Fretted, Electric Chinese Erhu

Fretted, Electric Chinese Erhu - World's First??

Рет қаралды 21,469

3 жыл бұрын

Yang of www.the-either.com wanted to turn a fingerboardless, ancient Chinese fiddle in to a modern, fretted, electric monster. I'm all in. Here's there KZfaq channel: / @theeither
I used www.Richlite.com for the fingerboard.
Check out his bandmate's 5-string pipa: • Five-String Electric P...
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be good,
Tim

Пікірлер: 230

@davewilliams6172 3 жыл бұрын

Oh boy....the hairs on the back of my neck just stood up when Yang played this at the end, especially on the low notes! Tim Sway and "The Heretics of Tune" Brilliant build. Many thanks to you and Yang for not being afraid to go against the Traditionalists on this one.

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

cheers man! We already have a ot of ideas to improve it and stray further from the original, more into "new instrument" territory.

@nathanjasper512 3 жыл бұрын

It's interesting it looks like a combination between a star wars shuttlecraft and a really old camera

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

lol. some of those props were made out of knobs and things of the era... Maybe cameras were used?

@negotiableaffections 3 жыл бұрын

So I'm not alone in my 50's camera accessory thing? Sounds fantastic for a camera and more like a Hasselblad than a Kodak! A Kodak would sound more like a Woolworths 'learn guitar' accoustic!

@stormbound_guitars 3 жыл бұрын

I was going to say the same about the camera.

@Deacon240 3 жыл бұрын

The range that instrument gets with just two strings is absolutely incredible! Nice work bringing it to life!

@ancientmartianunderground6413 2 жыл бұрын

The Erhu is as powerful as a monophonic analog synth. Brilliant video, thanks

@lrstaf6 3 жыл бұрын

The sound of this instrument is beautiful and your workmanship is great too. I think you and Yang should produce these for sale to other players. You guys are on to something here.

@franciscodanconia3551 3 жыл бұрын

I was skeptical of putting frets on the Erhu because I've been listening to the Hu a lot lately, and the acoustic version kind of reminds me of a smaller Morin Khuur. It came out really awesome, and sounds great, though. It looks like it could almost be one of those big old analog Moog synthesizer modules, but with strings instead of knobs and sliders. Very cool.

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

cool imagry. thanks!

@iampozyman 3 жыл бұрын

That is a great idea!

@michaelsablan8772 Жыл бұрын

Aloha Tim! I purchased an Erhu several months ago here in Hawaii….to play several modern songs that I have in mind. I pick up different types of instruments that catch my interest and teach myself how to play them. The title caught my eye with surprise and even more seeing that you were involved with the innovation, design and collaboration of this next gen Erhu. Woohoo! I enjoyed every video of yours that I have seen and this is an exciting one to see a change being made on a thousand year plus old instrument design! Mahalo nui loa for sharing your time as always. Aloha braddah….

@timsway Жыл бұрын

cheers! I have another erhu video coming out pretty soon, a little different than this one but same concept.

@spurioustransients 3 жыл бұрын

Wow! To listen to him playing it at the end, that is quite some instrument. You should be very proud to be part of its story.

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

It's an honor

@ThomasGoedecke 3 жыл бұрын

Absolutely love the mentality going into this. You went into this with the intention to create, not recreate or reinvent or "improve", but just to make something new. I admittedly came into this video ready to yell at you for trying to make the erhu "better" or by equivocating westernization with modernization, but you didn't! And you even addressed the issues of the project going into it! Love this! A fretted erhu is a different instrument, and hardly an erhu at all, but that doesn't make it less or more of an interesting instrument. It just gives someone who is proficient with erhu the ability to create different music with the years of experience they have on their instrument. And if that isn't the core of music making I don't know what is.

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

Exactly. If my white, American self set out to "make the erhu better" by making it "more guitar-like" that's a totally different story :) This is Yang's dream, I am just the tool he used to achieve it.

@paulvangemmeren9351 3 жыл бұрын

Maybe this is a sign that the validity of projects should not immediately be judged for the demographic of the people undertaking them.

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

@@paulvangemmeren9351 That is good advice for everyone, always, about everything.

@Kimoto504 3 жыл бұрын

Ha ha, even trying to "modernize" the "western" violin gets hatred, though as you mention there is an even more difficult context with doing that to non-"western" instruments. Even though guitars as we know them are "western", there still is resistance to applying some of its tech to violins like just the tuners...

