User:CharlieHuang/Guqin

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This page is mostly to do with my guqin activities. Find out about the pieces I can play and what I get up to concerning qin, other than the Wikipedia articles.
龍正撫琹圖
龍正撫琹圖

[edit] Music biography

Contents

Hello! This is my page for all things guqin. But first, I'll talk a little about my involvement in qin music.

[edit] Musical awakening

I first 'discovered' qin music in 2001 or slightly earlier on a website. Before that, I was interested in it as I had an interest in Chinese culture. At the time, I had no means or thoughts of learning qin, so I basically forgot about it. That was until 2003; I had been engaged with qin discussions in a forum and had money from my university loan to buy a qin! So, I made the decsion to go and buy it. Thus, my musical awakening began. I progressed rather rapidly in the few years that I have had up to this point with the qin, and am getting better. Of course, it is important to note that my parents/family do not approve of my musical activities; they think it is a waste of time if it does not bring you material profit at the end of the day. But that is another issue to discuss later.

Ever since my musical awakening, I have been actively studying to progress myself on the qin arts. This include reading an amount of material on the net as well as books, listening to CDs, et al. I've also refreshed myself in terms of listening to other musical genres. It was only in 2005 did I realise my destiny was in music and the spread of qin music. I made the discovery that Chinese music (or any other music from other cultures) and greatly undervalued by Western tastes. Either Western Classical or Western Popular music is held up high. Of course, that is not the problem in itself, the problem lies in that certain people fail to appreciate other musics because they refuse to listen to anything but pop music, etc. This has riled and irritated me. I want to re-educate people on what true objective musical appreciation is. So, it is my goal to train myself to a high standard before embarking on this mini-quest of mine.

[edit] Academic struggles

Since I have discovered this rather too late, I did not recieve any formal training in music. I have attended Chinese Music Summer Schools (Gong Yi told me that I was one of the better players in the class, which means I must be doing something right), but I am mostly a self-taught amateur in qin arts and music, and my music skills leave a lot to be desired. So, the next phase is to study music at a high level. I could not start from GCSE, work through A level, redo my BA and then to MMus or whatever. That will be basically starting from scratch, and that is time and money I don't have. Plus, they will be training me in Western music only. This has caused a dilemma and I have been stuck in tangent ever since, for two years after I graduated in Philosophy.

The supposed big breakthrough came when I discovered the Open University courses. They would have allowed me to study music at university level and I would have been able to gain the necessary skills to do so-called 'proper' music so people can take me seriously. So that's why I planned on taking a Diploma in Music these coming two years, to get me up to standard. However, though I wanted to study at SOAS for an MMus in Performance, it now seems very unlikely because I have been told that my music skills aren't high enough and my performance experience is slim. Unfortunately, due to my financial situation, lack of funding and family disapproval and problems, I cannot do the Dip Mus anymore. The other option now is to wait until I have enough money to fund it, then hope after that they will be acceptable in my application to the universities. I have more chance of getting into Sheffield University than SOAS but at this point in time, anything could happen. I'm currently at stalemate and am waiting for someone or something to throw me a lifeline and end my cycle misery.

I've become so depressed these days at my situation that I almost feel like giving up...

[edit] Research

Other than playing and performing music, I also take an interest in researching it. One of my first successful projects is the expansion of the guqin article in this Wikipedia site. The original size when I discovered it was less that 5% of what it is now, and through my research and help from fellow qin players and Wikipedians, expanded it considerably. It has been promoted to featured article status, appeared on the front page, and now it has been selected to go on the CD-ROM format, etc. It is one of the best articles on wiki and one that I'm very proud of. It also spawned a bunch of sister articles which are constantly being updated, but probably won't go as far as the qin article.

As I currently have a good chance of getting into Sheffield, I am going to apply there. The thing to do now is to decide which degree programme to do; either MA Ethnomusicology or MMus by research.

I'm thinking of doing the MMus coz it sounds simple and more specialised than the MA (which is a degree that trains you to do doctoral research), the MMus assumes you can carry out research to a certain degree. In the MMus, you do two of the following; dissertation, folio, performance, composition. I'm thinking od doing the dissertation (20,000 words) and the 45 min performance/recital. Here's my watered-down research proposal:

The research will be on the styles/schools of qin music. I will be trying to discover what are the differences between the various styles, what consitutes as a difference in style, can the style of qin music be divided into Northern and Southern style or is it really better to distinguish them further into schools. For my main area of research, I will use mainly the primary source of qinpu (qin tablature collections) from various schools and analysing a selection of melodies, especially the same melodies that exist in different qinpu but are a different version to one another, so examining the differences and similarities of structure, phrasing, unique passages. Further to that will be examining of actual performance recordings of interperatation of these scores as well as transcription and how accurate they are and whether it is the player that defines style or the original score. The practical side of the submission will be a recital of several of versions from different schools of the said piece(s) to demonstrate my thesis, including a delivery on the recital, etc.

Also, in between the Masters degree and doctoral research, I'll go to the Shanghai Conservatory to train in guqin as an advance student to get my qin skills up a few notches as well as make necessary connections and learn Mandarin before I go back to Blighty to register a plan for the PhD. I don't know what insititution I will do my PhD in, probably SOAS or back at Sheffield (I'd prefer SOAS because it's close to where the action and resources are). Oxford is another option (because they got a copy of Yugu Zhai QP there) but it might be too much work there (you have to do examinations regularly there).

