Bau is what it is
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Bau, a reed wind instrument, also known as "Put Wu", is popular among the Yi, Miao, Hani and other ethnic groups in Yunnan. The Hani are called "Gebi", the Yi are called "Biru" or "Ule", and the Dong are called "Bai", which is often used for solo or accompaniment to dance and rap. There are many varieties of Bau, in the Hani people, there are single pipes, double pipes, due to the length of bamboo pipes, thickness and thickness, there are also treble, midrange and bass Bau.
Bau is a bamboo brass reed instrument with a tongue-shaped spring. It is a wind instrument played by yi, Hani, Dai, Wa, Brown, Miao and other ethnic groups. The local Yi language is "hefirmo" and the Hani language is "Meba".
Bau is a popular clarinet wind instrument of the Yi, Miao, Hani and other ethnic groups in southwest China, the bau is made of bamboo pipes, has seven finger holes (the first six and the last one), disposes of a sharp tongue-shaped copper reed at the blowing mouth, blows the upper end of the play, and vibrates the reed to make a sound. Bau is small in volume but soft in tone, and people in the southwest call it a talking instrument.
Bau is endemic to Honghe, Wenshan, Simao, Xishuangbanna, Lincang, Dehong, Rongshui of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and Qiandongnan and Qiannan of Guizhou Province.
In the folk, there are mainly single tubes, and there are also two tubes combined to form a person, called binocular bau. Traditionally, the playing method is straight blowing. The commonly used range is no more than an octave. The tone of Bau is very soft and pleasant, much like a pair of lovers who are in love with each other, whispering heartfelt intestines, so every evening, Yi, Hani, Miao youth in love, often use it to express their heartfelt feelings, convey love.
legend
There is an ancient story about Bau in the Hani folk in the Ailao Mountains on the south bank of the Red River: a long time ago, in the Ailao Mountains on the south bank of the Red River, the Hani people had a pure, beautiful and kind girl Mei Wu, who fell in love with the handsome, brave and hard-working boy Ba Chong. They swore to be with each other forever like branches and green leaves, and the people in the village admired and admired them. This was known to the greedy devil in the mountains. Just when the people were singing and dancing, they rode a fierce wind to snatch the girl away, forcing the girl to marry him, and the girl was not afraid of the devil's threats and temptations, and was always unyielding and unyielding, without saying a word.
So the devil became angry, fiercely cut off her tongue, and threw her into the mountains and forests. The girl missed her sweetheart, wandering among the mountains and forests all day, with words of suffering, and time passed day by day.
One day, a fairy bird in the woods grabbed the girl's tongue and a piece of bamboo, asked the girl to put her tongue into the bamboo pipe, and told her that "bamboo will help you talk." So the girl blew the bamboo and made a beautiful music sound, expressing her thoughts about her lover and her accusations against the devil. The music reached Ba Chong's ears, and the young man went through all the hardships, rescued the girl, returned to his relatives, and regained happiness. Later, people used the names of the two to pick up the head and tail, and named the talking instrument Bau. Since then, Bau has been passed down from generation to generation in Hani Cottage.
Among the niesu people of the old Yi tribe, there is such a legend: in ancient times, there was a deaf-mute man who died of his mother, and he was very sad, but he could not express his sorrow in words. One day, he found a piece of bamboo with insect eyes, put it in his mouth and blew it, making a low and sad sound. He thought, bamboo tube worm eyes can make a sound, how many more holes should be dug? So he used a sharp knife to dig several small holes in the bamboo pipe at equal distance, and sure enough, he made a suppressive sound. He listened, blew, and finally blew out his feelings of missing his mother with a bamboo pipe that would sound. Since then, this kind of sounding bamboo pipe, a musical instrument called Feili in Yi language, has been handed down.
There are many, many more legends about the origin of Bau, which show that Bau was invented by intelligent and intelligent peoples of all ethnic groups in the course of labor.
Development process
Traditional bau has a narrow range and a small volume, but an elegant timbre. Among all ethnic groups, it is often used to accompany dance and rap, but also used for solo. The Hani people carry it with them, and the elderly and young people like to play it. Young lads of the Hani and Yi ethnic groups. Bau is often used to play love songs. In the Yi people, people often play bau when herding sheep or at night.
In the decades after liberation, the development and reform of Bau has been carried out, and after the reform and key of Bau, under the premise of maintaining the traditional Bau thick and soft tone, it has expanded the range and volume, and can also be fine-tuned, can turn four tones, and can play a variety of portamento, playing, spitting, vibrato, flying fingers, smear and other technical tones. Bau's repertoire is also more pioneering, not only playing traditional local style repertoire, but also transplanting foreign music, such as Japan's "Northern Spring".
