Customer Reviews

Chinese Musical Instruments (Chinese Music Monograph Series)

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I picked up a copy of this book in one of the many second-hand bookstores in Berkeley, California (Moe's, I think it was), and couldn't put it down. I became fascinated by the description of the ancient two-tone bells of Marquis Yi.

In 1977, a set of 65 bells was unearthed in the tomb of Marquis Yi, dating from 433 b.c.e. They range in size from a few inches to several feet. Each bell has two different ring tones, depending whether it is struck on the front or the side. In each case, the difference between the two tones is either a minor third or a major third. This is achieved by giving the bell an elliptic cross-section; the separation of the partials for the two tones is enhanced by the addition of a set of bronze nipples around the side of the bell.

It seems that the science or art of bell acoustics was much better developed in ancient China than it is in the modern western world, as we still have no coherent explanation of how these bells could have been cast with these properties. Especially because the design does not just scale up proportionally. What mixture of theory and experiment gave rise to the ability to produce such extraordinary bells?

The description of the bells is only one 25 page chapter; there are others on reeded winds, lutes, harps, fiddles, etc. The book is a pleasure to read, and for me it raises more questions than it answers. The style is well reasoned and coherent.

Hélas! Plus d'un mois après avoir commandé ce produit (vendu par Amazon.com, LLC, je ne l'ai toujours pas reçu. More than one month after my oder, it is still not arrived. (Sold by Amazon.com, LLC)