My other plans for research include my yet to come PhD in the distant future, which will be on the construction of the qin. This will involve a field trip to China to watch and record information from various qin makers throughout China, exploring the history of their craft, their differences in construction, the logic behind certain methods, how differences in construction can affect sound and quality, etc. There would be analysis of primary sources such as the Yugu Zhai Qinpu manual of qin construction and to compare it to the modern methods employed and how they improve or not improve the general quality of sound and workmanship. Eventually, the result will be a detailed account of ancient and modern methods of qin construction, why certain things are done in a certain way, the affect of certain construction methods on sound quality and playability, and the approximation of how to create a good qin. The research will be of use to qin makers and players in knowing the organology of the instrument in much more detail than before, and to pave the way to discovering the ideal methods and ways to produce a 'prefect' instrument. But of course, that will not bear fruit if I still get stuck in my current limbo. So many dreams and plans yet no where near to achieving them! *sigh*

[edit] Articles

[edit] Repertoire

This is my current repertoire of melodies I can play on the guqin. I have a core list of pieces which I can play with confidence or am good at. I currently have 24 melodies in my repertoire (around the same number I had a few years ago before I forgot most of them), not including the different versions of the same piece (which would be 26 strictly speaking), of varying length and level. Listen to (or watch) some of them by clicking on their names (or clips at the end) if avaliable. Consult this page: Wikipedia:Media help (Ogg) if you have trouble reading the files.

[edit] Melodies in core repertoire

I can play these melodies immediately, with a degree of accuracy from memory (roughly in the order of which I learnt them; different versions of the same melody are grouped together):

  1. Qiu Feng Ci 《秋風詞》 [Ode of the Autumn Wind] (help·info)
    • Adapted from Mei'an Qinpu 【楳盦珡諩】 by Li Xiangting; with lyrics
  2. Guqin Yin 《古琴吟》 [Chant on the Guqin]
    • From the Qinxue Rumen 【琴學入門】 as preserved in the Guqin Quji 【古琴曲集】
  3. Liangxiao Yin 《良宵引》 [Prelude to a Fine Evening]
    • From the Wuzhi Zhai Qinpu 【五知齋琴譜】 as preserved in the Guqin Quji 【古琴曲集】
  4. Feng Qiu Huang 《鳳求凰》 [The Phoenix Seeks His Mate] (help·info)
    • From the Mei'an Qinpu 【楳盦珡諩】 as preserved in the Guqin Quji 【古琴曲集】
  5. Yangguan Sandie 《陽關三疊》 [Three Refrains on the Yang Pass Theme]
    • Adapted from Qinxue Rumen 【琴學入門】 by Li Xiangting; with lyrics
  6. Jiu Kuang 《酒狂》 [Drunken Ecstasy]
  7. Pingsha Luoyan 《平沙落鴈》 [Wild Geese Descending on the Sandbank]
    1. Adapted from Qinxue Congshu 【琴學叢書】 by by Li Xiangting Short clip (help·info)
    2. Transcribed from Jiao'an Qinpu 【蕉庵琴譜】 by myself (help·info)
    3. Transcribed from the Mei'an Qinpu 【楳盦珡諩】 by myself
  8. Guan Shan Yue 《關山月》 [Moon over the Mountain Pass]
    • From the Mei'an Qinpu 【楳盦珡諩】 as preserved in the Guqin Quji 【古琴曲集】; with lyrics
  9. Feng Lei Yin 《風雷引》 [Prelude of Wind and Thunder]
    • From the Mei'an Qinpu 【楳盦珡諩】 as preserved in the Guqin Quji 【古琴曲集】
  10. Pu'an Zhou 《普庵咒》 [Pu'an's Mantra]
    • From the Beijing Qinhui-pu 【北京琴會譜】 as preserved in the Guqin Quji 【古琴曲集】
  11. Yi Guren 《憶故人》 [Remembering an Old Friend]
    • From the Liqin Xuan Qinpu 【理琴軒琴譜】 as preserved in the Guqin Quji 【古琴曲集】
  12. Gu Yuan 《古怨》 [Ancient Lament]
    • Transcribed from the Baishi Daoren Gequ 【白石道人歌曲】 by myself
  13. Sakura Sakura 《櫻花》 【さくらさくら】
    • Japanese folk song, adapted by Gong Yi
  14. Liu Shui 《流水》 [Flowing Water] (help·info)
    • Transmitted by Zeng Chengwei from the Tianwen Ge Qinpu 【天聞閣琴譜】
  15. Xiao Xiang Shuiyun 《瀟湘水雲》 [Clouds and Mists of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers]
    • Transcribed from the Wuzhi Zhai Qinpu 【五知齋琴譜】 by myself
  16. Kongzi Duyi 《孔子讀易》 [Confucius Reads the Book of Changes] (help·info)
    • Transmitted by Zeng Chengwei from the Tianwen Ge Qinpu 【天聞閣琴譜】
  17. Shenren Chang 《神人暢》 [Harmony Between Gods and Men] (help·info)
    • Transmitted by Gong Yi from the Xilu Tang Qinting 【西麓堂琹統】
  18. Pei Lan 《佩蘭》 [Admiring the Orchid] (help·info) (played on silk-strings)
    • Adapted from the Tianwen Ge Qinpu 【天聞閣琴譜】 by Zeng Chengwei Short clip (help·info)
  19. Qiu Shui 《龝水》 [Autumn Water]
    • Adapted from the Tianwen Ge Qinpu 【天聞閣琴譜】 by Zeng Chengwei
  20. Guguan Yu Shen 《孤舘遇神》 [Meeting Ghosts in an Isolated House] (help·info)
    • Transcribed from the Xilu Tang Qintong 【西麓堂琹統】 by myself
  21. Kangding Qingge 《康定情歌》 [Kang Ding Love Song]
    • Yunnan folk song, adapted by Gong Yi
  22. Shishang Liuquan 《石上流泉》 [A Spring Flowing Over Stones]
    • Transcribed from the Qinxue Rumen 【琴學入門】 by myself
  23. Jieshi Diao: Youlan 《碣石調‧幽蘭》 [Solitary Orchid in the Stone Tablet Mode]
    • Transcribed and adapted by myself from the Qinxue Congshu 【琴學叢書】
  24. Gufeng Cao 《古風操》 [Melody in the Ancient Style]
    • Transcribed from the Shenqi Mipu 【神竒秘譜】 by myself

