Suona Art (Dandong drum music)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: suona Art (Dandong drum music)

Applicant: Dandong City, Liaoning Province

Item No.: 68

Project No.: Ⅱ - 37

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: Traditional Music

Region: Liaoning Province

Type: Extension Project

Applicant: Dandong City, Liaoning Province

Protection unit: Dandong intangible cultural heritage protection and Research Center

Introduction to suona Art (Dandong drum music)

Applicant: Dandong City, Liaoning Province

Suona is a transliteration of "surna" in Arabic. It was widely spread in many countries in Asia, Africa and Europe, and was introduced to China not later than the Jin and Yuan Dynasties. In Chinese folk, it also has copper flute, tin flute, pear flower, sea flute and other names. In addition, the small suona used in Fujian Nanqu performance is called "Aizai" or "Nanai"; the suona used in Puxian opera accompaniment is called "Meihua" or "chubian", and the larger one is called "Dalong" or "Dahai Flute"; the all wood suona of Uygur nationality is called "surnai"; the suona of Tibetan, Miao, Mongolian, Korean and other nationalities also have different shapes.

Suona is composed of whistle, core, air disc, rod, copper bowl and other parts. It is arranged in order according to the seven sound levels according to the sound holes. The distance between each hole is basically equal. It can flip the seven tones, and the range is generally two octaves plus two degrees. Suona has many kinds of playing skills, such as glide, vomit, air arch, air top, purr, circulation (continuous blowing for a long time) and so on. It is a kind of solo instrument with strong expressive force.

Suona is one of the indispensable musical instruments in the percussion band. In ancient times, besides playing military music, it was also used for the accompaniment of Yamen drum blowing, opera, song and dance, etc. in folk daily life, it was mostly used for festivals, weddings and funerals, and drama scenes.

Dandong drumming, also known as "drumming" and "percussion", is a traditional form of instrumental music mainly composed of wind instruments and percussion instruments. It has been popular in Dandong area of Liaoning Province for a long time and has a history of more than 100 years.

The wind instruments used in Dandong drum music include suona, Guanzi, Sheng, etc., while percussion music includes drums, gongs, cymbals, bells, etc. Some drum classes also include bowstring instruments and plucked instruments. According to the different instruments used, Dandong drum music can be divided into two categories: "Suona music" with suona as the main instrument and "Sheng wind music" with Guanzi as the main instrument. Suona music can be divided into Trumpet Music (bass suona main performance), xiaozhazi music (treble suona main performance), sanbujia music (bass, treble, mid tone suona ensemble) and Kaxi. Some drum classes add percussion instruments, string instruments and plucked instruments to the playing forms of Suona and Shengguan, which further enriches the expressive force of drum music.

According to its structure, Dandong drum music can be roughly divided into three categories: Tang blowing music, brand music and routine music. Tangchui, also known as "Zuotang", generally consists of three parts: the introduction, the body and the tail; the brand music is relatively short, and its style is lively and cheerful, which is often used in festive occasions; the divertimento is composed of several pieces, which is a large-scale musical structure. The clappers of Dandong drum music include Sanban, Adagio, Allegro and shuiban, while the representative tunes are nanchilao, jinshataan and houhoufeng.

Dandong drum music is magnificent, enthusiastic, has a deep mass foundation, is an important part of Liaoning regional culture, has a certain historical and artistic research value. At present, there are few old artists who can inherit Dandong drum music skills. If we do not increase the efforts of excavation, sorting and protection, this excellent folk art form will face the danger of losing.