Gu Yujia/Finishing
Chimes are zhou dynasty ritual instruments, its status is noble, the scale is huge, the process is complex, and it has the world's unique "one bell and two tones" high-tech, which can be called "the king of ancient Chinese musical instruments". Wang Qinglei, director of the editorial department of the "Department of Chinese Music and Cultural Relics" of the China Academy of Arts, combined with the achievements of music archaeology, analyzed the historical origin of chimes, told about its casting method, demonstrated its playing skills, and explained its role in Zhou culture.
This article is compiled from Mr. Wang Qinglei's lecture "Chimes from the Perspective of the Zhou Dynasty Liturgical Music System". The lecture is the ninth session of the second season of the "Archaeological Cloud Lecture Hall" series sponsored by the Shanxi Archaeological Museum, and this season mainly revolves around the exhibition "Yan Ji's Dowry - The Life of Women in the Zhou Dynasty Revealed by the Archaeology of The White Goose in Yuanqu North", hosted by Zheng Yuan, vice president of the Shanxi Archaeological Research Institute.
Dr. Wang Qinglei graduated from the China Academy of Arts, and is currently the director of the editorial department of the Department of Chinese Music and Cultural Relics of the China Academy of Arts, a chair professor of Henan University, the vice president and deputy secretary-general of the Chinese Music History Society, the vice president of the East Asian Music Archaeology Society, and the leader of the music archaeology expert group of the Tomb of Hai Di Hou. His research interests are Chinese music history and music archaeology. He is the author of "Research on the Musical Archaeology of the Western Zhou Music Suspension System", the chief editor of "Chinese Music and Cultural Relics II, Fujian Volume", "80 Years of Chinese Music Archaeology" and other books, published dozens of papers, and presided over national projects such as "Compilation of Chinese Ancient Wind Instruments Dictionary and Construction of Wind Music Database" and "Research on Musical Archaeology of Musical Instruments Excavated from the Tomb of Marquis Liu He of Haixia".
Wang Qinglei's "Research on the Musical Archaeology of the Western Zhou Music Suspension System" book shadow
At the beginning of the lecture, Dr. Wang Qinglei showed the audience a video of "Jasmine" played by himself with some chimes (3 pieces of braided and 3 pieces of chimes) excavated from the north cemetery of Shanxi Tao Temple. At the same time, it is explained in detail that the purpose of shooting this video is not to show the performance of the chimes, but to prove his academic view that the M3011 chimes (chimes and chimes) in the north of the Tao Temple are currently the only cases of combined chimes that belong to both the same palace system and the same sound area. Among them, "tonggong" is a traditional Chinese musical term, referring to the consistency of the two heights; "homophonic zone" refers to the same range of the palladium and the Yong bell, and the combination chimes of this situation were first discovered in the country.
The misunderstanding of chimes
In 2020, a batch of Zhou Dynasty ritual instruments were excavated from the White Goose Cemetery in Yuanqubei, Shanxi, including chimes and chimes. Among them, chimes are the concentrated embodiment and materialized form of Chinese liturgical music culture. Depending on the type of instrument, chimes can be divided into three types: palladium, yong bell and button clock. Among them, the cadmium is the only bell that is flush in the mouth and can stand; there is a long "Yong" above the Yong bell, which is concave and curved on the mouth; the Yu mouth below the button clock is also a concave arc, but the top of the dance is not a long Yong, but like the pendant, it is cast with a bell button.
A chime excavated from the North White Goose Cemetery M1 in the Shanxi Archaeological Museum
Wang Qinglei pointed out that there were some misunderstandings in the previous understanding of the performance of chimes. First, in some documentaries, the performers who strike the lowest large bell of "Zeng Houyi Chimes" face the chimes and turn their backs to the viewer. Second, in some TV series and movies, when the chimes are played, the bell is struck by the plutonium, the seal belt, the piece area, etc., or the musicians hand over the use of the bell mallet, and so on. These errors in high-volume television and movies can easily mislead the audience.
