So last Saturday (11th Oct 2014), my fingers were all greased up, my faced was slapped multiple times, and my middle finger was so sore I think it swollen just a little while I screamed "OUCH!!!".
...The previous night...
"SCREW YOU I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU NOT COOPERATING! I SWEAR I'M GONNA REMOVE YOU WITH A NEW SET!"
Yeap! I had to do it. There's no other way. It's been too long, if I don't do it any sooner. If I don't remove it any sooner, it's gonna be bad for December. If I don't change it any sooner, it won't be able to stable down by December.
I'm talking about Yang Qin strings.
First, we gotta unwind the old strings
String-less yangqin. Bye old strings! (got bitch slapped a few times by these strings while removing them)
The OCD in me. Must make sure all the rollers go back to their rightful place when I mount the new strings in.
The disgusting part when it comes to changing new yq strings. THE GREASE!! Must have a tissue near me at all times for me to wipe them mofo grease. Why is there grease, you asked? To prevent the new strings from getting rusty. You see, the thing about YQ strings is, even though they rust, they're still quite durable for a long period of time. If it does not snap, you can basically keep tuning it. But here's where the problems begin. You can notice later in the pictures below, each note is basically made up of 2-5 strings, the higher the note, the more strings needed, and also the thinner the strings. High notes (or the most left bridge), the strings are steel strings, as compared to the middle notes to the low notes, where coiled strings are used (much like the ones in guitar, which compromises of both coiled strings for the bass strings, and steel strings for the other strings).
The difficult part of tuning a yang qin is that we have to make sure that every single string is in the same and correct pitch, much like a piano. It's easier for the bass to middle notes, because we only have to tune one side, for there's only one side that produces the note. But moving towards the high notes is where it gets difficult, we have to tune both sides and make sure that every string in both side is in same pitch.
Let's make it easier for you to understand :)
Say, we take the 3rd fret at the high notes bridge. On the left side, is a C5, and sharing the same fret, on the right, it's an F4. The fret consist of 4 strings. We have to tune it so that every string hits the 442Hz frequency indicated on the tuner, with C5 on the left and F4 on the right, not being sharp or flat, and that's when the rollers come in. On both ends of the strings, they are mounted on rollers where we can fine tune it even further to hit the perfect pitch mark.
In summary, we have to make sure all 4 strings are tuned so that both notes on both sides are not higher or lower in pitch than each other and they are in they're right pitch/notes. That's what YQ musicians have to look out for.
There's an old joke saying that, harpists spend half their life tuning, and the other half playing out of tune. That goes to yangqin musicians as well. But good and careful yangqin musicians will spend half of their life tuning, and half of their life playing in tune and let others be in awe by the wonderful tone and colour of the yangqin. ;)
Newly mounted strings. As you can see, the fret shares 4 strings, with both sides able to produce a note respectively, eg. C5 on the left, F4 on the right.
The damage for this time round of strings changing. It was around SGD80 in total. Meh, it was worth it though.
Mandatory shot of the new shiny strings before they start to rust.
Even though it was a long process (5 hours to be exact), even though it burnt up my revision for finals, it was still worth it! Till next time blog hoppers!
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