Audio recording of 鸟羽屋 Tobaya's 初音 Hatsune brand guqin silk strings

It seems that someone has made an audio recording using 鸟羽屋 Tobaya's guqin silk strings (初音 Hatsune brand). Have a listen! You can purchase these from this merchant at Taobao and also directly from the Kyoto manufacturer's website (with Chinese words).

Price hike of Taigu silk strings

Silk strings price watch: the Taigu (medium gauge) silk strings that I previously purchased has risen from RMB1200 to RMB1500 now. And no, there is no stock at the moment. I asked my Taobao agent to purchase 2 sets for me a week ago, but I was informed that there is no more stock. Guess it's time to switch to another brand. haha

Looking at this from the bright side, this also means that silk strings are in demand again by guqin players, and that's definitely a good thing. *smile*

God bless America

My heart and prayer goes out to the people in the East coast of the United States, as they hunker down for the impending Hurricane Sandy. America holds a very special place in my heart. Even though I am in Singapore, half way around the world away from the USA, for some ineffable reason, I too, feel very worried.

Videos of guqin teacher instructing her students in Taiwan University

I chanced upon these whole series of 11 videos of this Chinese guqin teacher instructing her students in Taiwan University. What's interesting is the way she corrects her students' body postures. If you watch the videos, you'd be able to get some very good techniques about how to strengthen your body (while in the shower) to play better. If you wish to use this videos for your research, please kindly contact this guqin teacher directly by following the link. Enjoy!

台灣大學【古琴音樂欣賞與習作二】2009-02-26
Taiwan University, Guqin music appreciation and practice 2

Source:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8B2136C402CA940A

Calligraphy piece written in NAFA on 23 Oct night

It's been 10 months since I started learning calligraphy in Singapore's NAFA. As you can see, the piece of paper is about the same size as 12 units of iPads (the large one, not the iPad mini). hahaha

What's the connection between Guqin and Calligraphy? Well, everything and nothing. The way I see it, many things in Chinese culture could be linked together by the Chinese concept of self-cultivation called 無為 Wu-wei (Effortless Action) (Slingerland, 2007).

Video 22: Yan Luo Ping Sha (1634 earliest version) home practice

Video 22: Yan Luo Ping Sha (1634 earliest version).

I know how hard it it to find videos of guqin playing with silk strings, let alone videos which expose the practice process of a guqin player. That's why I made this video. Please feel free to use this video for your own research. (creative commons-compliant). For example, you can use it to compare how a beginner plays (this video) and how a real guqin master plays.

Or, for example, just as a suggestion, you may also consider using this video to analyze the differences in styles (e.g., need to press harder into the wood, need for player to endure rope burn feeling on the fingers) when playing rougher textured silk strings (this video) and in playing metal-nylon strings (some other video which you have to record yourself, I do not have a guqin strung with metal-nylon strings).

The score of this tune was provided by my teacher, guqin master John Thompson (silkqin.com), but I must admit that during home practice, I made lots of mistakes in this video, and I added bits of my own stuff, just for the fun of it. I really enjoy home practice of guqin, as the silk strings sound great. There is no aural fatigue, as there are no jarring metallic twang sounds (which you can hear in many CD recordings; even with the best metal-nylon guqin strings, strung on the best and exorbitantly expensive guqins). In my personal opinion, silk strings may even make the entry-level guqins (such as mine) sound great!

There are many mistakes in my playing. Please do not regard my playing to be the "standard" if you wish to learn how to play this tune. Thank you.

Note: This version which was 打譜 dapu by Mr. John Thompson seems to only contain the very bare basic structure of this tune's melody line, with many of the 'slides' in the modern version of this tune missing. You may also try your own hand to dapu this tune by referring to the original score of this tune (and many other tunes) at this archive. Yes, anyone can try their hands at dapu too, not just guqin masters. haha

There's also another performance of this tune by Madam Cheng Peiyou. She played it very closely to Mr. John Thompson's score and how he would play this piece (click here to listen to Mr. John Thompson's rendition of Luo Yan Ping Sha), much closer than my version here. *smile*

Guqin garb - Husenji.com

If you're thinking of buying some garb to go with your guqin, here's the online store for ya.