Zeng Houyi chimes in the performance of the Big Yong Bell (image from the Internet)
In the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng, a "Mandarin Duck-shaped Lacquer Box of Music and Dance Figures" was unearthed, which depicts the scene of the beast playing the chimes and chimes. In this painted portrait, the beast turns its back to the Yong Bell, faces the nobles who are watching the music, and hits the rear to the right with the bell rod. Director Wang Qinglei believed that when Zeng Houyi's musicians played chimes, they should also be like Rui Beasts, with their backs to the big bell and playing facing Zeng Houyi; while those who played the middle and upper small bells struck behind the bell frame. Because in ancient times, turning your back on the ruler meant betrayal, a felony. As for the possible performance errors caused by the impact of the back to the Yong Bell, Wang Qinglei believes that it can also be avoided. Because the musician cannot look directly at Zeng Houyi, he can look down and observe the position of the yong bell with the afterglow when playing; not to mention that in the usual practice process, the musician should have memorized the position of the impact, so the possibility of mistakes caused by the backward impact of the yong bell can be ruled out.
"Painted Music and Dance Figure Mandarin Duck Shape Lacquer Box" excavated from the tomb of Zeng Houyi in Hubei Provincial Museum (partial)
In film and television works, the position of the drum, seal belt, bell and other positions of the chimes is incorrect, and the main drum part of the chimes or the left and right drum parts of the chimes should be struck. Scholars also did not recognize that it was possible to strike the left drum part of the chime, because the chimes' side drum ornamentation marks were mostly on the right side of the drum. However, when Wang Qinglei studied the chimes of the tomb of Marquis Haidi, he found that the left side of the drum could also be tapped to play music. Although it is possible to strike other parts of the chime (such as the plutonium, the seal, the piece, etc.), the acoustics are poor and the position is not the correct percussion. When playing a large bell, a long bell striker stick should be used, such as a small hammer that is difficult to obtain the ideal sound. In addition, when playing a small bell, the musician should hold a hammer in each hand, otherwise it will cause many difficulties in the performance of the piece. At the same time, the mallet in the process of passing the hands or in the process of handing over to other musicians, will cause musical interruption, of course, there is no need to arrange this arrangement. Compared to the expensive chimes, the production cost of the hammer is negligible, so there is no need to equip each musician with only one hammer, or even several musicians share a hammer. Therefore, the quality review of film and television works should be strengthened to avoid such low-level errors.
Dr. Wang Qinglei specifically explained that the tool used to play "Jasmine" with the Taosi North M3011 chime is not an iron mallet, but a wooden mallet customized in the chime factory, which is sprayed with black paint for aesthetic beauty, so it may be visually misunderstood. At that time, he was wearing the overalls of the archaeological team instead of the performance costumes because the so-called "performance" was for academic research purposes, in order to prove the new academic discoveries of "the same palace and homophonic area", which was also a necessary part of the sound measurement research work. If it is a real performance, the braiding and chimes should be hung on two bell stands. In order to protect cultural relics, except in very special circumstances, the use of original musical instruments and cultural relics for stage performances is not allowed.
The origin and casting of chimes
According to the "Lü's Spring and Autumn", chimes were first born in the Yellow Emperor period, when the Yellow Emperor ordered Linglun and Rong to "cast twelve bells to harmonize five tones", that is, 12 chimes were cast, which could play five-tone scales. But according to archaeological findings, the earliest bronze musical instruments were copper bells excavated from the site of The Tao Temple in Shanxi. Copper bells should have developed from tao bells and later developed into the shang dynasty. In the town of Doumen in Chang'an, Shaanxi Province, there were also pottery bells of the Longshan culture, and its dance department had Chang Yong, which later developed into the Shang Dynasty' gong. The earliest bronze cadmium found so far was unearthed from a Shang Dynasty tomb in Chengjia Village, Oceania Township, Xingan County, Jiangxi Province. Previously, there was controversy in the academic community about the timing of the production of nephnia: some scholars believe that this instrument was born at the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty, and some scholars believe that the Shang Dynasty has already appeared. The skeleton unearthed from the Oceania Merchant Tomb announces the triumph of the latter view. In addition, the bell excavated from the M111 in Yejiashan, Suizhou, Hubei Province, also has a strong Shang Dynasty style. Several large bronze palladiums have also been unearthed in the north cemetery of Xiangfen Tao Temple in Shanxi, M3011, which unfortunately have not been tuned and should be Ming instruments, which should not be the same batch of castings as the woven and skeleton used to play "Jasmine".