In recent decades, Bau has been continuously reformed by professional workers, and the timbre has not changed, the range has expanded, the volume has increased, and it is suitable for playing a wide, lyrical tone. When performing in an ensemble, it can also serve as a bridge between high and low music instruments.
characteristic
In folklore, bau is often used for solo, ensemble or rap accompaniment to dance and narrative songs. Although the sound range of Bau is narrow and the volume is small, it has a unique national style, is very rich in national color, and is played, such as resentment, such as mu, such as weeping, such as complaint, and the aftersound is endless, and it is deeply loved by the Hani and Yi people. The Hani people carry it with them, and the elderly and young people like to use Bau to express affection or reminisce about the past. The Yi prefer to play with two homologous bauqi or pairs.
Yi compatriots living on the south bank of the Red River often use Bau to play together with instruments such as bamboo seedlings, straight, small three strings, moon qin and wooden leaves in collective song and dance activities to accompany the characteristics of song and dance. In particular, unmarried young lads often use Bau to play love songs, "talk" with girls, and pour out their admiration.
There's a Bau love song that goes like this: "When I blew the bau, you know what? I tell you, go lightly, walk lightly, even if you touch the leaves, don't let it fall on the surface of the water, in order to keep secrets. If Auntie does not agree later. It was too late, it was too late, and our hearts had already brought this bau together. "
In the Yi people, people also often play bau when herding sheep or at night. The music includes "Play Tune", "Invitation Tune" and so on.
class
There are many varieties of Bau, in the Hani people, there are single pipes, double pipes, due to the length of bamboo pipes, thickness and thickness, there are also treble, midrange and bass Bau. The Yi people of Bau have two kinds of vertical blowing and horizontal blowing, the pipe body is thick and the elderly blow horizontally; Thin and short blows vertically. Among the Tulao people (Yi branch) in the Mengzi region, there are also double-pipe Bau. The Wa Bau tube is about 25 cm long, and there are 7 (positive 6 back 1) sound holes on it, and the pipes near the sound holes are engraved with glyphs.
The length and thickness of the bamboo pipes vary in bauhinia. Specifications can be divided into treble, midrange, bass bau three kinds. Treble, alto bau, tube length 30 cm - 50 cm, inner diameter 0.8 cm - 1.4 cm, bass baru tube length 60 cm - 80 cm, inner diameter 1.6 cm - 2 cm. On the wall of the tube 1.5 cm-2 cm from the closed end, there is a rectangular blow hole with a length of 2.4 cm to 3 cm and a width of 0.7 cm to 1 cm.
Double-tube bau, also known as double-tube bau. Yi clarinet air instrument. It is endemic in Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Gejiu, Mengzi, Jianshui and other places in Yunnan Province. The pipe body is made of bamboo, which is made of two vertical blowing single pipe bau with exactly the same pitch tied side by side. The pipe body is mostly made of thinner knotted green bamboo pipes, the length of the pipe is 20 cm, the inner diameter is 1 cm, and the pipe body is cut into a square chopstick shape or the pipe wall adjacent to the two tubes is flattened. There are six pairs of circular sound holes on the front, and the hole spacing is equal. Insert a piece of bamboo pipe at each end of the mouth as a spring pipe. The reed is 4 cm long and 1 cm in outer diameter, with a bamboo knot on the top, and the lower mouth communicates with the pipe body, and the bamboo skin on the front of the reed is flattened, and a bamboo reed with a length of 3.5 cm and a width of 0.3 cm is carved under the knuckle, and the reed tongue is facing upwards.
Tie the upper, middle and lower parts of the two tubes firmly with a thin line. There are also tubes with eagle leg bones, goose leg bones, or silver double tube bau. Among them, the double-barreled bau made of eagle leg bone is 17 cm long, and six pairs of circular sound holes are opened on the top, and a 3.7 cm long green bamboo spring tube is inserted into the upper mouth, and the bamboo spring is engraved on it, and the reed tongue is facing upwards. The double-barreled bau in bone or silver is a ceremonial vessel that is treasured by museums or folk collectors.
The double-tube bau tone is crisp and bright, and the volume is large. It is often used as a soloist or as an accompaniment to folk songs and dances.
Construction production
Bau is shaped like a pipe, made of bamboo, on the nearly closed end of the pipe wall, there is a rectangular mouthpiece, the pipe body has eight holes, the front seven and the back one, and the mouthpiece is 45 degrees. The upper end of the tube is equipped with a copper reed (the earliest bau, the blow mouth is equipped with bamboo reeds, later changed to copper reeds, made of thin copper sheets 0.2 to 0.25 mm thick), blowing the upper end, vibrating the reed and pronouncing, the sound is beautiful.