If you're in Singapore, you can use a TaoBao.com agent, such as SgShop.com.sg to make the purchase for you and have it shipped to Singapore. Husenji also has an online store at TaoBao (http://husenji.taobao.com/)

If you are in any other country, you can simply use your favorite TaoBao agent.

Here's some pics of a male model posing with guqin on their online store. Enjoy!

China online store 360buy.com ships guqin-related products worldwide

An online store that is the equivalent of Amazon.com in China has just launched its English language website at en.360buy.com

There are some guqin-related items for sale. 360buy.com ships to international locations outside China. You can check the list of countries they can ship to at this webpage. Yes, they accept payment by Paypal. Hooray!

3rd guqin skype lesson: (student in Singapore) and (teacher in Hong Kong)

3rd guqin skype lesson was a success: (I, the student in Singapore) and (John Thompson the guqin teacher in Hong Kong). The distance between Singapore and Hong Kong is about 1600 miles, or about  2580 kilometers, but with technology, having guqin lessons is absolutely possible. Guqin education in the 21st century! Things have come a long way indeed. It's awesome!

The whole skype lesson was video recorded automatically using the Skype plug-in Call Recorder.

Anyone who wishes to have guqin skype lessons can directly contact John Thompson at www.silkqin.com

At this point, I have attended 30 guqin lessons with John Thompson since March 2012.

audio recording of my 古琴 guqin home practice of the piece 雁落平沙 YanLuoPingSha

Simple audio recording of my 古琴 guqin home practice of the piece 雁落平沙 YanLuoPingSha. Silk strings are used in this recording. The rough sounds of fingers sliding on the strings and the fingerboard are called "dragon's breath" and are part of the music (according to my teacher). *smile*

It's important to self-record during practice, so that I can spot my own horrible mistakes! haha LOL. How about you? Do you also record yourself during home practice? *smile*

Wu Zhao's guqin album recorded with silk strings

I just bought this album from Apple iTunes Singapore store. This is the first album that I have ever purchased from iTunes.

Wu Zhao's guqin album was recorded with silk strings (instead of nylon-metal strings). Simply sublime.

There are no  jarring metallic twang noises in guqin silk strings. That's probably how the ancients experienced the guqin too; with silk strings, instead of with post-industrialization-era metal-nylon strings.

Beside Apple iTunes, you can also listen to samples from this album at Amazon.

Chinese calligraphy piece done in NAFA on 16 Oct 2012

Chinese calligraphy piece of 28 character poem, completed on Tuesday night in Singapore's NAFA. My calligraphy teacher said that there is something wrong with the 2nd vertical line (counting from the right), so I agreed to re-write this entire piece next week. Can you spot what's wrong with it? *smile* hahaha

Scene from Red Clift that first got me interested in guqin

This is the scene from the movie Red Clift that first got me interested in finding out more about the guqin. Enjoy!

2nd Guqin Skype Lesson a Success!

My 2nd skype guqin lesson with my teacher, guqin master John Thompson was a success! Everything went smoothly without a glitch.

If anyone wishes to attend skype lessons conducted by John Thompson, please contact him directly at www.silkqin.com

The whole skype lesson was automatically video recorded using a skype plug-in called Call Recorder.

At this point, I have attended 29 guqin lessons with John Thompson since March 2012.

Setup for 2nd guqin skype lesson

Here are some pictures of my equipment setup for guqin skype lesson (my side is the student's side), to be conducted by my teacher, guqin master John Thompson. I will be having my 2nd skype lesson on Friday 12 Oct 2012.

The external webcam is placed on a folder on my bookshelf so that it can capture the video of the entire length of my guqin.