[edit] Melodies in process of learning

These are the melodies I am currently learning:

  1. Chun Feng 《春風》 [Spring Breeze] (help·info)
    • Composed by Gong Yi and Xu Guohua; from the Guqin Yanzhoufa 【古琴演奏法】 (forgot bits of it so must revise it)
  2. Da Hujia 《大胡笳》 [Great Normad Reed-pipe]
    • Transcribed from the Shenqi Mipu 【神竒秘譜】 by myself

[edit] Compositions

Compositions that I did some years ago and now. Mind you, the ones I did a few years back are not as good as my current ones (my performance and compositional skills have improved considerably over the years). I do not know how to play them as I forgot their scores or haven't learnt them yet.

  1. Qiangpao Wushe 《槍炮五射》 [Five Shots of the Pistol] (Opus 1)
  2. Long'ai Sanyin 《龍哀三吟》 [The Dragon Wails Thrice] (Opus 2)
    • Longzheng Diao (-2; +6)
    • About the loss of friendship (or un-returned kindness).
    • Edited and corrected Oct 2006
  3. Kazuhiko no Misao 《和彦の操》 [The Principle of Kazuhiko Fay Ryuu] (Opus 3)
    • Lingye Diao (+2,5,7; -1,3,4,6)
    • About a character from the CLOVER manga.
    • Edited, resetted and corrected Sept 2006
  4. Xianlian Ni'ou 《先練霓鷗》 [The First Trainer Neo] (Opus 4)
    Collected in the Da Zheng Yegong Milu Qinpu 【大正齾公秘録琴譜】 (2003-04).
  5. Yewu Ti 《夜鵡諦》 [Call of the Kakapo] (Opus 5)
    • Guxian Diao (or flatten 1, 3, 4 and 6 if it can't be tuned high)
    • A lament on the injustice done to endangered spieces. The kakapo (meaning 'night parrot') is from New Zealand; I first saw it on the BBC's The Life of Birds documentary.
    • Composed Oct 2006

[edit] Planned compositions

These are compositions that I plan to do, however, they may not yield fruit.

  1. Ye Lei 《夜雷》 [Night Thunder]
    • Zheng Diao
    • To do with my enjoyment at hearing thunder and lightning during the night.

[edit] Guqin instruments

My current and only qin (2003-present)
My current and only qin (2003-present)

I only have one guqin at the moment, which I've grown out of and seriously require a new better one in order for me to progress.

[edit] Ming Yu

  • Name
  • Chinese: 鳴玉
  • Pinyin: míngyù
  • English translation: "calling jade", "beautiful sound", etc
  • Dimensions
  • Length: body 124cm, string 116cm
  • Width: 19cm at head, 20cm at shoulders, 15cm at tail
  • Thickness: 6cm at 3rd hui, 5.5cm at tail
  • Material
  • Wood: Ming dynasty Shan-mu (Chinese fir) for top board; bottom board unknown though maybe zimu (catalpa); bridge, goose feet (gear-shaped) and tail possibly rosewood or some sort of hardwood
  • Lacquer: Clear lacquer with deer horn powder (with recent repair work)
  • Hui: Standard mother-of-pearl, 7th is larger than the rest, the 1st has a chuck missing (possibly covered up by lacquer)
  • Colour and appearance: Dark brown, lighter patches in some places, deer horn powder specks can be clearly seen
  • Inscriptions
  • 「鳴玉」 Ming Yu (between Peg Pool and Dragon Pool; inscribed and filled with white)
  • 「大英遯卋山人藏」 Da Ying Dunshi Shanren Zang (in the Dragon Pool)
  • 「壬午秋制」 Yenwu Qiu Zhi (in the Phoenix Pond)
  • Sound: Good and clear, but thin at places (especially on low registers). Sounds better with (Taigu) silk strings.
  • Accouterments: Tuning pegs of standard (rose)wood, rongko of standard brown silk, tassels of vermillion cord and gold metallic thread on a plastic tube base (cut off from Chinese ornamental hangings)
  • Faults and repair work
  • Structural crack on the back of the qin at the head running on the right of the name inscription through the peg pool (due to natural fault in wood used plus climatic change) which has been stablised then patched up and repaired, including minor lacquer cracks.
  • Dent located on the string path of string 5 at 11th hui; patched up and repaired.
  • Yushan bridge too high; initially planed down by Zeng Chengwei and finished off by self.
  • Xingyun wen markings on surface of qin due to general wear; repaired using lacquer.
  • Year of manufacture: circa autumn 2002
  • Origin: via Chinese Culture Net

[edit] News and current activities

This place will list my current qin activities and yaji reports.