@TheTrophyStore 3 жыл бұрын

I was so looking forward to this, worth the wait. I made a a custom trophy today on my CNC with a rail line segment and pins, custom work is so much fun. More More More.....

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

awesome, man

@brx017 3 жыл бұрын

Getting a "Refused - The Shape Of Punk To Come" album vibe off that clip at the end! 👍

@gk6993 3 жыл бұрын

Didn't even see this one come up on my subs. Glad I've watched it now.

@StephenBecker 3 жыл бұрын

That thing sounds amazing! I'd love to hear it with some metal-style heavy distortion too.

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

follow The Either band and you certainly will!

@BrianTracy33 3 жыл бұрын

The Slo-mo shot at 8:14 was hilarious. Another great video Tim, thanks for sharing.

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

Most tedious fret job ever.

@yucatansuckaman5726 2 жыл бұрын

This channel is just prime content. Like all of it.

@DanGoodShotHD 3 жыл бұрын

"This is a real look at the pace but, this is what it felt like." I know the feeling! If I'm going to mess something up. That's usually when. My dad would always say to me growing up, "You need to have patience, son." Whenever I have those moments I swear I can still hear him saying that. Especially after I mess it up! 😆 I 've always enjoy the sound of an erhu. Its a very unique, recognizable sound I find so relaxing. Very nice erhutar. The sound from that is incredible! Definitely one of a kind. Wow. Being in CT I really have to go check out your stuff sometime. Great job Tim!

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

"erhutar" - I love it! Thanks

@eugene188 3 жыл бұрын

what a cool finished product! Yesterday I just watched an episode from a Chinese TV series called DayDayUp from 2018 where an Erhu teacher attaches an amp to it. And he does delays and stuff to give it a very different sound. Not as modern as this one but still really cool.

@williamhart4896 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Tim that's a suprising heavy sound from just two strings

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

I know. A bow, used properly, can crush!

@williamhart4896 3 жыл бұрын

@@timsway did it rather nicely from what listened to

@williamhart4896 3 жыл бұрын

Sorry brother my spelling and grammar is a bit atrocious at times ..

@oojagapivy 3 жыл бұрын

That demo at the end was haunting. Kind of GOT like. Exciting times for you getting to be involved in this cross-over style of instrument making.

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

It's a lot of work but very rewarding. thank you

@themorrigan1312 3 жыл бұрын

I love how Tim advertises richlite like it *isn't* something brands like Gibson used all the time to replace rosewood and the like

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

Not everyone knows that.

@benjaminwigler8271 3 жыл бұрын

I have been dreaming of a fretted, electric erhu ever since I started playing the traditional one in NYC over a decade ago. I’m so glad someone finally went for it, and I’m glad it sounds as good as I knew it could!!! I’m sure you couldn’t be... swayed... into building a second... But if you could, I’d order one and play the hell out of it :) And it wouldn’t be anywhere near the weirdest instrument I’ve commissioned! (David Myka made me the world’s first electric Portuguese Guitarra and Kelvin Daly built me an instrument that is part-banjo, part-bongo, part fretless guitar, and part thumb piano!!!)

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

Yea man, I can make you one, or whatever weird musical things you seek. Contact me via newperspectivesmusic.com

@Blattella 3 жыл бұрын

i ended up here because i wanted to see an electric erhu in action but i hadnt once considered how it wouldve been made. this gave me a new appreciation for your craft

@arthurbrown7501 3 жыл бұрын

That’s an incredible build Tim, really impressed at the sound to, blew me away.

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

thanks!

@AndyBirkeyMaker 3 жыл бұрын

Fascinating collaboration, dude.

@NeverNotMaking 3 жыл бұрын

As cool as that thing looks... it sounds even cooler!

@tonywilkinson6005 Жыл бұрын

That sounds amazing, just sent a link to a friend as his son plays the erhu.

@whansandceros 3 жыл бұрын

wow the sound demo by the artist on this absolutely sells it from 99 to 100% locks it in

@cobralyoner 3 жыл бұрын

man that thing sounds amazing.

@derrickharmon7980 3 жыл бұрын

Wow that was awesome at the end bravo yang ☯️👏🏼

@findhome1639 2 жыл бұрын

Wow! Bravo! I watched a clip of his performing in an app. I got so interested in the electric erhu he was playing with. Then I started searching online to see if I could purchase anywhere. I did found some electric erhu on Amazon but it didn’t look alike the one he had. And I found your video here! This is brilliance.

@timsway 2 жыл бұрын

Yang is a wicked talented dude. I made some electric pipas for has bandmate in the band The Either. check them out.

