Abstract
Dizi is an instrument which frequently conveys the melody in Chinese folk music as it has a strong sound and unique tone. Dizi being a traditional instrument and built entirely from organic material. As a result, Dizi tend to face more limitations in terms of intonation, range, playing of chromatic notes and blending in an ensemble/orchestra. With increasing musical demands, it pushes modern Dizi musicians to strive a balance between melodic inflections(style/flavour) and harmony(intonation/balance). This has led to the need for a comprehensive Dizi resource and my thesis hope to improve Dizi performance through 3 areas: 1. Dizi’s acoustic– Understand the acoustics of the Dízi across standard (and non-standard) fingerings, make observations on how particular instrument resonances are associated and vary with these fingerings, compare the Dízi measurements withand without-membrane, and also comment on certain practical fingering and performance considerations in light of these observations. 2. Contribution by the player and Dizi – Experiential design comprising of expert Dízi players (three) and Dízi (two) to better understand the dynamics of how players interact with the instrument, in order to quantify how both members of the player-Dízi system each contribute to the overall musical performance output. In particular, we quantify how pitch and sound pressure level (SPL) vary accordingly with four musical dynamic markings, playing across the Dízi’s standard range. 3. Interaction between player and Dizi family – Putting together a Dizi player’s control parameter space map. This map will shed light on the output i.e. pitch and sound pressure level (SPL) across four Dizi family members. Through understanding their similarities and differences, the result aims to help users in the selection and performance of Dizi and composer in writing/rearrangement.