[edit] Special LYQS yaji 2006/05/27

  • Will attend a special yaji in London on 2006/05/27. Huang Shuzhi will be there to talk about his silk strings, etc. --Charlie Huang 【正矗昊】 11:36, 26 May 2006 (UTC)

Location: Cheng Yu's house

I spoke to Fred Wong yesterday at the London yaji! He gave a long talk about silk strings and the whole process he went through to make the taiko strings. Blood and sweat! I only understood bits of it as he spoke Mandarin (he can speak Cantonese and English).

I'll point out the important info I mangaed to prise out:

  1. When applying the 'string gum' on the strings, you should so the whole playing length of the string and not just the bit where it needs patching up.
  2. Do not use the new tuning device on silk strings. Never ever ever! You should string traditionally, and you must wrap on the goose feet very quickly (I think he said he uses his bare hands without a cloth...)
  3. You do not need to tune it to 'standard' tuning (i.e. 5th string at A, etc) as there is no standard. It must be tuned in accordance with the qin you have. Tune it to the point it sounds good, then that is the pitch you keep.
  4. When playing with silk strings, you must pluck lightly and not like the way you play metal-nylon. If you play like m-n, then the strings will buzz and slap on the surface. This also stops it from breaking often. It must be played gently.
  5. The bridge should not be too high, the inner edge of the bridge should not be too sharp, and the knot should be in the center and not too much to the right edge. it will break more easier if it is.
  6. The Huqiu strings are not good. They break very easily and the quality does not match the Taigu ones which can be strung to higher tension. It is the reason why may people turned to m-n strings because Huqiu couldn't meet the high standard of previous dynasties. But as soon as the Taigu ones came out, almost all players in Taiwan switched back to silk! The mainland didn't because the main players (e.g. LXT, GY, etc) still advocated m-n.
  7. When you finished playing, always loosen strings 5 to 7. This will avoid them breaking.
  8. Always hang your qin up vertically. This stops it from warping.
  9. Some qins are more suitable for silk, mostly antique qins.
  10. The vacuum packing allows you to keep the strings fresh for over a century! You really need five sets to last a life time!
  11. 4th strings is second string to break because its core is the same as the thickness of the 7th string.
  12. Buy the gauge that suits your qin, then only buy that gauge, otherwise you'll have to buy multiple sets (you mustn't mix zhongqing strings with jiazhong strings, etc).

Those are the main points you should know when using silk.

He talked a lot about the difficult process of making them as well. He had to gather a lot people in the know and had to do research on making the strings (a lot of research). One of the main difficulties is getting the best quality silk. The best is AAAAAA and it costs a bomb in some countries. I think he went to Canada because good quality silk was cheaper there! Also, it is difficult to keep consistancy in the batch as the quality is sometimes mixed. The next difficulty is manufacture, half is done by hand and half is done by machine. Then there is the element of the weather as well! Third is quality as it is difficult to get the thicknesses of strings 1 and 7 adequate so 7 won't break and 1 won't be too coarse.

At first he gave out his silk strings to promote them and make people try them out and hopefully use them. At the end of the day, it has to make some money or it won't be worthwhile anymore! So he hopes many people will used or switch to silk strings. Then there will be an adequate market and demand, then more silk string makers would emerge and try to get a better quality string so that there will be more study and reasearch, therefore, resulting in even better quality strings. He said that some players don't like m-n because it cannot replace the distinctive sound of silk, so they continue to use them. They consider m-n to be 'bu gaoya' (not high elegance). To Fred Wong, m-n is for concerts and stuff like that, but if you are not a pro who continuously do gigs like such, then you really should use silk.

For me, I think that if you can play well on silk, then you are a better player/person coz it is hard to get a good sound out of silk strings. If you can play good on m-n and good on silk, then you are playing well, as for silk, you need to be extra relaxed and smooth on your playing. Silk strings can highlight your weaknesses in playing (namely, plucking too hard, wrong angle, etc).

I also heard some ancedotes about Wu Wenguang's (and to a lesser extent, Wu Jinglue) playing style. Since he is trained in Western music which tends for the musician to devote their life and soul to the instrument (i.e. play like your life depended on it), his playing is very lively and vivid. But Fred said that you easily get health problems by doing this continuiosly, you get RSI, etc. He exampled this by describing a DVD which WWG made himself in an amateur sort-of way where he played like if it was his last performance. Understandably, he said that was the last time he will every play like that, to the brink! For normal qin players, such is too excessive and is not really the Chinese idea of what music is about. Of course, this contrasts different sides of qin study, or what the qin is capable of.

At the end of the talk, he and his wife both played a piece. His wife played a melody which she didn't name on Fred's (silk string) antique qin. I think he said it survived a fire (I could see some fire scars). Had a nice finish to the qin as well, smooth but not glossy. Fred then played "Yuqiao Wenda" [Dialogue Between Fisherman and Woodcutter] on Dannong's Qing dynasty qin (also silk). He said it had a nice sound, to the delight of Dan! Afterwards, there was no time for other players to play, but some tested out the qins.