@distortohio 3 жыл бұрын

Incredible

@RoseKindred 3 жыл бұрын

I have always wanted to learn to play the Erhu. Such a delicate and interesting instrument. Love the electrification you did.

@GregsGarage 3 жыл бұрын

Ok... That's gotta be the coolest goddamn thing I've seen in 10 years. The baritone range that it has sounds incredible. It's so cool when a group of creative folks put their heads together and redefine something like this. If you ever do a V2 and need some machining done, just let me know and I'll help in whatever way I can.

@AndyBirkeyMaker 3 жыл бұрын

Absolutely.

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

good to know. I will keep that in mind. thanks!

@javanthomas4122 3 жыл бұрын

Beautiful work

@garagemonkeysan 3 жыл бұрын

Great video, cool story. Beautiful build, primo luthier skills. Erhu sounds great, the extra scale is noticeable. Mahalo for sharing! : )

@jandavis1523 3 жыл бұрын

A beautiful instrument that sounds fantastic!!! Well done!

@dfbess 3 жыл бұрын

Blown away again Tim!

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

thanks!

@FigmentsMade 3 жыл бұрын

It sounds so cool and it looks fantastic!

@samaker4 3 жыл бұрын

I love these un-traditional builds of yours Tim. The problem solving is great. You should contact Rob Scallon show him what you have build and colab something with him

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

I don't know enough about him or his work, but my guess is every guitar maker on the planet wants to do stuff with him! lol. I prefer to blaze my own trail :)

@samaker4 3 жыл бұрын

@@timsway I have been binge-ing his videos of late. He did a whole series of discovering different musical instruments that is worth watching.

@scillyautomatic 3 жыл бұрын

I LOVE the idea of creating new instruments! There is NO shame is building on the work of others. It is indeed an homage to the traditional instruments.

@guitfidle 3 жыл бұрын

So cool! How did I not see this when you posted it...... This is totally like something I would make, I even bought a cheap ehru a couple years ago to experiment with. (It’s missing the bridge and one tuning peg). I’ve actually built a few experimental bowed instruments along these lines.

@JkCanvas 3 жыл бұрын

Turned out awesome as always. Thank you for sharing and walking us non musicians through the process

@Alcamprieto 3 жыл бұрын

What the hell, dude! This was awesome.

@BillyMcCord 3 жыл бұрын

This is very cool Tim !!

@413DaveRN 3 жыл бұрын

Tim Sway, Monty Python and a cool new instrument all in one video? Come on!

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

lol

@stinky_lizard 3 жыл бұрын

the thing i love about erhu is how slidey it is but this is still wicked cool

@alterbratzi5037 3 жыл бұрын

Fantastic 😃

@adammono1839 3 жыл бұрын

Some interesting problem solving and artistry going on tim. The end result is really fantastic

@adammono1839 3 жыл бұрын

How did the piezo end up sounding too? They're sometimes a bit tinny without active electronics

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

It's indeed a little tinny. I am not a fan of piezos even with active electronics backing them up, which is why I added the magnet to warm it up.

@adammono1839 3 жыл бұрын

It's a nice option to have though isn't it. Putting a tone capacitor in can help with a passive circuit but it's still no match for a magnetic pickup

@southjersey10 3 жыл бұрын

Such art!

@johnmitchelljr 3 жыл бұрын

Nice. Thank you.

@Niskan40 3 жыл бұрын

Damn that's one fine instrument!!

@sapelesteve 3 жыл бұрын

That Erhu is totally off the freaking charts Tim! Those are the smallest frets & fretboard that I have ever seen on any instrument. I was surprised at how it sounds. Really incredible! Hopefully, you get many more opportunities to alter & build other instruments like that. Great work buddy........... 👍👍👏👏😉😉

@p_mouse8676 3 жыл бұрын

I absolutely love your projects. They are right into my alley! Creative, out of the box yet a bit funky and maybe even a little quirky. 👍🏻👍🏻😎

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

That sounds familiar :)

@plywoodcarjohnson5412 3 жыл бұрын

He didn't seem to mind playing it! Cool stuff. Personally Im just going to see if I can rout pickup cavities with a drill and chisel. But u did it neatly in this video so I was encouraged! So much fun. And in the end.. A guitar!!!

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

yea man, that's how I used to do it! Make sure you very carefully define the outline at the top first, and shallowly, then slowly chip away at bringing that line all the way down. It's when you try to do to much at once that things go wrong.