During skype session, headphones are absolutely necessary to eliminate any noise feedback going from the speakers into the microphone.

After my 1st skype lesson on Friday 21st September 2012, my teacher mentioned to me that my guqin's sound was too "compressed" and a little metallic and do not sound like guqin silk strings, as I was using my webcam's built-in microphone.

So, for the 2nd skype lesson, I have prepared a good quality Audio-Technica brand USB condenser microphone, positioned just under the smaller sound hole of the guqin. Let's see if there would be any improvements in the sound quality during the 2nd skype lesson on Friday 12 Oct. There is emergence of preliminary qualitative evidence to suggest that, for the guqin teacher, being able to hear the sounds of the subtle nuances of the student's guqin silk strings during skype lessons, may be of paramount importance; even more important than visuals. For this self-study, we are not dealing with nylon-metal strings, only silk strings, as my teacher John Thompson is a leading (or perhaps even the number one) advocate of using guqin silk strings on planet earth. *smile*

中華民國慶祝建國一百零一年，雙十節快樂！

今天是十月十日、是中華民國慶祝建國一百零一年的大好日子。中華民國萬歲！祝您雙十節快樂！

source of graphic: http://miqlin66.pixnet.net/blog/post/28296257

汉服 Han Fu design competition

汉服 Han Fu design competition. Top prize US$10,000. Check out details at http://hancouture.ntdtv.com/en/

software ChineeKong Guqin

Bow down to your Computer Overlords!!!

Here's a video of a guqin tune played from a MIDI file by the software ChineeKong Guqin, complete with string gliding and string rubbing sounds. Impressive! However, it sounds like the developers might have obtained their guqin sound samples from a guqin strung with metal-nylon strings. Hence the metallic sounds. Another piece of guqin software called FLOW:QIN sounds more like silk strings.

Souvenirs from my teacher's guqin talk in Esplanade

Souvenirs (artifacts of my lived experience) from my teacher, guqin master John Thompson's talk in Singapore's Esplanade Theaters On The Bay on Sat 29 September 2012.

Memories are made of these. *smile*

My 1 day security pass at Esplanade

Ticket stub of the ticket I bought for my daughter to sit in at my teacher's guqin talk in Esplanade.

鸟羽屋 Tobaya guqin silk strings available from manufacturer's online store

If anyone wants to purchase guqin silk strings from Kyoto Japan, you can order directly on the manufacturer's webpage. The information is presented in Chinese. Yes, they are that customer oriented! *smile*

The guqin silk strings produced by the company 鸟羽屋 Tobaya (www.tobaya.co.jp) is called 初音 (はつね pronounced as "Hatsune").

Online ordering of 鸟羽屋 Tobaya brand guqin silk strings can be done at this webpage
https://secure02.red.shared-server.net/www.tobaya.co.jp/FormMail/spgoods_cn/spgoods_cn.html

While I have not ordered any silk strings from Tobaya (yet), I have previously ordered 2 shakuhachi flutes from another Japanese online store before and they arrived in Singapore safe and sound. My personal experience with Japanese online stores has generally been nothing short of fantastic. Excellent and professional service is their industry norm.

If you prefer to order your Tobaya brand Hatsune guqin silk strings from Taobao.com, there are the two online Chinese merchants selling them. Here are the links:

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=18406236934&ali_trackid=2:mm_14507416_2297358_8935934:1349440235_3k2_1870405801

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=15140130342&ali_trackid=2:mm_14507416_2297358_8935934:1349440243_3k8_204053880

Drawings by my 6 year old daughter made during Li XiangTing's guqin performance in Singapore

Drawings by my 6 year old daughter made during Li XiangTing's guqin performance in Singapore, when she was sitting in the 1st row as the guqin pieces were being played.

I asked my daughter who taught her how to draw these pictures in this particular style, and she told me that she was drawing from her imagination. Nobody taught her. She didn't learn this from any school or teacher. I can tell that she loves to draw. *smile*