#in any case the salary adjustment at w should kick in next month so hopefully i have some $ to spare for a guzheng if it ever comes to it..

[zhongrin]

story time about a (possibly) new hobby(?)

(it got kinda long, so feel free to skip hahah)

so. part of my this year's resolution was to learn an erhu... or any musical instrument, really. and i attended an introductory chinese instruments workshop recently.

it was super fun!! they let us try a few instruments, like...

the smiling frying pan (zhong)ruan, which is like a guitar, but round.

dizi ー although since it's a wind instrument they didn't let us actually play it, because. you know. hygiene reasons. kinda amazing to think that the instrument's life and blood is pretty much a small sheet of rice paper... the xiao was also kinda interesting!! such a low and unique sound ✨

pipa... it's a very cool and pretty-sounding instrument for sure, but i don't think i'll have the brainpower to remember and learn the finger techniques ;;;

erhu. while i only managed to make noises akin to killing chickens didn't really manage to make a decent sound on it, it's definitely an instrument i might want to learn more than the others!! we got to see a true expert play in person, and. man. it does sound so... idk how to describe it. soulful? but also, i might be biased bc zhongli's theme has an erhu in it hahahah also the way zhonghu sounds??? 💗

guzheng!!!! they sound soooo good in-person... especially the expensive one.... figures orz also i found this while doing my own research but did you know that guzheng has areas on its back called 'phoenix eyes' (to insert the strings), 'dragon cave' (sound hole 1), and 'heavenly pond' (sound hole 2)? plus, the hanzis for certain top parts also contains the dragon/phoenix/mountain characters and i think it's neat lol

i've tried piano and guitar in the past, but i never really felt attached to them. but... i fell in love with the guzheng. i wanna learn it so badly.

but the (decent) instrument is so expensive, it's incredibly massive (the travel-sized ones are even more expensive orz), and the maintenance seems like a nightmare???? (although i think musical instruments maintenance in general is a nightmare anyway?? idk)

anyway, i did book a trial guzheng lesson. and maybe if it really hooks me up i'll attend a few normal classes... and if my interest holds up, i might consider buying a secondhand one? on the other hand, it also feels like i should try to fully ride the waves while this excitement is going 📈🔺⏫.... hrhsldkjflsjd idk anymore ;;;;