Ruan
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- For the town in Ireland, Ruan, County Clare.
The ruan (阮, pinyin: ruǎn) is a Chinese plucked string instrument. It is a lute with a fretted neck, a circular body, and four strings. Its strings were formerly made of silk but since the 20th century they have been made of steel (flatwound for the lower strings). The modern ruan has 24 frets with 12 semitones on each string, which has greatly expanded its range from a previous 13 frets. The frets are commonly made of ivory. Or in recent times, metal mounted on wood. The metal frets produce a brighter tone as compared to the ivory frets. It is sometimes called ruanqin (阮琴), particularly in Taiwan.
It comes in a family of five sizes:
- Soprano: Gaoyinruan (高音阮, lit. "high pitched ruan"; tuning: G3-D4-G4-D5)
- Alto: Xiaoruan (小阮, lit. "small ruan"; tuning: D3-A3-D4-A4)
- Tenor: Zhongruan (中阮, lit. "medium ruan"; tuning: G2-D3-G3-D4)
- Bass: Daruan (大阮, lit. "large ruan"; tuning: D2-A2-D3-A3)
- Contrabass: Diyinruan (低音阮, lit. "low pitched ruan"; tuning: G1-D2-G2-D3)
The ruan is now most commonly used in Chinese opera and the Chinese orchestra, where it belongs to the plucked string (弹拨乐 or chordophone) section.
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[edit] Playing techniques and usage
The instrument can be played using a plectrum similar to a guitar pick (formerly made of animal horn, but today often plastic), or using a set of two or five acrylic nails that are affixed to the fingers with adhesive tape. Mainstream ruan players use plectrums, though there are some schools which teach the fingernail technique, similar to that of the pipa. Pipa players who play ruan as a second instrument also often use their fingernails. Plectrums produce a louder and more clear tone, while fingernails allow the performance of polyphonic solo music. The instrument produces a mellow tone.
In Chinese orchestras, only the zhongruan and daruan are commonly used, to fill in the tenor and bass section of the plucked string section. Occasionally the gaoyinruan is used to substitute the high-pitched liuqin.
Daruan soloists generally use the D-A-D-A tuning, as it allows for the easy performance of diatonic chords. Some orchestral players tune to C-G-D-A, which is exactly the same as cello tuning. The advantage of using C-G-D-A in orchestras is so that the daruan can easily double the cello part.
A ruan ensemble (重奏) consists of two or more members of the ruan family, for instance, an ensemble of the xiaoruan, zhongruan and daruan. The wide range covered by the ruan, its easily blended tone quality, and the variety of soprano, alto, tenor, bass, and contrabass instruments all make ruan ensembles very effective in playing polyphonic music.
[edit] History
With a history of over 2000 years, the ruan has gone by several names: the qin pipa (秦琵琶) (after the Qin dynasty), and yueqin (月琴) ("moon-shaped lute", though now yueqin refers to a separate relative of the ruan which has no soundholes). According to the Pipa Annals 《琵琶赋》 by Bo Xuan (博玄) of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the ruan was designed after revision of other Chinese plucked string instruments of the day, including the Chinese zither, zheng (筝), zhu, (筑) and konghou (箜篌), or Chinese harp. The ruan came to be named ruanxian, after Ruan Xian (阮咸), one of the reputed "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove" (竹林七贤) of the Six Dynasties period (3rd century AD) in ancient China, who was a highly skilled master of the instrument. Over time, the name was shortened to ruan.
The famed Tang poet Bai Juyi (白居易) once penned a poem about the ruan, entitled 和令狐撲射小欽聽阮咸:
- 掩抑复凄清，非琴不是筝。还弹乐府曲，别占阮家名。古调何人知，初闻满座惊。
[edit] Laruan (bowed ruan)
In addition to the plucked ruan instruments mentioned above, there also exist a family of bowed string instruments called lāruǎn and dalaruan (literally "bowed ruan" and "large bowed ruan"). Both are bowed bass register instruments designed as alternatives to the gehu and diyingehu in large orchestras of Chinese traditional instruments. These instruments correspond to the cello and double bass in range. Chinese orchestras currently using the laruan and dalaruan include the China National Traditional Orchestra and Central Broadcasting National Orchestra, the latter formerly conducted by the late maestro Peng Xiuwen (彭修文).
[edit] Ruan repertoire
A famous work in the zhongruan repertoire is the zhongruan concerto "Reminiscences of Yunnan" 《云南回忆》 by Liu Xing (刘星, b. China, 1962), the first full-scale concerto for the zhongruan and the Chinese orchestra. This work finally established the zhongruan as an instrument capable of playing solo with the Chinese orchestra.