[edit] Silk strings 2006/05/28

  • I've decided to re-string my qin using Taigu silk strings I bought some time ago to try them out. So far, they are better than the Huqiu brand. Less buzzing, not as sticky and the sound is much better than the troublesome Huqiu. I might have to change them back to metal-nylon for the Summer School though. I doubt they will be suitable for that purpose (it will be too quiet for me to hear myself play). After the Summer School, I might return them back to silk, it depends. I've recorded Pei Lan on the silk strings. They may need adjusting since the knots of strings 1 to 3 are over the yueshan. --Charlie Huang 【正矗昊】 18:14, 28 May 2006 (UTC)
  • I quite like silk strings now that I've tried them for a while. They make you play more softer, and I think it shows how good you can play if you can play without buzzing, etc. I will keep this qin silk when I get a new qin as it does sound good with silk (more better than with metal-nylon!). Of course, I will change back to metal-nylon for the summer school, then after, change it back to silk. --Charlie Huang 【正矗昊】 13:41, 16 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Lacquer 2006/06/11

  • I've decided to repair some bits of my qin by re-applying lacquer. I've already order clear urushi and tsunoko powder from Japan. The main repair I must do (before the summer school) is a dent/hole on the path of string 5 at the 11th hui. It is beginning to impede preformance as whenever I play a note at the position, my ring fingernail sometimes gets caught in it and it digs into the hole further. The wood is exposed, so I must patch that up asap. Other repair work are the cracks at the back of my qin due to natural faults in the wood. They have stabilised, so I can patch them up without them cracking further. Of course, using lacquer is not a walk in the park as there are safety and curing issues involved. But I hope to select the best day when it is hot and humid enough for the lacquer to cure quickly. Will keep you posted. --Charlie Huang 【正矗昊】 08:36, 11 June 2006 (UTC)
  • Today was the day to begin re-lacquering the qin! I took my table outside into the garden and began to start the work. First, the strings and tuning pegs were removed before hand, then I took the qin to the garden workspace. I then tried to finish off planing the bridge. It is more or less free of sharp edges, but at a cost to tidiness. I left it at that. The lacquer I used was from an online Japanese katana repair shop called Namikawa. The type I bought was called clear urushi (gloss type). There were other types like pure, black, colored, etc, but from the information from Jim Binkley, I chose clear (if your qin is black, then I suppose black urushi is your bet, other than that, use clear). You can get cashew (artificial lacquer) but I heard that it doesn't last as long as urushi, and i don't know if it would stand up to the fingering. Gloss type was because matt maybe difficult to polish to a smooth degree. It came in a tube form. I squeezed (or rather, poured) a bit out and used an urushi brush to apply it to the bridge to seal it. The colour was brown and it matched the colour of the lacquered part of the yueshan, so it was the right choice! I applied it slightly thick, so I removed some.
Next was the main body. I poured some more lacquer into the container, and I used a toothpick as a spatula and scooped out some tsunoko or deer horn powder. This was a white powder. I used the toothpick to stir and blend it together. It turned into a chocolaty colour. After it was more or less blended together, I used the brush to apply it thinly on the dent of the qin. I also applied it to the areas where there was xingyun wen or running-cloud markings, a type of duanwen caused by continuous sliding on the string, waring out the lacquer (you can keep these markings if you are using silk strings, but you must repair them if you are using metal-nylon strings). This especially happens on qins with metal-nylon strings. Without the strings in the way, you can see them visibly as lighter areas, as well as feel a depression on the surface. other points of repair include a crack at the back (which is too wide to seal up), the yintuo, and cracks at the joints of the peg protectors, etc.
After this initial lacquering, I carefully removed hairs that came from the brush from the lacquer, and carefully brushed the lacquer thinner. I then re-hung the qin in my room for it to cure. One point of note about the lacquer is that it stinks! Also, even though I did not have an allergic reaction to it, some other people might, so be aware. Lacquer requires high humidity to cure, so make sure you select a day when it is hot and humid, preferably after a thunderstorm. You can also get a humidifier, or place a bowl of hot water in your room to speed up the process. The temperature ideally should be around 24°C, and the humidity should be around 60% or higher.
The next stage after the lacquer is cured is to polish it, then re-apply a layer of clear lacquer (without the tsunoko), wait for it to cure, then re-polish to a fine finish. More on that process when I get to it. --Charlie Huang 【正矗昊】 13:33, 16 June 2006 (UTC)
  • Well, after being in LA for two weeks, you'd expect the lacquer to have cured by now... Not even close! Some bits are dry, and you can touch it without it coming onto your fingers, but it is slightly stick. It is starting to bond, like half dried paint that you can't wipe off easily. I estimate I need at least a month! Then there is the polishing and adding another layer to do... I think I know what I may have done wrong, and that is I forgot to add some water to the mixture to thin it down so it will cure quicker! There are several things I can consider:
1. Forget it and wait for it to cure as it is; 2. Spray some water or a light mist on the qin every day to try to speed up the curing process; 3. Get a humidifier with the depleted funds I have; 4. Try and remove the undried lacquer off and start over again, this time, adding water/solvent to the mixture to thin it down.
1 seems to be a gamble that it won't dry. It may without me jumping in. But it looks like it will take ages, plus the humidity is really shitty in the UK. 2 is a better option, but I do not no if it would work, and I'm scared it might do damage rather than help the lacquer dry. 3 is good, but I hardly have enough money to get to the Summer School after my JSA was so stupidly stopped because nobody said that they do that if you go on holiday for more than 14 days! 4 is the ultimate measure that may solve everything, but it would depend if I pin pointed the correct problem in the first place. Also, since the lacquer is sort of bonding to the qin, it may be very difficult to remove, like rubbing sticky half dried jam off.
Either way, I don't think my qin will be ready for the Summer School, which means I'll have to borrow one off Cheng Yu. --Charlie Huang 【正矗昊】 02:08, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
  • Currently trying out spraying water over it. Re-doing the lacquer is too much of a risky option. At any case, I think it sort of increased the humidity in my room to around 70%! Good thing. --Charlie Huang 【正矗昊】 17:41, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
  • OK, screw the waiting. Onto plan C; strip the half-cured lacquer and start over. I used English Distilled Turpentine (the stuff used in oil paintings) to strip back the lacquer (or rather wipe off). Worked like a charm, but requires some elbow grease. After that, I mixed a new lacquer mixture. It was water, lacquer plus some turpentine. I did not use deer horn powder as it is mostly a overcoat rather than a base coat. I mixed it very well and it turned into a chocolate colour. The colour was light brown but changes to a darker brown after a while. When applied, it was more thinner than my previous attempt, and much easier to brush on. It blended well. With it being rather thin, it should dry/cure much much faster; and because I added some water and a solvent base, it should cure in about a week or two, if not in days. Hopefully it will be successful. If it is, I have to decide to add another layer or not. Either way, I will polish it a bit once it's hardened. If all goes to plan, I don't have to borrow a qin from Cheng Yu for the Summer School. --Charlie Huang 【正矗昊】 15:15, 16 July 2006 (UTC)
  • After having a heart attack after the qin made a loud cracking sound, due to the wood moving because the humidity fell to the dangerous levels around 20%, I have bought a humidifier. One, it will protect my qin from damage and two, it will speed up the curing of the lacquer (hopefully). *crosses fingers* Somehow, I doubt that my qin will be ready for the Summer School (literally next week!), so I'd have to borrow one from Cheng Yu. I'm still waiting for confirmation from AMC so I can book the hotel! --Charlie Huang 【正矗昊】 14:42, 20 July 2006 (UTC)
  • The lacquer is starting to cure, but it won't cure in time for the summer school. I have to also try and teach my sister how to use it so she can operate it during my time at the summer school. God knows how dry it would be; I don't want my qin to get damaged in the hands of my sister! --Charlie Huang 【正矗昊】 13:24, 26 July 2006 (UTC)
  • Yes! The lacquer is almost there! Just a few more days, and then I can start with the second layer! --Charlie Huang 【正矗昊】 17:52, 3 August 2006 (UTC)
  • The lacquer was more or less cured, so I decided to take the qin down and polish it with a stone. It is more or less done, but since the dent is still evident, I decided to use some of the left over lacquer from last time and cover it fully. I will now wait for those little bits to cure, which is around a week and a half to be safe. Then, I'll decide whether or not to apply another layer of lacquer. Either way, I will need to buy a fine grade sandpaper to make the surface as smooth as possible, because the stone polishing is patchy in places. --Charlie Huang 【正矗昊】 13:49, 8 August 2006 (UTC)
  • Next stage. I used a thick deer horn powder mixture with some lacquer, solvent and water to patch up the cracks at the back of the qin. Dunno if it will cure fully since it is sorta thick to cover the holes... I also used the mixture on the dent on the surface since multiple layers of clear lacquer doesn't seem to fully patch it. I discovered that lacquer with a high water content cures very quickly, in a matter of days. Basically, I poured water over leftover lacquer about a month ago, covering it completely. It formed a hard layer, then inside, the lacquer is still soft and you can re-use it. The lacquer cures faster with high water content because it cures through evaporation of the moisture inside the lacquer. The more water there is, the faster it would cure. Less water content means not much water to evaporate, therefore it just sits there, slowly curing, if ever.
Polishing. You can use a stone, for rough work, but it can create lines on the surface. Best use a very fine grit sandpaper (P2500 grit) with water and it will come out very shiny and smooth! --Charlie Huang 【正矗昊】 12:14, 12 August 2006 (UTC)
  • Polished the deer horn powder mixture and applied another layer of clear lacquer mix. Ran out halfway! Hopefully, it is thick enough. Another week of so until it is ready for the final polishing and then finish! Outcome might not be master quality, but as if I got enough money to send the thing to China for repairs (probably cost as much as a new qin with the shipping back and forth)... --Charlie Huang 【正矗昊】 11:20, 15 August 2006 (UTC)
  • Finished! I've finally done repairing the lacquer on the qin after two and a half months of work! I used P1200 sandpaper in the end (couldn't find a place that sells a finer paper) so the finish was slightly matt finish rather than glossy. However, the dent is more or less repaired. --Charlie Huang 【正矗昊】 16:35, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Chinese music summer school at the Royal Academy of Music 2006/07/29

