Features of the di (dizi) flute
Chinese culture is interesting for many curious people of the world, especially for its originality and connection with many ancient traditions. At the same time, ordinary people know least of all about the musical culture of the Middle Kingdom, musical instruments widespread there, the origin of which is counted not only for centuries, but also for tens of centuries. One of these instruments - the di flute - is discussed in this article.
This musical instrument is at least 8 thousand years old, which is confirmed by recent archaeological excavations in the region of Zhejiang province. These excavations rejected the hypothesis of the Central Asian origin of the di flute, which was allegedly brought to China shortly before the beginning of modern chronology (about 100 BC).
Peculiarities
Ancient Chinese di (dizi) refers to transverse flutes, since the working hole ("whistle") for blowing air from the musician's mouth is located on the side of the tube. Play holes are also placed in one row after the whistle along the length of the instrument (closer to the edge). In addition to these melodic holes, there is another one called "dimo". During the game, it is covered by the thinnest film and acts as a membrane that affects the sound of the flute. Dimo is located separately - between the whistle and the playing holes.
Dizi is made from a single piece of bamboo or reed, there are models made of bone, metal and even stone. Reed and bamboo flutes are usually tied with rows of strong thread in several places to protect the trunks (bodies) from drying out, and then varnished.
There are other names for the Chinese transverse flute (dizi, hengdi). In addition, the instrument has 2 varieties - qudi and bandi. The second of these varieties is tuned for a higher sound.
Sound
In terms of its structure and principle of action, the dizi is not much different from the European flute, but its sound, of course, resembles Chinese national motives. Bamboo is renowned for its good resonant characteristics, so a flute made from this material sounds louder than from metal, bone or stone. But this is only if a membrane is installed. Having sealed the membrane hole with electrical tape, you can get only the usual sound of a flute, without the "Chinese" itchy coloring.
Dee tunes in to the sounds of major diatonic... The instrument has a rather juicy sound, which is provided by a built-in reed and is supported by the traditional Chinese membrane itch. In general, the sound is unusual, and the range of the flute is quite wide - more than two octaves. This allows dizi to be used in a wide variety of orchestral compositions.
How to play?
Playing the flute involves pinching certain combinations of holes (valves) with the fingers of both hands, due to which the sound of the instrument changes. Naturally, each sound emitted by the flute has its own fingering (fingering).
For beginner flutists, the first step is to learn fingertip.
To help this process, various fingering schemes have been developed, as well as options for picking even the same note. There are also various technical nuances with breathing, direct and angular exhalation of the air flow through the working valve (whistle), slide and trill finger techniques, and language techniques. But the latter is not yet available for a beginner.
A beginner musician needs to learn how to blow notes: first, each separately, studying the fingering, and then play them in turn, moving along the main scale from the lowest note to the highest within the range.
In modern performing practice, there are dizi flutes of different tunings.
These tunings are usually designated using the Latin letter names of the corresponding notes.
The most common tunings are:
- "Before" (C);
- "Re" (D);
- "Salt" (G);
- Mi (E);
- Fa (F).
On the flute of the "C" tuning (C), you need to close 3 of the 6 holes with your fingers with your left hand in order to get a sound corresponding to the "C" note of the first octave in pitch. Sequentially closing the remaining 3 holes with the fingers of our right hand, we will go down from the "C" of the first octave to the "G" of the small octave, and this will be the lowest note in this instrument.
All other notes in this and any other tuning of the instrument can be studied from the graphical sample image below., in which you need to understand that the numbers of the steps (specific sounds are taken from the note of the instrument's tuning).
In the "Do" tuning, the 1st degree is the note "Do", the 2nd is "Re", the 3rd is "Mi", the 4th is "Fa" and so on.
How to play 2 octaves?
On the flute, the "C" tuning must be closed with the fingers of the left hand 3 of the 6 holes in order to obtain a sound in pitch that corresponds to the note "C" of the first octave. Sequentially closing the remaining 3 holes with the fingers of our right hand, we will go down from the “to” of the first octave to the “G” of the minor octave, and this will be the lowest note in this instrument.
And what about the E flute?
Julia, take the flute and play a note of E of the first octave, release your right little finger and simultaneously press the valve D with your right ring finger (9). The movement is not difficult, but it requires some coordination: simultaneous multidirectional movement - the little finger releases, the nameless one presses. ...