Some works for the ruan:
- 《满江红》 Red Fills the River - zhongruan concerto
- 《汉琵琶情》 Love of the Han Pipa - zhongruan concerto
- 《玉关引》 Narration of Yuguan - ruan quartet
- 《山韵》 Mountain Tune - zhongruan concerto
- 《塞外音诗》 Sound Poem Beyond The Great Wall- zhongruan concerto
- 《泼水节》The Water Festival- Ruan Tecerto
- 《睡莲》 Water Lilies- zhongruan solo
- 《火把节之夜》 Night of the Torch Festival- zhongruan solo 吴俊生* - Fernwood "Nightingale"
- 《翠华山的传说》
Some of Lin Jiliang's compositions for the ruan:
- 《石头韵》
- 《凤凰花开》
- 《满江红》
- 《侗歌》
- 《草原抒怀》
- 《牧马人之歌》
- 《石林夜曲》
Some of Liu Xing's compositions for the ruan:
- 《云南回忆》 Reminiscences of Yunnan, zhongruan concerto
- 《山歌》, zhongruan solo
- 《月光》, zhongruan solo
- 《孤芳自赏》, zhongruan solo
- 《天地之间》, zhongruan solo
- 《第六号-异想天开》, zhongruan duet
- 《第七号- 夜长梦多》, zhongruan solo
- 《第十一号-心不在焉》, zhongruan solo
- 《流连忘返》, zhongruan solo
- 《随心所欲》, zhongruan solo
- 《回心转意》, zhongruan solo
- 《来日方长》, zhongruan solo
- 《无所事事》, zhongruan solo
- 《水到渠成》, zhongruan solo
- 《心旷神怡》, zhongruan solo
Some of Ning Yong's compositions for the ruan:
- 《拍鼓翔龙》 Flying Dragons in Drum Beats, zhongruan solo (composed with Lin Jiliang)
- 《丝路驼铃》 Camel Bells on the Silk Road, zhongruan/ daruan solo
- 《篮关雪》 Snow at Lan Guan, zhongruan solo
- 《终南古韵》 Ancient Tune of Zhongnan, zhongruan/ daruan solo
- 《望秦川》 zhongruan solo
[edit] Notable players/composer of the ruan
- Cui Jun Miao (崔军淼)
- Ding Xiaoyan (丁晓燕)
- Fei Jian Rong(费剑蓉)
- Qiu Xia He (何秋霞)
- Lin Jiliang (林吉良)
- Liu Bo (刘波）
- Liu Xing (刘星)
- Miao Xiaoyun (苗晓芸)
- Ning Yong (宁勇）
- Ruan Shi Chun (阮仕春)
- Shen Fei (沈飞)
- Wang Zhong Bing (王仲丙)
- Wei Wei(魏蔚)
- Wei Yuru (魏育茹)
- Wu Man (吴蛮)
- Wu Qiang (吴强)
- Xu Yang (徐阳)
- Zhang Rong Hui (张蓉晖)
[edit] Ruan makers
[edit] Beijing
- Hsinghai
[edit] Shanghai
- Dunhuang
[edit] Suzhou
- Huqiu (虎丘)
[edit] External links
[edit] More information
- Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove
- Ruan
- An introduction to the ruan on the Chinese Culture Channel in traditional Chinese
- http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/ruan/
- Ruan photographs (fifth, sixth, and seventh rows)
[edit] Listening
- Audio of zhongruan (click headphones to listen to individual tracks)
[edit] See also
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This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters. |
| Traditional Chinese musical instruments | ||
|---|---|---|
| Silk (string) | Plucked | Guqin · Se · Guzheng · Konghou · Pipa · Sanxian · Ruan · Liuqin · Yueqin · Qinqin · Duxianqin |
| Bowed | Huqin · Erhu · Zhonghu · Gaohu · Banhu · Jinghu · Erxian · Tiqin · Tihu · Yehu · Tuhu · Jiaohu · Sihu · Sanhu · Zhuihu · Zhuiqin · Leiqin · Dihu · (Xiaodihu · Zhongdihu · Dadihu) · Gehu · Diyingehu · Laruan · Matouqin · Yazheng | |
| Struck | Yangqin · Zhu | |
| Bamboo (woodwind) | Flutes | Dizi · Xiao · Paixiao · Koudi |
| Oboes | Guan · Suona | |
| Free-reed pipes | Bawu · Mangtong | |
| Gourd (woodwind) | Sheng · Yu · Hulusi · Hulusheng | |
| Percussion | Wood | Muyu · Paiban · Guban |
| Stone | Bianqing | |
| Metal | Bianzhong · Fangxiang · Luo · Yunluo | |
| Clay | Fou | |
| Hide | Daigu · Bangu · Paigu · Tanggu | |
| Others | Xun · Gudi · Lusheng · Kouxian | |
