La Macina di San Cresci - The Erhu instrument

Frank Mc Cullar plays the Erhu instrument in the Pieve di San Cresci .

The erhu is a very old instrument which belongs to a class of instruments known as 'spike fiddles'. It probably originated in the central Asia but arrived in China 1000 years ago and now is one of the main instruments used in classic Chinese music.
The name Erhu is derived from the word for two - er - referring to the number of strings and the second part of the name -hu - refers to huqin - meaning barbarian instrument, a class of instrument that originated from the non-Han people.

It is made from hardwood, ideally small leaf sandalwood or paduak or from old furniture. The sound chamber is usually either octagonal in northern China or hexagonal in southern China. The drum head is made from python skin. It is played with a loosely strung horsehair bow that runs between the two strings. The inner string is tuned at D4 and the outer string at A4. It has a range is three octaves and a hollow, voice-like sound that can be modified by bowing technique and vibrato. The sound has been compared to the human voice and double reed instruments.

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