1. Look at the materials used for Pipa. The materials of pipa, in terms of the material of the back plate, are divided into four types: top grade, high grade, mid grade, and low grade. The highest grade is made of red sandalwood, which has the best sound and the most expensive price. At present, there are very few pipas with a whole piece of red sandalwood backing. Although there are some, they are made of two or three pieces of red sandalwood. The high-end ones use mahogany as the backing material. There are many varieties of mahogany, among which old mahogany (black and red in color, which is difficult to buy at present) and new mahogany (light red in color, most of the mahogany pipa currently available on the market) This type) is made of backing material, the sound quality is better, and the price is slightly more expensive. The mid-range ones are made of rosewood and fragrant rosewood as backing materials, with good sound quality and moderate price. The second-grade ones use white wood (such as (hole) wood, etc.) as the backing material, which has poorer sound and the cheapest price. The whole backboard material is the best, and the elephant shell is the most expensive. No matter what kind of material is used to make the backboard, most of them use a single piece of backing material, and do not like to use a backing material made up of several pieces. Because the backing material is made up of several pieces, the appearance and sound will not be affected when you buy it new. But after using it for a period of time, traces of the stitching will be visible in the joints. If they are deglued, the sound will also deteriorate. The entire backing material must also be checked for cracks or deformation. How to distinguish the backing material of rosewood, old mahogany and new mahogany, you can use a knife to scrape off the paint at the back of the mountain pass and the upper end of the backing material, and then use the test method or use the naked eye to observe its wood grain and color. If you don’t understand the wood grain color of red sandalwood and don’t know how to test it, you’d better ask someone who knows how to look at it to choose it together, because there are too few red sandalwood materials at present, and it is inevitable that there will be shoddy products. In terms of cost and price, the materials used for Shankou, Liuxiang and Fengzhen include ivory, jade, white horn, black horn, aggregate, mahogany, etc. Elephant shell is the most expensive and mahogany is the cheapest. There are several types of head flowers: ivory, jade, aggregate, etc. There are several types of precious seeds, including ivory, rosewood, boxwood, and mahogany. The head angle, string groove, and strings should be evenly matched. In terms of the shape of the pipa, the size of the head, the curvature of the string groove, the slope of the four strings, the length, thickness, etc. are all based on uniformity and beautiful fit. The grinding work should be fine and the paint color should be elegant. The neck of the pipa (the six phases) should not be too thick or wide, nor should the first fret position be too thick or wide. If it is too thick and wide, the left hand will feel tired when pressing notes, which is not conducive to the left hand's pressing action, especially Women's fingers are shorter and more laborious. Carefully observe whether the phase is similar to the left outer end of the first string on the first fret and the outer end of the fourth string. It is common that the distance between the first string and the left outer end of the first fret is short, and the distance between the fourth string and the right outer end of the first fret is longer. When playing "yin" or "pull" on the sub-strings, the string body can easily slide out of the fret end and cause the string to slide out of the fret end. No more music. This is a production flaw. Most of the reasons are due to not sticking the back hand to the center of the lower abdomen of the panel, or because the Yamaguchi string is opened to the left or unevenly. The surface of the compound hand should be horizontal and should not be semicircular. Firstly, it is related to pronunciation. Secondly, it is semicircular. When the string body is tightened upward, the string body at the mouth of the compound hand will be concave downward. Here The string body will be prone to breakage. The first string is the thinnest, has the highest pitch, and is used more frequently. For this reason, the first string is the easiest to break and must often be replaced. Generally, a wire trough is sawn under the turn-through hole of the compound string, and the strings can be changed through this trough, which can save the time of changing the strings. However, some manufacturers only cut a very thin wire trough. When actually changing strings, they cannot use this wire trough to change strings, making this wire trough useless. Therefore, this wire trough must be wider, and more of the backhand side of the wire trough must be removed, so that the string can be easily changed through this wire trough. The frets and phases are both phonetic devices on the pipa, and the position of each fret must be accurate. Between each product, from top to bottom, from wide to narrow, the arrangement is very even. In particular, you should look at the distance between the upper end of the 18th fret and the string body, which should be O. 4 to O. 5 cm; if the distance exceeds O. If it is above 6 cm, you will feel very tired when pressing the next button. For this reason, the distance between the string body and the upper end of the 18th fret exceeds O. The 6 cm product is a manufacturing defect and should be replaced.