"Bronze Pedicium of Standing Bird with Horned Animal Face Pattern" excavated from the Xingan Oceania Merchant Tomb in jiangxi provincial museum
Regarding the origin of the Yong bell, there are currently four views in the academic community: the Yong bell developed from the weaving; the Yong bell developed from the large cymbal; the Yong bell was developed from a small number of genes on the basis of the weaving; the Yong bell was mainly based on the gene of the large cymbal, and a small number of genes of the weaving were developed. Director Wang Qinglei agrees with the fourth view. By the late Western Zhou Dynasty, Yongzhong had entered a mature stage of development, and a large number of Yongzhong bells were tuned. In M64, the tomb of the Marquis of Jin in Shanxi, 8 Yong bells have been excavated, of which 6 have Chu Gong reverse inscriptions, and Mr. Liu Xu believes that the "Chu Gong Reverse Bell" should only have 6 pieces, not 8 pieces. Until the Western Han Dynasty, Yong bells were still more common, such as the tomb of the Nanyue King in Guangzhou, the tomb of Luozhuang Han in Zhangqiu, Shandong, and the tomb of Liu He, the Marquis of Haidi, Jiangxi, and so on.
A compilation excavated from the Tomb of the Lady of The Yin Ruins in Anyang at the National Museum of China
As for the button clock, the earliest one found so far is the knitted button clock excavated from the M210 of Guo Village in Wenxi, Shanxi, which is a western weekend artifact. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the button clock entered a stage of great development. In the Qin Dynasty, there were exquisitely made "Lefu Bells". In the Western Han Dynasty, the tomb of Zhangqiu Luozhuang and the tomb of Liu He, the Marquis of Haixia, have been excavated. Among them, the surface of the bell body of the bell of the tomb of Liu He of Haidian is decorated with exquisite gold ornaments. In the parts where it is often struck, the false gold pattern is decorated with different degrees of wear marks, which helps scholars to study related issues such as the performance of chimes.
The "Lefu Bell" excavated from the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum in the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum Museum
"Zeng Houyi Chimes" is an unavoidable "pinnacle work". "ZengHou Yi Chimes" has a total of 64 pieces, divided into 3 layers and 8 groups, weighing about 4.5 tons. In addition, in the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng, there was also a bell given to Marquis Yi of Zeng by King Hui of Chu. In addition to the huge scale and exquisite production, the "Zenghou Yi Chimes" can also play the seven-tone scale, the semitone scale, and can rotate the palace transposition, which ends the misconception that there were no seven-tone scales in the pre-Qin period of China. The range of this set of chimes has 5 octaves and 1 degree of sophomore degrees, and the piano known as the "King of Western Musical Instruments" has only 5 octaves in the 18th century, which shows the superb musical performance of Zeng Houyi's chimes.
"Chimes of the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng" excavated from the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng in Hubei Provincial Museum
The production process of chimes is very elaborate, and each process requires a lot of human, material and financial costs, and the cost is high, so it is regarded as a ceremonial instrument. Taking the lost wax casting method of modern chimes as an example, it can be divided into more than a dozen processes such as turning molds, wax making, coating shell making, dewaxing, roasting, casting, sand removal, polishing, shaping, tuning, coloring and so on. From the large number of ceramic bell models excavated in Houma, Shanxi, it can be seen that the chimes at that time were cast by the pottery fan method, but their process procedures and lost wax methods have many similarities. Director Wang Qinglei went to Hubei Wuhan Precision Casting Co., Ltd. in 2017 to inspect the casting of modern chimes. During this period, it was found that the most important step in determining the pitch of the chimes was not the final tuning, but the wax molds that were originally made, and if there was a problem in this process, the final chimes must be waste. Making a wax mold requires years of experience, as it is impossible to judge the pitch by tapping the wax film to make a sound. Post-tuning is also a very important process, modern can be used with the help of tuning instruments as an aid, and the only tool available in ancient times is the human ear, the so-called "ear to its sound". In addition, whether the chimes are tuned or not can also be used for the study of archeological typology.
