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Silk strings / Qin as object / Distributed in China by Juntian Fang | 首頁 |
Marusan Hashimoto guqin strings
Silk strings from Japan 1 |
丸三桥本古琴絃
(丸三橋本 Wansanqiaoben) 2 |
The coiled first string from a set by Marusan Hashimoto 3 |
Marusan Hashimoto only recently began making strings for guqin, advertising them as "蚕丝冰弦 ice silk strings". Although "ice strings" may not be strictly accurate, the strings certainly are very smooth and easy to use.5 In making them they have the China market in mind; in this regard, for a while they were being distributed in China by Wang Peng under his own company name Juntian Fang (strings page). Is apparently ended several years later.6
Marusan Hashimoto originally made their guqin strings using rice glue, as was the custom for most Japanese stringed instruments; starting around 2018 they began also making their qin strings following the Chinese tradition of using fish glue
In 2014, when I first looked into buying Japanese qin strings, there were two ways to get the strings sold by Marusan Hashimoto under their own name (see 2019 update):
In September 2013 Marusan Hashimoto sent me a complimentary set, which I immediately tried; I then visited their factory on 10 October. My host there was 桥本英宗 Hashimoto Hidekazu, the fifth generation of Hashimotos directing the company. It was apparently his idea to experiment with silk strings for non-Japanese instruments (they have also made some for Korean kayagum as well as for other Chinese instruments). While doing research for qin strings he was able to visit the Shoso-In and see up close the strings they have stored together with their Tang dynasty guqin (q.v.). He said that the Shoso-In itself is not sure of the age of the strings in their collection.
After a tour of the factory we discussed briefly the manufacture and the source of the silk. The silk is all local, he said, crediting the strength of their strings to the high sericin content of the original fiber from the silkworms, which are from a nearby prefecture, as well as to the purity of the local water, in which the cocoons must be boiled. For their qin strings they developed their own spinning techniques, though apparently with some advice from China. However, they do not cook the strings in any of the glues known to have been used in China; instead they use only glue made from "sweet rice" (rice with a high gluten content). Likewise, to preserve and restore these strings one should use glue made from rice cakes (further below).
Evaluation of the Marusan Hashimoto strings (August 2014)
In July 2014 Marusan Hashimoto sent me two more sets of strings for evaluation, one called "Normal", the other "More thick". The following comments are based largely on having used my original set for about ten months. In addition, I have strung several more qin with identical sets, and have now strung two more qins with the two new sets.
On 24 September 2013 I put my set of Marusan Hashimoto silk strings on a qin made by Tong Kin-Woon. At first I tuned the qin based on the first (lowest string) having a pitch of just over 100 Hz, i.e., near Western concert pitch G sharp (see
pitch data) and three days later made three trial recordings. A week later I tuned the strings up so that the first string was about B flat, similar to what I normally use (the metal string conservatory standard is to tune it to C). My initial reaction is very positive, but it should be emphasized that, not only are silk strings for qin supposed to last for years, they are said not to be at their best until after considerable use, perhaps some months, perhaps longer. I do not know if this has always been the case: so far it does seem to be true here, but for the time being when recording with these strings I do not use as much left hand vibrato as I might otherwise.
On 5 October 2013 I re-did the three recordings mentioned above and added a fourth (all with the first string tuned to B flat). These four recordings can be heard via the following links:
Soon after this made recordings of Huai Gu Yin comparing the sound on five different qin with five different sets of strings, including the MH strings (details).
After several months of play the Marusan Hashimoto strings became considerably smoother, similar to my well-used Taigu strings but seemingly stronger. Specifically, it seems easier to tune them higher, and the shredding problem seems to be less.
Nevertheless, the MH strings can still experience shredding. With my first set there was some shredding to the wrapping in the plucking area on the lower four strings after several months of play, but there was no problem with the rest of the string. With the Taigu strings the wrapping on the strings is prone to break anywhere; as a result Taigu recommends that one should regularly apply glue to the whole string. With the MH strings this seemed necessary only in the part of the wrapped strings where they are plucked. Following a logic that says it is best to preserve and restore strings using the same glues as were originally infused into the strings, for MH strings rice glue is recommended (e.g, not substances such as baiji, used on Chinese strings). For this MH has recommended a glue made from mochi.7 (I do not yet know how how the new MH strings with reinforced mesh fare in this regard.)
Other specific comments I can make now include the following: | Original packaging (expand; see text) |
original Nov 2013 |
"normal" Jul 2014 |
"more thick" Jul 2014 |
||
01.80 | 01.83 | 01.80 | ||
01.50 | 01.55 | 01.60 | ||
01.25 | 01.30 | 01.37 | ||
01.14 | 01.20 | 01.20 | ||
01.05 | 01.04 | 01.12 | ||
00.90 | 00.90 | 00.93 | ||
00.80 | 00.80 | 00.80 |
Marusan Hashimoto says that the 2014 strings have a strengthened wrapping gauze.