  • I'll be (hopefully if I get the funds) studying at the RAM in London from 29th July to the 2nd August 2006. The player teaching qin will be Gong Yi. I'll also be learning pipa from Cheng Yu. It is for five days now, instead of last year's eight, which pisses me off slightly. It means a loss of three days that could have been beneficial. This sqeezes the timetable very tight, leading me to want to spend most of my time in the guqin class. I'm on a roll with the qin and musn't be hampered. It'll have to be at least three days on qin, 2 or 1 and a half days on pipa (probably only on ensemble work for the yet to be known informal concert)... We'll know when thje the timetable is drawn up and sent to me once I booked it. --Charlie Huang 【正矗昊】 10:24, 7 June 2006 (UTC)
  • Tut! Since the stupid Jobcentre stopped my payments, I have been in a pickle as to the funding of my London trip. I have to overdraw my account I'm afraid. Another thing is that I'm scared that my sign in day will fall on a day when I'm there! It has to be on a Wednesday! If it was on Friday, I don't need to tell the JC! I'll have to see if my sign in day changes or not, but I'd rather it doesn't fall on SS week... --Charlie Huang 【正矗昊】 22:44, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
  • Good! My new sign in date does not fall on the week! Yippee! Now I can start booking the Summer School and hotel. I'll have to use my overdraft and hope that will repelish itself in time, plus hope that I get a good lump sum from my birthday like last year! *crosses fingers* --Charlie Huang 【正矗昊】 17:43, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
  • I have sent the form for the Summer School. The next thing to do is book the accom. Will do so when I recieve confirmation of my place in the SS. --Charlie Huang 【正矗昊】 15:16, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Open University course 2006