2. Listening: The pipa, with its strong and loud volume and rich stone tone, is the primary choice for buyers. A pipa with good sound will make you love it and never let go when you play it. The more I play, the more I love playing. It can be said that I never get tired of playing. Therefore, when purchasing a pipa, you must first play it and listen to its sound effects. The older generation of performers once listed the five timbres of the pipa: "sharp", "tang", "loose", "crisp" and "explosive", and asked for the five tones of sharp, tang, loose, crisp and explosive on a pipa. All timbres are available. "Sharp" means that the sound of the lower treble is very bright; "tang" means that the sound of the upper bass area is very rich; "loose" means that the sound is very sensitive after playing the string; "crisp" means that the sound of the first, second, and third frets is very clear. The tone of the position is very crisp; "explosion" refers to the tone that can make the sound of metal and stone. The sound is thick and weighty, and the sound can be transmitted far. Among them, there are huge contradictions in the production of Tang, Song and Bao. For example, on the pipa that can produce the sound of hall and pine, the sound of explosive metal and stone can mostly not be heard. On the pipa that can produce the sound of solid and rich metal and stone, most of the sound effects of hall and pine are lost. How to make a pipa have a loud volume, a very sensitive response, and at the same time a sound of metal and stone, and a solid and powerful tone. This is the goal of pipa masters, and it is also a technical issue in production. Here is No detailed introduction is given.
The technique used to make the panel and the quality of the panel have the most direct and close relationship with the pronunciation of the pipa. In the past, panels were made of sycamore wood boards from Zhejiang, Fujian, Anhui and other places. After many experiments and comparisons, it is now made using paulownia boards grown in Lankao, Henan. However, Lankao's paulownia boards also have advantages and disadvantages. But on a high-quality Lankao paulownia tree, there are only two best boards. Whether the best paulownia board can be selected is another knowledge that the production masters have when selecting materials. When purchasing a pipa, you can only see whether the wood grain on the surface of the panel is straight; whether the width between grains is appropriate; whether there are any knots on the panel; whether there are gaps in the center of the panels (the panels must be aligned, in the center of the tree) Saw it, remove the hard part of the tree core with poor sound transmission or place it on the left and right sides), etc., etc., etc., etc., such as the depth and width of the sub-mouth, the position of the beam and its thickness, width, sound column The position, size and shape of the pipe, whether there are splayed beams, the curvature and depth of the inner bore, etc. have all been prepared and cannot be seen from the outside. In the past, yellow croaker fat was used to glue panels, but now pigskin glue is mixed with yellow croaker fat, which is a glue containing moisture. The volume and tone of a pipa that is glued to its top with moisture-containing glue will change after five or ten years of playing. Because after a certain period of time, the water in the glue gradually evaporates, and the volume and tone will inevitably change. For this reason, when purchasing, you must ask whether water-containing glue is used. Nowadays, chemical glue is also used when gluing panels. There are many types of chemical glues, and some newly glued panels have better acoustic effects. However, they have not passed years of practice and testing, and correct conclusions cannot be drawn about the fastness of the glue, whether there are changes in the acoustics, etc. When choosing a pipa and listening to the sound, you will generally prefer a pipa with a loud volume and a broad sound, ignoring the solid (explosive) sound of the sound. We have proven through practice that most of the pipa with large volume and broad sound lacks the sound of stone and solid timbre. After playing for a period of time, although the volume is still very loud, the sound gradually loses its "weight" and the timbre becomes "empty". It's even very "wooden" and unpleasant to listen to. This is because after a certain period of playing, the panel is constantly vibrating, and the moisture and mucus in the wood of the panel has gradually reduced. Therefore, when choosing a new pipa, you must not just rely on its loud volume and broad sound. You must also listen to whether there is the sound of metal and stone, and whether the timbre is weighty and solid. Generally speaking, it is better to choose a speaker that is not the loudest but has a very sensitive response and a thicker tone. When picking a pipa and listening to the sound, you must also pay attention to the area. Is it a pipa made in the humid areas of the south or a pipa made in the dry areas of the north? It is common to choose a loudspeaker in the south, with a more sensitive response and a sound that is not "empty". However, after being brought to a dry area in the north, the sound will suddenly become "empty" and "wooden" after five or ten days of dry weather. This is because the water and mucus in the panel evaporate quickly. For this reason, when selecting pipa from various musical instrument factories in the south, you must not rely solely on the local pronunciation. You should also take into account the changes that occur after being brought to dry areas. Therefore, when choosing a pipa in the south, it is better to choose one that is not loudest and has a solid (explosive) tone. Even if the pipa is made in the dry areas of the north, if it is not going to be used for performances immediately, it is better to choose one with a solid (explosive) tone and weight. For this reason, players who choose pipa must learn to listen and distinguish the various timbres of "sharp", "tang", "loose", "crisp" and "explosive", so that they can distinguish the four strings in each position of the trial position and the four strings in each position. Only by hearing whether the above five tones are present can you buy an ideal pipa with a long service life.