Quick Answer: What Is a Gehu?
The gehu (革胡, géhú) is a Chinese bowed string instrument developed for lower orchestral parts. It uses four strings and cello-like bowing. In a traditional design, a bridge system transfers the string vibration to a membrane on the resonator.[1][2]
- Playing: The bow approaches the strings from the outside.[1][2]
- Construction: A membrane and wooden resonator help shape the sound.[1][3]
- Orchestral role: A standard gehu and a larger bass version can cover different low parts.[2][4][5]
The name identifies a design developed for the Chinese orchestra in the twentieth century.[1][2]
A player can bow a gehu with the movements of a cellist. Look below the strings and the body gives it away. A gehu can use a round resonator with a stretched membrane, connected to the strings through a bridge linkage.[1][2]
A Membrane Body and a Cello-Like Bow
The Shanghai Conservatory of Music credits Yang Yusen with developing the gehu in the 1950s. He drew on the erhu and on the structure of the cello to create a low bowed instrument. The conservatory’s museum describes a surviving gehu produced in 1972, with four strings and a lever system linking inner and outer bridges.[1]
The bridge design helps send string vibration to the membrane. A cello transfers the vibration to a wooden top. A player trained on cello can recognize the string layout. For someone inspecting the instrument, the membrane and the linked bridge parts are clues to the gehu’s distinct design.[1][2][3]
Gehu, Bass Gehu and Dihu
One instrumental guide gives C, G, D and A in ascending order for the standard gehu, the same sequence of open strings as the cello. It gives E, A, D and G for the larger bass gehu (低音革胡, dīyīn géhú), like a double bass. The standard example starts on C. The bass version starts on a lower E and uses fourths between strings, while the standard gehu uses fifths.[2][3]
The dihu is another instrument developed for low bowed parts. It retains the two-string erhu layout with the bow hair between the strings. On a gehu, look for a separate fingerboard, four strings and a bow that crosses their outside surface. A plucked daruan adds another low voice, with notes that begin in a pluck rather than a continuous stroke.[2][3][5]
The Eco-Gehu in the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra
The Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra developed an Eco-Gehu using PET polyester film in place of a traditional skin membrane. Its research account also describes changing the shape and material of parts of the body. Those changes affect the surfaces that take up vibration from the strings. The film cannot by itself account for the entire sound of the redesigned instrument.[4]
A performance roster lists Eco-Gehu and Eco-Bass Gehu separately. The program tells you which low string instruments are present. In a recording, listen for a bowed sound that can continue under a phrase, then check the roster to identify the instrument family.[2][5]
FAQs About the Gehu
Is the gehu tuned like a cello?
The standard gehu in the instrumental guide uses the cello’s C, G, D and A tuning. The larger bass gehu uses a different tuning corresponding to the double bass.[2][3]
Does every gehu have an animal-skin membrane?
Older examples can use animal skin. Hong Kong’s Eco-Gehu design uses PET polyester film.[1][2][4]
Sources
[1] Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Museum of Oriental Musical Instruments. Donated 1972 Gehu
[2] INTERMUSIC, Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. An Instrumental Guide to the Chinese Orchestra
[3] Texas Christian University Repository. Research on Chinese Bass Bowed Instruments
[4] Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra. Instrument Research and Development Department
[5] Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra. Performance Roster