  • After a read of my frequent forum, one of my forum buddies had finished one course at the Open University. I thought, "if only I could study music there". I then checked out the website and after a few minutes of browsing, I could in fact, study a Diploma in Music (Dip Mus (Open)) there, with a full grant, et al.! This would probably pave the way to my eventual MMus study at SOAS. Currently, I probably have to do a Foundation Diploma for Postgraduate Studies (FDPS) for a year there before I could do the Masters as I did not study music for my BA, plus, my class was a 2:2 rather than the 2:1 they are asking for. The FDPS won't be funded, so I have to fork out £7,360 for the course, plus over £10,000 for maintenace; money which I don't have. Of course, it could potentially be a waste of time if SOAS doesn't accept the Dip Mus (Open) and I have to do the FDPS anyways. I'll have to ask properly what my position is, or I'd have wasted my time and money if I get it wrong. --Charlie Huang 【正矗昊】 21:24, 15 July 2006 (UTC)
  • OK, finally decided to go for an OU course!
I'll be studying for a Diploma in Music; Dip Mus (Open), which will hopefully help me get into SOAS for an MMus in Performance!
http://www3.open.ac.uk/courses/bin/p12.dll?Q01D22
The timing of the courses is a bit shitty. I wanted to do the Level 1 Start listening to music, but it starts on Feb 2007. If I did that, then there will be a big gap of over 9 months before the next course for me to do starts. So I'll have to do some other course, before fitting in a level 2 course that starts on the Feb 2007 date. I will do a science course rather than an arts course coz the only interesting arts course at Level 1 is the Start listening to music one.
So my plan is as follows (need 120pts):
S180 - Life in the oceans: exploring our blue planet [Sept 2006] Lv1 10pt (not counted towards dip.) 
TA212 - The technology of music [Feb 2007] Lv2 60pt (not counted towards dip.) 
A179 - Start listening to music [Nov 2007] Lv1 10pt (not counted towards dip.) 
A214 - Understanding music: elements, techniques and styles [Feb 2008] Lv2 60pt (with one week residental school) 
Another science course to kill time during 2008 winter (not counted towards dip.) 
AA314 - Music and words (prov. title) [circa. Feb 2009] Lv3 60pt
I'll have the diploma by the autumn of 2009! Long time till then, but I'd need more time if I didn't do it to get enough funds for SOAS's shittyly expensive FDPS course that I will have to do as my degree class is lower than asked for in a subject not in music... --Charlie Huang 【正矗昊】 21:58, 10 August 2006 (UTC)
  • I've changed my study plan to save a year in light of my confusion with the point system:
S194 - Introducing Astronomy [Sept 2006] Lv1 10pt (for Cert Cont Sci) 
A214 - Understanding music: elements, techniques and styles [Feb 2007] Lv2 60pt (with one week residental school in Durham University)
S180 - Life in the oceans: exploring our blue planet [Nov 2007] Lv1 10pt (for Cert Cont Sci) 
AA314 - Music and words (prov. title) [circa. Feb 2008] Lv3 60pt (or something else)
I can get into SOAS by Sept 2008 if I'm lucky enough.
TA212 - The technology of music course would be done some other time (and I will want to do it as it has stuff to do with acoustics, etc that will be useful for me in future when I do my PhD on qin construction). --Charlie Huang 【正矗昊】 13:33, 11 August 2006 (UTC)
  • Apparently, I can be recommended for admission to SOAS if I have evidence of my musical abilities and skills... and performance experience. Well, performance experience defo, but as for evidence of my musical abilities and skills, ziltch maybe... Looks like I have to do the diploma (or part of it) anyways, but it looks like i can skip the dreaded FDPS shit. I'll need the diploma to gain necessary skills in music myself, but I'd rather do things sooner rather than later coz my time is running out... --Charlie Huang 【正矗昊】 08:30, 12 August 2006 (UTC)
  • OK, shortcut to MMus program is now very unlikely. I apparently do not have the skills to do it... Anyhoo, that is not gonna put me off! I'm still gonna do the Dip Mus, and it also means I have to do a Postgraduate Diploma in Music; PGDip (Mus), as well! But it might lead me onto doing the full MA Music degree; might as well (only a dissertation between the PGDip and the MA), plus, they can't dish me off then since that is a Masters degree rather than the Bachelor 2:2 class they frown upon! But if I do do the MA, then doing the MMus would be slightly redundant then, wouldn't it? In fact, it would be like doing the bloody degree again and since my time is not particularly liberal, it would be rather taxing and silly, just to get the letters "MMus" at the back of my name. I want to learn Chinese music and the MMus at SOAS is the only specialist place to do it. But they are asking a lot from me, and I want to specialise in Performance, and not Ethnomusicology as such... Oh well, screw the MMus! MA in Music it will be! Then I can do a PhD there and show them! God, if only I discovered music sooner and then I would have been through all this shit already! *sigh*
The diploma in music plan will stay the same, but after I got it, the timetable for the MA Music will be something like this:
S193 - Fossils and the History of Life [Nov 2008] Lv1 10pt (for Cert Cont Sci)
A870 - Postgraduate Foundation Module in Music [Jan 2009] 60pt
S??? - A science course [Nov 2009] Lv1 10pt (for Cert Cont Sci)
A871 - Performances and Repertories [Feb 2010] 60pt
S??? - A science course [Nov 2010] Lv1 10pt (for Cert Cont Sci)
A877 - The Music Dissertation [Feb 2011] 60pt 
S??? - A science course [Nov 2011] Lv1 10pt (for Cert Cont Sci)
http://www3.open.ac.uk/courses/bin/p12.dll?Q01F32
http://www3.open.ac.uk/courses/bin/p12.dll?Q01C70
Plus, might as well get a Certificate of Contemporary Science; Cert Cont Sci, whilst I'm at it... LOL --Charlie Huang 【正矗昊】 16:15, 14 August 2006 (UTC)
  • Well, just discovered that I can't apply for financial help for postgraduate studies. Bugger. That means I have to save up for the MA, or PGDip. Why does there always have to be obstacles in the way of my plans? *groan* Oh well, must try and get a part-time job. --Charlie Huang 【正矗昊】 11:03, 16 August 2006 (UTC)
  • Oh great! I just found out that I can't apply for financial award for a large course if I am in arrears to the SLC and hold a degree! Just great, throws a spanner in the works, doesn't it?! How am I gonna cough up £900? An option ios to postpone the Dip Mus and just go for the Cert Con Sci until I get enough money but that will further push the time... Always have to be shitty obstacles in the way! Hmph!
OK, I don't think I can save up to that much in time. I'll have to do the Cert Con Sci next year until I get enough money for the higher courses. My new timetable is as follows:
S194 - Introducing Astronomy [Sept 2006] Lv1 10pt
S196 - Planets: An Introduction [Nov 2006] Lv1 10pt
S197 - How the Universe Works [Feb 2007] Lv1 10pt
S180 - Life In The Oceans: Exploring Our Blue Planet [May 2007] Lv1 10pt
S193 - Fossils and the History of Life [Sept 2007] Lv1 10pt
A199 - Modelling the climate [Nov 2007] Lv1 10pt
Then, hopefully, I'd have gotten a job and money by then so I can go onto the next phase (if successful):
A214 - Understanding music: elements, techniques and styles [Feb 2008] Lv2 60pt
A179 - Start listening to music [Nov 2008] Lv1 10pt
AA314 - Music and words (prov. title) [circa. Feb 2009] Lv3 60pt (or something else)
From then on, I'll see if I can do the MA. But as far as it is for now, my main aim is to get the Cert Con Sci. I'll worry about the Dip Mus at a later date. --Charlie Huang 【正矗昊】 10:49, 24 August 2006 (UTC)
  • The course materials for S194 Introducing Astronomy has arrived through the post! Looks pretty straight forward. --Charlie Huang 【正矗昊】 15:45, 26 August 2006 (UTC)
  • There could be a way of doing the Dip Mus. I would have to pay the fees in installments rather than up front. This would require me saving up at least half the money before mid-January next year in order for me to have a good chance of paying the fee in time. If that is the case, then I might abandon the Cert Con Sci and follow my original plan. --Charlie Huang 【正矗昊】 21:42, 4 September 2006 (UTC)
  • Oh FFS! Another shitty problem has arisen! My father told me that I must now pay the Council Tax bills from now on, meaning an automatic deduction of £72 from my income! Now that makes a HUGE difference, because it means I cannot save anything (in fact, I will make losses each month even if I don't touch my bank account) so that's good-bye to Dip Mus or anything at all! So, what now? Well, I'm sick and tired of all this blatant smack in the face. That is why I am cooking yet another plan of action to get me into postgraduate study! After I've done my astronomy OU course, I'll quit the OU and then study to pass the ABRSM music theory exams to at least grade 5. After which, it automatically leads to...

