RED BOAT TROUPES AND CANTONESE ... - University of Georgia

two). 115 The new instrument, called the goh hu (goh means high), has a louder sound than the
conventional silk string er hu. Pitches are extended an octave higher. The goh hu plays the
melodic line. 116 Liu also used metal strings for the yangqin to give this instrument a larger
volume.
During the 1930s, Western instruments such as the violin, saxophone, cello, banjo, and
jazz drums were introduced to support the orchestra. Traditional orchestras lack instruments in
the low register for support. The cello serves the purpose. Some traditional instruments such as
the yanqin and the pipa have found their way back to the performance stages since the 1960s.
Following the adoption of Western instruments of this period, equal temperament was achieved
in Cantonese opera music.
Cantonese instrumental music became entertainment in Guangdong and Shanghai starting
in the 1920s. The Cantonese were active in the department store business during the two
decades of booming trade in Shanghai. During the 1920s and 1930s, the roof gardens of Four
Large Companies [sei daai gung si] near Nanking Road in Shanghai were venues where
Cantonese workers played Cantonese music. Most these stores were run by returned Cantonese
emigrants from Australia and North America. Cantonese musician Liu Man Xing, who lived in
Shanghai, led orchestras that played on the rooftops of department stores. He arranged old
Cantonese and Chinese tunes that became Guangdong yum ngok (Cantonese instrumental
music), a light instrumental music genre now played in some Chinese restaurants in North
America. Melodies of this genre entered Cantonese opera in the form of siu kuk. Liu received a
warm welcome in his native Guangdong Province. He later came to Hong Kong and helped with
Cantonese Opera troupes during the Sit-Ma Competition era in the 1920s and 1930s. He was the
115 Yum gnok guai suk[music studio] “Patzak enjoying music with you,” Oi gnok yan gia sai fong [music lover
going to places], http://www.bh2000.net/special/patzak/detail.php?id=2579 (access April 9, 2010)
116 Usually the tau gaa plays this instrument.
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