Contribution
Experimental investigation into the reed structure and articulation modes of the western Chinese instrument Hulusi
* Presenting author
Abstract:
The hulusi is a free reed instrument that originated in Yunnan Province, Western China. An artificial intelligence framework (COMSAR) was used to cluster and recognize the articulations of hulusi with various pitches. To validate the model and conclusions, this work conducts an experimental investigation of a different hulusi resonator structure. It includes an automatic air inlet, a pressure sensor, and a hulusi tube to allow for various types of articulations. The vibrational state of the hulusi reeds is observed by varying inlet pressures, and further quantitative measurements of the reeds are made using a laser camera. Furthermore, the hulusi tube was blown at different pitches, both monophonic and simple melodic, at the same pressure to see how this affected the initial transient and vibrational modes of reed vibration. The next goal is to create a complete model of hulusi.