A miracle in the history of world music technology - "one bell and two tones"
"One bell double tone" refers to the main drum part and the side drum part of the chime that strikes the chime, which will produce different musical tones. Mr. Feng Guangsheng believes that "one bell and two tones" has gone through three different stages of development. The first stage is the "native two-tone" stage, such as the Shang Dynasty's weaving and large cymbals, which have no tuning in the bell cavity. Although the front and side drum parts of the tapping quotient can produce different pitches, in actual use, only the positive drum tone is used, not the side drum sound. Most of the Shang Dynasty weaving is 3 pieces per group, except for 5 pieces of weaving unearthed in the tomb of The Lady. However, the compilation of the tomb of women is still controversial, and some scholars believe that they are the same group, that is, a group of 5 pieces; some scholars believe that it is a combination of "3 + 2". But in any case, the currently known compilation of 5 pieces is only a special case, and it is certainly impossible to play the pentatonic scale with the common 3 pieces of each group. The choreographer should not be a music instrument, but just use different pitches to represent different command signals on the battlefield. In this case, its pitch also does not require accurate tuning. The second stage is the "cast double tone" stage, such as the chimes of the early Western Zhou Dynasty. Musicians at the time had realized that a tile-shaped bell body could produce "one bell and two tones." In order to play the needs of the ceremonial music, the musician artificially used the tile-shaped bell body to cast a chime with good performance of "one bell and two tones", but the inner wall of the chime cavity at this stage was still not tuned. For example, the Yong bell excavated from the M111 in Yejiashan, Suizhou, Hubei Province, has a very accurate pitch, which belongs to the product of this stage. This set of chimes was roughly cast during the early Western Zhou Dynasty, and 2 of them have ornamental marks on the side drums, which is the earliest chimes with side drum ornamental marks found so far. The third stage is the "cast tone double tone" stage. The "Xing Zhong" and "Ying Hou Zhong" in the middle and late Western Zhou Dynasty belong to the products of this stage. At this time, the chimes pass through the "digging tunnel", which will leave a "tuning groove" on the inner wall of the bell cavity. Some chimes do not find "mixing slots" on them, which may be brighteners. After the early Spring and Autumn Period, new tuning methods appeared, adding "sound beams" to the four side drum parts of the chimes, and the tuning did not need to "dig tunnels" on the bell wall, but filed and grinded the sound beams.
The phenomenon of "one bell and two tones" is not clearly recorded in ancient texts, only a few words that may be related, and this phenomenon was first discovered by the late Mr. Huang Xiangpeng, director of the Music Research Institute of the China Academy of Arts. In 1977, Mr. Huang Xiangpeng accompanied Lü Ji and several other gentlemen to Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi and Henan to investigate. During this period, it was found that the positive and side drum parts of many chimes can produce regular double tones, and the interval relationship is basically three degrees large or three degrees small. In addition, most of the side drums of chimes have phoenix ornaments, so they boldly put forward the academic view of "one bell and two tones". At that time, many scholars believed that although chimes could produce two tones, it could not be proved that people at that time used these two tones, and the view of "one bell and two tones" was too radical. In September 1977, Mr. Huang Xiangpeng's article "Known Acoustic Materials of the Neolithic and Bronze Age and the History of the Development of China's Scale" was completed and delivered to the "Music Series", which was officially published in 1978. In June of the same year, the "Zenghou Yi Chimes" was unearthed, and there were inscriptions on the main drum part and the side drum part, such as "Shao Yu" and "Gong Reverse", which confirmed the true existence of "one bell and two tones". Mr. Huang finally won the "academic case". Mr. Wang Qinglei believes that when there is sufficient evidence for his academic views, he must dare to insist on them, and at the same time, he must also carefully listen to and analyze his objections. When the "one bell and two tones" were not discovered, there were still problems with the measurement and performance of the chimes: in 1957, a set of chimes was excavated from the Guanchu Tomb in Changtai, Xinyang, and when scholars at the Institute of Music measured the sound of the bell, they only measured the positive drum tone, and Mr. Yang Yinliu also published an article in "Music Research" to explain the rhythm of the chimes. Because the chime had a good pitch, scholars decided to use it to play the song "Dongfang Hong". When playing, it was found that there was no "si" sound in the drum sound of this set of chimes, and finally found this tone on the piece of a bell. However, this brought new problems, the pitch of the chime drum part is full and clear, but the pitch sound emitted on the bell is weak. Therefore, some people who have heard this piece of music have questioned whether this "si" sound is not in the chimes of the Xinyang Chu Tomb, but is it played with other instruments. This raises questions about the song 'fake'. But in fact, this just shows that the scholars at that time were not aware of the objective existence of the phenomenon of "one bell and two tones". The song became famous and was sent into space with China's first artificial satellite.