@kristian.perez_ 3 жыл бұрын

This is like watching Da Vinci make his creations

@balalaikabeginner 3 жыл бұрын

I can't wait to see how the final product turns out! This already sounds fantastic!

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

They were just at my shop last week discussing mods and new instruments. I want them to wait and live with these a little longer to make sure all the ideas come to the surface before round 2 :)

@marbles2223 3 жыл бұрын

Your videos are insanely inspiring. Great work!

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

Glad you like them! thank you

@douglasharley2440 3 жыл бұрын

really cool look and sound! *extremely interesting* , as always.

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you! Cheers!

@normalizedaudio2481 3 жыл бұрын

Fret nightmare. It looks really hard.

@SchysCraftCo. 3 жыл бұрын

Wow that's amazing

@nathanjasper512 3 жыл бұрын

Erhu's have a lovely sound. The veitnamese Dan Bau is also amazing. Its good to see you take an interest in the music of other cultures. I don't think it makes you a heretic. electrifying an instrument doesn't take away from its acoustic version it just introduces it to people who wouldn't otherwise be exposed to it. The more people that can be introduced to these exotic instruments the better the odds that they will continue to survive.

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

I completely agree, others may not. lol. I think if I, as a white, guitar-y American, did this on my own it would be cultural appropriation, but since it is Yang's vision - and Yang is obviously quite qualified to have an opinion in the matter - it makes it a different story.

@sgsax 3 жыл бұрын

I started following the band when you were working on the pipa. It is so cool to listen to them and hear what they are doing with traditional music and instruments and bringing both into the 21st century. It must be a blast to be a part of that experimentation. This erhu looks and sounds awesome! Now that the musicians have had these for a while, have they asked for any adjustments so that the instruments work better for how they play them? Thanks for sharing!

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

they were just at my shop last week discussing changes, mods, future redesigns, etc. :)

@davebauerart 3 жыл бұрын

Really interesting to see how you take your skills and experience and learn to build something new.

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

thanks man. This was a joy to make

@Francois_L_7933 3 жыл бұрын

Interesting. It has some sort of electronic sound to it that's quite unique. If you ever need to build some more pickups for instruments where the strings are really close together, you should consider taking apart a wall wart transformer. They contain a small transformer that once you remove the winding with the thick wire and add a magnet to the center makes them a pretty efficient pickup. You do need to pot the magnet in hot glue to prevent it from being microphonic.

@MrBlueyes95 3 жыл бұрын

That’s so damn sick sounds awesome

@sinianzhang 3 жыл бұрын

That's really cool!

@heymrguitarman7637 3 жыл бұрын

You should also try Rocklite instead of richlite. Rocklite is made of actual wood splinters instead of paper. The rest of the concept is similar so it's just as sustainable and it performs a lot more like traditional wood.

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

I am familiar but choose Richlite for a couple reasons, the main one being they are US-based (Rocklite is UK based) and the fact that it's recycled paper is more attractive to me.

@user-wt2dh9kt7s 2 жыл бұрын

Nice work

@SeraphimKnight 3 жыл бұрын

Not sure about currently but at least for a good amount of years richlite was what gibson used in place of ebony for fretboards on their guitars thanks to the whole ebony debacle that happened some years back.

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

Yea man, we need to slow down (or stop) using a lot of those woods. They are not necessary as I try to show over and over again in my work, which is all made from locally sourced and/or reclaimed materials.

@bjdenil 3 жыл бұрын

Love it!

@Bill.L.Carroll 3 жыл бұрын

Mate, that was sh¡t hot! 🤘🏾 What an incredible job you did, looks and sounds absolutely amazing. 👍🏾

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

lol. thanks man

@jpkalishek4586 3 жыл бұрын

That is cool.

@michaelanthony9068 Жыл бұрын

Amazing building skills ! I notice this wonderful musician had not yet figured out how to apply vibrato to his notes, since vibrato on an erhu is done the same way as on a western 4 string violin, not possible with frets. I feel sure he’s working on it !

@timsway Жыл бұрын

good eye/ear. we ended up making a slightly wider fingerboard for it so he could apply vibrato like a guitarist.

@DoppelgangerShockwave 3 жыл бұрын

That looked and sounded phenomenal, Tim. Would love to see them two jam together on the new instruments you created. :)

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

Unfortunately due to Covid, the band has not been performing, but they have been writing and recording so I hope we see some of that soon!

@MilesMcNallyLuthierie 3 жыл бұрын

That turned out awesome. Had a good laugh at the fretting part, that looked really tedious haha

@brianpite0893 3 жыл бұрын

Pretty Amazing!!

