Music of Northeast China
Prominent performers from the Northeast include the mid-20th-century film composer Lei Zhenbang and pop stars Xiao Ke and Na Ying.
[4] Popular in the Liaoning, Heilong and Jilin provinces, Er-Ren Zhuan is a folk style that blends art music and dance.
[6] The Xibo, Sibe or Xibe people are a traditionally nomadic ethnic group from the Northern XinJian Yili region who emigrated to the northeast during the Qing dynasty.
[8] Scholars have recorded 10 different sub-genres of Xibo dance styles, each with their own unique characteristics heavily based upon rhythmic and melodic improvisation.
Songs from the period were composed to be sung aloud in order to reach the largely illiterate population, the collective practice of singing bolstering patriotic sentiments and encouraging a sense of community.
[11] The People's Singing Society also known as ‘Mingzhong geyonghui’ was founded in February 1935 in response to the Japanese Invasion of the north eastern region of Manchuria.
[10] The Chinese Transverse Bamboo flute known as ‘Dizi’ or ‘Di’ is commonly associated with the traditional instrumentation of both Northern ‘Bang Zi’ and Southern ‘Kun Qu’ theatre music.
The Northern ‘Bang Di’ is traditionally over a foot long, made from bamboo and consists of 7 holes covered by a reed membrane, with a pitch range of two octaves.
[14] The oldest known Xiao, carved from bone is dated circa 6000BC, however the instrument's origin is more commonly attributed to the bamboo flutes of the Han dynasty.
[14] The ‘Bei Xiao’ is commonly used in folk music of the northern region and differs from southern variants due to the close U-shaped mouthpiece.
[17] Small bells similar to the western tambourine are mounted on each side, and a drum skin typically made of snakeskin is played in a struck manner.
[20] Titled “The Instrument of Sages”[20] the Qin is often associated with Confucius due to its deep roots in Chinese music and wider cultural practices.
[citation needed] Traditionally instruments are inlaid with pearl, ivory or jade to mark the placement of key notes, in order to guide the player.
[23][12] The instrument is typically made of wood in China's north and bamboo in the nation's south, a reflection of differing regional flora.
[23] Lady Danian Herding Donkey's is regarded as a notable piece within Guanzi repertoire, for its solo featuring of the wind instrument.
[23][24] A polyphonic instrument consisting of 17 individual pipes, each of which house a single ‘free reed[23]’.The musician blows into the mouthpiece of the sheng and covers the relevant finger holes to create sound, the pipesets based on the chromatic scale allow for huge pitch range and melodic diversity.
[24] Transported to Russia in the 18th century, the unique free-reed structure of the Sheng inspired significant western cultural instruments such as the accordion, concertina and harmonica.