Mr. Huang Xiangpeng (second from the left) delivered a speech at the "International Exchange of Ancient Chinese Science and Culture: Special Topic on The Chimes of Zeng Houyi"
Chimes in the Zhou Dynasty music suspension system
The casting process of chimes is very complex, requires a lot of financial resources, is expensive, requires the use of a lot of "jijin", has a noble status, and is a symbol of ancient Chinese rank, power and temple. The ceremonial instrument is its first attribute, and the function of the musical instrument is secondary, which should be the reason for the "lack of quotient of the five sounds" of the Western Zhou chimes. Regarding the hanging system of music in the Zhou Dynasty, the Zhou Li Chunguan records: The position of zhengle hanging, the palace hanging, the princes Xuan hanging, the Qing Dafu judgment hanging, the hanging. This means that the Son of Heaven is placed on all sides, the princes are placed on three sides, the Qing Doctor has two sides, and the scholar has only one side. In the excavation of modern archaeological tombs, the excavation of complete sets of chimes and chimes is a sign of aristocratic rank, which cannot be replaced by other musical instruments such as silk bamboo. Director Wang Qinglei believes that the earliest "Xuanhang" has been found in the M2 of Liu Jiawa in Chengcheng, Shaanxi Province: a set of chimes has been excavated on the west wall and the south wall of the tomb chamber, and a set of chimes has also been excavated on the south wall. According to the placement of the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng and the interpretation of archaeology, the actual placement of Liu Jiawa M2 should be: a set of chimes on the west side and a set of chimes on the south side, and a set of chimes on the east side, thus constituting a three-sided "Xuan suspension". The music suspension system is not only a matter of placement, but also involves the performance of the repertoire. It can be seen from the literature that the repertoire played by different ranks of nobles on different occasions at that time was also different. In addition to studying the instrument types and ornaments of musical instrument cultural relics, music archaeology also needs to listen to the original sound of musical instrument cultural relics and collect precious musical instrument measurement data. In mid-March 2019, Director Wang Qinglei measured the chimes and chimes of M1 at the Liujiawa site and used his audition song "On the Golden Mountain in Beijing" to test its actual instrument performance. The audition showed that the pitch was incredible. It was particularly inconceivable that at that time, the monarch of the Rui state was already using instruments that met the standards of modern music. In addition, the chimes and chimes unearthed in the north cemetery of Tao Temple also have similar situations, and the chimes from the Wei kingdom are also the same as the chimes from the Jin kingdom. It can be seen that at that time, a unified set of high standards and systems of sound had been formed in a considerable geographical range.
Wang Qinglei studied and compiled the chime at the Liu Jiawa site in Chengcheng, Shaanxi
When the original chimes and chimes are auditioned, it can be found that behind the "bell and chime" is the mystery of musical acoustics. Director Wang Qinglei initially only wanted to play the choreography, but found that its voice was short, and the melody of the music played was seriously lacking in coherence, especially the long-term notes, and later found a set of chimes excavated from the same tomb in the warehouse of the LiuJiawa Archaeological Team to solve the problem. The bell's long sustain can make up for the "audition embarrassment" caused by the short chime sound. The tone of the chime is bright and crisp, like a crystal clear pearl, but scattered on the ground, and the sound of the bell is melodious and long, and the bell is like a delicate long line stringing together the pearl-like chimes scattered on the ground, thus forming a perfect artistic treasure. It turns out that the two bell instruments of chimes and chimes are exactly complementary in terms of musical acoustics, and the mystery of musical acoustics is hidden behind the "music of the golden stone" and "the combination of bells and chimes".