The tube body is made of fine wool bamboo and green bamboo, the lower end (or right end) is opened, and the upper end (or left end) is closed with bamboo knots or wooden stoppers. The upper end of the pipe wall opens a rectangular mouthpiece, and a rectangular bamboo or copper reed is glued with beeswax, and the reed tongue is triangular in shape, with a movable spring sleeve woven with fine scorn. The pipe body is open with eight holes (the first seven and the last one), and it is at a forty-five degree angle to the blowing mouth. Some have two to four tail holes at the lower end.
The production of Bau is relatively simple, taking a bamboo pipe about 26 to 28 cm long, and inserting a triangular copper reed on the side of the upper proximal node, and drilling 8 sound holes in the bamboo pipe to produce 6 to 9 sounds. Yunnan national musical instrument maker Yang Sheng made a wooden pipe bau, made of purple oil wood, with copper sockets.
This instrument is very peculiar, saying that it resembles a Han Chinese pipe, but it is blown horizontally; It is said that it is like a Han flute, but it does not have the crisp sound of the flute. This is mainly because it has two copper reeds at the upper contact instead of attaching bamboo film like a flute, so the volume is not large. Commonly used bau 30-60 cm in total length. Range: Treble Bau f1-g2, alto bau b-c2, bass bau f-g1.
How it is played
Bau is a highly ethnic instrument, often playing lyrical, wide tones, but also can play highly skilled colorful sections. During the ensemble, the bau tone is easy to blend with other instruments. Bau consists of a pipe body and a reed. Tubular bamboo. Hani people mostly use green bamboo, due to the local mild and humid climate, generally will not crack and deform, after slow drying, the bamboo skin will be white.
Bau is made of bamboo tubes, with eight press holes (front seven and one rear) and a tongue-shaped copper reed at the mouthpiece. When playing, the upper end is blown horizontally and the reed is vibrated to pronounce. Bau volume is small, the range is narrow, but the timbre is soft, often used to accompany dance, solo and so on.
When playing, the pipe body is thick and the elder blows horizontally, and the thin and short one blows vertically. Vertical blowing mouth contains reeds, horizontal blowing places the reed between the two lips, the right index finger, middle finger, ring finger are pressed horizontally on the three holes on the two tubes, the left index finger, middle finger, ring finger are respectively pressed horizontally under the three holes of the two tubes, the blowing drum spring is pronounced according to the hole, the air flow vibrates the reed and stimulates the resonance of the air column in the tube, blowing with the sound spit method, there are portamento, playing, vibrato, smear, arpeggio, flying finger and other techniques, you can use the cyclic ventilation method to play long time value notes. Flatten the edges around the blow hole and paste a copper thorn reed with beeswax. The size of the blow hole is mostly determined by the size of the spring frame, and should generally be slightly smaller than the spring frame. In order to protect the reed tongue, two thin bamboo sticks are often set on both sides of the reed frame, leaving only a gap as a blow hole. Others weave a movable loop cover with thin bamboo skin to protect the reed tongue, which is removed when blown. There are eight circular sound holes (the first seven and the last one) open on the tube. In the blown bau, the sound hole and the blow hole are not in a straight line, but at a 45-degree angle. Others have a tail hole at the end of the tail.
Reeds are an important part of Bau, and the first folk use of bamboo reeds, only later improved to be made of brass (62 or 68 musical instrument copper), can also be made of alloy copper, phosphorus copper or shell copper shells. The thickness of the copper reed is particularly important, should not exceed 0.03 cm, thick must be forged thin with a hammer. The copper sheet is cut into rectangular blanks 2.5 cm long and 0.8 cm wide, and then a sharp triangular reed tongue is carved on it with a sharp sharp knife. The size of the reed tongue is determined according to the height, taking the F tone as an example, the tongue length is 1.7 cm, the tongue root is 0.25 cm wide, after carving, the reed tongue is flattened, the bottom surface is ground with sandpaper to remove the burr, and then the tip of the tongue is provoked, so that it is about 0.15 cm high, so that the gap between the reed tongue and the yellow frame is tiny, and the free vibration is smooth.
Reed tuning is the most critical, the root of the reed tongue is thicker, the middle and tip are thinner, should be scraped while installed on the bau to audition, with high sensitivity, beautiful timbre, each hole pronunciation coordination is better. The reed itself has a pitch, and the pitch of the reed used by the bau at different pitches varies. Usually the lower fifth degree of the pitch should be raised, such as F-tone bau, and the reed should be b-tone. The pitch of the reed allows for a small two-degree swimming range, such as raising the reed tone to the lower four degrees, it is necessary to stagger the position of the base sound hole or use the mouth to make the hair sensitive and bright. Bau and Sheng are both reed-coordinated instruments, but the reeds are different. Sheng is a reed per pipe to make a note, the reed tongue is rectangular; Bau is a pipe with nine notes, the reed tongue is sharply triangular, and the tip of the tongue is cocked. Although it is possible to do free vibration, the sound is fundamentally different, and if you replace the bau with a reed in the air, it will not produce a thick and soft tone.