The reason for the original wide range may have been to allow the MH strings to be tuned in such a way that the tension was the same for each string when using standard tuning - the pitch was then determined solely by the gauge (though the wrapped strings should also be more dense, otherwise they would be even thicker).8 To my knowledge no Chinese string sets of recent manufacture have had this sort of range; perhaps this results from a belief that some instruments sound better with thin strings, others with thick. MH say they plan in future to have strings in three sets of thicknesses but, as it is now, the wider differences in gauge do seem to help increase the variety of sound available from my qin. It makes me think the ideal would be for strings to be readily available individually instead of only in sets.
While visiting the Marusan Hashimoto factory I also tried their strings on two qins they have there, one a cheap instrument, bought in Japan for about US$400 (the kind that uses some chemical lacquer like polyurethane instead of real lacquer), the other a Wang Peng qin. What surprised me most was that the cheap qin actually sounded good enough that I might even recommend such an instrument for a beginner. The few times I have tried similarly cheap qins with the cheap silk strings it has been my impression that the most important factor in making that combination acceptable for a beginner is that the qin be light in weight. Although the sound is not rich, it is loud enough to hear easily and still richer in sound than that of much more expensive metal string qins.
The Marusan Hashimoto strings have also come with a brief note (in English) saying "silk string's durability is not good compared to steel strings. Be careful when handling. Please do not touch with wet hands." In fact, the durability of the MH strings seems to be at least as strong as that of Chinese silk strings, so in future they should really revise this statement to say something like, "Care for silk strings is different from that for metal strings: silk strings should not be tuned as high, and the player's hands should always be both clean and dry."
For both Tobaya and Marusan Hashimoto making silk strings for guqin seems to be a spinoff from the silk strings they make for traditional Japanese instruments.
Update 2019: Marusan Hashimoto strings cooked with fish glue
1.
Marusan Hashimoto
The director, Hidekazu Hashimoto, can also be contacted via Facebook.
2.
丸三橋本 Wansanqiaoben
3.
Image: Marusan Hashimoto silk strings
In 2018 and 2019 I acquired several more sets of MH strings, this time using the more traditional Chinese glue. Initially I have not seen much difference: for me the sound differs more from which instrument they are played on, and I have not played the two different types of strings on the same instrument back to back. Another difference is likely to be how they wear over time.
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a
separate page)
Their website includes both an
English section and a
Chinese section. Their full address is:
〒529-0425 滋賀県伊香郡木之本町木之本1049番地
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"Wansanqiaoben" is the mandarin Chinese pronunciation of the Chinese characters (kanji) for "Marusan Hashimoto". Sometimes the kanji for the company Marusan Hashimoto seems to be shortened to 丸三橋; I do not know the reason for this.
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Taken with my digital camera, which was not designed for such close ups.
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4. Two fliers with the strings | The English and Chinese are different |
5.
Smoothness of MH strings
The Marusan Hashimoto strings, though smoother than standard Chinese silk strings available at present, still require a breaking in period - they improve significantly after a month of regular use (see also Breaking in new silk strings).
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6.
MH strings sold by Juntian Fang
They were called 鈞天絲絃 Juntian Sixian and were sold in what looks like a wooden box. AtRushi Shanfang in Beijing (which did not stock them) I was told the price was 1,800 yuan/set. Meanwhile MH said they were still selling the strings separately, especially outside of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
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7.
Making glue from 餅 mochi and applying this to Japanese qin strings
In modern Chinese 餅 bǐng refers to various flat breads, often made of wheat instead of rice; in Japanese "mochi" often refers to a type of Japanese sweet, but the word by itself refers to glutinous rice that has been cooked then pounded into a mass; this is then used to make the rice skin in which the sweet paste is wrapped.
Hashimoto Hidekazu, manager of Marusan Hashimoto, gave the following information about making glue from mochi then applying it to qin strings (based on translation by Yuni Han; compare strings made in China):
As for the melting, take a small piece of mochi and put in water for perhaps a day, until it softens. When soft enough, cook it at a high temperature with just enough water - not enough water and it will be too thick and so will not feel smooth to the hand; too much water and it will be too diluted. When cooking you must stir constantly so that the pot does not get burned at the bottom. When you scoop it with a ladle it should have solid consistency and not be soupy.
At the correct temperature (slightly warmer than body temperature, or ~30-40°C) the glue should penetrate easily, but at too high a temperature (over 80°) the existing wrapping may change its shape.
Mochi being a natural product, you can apply it directly by finger; after it is applied you may then wipe off excess from the string using a wet towel. Now leave it to dry fully, otherwise it will be sticky.
(Charles Tsua earlier advised using a rice paste glue made by mixing rice powder in water: bring to boil, then simmer for 10 minutes, continuously stirring until gloopy; let cool then apply. Based on the comment from "MH", "let cool" means apply it when it has cooled to just above body temperature.)
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8.
Tension of the MH strings
There seems to be some comment on this on the
Chinese language page of the MH website (see under 丸三桥本古琴丝弦的特点…").
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