Chimes of the new century
In 1999, in order to welcome the arrival of the new century, a set of "Zhonghua He Bells" was cast, a total of 108 pieces, which is the largest set of chimes in China at present, and is listed in the "Guinness World's Best". The clock is divided into 3 layers, the bottom layer of the bell is used to play the bass, the middle layer is the yong bell, and the upper layer is the button clock. The ornaments on the "Zhonghua and The Bell" have special meanings, which shows that from ancient times to the present, the ornaments on the liturgical heavy vessels are closely related to the major issues of the time.
Chimes, an ancient and mysterious musical instrument, are a very important musical cultural heritage of China. Due to its high-tech, high culture and high art comprehensive characteristics, it has attracted more and more attention from china and even the world. Wang Qinglei believes that when "rebuilding the civilization of liturgy", chimes and chimes are indispensable symbols of liturgical music culture. On the music stage of the 21st century, chimes will also become glorious messengers for spreading Chinese civilization and promoting liturgical music culture, emitting a brilliant and dazzling light.
"Zhonghua HeZhong" now in the Taimiao Art Museum of the Working People's Cultural Palace in Beijing
After the wonderful lecture, Mr. Wang Qinglei answered the following questions raised by the audience:
Q: In the middle and late Western Zhou Dynasty, there were cast double tones, and there were already tuning grooves on the Jinhou Su bells, how did this structure evolve on the chimes after the Eastern Zhou Dynasty? In addition, are the double-tone bell logos on the "Jinhou Su Bell" from the Yellow River Basin and the "Chu Gong Reverse Bell" from the Yangtze River Basin fixed to the "Little Bird" pattern?
A: The development history of "one bell double tone" can be divided into three major stages - native two tone, cast double tone and cast tone double tone. Although after the casting of the double tone, it is all within a large stage, but this large stage is internally different: the late Western Zhou Dynasty to the late Western Zhou Dynasty used the "digging" method, that is, opening the tuning slot for tuning; from the early Spring and Autumn Period, tuning at the beams on the four side drum parts of the chimes. As far as the tuning method is concerned, before the end of the Warring States period, it was tuned in the form of filing and grinding, and after that, there was a chiseled tuning method, such as the bronze chimes in the Tomb of Zhangqiu Luozhuang in Shandong Province. In addition, the shape of the beam has also changed, from the previously gentle and uplifted, more rounded plate-shaped beam to a wedge-shaped beam. Chimes from each period have different tuning characteristics and can be used for chimes. At the same time, the chimes in the northern Yellow River Basin and the southern Yangtze River Basin were all tuned by filing grinding, but the ornamentation of the side drum sounds may be different, such as the 16 pieces of "Jinhou Huang Bell" The "bird" ornaments of the side drum are different, some of which are more brief, and some are very exquisite. According to my research, these bells are the product of two eras, of which 4 are dated to the late Western Zhou Dynasty, and the remaining 12 are dated to the LiWang period of the late Western Zhou Dynasty.
Q: Are there any other musical instruments in the ceremonial music system besides chimes and chimes? Is this a specific form of music? When did instruments that play other music appear?
A: This question is broader. Judging from the literature, chimes and chimes are symbols of status. I think that not all of the bands were ceremonial instruments, but there were also ordinary instruments that had nothing to do with identity, such as the piano, the serpent, the sheng, and the flute, which were part of the band, just like the "small dishes" at the banquet, and could not be counted as the main dish of "several plates and bowls". From an archaeological point of view, different instruments are produced at different times. For example, the bone flute has appeared in the Jiahu ruins dating back to 9000-7800 years ago; single-hole 埙 has appeared in the Hemudu site; pottery drums have been found in the Dawenkou site; the earliest copper bells have been excavated in the pottery temple site; the earliest bone ribs have been found in the tomb of Luyi Changzikou in the early Zhou Dynasty; qin and se have appeared in the ruins of the Spring and Autumn Period, and so on. For details, please refer to the "Series of Chinese Music and Cultural Relics" series of books.
Q: Does "one bell double tone" have a fixed pitch?