Skill
The speed of the fingers can be solved by the long tone-based playing training, and it is necessary to remind the learner that the attention can only be placed on the long tone and the support point of the hand (the support point is the other finger on the bau except the finger that is playing), and less thinking about the finger that is playing is conducive to allowing it to move freely and gracefully. It can be likened to hammering an iron nail, and the relaxed wrist and fingers can make the whole movement coordinated and accurate.
1. Half hole playing skills
Half hole is a relatively difficult technique, can play some normal all finger holes do not have; Moreover, when used well, the pitch is more accurate than the cross finger technique; At the same time, the half hole is the premise technique that must be mastered by the portamento technique, and generally the relationship between a finger hole and the treble is the second degree of the finger hole should master this playing method.
There are two ways to play specifically: the first is that generally our hands holding Bau are round like holding an egg, and when pressing the half hole, the finger that needs to be straightened separately can be straightened, so that the inner half hole of the finger hole is naturally pressed, the outer half hole is released, and the high and low distance of the press is adjusted by the hearing, and the pitch is lowered a little, and the pitch is raised a little, this method is suitable for use when the finger hole distance is narrow, it is difficult to move the finger left and right: the second method is to move the finger parallelly to the treble direction. Use the auditory sense to adjust the left and right distances of the slide, the pitch will move less, and the low pitch will move more, this technique is suitable for playing the portamento technique when you need to press the half hole. Both methods should be mastered and practiced separately.
2. Portamento
Portamento is essential for bau playing, a very charming playing technique, the movement training of individual fingers or single fingers (multiple fingers moving at the same time) requires patience and careful training, and the method of movement is to move left and right alone or at the same time. The upper portamento moves in the direction of the treble, the downs move toward the bass, and the polygonal portamento begins to move in the desired direction and then back to the starting point.
Single or multiple fingers move in a circle at the same time, the upper stroke is clockwise, the slide is counterclockwise, and a small circle is drawn above the finger hole.
Musicality can be basically summarized as strength control and timbre control, mainly strength and weakness control. To play the charm of Bau, it is necessary to be familiar with the unique timbre, techniques and playing methods of Bau itself, and strive to understand the musical style of Bau pop, listen to more relevant audio materials, and naturally taste the unique charm of Bau.
Appreciation 1: Classical Chinese Folk Music
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This album contains a number of well-known Chinese folk songs. "Walking West Pass" was originally a local folk song in Shanxi and was widely circulated in the northwest region. Because of its beautiful sound and catchy rhythm, the music vividly shows the development of Shanxi and Mengkou regions and the working people's natural simplicity, fearless of difficulties, and striving to challenge the fate of life. The original song of "Happy Encounter", which is also a folk music of Inner Mongolia, was later passed down to the Zhangjiakou generation, the style of this song is rough and bold, enthusiastic and unrestrained, the whole music through its traditional, exaggerated playing techniques, rich changes in rhythm and speed, showing the happy and festive scene of the reunion of relatives, this song uses a large number of techniques such as "spitting", "portamento", "stomping", "tongue", etc., fully showing the characteristics of the rich folk music style in the north.
Appreciation 2: Golden Songs of Chinese Folk Songs
The album was recorded by the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by China's national first-class conductor Cao Peng. The album contains traditional Chinese folk music. The album's eponymous song "Cabbage" is adapted from a well-known folk song minor tune that has been circulated in Hebei and other places in the mainland. The whole song consists of a continuous downward tone, such as crying, highlighting euphemisms and sad emotions. Under the interpretation of the orchestra, its sense of sadness is highlighted. "Yimeng Mountain Minor" is based on the classic folk songs of Shandong, which originated from the flower drum tune of Yimeng Mountain, and was once recognized by the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Cultural Organization as the two most representative folk songs in China by the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Cultural Organization. Through the beautiful melody, the work expresses the beauty of the mountains and rivers of Yimeng land, so that the meaning of "Yimeng good scenery" is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. In addition, the album also contains traditional Chinese folk music such as "Orchid Flower" and "Lantern Minor", which have been reinterpreted by the symphony orchestra and exude a new artistic charm.
Music is the greatest joy in life;
Music is a clear stream in life;
First of all, it is the melting pot of temperament
— Xian Xinghai
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Text: Cook Music
Learn from and think far
Han Mo Piaoxiang Ancient City Xi'an
In the look, tap it