Replace the Chinese instrument into Western instruments
- Thread starter dhlkid
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Yanurika
Rinke Johannes
The Pipa is a lute-like instrument, so anything in that family comes close. My pick would be a classical guitar or mandolin. Erhu is closest to violin, viola or cello.
The most difficult pick would be the Guzheng. It's essentially a harp that allows you to bend the notes up. Depending on the actual music, a concert harp or classical guitar could come closest.
Hope I could help!
The most difficult pick would be the Guzheng. It's essentially a harp that allows you to bend the notes up. Depending on the actual music, a concert harp or classical guitar could come closest.
Hope I could help!
Tremendouz
Senior Member
Pipa: renaissance lute, perhaps banjo?
Erhu: violin
Guzheng: Perhaps zither or hammered dulcimer? Although the latter would be closer to the Chinese yangqin than guzheng but the sound gives me somewhat similar vibes.
Erhu: violin
Guzheng: Perhaps zither or hammered dulcimer? Although the latter would be closer to the Chinese yangqin than guzheng but the sound gives me somewhat similar vibes.
DSmolken
Senior Member
Guzheng is, indeed, hard. Perhaps some smaller harps will be closest in sound, but they don't do the pitch bend thing. About the only Western instrument that can bend one note while keeping other notes steady is the pedal steel guitar, which has an extremely different tone and probably doesn't really allow the same sort of vibrato with the pedals. But if you don't need this performed live by real musicians, in the VI world if you can fake pitch bends on harp, classical guitar or even kora, and can use two instances (one for bent notes and one for unbent) you might get close.
If you do need live performance... perhaps two nylon-string guitars, one using a slide for the bent notes, but that's getting extremely kludgy.
If you do need live performance... perhaps two nylon-string guitars, one using a slide for the bent notes, but that's getting extremely kludgy.
Erhu (and the rest of the huqin family): violin/viola/cello or a fiddle
Zheng: a plucked zither/dulcimer or harp
Pipa: lute, banjo, possibly guitar or mandolin
Other Chinese orchestra instruments:
Yangqin: hammered dulcimer or even piano
Other plucked family: guitar, mandolin, banjo
Suona family: brass for loud/double reeds for “soft” (less loud?)
Guan: clarinet or sax
Dizi: flutes
Sheng: clarinets, harmonica, accordion
Bawu/hulusi: clarinet
Zheng: a plucked zither/dulcimer or harp
Pipa: lute, banjo, possibly guitar or mandolin
Other Chinese orchestra instruments:
Yangqin: hammered dulcimer or even piano
Other plucked family: guitar, mandolin, banjo
Suona family: brass for loud/double reeds for “soft” (less loud?)
Guan: clarinet or sax
Dizi: flutes
Sheng: clarinets, harmonica, accordion
Bawu/hulusi: clarinet
Are you writing for a western orchestra or a Chinese orchestra?
thesteelydane
Bunker Samples
Keep in mind the pipa is steel stringed though, so it’s a bright, bordering on harsh sound, so you want a lute like instrument with a bit of twang to it.
Bee_Abney
How long have I been out?
If the brief is to use a western orchestra, it may also be intended to limit you to conventional instruments for a western-style orchestra, which would rule out - I think - lutes and pedal steel guitar.
For classical guitars, you'd have to be cautious as they will struggle to cut through the sound of an orchestra the way a pipa or guzheng would through a traditional Chinese ensemble. Some careful orchestration may solve that.
It might be acceptable to use some unconventional playing techniques. A slide has been mentioned. If you could get some harpists - or even cellists - to use a steel or glass guitar slide, you could get a lot of more eastern string sounds. But fortunately western strings do allow lots of note bending even if it is somewhat underused. And doublestopping can allow a violin etc. to have an unbending note combined with a bending one.
I just hope you don't need a suona equivalent! Maybe a sopranino clarinet? If you had an orchestra with saxophones, you might be able to add some of the husky tones of some easter wind instruments by doubling with flutes.
One key thing is volume - the western orchestra has been developed over time for not only increased stability but also volume. This may be why they would want this kind of orchestra. But it does mean, as with guitars, that quieter sounds might need a good deal of space, or an increased quantity of performers, to balance out the volumes of different sections.
For classical guitars, you'd have to be cautious as they will struggle to cut through the sound of an orchestra the way a pipa or guzheng would through a traditional Chinese ensemble. Some careful orchestration may solve that.
It might be acceptable to use some unconventional playing techniques. A slide has been mentioned. If you could get some harpists - or even cellists - to use a steel or glass guitar slide, you could get a lot of more eastern string sounds. But fortunately western strings do allow lots of note bending even if it is somewhat underused. And doublestopping can allow a violin etc. to have an unbending note combined with a bending one.
I just hope you don't need a suona equivalent! Maybe a sopranino clarinet? If you had an orchestra with saxophones, you might be able to add some of the husky tones of some easter wind instruments by doubling with flutes.
One key thing is volume - the western orchestra has been developed over time for not only increased stability but also volume. This may be why they would want this kind of orchestra. But it does mean, as with guitars, that quieter sounds might need a good deal of space, or an increased quantity of performers, to balance out the volumes of different sections.
Yanurika
Rinke Johannes
If your orchestra doesn't have lutes and pedal steels, is it really worth it?
