboo Qin Society. When Shi Shanpeng returned to Beijing to start a business, it was the time when Peking Opera began to flourish, coupled with his exquisite huqin production skills, reasonable prices, and small repairs and small work without charging money, which quickly gathered popularity. With the time of day, place, and people, Shi Shanpeng's name gradually became louder in the Peking Opera circle, and some private organists of Famous Peking Opera began to come to the door one after another.

As the saying goes, a good man has three gangs, and in addition to the good kung fu of singing, reading, doing, and playing, it is also very important to find a good violinist to help him. If a worker desires to do a good thing, he must first use it. No matter how good the organist's piano skills are, no matter how tacit the rhythm, tone, and rhyme are, the piano is not good. The organist looked for the piano, Shi Shanpeng made the piano, and left a lot of good stories when he came and went.

Zhao Jitang, a famous violinist who used to play the piano for Xu Biyun and Tan Fuying, once covered a piece of skin for HuQin in Shanghai. After hoodling, I found that the piano tone was particularly noisy and could not be used at all. After returning to Beijing, he sent the qin to Shi Shanpeng, hoping to find a way to improve it. Shi Shanpeng carefully observed the piano, the skin is the best snake skin, peel off the skin of the protective cloth found that when the skin is skinned, the edge is too wide, the glue is not lawless, and some places have been opened. Shi Shanpeng, who found the problem, said to Zhao Jitang, just use this skin to cover it again and let him come back in two days. When Zhao Jitang came back, the sound of the piano had been greatly improved. Shi Shanpeng specifically instructed that the skin was covered according to the characteristics of shanghai's relatively humid air. The piano is used in Beijing, the sound is still almost there, and it is just right to bring it to Shanghai. When Zhao Jitang went to Shanghai to perform again, he tried the piano tone, and it was indeed just right, not only crisp but also wide. Zhao Jitang returned from Shanghai, and as soon as he entered the store, he said that it was really good. After that, other violinists in the Peking Opera circle also asked Shi Shanpeng to make a piano.

Mingdan also has to be a good piano match

　　Among all the pianos made by Shi Shanpeng, the most prestigious is the "Four Famous Pianos". The so-called "Four Famous Qins" refers to the Jinghu tailor-made by Shi Shanpeng based on the "Four Famous Dans" of Mei Lanfang, Shang Xiaoyun, Cheng Yanqiu and Xun Huisheng. "The four famous pianos are called by friends outside, but in fact, our family does not call them so." Doing the piano seriously and being worthy of the patron is fundamental. To make the piano, we must pay attention to it, and we cannot do it. When talking about the four famous pianos, Shi Yousheng seemed very low-key, "These four pianos are famous because of the inscription of Master Xu Lanyuan." ”

In 1974, the famous pianist Tan Zijiu took these four Jinghu to visit Master Xu Lanyuan, who had long played the piano for Mr. Mei Lanfang. Out of his love for the piano, Elder Xu wrote a sentence for these four pianos: "Luo Han is a good pipe." Can be thirteen Tai bao also. It seems to have a yellow tiger skin shape. It seems to have the shape of a spider dragon. "Now these four pianos are at my brother-in-law's house. It has been on display at the Huguang Guild Hall some time ago, and it was only recently brought back. Shi Yousheng said, "The reason why the piano is especially because it is made according to the vocal characteristics and singing style of the four famous dans, which integrates my grandfather's understanding and feeling of the four major genres." In fact, there is no big difference in production, the process is the same, but the details have changed. The piano, or to listen to the sound, to listen to the feeling. For example, for Cheng Yanqiu,Cheng Yanqiu mainly plays tragic characters, such as "Tears of the Barren Mountain" and "Dou E'e Grievance". Therefore, the sound of the piano should be gentle and soft, and when it is done, the strings will be thicker, and the tube at the bottom will be larger. With Mei Lanfang's piano, the sound should be more atmospheric, setting off the momentum of the characters. ”

A piano has been passed down for seventy years

　　Looking at the wall full of huqin, the author asked curiously about the price. "These are more general hanging outside, the price is between 500 yuan and 600 yuan, and there are some better, and the better ones in the selection of materials are 1,000 yuan to 2,000 yuan." Shi Yousheng took out an old piano from the cabinet that was already old and black, and the inside of the tube was clearly covered with the red seal of "Shi Shanpeng System", "This is the piano that my grandfather made in the 1930s, it has been 70 years." Now there is a piano made by grandpa in the family, and the original silk strings have been replaced by steel strings.

This piano is heirloom and cannot be sold. ”

After leaving the courtyard door, looking back at the plaque on the door, it seems to understand why it looks a little stubborn, that is, the inheritance of traditional skills. In the rapid trend of replacement, Ren'er's southeast and northwest winds, I did not move.

【Voice over string】

　　The huqin category can be divided into two types, one is erhu and the other is jinghu. Erhu Peking Opera will also be used in it, but it is called Jing'er. Jinghu is specifically used for Peking Opera accompaniment. Erhu is made of wood, and Jinghu is made of bamboo. Erhu is larger than Jinghu.

Generally, it takes at least half a month to do a handful of Jinghu. "The moisture in the bamboo is very large, and when you buy the bamboo back, you must put it on the fire for two or three years, and when you use it, you must also roast it in a briquette oven." For example, the roasted burden, the material that looks dry, once it is roasted on the fire, it also comes out of the water, and it is like the sound of making water. After baking for a while, it is necessary to stuff it into this board to correct it, and the crooked place should be straightened out. But don't push too hard, and the burden of pulling out the hard edges will be wasted. Shi Yousheng introduced.

Both the burden and the tube should be roasted on the fire, and when they are baked, they should drill their eyes and combine the shaft with these two things. "Drill an eye first, and then burn it with a fire pass." In the past, this was used for drilling holes, which was similar to that used for curium pots and bowls. Now we all use machines. Speaking of drill eyes, Shi Yousheng took off a very old tool from the wall, "When making the axis eye, it should be large on one side and small on the other, the size must be just right, and the shaft should be tightly sewn." With a little activity, the strings run. ”

Skinning the tube is the last step, and the quality of the sound depends largely on this. "Under normal circumstances, once you enter the sky, you don't take much work. The air humidity is too large, the skin is not hanging well, and the sound of the piano is not good. Shi Yousheng said while playing the snakeskin on the piano with his fingers, "Listen, this sound is muffled." If the skin is covered in autumn, you listen again, it clicks so crisp. The piano is like a person, and when it is hot, it has no spirit. Generally, someone needs to order work, there is no emergency, I will push it until after the autumn. What we play is craftsmanship, people come to trust us, good or bad interests have to be clear with people. ”