A: Although in terms of pitch, there may not be customization, but in terms of interval relationship, the positive drum tone and side drum interval of the chimes in the mature period are generally three degrees large or three degrees small, which is related to the sound column. Taking the seven-tone scale as an example, if the positive drum sound of the first bell is "do", the side drum sound is "mi"; the second bell is "re" and the side drum sound is "fa"; the third clock is "mi" and "so"; the fourth is not "fa", "la" but "so", "si", which may be for the purpose of saving copper; and the fifth is usually arranged as "la" and "do". There will be repetitions in the front and side drum tones, and I think that on the one hand, it can be used for backup when the tuning is not accurate, and on the other hand, it is convenient for transposition, and a set of clocks should not only be used to play one mode. In addition, the interval relationship also has the case of pure fourth degree and pure fifth degree. For example, when we measured the sound of the Yong bell excavated at the Liu Jiawa site in Chengcheng, Shaanxi Province, we found that the first two bells only used the positive drum tone, because in this group of Yong bells that were not stolen, only their side drums did not have phoenix patterns, which also confirmed Mr. Li Chunyi's view that "the first two bells did not use side drum sounds" in the book "A Review of Ancient Chinese Excavated Musical Instruments". More importantly, the interval relationship between the positive drum tone and the side drum sound of this chime is different, starting from the third piece, it is a large third degree and a small third degree, but the first two pieces are not such intervals. From a musical point of view, pure four and pure fifth degrees are both concord intervals. When hitting the main drum part, some side drum sounds are heard, and if the interval relationship is not harmonious, it will affect each other. The use of concord intervals indicates that the bell master at that time had fully considered the relationship between the positive drum tone and the side drum sound.
Q: Do the ornaments and mastoids on the clock have an impact on the pronunciation of the bell?
A: The technical term for these "papillae" is called "pins", and the music acoustic community has discovered their role through experiments. These pieces act as a damping effect to shorten the chimes' sustains. The chimes have a long sustain and will have serious reverberation problems during the performance. Therefore, when casting the clock, various types of long and short pieces of different sizes such as spiral pieces and two-section cylindrical pieces are set up to improve the problem of their sustain. Some button clocks do not set up because of their small size and short sustain. Therefore, the problem of the piece cannot be generalized, and it needs to be analyzed on a case-by-case basis.
Q: The casting technology of chimes is so superb, and there is a specific pitch, does its casting follow a specific law?
A: Zhong Lu is a grand problem, and many scholars have conducted research in this regard, such as Professor Wang Hongjun's doctoral dissertation is "Zhong Lu Research". Due to the limited time, I will briefly talk about personal understanding. First, legal concepts such as the pure law, the law of the twelve averages, and the law of the fifth degree of symbiosis are not the usual musical categories, but are related to mathematics. Not knowing what the "twelve-average law" is does not affect the average person learning musical instruments. Before learning the music professional courses of "sight singing and ear training", the rhythm will not be explained first, because this is not the field of music practice. The clock master should not consider the rhythm when tuning. Even modern people do not have such a practice when tuning instruments, on the one hand, they do not think about the problem of rhythm, and on the other hand, there is no corresponding instrument. Because the rhythm system has a interval standard, such as 100 cents per semitone in the twelve average rhythms, but the tuning of the instrument is only carried out in a relatively accurate range, so the ancient tuning of the chimes is "with the ears in unison", and the musicians who choose to practice ear practice rely on ear power to tune. Ancient chimes could not have a precise pitch, because the human ear's ability to distinguish sounds is limited, that is, the so-called minimum distinguishable sound difference of the human ear is determined. Differences in several musical notes are present, but cannot be heard.
Q: Can I recommend books on musical rhythm? When playing a combination of instruments such as bells and chimes, how are instruments such as pianos and sers performed?
A: The knowledge of law can refer to Mr. Miao Tianrui's book "Law", which analyzes the legal system around the world. In China alone, the laws of kunqu and other national music are different, and the twelve average laws do not "dominate the world". The discipline is generally used for academic analysis, not for musical practice. There is very little musical practice on the performance of the piano and the ser, but there are relevant papers in the academic community that can be referenced. Whether the qin, the ser and the chime can be played in combination is debatable, because the volume of the guqin is very small, and there was no amplification equipment in ancient times, which could only be used for close appreciation. The violin is called a "literati instrument" and should also be related to the occasion of its use.
Editor-in-Charge: Shanshan Peng
Proofreader: Yan Zhang