[edit] MMus degree at Sheffield plans 2007

  • Enough delays. I'm hoping that either of them will accept me if I pass the ABRSM exams. Surely they can. Otherwise, I will have lost complete faith in the system. I've got more of a chance to get into Sheffield than SOAS, but I'd rather take my chances and apply for both. But most importantly, I must get funding approved by the funding bodies, otherwise, it's the end for me. It is beginning to be an extremely hard struggle with my parents not supporting my music, and all this pussyfooting just takes the biscuit. I don't care, I'm going to fight until the very last breath! This means war! --Charlie Huang 【正矗昊】 12:05, 19 September 2006 (UTC)
  • There maybe a chance for me to do the Dip Mus afterall, I have a job interview today! It all boils down to whether I get it or not. If I do, then it's on the books, if not, then back to square one... Fingers crossed. --Charlie Huang 【正矗昊】 08:26, 26 September 2006 (UTC)
  • Just got an e-mail from Sheffield Uni saying that there is a good chance I can get into their Masters degree program! I got the necessary musical skills, plus my philosophy degree could be appropriate! I just need to choose the program I want to do (if it is a research program, I have to submit a research proposal) and select the references that are appropriate! Great! I can begin to set in motion my application for the degree and funding! --Charlie Huang 【正矗昊】 20:26, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
  • The degree I chose was to do the MMus by research. Details at the Research section at the top of this page. It allows me to pursue a specialised study on the qin (MA Ethnomusicology is mostly training) and is much suited to my plans about researching qin schools and a springboard to PhD level. Will begin application process in due course. --Charlie Huang 【正矗昊】 10:46, 30 October 2006 (UTC)
  • Tut! Too late now! After my family disappoval, the chances of me going to Sheffield now looks bleak... --Charlie Huang 【正矗昊】 14:57, 21 January 2007 (UTC)


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