Gehu
Gehu (革 胡; géhú) is a string instrument in Chinese music that was invented in the 1950s by the Chinese musician Yang Yusen (杨雨森, 1926–1980). It is a combination of a cello and tubular skewers from the Huqin family, such as the erhu .
Design and style of play
Like the cello which are strings of Gehu voted in CGDA. The bow technique, finger technique and other playing techniques can also be compared with that of playing the cello. Since the instrument uses a banjo-like membrane as a soundboard, the resulting sound differs significantly from that of the cello.
The volume and sound quality of the instrument depends primarily on the membrane made of snakeskin, which, contrary to the typical Huqin construction, is not stretched below the bridge, but closes off the sound body on the sides . Comparable to the cello and the double bass , there are also the gehu in two different sizes as da-gehu and diyin gehu . Her roles in the Chinese orchestra are based on those of cello and bass in the western orchestra.
The name gehu is made up of two characters. Ge stands for revolutionary and hu is derived from the word huqin , the name for all Chinese string instruments. The influence of western-oriented orchestration on Chinese music was decisive for the invention of the gehu in the 1950s. Since most Chinese string instruments tend to produce high-pitched, nasal sounds, the gehu should produce full and deep tones in order to expand the sound spectrum.
In most Chinese orchestras, the cello and double bass are still preferred to the gehu , which is primarily due to the lower sound volume of the gehus . In addition, the construction with the snakeskin is susceptible to moisture, which has a negative effect on the sound quality and the clarity of the voice.