@manderson9289 3 жыл бұрын

Bark!

@phil.pinsky 3 жыл бұрын

The instrument came out beautifully. Please have this gentleman play the Game of Thrones theme. I insist!

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

Which Star Trek theme?

@MrGeoffreySmith 3 жыл бұрын

That looks and sounds absolutely fantastic 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you 😋

@Sun-ut9gr 3 жыл бұрын

TIL about a new instrument and witnessed the birth of its next generation. I'd say it was a good day.

@LukeTheJoker 3 жыл бұрын

Very cool.

@robmarmaduke 3 жыл бұрын

Very cool

@rock7045 3 жыл бұрын

Really cool! 🤘👊

@SethKotta 3 жыл бұрын

Well, if that ain't the most badass thing I've seen in a while...

@Esrom_music 3 жыл бұрын

Oh that's sounds damned good

@bigweld4328 3 жыл бұрын

the body kinda looks like an old film camera, especially with those knobs

@johngrant5749 3 жыл бұрын

Great instrument. Sounds fantastic with only 2 strings. Shame about all the ads. Thanks you tube.

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

I know, it gets worse every year. In theory that's good for me and I'll make a fe bucks, but I'm not sure I want to that way. For the first 5 years of my channel I had ads turned off so my work would not look like wrapping for commericials, but when you do that the algorithm has no incentive to share your videos (no profit) so it is VERY difficult to get seen...

@johngrant5749 3 жыл бұрын

I didn’t mind the start ads, as you say great for you, which I obviously have no objection to, but the new 8 minute limit, and the number of intermediate ads are really objectionable, despite what they say about inserting at suitable points. Music vids are totally ruined. Hopefully they’ll backtrack. I watch away from the screen so it’s a pain to get up to cancel ads every few minutes. Rant over. 😡😆 Keep up the good work. I bought a book years ago, The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Musical Instruments, with a page on Fiddles (Erh-hu) which include ones similar to yours. I bought the book with the intention of copying them so fantastic to see your method.

@edgarwalk5637 3 жыл бұрын

Sacreligeous! Just the way I like it!

@kobyUchiha 2 жыл бұрын

I would love something like this. Do you do custom work? Would you be willing to make an "electric" or "updated" tagelharpa"?

@NobiMc 3 жыл бұрын

Hey Tim, super interesting. A bunch of clever, talented people working together to make something new. I'd imagine it would be so satisfying for all concerned, right down to those of us who watch. Any other band members working out the next project? Be good!

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

Make sure you check out the pipa if you haven't and we are already discussing ways to improve these instruments and fine different "locations" between original and new. The next pipa may be less guitar like and the next erhu may be more guitar like!

@annie4971 3 жыл бұрын

You are amazing 😮🙂💃🎶💃🎶🇦🇺

@fredericthom8113 3 жыл бұрын

it was Super Interesting !!!

@PeterHertel 3 жыл бұрын

How long has it been since you mentioned the collaboration on the podcast? Feels like ages ago. The deeper tones really got to me, that was a good addition. Great work, can't wait to see what future versions or other instruments you invent together. Regards from Peter on the island with the huge tree eating sheep. :-P

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

An island on my list to visit!! LOL. I originally met Yang, Jiaju and Zongli on the day before Thanksgiving last year. I remember this because they drove up from the city on one of the worst travel days of the year!

@seanfinkel9621 3 жыл бұрын

THE SICKEST

@vileguile4 3 жыл бұрын

Holy Sh*t! It sounds great :D

@Kimoto504 3 жыл бұрын

Cool. Well, you completed yours first, as I've been piddling around with prototypes for the same concept since 2019. I planned to go fretless with mine though. I'm about to build another one and was considering making it more "traditional". Hmmm... after watching this maybe I'll stick with my first idea of just straight modernizing it. Love the sound of yours and it's a cool design overall.

@timsway 3 жыл бұрын

I forget the name, but there's another guy in the comments who made one, too. scroll through and see if you can find it.

@alice10888 2 жыл бұрын

Hi Tim, thanks for sharing this. I have a traditional erhu right now that I put a piezoelectric mic on, so that I can use it with amps and different kinds of guitar pedal. It would be really fun to compare the sounds of my erhu thru effects pedals and the electric erhu you made. Are you making more of them and selling them by any chance?

@timsway 2 жыл бұрын

They are all custom orders. If you would like to order one you can contact me via newperspectivesmusic.com to discuss.