Cao Zhen

    caozhen0806@126.com

    GEORGE GAO, who considers himself both a musician and a tech fan, put both of his talents to use when he invented the Shaoqin Erhu, a traditional Chinese two-stringed bowed erhu instrument fixed with gadgets to increase the range, ease the tuning and perfect the sound of a traditional erhu.

    The Chinese-Canadian musician, whose Chinese name is Gao Shaoqing, has been improving the erhu for nearly 20 years because he believed the 1,000-year-old instrument had drawbacks and should continue to evolve.

    “I made three changes in my Shaoqin Erhu: I gave it an eco-friendly plastic/nylon cover for the sound box, a quasi-capo tuning gadget called the QQ Qianjin and a sound amplifier attached to the sound box,” said Gao in an interview with Shenzhen Daily.

    He said that the erhu’s resonator body (sound box) is usually covered with farm-raised python skin, but he began to use plastic and nylon 20 years ago because python is protected in many countries and customs requires him to show a special permit if he travels with a python erhu. “The eco-friendly cover also protects the instrument against humidity, while a python erhu’s sound will be muffled on rainy days,” Gao added.

    The erhu is sometimes known in the Western world as the “Chinese violin,” even though it only has two strings while the violin has four. The erhu has a qianjin on the neck, the “nut” in English when referring to string instruments, which determines how much of a string will vibrate.

    According to Gao, the strings of a regular erhu are generally tuned for notes D-A, the same as the two middle strings of a violin. The majority of pieces for the erhu are written based on the D-A tuning. However, there are some pieces that require the erhu to be tuned differently. Some of the erhu works written by Hua Yanjun (1893-1950) require the erhu to be tuned to G-D or A-E. Another wonderful erhu concerto called “The Great Wall Caprice,” composed by Liu Wenjin (1937-2013), requires the erhu to be tuned to C-G.

    “Hua Yanjun could tune his erhu to higher or lower pitches, but for modern students who need to perform different tunes, they have to bring two or three erhus on stage. Traveling, especially flying, with three erhus is a lot of hassle,” said Gao.

    About 15 years ago, Gao and his engineer brother-in-law Yang Qing invented the movable QQ Qianjin, which is similar to guitar’s capo, to change the erhu’s key. It’s a plastic device used on the neck of the instrument to adjust the playable length of the strings, hence raising or lowering the pitch. “Traditional qianjins are made of string, so it is difficult to move when you want to change key. I didn’t know the guitar had a capo when I invented the movable QQ Qianjin,” said Gao.

    Although Gao began improving the traditional erhu 20 years ago, the Shaoqin Erhu came about when he invented a horn-like amplifier attached to the erhu’s resonator body.

    “As a musician, sound volume is the No. 1 concern, but the erhu’s volume is very low because its sound box is so small. The erhu used to be played in small rooms and the sound actually travels out of the back of the instrument, not the front,” said Gao. “So when an erhu player is performing a concerto with a pianist or a violinist or an orchestra in a big concert hall, the erhu’s sound is overpowered and usually a microphone is needed.”

    Believing microphones make music sound unnatural, Gao spent several years and lots of money on finding a natural way to amplify the erhu’s sound. He later drew inspiration from the hand-cup gesture people often make when listening to a mobile phone’s loudspeaker. “I tried different sizes, curves and larger openings. I even tried an ice-cream cone on my erhu’s sound box to test the sound.”

    Finally, Gao invented a horn-like gadget with a hole that faces upward, forcing the sound to travel toward the ceilings of modern concert halls, which have reflective panels that redirect sound.

    Gao is a staunch advocate of the redesign and demonstrated his invention at two concerts at the Shenzhen Concert Hall over the weekend. He performed a mix of self-arranged Chinese folk and Western pieces at the 580-seat theater Friday and the 1,680-seat hall Sunday, with his Shaoqin Erhu quartet. His mastery of both the instrument and various music styles shined in front of the local and international audiences.

    He added bossa nova tunes into the Xinjiang folk song “Dance of Youth,” reggae rhythms into Central China’s Henan folk song “Weaving the Flower Basket” and even rock into his self-composed “Erhu Capriccio: Xuandong.” Toward the end, Gao and his band energized the audience by playing Michael Jackson’s “Bad.”

    Gao began studying the erhu at the age of 6 with his parents. In 1979, he entered the affiliated middle school of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music where he received professional erhu training, piano lessons and studied Western classical music theory. He later studied at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Canada.

    After winning first prize in the Beijing National Erhu Invitational Competition in 1985, he found erhu’s repertoire too limited compared to Western classical music. “I was ‘hungry’ and wanted to play Western violin pieces. In the Shanghai Conservatory’s rehearsal room, I heard [later-famed violinist] Xue Wei playing ‘Carmen Fantasy’ every day, and I dreamed of playing that,” said Gao.

    At only 19 years old, Gao transposed “Carmen Fantasy” into an erhu work in 1986 that shocked the musical circle in Shanghai. He later transposed many Western pieces for the erhu, such as Saint-Saëns’ “The Swan,” Bach’s “Gounod Avi Maria” and Paganini’s “Moto Perpetuo.” His adaptations successfully convey the same virtuosity displayed in the original versions.

    “Adapting Western classical music to the erhu is like learning a foreign language. If you are a Chinese who wants to learn English, first you should try to imitate the correct pronunciation. When it comes to music, you first must understand Western music theories. After that, you can combine styles,” said Gao.

    Gao has written many erhu works such as his five caprices, which fuse traditional Chinese music with different world cultures. He is featured in the soundtrack of the popular Canadian science fiction TV program “Earth: Final Conflict,” which was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music. In 2006, he co-composed the soundtrack for the Oscar-winning short documentary “The Blood of Yingzhou District.”

    Gao’s latest project is “Golden Lotus: The Musical,” a stage adaptation of the famous Chinese erotic novel “The Golden Lotus,” published in 1610. Gao is the production’s music director, and the director is Taiwanese-Canadian George Chiang. The two have been working on the musical for 13 years, and it will finally open Sept. 12 at Hong Kong’s Y-Theater.

    “The musical is a mix of East and West. Clashing two cultures together to create an exciting and dramatic effect was my goal. It will be a collision of tradition and modernity when the audience sees Chinese martial arts and Western singing techniques,” said Gao.

    Gao is a professor at Fudan University’s Shanghai Institute of Visual Art, as well as a guest professor for many Chinese conservatories and is the guest concertmaster for the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra.

    His vision goes far beyond China, which he calls the root he comes from. “I’m carrying on the erhu not just among the Chinese, but to music lovers worldwide to let them meet this wonderful instrument. The Shaoqin doesn’t replace the erhu, it is only an option. I believe more players will use Shaoqin in the coming years.”

    (Shenzhen Daily intern Deng Wenwen

    also contributed to this report.)