Category: English Posts

How do the different tone pitches of the Hang Gudu come about? In another video I already mentioned that the pitch of the bass pulse, generated by vibrating air, doesn’t depend on the place where it is excited or how it is excited. It depends only on the positon of the player’s hands above and in the Gu opening.

In the video we will approach this subject with four hands-on experiments. What can the observations tell us which can be comprehended by everyone who is moving his hands above and inside the Gu opening? Continue reading “The Gu Field – Experiments with the Pitch”

When I started with the Hang Gudu a challenge for me was to achieve a strong bass pulse. The low bass tones in particular were’nt easy to play. In this video I have summarized in four tips what I have found out about this subject so far.

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In her presentation video Sabina Schärer shows how the Hang Gudu is placed on the left thigh. This is the normal positon for right-handed players. Left-handed players place the instrument inversely on the right leg.

As aspiring Hang Gudu player and left-hander I had a problem: On my right side there is the hard socket of my above-knee prosthesis. It doesn’t provide a safe position for the instrument, and furthermore, it is clacking when hard sheet metal meets hard glass-fibre-reinforced- plastic.

Therefore I thought that I had to place and play the instrument like a right-hander. However, it shortly turned out that I run into problems. For playing I needed extraordinary concentration and yet easily lost the groove. This situation didn’t open up a free space for creative improvisation.

After a while I realized the reason for these problems: The handedness is important for playing the Hang Gudu. And players have to pay attention to this demand. Continue reading “Right-handed or Left-handed?”

At first glance, it may seem strange to compare the Hang Gudu with the Saxophone. But both instruments have actually a number of similarities. Recognizing these can help us to better understand the Hang Gudu.

Continue reading “A “Wind Instrument for the Hands””

Many speakers in smartphones, tablets or notebooks and some headphones and earplugs are failing to play back the bass pulse, generated by vibrating air in the Hang Gudu’s cavity.

Often it is completely muted. In other cases its volume is very low and doesn’t give you a realistic auditory impression.

This video allows you to test if your loudspeakers, headphones or earplugs are suitable for the playback of Hang Gudu videos.

If your devices fail the test you should look for better playback options. Sometimes it can be sufficient to reach for earplugs. With high-quality headphones you will achieve the best results. Another option is to connect the notebook, tablet or smartphone to your hi-fi system.

If you want to know which piece of music is played in the test you will get the answer in this video.

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